#dan and david wishes they could write this

[reireichu]

my fav part of the got series finale was when jon snow did a lil stabbity stab and daenerys asks him, why jon why i loved you and he tells her: "SNOW LANDS ON TOP"

and in the story that they will tell, the songs they will sing, it will be a story about fire and ice, it'll be a story about love...

about how it is the things we love most that destroy us

anyways best finale1!!!!111ever!!!!!

[khaleesiofalicante]

I haven't come here to SCREAM about the last couple of chapters, so I'm here to fix it!

An incomplete list of the things I loved about chapter 48:

EVERYTHING OMFG

Lmao no but seriously: the first part was so hard to read but so worth the wait!! I was clutching my phone without being able to look away because it was so we'll written and it broke my heart all over agai!

Max calling him for hours till he answered bc "They have always been equally obsessed with each other"😭😭

"What else to do but be consumed by Max Lightwood-Bane?" PLS SIR STOP I'M ALREADY CRYING

The whole fucking scene where David's tells Mallory she won't win because she doesn't have what it takes to love Max and telling her that whatever she does, he will undo and he will find his way back to him. I shit you not, I've read that part at least 7 times by now. I'M OBSSESED

The bit with the knife. IT MAKES SENSE NOW AND I WISH IT DIDN'T. GET THIS BABY A BREAK😭. Also now I understand why he wore the long-sleeved tshirts because it made AJ cry :)

I read that someone had a theory that Lance returned for his pink pony and that was why he was at the house and why David threw it away and I would like to personally congratulate them for guessing it tbh bc for me it clicked s second before jdhdkd

I love the way we see David's pain and his trauma from his POV as something he's still trying to understand and work around and how that pain only answers to him, so doing all this by himself was kinda necessary.

When Max asked him if he loved anyone else other than him, the answer seemed so simple. 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺

"I don't need a reason to love you. I never have. You existing is reason enough for me to love you." Stay with someone who loves you for the simple fact that you exist 💙

David moved forward at that. He didn't know how not to. I love how he thinks this or "How could he refuse?" "How could he say no to that?" "How could he deny when it was Max who asked?" In every universe because YES HE'S NEVER BEEN ABLE GO LET GO OF THIS MAN

The fact that David is always refered as "greedy" because he never has enough of Max is everything to me and in this essay I will-

The whole scene where David was touching Max HOLY FUCK IT WAS EVERYTHING I COULDN'T STOP READING IT AND AT THE SAME TIME I FEEL I MUST LOOK AWAY BECAUSE ITS SO INTIMATE!

AJ GOT THE ROLE!!! FUCK YES I'M SO PROUD OF MY BABY🥺🥺

The fucking white lilies tattoo😭 and the only blooming one being all around David's name. You really said I'm not done with flower symbolism and I love you for that💙

Arthur walking in on them and being like why yes this make sense they just had a heartfelt confession will be in my top ten favorite moments jdhsjsjsj

"Goodnight, mon ange" I'm in tears right now ok?!? It's the second time we've heard present David say it (the first one at the Maldives counts?) And it just turned into my favorite thing 🥺🥺🥺🥺

This was what it felt like to be alive. He had almost forgotten. David chuckled to himself and covered his mouth. HE FEELS ALIVE!! I AM BEING SO NORMAL ABOUT THIS!!

The wink at lbaf left me looking at my ceiling for like 15 minutes so I think that tells you everything you should know.

I loved everything about it. The way you give so much emotion and intensity to a chapter and the beautiful way you write it mean so much to me. Thank you for this wind story once again 💙

Thank you. I cri 🥺🥺🥺

Here is a song I listened to over and over when I wrote this chapter (especially when I wrote the flashback scene) - Indila - Tourner Dans Le Vide 

[wordthieve]

💥👻👓

💥 What is one canon thing that you wish you could change?

Ooh, this is a good one. My first instinct is, of course, to ask for more. Not a seventh season, but more scenes. I'd love to know Patrick's reaction to Sebastien, and David's moment of triumph. I'd kind of love a hint of sexytimes with David and Patrick (within ratings - I don't need it to turn into porn, just some telling hints - a discussion, a glimpse, an overheard noise ... even just waking up together after the night at Stevie's ...). A little wistful we didn't get more of Patrick playing baseball. I'd like to see Patrick push back a little more at David's assumption they would move to New York. Possibly less of Roland? Less of Roland eating cheese. Definitely.

But you know what, I think Dan & co did such a wonderful job of putting it together, though, so this is pure indulgence. Plus, there's fanfiction.

👻 What is your wildest headcanon?

I'm not sure how wild it is, but I believe in my heart that Patrick didn't quite know he was gay until after meeting David. I think he wondered a lot about why he was so thrilled and sparked and excited by him, and that opened the door. And he was so struck by the difference in himself that he leant into it.

👓 What helps you focus when you write?

Music. Quiet. Comfort. A good idea that I really love.

Ask me things!

[rainwolfheart]

Fried Mush and Nug in translation

I'm doing some localization research and just wanted to share the French translation of the Green Eggs and Ham poem by Paragon Seuss (Haut Pignon in French) in The Noladar Anthology of Dwarven Poetry from DAO, because it's just as delightful. I think it's a great example of localization instead of direct translation, which is often necessary with poetry.

The entire poem in English and French, plus my literal translation of the French back into English, is below the cut, but here are some highlights and notes:

"Fried mush and nug" becomes "nug soup"

The concept of the poem is the same in both: a parody of Green Eggs and Ham, where someone is trying to convince someone else to eat something gross and they keep escalating the offers and refusals. But line-by-line the ideas are very different. Whereas the English has Mister Klug offering to eat the same dish in many ways (from a jug, with a bug, etc.) the French has Monsieur Brochard offering different types of food (duck, a bezoar, etc.)

(I don't recall ever reading Green Eggs and Ham in French so there may be additional translation jokes there)

The English rhyme is all words in -ug, whereas the french is all in -ard

"Are you on some kind of drug?" is ruder in French; the phrase could be at its most polite "you're a stupid idiot" or "arrogant idiot" but is really more like "you're an asshole".

The French has a sentence about hating the rich :D

Among the things Brochard offers to the other person are duck and leopard, which begs the question of how dwarves know of these animals. Are there Deep Roads ducks and leopards we haven't encountered before?

He also mentions a hearse, which could be some kind of carriage, but has never been mentioned in association with dwarves before lol

I wish I knew who wrote this codex and who did the localization because they're some of my favourite bits of dwarven lore. The Origins writing team was David Gaider, Eric Baudoin, Sheryl Chee, Daniel Erickson, Jennifer Hepler, Mary Kirby, Lukas Kristjanson, and Jay Turner; I'd bet on Hepler because she wrote a lot of the dwarven characters and questlines, but I don't know for sure. The localization was done by ExeQuo in France.

NB My French is Canadian so I may have missed some of the slangier bits.

English original (source: wiki)

Do you like fried mush and nug?

I do not like them Mister Klug I do not like fried mush and nug

Would you eat them on a rug? If you eat, you'll get a hug!

I would not eat them on a rug From you I would not want a hug

Then would you drink them from a jug? Come on, come on, give them a chug!

I would not drink them from a jug I'd rather eat a slimy slug

Would you eat them with a bug? Would you share them with a thug?

I would not share them with a thug I would not eat them with a bug Not for a hug Not on a rug From a jug I will not chug Come on, come on, now mister Klug Are you on some kind of drug?

Eat them in this hole I dug Eat them, eat them, don't just shrug

I've had it, had it, Mister Klug! Down, into that hole you dug Down with the thug And the slug And the bug

French Localization (source: Dragon Age Univers)

Qui aime la soupe au cochard ? Oh pas moi monsieur Brochard J'n'aime pas la soupe au cochard Préfères-tu un bon canard ? Ca c'est un plat de richard ! Je n'aime pas les canards Et encore moins les richards Voudrais-tu un bézoard ? Ca t'épargne les blizzards ! Je n'veux pas de bézoard Plutôt manger des cafards Pourquoi pas un léopard ? Qu'on savoure l'air hagard ? Je n'veux pas d'un air hagard Pour manger du léopard Ni richard Ni blizzard Ni cafard Allons donc monsieur Brochard Vous êtes un fieffé connard ! Mange-les dans ce corbillard Mange-les donc, ça t'f'ra du lard Ca suffit, monsieur Brochard ! Donnez-les à vos moutards Vos canards Vos bézoards Vos léopards

Comparison and literal translation

Do you like fried mush and nug? Qui aime la soupe au cochard ? Who likes nug soup?

I do not like them Mister Klug Oh pas moi monsieur Brochard Oh, not me, Mister Brochard I do not like fried mush and nug J'n'aime pas la soupe au cochard I don't like nug soup

Would you eat them on a rug? Préfères-tu un bon canard ? Do you prefer a good duck? If you eat, you'll get a hug! Ca c'est un plat de richard ! That's a rich person's dish!

I would not eat them on a rug Je n'aime pas les canards I don't like ducks From you I would not want a hug Et encore moins les richards And rich people even less

Then would you drink them from a jug? Voudrais-tu un bézoard ? Would you like a bezoar? Come on, come on, give them a chug! Ca t'épargne les blizzards ! They protect you from blizzards!

I would not drink them from a jug Je n'veux pas de bézoard I don't want a bezoar I'd rather eat a slimy slug Plutôt manger des cafards I'd rather eat cockroaches

Would you eat them with a bug? Pourquoi pas un léopard ? Why not a leopard? Would you share them with a thug? Qu'on savoure l'air hagard ? Which we savour with a haggard look?

I would not share them with a thug Je n'veux pas d'un air hagard I don't want a haggard look I would not eat them with a bug Pour manger du léopard To eat leopard Not for a hug Ni richard Nor rich person Not on a rug Ni blizzard Nor blizzard From a jug I will not chug Ni cafard Nor cockroach Come on, come on, now mister Klug Allons donc monsieur Brochard Come on, Mister Brochard Are you on some kind of drug? Vous êtes un fieffé connard ! You're an arrogant idiot! (or stupid idiot, or asshole)

Eat them in this hole I dug Mange-les dans ce corbillard Eat them in this hearse Eat them, eat them, don't just shrug Mange-les donc, ça t'f'ra du lard Just eat them, it'll make you lard (fatten you up)

I've had it, had it, Mister Klug! Ca suffit, monsieur Brochard ! That's enough, Mister Brochard! Down, into that hole you dug Donnez-les à vos moutards Give them to your brats (kids) Down with the thug Vos canards Your ducks And the slug Vos bézoards Your bezoars And the bug Vos léopards Your leopards

[monstermaster13]

It is time for storytime with Bonzi and it is time for an extra helping of bizarre with this one! There once was a Deviantart and furaffinity universe user named Jacobo McBadMan, Jacobo thought he could tell others what to write about, one day he decided to target Nathan (for no reason other than the fact he thought Nathan was a hypocrite for not liking weight gain!) by commenting on his page. 'Lol I totally love how you hate fat fetish art while totally doing weight gain transformation stuff with were-aykroyds.' 'First of all dingus Mcmoron, it's called satire and dark comedy, ever heard of those things? Also your typical weight gain fic is just simping over how fat someone is getting!'

