#icicle growth

[fuckyeahfluiddynamics]

"Winter"

Little by little, snow and ice transform the landscape in Jamie Scott's film "Winter." From individual snowflakes to entire forest vistas, the timelapses showcase how winter remakes every surface in its image.  (Video and image credit: J. Scott et al.; via Colossal) Read the full article

[average-hyperfixator]

This is probably the weirdest way to show that I'm in the Mouthwashing fandom, and like nobody is going to see this BUT

If I see ONE MORE person compare Ted to Jimmy I'm going to LOSE MY FUCKING MIND. Is this another testament to people not understanding Ted's overall role in the story and his character arc? YES, YES IT IS. RE READ THE BOOK. RE LISTEN TO THE RADIO DRAMA. GAME IS IT'S OWN CONVERSATION THAT WILL TAKE TOO LONG FOR ME TO DISECT + IT HAS IT'S OWN STORY AND THUS WILL NOT BE INCLUDED HERE.

Jimmy is a jealous man, who assaults (and unfortunately impregnates) Anya, and then tries to crash the ship so he doesn't have to deal with the consequences, and when everyone lives, they live in misery BECAUSE OF HIM. He is the co-pilot, he has more power and authority over the others, and he ACTIVELY makes things worse, and is at fault for the crash and the subsequent fallout. (this section is shorter, simply because I've been in the IHNMAIMS fandom much longer and have way more thoughts on Ted) Ted, on the other hand, is not at fault for the world ending. He is just as trapped as the other five, he's more prone to mental manipulation and THINKING he's better off, but he really isn't. He doesn't have more power of the others because he's also a victim. He is by no means a great guy, or even a good guy; They key difference is that at the end of his story, the book, he actually fucking HELPS. Rather than make his friends continue to live in misery, he puts them out of it, and rather than end his own suffering, he spends those precious few seconds he could be ramming an icicle into himself, comforting Ellen as she dies. It doesn't make up for what he's thought and said, BUT, it's something at least. It's remorse, it's letting her finally be content, it's trying to give her the empathy she showed him time and time again. And he gets turned into a horrid slug creature after, he actively suffers more than everyone else for the rest of time- he self sacrifices so his friends could be at peace. TLDR: Jimmy is objectively selfish and doesn't change much throughout the game, save for MAYBE the very end (ig putting Curly in the pod is one brownie point for him) however Ted actually shows growth by the end of the story, and makes a point to end the suffering of his friends, while ultimately sacrificing himself in the process. If I catch another person equating these two I'm just gonna start throwing hammers at them I DON'T CARE. I am THE Ted defender, and I WILL stand my ground that, while he is no where near perfect, he DOES become a better person by the end of the story and deserves to have that acknowledged. anyway this has been sick rants with me, feel free to add on in reblogs or perchance spark a FRIENDLY debate. I apologize if I come off rude here, Ted and IHNMAIMS have been a hyperfixation of mine for months and I am very easily riled up about the story and characters. adding new tag ; Jace rants 🗯️ ! For all my ranting escapades from now on.

[padfootastic]

i just want to put it out there that sirius black is scary as fuck from a purely physical point of view.

he’s tall as shit, has been since fifth year when he got his growth spurt, and he has tendency to loom over most people.

there’s also the matter of his poker face—it’s impeccable, untouchable. can make anyone feel like him stuck to the bottom of his shoe. he learnt it from the best in house black and it’s his default. there’s a reason people are afraid of approaching him, and are slightly awed by james’ ability to unconditionally do so at all times.

his magic is ridiculously sentient. it swirls around him at all times, often feeling suffocating to those near him. he doesn’t even notice how it swells with his emotions, rising in his defence without him having to call it. at times, it can feel like a brick wall, that’s how powerful it is. and it’s cold. people have been known to shiver and turn into metaphorical icicles around him.

and he’s also just intimidating in a—social capital way ykno? so much money, training, and status. it shows. he could be dressed in a potato sack and he’d still reek of royalty. which is essentially what the blacks are.

and this is it u don’t take padfoot into account. this fuckoff huge Grim who’s literally an omen of death, easily twice the size of any human around him, just bounding around with sharp canines on display and malice in his eyes. it’s the easiest thing to piss ur pants when u come into contact w him.

[yuurei20]

Jade and Floyd Info Compilation part 39: Mushrooms

Jade is very fond of mushrooms. Azul and Floyd are not.

Jade says that they both make a point of not eating anything he cooks for two weeks after he has been trekking in the mountains.

