#even though the wings cover 90% of that work

[ch6sos]

random choso headcanons

i <3 choso i <3 making odd ball headcanons so here u guys go

content warning mentions of "metabolism", social anxiety/anxiety (not bad though) + motion sickness, and this is not proofread and lowercase so if any of those Like makes you tingle please don't read this my sweet

he’s emo as hell, he listens to emo music. now he's the one i actually imagine listening to my chemical romance, pierce the veil, etc. (bc with nanami I feel like he'd listen to more 80s-90s rock music but this isn't about my first husband)

he suffers from insomnia and finds it difficult to sleep unless he has someone he cares about in the room or at least snuggling with him.

peacemaker: he is a peacemaker when it comes to his brothers.

"hey yuji, you should really share with him. "

"no!"

"yuji...." 

"fine."

he has an earthy aroma—he often uses colognes with earthy notes that are not overpowering (i  think he might be sensitive to strong scents).

i imagine him experiencing motion sickness. for some reason, i imagine him feeling dizzy in a car, or being unable to handle a rollercoaster without feeling extremely unwell.

would probably work at your local hot topic especially if this was set during the 2000s era where hot topic was actually catered to the alternative scene. or a tattoo shop!

several piercings. on his left ear, he has an industrial, a triple lobe piercing, and a conch— his right having a double helix piercing, a tragus, and a single lobe piercing.... and then he has an eyebrow piercing and a labret piercing :)

enjoys watching christmas movies because a lot of them are about family!

deeply family-oriented, he genuinely just wants to grow up with a family. a big one, too.

thus he may have a fear of being alone, which makes me believe that he is introverted but also genuinely afraid of ending up alone as he grows older. he values the presence of family and wants to ensure that they always surround him.

he comes across as a bit shy initially, not necessarily awkward, but it takes some time to get to know him.

still not too talkative but genuinely chill to talk to.

has a lot of accessories when he wears outfits, especially bracelets or necklaces. 

black is what you find in his closet. just black (and a couple of purples and reds but mainly black)

he be thrifting them outfit pieces too idc idc he not a shein warrior

is a bit insecure about his dark circles and markings on his face (i could imagine he still has the markings but they look more like a scar rather than what it looks like in the actual manga/anime) so he begins to cover them up with concealer sometimes.

eats a LOT of junk food and somehow doesn't gain weight. bro probably can eat a whole box of pizza with wings and doesn't even gain a pound.

he is genuinely clueless/oblivious when it comes to relationships like he doesn't know when someone's flirting with him unless they tell them straight up. and when they tell him he's like:

"...oh! me...?" because he genuinely thinks, “wow, someone likes me?!?!”

plus he would ask before initiating even after being in a relationship

“do… do you mind if i kiss you?”

“cho we’ve been dating for five months”

“oh… i’m sorry for asking… again.”

spends a lot of time on his hair !!! he has to wake up early sometimes just to do his hair. and he doesn't plan on cutting it, only trims it once in a while.

when he's home he either has it down or has it in a ponytail. he even has a silk pillowcase so it never gets frizzy.

cats or dogs— no. he likes turtles. he even has a pet turtle.

i think that he wouldn't vape or smoke the way people might expect him to. i believe he may have a weak immune system, which would make it difficult for him to engage in such activities.

socially anxious as hell bro tweaks out when he has to order at a restaurant... 

but overall he’s an anxious person, i feel like he’d suffer from anxiety a lot (as someone who has anxiety i just can tell he’d be the type to have it too)

when he dates someone he's really touchy with them because he craves physical touch. he especially enjoys when someone plays with his hair he falls asleep in a millisecond.

he loves sketching in a notebook, he loves drawing nature a lot! he likes going to the park or a forest and drawing what he sees. he also enjoys drawing people and i imagine he always draws pictures of yuji too, and he shows them to him.

tease him and his face is red, his eyes are widened, and his face is in absolute shock...

literally the sweetest guy ever; he's always looking out for everyone and makes sure everyone around him is okay

he's always cold thus needs someone to cuddle him.

is fascinated by some amphibians and watches national geographic sometimes when he knows they're going to talk about amphibians. especially frogs!

his most used app on his Black iPhone 13 Pro Max would be Spotify and he is top 0.1% listener for some underrated metal band

creative hobbies more than physical hobbies (sketching, journaling, sewing)

HE CROCHETS IDC WHAT ANYONE SAYS HE LITERALLY MADE A CROCHET ROSE FOR YUKI I D O NOT GIVE A DAMN 

when he laughs it's like a silent soft chuckle, and he usually covers his mouth when he does it

gets emotional easily, especially when he receives love. for a long time, he couldn’t believe that he would ever be loved so when he is receiving affection he gets overwhelmed and tries not to cry because he thinks “how?? why me?”

he loves holding hands. he tries not to freak out but when someone holds his hands when he’s freaking out or just in general, he loves the feeling of their warm hands against his very cold ones

apologises alot even though everything is not his fault

when he’s mad he needs time to cool off especially because he gets emotional easily. he needs time to himself before calming down before discussing his emotions with someone.

speaking of emotions, i don’t think he’d be bad at expressing emotions or speaking about it, at first yes but he begins to grow better at it and plus sometimes the way he shows emotion is more impulsive and involuntary rather than on purpose

listens more than talks because he is too busy getting sidetracked by his own thoughts or he genuinely can't talk to people sometimes

he has a fidget toy because he is always fidgeting with his fingers so yuji got him a fidget toy (probably a fidget spinner) and was fascinated with it and it didn’t help it just something he distracts himself with when he doesn’t feel like being present in a conversation or just in general

cried when yuji graduated and gave him the hugest hug of his life. and i don’t mean a few tears he BAWLED he was bawling because he was so proud of his little brother.

spends time with yuji a lot sometimes more than his own friends and they always go to the arcade or mall together

yuji got him a picture frame of him and choso posing and choso cried for several days because he couldn’t believe he has such an amazing brother

learns gen z lingo just for yuji

“oh yuji! that was very w rizz of you!”

“...what?”

“i didn’t know you had that much aura!”

I  Love Him

Missing him come back emo king

[happinessismusic]

Gwen Stefani turns over a new leaf, or petal, on her fifth solo album, Bouquet. Known for her work in ska-punk with No Doubt and later pop, she’s been a bonafide hitmaker for decades. But this album plays a very different tone.

Bouquet isn’t about synths or loops—the way modern pop has been heading for years—but is far more organic. It feels more more mature; even, at times, folky. Judging by the cowboy hat she wears on the cover, you might presume it will be influenced by country, but that doesn’t really tell the whole story.

Bouquet draws on a range of sounds, from Americana to ‘90s pop-rock and ‘70s rock. With her unique and instantly recognizable voice, it’s not really any of those things.

What makes the album refreshing is how Gwen Stefani keeps her identity rather than trying to become someone else. While the songs may not be like today’s pop hits, they sound like her. Whether hubby Blake Shelton’s influence rubbed off at all is another question, but it would seem he had at least a little influence.

Stefani pulls no punches on opener “Somebody Else’s,” which seems to put former husband and Bush frontman Gavin Rossdale on blast.

“Leavin’ you saved me, my God/ Look at me blossom/ You’re somebody else’s problem,” she sings.

Despite the pointed lyrics, the overall message is actually one of hope and recovery from a difficult circumstance. It’s upbeat and fuses acoustic and electric guitars with a Fleetwood-Mac-esque quality. Far more hopeful is the title track, which has a little a Southern charm and swagger, though it’s not a full-on country song.

Keeping with the optimistic tone, “Pretty” sticks with the acoustic-driven Americana sound. The lyrics are pretty straightforward, but the simple yet effective hook has an infectious quality.

“I never felt pretty ’til you loved me/ But now I feel pretty lucky,” she sings.

On the quieter “Empty Vase,” Stefani’s delivery is subdued and intricate. Lyrically, she weaves in flower imagery throughout the record, continuing that here as well as on the following track, “Marigolds.” The latter has a ‘90s pop-rock energy and an acoustic-driven bounce. It’s a quick and punchy track that restores the upbeat momentum. Similarly, “Late to Bloom” adds a dose of a country kick to it.

Power ballad “Swallow My Tears” offers an interesting fusion of the more organic sound with a throwback vocal delivery and lyrical style that calls back to some of Stefani’s prior solo work.