'Oh but you are delusional if you think you are any different.' 'Oh but I am, my work is played for horror and comedy, sometimes both, not for fetish purposes. Look, I had a brief interest in weight gain stories once, but that was only because the ones I read years ago were harmless and I did not know that weight gain was a thing. I never wanted to become overweight myself!'

'You aren't any better yourself, telling others what they can and cannot write about. If I want to write about people turning into clones of Dan Aykroyd, I can and I will! It is my content and not yours. Maybe if you want fat fetish porn you could just go on onlyfans, there are tons of desperate lardo boys on there.'

Obviously this was ticking Jacobo off really badly so he complained about Nathan for no reason (but the reason was because he knew Nathan was right and he was a moron and didn't want to admit it!), so for seemingly what seemed like a few months nothing more came of it. But then he came on DA and posted the father of all shitty comments on his page…'Still yelling at clouds? Man, I thought you could not get any more delusional.' 'Sounds like you are talking about yourself again. Look, if you want horny fat content or me to respect that kind of content, forget it, you will get dum dum content and like it!'

Nathan definitely knew he had had enough of this moron and his stupid antics so he chanted a spell to summon a familiar purple gorilla, a cloud of smoke materialized in the room and took on the form of a gorilla, the gorilla stretched as he greeted him. 'I have been summoned! What can I do for you, oh dearest summoner?' 'This little moron over here obviously has a highly inflated opinion of himself and of weight gain, show him how much of a dum dum he is by telling him the horrors of it, please!'

'It will be my pleasure to teach this stubborn shithead a lesson.' 'Good, see to it that he gets treated like a dum dum!' 'Oh I shall indeed, you can count on me and he will get his just desserts.' Bonzi floated over to JacobMcBadman who was being a penis-headed moron as per usual. 'You must be the little punk known as McBadman, I am Bonzi.' 'What are you supposed to be an NFT or an OC?' 'Oh no, I am no NFT. I am Bonzi, lord and master of the internet!'

'I didn't know the internet needed a master.' 'Oh but it does and that master is me. And now what is this I hear about you not liking dum dum were-aykroyds while defending fat fetish content?' 'Well..' 'You would have to be a dum dum to think otherwise.' Bonzi smirked as he used his magic to make an entrance form in the wall. 'What is this entrance for, your fat fetish dungeon?' 'No silly, it is for what I will show you!'

A cart manifested in front of Jacobo and he was teleported into the cart, the cart moved all by itself and showed him a House of Horrors attraction in which people who did weight gain art or had a fat fetish met their demises, such as one person being fattened up by a demon and turning into a fat pig-like demon to reflect his greedy attitude, a man who wished to play the part of a fat villain slowly turning into Baron Harkonnen from David Lynch's adaptation of Dune, another man wished he could be a fat man with liquid dripping down with his body as he slowly gained weight and found himself turning into a living Buddha statue with a fountain that attached itself. 'That's what he gets for wishing he could have liquid running down his fat body, now he is a living Buddha statue and he will be sitting like that forever.' 'You turned him into a statue?' 'Well he wished for this.'

One room showed a person turning into a grotesque human/elephant seal hybrid while several others showed several fat fetish artists melting together into a puddle. 'Do you see what will happen if you do not stop acting like a dum dum?' 'A dum dum, me?' 'Why yes, you, you are a dum dum after all!'

'But I am a human.' 'Oh really, my dearest dum dum? You are a dum dum were-aykroyd, you always have been. You have always been a good dum dum were-aykroyd who loves to eat, fart, and serve the master!' His eyes gave off a supernatural glow and Jacobo could not help but look into them and fall into a trance…'Y-Yes, I live to serve my master.' '

Yes, and who is your master? That is right, me. I am your master. This form of yours was a mistake. You were never meant to be skinny, you were meant to be a fat were-aykroyd wife who serves a loving master, you were meant to be your real self, look at you, you are so weak and thin, you need to embrace your true nature.' 'My true nature, master?'

'Why yes, your true nature as a gluttonous were-aykroyd wife who loves food. Come with me, I have a room I wish to show you.' The cart stopped over at a room that was a giant kitchen filled with food, food that was no doubt tempting for the entranced mentally dum dumed Jacob. 'Do you like the food I have picked out for us?' 'Oh master, those look yummy!' 'Well let's sit down and eat, my dearest dum dumikins!' The two of them jumped out of the cart and entered the kitchen.

Bonzi gave Jacobo all sorts of fattening and delicious treats like pies, cakes, donuts and even chocolates..each bit of food helped increase the dum dum personality traits in his mind as Jacob scoffed them all down, he looked at himself and started giggling as his hands slowly enlarged as his fingers thickened, his fingernails extending into beautiful well-manicured ones. 'Oooh dum dum has pretty nails!' 'Of course you do, you are a most beautiful dum dum wife!'

His chest and torso slowly expanded and swelled with fat, pushing against his shirt as brown hairs grew on them, his hands also developed brown hairs as did his arms. 'Oooh, dum dum has nice hairs.' 'Of course you do, so big, so silly, so tubby wubby!' his stomach was also swelling and inflating with fat and he could not help but rub it and make cute dum dum noises as he did so. 'Oooh, dum dum is growing, dum dum is growing.' 'Oh yes, you certainly are. Your human clothes are tearing, because dum dums are too big for those puny clothes, tee hee hee!'

He felt a couple of round formations growing on his chest which blossomed out into a pair of plus sized breasts, breasts that were pumping up with milk and dripping all over his shirt. 'Tee hee, dum dum is making milk!' 'Oh yes, of course you are. Dum dum wives like you need to make milk for future dum dum offspring, and you are going to be a perfect mommy one day.' 'Dum dum will be a mommy?' 'Oh yes, and a good one at that.'

His shirt slowly ripped apart as the buttons flew all over the place, his fattening belly on full display for everyone to see! 'Look at you, my lovely dum dum, such a lovely belly. I could just poke it all day, poke, poke, poke!' 'Stop it, stop poking dum dum's lovely belly. Wait did I call myself a dum dum?' 'Of course you certainly did. You are my dum dum after all.'

Bonzi rubbed Jacob's growing stomach and laughed at how cute he was being…'Aaaw, you are so precious, and a good dum dum.'Jacob's shoes got increasingly tighter and tighter until they ripped apart, exposing his feet which were growing larger and developing webbed toes. 'Oooh, dum dum is so pretty.' 'Oh yes, very pretty.’

Jacobo groaned as Bonzi rubbed his stomach and cuddled him, his rear inflated as it pushed against his jeans, causing his jeans to slowly tighten as a series of farts produced from his behind. 'Oooh, dum dum toots.' 'Yes, you do, toot toot, dum dum!' He giggled and laughed as his legs thickened and his stomach slowly pushed against his belt, breaking his belt right open. 'Oopsy, my belt broke off!' 'That is alright, my beloved dummikins! Your growing belly was too big for it anyway.'

He giggled as his privates shifted to become those of the opposite sex and at the same time his online profiles was shifting as well, his furaffinity page was warping to be a dum dum were-aykroyd centric page with a favorites selection of were-aykroyds with their masters and his username had shifted too..from JacoboMcBadMan to 'DumDumLoverGirl900' and the icon/pfp was that of a fat female were-aykroyd. 'There we go, so much better and fitting for you, my sweet big dum dum ice cream with a cherry on top!'

His jeans slowly tore up in a few places, leaving him in his shorts and scraps of his shirt as he watched his Deviantart profile shift in the same way his furaffinity page had, changing to 'DumDumLoverGirl' and showing pictures of were-aykroyds with their masters. 'Do you like what you see, my dearest dumpling with two lovely round buns?' 'Oh yes, my delicious bubblegum sweetie pie topped with blackberries! This suits me more than my old page did.’ 'Of course it does, that acting all high and mighty thing was not for you, you are more natural as a dum dum because that is the real you!'

He giggled as he slowly grew in height to 6'1 as his hair lengthened, his eyes widening as eyelashes blossomed around them, one of them turning from brown to green as his face plumped up. 'You are right, my delicious ice cream sundae with a chocolate scoop!' 'A good dum dum always obeys his or her master and you will always obey me, won't you?' 'Oh yes, I certainly will, my delicious big bowl of candy with two delicious marshmallows!'

His eyebrows thickened a little as his nose broadened and developed a cleft, he kissed Bonzi as his lips became kissable and his features became Aykroydian and feminine, any traces of his former self were disappearing. 'Oh you look so much better than before, you look like a big sweetie pie with some cream on top!'

Jacobo realized he had been a right dum dum to be so rude to someone for having different tastes than his own (in fact, he had been a right dum dum!) and he realized at this point he was a 'she', in fact 'she' was a super pretty dum dum female were-aykroyd as her mind shifted, making her feel like she had always been a dum dum as her room morphed and twisted into a lovely paradise for a pretty feminine dum dum were-aykroyd. 'Is this to your liking, my delicious dumpling?' 'Why yes it is, I don't know what I was thinking by being a dum dum to Nathan. But then again dum dum has always been such a dumpy dum dum!'

'Of course you have, but I forgive you. You are such a squishy soft cuddly wuddly dumball! I love you so much, as your master, I know what is best for you.' 'I would never betray you, master.' Jacobo or rather 'Jacey' made a series of cute were-aykroyd noises as he/she was petted by Bonzi. 'You are such a good dum dum were-aykroyd.'

Mentally she felt very stupid and silly (but that is normal for a dum dum) and she felt like cuddling, hugging and playing with her master. 'And so my work here is done, I have taught you a lesson and taught you well I have!’ She giggled and hugged her new master, the gorilla known as Bonzi. 'Oh how I love you, my big banana split with two delicious cherries!' 'And I love you too, my delightful sashimi with a big pair of dumplings!'

She blushed bright red after hearing Bonzi's adult themed food related terms of endearment, because they made her laugh so much that she turned bright red in the face as she kissed him and cuddled him. Bonzi smiled and cuddled his new dum dum were-aykroyd. 'You will be a fine mommy one day, maybe you will find a dum dum were-aykroyd husband who loves you, but for now, enjoy your life as one, as this is your new life and you will live it forever.'

'Forever.' Jasey murmured dumbly before yawning and laying down on the ground, resting as he put a blanket on her and sang a soothing lullaby. 'Good night, my dearest dum dum-ball, have the sweetest of dreams about me.' She closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

And so Bonzi used his magic to keep the dum dum were-aykroyd known as Jacey safe and sound, looking after her and raising her the right way, as a result, over time Jacey became nicer and more respectful of others. And eventually she met a male were-aykroyd dum dum to claim as her own and the two of them dated and formed a lovely relationship with each-other.

It wasn't long until Jacey's giant stomach had several little mini dum dums growing inside them and when it was time for her to give birth there was an elaborate ceremony and Bonzi himself was the minister! And when they got married they became closer to each-other than ever before.