Floyd hates mushrooms, and in a Master Chef line he explains that he only came to dislike them after Jade started putting shiitake into every single thing he made. As a result, just looking at them makes him angry.

When Jade brings home a fresh batch of mushrooms from the mountains in a vignette Floyd insists that he get rid of them, but Jade does not want to merely toss them out and decides to donate them to the cafeteria, saying, “I just love them so much I could eat them all!”

The cafeteria incorporates them into a risotto. Both Floyd and Azul announce they will be avoiding it.

Floyd goes out of his way to make sure that Grim and the prefect do not try to bring back any mushrooms during Vargas Camp, and when Riddle visits Jade’s “Mountain Lovers Club” exhibition during Book 5 he tries to give away one of Jade’s “mystery mushrooms” to Riddle. Jade does not approve.

Jade utilizes the school’s botanical gardens to cultivate mushrooms, including a valuable “icicle mushroom” and wood ear mushrooms.

Jade also experiments with exposing mushrooms to electrical currents to encourage their growth and briefly supplied them to Mostro Lounge for free, but Azul becomes sick of them after the lounge’s menu becomes “mushroom mania” for two weeks, saying, “I cannot allow you to bore Mostro Lounge’s patrons with endless repetition.”

Jade’s ghost chef mentor leaves him to his own devices during the Culinary Crucible when Lilia’s cooking starts spewing purple smoke, and Jade sneaks in mushrooms that he picked in the mountains into his dish that paralyze Rook’s and the ghost chef’s tongues when they eat them.

Jade explains, “Whenever I find rare mushrooms or wild plants in the wilderness, I always make sure to bring some back with me. But eating them by myself would be an insult to these rare and precious ingredients.”

The Chef says, “You’re such a good cook, and so well-behaved. I thought you’d be a nice, reliable student to have in the kitchen…but no, you need to be watched like a hawk—even more so than the others!…What’s with you people?! You must cease with these arbitrary alterations!”

Jade is delighted to discover a certain soup in Harveston, saying it is one of the main reasons that he went on the trip at all.

Epel explains, “It’s a soup made from a real rare variety of mushroom…it’s one of our traditional foods, but it’s a real finicky ingredient—only experts can cook with it at all.” Idia comments, “So basically, it’s jank,” and Jade says, “I’ve always wanted to try a soup with this mushroom. This is a dream come true…”

Jade does not like conger eel, saying, "Its texture just doesn’t agree with me.”

[pansexualkiba]

"'Don't you want to be married, Katsuki?' 'It's like you don't even care, Katsuki!' 'Learn your VOWS, Katsuki!' RAAGH!" Katsuki mocked, kicking a nearby stump. "Maybe I'd be more open to the wedding if it wasn't arranged, ever think of that?!" Katsuki raged. He took out the ring from his breast pocket and flipped it around his fingers.

"Haaah... Nobody even asked if I wanted to get married in the first place. I especially don't want to marry that rich girl... Cheap fucking parents springing for the first wealthy family they can find, ugh." Katsuki huffed.

A crow startled him, and the shock grounded him again. Somehow, in his blind rage, he'd managed to run deep into the woods, where the nearest road was only a suggestion through the treeline. The full moon shone down on the snowbank, illuminating the small clearing he was in in an unearthly pale blue.

Katsuki wasn't one for Romanticism, but it was a glacially beautiful night, in his opinion.

The chill of winter midnight further cooled his head, and Katsuki grumbled as he stared at the ring. "Learn your vows... Learn your fucking vows... As if they're at all difficult." Katsuki growled. He then stood up, taking on a more affected accent, an apery of the Yaoyorozu patriarch if anything. "I vow to stay by your side, as your loving husband." He easily recited, ghosting the blocking of the ceremony with a nearby tree.

"With this candle," He snapped an icicle off a branch. "I shall light your way in the darkness." The tip of the icicle was placed to a small sapling growth, as if to mimic the transference of flame.

"Your cup shall never empty," Katsuki mimed sipping from a wine glass. "For I shall be your wine. And, most importantly," Katsuki rolled his eyes, and placed his wedding ring on an outstretched root.

"With this ring, I take you to be my bride."

It was as if the world froze, in that deep winter chill.

The wind began to pick up, crows began to shriek and the snow began to move.

"What the hell-" Katsuki took a reflexive step back, and suddenly, the root he had placed the ring around curled in on itself. Four other offshoots became known, and Katsuki realized with some small amount of horror that it wasn't a root - it was a hand, entirely skeletonized and buried haphazardly in a shallow grave.