“I stay one step ahead of the pain/ I keep an umbrella when there’s no rain/ I got my guard up when there’s no war/ Don’t know what I’m fighting for,” an introspective Stefani sings.

Acoustic ballad “Reminders” is, at least musically, the most traditional country song here, with a warm vocal tone. The final two songs on the album, “All Your Fault” and “Purple Irises,” may be the best of the bunch. Both capture a pop-rock personality with big choruses and add a touch of folkiness. They’re memorable, with big harmonies and a dynamic melody. Shelton makes an appearance on “Purple Irises,” and his voice complements hers.

Bouquet is a more mature turn for Stefani, and the sound may take longtime fans by surprise. Stefani seems to be comfortable in this space. It’s an album not defined by pop bangers, opting to give Stefani the space to spread her wings.

[bittersbloom]

𝑰. ── ㅤBASICS. 

BIRTH NAME. cheryl lee

KOREAN NAME. lee chaerin

NICKNAMES. cher, rin, bangtan’s barbie, cherry bomb, the bitter one, kkoch, colorful lee, chaeprincess

BIRTHDATE. april 20, 1996

ZODIAC. taurus & rat

BLOOD TYPE. a+

BIRTHPLACE. san francisco, california

HOMETOWN. san francisco, california

ETHNICITY. korean

NATIONALITY. korean-american

LANGUAGES. english, korean, japanese

FAMILY. hannah yang (mother), lee yohan (father), charlotte lee (younger sister; deceased) 

SEXUAL ORIENTATION. unknown 

RELATIONSHIP STATUS. in a relationship

𝑰𝑰. ── PHYSICAL. 

FACE CLAIM. joy of red velvet

HEIGHT. 5’6” / 168cm

BODY MODIFICATIONS.

 double lobe piercing (both), orbital (right), helix (both), tragus (left)

cherry tattoo (back of left arm), ‘j’ (left wrist), ‘444’ (inner right arm), angel wings (nape), infinity (left pinkie finger), lotus flower (front of right shoulder), two koi fish (spine)

𝑰𝑰𝑰. ── CAREER. 

STAGE NAME. cheri

COMPANY. big hit music (2010-2020), chromatic creative (current)

POSITIONS. main vocalist, lead dancer, sub rapper, face of the group

REPRESENTATIVE EMOJI. 🐶 / 🍒

𝑰𝑽. ── PERSONA. 

MBTI. ENFP-A

people with the ENFP personality type (campaigners) are true free spirits – outgoing, openhearted, and open-minded. With their lively, upbeat approach to life, ENFPs stand out in any crowd. but even though they can be the life of the party, they don’t just care about having a good time. these personalities have profound depths that are fueled by their intense desire for meaningful, emotional connections with others.

ENNEAGRAM. type 3 – the achiever

STRENGTHS. good-natured, fun-loving, confident, charming, hard-working

WEAKNESSES. petty, hot-headed, overly sensitive, nosy, naive, competitive

𝑽. ── TRIVIA.

HABITS. sitting criss-cross in any seat, repeating words back, leaving sticky notes to keep track of objects, always wearing socks, crying out of anger or frustration, counting beats without music playing, mixing languages in conversation, chronically undersharing

LIKES. gossip, watercolor painting, pottery, the ocean, yoga, 90s-00s music, flower arrangements, perfume, songwriting, watching sports, christmas time

DISLIKES. messiness, insects, overly salted foods, strong liquor, invasion of privacy, hospitals, wearing glasses, mornings, being bored, cooking, being alone

PHOBIAS. astraphobia (fear thunder & lightning), nosocomephobia (fear of hospitals)

MEDICAL CONDITIONS. vasovagal syncope, chronic post-traumatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, generalized anxiety disorder, anorexia nervosa 

ALLERGIES. shellfish (mollusks, specifically), coconut, pineapple, latex, wool

𝑽𝑰. ── FACTS. 

cheri was initially a member of a group called GPOP alongside gfriend’s sinb and eunha. after the failure of the company’s girl groups, cheri was handpicked by RM to be a member of BTS. everyone has always had doubts about having a girl in the group, and this has caused many issues for cheri personally and as an artist. 

she was homeschooled until she moved to korea. she attended hanlim arts school in the applied music department and graduated in 2015. in 2016, she began online courses at USC and graduated in 2020 with a BA in music. she would like to work for a master’s degree. 

her younger sister had epilepsy and passed away in her sleep after a seizure. charlotte’s death was incredibly difficult for cheri to get over and she considered giving up training and moving back to california. she was talked out of quitting, and decided her stage name would be ‘cheri’ because that was charlotte’s nickname for her. 

cheri opened a youtube channel in late 2019 and was incredibly active in 2020 posting vlogs, covers, and unreleased songs. people started being weird online and she has posted rarely since then. 

she did not renew her contract with big hit in 2018: she was on hiatus and was unsure if she’d go back to idol life after the year she’d had. she stuck with it until 2020, and after negotiating for months, she did not renew. she officially left big hit in january of 2021 and signed with CHROMATIC CREATIVE. although she remains a member of BTS, cheri has not been active with the group since 2020. 

since her private instagram account was leaked, cheri has spoken about her privacy and has made it very clear that she’s not afraid to take legal action. she loves her fans, but at the end of the day she just wants to make music and wants to keep what little privacy she has private.

in 2019, big hit music and pledis entertainment confirmed cheri and seventeen’s joshua were in a relationship after speculation of cheri being in a relationship with exo’s baekhyun. in 2024, cheri seemingly confirmed her engagement to joshua on instagram.

[pokemon-card-of-the-day]

Pokemon Card of the Day #3171: Skarmory (Team Up)

Skarmory was one of those Pokemon that didn't hit very hard but tried to make up for it in other ways. It had a reasonably cheap attack that only worked well if you had used your GX attack, which worked if you were running a deck that revolved around using that early. This meant working with Arceus & Dialga & Palkia-GX, which also used Metal Energy. Skarmory still wasn't strong enough to take a main role in a deck like this, but the whole Metal ADP concept was a good enough one that a back-up role to mess up Prize trades couldn't be ruled out.

110 HP was decent for Basic Pokemon standards but also low enough that all the reasonably set up decks of its time could KO it anyway. The Lightning Weakness wasn't one to worry about simply because any Lightning deck was likely to get to 110 with no problem already. The Fighting Resistance was cool right at the end of the TEU-On format in theory because it blocked a clean KO from Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX, but only if Skarmory was Active. The Retreat Cost was 1, so if Skarmory did survive somehow it could retreat easily enough.

Calm Strike was the main role for Skarmory. A Metal and a Colorless Energy got you just 20 damage, but if you used your GX attack already 70 was added. The GX attack in this case was going to be from that Arceus & Dialga & Palkia-GX since the extra power was going to be needed, and 120 for 2 could help get things into range for a bigger attacker while only giving up a single Prize. Since some Tag Teams and VMAXes ended up surviving a boosted hit from Zacian V, this could work out even though it wasn't going to be huge in every game and Metal had other options to consider.

Steel Wing was a rather weak 90 damage for 3 Energy, though it was sometimes nice to take 30 less damage from attacks during the opponent's next turn. If you had the Energy available and could get Skarmory to survive a hit on the next turn, you could use this. It wouldn't usually make much of a difference in practice, however, and that Energy could be going elsewhere.

Skarmory was a decent idea in an ADP Zacian deck for that chip damage from a single Prize Pokemon. It was generally nice against Tag Teams, as Zamazenta V blocking VMAXes meant that part of the role could be covered by a generally better Pokemon. This wasn't seen too often since these decks generally did well enough without adding an extra Pokemon for that, and if you were really that desperate to reach 270 you could just use a Galarian Zigzagoon to do it in one turn. Despite this, Skarmory did still function decently enough, so if you were a fan of the Pokemon it could work in that one deck.

[wanderersrest]

Wanderer's Rest Presents: An Abbreviated History of Mecha

So... I decided today that I'm going to start writing a series of posts based on the history of mecha. Not just mecha anime, but mecha as a concept in fiction. See, it should come as no surprise to anyone who reads this blog that I love mecha. I am also aware that there are a lot of misinformed takes fueled by halfwits like Gigguk that the genre is "dead," and while I am aware that mecha as a genre is not the biggest genre in 2024 as it was in the 80's or the 90's, I do know that the idea that the genre is "dead" is, like Gigguk's podcast and Gigguk himself, trash.