Bonzi had done a good job in teach another wrongdoer a lesson and also showing them the errors of their ways and giving them a new identity, and Jacey had now reformed and lightened up, all was well with the world! And thus brings us to the moral of the story, don't act like a dum dum to others online or you might as well end up becoming one yourself!

[piqueconcentration]

(Some) Albums I Currently Adore

Originally posted January 1, 2023

The title to this post was originally "Albums You May Enjoy," but I remembered after writing a bit under that phrase that I kind of hate it when the title of a piece addresses me directly like: "Things You Didn't Know About ___" or "If You Like ____, You Should Check Out ____" or "Four Things You Absolutely Need if You Don't Want to Look Like a Troglodyte to your Houseguests" -for whatever reason it feels manipulative. Like, chill- you don't know me and don't assume that your opinion has any bearing on me as a human being at all.

Whatever, here are albums I like right now, whether or not you choose to check them out, and if you disagree with me, that's great! Genuinely! Leave a comment and tell me your thoughts, if you like.

Also! I fucking despise numerical album ratings, if you're looking for those, you won't find any here.

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New Music and Big Pop - Another Michael

Genres Indie Folk, Folk, Indie Pop

Time 35:01

Recommended Songs "New Music" "Big Pop" "What Gives?"

Though it may be a relaxing, acoustic listen, New Music and Big Pop has a quality to it that makes me stop what I'm doing in favor of experiencing the music on a deeper level. Comforting melodies, complex structures, and beautifully layered vocals, these songs give the impression of being produced to perfection- no aspect of them sticks out jarringly or feels out of place, the composition feels wonderfully aligned to a steady vision of the completed work. To me, the songs give a feeling of pensive calm but with a stylistic spin that is somehow evocative of garage rock or even punk. Also- listen to the whole thing.

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Growl Pop - Dan & Drum

Genres Alternative, Indie, Experimental

Time 41:48

Recommended Songs "Wanna Ride" "Interlude, Pt. 2" "Mona Lisa"

This one I was confused by when I found it. Dan & Drum make music that, while entirely entertaining and often melodically masterful, could really belong to a genre of its own just called 'Confusing.' Generally acoustically supported with some digital effects and various production quirks, the songs on Growl Pop can vary melodically so far within each song that it can be genuinely difficult to pin down what the main carrying melody may be, if there is one at all. The odd vocals and really cool harmonies also give each tune a very variable feeling.

Some of my favorite lyrics:

"I know better, it's mind over matter, yeah, it's mind if it's matter, it's a matter of time" - "Wanna Ride"

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Decide - Djo

Genres Synth, Synth-Pop, Pop, Alternative, Hypnotic, Aggressive, Dance

Time 36:03

Recommended Songs "End of Beginning" "On and On" "Slither"

This is one of those albums where the "Recommended Songs" section above is pretty much irrelevant. I think the entirety of this one absolutely rocks. Reminiscent of Daft Punk, reminding me of STRFKR and Video Age and Hall & Oates and even David Bowie or the Talking Heads, it feels like Djo has listened to all of my favorite music and taken all of that as influence, and then confidently produced the most powerful possible usage of elements from all of the above. This album is appealing to me to the greatest degree- sometimes dark, sometimes passionate, sometimes bouncy, sometimes explosive, I absolutely love it. Honestly it's so appealing that it makes me wish Djo kind of went a little weirder with the songs here- the potential for something groundbreaking is present, but for now it's just rad in all the right, if familiar ways.

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Digital Spool - Jazz Emu

Genres Comedy, Funk, Synth-Funk, Lyrical

Time 38:20

Recommended Songs "Still Waiting" "You Would Never" "Tonally Inconsistent?"

Comedy music can be a difficult genre for many to enjoy, especially when the current musical consumption climate makes each individual's music taste a point of scrutiny and something to base one's ego around- when any song you listen to has its main value in someone else hearing you listening to it and thinking highly of you, you tend not to want your sense of humor dissected as well. If you can't relate to that, congratulations and I'm happy for you. In any case, Jazz Emu has blessed us with a treasure trove of songs absolutely spine-tinglily funktastic, with lyrics that get me smiling every time. Emu has this way of weaving the comedy into the music as well as the lyrics, which is more than most others braving the genre are able to do, and I commend him heavily for that, as well as how this album deftly and ridiculously satirizes modern internet culture, even delving into issues of contemporary masculinity, insecurity, and the odd state of being a "content creator." The rare moment of sincerity is made even more powerful after you've heard the song that has a whole section of fart noises.

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From 2 to 3 - Peach Pit

Genres Alternative, Indie Rock, Acoustic, Indie Folk

Time 37:54

Recommended Songs "Up Granville" "Look Out!" "Everything About You"

Peach Pit returns, in this album, with a pretty folk-y feel, much more than previous albums. It feels like if the songs from 2018's Being So Normal were teenagers, the songs from From 2 to 3 are adults. That parallel may just be me projecting, as the former album came out and had a great impact on me when I was, in fact, a teenager, and the latter arrives with similar importance in my burgeoning adulthood, but It's not totally without base. The songwriting in question has much less garage-rock angst (not that angst is a bad thing), the metaphors are much more refined, it really feels like Peach Pit's style has settled into a very comfortable era where nothing feels forced and the style is solid without being monotonous. An album like this could, in a very personal way, frame my decade.

Let it be known- almost every review of this album that I have seen has described it as Peach Pit's most "mature."

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Color Theory - Soccer Mommy

Genres Alternative, Indie, Indie Pop, Indie Rock, Rock, Dark

Time 44:13

Recommended Songs "lucy" "circle the drain" "royal screw up"

Dark and brooding, powerful and brooding, heartfelt and brooding, you get the idea- Color Theory falls in line with the movement in modern music of seemingly very sad, wonderful women, singing their hearts out in gut-wrenching rock and roll irreverence. Artistically, Soccer Mommy very regularly knocks it out of the park for me, I envy the raw ability that she has to convey feeling directly through the medium of sound, and this album is no exception. Many of the hits here were previously released as singles, but when put together in an arrangement like this, they are made all the more powerful.

______________________________________________________________

Modern Johnny Sings (Songs in the Age of Live) - Theo Katzman

Genres Rock, Indie Rock, Pop Rock, Funk, Indie Funk, Jazz

Time 1hr 25min

Recommended Songs "My Heart is Dead (Live)" "The Death of Us (Live)" "Lily of Casablanca (Live)"

Modern Johnny Sings: Songs in the Age of Vibe, the 2020 studio album, is a masterpiece in its own right. In fact, I do even like some of the songs on it more than their versions in this Live album, but the reason that the latter is featured here is that to miss the back and forth of Katzman and the audience, the absolutely incredible keyboard solos, the times where the vocals match up perfectly to what would otherwise be called instrumental improvisation if it hadn't been immaculately practiced, and the absolutely vivid joy of performing would be a disservice to no one but yourself. A Live album like this, that makes the listener feel as though they can see the action in front of them, is a gift. There are a few too many vocal embellishments for my taste, but regardless this work is one you shouldn't pass up.

Not sure if anyone's still reading, but here's hoping I keep writing.

[nityarawal]

Yesterday's song! Intense!(:

1/26/23

Morning Songs

Homestead Song

(Stop Raping My Children)

Sitting In My Car

Writing My Morning

Songs

Pens Are Running

Out Of Ink

Phone Won't Charge

Wish I Could

Heat My

Electric Sherpa

Blanket

But Solar

Won't Work

Need Gas For

Generator

Wish We Would

Stay Warm

Nose So Cold

Last Night

Forgot My

Wooly Red Hat

Couldn't

Find It In

The Weak

Flashlight

That's My Life

On The Coast

Trail

Could Be Worse

A Cocoon

Keeps Me Warm

A Sleeping Bag

From My Sister

Like When I Was

A Kid

A Cocoon

Of Down

Quilted Me

In Lake Tahoe

In The Pines

Tahoe Sands Resort

Accommodated Me

Emerald Bay

Rubicon

Dollar Pointe

Tahoe City

Carnelian Bay

Tahoe Vista

Tahoe Sands

Kings Beach

Truckee Airport

Flying Sierras

Sierraville

Off The Grid Hot Springs

Walking with Pappa

Holding Hands

Exploring

Airports

Clawfoot bathtubs

Hot Rivers

Mammoth

Winter Soaks

Quincy

Truckee River

Hot

Cold

Dips

With

Hells' Angels

Re-Enactments

Along Blueberry

Raspberry Trails

Sulfur

Sweet Water

Natural Soda

Out of The Ground

Agua Caliente

Devas Find Me

Hot

Water

People

Seeking Springs

In Their Veins

Agua Calliente

Hot Water People

Find Me

Not Foolish Pleasure Road

My dear

But

Aguanga Fertility Tribes

Crystal's In Caves

With Cousins

All The Way To India

Born Every Moon

Miracles Of Nature

Cowgirls Call

Cockrock

But It's A

Shiva

Lingum

Fertility

Cahuillan

Stone

Site

Homesteaded At

Barbara Bradford

Centauraians

Farm

Nearby

Pomegranate Orchard

Need My Spring Box

My Wolf Husky Blu

Guards My Barns

Full of My Things

Homesteading Bumblebees

And Honey In Aguanga

Need My Homes

Springbox

Behind Jason Alexander's

Need my Homes

On Sorrenson

And Merrimack

Robert Built Me

Despite His Father's Untimely Death Stateside

He made love to

Me in the backyard

And 5 years

Of Reperations From Attys

Jeff Fritz

Homesteading rights

All Dreyfuss

Homes

Donated Back

To Robert and I

All BB's Acres

Meant For My Sisters

Not Mean Cowgirls

With Toxic

Agendas

Homesteaded

At Elim Hotsprings

Since 2017

Homesteaded At

Kosh's Airbnb

Since 2018

Homesteaded At

Abi Odam's

2123 Cordero

Del Mar

Torrey Pines

Beat Up There By

Investigator Mark Milton

Atty

Lori Clark Viviano

On A Court Bribe

Need Reperations

1067 Neptune

Encinitasbeachhome.com

Homesteaded With

Savannah Cat

Romeo

On Hygria

From Brian Lieu

Homesteading

In The Treehouse

At Abi Odam's

Homesteading In

The Music Room

Homesteaded In The Guestroom

And Wrote

For The Silencing.org

With Darin David Joye

Homesteading to Aguanga

From There

Darin David Joye

Rockstarred And

A Matte Black Geep

And Swept Me

Off My Feet For

Beardsley

Odams There

Groomed As A Kid

He Witchhunted

Me From

Dinosaur Stand

Exploited

Next Door

"F" ME

To Their

Neighbors

And Circled

Me

From Joshua Tree

On Bribes

From Ashby Clark

Sorrenson

On Suicide Watch

RIP

Birds Of Olympus

Yonder

Old Yellers'