How shallow it was was soon brought to light, as the hand clawed at the ground before a second, more fleshed (but still rotting) hand sprung out of the ground and joined its mate. The forest sod gave away, snow and dirt and moss erupting from the ground, and Katsuki shielded his eyes to keep the soil from blinding him.

The sounds of movement ceased.

Katsuki slowly opened his eyes.

The figure was ethereal. What color the skin once had was utterly removed, being so pale that they reflected the blue glow of the night forest. Owing to their semi-decayed state, their body was slim and slender, but certainly masculine. This masculinity was undercut by the utterly gorgeous, almost impossibly expensive wedding gown the figure was wearing, stained grey and brown by its time in the earth, and certainly eaten through by insects and worms. A horridly matching veil covered much of the bride's face, but there were waves of dark hair falling around the back of the dress.

The bride lifted their veil, revealing an almost cherubic face, ruined by the passages of time having sunken their cheeks sallow, their teeth showing through a hole in the left cheek.

"I do." The bride whispered.

Katsuki did the one thing he could think of, when faced with quantifiable proof that the dead walked the earth.

He attempted to tackle the bride.

The bride, however, seemed to giggle at the attack, and caught Katsuki, redirecting him into a deep bow with strength almost (and quite obviously) supernatural in its extremeness.

"I, Izuku Midoriya, hereby take you as my lawfully-wedded husband, in the eyes of God." The bride - Izuku - continued, voice barely a whisper but so, so happy, as if it was the one thing he wanted more than anything in the world.

Katsuki shoved himself out of the corpse's arms and hit the ground hard. The bride made to follow - Katsuki scrambled to his feet and broke for the treeline, for the bridge into town, for his actual life away from walking corpses and sham marriages and-

And a hand was gripping his arm. With a disgusted cry, Katsuki grabbed the hand and threw it over his shoulder, not looking at what could be behind him.

(Unseen, Izuku Midoriya, the living bride, easily caught his hand, as delicately and tenderly as his own bouquet.)

Eventually, Katsuki broke through the trees, despite the foliage's apparent determination to hinder his escape. The moon illuminated the dirt road into his town, and the bridge shone light blue in the snow.

It was so familiar, oh-so familiar, that Katsuki couldn't help himself but to lean over the side of the bridge, catching his breath.

There was no sound, nothing to indicate danger, so Katsuki allowed himself a second to absorb the moon's light. He turned to head home-

The bride was standing there.

With his back to the wall of the bridge, Katsuki was trapped. The corpse slowly stalked forward, and Katsuki made futile efforts to move back.

"You may kiss..." Izuku Midoriya, the corpse bride whispered happily, eyes shining in the night, "The bride..."

Izuku Midoriya pulled in close.

Katsuki Bakugou knew no more.

[catboybiologist]

I hate to ask but did catboyprevious not connect the mustache only on one side?

Deadass, it literally did not grow in that one spot on one spot of the corner of the lip. If I let it grow I could "icicle" it down, but it still looked kinda weird. In days long past my beard was even more extensive than that (that pic was about 1-2 months growth from clean shaven). Sometimes I would grow it bushy enough to not see any of that irregularity, however.

Also, goddamn, you got me on a rabbit hole of pre-HRT pictures - now that I'm comfortable showing my face, it's fun to do a throwback.

2 months pre HRT, full shaven femboy:

After this, I grew my beard out one last time, let the dye fade out more, and took the picture from the other post just before I started HRT.

More uneven beard stuff, this is somewhere around 2 years pre-HRT:

Post shave:

Bearded femboy look:

And a similar shaven pic:

Honestly this is really refreshing to look back on. Sometimes I feel like I'm not getting anywhere, and then I see all these and realize that I'm continuously headed in the right direction, and feeling great.

[thewritingstar]

Frozen Bliss: Gruvia Oneshot

after months of being frozen in my own self doubt, I have emerged for a second to give you this.

I do hope you enjoy. Its a little bit more poetic than fic (if that makes sense and yes I have been binge listing to TTDP)

thanks for reading <3

------

In her mind, she had thought love felt like she was evaporating. They said you know when the person you love stares at you and it feels like when sun creeps on your skin after being in the cold dark for hours.

She felt that with him. A blasting heat absorbing everything around her. Hot sun on her skin yet they had all forgotten that she was made of water.

And while they said she was glowing, they didn't see that she was fading away. Becoming so lost in the blaze of him that his smoke made her steam and loose the way her eyes sparkled.