What I aim to do with this series is highlight the rather long history of the genre, as mecha is about as old as modern manga. This is inspired by the fact that the mecha genre is both really old and really massive. And in case you're wondering, this is inspired by Professor Otaku's complete history of mecha series. There are just a couple of differences:

Unlike Professor Otaku, I like G Gundam. That means that I'm a cool person and definitely not petty.

Also unlike Professor Otaku, I want to give the series that I mention in these posts a fair shake, even if I don't like them. I'm not going to watch every series mention here (as even watching every series I plan on listing would be insanity), but I do want people to be aware that they exist.

As hinted at above, I don't plan on covering every single series out there. The sheer amount of just mecha anime is already too much for one person to watch through.

Okay That's Cool, Wanderer. But What's a Mecha?

Good question, actually. Pop culture often defines mecha as being giant robots that are usually piloted by someone. And while that is correct, it is still a narrow definition. It cuts out a lot of influential works that don't quite fit the mold. Things like Astro Boy, Space Battleship Yamato, and Magic Knight Rayearth are series that are worth talking about when it comes to mecha even if they don't quite fit right in with the rest of the canon (and from here on out, I will be saying canon as opposed to genre due to the fact that canon can mean "a collection or list of sacred books accepted as genuine"). And to me, those series are just as worth mentioning as things like Mazinger Z, Getter Robo, and Mobile Suit Gundam. And in case you're wondering, yes, I will venture a little bit into video games and tabletop games. So sit tight Battletech fans, I'll eventually get to you.

Some Transparency Required

I do think, before I start working on this series proper, I should be transparent about things. After all, I am human. I have my own preferences and biases, and I feel it would be disingenuous of me to not disclose this before I started running through all of these shows. For transparency's sake, I will disclose the biases I know that I have. I don't know if I will cover every single one, but I will certainly try to.

My favorite mecha series are Mobile Fighter G Gundam, Patlabor, The King of Braves GaoGaiGar, Magic Knight Rayearth, and Gun x Sword among others.

My least favorite mecha series are New Mobile Report Gundam Wing (both the TV series and Endless Waltz), 86: Eighty Six (no 86 fans, your series isn't special because it's gritty. Iron-Blooded Orphans did everything you were doing but better IMO), and Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion (Mostly thanks to the second season).

Due to how fans often use the series as a means of talking down Japanese-styled mecha, I may have a tendency to be a bit more dismissive towards Battletech.

I actually prefer Prince of Darkness over the original Martian Successor Nadesico. As for GaoGaiGar, I prefer the original series over GaoGaiGar FINAL. I do like regular Nadesico and GGG FINAL as well though, just not as much. This shouldn't be surprising if people remember that this is similar to my tastes relating to Patlabor.

I have not watched Gundam SEED. So if you're expecting me to dunk on it, I probably won't. Likewise, if you're expecting me to say that it's underrated... I also won't say that.

Likewise, I haven't watched a single Ryousuke Takahashi mecha series, nor have I watched either Macross or Giant Robo. I'll get to it one day though, I promise.

I love the idea that Attack on Titan and Ratatouille are mecha shows.

Due to my past of being a contrarian teenager as well as dipshits on Reddit constantly overhyping everything, I tend to be averse to the more popular shows.

I'm also more skeptical of the "Not Like the Other Girl" shows like Evangelion, Code Geass, Gurren Lagann, and 86.

There is a non-zero chance that I will sneak Gintama into this somehow.

But those should be most of my biases out of the way. I hope you'll join me on this long journey. If you're worried about my Gintama post, don't be. I'm still working on it, but I do think it's going to be a bit different from the rest of my posts.

[thetomorrowseries]

I don’t know quite where to begin when writing about John Marsden. I have read so many amazing things since his death this week. He touched SO MANY lives. He has left a legacy that is profoundly personal to so, so many. I realize in my middle age how incredible it is to have at least one person in your life that believes in you completely and utterly. Who values authenticity above all else. Who keeps you true to yourself. Who champions your strengths and celebrates your gifts and wins. Marsden was this to me. We have been friends since I was 11. I was a vomit covered, homesick little country bumpkin who he met off a plane and took under his wing. He was my English teacher in Grade 6, Year 9 and Year 12 at the three different campuses of the boarding school I went to. He became a friend of my parents, and stayed and farm sat when our family went overseas. We went to each other’s weddings. We wrote letters in the 90’s, I worked for him at his writing camps and even though we saw less of each other as he started his schools and our lives got busy elsewhere, we always kept in touch. Each time he wrote a book he would send me a copy fresh off the press. It was our secret that he based the character Ellie on me in the Tomorrow series, until the sixth book – where he outed me in the dedication. I was just a daggy but capable farm girl who fitted the part – but it is funny to see the horror and bewilderment in kids’ eyes when they find out that this (still daggy) 53 year old lady was the so called ‘inspiration’. He was a complex and brilliant character. Desperately shy but the warmest and most caring person one on one. He remembered every student he ever came across. He observed and took notes on everything and everyone and his notebooks were a thing of wonder. I hope they are somewhere safe. There is so much I want to say. I have been going through letters and old essays 🥹 I’ll miss Marsden every day. No more phone calls to discuss the problems of the world and each other. I was so lucky to know him as a teacher, mentor and friend. We were ALL so lucky – and will continue to be with the extraordinary legacy he has left behind. Thank you JM - so bloody much 💔

[notwiselybuttoowell]

From October:

How will the arts be affected if Trump wins? Given the former television star’s wildly unpredictable nature, it is hard to know exactly what to expect. The Republican Party’s official platform has no mention of culture, nor does Project 2025, a Trump administration wishlist put together by the Heritage Foundation, a right-wing think tank. The Trump campaign’s press office did not respond to a request for comment.

However, a few lessons can be gleaned from the past. Alongside the travel ban (which he has promised to revive in a second term) and proposals to cut arts funding, Trump signed a 2020 resolution to make federal buildings beautiful (read: conservative) again, and he has a long history of being hostile to the arts. When he razed the luxury department store Bonwit Teller to erect Trump Tower in Manhattan, he needlessly trashed valuable sculptures. 

Are the art world’s various powers players—museum directors, auction house executives, collectors, dealers, and artists—ready for a second Trump term? Can they take action now to mitigate its potentially serious consequences? Calling around, I found that many people were not eager to discuss the matter on the record, which is perhaps not surprising. But some people were willing to chat.

Museums: Emotional Tolls, Fiscal Crosshairs

The federal Institute of Museum and Library Services estimated in 2014 that there were upward of 35,000 museums nationwide. For many of their employees, a Trump win would be traumatizing.

“It is generally true that our staff will have very specific views about this election,” one museum director told me. “The employee side would be the thing most difficult to navigate.”

A former curator agreed. “The emotional impact on the workplace is real, and so much of the emotional caregiving in the field is being done by women,” this curator said. “I suspect a Trump administration would see more turnover among women in the field. We saw that in the Great Resignation. So many women working in corporate jobs were burnt out, partly from so much emotional caregiving in the workplace. It’s a lot.” 

Other concerns include cuts to federal funding and censorship.

Many institutions draw support from IMLS as well as from the National Endowment of the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities, which could be on the chopping block once again. 

Though Trump has not, so far, telegraphed a desire to defund those organizations, one state may prove to be, as the saying goes, a laboratory of democracy. In Florida, Governor Ron De Santis, a failed Trump rival, recently zeroed out $32 million in arts funding for next year.

Private sources of funding may not be able to cover a drop in government support. As it is, experts in philanthropy say that traditional museum funding models are breaking down. “What is going to spur next-gen donating?” asked Melissa Cowley Wolf, of MCW Projects, an advisory firm specializing in philanthropic strategy and organizational wellness. “The younger population is not seeing art’s value in society, particularly as a driver of social, racial, and climate justice.”

In 2018, Cowley Wolf co-founded a group called the Arts Funders Forum to address how the cultural sphere can ensure its future. “There’s a real impetus to develop new models, even more so now with the threat of the abolition of federal funding,” she said.

Even if federal funding isn’t eliminated, a conservative administration could direct support toward projects it deems patriotic or family-friendly.