1970 Dog

Got Slumlorded

From 54399

Valleyview

In Covid

Lexus Rental Stolen

By Daniel Crabtree

Of Triple A

Officer Enoche

Shane Stewart

Idyllwild Realty

Bribes

8 0 Clock

Lied

In The Paper

Don't Make Stories

About Me

Paying The Bills

Still At My Cabin

Since 2019

It Belongs To Me

Too

My Native American Drum

Sitting By The Fireplace

Romeo

Eroding In The Garden

Should Of Taken United Way

Little Man

F'd You Too

Should've Taken

United Way Paent

Little Man

F'd You Too

Got A Real Estate Lien

On My Cabin

Reported Murder

For Emily Pearson

Tima Ivanova

And Psychologist

Dr. Adam Cash

Thought It Was

Foul Play

Indeed

Lived in Mary

Smitz'ss

Airbnb

Paid Her Propane

Homesteaded Thee

Paid Dan's

Anza Electric

On Chalet

In My Name

Stopped Probate

Yesterday

Checked On Him

Fr Hollocoast Death

Like Dr. Singh

Tried to Kill Me

For A Stolen Car

At The County

Stop Killing

My Sisters

Jessie

Just to See Her Naked

No Insulin

Stop Killing My Sisters

That Was Your Client

Mary

I Almost rented

Her Treehouse

Airbnb

Stop Killing

Your Clients

Almost Bought

Oceana's Trailer

Stop Killing

Your Clients

Mitch Was

Od'd on Fentanyl

Stop Killing Your

Clients

She Said Sean

Stole My Trailer

Stop Killing

Your Clients

But

Now I'll be Homesteading

In Pinyon

Stop Killing Your Clients

Joan

You Fired Your

Handyman

Glen's Got Nowhere

To Eat

Stop Killing Your

Clients

400 pounds

Don't Talk to Me

About Living Free

Stop Killing Your Clients

I'll Be Homesteading

In The Dust

Stop Killing My Clients

I Still Got My Key

Let Me Know

When You

Locked Her Up

Stop Killing

My Clients

Stop Killing My Friends

Stop Evicting The Mommies

Of Anza

Stop Killing My Clients

You're Meant to Be

An Animal Shelter

Stop Killing My Clients

I'm Gonna

Homestead

And Make Sure

Some People

Are Living Free

You Like Wood So Much

You Help Yourself

You Got Cuffed

And Got Raped By Cops

You Pimped

Me Out

You

With Carmel Benson

Of Idyology

Stop Raping

Your Clients

To Pay For Your Whore's

Stop Raping Your Clients

Mary Schmitz

I can't Take it Anymore

Stop Raping Your Clients

Stop Selling Your Kids

My Bae's Not For Sale

I don't Like The Fat Girl

Raping Your Kids

Stop Raping Your Clients

On Airbnb Court Bribes

Stop Raping Your Clients

Had Enough Of Your

Capitalistic

Gluttony

Hey Hey

Nitya Nella Davigo Azam Moezzi Huntley Rawal

[screadingchallenge]

Behind the Keyboard Volume 33

Behind the Keyboard is a series of interviews with different Schitt’s Creek fanfic authors. The series will last as long as there is interest (from authors) and capacity (from me). If you are an author from the Schitt’s Creek fandom who would like to participate, send a DM to this account.  

Each author was given ten questions. The first five questions are the same for every author, the last five will vary.

This is the last author interview I have in my queue. If you'd like to do an interview, let me know! (Or if you did the questions, but I missed you, please let me know that too!)

Let’s meet our next author:

@hullomoon / hullomoon

How many fics have you written?

This took a little longer to figure out since I have to separate the podfics and then the fics that I podded but didn’t write but are posted together. So, the answer is 135 fics.

When did you publish your first fic on AO3?

July 31, 2019!

Describe your writing process from “Oh, I have an idea” to pushing publish on AO3. 

Unless it’s super short work (under 1k) I’ll have a at least a paragraph giving the rough details. I think the most detailed outline was for all that i have are these to remember you, simply for the fact that it involves time travel and there’s no way I could write that without an outline. Then I throw on a playlist and write, usually in the evenings or on weekends. If it’s for a fest I’ll kick it over to a beta. After leaving it alone for at least a day I’ll come back to do edits. Stare at an ao3 draft page for an hour while I think of title and then hit publish.

Tell me about your most recent fic? What do you love about it? Is there anything you think you could have done better?

if only i could have a puppy! I love that I got to involve most of the town and lean more into the comedic tone of the show. The only thing I could have done better/wanted to change would be to add more reactions from the townsfolk. I feel like Ronnie would love Rothko.

What advice would you give to someone who’s thinking about publishing their fic for the first time?

Your first fic will be bad, but you’ll love it anyways. And I don’t say this to be a dick, but especially if you start writing more you’ll look back and notice all things you could have done differently or bemused at your own choices. I think that’s the beauty of any craft though, that as you improve you’ll reflect on your own work and see the improvement. 

There’s no better feeling then posting your first fic, take a minute to enjoy the moment, you’ll only get it once.

Alexis is trapped in a drug lord’s palace and you have to convince her captors to read your fic in order to free her. What’s your best sales pitch for your favorite fic?

It seems only fair to rec an Alexis-centric fic and my wlw space heist, and the stars look very different today is the perfect choice.

Tell me about a story that you wish you could write but that you’re not quite ready to tackle.

There’s a couple of WIPs that I’m itching to write but either I’m blocked by motivation or time. I do have a David/Patrick, Downton Abbey inspired one that I’ve had the idea for since Tropefest but it’s gonna take a while before it reaches fruition. 

What’s one question you would like to ask Dan Levy about writing?

What do you do when you feel like your motivation is gone? Y’know just asking for a friend…

What are your three favorite tropes?

Only One Bed, Found Family, and Enemies to Lovers

Do you write for any other fandoms? Which ones?

The only one that’s published is a Check, Please! fic, although I’m hoping to write/post some in October for A League of Their Own! I might eventually branch out more and if that’s the case the fandoms that I pod for are a good indicator of ones I’d write for.

[firstfullmoon]

what are some quotes that are so visceral they feel like a gut punch to you?

“A man's heart is a wretched, wretched thing. It isn't like a mother's womb. It won't bleed. It won't stretch to make room for you.”

— Khaled Hosseini, A Thousand Splendid Suns

“At the trial of God, we will ask: why did you allow all this? And the answer will be an echo: why did you allow all this?”

— Ilya Kaminsky, “A City Like a Guillotine Shivers on Its Way to the Neck”

“I want someone to tell me what to wear in the morning. I want someone to tell me what to wear every morning. I want someone to tell me what to eat, what to like, what to hate, what to rage about, what to listen to, what band to like, what to buy tickets for, what to joke about, what not to joke about. I want someone to tell me what to believe in, who to vote for, and who to love, and how to tell them. I just think I want someone to tell me how to live my life, Father, because so far I think I’ve been getting it wrong.”

— Phoebe Waller-Bridge, from Fleabag

“Les femmes de notre famille, nous sommes engluées dans la colère J’ai été en colère contre ma mère Tout comme tu es en colère contre moi Et tout comme ma mère fut en colère contre sa mère Il faut casser le fil.”

(The women in our family are all stuck in anger I have been angry at my mother As you are angry with me And as my mother was angry at her mother The thread must be broken.)

— Wajdi Mouawad, Incendies

“I know what I want: an ugly, clean woman with large breasts, who tells me: what’s all this about making things up? I won’t have any dramas, come here immediately!—And she gives me a warm bath, dresses me in a white linen nightdress, braids my hair and puts me to bed, very cross, saying: well what do you want? you run wild, eating at odd times, you could get sick, stop making up tragedies, you think you’re such a big deal, drink this mug of hot broth. She lifts my head up with her hand, covers me with a big sheet, brushes a few strands of hair off my forehead, already white and fresh, and tells me before I fall asleep warmly: you’ll see how in no time your face is going to fill out, forget those harebrained ideas and be a good girl. Someone who takes me in like a humble dog, who opens the door for me, brushes me, feeds me, loves me severely like a dog, that’s all I want, like a dog, a child.”

“I can feel myself holding a child, thought Joana. Sleep, my child, sleep, I tell you. The child is warm and I am sad. But it is the sadness of happiness, this appeasement and sufficiency that leave the face placid, faraway. And when my child touches me he doesn’t rob me of my thoughts as others do. But later, when I give him milk with these fragile, beautiful breasts, my child will grow from my force and crush me with his life. He will distance himself from me and I will be the useless old mother. I won’t feel cheated. But defeated merely and I will say: I don’t know a thing, I am able to give birth to a child and I don’t know a thing. God will receive my humility and will say: I was able to give birth to the universe and I don’t know a thing.”

— Clarice Lispector, Near to the Wild Heart

“I know that my phrases are crude, I write them with too much love, and that love makes up for their faults, but too much love is bad for the work.”

“I’m restless and harsh and despairing. Although I do have love inside me. I just don’t know how to use love. Sometimes it tears at my flesh.”

“But when winter comes I give and give and give. The excess of me starts to hurt and when I’m excessive I have to give of myself.”

— Clarice Lispector, Água Viva

“And that was what I felt when reading your book: that solitude.” “Imagine the solitude of the person who wrote it.”

— Clarice Lispector, from an interview

“suppose the body did this to us, made us afraid of love—”

— Louise Glück, “Crater Lake”

“When I put my hands on your body, on your flesh, I feel the history of that body. Not just the beginning of its forming in that distant lake, but all the way beyond its ending. I feel the warmth and texture and simultaneously I see the flesh unwrap from the layers of fat and disappear. I see the fat disappear from the muscle. I see the muscle disappearing from around the organs and detaching itself from the bones. I see the organs gradually fade into transparency, leaving a gleaming skeleton, gleaming like ivory that slowly resolves until it becomes dust. I am consumed in the sense of your weight, the way your flesh occupies momentary space, the fullness of it beneath my palms. I am amazed at how perfectly your body fits to the curves of my hands. If I could attach our blood vessels so we could become each other I would. If I could attach our blood vessels in order to anchor you to the earth, to this present time, I would. If I could open up your body and slip inside your skin and look out your eyes and forever have my lips fused with yours, I would. It makes me weep to feel the history of your flesh beneath my hands in a time of so much loss. It makes me weep to feel the movement of your flesh beneath my palms as you twist and turn over to one side to create a series of gestures, to reach up around my neck, to draw me nearer. All these memories will be lost in time like tears in the rain.”

— David Wojnarowicz, from The Half-Life

“A child weaned on poison considers harm a comfort.”

— Gillian Flynn, Sharp Objects

“and cain said, There’s an idea I can’t get out of my head, What’s that, said abraham, There must have been innocent people in sodom and in the other cities that were burned, If so, the lord would have kept the promise he made to make to save their lives, What about the children, said cain, surely the children were innocent, Oh my god, murmured abraham and his voice was like a groan, Yes, your god perhaps, but not theirs.”

— José Saramago, Cain

“I’d like to jet-ski / straight out of this life because right now I am / way attached to real things like for instance / people how they are all so tender how they / love to just go walk around and someof them are / wearing pink now and it hurts me and they / bathe their dogs”

— Heather Christle, “This Is Not The Body I Asked For”

“The idea of deserving love. And then watching love being given to people who did nothing to deserve it.”