She choked on a fire that she had helped build and the clean air they once had coated her lungs black until her knees buckled and she had gasped for air. Her skin bubbled as his so call love boil her at her seams. There was nothing to be left of her if she would stay.

He said no one could love her the way he did and she desperately hoped that it was true. The scorch of his fire was crueler than the years of a dark sky. She'd rather spend the rest of her life sheltered by the rain if it meant to keep his flame away.

For a moment, after she left, she was merely raindrops of who she was. Like a ripple in a lake that never settles to see the clear reflection. Water can retain any form and yet she barely remembered hers. She thought it would be best to join the water cycle and wait until she precipitated. Maybe then she would be like a fresh water spring.

There was no hope. A fantastical heat that made her feel warm for a moment left burn marks everywhere. She wanted her heart to be mended but not if it was forged from embers.

Heat rises, yet she felt frozen on that roof top.

Locked into a tundra she had never witnessed. Her own water boiled with anger and she hated the feeling of heat. Hated how he turned her own magic against her. A rage consumed by broken promises and remorses. Once a delicate rain cloud, now stood a violent mess of a tsunami contained in a cracked bottle.

But him.

He was cold.

He was frozen.

She was mesmerized.

An ocean is meant to be a plunging cold and while the burns were still fresh, she jumped.

They were scared that her water would break out into an icicle. That she would become an ice sculpture at the center of the table. Water into a solid form that could never be melted. Oh how they thought she was going mad for following him down that snowy path.

They said that no matter the weather, her rain would prevail. There was no room for growth or flowers to bloom as she drowned everything and took herself too.

But how wrong they were.

She had sunk so far down into the depth of her sea, she had almost forgotten that she commanded its waves.

Instead of blisters of heat, there were snowflakes dancing around her. Fractals of ice surrounded her world and danced rainbows across her skin. And for the first time, when his hand caught hers, she felt a warmth like never before.

It was beautiful and peaceful. Skating on a frozen lake but she never was scared if she fell in.

They said that opposites attract but she felt perfect with him.

Her heart became mended and crystallized in a way that enchanted her. Every burn was slowly cooled to where she almost didn't notice the scars. Her face had paled from the heat that when she stared at her reflection, her red cheeks surprised her.

Some didn't like seeing their breath in the cold, but she loved it. The higher the altitude, the shorter the breath. But here with him, she never felt more alive.

Water and ice. One in the same. She was frozen in his eyes and she had never felt safer.

For a man that claimed to have a frozen heart, it thawed instantly with her.

The cold could leave someone dead, but it brought out her pulse. A remembrance of how powerful she was came back in her own tears as he held her.

Her lungs flushed out of any smoke became resistant to heat. A flower that could withstand the frost. A beauty that embrace the cold. Every trace of her skin was covered in a blanket of his lips.

Love for them was clear and pure like ice. No longer does she squint within flames to see her own hand. She parades loudly through the snow knowing no harm will come her way.

She was eternally grateful to be caught in this frozen bliss.

----

:) Thanks for reading, let me know what you think <3

-star

[wingsofmud]

I think I want to overhaul the entire aging system in Wings of Fire for my rewrite.

For one thing it's already inconsistent. In the first book, it's noted that dragons can start flying at age 3, however Anemone is about 1 when introduced and can very much fly. Cliff flies at less than a year old. While this is surprising in-universe in Cliff's case, it should honestly have been met with way more shock than it was. Imagine if your 6 month old baby started walking.

Mink and Anemone are about the same age and there is clearly a large difference in maturity between the two.

Bumblebee can talk upon hatching.

On top of that, dragons are not written at the stage of life they should be in. The Gold Winglet is the perfect example of this. Sora, and Flame are barely grown adults; Onyx is over ten years older than them; Icicle is five; Pike is 4; Bigtail is older than 4, and all of these characters are written as if they're in the equivalent of their teens.

Not only that, but for an animal as large and intelligent as the dragons in WoF, it should take much longer than that to reach full maturity. There is no environmental pressure for a creature like a dragon to grow up in only 7 years, especially when they live to be over 100.

Might just make the age of maturity 20 for simplicity's sake. Obviously growth slows down dramatically after that, and dragons can live to be about 200 on average.

[the-kr8tor]

Pèrsonal Hobie hcs cause I’m bored and ill but he definitely had a massive growth spurt when he was around like 10-14 and WHATS FUNNY IS THAT HE PROBABLY HAD ZERO coordinated because of how fast he shot up and he was very clumsy for a long while

He probably named his guitar. Basically his lover is his guitar.