“In the ‘90s, in the wake of the Robert Mapplethorpe controversy, we saw the introduction of a decency amendment,” said Maxwell Anderson, a former director of five North American museums, including the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Dallas Museum of Art. “A Trump administration would seem likely to introduce similar language affecting grant recipients.”Some museums spoke out in the wake of Trump’s election with symbolic gestures, such as when New York’s Museum of Modern Art placed on view works by artists hailing from the countries affected by the travel ban. Would they step up again, in an even more charged environment?

Experts say that there’s already self-censorship afoot.

“The sense I’m getting is that, especially among the more established organizations, there is an enormous amount of fear,” a former museum director told me. “The war in Gaza, and now Lebanon, and attendant protests, have resulted in an atmosphere of censorship and self-censorship. Unless a political statement comes from an artist’s project, I just don’t see many institutions having the appetite for it.”

Experts also said that they fear federal-level curbs on free speech.

“Project 2025 proposes censorship in the classroom and elsewhere of speech on subjects like race and systemic oppression,” Anderson said. “This would extend far beyond the classroom to federal institutions like the Smithsonian and grant-making entities that have fostered language on those subjects.”

Museums might fear more than censorship or funding cuts. Trump has taken TV shows like Saturday Night Live to task for one-sidedness, classing their gags as illegal campaign contributions and asking whether the Department of Justice should prosecute them. Could museums, artists, or writers who criticize him also be targeted by a Trump-controlled bureaucracy?

Andras Szanto, a museum consultant, predicted that, under a second Trump administration. “We would be in for an extraordinary period of political turmoil in the ranks of artists and the people who frequent museums,” he said. “I think the museum would be a site of expression of discontent and of political activism. The museum has already become a place of political protest, as one of the last remaining truly public venues.”

Museums could definitely come under fire for speaking out, Szanto said, but he wondered if they could proactively form a kind of mutual defense pact.

“Could there be a NATO attitude among museums, where an attack on one is an attack against all?” he asked. “Could museums be a bit more like PEN,” the association of writers, “where they have plans to make a united stand against attacks?”

But museums may feel pressure from both sides of the aisle.

“Museums are now facing challenges on two fronts,” Anderson said, referring to “progressives calling out ‘toxic’ philanthropy and, more recently, perceived insensitivity toward the plight of oppressed people, and donors who feel unfairly singled out for the origins of their wealth.”

For fear of drawing right-wing ire, museums might also go mum on a recent focus: making progress on diversity, equity and inclusion in their exhibitions and collection as well as their staffing and board makeup.

“From conversations with others in the field,” the former curator said, “I have the sense that they would not be able to talk openly anymore about their DEI efforts.”

Amid the gloom, one museum director who serves a politically diverse audience voiced a degree of optimism.

“Our audience is made up of one-third Republicans, one-third Democrats, and one-third Independents,” said Adam Levine, the director of the Toledo Museum of Art in Ohio. “We’ve found that the number one thing our visitors want, regardless of political persuasion, is to be challenged. Having worked other places, I do not believe Toledo is unique. Surveys consistently indicate that museums and libraries are the most trusted institutions in America.”

“We are not perfect and are doing our best to interrogate tough questions and bring people along,” Levine added, “but that is exactly what we think society needs right now: An earnest effort to bring us together.”

(Link goes on to cover art schools, independent artists, and the art market)

[geographerdose]

Reservoir Dogs Fictional Character Tarot Notes

⚠️ ⚠️CONTAINS SPOILERS!! Read at your own risk ⚠️⚠️

I forgot Mr. Brown. 😬

Mr. Pink: Page of Pentacles (R), 4 of Pentacles and Queen of Swords (R). He cares about money and only money. Himself and only himself. He’s cheap and refuses to tip, despite making a valid point— it’s utterly insensitive toward waitresses worldwide and they are the ones that suffer so until the world changes, just cough up the $1 you cheap bastard. He entirely lacks compassion and empathy but he’s not without reason. Nonetheless, he is the only one who gets away alive and with the loot— demonstrating that lack of compassion and ruthless pragmatism pays off. He’s a smart little weasel who just hides until the chaos subsides. He’s adamant about not sharing his real name with anyone and chastises Mr. White for doing so to an actual dying man. He actually tries to get Mr. White to abandon post with him and take off with the loot but being the man with integrity that Mr. White is, he sticks to the original plan and does not abandon his team. Mr. Pink does have emotion unlike Mr. Blonde but it’s entirely selfishly motivated— he only wants to get away with his money so he can not tip.

Mr. White: King of Cups + Knight of Pentacles + 7 of Wands. This guy is a senior criminal— he’s stable, he’s been around the block, he can be cool but if you shoot him in a dream, you better apologize. At initial glance, he might come off a bit harsh and dry but underneath it all, he’s a big softie. Hes really the only one that shows any compassion toward Mr. Orange after he gets shot, and he arguably died defending him. Despite that hidden softness is a solid pragmatism in which he runs upon. He knows he can’t bring Mr. Orange to the hospital without endangering himself and everyone else involved but goes out of his way to comfort the poor guy, even combing his hair for him while he holds him. 🥹 He should have dropped the poor guy off at a hospital but it’s a movie so. The pragmatism took over. I think his soft spot for Mr. Orange is due to his junior status as a career criminal— he sees the capability in him and wants to help guide him, take him under his wing so to speak— protect him. He’s such a freaking sweetheart. I mean, unless you’re a cop but it seems as if to be a career criminal in the 90s, you have to have an unbridled rage + hostility toward law enforcement. He really is a guy you want on your side and is very well-rounded. Even the weasel Mr. Pink trusts him enough to tell him he got away with the diamonds— he has everyone’s respect.

Mr. Blonde: Magician (R), 7 of Swords, King of Swords (R). Socipaaaath. He takes the cop hostage solely to torture the poor guy and to get brownie points with his team of career criminals. Upon his first meeting with Joe + Eddie after getting out of prison, they offer him a legit job that pays well in which he will never have to even actually work and he’s itching to “get out and do some real work”. This speaks a lot to his motivation— it’s not solely money like it is with Mr. Pink. I think the man genuinely enjoys chaos, violence and inflicting pain. He’s quite savvy and gets away— probably due to the fact he is a sociopath lacks emotion. He is actually kind of good at manipulating others with this bc he seems to be quite emotionally intelligent— he just doesn’t care about others unless they will serve him a purpose in the future. (Fun fact: Michael Madsen almost didn’t accept the role bc he didn’t want to be killed by Tim Roth.)

Mr. Orange: Judgement (R), Page of Swords, 9 of Pentacles. He’s an undercover cop. He is very intelligent and flexible with the unexpected. He maintains his cover until the bitter end before coming clean to Mr. White, whom dies shortly after. Other than that, he is actually successful in never getting discovered. The acting capacity of Tim Roth though to differentiate that guilt + emotional pain from betraying this man who had his back, from the nearly constant physical pain experienced for 2/3rds of the movie is impressive. He puts effort and is successful in nailing his cover story to make it seem as natural as possible, fooling these seasoned criminals.

Nice Guy Eddie: King of Wands, 3 of Pentacles, 5 of Wands. Def more fiery than his airy, seemingly detached from emotion father but still maintains a level head during chaos. Sure, he gets a little excited and worked up but his mind remains clear. Hes not for senseless violence either, pointing out torturing the cop will elicit nothing, likely not even truth. Still young though and not immune to goofing off and play fighting but knows when to be serious. He loves his dad and doesn’t hesitate for a minute to protect him in the final Mr. White-Nice Guy Eddie-Joe triad standoff. He seems to be quite competent as the mid-manager of his father’s criminal organization— he takes it seriously and doesn’t slack off just bc his dad is the boss.

Joe Cabot: Emperor, King of Swords, 10 of Pentacles. I know it seems like the cheap, easy characterization of the overt leader but he really encompasses the unbiased, fair and decisiveness of these potent cards. He’s very charismatic and stern— making his acceptance of you that much more meaningful. He definitely lacks the watery/nurturing energy that Mr. White possesses but that is likely how he has been so successful and remained successful. Emotional entanglements only seem to harm the bottom line and complicate things— something Mr. Pink fully understands and something Mr. Blue never had to worry about. Yes, he is very loyal and is a great man to have on your side— someone’s respect you want to earn + keep— but don’t come to him looking for a shoulder to cry on and don’t you dare betray him. His illicit business is a well-run machine and he has reached financial fulfillment— and likely emotional fulfillment due to the respect he has from those who work for him and with him. Elk energy.