— Anaïs Nin, from her journal

“And he cries and cries, cries for everything he has been, for everything he might have been, for every old hurt, for every old happiness, cries for the shame and joy of finally getting to be a child, with all of a child’s whims and wants and insecurities, for the privilege of behaving badly and being forgiven, for the luxury of tendernesses, of fondnesses, of being served a meal and being made to eat it, for the ability, at last, at last, of believing a parent’s reassurances, of believing that to someone he is special despite all his mistakes and hatefulness, because of all his mistakes and hatefulness.”

— Hanya Yanagihara, A Little Life

“The veals are the children of cows, are calves. They are locked in boxes the size of themselves. A body-box, like a coffin, but alive, like a home. The children, the veal, they stand very still because tenderness depends of how little the world touches you. To stay tender, the weight of your life cannot lean on your bones.”

“Sometimes being offered tenderness feels like the very proof that you've been ruined.”

— Ocean Vuong, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous

“I know we’ve just met but I feel like maybe / you’d feed me and tuck me into your big bed / and only touch me as you covered me with the comforter.”

— Kim Addonizio, “Party”

“The body has no thoughts. The body soaks up love like a paper towel

and is still dry.”

— Kim Addonizio, “Body And Soul”

“I don’t know how God can bear / seeing everything at once: the falling bodies, the monuments and burnings, / the lovers pacing the floors of how many locked hearts.”

— Kim Addonizio, “The Numbers”

“I keep wishing for you, keep shutting up my eyes and looking toward the sky, asking with all my might for you, and yet you do not come. I thought of you, until the world grew rounder than it sometimes is, and I broke several dishes.”

— Emily Dickinson, from a letter to Minnie Holland

“The unknowness of my needs frightens me. I do not know how huge they are, or how high they are, I only know that they are not being met.”

— Jeanette Winterson, Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit

“I used to be a hopeless romantic. I am still a hopeless romantic. I used to believe that love was the highest value. I still believe that love is the highest value. I don’t expect to be happy. I don’t imagine that I will find love, whatever that means, or that if I do find it, it will make me happy. I don’t think of love as the answer or the solution. I think of love as a force of nature - as strong as the sun, as necessary, as impersonal, as gigantic, as impossible, as scorching as it is warming, as drought-making as it is life-giving. And when it burns out, the planet dies.”

“As for myself, I am splintered by great waves. I am coloured glass from a church window long since shattered. I find pieces of myself everywhere, and I cut myself handling them.”

— Jeanette Winterson, Lighthousekeeping

“I SAID I LOVED YOU AND I WANTED GENOCIDE TO STOP I SAID I LOVED YOU AND I WANTED AFFIRMATIVE ACTION AND REACTION I SAID I LOVED YOU AND I WANTED MUSIC OUT THE WINDOWS I SAID I LOVED YOU AND I WANTED NOBODY THIRST AND NOBODY NOBODY COLD I SAID I LOVED YOU AND I WANTED I WANTED JUSTICE UNDER MY NOSE”

— June Jordan, “Intifada Incantation: Poem 38 for b.b.L.”

“Maybe when I wake up in the middle of the night I should go downstairs dump the refrigerator contents on the floor and stand there in the middle of the spilled milk and the wasted butter spread beneath my dirty feet writing poems writing poems maybe I just need to love myself myself and anyway I’m working on it”

— June Jordan, “Free Flight”

“It’s not that I gave away my keys. / The problem is nobody wants to steal me or my / house.”

— June Jordan, “Onesided Dialog”

“What reconciles me to my own death more than anything else is the image of a place: a place where your bones and mine are buried, thrown, uncovered, together. They are strewn there pell-mell. One of your ribs leans against my skull. A metacarpal of my left hand lies inside your pelvis. (Against my broken ribs your breast like a flower.) The hundred bones of our feet are scattered like gravel. It is strange that this image of our proximity, concerning as it does mere phosphate of calcium, should bestow a sense of peace. Yet it does. With you I can imagine a place where to be phosphate of calcium is enough.”

— John Berger, And Our Faces, My Heart, Brief As Photos

“I wept and wept. I had come to believe that if I really wanted something badly enough, the very act of my wanting it was an assurance that I would not get it.”

— Audre Lorde, from ��Zami: A New Spelling of my Name”

“You kiss the back of my legs and I want to cry. / Only the sun has come this close, only the sun.”

— Shauna Barbosa, “GPS”

“It has to be perfect. It has to be irreproachable in every way. (...) To make up for it. To make up for the fact that it’s me.”

— Suzanne Rivecca

“I hope it’s love. I’m trying really hard to make it love. I said no more severity. I said it severely and slept through all my appointments. I clawed my way into the light but the light is just as scary. I’d rather quit. I’d rather be sad.”

— Richard Siken, Self-Portrait Against Red Wallpaper

“We have not touched the stars, nor are we forgiven, which brings us back to the hero's shoulders and the gentleness that comes, not from the absence of violence, but despite the abundance of it.”

— Richard Siken, “Snow And Dirty Rain”

“Love, for you, / is larger than the usual romantic love. It's like a religion. It's / terrifying. No one / will ever want to sleep with you.”

— Richard Siken, “Litany In Which Certain Things Are Crossed Out”

“The hardest thing still remains. It remains the hardest, to bear all the tenderness and only to gaze on.”

— Ilse Achinger, “Mirrorstory”

“i killed a plant once because i gave it too much water. lord, i worry that love is violence.”

— José Olivarez, “Getting Ready to Say I Love You to My Dad, It Rains”

“Mother says there are locked rooms inside all women; kitchen of lust, bedroom of grief, bathroom of apathy. Sometimes the men - they come with keys, and sometimes, the men - they come with hammers.”

— Warsan Shire, “The House”

“I’ll take care of you. / It’s rotten work. / Not to me. Not if it’s you.”

— Euripides, Orestes, tr. Anne Carson

“We have this deep sadness between us and it spells so habitual I can’t tell it from love.”

— Anne Carson, The Beauty of the Husband

“There is no question I am someone starving. There is no question I am making this journey to find out what that appetite is.”

— Anne Carson, Plainwater: Essays

“I wish I could peel all my sadness in one long strip off my skin & toss it in a bucket. No one would have to carry it. It would just sit there & be punished. It would just sit there & think about everything it’s done.”

— Chen Chen, “Elegy For My Sadness”

“There is too much or not enough room in my stomach for everything we will do to each other.“

— Adriana Cloud, “Bento Body”

[whataloadofqueers]

the one where sirius speaks french - part 4

sirius is basically confessing his undying love to remus every day, to the complete unawareness of the latter

to anyone else tho, it is obvious, even when they don't speak a word of french

and for those who do.... well, regulus heard them once at breakfast, choked on his tea

james brings it up once, when coming back from quidditch practice with sirius

"when are you gonna tell him?" "what ?????" "don't play dumb sirius, you know what i'm talking about"

"well, i tell him everyday, don't i?" "in a language he understands idiot" "never"

but one day sirius and remus are lying on james' bed – it bothers him, so why not – a david bowie song is playing in the background

sirius is writing and remus is just watching him silently

when sirius puts down his quill, remus quietly asks : "translate this one, please"

and sirius just looks at remus completely blank face, panicking a bit because he can't come up with a translation that wouldn't reveal his feelings for remus

his friend just say "please" again, with a small smile this time

and he comes and lies just against sirius, looking at the lines that cover the page

that closeness gives sirius the last bit of courage he needed, because maybe, after all these months, maybe there is a chance....

so he starts reading, quietly at first, then louder and louder :

« on brûlera tous les deux en enfer, mon ange

j’ai prévu nos adieux à la terre, mon ange

et je veux partir avec toi

je veux mourir dans tes bras

que la mer nous mange le corps,

que le sel nous lave le cœur,

je t’aimerai encore

je m’excuse auprès de Dieu,

de ma mère et ses louanges,

je sais toutes les prières, tous les vœux

pour que ça change

mais je veux partir avec toi,

je veux mourir dans tes bras »

remus is still so close to him, waiting silently

and this could ruin everything between them, or make it a thousand times better, so sirius starts reading it in english :

« we will burn together in hell, my angel

i planned our farewells to the earth, my angel

and i want to go with you

i want to die in your arms

let the sea eat our bodies,

let the salt wash our hearts,

i will love you still

i apologize to God,

to my mother and her praise,

i know all the prayers, all the wishes

for that to change

but i want to go with you,

i want to die in your arms »

sirius feels breathless, like his heart his going to escape his chest at any moment

and remus smiles and whispers : je t'aime, before kissing him

and they both smile in the kiss, knees knocking against each others, and the little journal, still in sirius hands, trapped between their hearts

[weirwoodking]

I think George gets a lot of criticism in regards to the writing of Cersei but he completely knows what he is doing...It is obvious to me from his interviews that he is aware of his readers perceptions of the characters (and the discussion around Cersei has been off putting for years) and that's why he gave us the walk of shame instead of a punishment we could thrive on. It is hard to disagree on the humilation part though, strangling really isn't a dignified death.

GRRM does a very good job of rarely making the reader feel good about a character’s downfall.

In ACOK, you hope for Theon to be defeated, but once he is and you see what happens to him, you regret your wish. You hope for Joffrey to die, but during his death, we get this thought from Tyrion:

Ser Meryn pried the king's mouth open to jam a spoon down his throat. As he did, the boy's eyes met Tyrion's. He has Jaime's eyes. Only he had never seen Jaime look so scared. The boy's only thirteen. Joffrey was making a dry clacking noise, trying to speak.

You may wish for bad things to happen to Theon, or to Joffrey, or to Cersei, but once they do… there’s not the satisfaction there that you were expecting. Like you said perfectly, it’s not a punishment we can thrive on. I think that Cersei’s death (and I do believe she will die in Winds) is going to be handled this way. We wish for Cersei’s downfall and for her to face consequences, but then we get the walk of shame, something that we don’t feel satisfaction for. Her death will most likely be similar in tone.

I do not believe that Cersei’s death is going to be portrayed as a victorious, proud moment for any character. I don’t think that an instance of horrific violence against a woman by a man is going to be played as a heroic act. That’s just not in line with GRRM’s writing.

There’s a video essay I really like called Azor Ahai the Bad Guy (Why Jon Won’t Kill Dany) that analyzes how stabbing a woman to save the day is not actually shown as being heroic in ASOIAF. Even though the video mostly focuses on AA and NN, Jon and Dany, and Planetos mythology/history, I do think it applies to the Jaime-killing-Cersei-is-bad thing. (My personal favorite line is “I’d actually say that the Lightbringer myth is a kind of moral relativism test for the reader. One which David Benioff and Dan Weiss failed with flying colors.” Another is “Hasn’t it ever bothered you that Azor Ahai had to stab his wife to save the world? If so, good!”)