I bet hes constantly getting headaches and neck pain from how his neck posture is messed up because he’s so used to looking down at people that it’s causing him problems

HE ONLY TAKES COLD SHOWERS BECAUSE HES PSYCHOTIC AND INSANE.

He laughs as if he’s not allowed. It’s not a laugh it a whole ass demonic summoning. It’s super loud and he has his whole chest involved.

Lmaoo I stand by the hc that he shot up in height when he got bit 🤣 I'm just imagining him walking like a newborn giraffe when he woke up one morning being half a foot taller than last night 🤣

Oooh that's so cute of him to do!! He'd probably name it after a favourite musician

Nooo not the neck aches from looking down at me ppl. I feel that in my bones bc im the opposite and i have a friend who's as tall as Hobie 😭 (got me looking up like that willem dafoe meme)

LMAO imagine walking in after he showers, not expecting the temperature and suddenly you're an icicle 🤣

Oh i love laughs like that! It's so genuine and very contagious

[wof-reworked]

thoughts on the transfem winter hc??

OOOOOH it's never crossed my dash but I'm very intrigued :0

I've written a long post abt a possible transfem Turtle hc (lbr borderline au), so that's somewhat the lens I'm going thru for most of the jade winglet. I'm always hesitant abt trans aus that go against the canon genders of the characters for,,, semi obvious reasons of the implications??? but that hasn't stopped me before and it won't stop me again baybeeee

but Winter tho,,,, idk I think his story has A LOT of like. repression themes and self hate, but unlike Turtle I think you can see how much of it is more directed at like. his failure to be a Proper Icewing and how being a Proper Icewing basically stands in total opposition to his natural identity and beliefs (very much "good dragon born into bad society" kind of angle). I also really like the way Hailstorm and Winter are set up as foils so hrm,,,

I think for me it's 50/50 + has some funky nuances. I def love nonbinary Hailstorm a lot (gender identities informed partially by trauma woooooo !!!!) and I feel like that then gives me a fun leeway into transfem Winter and what about that hc does appeal to me. They have an underrated sibling dynamic tbh especially post-Pyrite bc like. Winter's always been the black sheep of his family next to Hailstorm and Icicle fall apart in their respective ways,,,, there's like a fascinating smugness and bitterness mixed in with like. feeling awful that his siblings are suffering and also guilt for being anything other than upset for them even though like. it's awful but for one precious moment HE isn't the fucked up one. HE'S the one that's going to win the day and prove to his family he isn't totally irredeemable. Their whole family is like so fucked up in such a real way it's actually wild to like pick apart. And then Hailstorm being the one to struggle to integrate back into Icewing society being what helps Winter realize the whole system is rotten and cruel, and how he's able to sort of develop empathy for himself thru the way that he recognizes when Hailstorm is being hurt and how that's not ok even if he can't quite recognize that it's not ok that he's also being hurt.

But like. I also think I like the way that ties into Winter being a boy. I feel like him being a prince specifically is important because it gives him even "less to give" to his family (especially compared to Hailstorm) and then makes his "redemption arc"/character growth even more compelling because he's learning to love himself wholly. I also recognize being transfem ≠ being a transwoman, and I do like the idea of like. bigender Winter tbh. give the boy a little he/she pronouns. as a treat. He's definitely got like some gender swag I'm always a little willing to get into, idk though I think it's not quite for me in how I view him n think about him.

I tend to settle on writing him as like. GNC. I do think by Icewing beauty standards he is a very androgynous/pretty dragon and I think it's funky if that's another thing between him n Hailstorm that's like. unspoken but relevant in how they're treated. He's just like a gay GNC man to me at the end of the day.

[harmonyhighlights]

Harmony Highlights Elementary

Town

Harmony Highlights Elementary is located in a picturesque area known as Evergreen Valley with lush forests Evergreen Valley is a peaceful is perfect for learning and growth the school itself is situated atop a gentle hill by fields of wildflowers and shaded by oak trees providing a place for outdoor activities and nature walks Evergreen Valley is known for its tranquil beauty and making it an ideal location for Harmony Highlights where friendship can flourish

Staff

Professor Wisdom Coach Thunderhoof Doctor Heartfelt Madame Starlight Mr. Whiskers Miss Florish Mr. Harmony Professor Ripple Professor Sparklelight Miss Serenity Miss Petal