Mr. Blue: Hermit + Hanged Man energy. A man of few words. He’s quite enigmatic— we never see him again after the initial breakfast scene and learn he died in the heist. The actor’s real life was actually more interesting than his character — the youngest ever inmate at San Quentin, where he served five years. He met Danny Trejo while serving at Folsom State Prison. He actually helped launch Trejo’s career by getting him a part in Runaway Train, of which he wrote the screenplay. He published a novel while still in prison— of which Dustin Hoffman purchased the film rights! He also wrote the original novel and screenplay for Animal Farm. The cops actually put a tracking device on his car to catch his crimes running a drug ring but were surprised when he led them to a real life bank heist! He later escaped from a work farm prison. The guy was a badass but not because of his crimes— because he completely turned his life around after discovering his passion for writing— after a very rough start in life. He even stated that his previously committed crimes were done out of necessity and now that he could make a living writing, he no longer felt the need to commit crimes.

[mezzomorendo]

Meet the Mun.

ᴡʜᴀᴛ ᴍᴀᴅᴇ ʏᴏᴜ ᴘɪᴄᴋ ᴜᴘ ᴛʜᴇ ᴄᴜʀʀᴇɴᴛ ᴍᴜꜱᴇ(ꜱ) ʏᴏᴜ ʜᴀᴠᴇ?

Zack has been a staple of my life since I first picked up Crisis Core wayyyyy back in 2009-2010 ish. Ever since I saved up every penny from chores and babysitting to get a PSP specifically to play it, I was obsessed with him and his story. I never played OG 7, so all I knew was Zack's life and his story and I loved him. I still do, and to this day he's a giant influence on me. I have an intense emotional connection with this character, and as an adult I see now why I connected with him so much. He was exactly what I needed as a lost, confused kid who didn't understand why I was the way I was. I picked Zack up as a muse a couple years ago, when I finally decided to try my hand at writing him. For the longest time he was just someone I admired, and now I get to infuse him with even more love. <3

ɪꜱ ᴛʜᴇʀᴇ ᴀɴʏᴛʜɪɴɢ ʏᴏᴜ ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ʟɪᴋᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴡʀɪᴛᴇ?

I'm not super fond of a lot of action scenes? Fights are really hard for me to do. I also don't tend to do things like torture or other darker subjects like that because I'm just here to have fun and do character exploration LMAO.

ɪꜱ ᴛʜᴇʀᴇ ᴀɴʏᴛʜɪɴɢ ʏᴏᴜ ʀᴇᴀʟʟʏ ᴇɴᴊᴏʏ ᴡʀɪᴛɪɴɢ?

FLUFF!!!!!! SHIPS!!!!!!!!!!! Really whatever lets me explore him being happy and alive and a person outside of the narrative. He really is defined by his death, so I love to explore who he is outside of war and dying.

ʜᴏᴡ ᴅᴏ ʏᴏᴜ ᴄᴏᴍᴇ ᴜᴘ ᴡɪᴛʜ ʜᴇᴀᴅᴄᴀɴᴏɴꜱ?

Not gonna lie, quite a few are me projecting onto him LMAO. But usually the way I write HCs are from a handful of prompting questions. Some examples are below <3 "What are the realistic consequences of this part of his life?" This brought me to how long it would likely take him to heal after being riddled with bullets, what is mental state would be like, why he's no longer a combatant, and how he moved from "mercenary" to "EMT" "Would this explain why he is the way he is?" This is a lot of where I'm starting to extrapolate Gongagan culture/history as well as expanding on his family. It's also where i got him being poly and ADHD!

ᴅᴏ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡʀɪᴛᴇ ɪɴ ꜱɪʟᴇɴᴄᴇ ᴏʀ ᴅᴏ ʏᴏᴜ ᴘʟᴀʏ ᴍᴜꜱɪᴄ?

Music for more intense scenes, but often time it's just whatever random youtube video is playing in the background for me. I do have an entire Zack playlist on Spotify I use when I really need to get IC though.

ᴅᴏ ʏᴏᴜ ᴘʟᴀɴ ʏᴏᴜʀ ʀᴇᴘʟɪᴇꜱ ᴏʀ ᴡɪɴɢ ᴛʜᴇᴍ?

Eh, wing them usually. Sometimes I do a bit of planning over discord by throwing around IC thoughts or plots, but usually it's very spur of the moment. Zack doesn't do a lot of pre-planning himself so I don't tend to either.

ᴅᴏ ʏᴏᴜ ᴇɴᴊᴏʏ ꜱʜɪᴘᴘɪɴɢ?

HELL FUCKING YEAH I AM! I've elaborated on it in my rules but genuinely I love shipping with Zack. He's so full of love and care and it's hard for him not to catch feelings for people. He's also defined by the amount of love he gives - he loves so strongly, and all the time. I won't force ship, but even if you're like "hey i have a silly crackship" gimme.

ᴡʜᴀᴛ'ꜱ ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴀʟɪᴀꜱ/ɴᴀᴍᴇ?

Kei! :D It's the name I use in dating sims and it's stuck LMAO

ᴀɢᴇ?

25+

ʙɪʀᴛʜᴅᴀʏ?

Soon, actually! Late April.

ꜰᴀᴠᴏʀɪᴛᴇ ᴄᴏʟᴏʀ(ꜱ)?

Blues and blacks <3

ꜰᴀᴠᴏʀɪᴛᴇ ꜱᴏɴɢ(ꜱ)?

Depends on my mood tbh but right now it's like. 90% of KINGDOM's work lolol especially Last Flower - i am WAITING for the day they eventually release it to streaming ;w;

ʟᴀꜱᴛ ᴍᴏᴠɪᴇ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀᴛᴄʜᴇᴅ?

Advent Children, actually! I got to watch it with my BF who had never seen it before and it was sooooo much fun LMAO.

ʟᴀꜱᴛ ꜱʜᴏᴡ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀᴛᴄʜᴇᴅ?

Uhhhhh Apothecary Diaries I think? I think the last thing I watched was the finale for that.

ʟᴀꜱᴛ ꜱᴏɴɢ ʏᴏᴜ ʟɪꜱᴛᴇɴᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ?

The Soda Wave on youtube's Pruno Faustino cover of Soleil by Tiara <3 I love that voicebank they made SO MUCH and it's so pretty

ꜰᴀᴠᴏʀɪᴛᴇ ꜰᴏᴏᴅ?

PASTRIES! Everything from Chocolate Lava Cake to croissants to mochi to whatever! I looooove pastries so much <3

ꜰᴀᴠᴏʀɪᴛᴇ ꜱᴇᴀꜱᴏɴ?

Fall. Bugs are dead and can't scare me and i'm not having issues with temperature regulation

ᴅᴏ ʏᴏᴜ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴀ ᴛᴜᴍʙʟʀ ʙᴇꜱᴛ ꜰʀɪᴇɴᴅ?

Not really? I just have a lotta good friends :>

tagged by: well really stolen from @reapersxfolly (it's not letting me @ u gomenasorry)

tagging: whoever wants to do it!

[blimbo-buddy]

Before I forget... I would just love to input that I just checked if, canonically in the books The Sun Trail and Thunder Rising, if Turtle Tail was ever asked: "Are you okay?"

She was asked once by Gray Wing in regards to her pregnancy, but nothing else. So... Take that as you will.

I must say: Thank you for all of your constant replies. They make my brain super happy. Do not ever worry about grammar. It's chill.

AU blog is gonna be in process... I'll return once it's finished and ready to fly free.

It would be very awkward if I was writing anti-adoption when I waited years to be adopted myself by the people I called mom and dad. We ignore canon bs in this household of TurtleBumble angst. Tbh, here, I don't think that Gray Wing and Turtle Tail are a couple. Gray Wing is co-parenting and the two have feelings, but it's really rocky and unstable. (Especially since Turtle Tail is being haunted by the memories of Bumble and Tom. The girl cannot uphold a stable marriage.)