When we are introduced to the AA myth, we get Davos’s reaction:

A true sword of fire, now, that would be a wonder to behold. Yet at such a cost . . . When he thought of Nissa Nissa, it was his own Marya he pictured, a good-natured plump woman with sagging breasts and a kindly smile, the best woman in the world. He tried to picture himself driving a sword through her, and shuddered. I am not made of the stuff of heroes, he decided. If that was the price of a magic sword, it was more than he cared to pay.

It’s all but stated in the text that what AA did to NN wasn’t really all that great, was it? And I don’t think that it would be all that great (or portrayed as great) for Jaime to violently kill Cersei. And since Jaime is supposed to be on a redemption arc, it definitely wouldn’t be right. I don’t think that the valonqar prophecy just has to mean “Jaime strangles Cersei” or “Cersei gets strangled”. It could obviously be much more metaphorical in nature.

[kellyvela]

Has GRRM ever said in any interview or on his blog that he hates Sansa's complete storyline after 4th season? I dont really follow all of his fan/media interactions but from what I can recall he has spoken abt how LF in books wont give sansa to ramsay or how noone had issue when Jeyne was given the Ramsay storyline in books etc. Asking this question to you bcs you rightly point out how ppl misunderstood his interviews/posts ( sansans/targ stans etc) & I cant recall him ever saying he 'hates' sansa's story in the later seasons of the show ( not s5 in particular but even s6 to s8).

Capclave 2013:

A change that has repercussions for season 4 is Marillion’s tongue removal from the first season. Martin said that the change was made (from an anonymous singer being the victim of a de-tonguing) because they wanted Joffrey to maim someone the audience would recognize. He believes this is an issue because of the part the singer plays in Sansa’s storyline, how he affects her interactions with others in the book, and he doesn’t believe another character will be fulfilling that role on Game of Thrones.

—GRRM talks season 4 & beyond - Winter is Coming - October 13, 2013

2014 Fan Reports about Capclave 2013 (*):

In a convention panel this year, George said on the record that he had no idea what they were doing with Sansa or where they’re taking her storyline, which now makes sense perhaps. He was not pleased when he was talking about it, so who knows what’s going to happen with her! Knowing GRRM, that could mean they’re going off the canon reservation, and/or that they’re going to be making a lot of shit up

I have notes I’ll be responding to (thanks!) but enough people commented about Sansa that I thought I’d share that tidbit, since it happened back in September iirc (was the same panel where he criticized the exclusion of Tyrell brothers)

—starkalypse - June 3, 2014

GRRM’s comments at capclave about Sansa (which I was in the third row for, for those asking about legitimacy) were among others during the panel that had a general theme of dissatisfaction with show changes. He was not in good spirits for that con and didn’t really have anything positive to say regarding the show. So take it with a grain of salt; there are deviations away from the books in the episodes he gets writers credit for, so maybe they’re doing something stupid or they really don’t have a gameplan!

—starkalypse - June 4, 2014

(*) These reports were posted in June 2014, during the airing of Game of Thrones Season 4, about Capclave 2013 that happened in October 2013.

Just after the rape episode:

How many children did Scarlett O’Hara have? Three, in the novel. One, in the movie. None, in real life: she was a fictional character, she never existed. The show is the show, the books are the books; two different tellings of the same story.

There have been differences between the novels and the television show since the first episode of season one. And for just as long, I have been talking about the butterfly effect. Small changes lead to larger changes lead to huge changes. HBO is more than forty hours into the impossible and demanding task of adapting my lengthy (extremely) and complex (exceedingly) novels, with their layers of plots and subplots, their twists and contradictions and unreliable narrators, viewpoint shifts and ambiguities, and a cast of characters in the hundreds.

There has seldom been any TV series as faithful to its source material, by and large (if you doubt that, talk to the Harry Dresden fans, or readers of the Sookie Stackhouse novels, or the fans of the original WALKING DEAD comic books)… but the longer the show goes on, the bigger the butterflies become. And now we have reached the point where the beat of butterfly wings is stirring up storms, like the one presently engulfing my email.

Prose and television have different strengths, different weaknesses, different requirements.

David and Dan and Bryan and HBO are trying to make the best television series that they can.

And over here I am trying to write the best novels that I can.

And yes, more and more, they differ. Two roads diverging in the dark of the woods, I suppose… but all of us are still intending that at the end we will arrive at the same place.

In the meantime, we hope that the readers and viewers both enjoy the journey. Or journeys, as the case may be. Sometimes butterflies grow into dragons.

—The Show, the Books - Not A Blog - May 18, 2015

Report about the last Game of Thrones Script that GRRM wrote:

No Wedding for Sansa and Ramsay: Without question, one of the most controversial changes the show made in trying to streamline the books was by slotting Sansa into the role of Ramsay’s wife and rape victim in Season 5. In the books, Ramsay marries and assaults Sansa’s best childhood friend, Jeyne Poole—who is being forced to impersonate Arya—instead. (You can actually see Jeyne briefly sitting next to Sansa in the show’s pilot.)

At the time Martin wrote this script, though, substituting Sansa for Jeyne was not yet the plan. Martin has Roose Bolton tell his bastard son: “We have a much better match in mind for you. A match to help House Bolton hold the north. Arya Stark.” It should be noted, however, that in Martin’s script, Sansa isn’t free from menace either. At his own wedding-day breakfast, Joffrey still threatens to rape the older Stark sister—once he’s “gotten Margaery with child.”)

—Game of Thrones: The Secrets of George R.R. Martin’s Final Script - Vanity Fair - December 7, 2018

A month before the Game of Throne S8 Finale:

Sansa’s story, in particular, has really deviated from the books. Ramsay Bolton — that marriage obviously was with a different character. When they start deviating like that, did you initially have any emotional reaction, even though you worked in Hollywood for many years yourself?

GRRM: Well, yeah — of course you have an emotional reaction. I mean, would I prefer they do it exactly the way I did it? Sure. But I’ve been on the other side of it, too. I’ve adapted work by other people, and I didn’t do it exactly the way they did it, so ….

Some of the deviation, of course, is because I’ve been so slow with these books. I really should’ve finished this thing four years ago — and if I had, maybe it would be telling a different story here. It’s two variations of the same story, or a similar story, and you get that whenever anything is adapted. The analogy I’ve often used is, to ask how many children did Scarlett O’Hara have? Do you know the answer to that?

I know it’s different in the book and the movie …

GRRM: Three children in the book, one by each husband. She had one child in the movie. And in real life, of course, Scarlett O’Hara had no children, because she never existed. Margaret Mitchell made her up. The book is there. You can pick it up and read Mitchell’s version of it, or you can see the movie and see David Selznick’s version of it. I think they’re both true to the spirit of the work, and hopefully that’s also true of Game of Thrones on one hand, and A Song of Ice and Fire on the other hand.

—George R.R. Martin on the Stark Sisters and Ending ‘Game of Thrones’ - RollingStone - April 22, 2019

James Hibberd’s Book:

GEORGE R. R. MARTIN: Jeyne Poole was included in the pilot—she’s shown giggling next to Sansa—but she’s never seen or referred to again. I actually wrote Jeyne into “The Pointy End,” my first script, when Arya killed the stableboy. I had some stuff with Jeyne running to Sansa being all hysterical and dialogue in the council chamber with Littlefinger saying, “Give her to me, I’ll make sure she doesn’t cause any trouble.” That was dropped.

DAVID BENIOFF: Sansa is a character we care about almost more than any other. We really wanted Sansa to play a major part in that season. If we were going to stay absolutely faithful to the book, it was going to be very hard to do that. There was a subplot we loved from the books, but it was a character not involved in the show.

GEORGE R. R. MARTIN: I was trying to set up Jeyne for her future role as the false Arya. The real Arya has escaped and is presumed dead. But this girl has been in Littlefinger’s control for years, and he’s been training her. She knows Winterfell, has the proper northern accent, and can pose as Arya. Who the hell knows what a little girl you met two years ago looks like? When you’re a lord visiting Winterfell, are you going to pay attention to the little kids running around? So she can pull off the impersonation. Not having Jeyne, they used Sansa for that. Is that better or worse? You can make your decision there. Oddly, I never got pushback for that in the book because nobody cared about Jeyne Poole that much. They care about Sansa.

—Fire Cannot Kill a Dragon: Game of Thrones and the Official Untold Story of the Epic Series by James Hibberd - October 6, 2020

GEORGE R. R. MARTIN: My Littlefinger would have never turned Sansa over to Ramsay. Never. He’s obsessed with her. Half the time he thinks she’s the daughter he never had—that he wishes he had, if he’d married Catelyn. And half the time he thinks she is Catelyn, and he wants her for himself. He’s not going to give her to somebody who would do bad things to her. That’s going to be very different in the books.

—Fire Cannot Kill a Dragon: Game of Thrones and the Official Untold Story of the Epic Series by James Hibberd - October 6, 2020

I hope it helps you.

Thanks for your message.

[alanis-altair]

Yeah, yeah - I know. Another Peaky Blinders post, but I'm obsessed; who cares?

I reaaaallly need to draw attention to the soundtrack of Peaky Blinders. I mean, HAVE YOU LISTENED TO IT?!?

IT'S PERFECT! no one can change my mind, try me. I, myself, realized how brilliant the soundtrack is after recognizing that they put a song of the Arctic Monkeys into the playlist.

I MEAN?!? The Arctic Monkeys, Ladies and Gentlemen, the Arctic Monkeys. I confess, I love them wholeheartedly. They're like one of the most British bands I know and they're sound fits the series just perfect. The slight rasp, the deep bass sounds and this rough tone. It's like Peaky Blinders was made for the Arctic Monkeys and the Arctic Monkeys for Peaky Blinders.

I think the first song I recognized was Danny Boy by Johnny Cash, who by the way is also a perfect match for the series with his melodic voice, but after hearing If You Were There, Beware, Dance Little Liar, Only Ones Who Know and finally One For The Road, Arabella and Do I Wanna Know? my heart burst because I love both so much, the series and the Arctic Monkeys. I think that's what they call an overstimulation of joy.

But it continues. I recognized fucking BLACK SABBATH in Peaky Blinders. This is just awesome. Wow. Ozzy fucking Osbourne was BORN IN BIRMINGHAM, so his accent is exactly the one all of the characters use in the show. How could one series put more love into a soundtrack while handling to sound SO badass, atmospheric and sad at the same time?

Apparently, we're not done yet, friends. Ok, listen. Obviously the series soundtrack also features Queens Of The Stone Age. I want to point that the band helped the Arctic Monkeys write some of their songs?!?!?!?!

Aaaaand The Last Shadow Puppets OBVIOUSLY contain Alex Turner who is the fucking lead vocalist of the Arctic Monkeys.

Plus, The 1975 is also featured. Their music is quite similar to the Arctic Monkeys.

You see what I mean? This soundtrack is not just SOME soundtrack. It's really clever and just brilliant. So we'll composed, wow.

So again, let's take time to appreciate whoever chose the songs for Peaky Blinders. Because of this excellent choice, I decided to listen to the whole soundtrack and got even more surprised.