Kids

Stella Starlight. Rusty Wrench. Sparkle Shimmer. Blossom Breeze. Sage and Aurora Wisdom. Frosty Flurry. Crystal Clear. Stormy Skies. Sunny Skyline. Golden Gleam. Ivy Bloom. Velvet Harmony. Crimson Charm. Whispering Willow. Shadow Strike. Moonlight Mist. Rotten Apple. Icicle Shard. Blaze Breaker. Nightshade Nor. Slippery Slope. Whiplash Wisp. Thunderbolt thrash. Soot Smudge. Rocky Ridge Misty Waters

[fuckyeahfluiddynamics]

Growing Flexible Stalactites

Icicles and stalactites grow little by little, each layer a testament to the object's history. Here, researchers explore a similar phenomenon, grown from a dripping liquid.  (Image and research credit: B. Venkateswaran et al.; via APS Physics) Read the full article

[echoesofidentity]

Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh- Review

Eileen is Moshfegh's debut novel published in 2015, although it certainly does not read like a debut. This dark thriller feels years ahead of the trope of 'disgusting women', the popularity of which is booming in current mainstream and literary circles- and largely in part because of Moshfegh herself. In Eileen we follow young woman Eileen Dunlop, who lives in squalor with her abusive alcoholic father. Her only respite from her family home, saturated with addiction, violence and mental illness, is her job in a juvenile youth detention centre for teenage boys. We learn very little about Eileen's work, except she is infatuated with one of the male guards and infuriated by her female colleagues- Eileen is not a girls' girl. That is until Rebecca starts working at the prison, and very quickly Eileen develops an obsession for the beautifully glamorous education director. Again we learn little about who Rebecca really is outside of Eileen's growing preoccupation with her, and Eileen is the true unreliable narrator. The final act of the book culminates in a shocking twist in which we discover Rebecca has developed an obsession of her own and taken it to the extreme. However, as the book is written from a first person limited perspective, and Eileen's focus is on Rebecca herself, there is little foreshadowing of the twist as our focus is directed elsewhere. Some reviewers have therefore criticised the novel for its sudden change in pacing from the slow meandering stream of consciousness of the first two acts, to the comparatively more action-packed final one. Whilst the drastic change in pace is definitely noticeable, in retrospect it is clearly not without warning, and an astute reader would likely predict the 'twist'. Eileen is not a mystery novel and its clues are hidden in plain sight.

The online popularity of the subversive genre of disgusting and unlikeable women seems to originate from Moshfegh's second novel, My Year of Rest and Relaxation, which has proven an undisputed yet controversial BookTok hit. Yet Eileen feels like its repellent older cousin, the black sheep of the family with the ultimate unlikeable but uncomfortably relatable protagonist. In Eileen Moshfegh pushes the emotion of disgust to its absolute limits with its deeply unlikeable main character, not through her actions but primarily through the internal monologue to which the reader is privy. Eileen has little in the way of plot, so the stream of consciousness from our main character is the main sustenance of the novel, which at times makes for uncomfortable reading yet at others feels repetitive and redundant. Eileen has a fixed hatred for fat people and aspires to be as thin as possible, a fact which we are reminded of repeatedly throughout the book. It is clear Moshfegh wants her readers to intensely dislike Eileen, and for the most part she achieves this, but there are certainly times when Eileen's hatred for fat people- among other groups of people- loses its shock value and simply becomes tiresome. In other instances, the repetition is an effective technique employed by Moshfegh to demonstrate progression of the story even whilst Eileen herself fails to show any character growth. The most notable of these is the repeated imagined imagery of the icicles falling from her house and causing injury to herself or others; Eileen's character arguably shows no progression from the start to the end of the novel, holding many of the same views despite the very influential circumstances she is forced through. However, the icicle imagery migrates from a figment of imagination to an event in reality, and Eileen's lacklustre reaction to it highlights how, despite the horrors she has just experienced, she continues her life largely unchanged in her outlook.

Throughout reading I could not help drawing parallels between Eileen and Eliza Clark's Boy Parts, a more recent dark comedy that again leans heavily on the disgusting women trope, and another BookTok hit. Both novels encourage the reader to think beyond black and white likeability of their female protagonists and seem to instead beg the question as to why we find their thoughts and actions so abhorrent in the first place. Both Eileen and Boy Parts' protagonist, Irina, are staunchly un-feminist characters through their utter contempt for other women. However, it is debatable whether in fact they are unfeminist, when in actuality they are portrayed as hating everyone equally, except for those with whom they become obsessed. For Eileen this is Rebecca, and for Irina it is a male subject of her photography, but both end up in a self-destructive spiral as a result of their passionate fixation on another person. Regardless, it is interesting that a generation of readers widely considered to hold strong feminist principals have become obsessed with this emerging genre that does not portray its female protagonists in anything close to a positive light, and perhaps this is its strength. The portrayal of disgusting women frees female characters from the societal expectation to be pretty, clean and kind, and allows readers to live vicariously through them, testing the limits of what women are and are not allowed to do.