Though, I definitely write Gray Wing as someone who is subconsciously prioritizing his biological family (because that's 90% of his character in canon). Hence why it's not anything related to the murders or even Turtle Tail that sets him off, but Thunder. His flaw runs so deep within him that I'm certain this is why Thunder went back to Clear Sky. I refuse to accept any other reason. It's Gray Wing's fault.

"I don't make excuses." He mutters, but he can hear his tone faltering as he watches ugly gray clouds begin to cover the pale full moon. Squeezing his eyes shut, he forces his head down. "Clear Sky is a good cat. He isn't... He isn't clouded with evil."

I need to say that this paragraph is to spite the people who called Gray Wing "Silverpelt." I was writing it and remembering how people headcanon that, so... lmao, here that is. I also want to say that Gray Wing is an ugly gray cloud. (And Clear Sky is the pale full moon, not because he's angelic or anything, but because he masquerades as something significant when he's really just a rock.)

Damn so GreyWing really only ever asked if TurtleTail was okay one time and then never did it again, fuck this dude. But anyways, I'm glad that you're happy with these stories because they're so fucking worthwhile, it's like each story is spitting in the face of all DotC books and I love it. I await the au blog patiently and excitedly let's fucking GOOOO!

Yeah the entire anti-adoption thing in general is super fucking weird so it's best to throw all of that bullshit out the window and start fresh with sad TurtleBumble. It feels natural in a way that in this story at least, TurtleTail and GreyWing aren't a couple and while the feelings that the two have are there, it could never actually work out because of GreyWing's insistence that TurtleTail is "his" (eugh). Around these parts we only appreciate it when GreyWing and TurtleTail have a broken ass "marriage". GreyWing and TurtleTail could never work together that is a heterosexual man and a lesbian.

I immediately got that feeling that you were writing him to be prioritizing his bio family because, yeah, it's very in-line to how he actually is in canon. But instead of trying to get us to sympathize with him, your writing makes it apparent that this way of thinking for him is fucking stupid and just ends up hurting everybody and he only cares about it when it affects his bio family. GreyWing and ClearSky are not very good, Thunder, get OUT OF THERE.

Also fuck yeah dude, "GreyWing is Silverpelt" slander! But holy shit man, ClearSky being the moon but not in a "beautiful or angelic" way but in a "he hides under a facade as to appear as something greater when he's nothing more than a rock that you pay no care to". Just -chefs kiss- perfect.

[mikelogan]

give to me the dr. benson hcs

Okay, so they're from my Ben x Perry verse, but I think they'd work just as well in canon or for JDox.

So according to the Scrubs Wiki, Kelso became Chief of Medicine at Sacred Heart in 1985. While Amanda (@adventurouswallflower, with whom I created this whole verse) and I worked pretty hard to make everything we came up with line up with canon years-wise, this is one of those things that doesn't quite work. Because we have Ben and Perry moving back to California and Perry starting at Sacred Heart as an intern in 1985. And bc of our Dr. Benson HCs, it's important that he's still Sacred Heart for a few years after Perry starts. I'd say probably four years? This would have Benson retiring and Kelso taking the position in '89 or '90, which works out a lot better and still has Kelso being Chief for over 10 years before JD starts.

Anyway, when Perry's an intern, he's very much got that chip on his shoulder that we see in the show, with the added difficulty of having nearly lost Ben to leukemia a year and a half prior. Perry's intern year is a rough one from a personal perspective: It takes him a long time to find a work-life balance, meaning that his home life really suffers while he throws himself into work non-stop. This leads to a frustrated and upset Ben and an extremely stressed Perry who is determined to do everything and be the best at all of it. Perry needs someone to take him under their wing in a way that Perry will allow, because we all know he's the biggest control freak on the planet and would resist help and alienate himself from his colleagues. Plus he's kind of an asshole (spoiler alert, I know).

Dr. Benson is that person for Perry. He sees the potential in Perry, the drive, the ambition. But he also sees his godawful interpersonal skills, mostly with his colleagues and authority figures, but also to a degree with his patients as well. He can already tell that if this kid can pull his head out of his ass, he'll do great things -- both as a doctor and just as a person. (Sounding like any other mentor/mentee relationships we might know?) Anyway, Perry is, of course, resistant to the idea at first, until he has a huge fight with Ben.

Ben's understandably upset about how much time Perry's spending at work (and Ben works too, so they're barely seeing each other) and instead of acknowledging that Ben is right, Perry just digs his heels in and says something he shouldn't have. Ben packs a bag and goes to Jordan's for at least the night. I think part of Perry would expect Ben to be there in the morning (though Perry barely sleeps), ready to talk things through. But he's not. And Jordan either won't answer his calls or hangs up on him. And Perry still just. Goes to work. It's not til he's been on-shift for a few hours that he starts really thinking everything through and realizes how much he's fucking up and that nothing, nothing is worth losing Ben over. He asks Kevin Casey (who canonically knew Perry at least during residency, and I made an executive decision that that meant their intern year lmao) to cover his shift, and even tells him he has no right to ask him for anything given how much of an ass he's been, but Kevin does it.

I'm also remembering as I'm writing all this that this was supposed to be about Dr. Benson and I swear it is, but I forget that no one else knows the ins and outs of this verse and what happens 😂 So I'll fast forward through Perry going to Jordan's to talk to Ben and how he admits how fucking terrified he is to be a doctor (*cough JD cough*) and how he doesn't know if he can do this and if succeeding means losing Ben, he doesn't want it anymore. They do make up (there's a lot more to if, of course), but this is a HUGE wake up call for Perry, and afterwards he's a lot more receptive to Dr. Benson's attempts to guide him/help him out. Still pissed about it, sure, but he's smart enough to recognize that he should take help where he can get it, especially from the Chief of Medicine.

As part of these HCs, Kelso would have been an attending during this time and I think he can't stand Perry because of his attitude. So when Benson eventually makes him Chief Resident ("what am I supposed to do with 10,000 John Dorian: Chief Resident business cards?!"), that makes Kelso hate him that much more. It's not long after that that Benson retires, which is difficult for Perry, not bc he's scared of Kelso, but bc over the last 4ish years, Benson has become like a father figure to Perry. The only person Perry's ever had in his life that came close to that was his grandfather (mom's dad), and he died when Perry was 6 or 7. Benson even calls him "son" and yeah, it's more in the way that Kelso says "sport," but he absolutely cares for Perry and there's definitely that father figure dynamic. They stay in touch after he retires, though not as much as Perry would like. There's the annual Christmas card and the random letter here and there, but Benson's out traveling with his trophy wife 😅

But eventually, Perry lets him in (while they still work together) and tells him about Ben, about what they went through with the leukemia. And Dr. Benson is completely supportive while also respecting how private Perry is about his personal life. But in hindsight, it makes sense when Perry struggled with an admit with leukemia or late-stage cancer and why he sometimes got paged to the ER and would be down there for ages (Ben is a klutz who works in construction, like. for real.) and come back looking frazzled.

By the time we see Benson in s1, Ben and Perry have both kiddos (a girl that Jordan was their surrogate for and a young boy they adopted [cue me screaming]), so when Benson shows Perry his wife(s), Perry shows him pictures of the kiddos and it's really sweet. He still tells Perry the same things he does in the episode, and not because he's trying to be a dick, but because he still sees that very same drive in Perry and knows he could be great. But he also knows that he's made himself Kelso's number one enemy and: "If you would play the game even a little you'd be in a position where you could change things around here. But you're too stubborn for that aren't ya?" Like it sounds harsh, but that's the only way to get through to Perry. That, and who else is he going to listen to if not his old mentor?

This gives way to the whole self-sabotaging storyline, which in canon is Perry trying to prove to Jordan he's changed, but in this verse, it's Ben being disappointed (worst feeling in the world, table for one) and frustrated that Perry keeps getting in his own way. "You have a family now. It's not just the two of us anymore. One of these times when you go behind Kelso's back, you're going to come home and it won't just be a suspension. Is jeopardizing your entire career and our family worth sticking it to the man?" It's a big pain point for both of them and goes from there, with Perry eventually taking little steps to do the right thing, while still fucking up sometimes bc he's him.

Anyway, Perry still keeps in touch with Dr. Benson, writing letters and sending photographs every so often, for however many years until he passes away. And it's harder for Perry than he thought it'd be -- "It's not like he was actually my dad or anything..." -- but he goes to the funeral and Ben is there with him, because anyone who was able to help Perry take the right steps is a friend to him.