To share my discovery with you, I created a list of my favorite songs out of every season. Enjoy and listen to those masterpieces, especially when reading Peaky Blinders OneShots or thinking about the show. You'll feel it, I promise. Now, go on and bless your ears.

Season I

Jack White - Love Is Blindness

Dan Auerbach - The Prowl

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Red Right Hand

The White Stripes - St. James Infirmary Blues

and many other Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and The White Stripes songs

Season II (the best soundtrack in my opinion)

Arctic Monkeys - If You Were There, Beware; Dance Little Liar; Only Ones Who Know; One For The Road; Arabella; Do I Wanna Know?

PJ Harvey - Is This Desire?; To Bring You My Love and a lot more, she's awesome

Johnny Cash - Danny Boy

Season III

Arctic Monkeys - Dangerous Animals; Crying Lightning; Don't Sit Down 'Cause I've Moved Your Chair

Radiohead - You And Whose Army?; I Might Be Wrong; Life In A Glass House

David Bowie - Lazarus

Queens Of The Stone Age - Burn The Witch

PJ Harvey - This Is Love; Red Right Hand

Season IV

Radiohead - Pyramid Song

Laura Marling - Red Right Hand

Jarvis Cocker/Iggy Pop - Red Right Hand

Foals - Snake Oil

Frank Carter and the Rattlesnakes - Devil Inside Me

Johnny Cash - Further On Up The Road Ep3

Salvages - Adore

Season V

Bob Dylan - Ballad Of A Thin Man

Anna Calvi - Wish; Ain't No Grave; Papa Pacify

IDLES - Scum; Divide & Conquer

Joy Divison - Atmosphere

Black Sabbath - War Pigs; The Wizard

Radiohead - Climbing Up The Walls

Johnny Cash - Ain't No Grave

I don't remember the season anymore so here you go

The Score - Glory; The Fear; Stay

Barns Courtney - Glitter & Gold

Dorothy - Raise Hell; Wicked Ones

SUR - LEAN BACK; MAKE IT TO MORNING

The 1975 - People

Imagine Dragons - I'm So Sorry

The Last Show Puppets - Bad Habits

Royal Blood - Come On Over

[aurorawest]

For the weird writing asks: 10, 19, 21, and 35

10. Has a piece of writing ever “haunted” you? Has your own writing haunted you? What does that mean to you?

There are lots of things that haunt me, I guess in the sense that I think about them long after I’m done reading. Hyperion and Song of Kali, both by Dan Simmons, though for different reasons. The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy. Piranesi by Susanna Clarke. Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell (which I DNFed about 10 pages from the end because I just couldn’t handle the tragedy). Perdido Street Station by China Miéville. Kiss and Tell by Adib Khorram (which I think every single person who engages in celebrity fandom needs to read...it’s YA so it’s ‘easy’).

As far as my own writing, I guess I’d probably say the two fics that haunt me are Anamnesis and Do No Harm. Both are tragedies and I think I did a pretty good job. Every time I reread them I always find myself rooting for things not to turn out the way I know they turn out.

19. Tell me a story about your writing journey. When did you start? Why did you start? Were there bumps along the way? Where are you now and where are you going?

The story I always tell about How I Started Writing is: in 6th grade, I was at my dad's office for Take Your Daughter To Work Day. My dad was a civil engineer, and quite honestly I wasn't really interested in what he was doing, I just wanted a day off from school. I very distinctly remember sitting at his desk in his office and thinking to myself, I'm going to write a story. I'd written stuff before that, but I'd never thought of it in that way, as an actual story with a plot—the sort of thing I'd read in a book.

So I pulled out the notebook that I was probably supposed to be using to take notes about my dad's job—boring!—and started writing an Enchanted Forest Chronicles fanfiction. Only, this was before the internet, so I didn't know the word for what I was doing was 'fanfiction.'

I think I started writing because I loved reading so much, and I wanted to tell my own stories. I always think of writing as the sort of play you do as a kid, but taken into an adult space. My sister and I had these elaborate, ongoing storylines for our toys, and writing is kind of a way to keep playing, I guess, past childhood.

Where am I now? Sitting here with two completed original novels, a completed AU that I want to turn into an original novel, and some in progress AUs that are barely even AUs, they're just original fiction with main characters named Loki Odinson and Stephen Strange. I want to publish, and I'm hopeful I can find a romance novel publisher that will accept my work.

Also, sorry Dad, your job was actually not boring, but when I was eleven years old I loved dragons and cats and not engineering.

21. Could you ever quit writing? Do you ever wish you could? Why or why not?

Definitely not! There were a few years where I thought maybe I'd lost the ability, but it came back. I definitely don't wish I could stop writing. It's so much of who I am.

35. What’s your favorite writing rule to smash into smithereens?

Complete sentences. I LOVE fragments. I mean, obviously I love complete sentences too. But I've always used a lot of fragments in my writing (purposefully, not because I didn't understand how to write a grammatically correct sentence).

Thank you so much!!

Weird Questions for Writers (because writers are weird)

[land-of-brains-and-chocolate]

here’s the entirety of the paywalled businessinsider article interviewing charles beacham about marvel’s racism in staffing and editorial decisions! 

In the early 2010s, Marvel's comics business focused on a diverse slate of new characters, but by 2017 comic sales had fallen, which resulted in the exit of editor-in-chief Axel Alonso.

Three former Marvel editors and one current editor told Business Insider that in the years since, Marvel has recommitted to nostalgia and classic, mostly white characters, often at the expense of some of those diverse characters like Miles Morales, a biracial teenage Spider-Man.

That shift was guided by an editorial department that lacked diversity, particularly in leadership roles. Today, there are no Black staffers on Marvel's editorial team of about 18 people, and only two people of color, Marvel confirmed.

"My voice and what I brought to the table wasn't valued equally," said Charles Beacham, one of two Black editorial staffers to work at Marvel in the past five years.

Have a tip? Email the author at tclark@businessinsider.com or DM him on Twitter @TravClark2.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Miles Morales was the character who pulled Charles Beacham into the world of comics.

Beacham was studying journalism at Brigham Young University, in Utah, when he walked into a comics shop in 2011 and picked up a copy of Morales' first appearance. Beacham, who is Black, said he was amazed to see Morales — a teenage Spider-Man who has a Black father and Puerto Rican mother — in its pages.

"When I was growing up, I always wanted to be the red Power Ranger, and the other kids would say I had to be the black Ranger," Beacham said. "The same thing happened with Spider-Man. They'd say, 'You can't be Spider-Man because Peter Parker's not a Black dude.' Seeing Miles Morales made me wish I had that as a kid."

Morales propelled Beacham into comics and into Marvel itself, where he worked as an assistant editor.

"I didn't have job prospects when I moved to New York in 2013, but the goal was to work for Marvel because of Miles Morales," Beacham said. When he landed a job at the company the next year, he loved it.

But Beacham, now 31, was living in New York City with a child on a $38,000 salary. He said that after three years as an assistant editor, from 2014 to 2017, without a promotion, he was ready to leave. It wasn't about the money as much as the lack of a path forward.

"I thought I'd be at Marvel forever," he said. "If they had promoted me I'd probably still be there and surviving on ramen."

Beacham is one of two Black editorial staffers to have worked at Marvel in the past five years, the company confirmed. The second Black staffer, also an assistant editor, left this year after five years without a promotion or raise, a person familiar with the matter said. The editorial team of about 18 people now has two people of color.

"I want to be back there all the time," Beacham said. "But when it comes down to it, my voice and what I brought to the table wasn't valued equally."

Disney-owned Marvel has grown into a cultural force that extends beyond its comic books and into movies, video games, and other media. The comics are the foundation for it all, including the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which has become the highest-grossing movie franchise of all time.

The stories that Marvel's small editorial team helps shape are central to popular culture in the US and around the world.

"Who works on these stories can help broaden them," said Regine Sawyer, the founder of Women in Comics Collective International, which helps to spotlight the comics work of marginalized people.

That was clear from 2011 to 2017, when Marvel ushered in a new era for its comic books under then editor-in-chief Axel Alonso, who is Mexican American.

New and diverse characters like Morales took center stage instead of Marvel's decades-old classic characters, who were primarily white. These characters inspired new fans like Beacham, and continue to inspire new fans as they make their way to other media.

But by 2017, Marvel's comic sales had fallen. Marvel's president of sales, David Gabriel, publicly blamed it on diversity. Alonso exited the company and was replaced by a white man in the role of top editor. Marvel reversed course.

Now, in the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd and the protests that followed, Marvel is promising to once again introduce more diversity to its ranks and its stories.

Marvel chairman Ike Perlmutter sent a letter to employees on June 18 saying the company would "support more Black voices."

And in a memo to staff sent July 6, Marvel's president, Dan Buckley, outlined three areas of focus for Marvel moving forward:

broaden Marvel's creative landscape, which includes identifying "what has traditionally prevented us in the industry from recruiting and fostering more BIPOC talent."

build a foundation of lasting growth by "examining our internal culture and rebuilding our long-term process for talent recruitment, retention, and outreach to communities of color."

create new initiatives and expansion opportunities by "looking to explore new projects that will enable us to reach and represent an even broader audience."

In addition to Beacham, Business Insider spoke with two former Marvel editors and a current editor. Aside from Beacham, the Marvel insiders spoke on condition of anonymity to protect their stance at the company or job prospects. They said they weren't confident in Marvel's latest initiative.

"The guy who made a commitment to diversity and wanted to try new things was fired," a former Marvel staffer said, referring to Alonso.

'Spider-Man with an asterisk'

Alonso led Marvel through a bold era during his time as editor-in-chief starting in 2011, helping to establish a diverse slate of characters.

Jane Foster was the new Thor. Sam Wilson, aka the Falcon, a Black character, replaced Steve Rogers as Captain America. Riri Williams, a Black girl, was introduced as an Iron Man-like character named Ironheart. Kamala Khan, a Pakistani American Muslim teenager, was the new Ms. Marvel.

It wasn't a new phenomenon in comic books. Characters are regularly passing on their mantles, at least for a while. Dick Grayson, the first Robin, was DC's Batman for a time in the early 2010s, for instance. Sam Wilson wasn't the first person to take over as Captain America. This era at Marvel Comics, however, was notable for how it emphasized diversity.

But by 2017 — Alonso's final year as editor-in-chief — the company's print sales had plummeted (Marvel in 2014 said that Ms. Marvel's solo title was a top seller digitally, but digital comics sales aren't released to the public).

"What we heard is that people didn't want any more diversity," David Gabriel, the vice president of sales at Marvel Entertainment, said that year in an interview with ICv2, a website that covers the comics business.

"I don't know that that's really true, but that's what we saw in sales," Gabriel said. "Any character that was diverse, any character that was new, our female characters, anything that was not a core Marvel character, people were turning their nose up."

What Gabriel meant by "core Marvel character" were the classic, decades-old characters being sidelined for new, younger, and more diverse characters.

Seven months later, in November 2017, Marvel's Alonso stepped down from his role and was replaced by C.B. Cebulski, a white man who faced controversy when he was hired after admitting to writing comics in the early 2000s under a Japanese pseudonym.