[rustbeltjessie]

Current Jams (7/30/23)

I haven’t compiled one of these in about 2.5 months, and in the past month and a half, I’ve been listening to a lot of new and new-to-me music. (A couple notes: 1. If I don’t have a favorite track or two listed for an album or EP, it’s because I couldn’t narrow it down enough. 2. I dig all the stuff I put on this list, but the ones in bold are my absolute faves.)

LPs & EPs:

2M80 - s/t (favorite track: “Pirtie Street”)

Bedouin Soundclash - We Will Meet in a Hurricane (favorite tracks: “Walk Through Fire (feat. Aimee Interrupter),” and “Torn Jacket with a Silver Lining”)

Big Laugh - Consume Me (favorite track: “The Fall”)

Blue Lake - Sun Arcs (favorite track: “Rain Cycle”)

Coffin Salesman - Nicrophorus Americanus (favorite track: “An Amputation for the Prizefighter”)

Death Pill - s/t (favorite track: “It’s a Joke”)

Dream Wife - Social Lubrication (favorite track: “Mascara”)

Feeble Little Horse - Girl With Fish (favorite track: “Pocket”)

Fireworks - Higher Lonely Power (favorite track: “Estate Sale”)

Fred Drake - Twice Shy (favorite track: “Icicle”)

Gel - Only Constant (favorite track: “Out of Mind”)

Gender Warfare - Bridging Prescription (favorite track: “Commodity (GW Version)”)

Hermanos Gutierrez - El Bueno y El Malo (favorite track: “Thunderbird”)

Italia 90 - Living Human Treasure (favorite track: “Magadalene”)

Lifeguard - Dressed in Trenches (favorite track: “17-18 Love Song”)

Mandy, Indiana - i’ve seen a way

M(h)aol - Attachment Styles (favorite track: “Nice Guys”)

Militarie Gun - Life Under the Gun (favorite track: “Think Less”)

MSPAINT - Post-American (favorite track: “Decapitated Reality”)

The Murder Capital - Gigi’s Recovery (favorite track: “The Stars Will Never Leave Their Stage”)

Natural Information Society - Since Time is Gravity (favorite track: “Stigmergy”)

Pandemix - Love is Obliteration

Protomartyr - Formal Growth in the Desert (favorite track: “3800 Tigers”)

Rancid - Tomorrow Never Comes (favorite tracks: “Live Forever,” and “Drop Dead Inn”)

The Redskins - Neither Washington nor Moscow (favorite track: “Kick Over the Statues”)

Reeder - Stone’s Throw from Esther’s (favorite track: “Hemingway”)

Scowl - Psychic Dance Routine (favorite track: “Sold Out”)

Snake Sideways - Do Nothing (favorite track: “The Needle”)

Snooper - Super Snõõper (favorite track: “Music for Spies”)

Squid - O Monolith (favorite track: “Undergrowth”)

Steven Lynn - Soundtrack from an Imaginary Western

Swans - The Beggar

Sweeping Promises - Good Living is Coming for You (favorite track: “Connoisseur of Salt”)

Tommy Guerrero - Perpetual (favorite track: “At the Circle’s Edge”)

The Tubs - Dead Meat (favorite track: “Duped”)

Songs:

Dave Gahan - “Mother of Earth” (Ahhh, I’m not okay, I mean, one of my favorite Gun Club tunes covered by Dave fucking Gahan?! It’s so good.)

The Gaslight Anthem - “History Books (feat. Bruce Springsteen)”

Ghost Funk Orchestra - “Scatter”

Ghost of Vroom - “Memphis Woofer Rock”

Rustbelt - “Young and Punk”

Spiritual Cramp - “Nah, That Ain’t It” (They also have a dub version, which, well, of course I love. Petition for every band to do a dub version of at least one of their songs.)

Worriers - “Pollen in the Air”

& One Last Thing:

IDLES. Their entire discography. I know it kinda breaks my own rules, cuz I’ve been listening to them for several years now and these lists are supposed to be stuff that’s new to me, but in the past couple months Idles have become one of my very favorite bands, so I had to include them. (Some of my favorite tracks include: “Car Crash,” “Colossus,” “Grounds,” and “I’m Scum.”)