I'm pretty sure I said anyway about 14 times writing all this and a lot of it was just kind of setting the scene, but idk. Dave Benson was the exact kind of mentor Perry needed and when dealing with JD, Perry definitely thinks of some of the conversations he had with Dr. Benson and draws from that. HE'S IMPORTANT, OKAY

[thegeorgiatennantblog]

@dtmsrpfcringe I'm so honored to be part of the council. Let's get down to business now shall we.

I have so many things to say. I'm not going to start pointing out everything she has done for the trans community (I already did a post on that and how she doesn't get enough credit). The reason is 'cause there's nothing wrong with her that needs to be defended. BUT there's something very very wrong with @letscoffeebreak that needs to be called out.

First of all, it's a universally known fact that spite causes you to twist your entire view and narrative about something. So no matter if the sun starts rising from the west, you will not take off you bent glasses and see things for how they are. Letscoffee's misogynistic mindless hate towards G makes her completely oblivious to literally anything she's going to do. So, it doesn't matter anyway. I mean G could cut off her right arm and it still wouldn't be enough. I mean for the love of God, take your heads out of your asses for one minute and see it this way. What if I flip the slide aaaaaaannnnnd.... "Wow so David claims he cares so much about the Trans community but what has HE actually done for them other then make some statements and wear some stuff and use his wife's money and social media status to get credit for it". Makes sense, doesn't it?

Secondly, there is difference between their methods of activism because of their different social positions. D is a public personality. G is not so much. So, it just wouldn't seem right for her to be jumping into shoes that are not hers. She takes whatever social space she has and uses it for good causes.

Thirdly and this is something that I want to say in regard to the rpf debate as well there is a something these bches just CANNOT get their heads around: the problem is that 99.99999% of these people are NOT even British. Hence they end up forcing non-British sensibilities and context upon British people which is just ridiculous. David and Georgia are NOT international Hollywood personalities. They're a big thing in the local context like I dunno every country's industry has some people that are a HUGE deal at home AND have a considerable appeal internationally but aren't necessarily international stars as such. The thing I'm getting to here (and I'll get to it immediately because I have a tiny judge in my head saying 'I don't see where you're getting at with this line of reasoning counsel'), is two-fold. One: that whatever these two actually actually do with their preferred socio-political causes might be forever unknown to us because only someone who is British knows the nuances of the stuff that goes down over there. I for one cannot and will not judge from 5000 miles away. Two: there is no PR that is concerned with creating a superficial image of these people for American audiences (which forces D and MS to remain closeted and forces Georgia to do "white woman activism" even though she clearly couldn't care less) because they're literally (and no offence I love them, I wish their work would get more international recognition) not that important internationally. And on the British scene, well, 90% of the industry is openly queer and people love them so it really wouldn't ruin their careers if they came out AND it is literally easier to be a right wing TERF than a LGBTQIA supporting Lefty so if Georgia is doing something she's doing it from her heart and bearing the brunt of toxic terfs and whatnot because SHE ACTUALLY DOES CARE.

Lastly I would kill to have parents that support me for who I am. Who promise that they would take on the world to win me the right to be safe and happy and proud of my identity. Parents who I wouldn't have to lie to and hide and cover from. And you it wouldn't matter if they were being heavily politically publicly active about it. I would be ENOUGH if they'd just hold me and tell me I was complete and whole and beautiful in all my queerness and that they'd celebrate it with me for the rest of their lives. That they were proud of me.

And what have you done for trans and nonbinary communities @letscoffeebreak other than make us really fckn angry?!?

hold on hold on…has everyone seen letscoffeebreaks recent tirade against Georgia… bashing her lgbtq activism?! One of the most outspoken celebrities for the rights of trans youth…and they’re attacking her the fuck? If you want to see all of it (I’ll make a more detailed post later as my mind is fried and I have shit to do) just type in letscoffeebreak and then hit go to @letscoffeebreak

I need to hear everyone’s thoughts about this as it is so mind blowing so I am calling upon the council.

@davidtennantgenderenvy @thegeorgiatennantblog @goodomenswarning @sakuranova07 @nastasya--filippovna (I know I technically tagged you already but wanted to give your main credit too)

@anikaskywalkerlives @allonsy-moony @aq2003 @suz-blog @macpye @alloftimeandallofspace what do we think fellow council members?

[lastchancevillagegreen]

Friday, 24 March 2023:

‘Sno Angel Like You + ‘Sno Angel Winging It Howe Gelb (Fire) (released in 2016)

In the ‘90s I bought a few Giant Sand albums, the band from which Howe Gelb made his name.  They never did a lot for me and for that I always felt terrible.  Truth be told, I doubt I tried very hard.  But Gelb was so prolific and he had an endless array of albums that always sounded like they’d be interested.  My brother was/ is a big Giant Sand fan, another reason I always felt I should have tried harder at appreciating Giant Sand.  Their catalog was oft confusing and diverse, with Gelb recording under various names with a multitude of different people (including one of my favorite artists, Lisa Germano, an album I st5ill somehow fail to own). 

When this album came out in 2006 (on the tiny Chicago label Thrill Jockey) it was a revelation.  Howe teams up with The Voices of Praise Gospel Choir and I would say the combination is incongruent but that would mean I know something about Gelb’s music, which I know very little of.  What little I do know of it, he ain’t never sounded like this before.  As an atheist, you might think I would have an aversion to gospel music or anything associating with the genre.  Turns out I have a keen love for religious music (proving once again just how complex people can be) especially old timey religious music of which I seem to have far too many boxes of.  But religion does not figure in this album.  In my write up of this album at year’s end in 2006 (it finished the year at #18 on my Top 50 and it came in at Number Three on my Critical Top Ten and I continued playing it into 2007) I indicated, “the songs do not prescribe to a particular religion or god (nor do they ever mention a particular religion or god by name), rather the album works as a series of songs meant to push us to believe in ourselves and to achieve all that we can.”   The live album, ‘Sno Angel Winging It, originally was packaged with a DVD of the concert.  My brother gave me a CD-R of the live set as I was adverse to buy a DVD with a live album coupled as an after thought (or some such nonsense prevented me from buying the live album). 

In 2014 I bought the Howe Gelb box Little Sand Box on CD which contained eight of Gelb’s solo albums.  I did this predominantly to secure an actual copy of the live set which was now packaged as ‘Sno Angel Like You + ‘Sno Angel Winging It.  This set contains both bonus tracks found on the first LP that are only available as downloads (Get To Leave--Holy and Nail In The Sky--Original) so I’m pleased I’ve kept Little Sand Box, a box I have yet to play outside of the opening track of the first album, Brown Recluse Spider.  I also still have my original Thrill Jockey CD of ‘Sno Angel Like You.

I bought double album impulsively when Fire Records had a sale on bandcamp.  Since their stuff (via bandcamp) is shipped from the UK I rarely buy anything of theirs despite them having a roster of artists I do enjoy.  When I discovered they had this on vinyl paired with the live album (which I must admit sheepishly I have never heard, if I have I certainly do not recall it) I snapped it up!

Above you will find the album cover, the gatefold and then the back of the album.  Fire Records does nice work with their artists and packaging, so below you will see the inner sleeves (front and back followed by the labels for the album which fits inside.  First up, of course, is Record One.  In the photos the record labels almost look void of any imagery but it is there.

Next you will see the front and back of the inner sleeve for Album Two followed by the record labels for both sides.

Next up you will see a close up of the hype sticker on the front of the album. 

This includes, as you saw on the hype, a download card.  Fire does a marvelous job with their download cards, giving you a nice postcard sized card with a front and back.  The artwork here is unique to the album.  Check it out below.

Yes, even though I won’t be using the download since I have the bonus tracks on the double CD version from Little Sand Box, I did void out the usable code.  Don’t want to take money from Gelb’s pocket, you know. 

[lastoneout]

🔥🧸 and 💌 for the oc asks?

YESS LETS GOO

🔥 - What’s a surefire way to make your OC get flustered?

Ophelia can't take genuine compliments or being flirted with AT ALL. It's very sad. Eugene bushes her bangs aside gently and says her eyes are beautiful and it's a 1-hit KO that she needs to recover from for a week.