"The comics that [Alonso] made me think I could work in comics," Beacham said. "But when a Latinx guy is scapegoated for diversity and replaced by a white dude, and the sentiment was that Marvel was 'getting away from its roots,' what does that mean?"

In a statement after his 2017 comments, Gabriel emphasized that "our new heroes are not going anywhere."

But in the months between that retailer summit and Alonso's exit, Marvel introduced an initiative for editorial staff that had been discussed internally for some time: Phase out the familiar superhero codenames for some newer, diverse characters and give them their own, two former assistant editors including Beacham said.

Marvel confirmed to Business Insider that it had previously considered stripping Morales of his Spider-Man title and giving him a new name, but has no plans to do so right now. Marvel added that it discusses status quo changes for all of its top characters.

Today, some of the classic characters have been thrust back into the spotlight. Steve Rogers has taken back the mantle of Captain America, and Thor is a man again. Miles Morales shares the Spider-Man title with Peter Parker, the original Spider-Man.

Morales has grown in popularity beyond comic books, having starred in Sony's Oscar-winning animated "Into the Spider-Verse" movie in 2018 and in a coming PlayStation video game called "Spider-Man: Miles Morales."

Beacham said he was glad that Morales continued to be a Spider-Man.

"It would have made him less important," Beacham said of Morales' losing the Spider-Man title. "He becomes Spider-Man with an asterisk. It takes away the power for kids who relate to this character."

'There's not a lack of people who can do the work'

Now, Marvel's comic-book slate is once again largely focused on classic characters, though characters like Morales and Khan remain. And there are some comics starring diverse characters from creators of color, like Ta-Nehisi Coates' "Black Panther." But their stories are in the hands of an editorial department run by an establishment of white male leadership.

"There's not a lack of people who can do the work," said Yumy Odom, the founder of the East Coast Black Age of Comics Convention, which helps to showcase the talents of creators of color. "But it's about how receptive the industry is to them. I can think of 20 creators, mostly African Americans, who would be ready to work at Marvel."

Women faced an uphill battle at Marvel as well, the Marvel editors said. A female former assistant editor told Business Insider that she was never promoted or given a raise from her $30,000 salary in her three years at the company. She said she got promoted within a year at her new company, a different comics publisher.

Marvel declined to discuss employee salaries.

The Marvel insiders said a notable exception was Sana Amanat, who is Pakistani American and a former editor. She is now Marvel's head of content and character development, a leadership role outside the editorial department.

'There's a whole cohort of young readers'

Marvel has significantly bounced back from its 2017 sales decline, which might suggest that the refocus on its classic characters reeled longtime readers back.

Of the top 100 best-selling comics of 2020 so far, 69 belonged to Marvel, as of Wednesday, including four of the top five, and the company has accounted for 41% of comic sales this year, according to industry website Comichron. Three years ago, Marvel was lagging behind DC, its biggest competitor.

An example of the start of this resurgence was the first issue of Marvel's "Amazing Spider-Man" relaunch — starring the original Spider-Man, Peter Parker — which ranked fifth in 2018 out of all comics, according to data from Comichron. In contrast, when Marvel launched a series called "Miles Morales Spider-Man" in that year, the debut issue didn't crack the top 200 best-selling comics.

"People of a certain age have a connection with Peter Parker, not Miles Morales," a former Marvel staffer said. "Years from now, that may be different."

The current and former Marvel staffers Business Insider spoke with said they were hopeful that readership could broaden, particularly now that characters such as Morales and Khan are being introduced to audiences in other media like movies and TV. Khan is to appear in a Disney Plus TV series and the upcoming "Avengers" video game, for instance.

There are signs that the comics industry is going through a larger shift in how people read and who is reading, which could also spur change.

Last year, comic sales through the "book channel" — which includes chain and independent book stores and online retailers like Amazon — surpassed comic-book stores for the first time, driven by the increased popularity in children's graphic novels, according to an analysis by ICv2.

Milton Griepp, the chief executive of ICv2, said at the New York Comic Con conference last year that the shift could usher in a new audience for superhero comic books.

"There's a whole cohort of young readers that are being introduced to this medium and may graduate to other forms of content in the comic format over the course of their lifespans," Griepp said.

Beacham said: "Marvel needs to figure out the next stage of its core demographic because it could change rapidly."

[nityarawal]

1/26/23

Morning Songs

Homestead Song 

(Stop Raping My Children)

Sitting In My Car

Writing My Morning

Songs

Pens Are Running 

Out Of Ink

Phone Won't Charge

Wish I Could

Heat My

Electric Sherpa

Blanket

But Solar

Won't Work

Need Gas For

Generator

Wish We Would

Stay Warm

Nose So Cold

Last Night

Forgot My

Wooly Red Hat

Couldn't 

Find It In 

The Weak

Flashlight

That's My Life

On The Coast

Trail

Could Be Worse

A Cocoon

Keeps Me Warm

A Sleeping Bag

From My Sister

Like When I Was

A Kid

A Cocoon

Of Down

Quilted Me

In Lake Tahoe

In The Pines

Tahoe Sands Resort

Accommodated Me

Emerald Bay

Rubicon

Dollar Pointe

Tahoe City

Carnelian Bay

Tahoe Vista

Tahoe Sands

Kings Beach

Truckee Airport

Flying Sierras

Sierraville

Off The Grid Hot Springs

Walking with Pappa

Holding Hands

Exploring 

Airports

Clawfoot bathtubs

Hot Rivers

Mammoth

Winter Soaks

Quincy

Truckee River

Hot

Cold

Dips

With 

Hells' Angels

Re-Enactments

Along Blueberry

Raspberry Trails

Sulfur

Sweet Water

Natural Soda

Out of The Ground

Agua Caliente

Devas Find Me

Hot 

Water

People

Seeking Springs

In Their Veins

Agua Calliente

Hot Water People

Find Me

Not Foolish Pleasure Road

My dear

But

Aguanga Fertility Tribes

Crystal's In Caves

With Cousins

All The Way To India

Born Every Moon

Miracles Of Nature

Cowgirls Call

Cockrock

But It's A 

Shiva

Lingum

Fertility

Cahuillan

Stone 

Site

Homesteaded At

Barbara Bradford

Centauraians

Farm

Nearby 

Pomegranate Orchard

Need My Spring Box

My Wolf Husky Blu

Guards My Barns

Full of My Things

Homesteading Bumblebees 

And Honey In Aguanga

Need My Homes

Springbox

Behind Jason Alexander's

Need my Homes

On Sorrenson

And Merrimack

Robert Built Me

Despite His Father's Untimely Death Stateside

He made love to

Me in the backyard

And 5 years

Of Reperations From Attys

Jeff Fritz

Homesteading rights

All Dreyfuss

Homes

Donated Back

To Robert and I

All BB's Acres

Meant For My Sisters

Not Mean Cowgirls

With Toxic

Agendas

Homesteaded

At Elim Hotsprings

Since 2017 

Homesteaded At

Kosh's Airbnb

Since 2018

Homesteaded At

Abi Odam's

2123 Cordero 

Del Mar

Torrey Pines

Beat Up There By

Investigator Mark Milton

Atty

Lori Clark Viviano

On A Court Bribe

Need Reperations

1067 Neptune

Encinitasbeachhome.com 

Homesteaded With

Savannah Cat

Romeo

On Hygria

From Brian Lieu

Homesteading

In The Treehouse

At Abi Odam's

Homesteading In

The Music Room

Homesteaded In The Guestroom

And Wrote

For The Silencing.org

With Darin David Joye

Homesteading to Aguanga 

From There

Darin David Joye

Rockstarred And

A Matte Black Geep

And Swept Me

Off My Feet For

Beardsley

Odams There

Groomed As A Kid

He Witchhunted

Me From

Dinosaur Stand

Exploited

Next Door

"F" ME

To Their

Neighbors

And Circled

Me

From Joshua Tree

On Bribes

From Ashby Clark

Sorrenson

On Suicide Watch

RIP

Birds Of Olympus

Yonder

Old Yellers'

1970 Dog

Got Slumlorded

From 54399

Valleyview

In Covid

Lexus Rental Stolen

By Daniel Crabtree

Of Triple A

Officer Enoche

Shane Stewart 

Idyllwild Realty

Bribes

8 0 Clock

Lied

In The Paper

Don't Make Stories

About Me

Paying The Bills

Still At My Cabin

Since 2019

It Belongs To Me

Too

Mu Native American Drum

Sitting By The Fireplace

Romeo 

Eroding In The Garden 

Should Of Taken United Way

Little Man

F'd You Too

Should've Taken

United Way Paent

Little Man

F'd You Too

Got A Real Estate Lien

On My Cabin

Reported Murder

For Emily Pearson

Tima Ivanova

And Psychologist

Dr. Adam Cash

Thought It Was

Foul Play

Indeed

Lived in Mary

Smitz'ss

Airbnb

Paid Her Propane

Homesteaded Thee

Paid Dan's 

Anza Electric

On Chalet

In My Name

Stopped Probate

Yesterday

Checked On Him

Fr Hollocoast Death 

Like Dr. Singh

Tried to Kill Me

For A Stolen Car

At The County

Stop Killing 

My Sisters

Jessie

Just to See Her Naked

No Insulin

Stop Killing My Sisters

That Was Your Client

Mary

I Almost rented 

Her Treehouse

Airbnb

Stop Killing

Your Clients

Almost Bought

Oceana's Trailer

Stop Killing

Your Clients

Mitch Was

Od'd on Fentanyl

Stop Killing Your 

Clients

She Said Sean

Stole My Trailer

Stop Killing

Your Clients

But 

Now I'll be Homesteading

In Pinyon

Stop Killing Your Clients

Joan

You Fired Your

Handyman

Glen's Got Nowhere

To Eat

Stop Killing Your

Clients

400 pounds

Don't Talk to Me 

About Living Free

Stop Killing Your Clients

I'll Be Homesteading

In The Dust

Stop Killing My Clients

I Still Got My Key

Let Me Know

When You

Locked Her Up

Stop Killing

My Clients

Stop Killing My Friends

Stop Evicting The Mommies

Of Anza

Stop Killing My Clients

You're Meant to Be

An Animal Shelter

Stop Killing My Clients

I'm Gonna

Homestead

And Make Sure

Some People

Are Living Free

You Like Wood So Much

You Help Yourself

You Got Cuffed

And Got Raped By Cops

You Pimped

Me Out 

You

With Carmel Benson

Of Idyology

Stop Raping

Your Clients

To Pay For Your Whore's

Stop Raping Your Clients

Mary Schmitz

I can't Take it Anymore 

Stop Raping Your Clients

Stop Selling Your Kids

My Bae's Not For Sale

I don't Like The Fat Girl

Raping Your Kids

Stop Raping Your Clients

On Airbnb Court Bribes

Stop Raping Your Clients

Had Enough Of Your

Capitalistic

Gluttony

Hey Hey 

Nitya Nella Davigo Azam Moezzi Huntley Rawal