Eugene is so genuine that he's immune to even obvious flirting and the only thing that really does it is Ophelia being physically affectionate.

Sasha has never once been flustered in their entire life. People have tried, they really have, but it's just not gonna happen.

🧸 - Into public displays of affection or are they more reserved?

Ophelia...she pretends PDA bothers her BUT it's in a very tsundere way. Like she wants to hold hands and kiss and small stuff like that, she just has to Get Over Herself and admit it. Once she starts tho....well she's still reserved but she's def....clingy to say the least. (She can't do anything too big tho, and as stated before flirting destroys her. Eugene holding her hand? Fine. Eugene telling her that she's beautiful? Dead.)

Eugene is neutral, though as stated above PDA tends to make him flustered partially bcs it's a sign Ophelia is more comfortable in their relationship, and also bcs while to like 90% of the people that see them he appears human, deep down he's still touched that Ophelia is perfectly fine with being seen with him.

Sasha says they wouldn't make out with someone in public. They are lying.

💌 - How would they plan a romantic evening for a significant other?

Ophelia isn't about big, complicated, grand plans. She pays enough attention that she'd be able to pick something her partner would like, but if they're into it she's very "let's order some good food and stay home watching movies and then you know ;)" and, spoiler alert, Eugene is very into that.

Eugene, on the other hand, was made to be a highly skilled demon secret agent, and while he isn't one anymore, old habits die hard and he WILL plan a month in advance, have every single thing covered, at least one backup plan, and make sure it all goes off without a hitch. Only for special occasions tho, he knows Ophelia is an introvert and doesn't care for Big Grand Dates most of the time so he's happy to do whatever she wants to do.

Sasha is a wildcard, they're willing to put lots of work in or completely wing it, and it's kinda hard to tell which it was until they say so. They could take someone on a super polished date that seems like it would have taken ages of planning and it turns out everything fell into place like an hour before it started and next it's something wild and crazy that seems completely impossible but was actually on their calendar for a year. They also, unlike Eugene, are willing to use their magic for selfish reasons, so that helps.

[irismono]

Aight, now to cover my original works that I'm working on.

I've got two main projects, one sci-fi and the other fantasy, I have other projects as well, but none developed enough that I'm willing to share.

No art yet for either of these btw, I can't draw the broad side of a barn, let alone a spaceship or a mounted warrior.

Project 1: Mechamlet

Very much a working title, the original pitch was "Hamlet, in Space, with Giant Robots." It very much is still that to some degree, though elements of Macbeth and a few other works have contributed to turning the plot into its own unique beast. It's now got two protagonists, a reasonably sized (read: not ludicrous) cast of side characters, and a more or less defined trajectory that should fit nicely as a quadrilogy.

Here's the current pitch:

Cynwrig "Rig" Cosmas is the second prince of a noble house that once held the crown of the galactic empire. Theophania "Tio" Verdandi is the last princess of a lost kingdom. Both are on the run from Imperial authorities, though for very different reasons. Lacking a kingdom, Tio lives as a Smuggler, while Rig... Rig may have just accidentally killed his own brother.

These two fugitive nobles will meet when Tio's guardian takes the runaway prince under his wing and brings him aboard the smuggling vessel Phlegethon. Hijinks ensue and heads clash as both royals are eager to keep their lineages secret, but are unwilling to act as anything but the other's superior. Meanwhile, enemies old and new threaten the outlaw crew's livelihood, and the jump drive has been acting a little too jumpy as of late.

Drama, action, excitement, and perhaps even romance unfold across the pages of [ack! Title!]. Will Rig and Tio come to understand each other? Will the Imperial Revenue Service catch on to the blatant tax evasion? Will the author think of a better question to put here? Will something explode?

Needs work, and more importantly needs to be actually written, but it's something I'm passionate about so I trust it will come together in time.

Aesthetically I've been looking at a lot of 80s and 90s stuff, particularly synthwave and Eurobeat. Anime is my main source for the Giant Robots. Vision of Escaflowne has some beautiful Mecha designs, as does Code Geass. I want to avoid the supermassive robot scale I think. It's cool, but I've never really felt comfortable with Gundam or Pacific Rim, and I'm definitely not writing Gurren Lagaan.

Project 2: Bullhelm

This title feels final imo. Though I might change it to "Bullhelm the Barbarian" or "Bullhelm the Brave" or something along those lines.

Bullhelm is the name of the protagonist of my resurrection of the Pulp Fantasy genre, an archaic artform that carried fantasy and even sci-fi in the era of magazine serials. Related most closely to the "Sword and Sorcery" genre of today, but perhaps better compared to Japanese series like "Vampire Hunter D", or the Redwall series, where each story can stand by itself, but together they form a detailed and vibrant illustration of a vast far away world.

Bullhelm will feature, alongside various, often changing companions, in a series of adventures set all across my fantasy world that I've put together. He'll smite evil, win great treasures, take a wound or two along the way, and learn much about whatever land he happens to be passing through.

But ye, that's my original stuff. Might toss out a poll in the next few days to figure out which of my fanfic projects to work on first.

[3ofpents]

#but there's nothing like seeing a broadway show and noticing the spot being a bit slow on pickup or the sound ring just a bit#and then they fix it quickly#and i love seeing how human they are but also how good

Yeessssss, I'm also big into theater, and I grew up 45 from NYC back when $80 was expensive for orchestra seats, so I've seen a lot of professional Broadway productions. I'm sure I witnessed plenty of mistakes that I just never noticed, but two of my favorite moments were mistakes.

One of them was in Chicago back in the late '90s when the current run first opened. I don't remember if the actor we saw playing Billy Flynn was an understudy or new to the production or just got distracted that night, but during one of his big dramatic speeches (I think it was his closing arguments, but it's been thirty years) he blanked on his lines. And like, not everyone noticed! I asked after the show and even my mom, who'd been sitting right next to me, didn't notice. Because he didn't give anything away and the way the part is played it just read like a dramatic pause. The only reason I noticed? Was because I happened to hear the person off-stage whisper the line to him.

The second one was Beauty and the Beast. This was also back in the late '90s, back before Disney held so much theatrical real estate on Broadway. Beauty and the Beast was their first Broadway production and it was genuinely such a fantastic show that we ended up seeing it twice, I think in the same year. The first time we saw it, though, there was a Mishap. One that I'm sure was humiliating in the moment for the actors playing the Beast but especially Belle, but I've always looked back on as very funny in a completely relatable way.

The actor who plays the Beast wears a mask and gloves as part of his costume. But there's that moment where he transforms at the end, and the transformation happens on stage. When this goes as-planned, the actor's lifted up on a flying rig, his arms, because of the way they were positioned when he was lying on the ground, slide over his head and around a bit and the mask and gloves vanish. To where? I don't know. But that was how it happened in the successful version of the scene the second time I saw the show.

The first time I saw it, some part of the slight of hand didn't work and instead of the mask vanishing ... it fell down behind the actor and flopped onto the stage right below him. The actress playing Belle, bless her, was kneeling on the floor right beside him and, after a moment of hesitation, tried to reach over really quickly to shove the mask off the stage. Except if you've ever been on a black painted stage before, you know it's not the kind of texture that allows for things to easily slide, nevermind a big floppy mask likely made of some kind of rubbery material covered in faux fur and hair. She shoved, it just flopped right back. She shoved again, same thing. Finally she grabbed it and put some oomph behind it. Success! It slid! And stopped short like six inches from the wings. It was too far away from her at that point, but luckily a helpful hand appeared from backstage to grab it and finally get it off-stage to stop ruining the big climax of the show.

It was genuinely so funny and I hope that actress looks back on that and laughs the way I do when I look back on that time I kicked off my shoe dancing with the wolf in a community theater production of Into the Woods.

Looking at the small details of other people's artwork to sniff out the mistakes, not to catch them out as a Bad Artist but to remind myself that even people who make art I like and consider high level professional quality are also human beings and that being talented doesn't mean a final piece with no flaws whatsoever.

That slightly wonky line? That weirdly shaped hand? That random mark? That tiny section you forgot to line? that microscopic spot that got missed during the coloring phase? I love them. All of them. They're little bits of yourself you left on the page that wave to me and say, "Hey! It's okay! I'm just like you!"

None of us are machines, and frankly even the machines make mistakes.