[capsensislagamoprh]

The air felt like melting ice. Damp, warm enough to cause a shiver, and promising brighter things. Chandlers began to liquefy, windows dripped pure waters in rolling cascades as the floor hollowed beneath the panicked steps of the young noble's feet. Something was wrong. The dream felt far away, thin. It seemed to have snapped. No. Not snapped. It felt stuck, as if one wrong move would tear it asunder, as if it were strained.

Yuri held his head, oblivious to the waves of heat rolling off him. He was trapped. He was stuck. He was in pain. He was everything he'd never felt before, and it was terrifying. Somewhere in the back of his head an image formed. A slight smile, warm as the autumn rays. It seemed to say it would be okay, Yuri only needed to wait. Victor would be back soon. He would know what to do. He would know why Yuri was in pain.

Yuri was going to find out what caused this unpleasantness. Then he was going to bury its bits across the Courts with painstaking cruelty. He was going to break it down to its parts and use them to build a monument. He would title it 'Why It Is Never a Good Idea to Fuck With Yuri.' He'd mount their heads on pikes outside the Shimmering Cascade as a warning to all who were and would be. He just needed to stop this agony.

The pain became worse. He could feel the fraying. It was like a thousand cold iron needles being dragged along his skin, embedding themselves into his veins. Every drop of gold drawn in bloody savagery his only protection from the deeper agony of feeling something being taken away, ripped from his existence. Willing to let itself die, if it meant he would live. It sacrificed, quiet and waiting, leaving an unfillable gap in Yuri's armored soul. It was like his enchantments were shivering, one by one. All so he could survive.

No. Not him. Not Yuri. Victor. All so Victor could survive.

Eyes the color of freshly turned earth, fertile and strong, healthy, ready for growth and the challenges of living flashed before his eyes. Yuri dropped to his knees, nails sharp as any animals biting into his chest. His eyes leaked, misery and torment accepted as if it were an every day way of being. The pain grew, and flourished, a dark gem of congealed longing seemed to burst in his throat.

His scream sent golden blazes of fiery light arching thrugh the grounds of the Palace of Seasons. Shimmering Cascade began to wash away, arctic winds failing under the onslaught of such grief.

The Winter King stepped into the wreckage of the ball room, his every movement freezing the waters as he tried to reach the small form collapsing to the ground in slow motion. Sliding on his knees, an arch of frozen splash crystalline in his wake, Victor caught his cousin as his eyes closed, unable to bear the suffering.

Lifting the bird like bones, Victor turned, surveying the damage. Closing his eyes, he began to feel the particles of wet, the clinging, sticky coyness of water as it dripped onto tapestries, threatening to turn untouched snow into sheets of cold traps formed of ice. Victor carried his cousin to the hall. Many courtiers had fled in the wake of Yuri's wrath. Victor's eyes scanned the faces of trembling fey. Lilia, that blessed matron of propriety, said nothing as she motioned for the Summer Guard to take hold of the limp form, releasing Victor from the dreadful sensation of cold burning fire.

As Yuri was swept away to recover, Victor turned to his ruined palace. With a rise of his hands, his feet in refined repose, he began the dance of reforming. His feet slid across the ground, the ice reforming, the wet climbing, drips stopping mid plop, racing back to there designated place. Icicles became etched, carved into wondrous beauty. Windows frosted over, leaving artful patterns of crystalized enticement, glittering with possibility.

Victor spun, his arms reaching, his back arching as he kicked himself up into a move that sent him closer to the ceiling than anyone had the right to reach. His landing was perfect, the roof once again whole. People moved instinctual out of his way as he danced the broken edges, using them to add grace and beauty to his creation, until finally, he rested on the throne of Ice, head pressed against his hand.

He was the Winter King. To him, this was nothing. The happy smiles of his court, the wonder in there deathless eyes, smiles full of joy, could not be reflected in his own. Correcting the damage of Summer was child's play. What had to be done next was not. How was he going explain to Yuri the most impossible thing? He thought his pain was deep, but before he could contemplate how to broach anthers agony Lord Giacometti pranced into the room smelling of rose blooms and something tawdry.

"Who was it!"

Victor looked at Christophe with a raised brow.

"I felt it. We all did. Well, all us of Spring. Herregud, hjärtesorgen!!" He said, bursting out a wave of feeling that sent near by courtiers swooning, delicate tears carefully dabbed into embroidered handkerchiefs. "It was like something was sundered in two!"

Christophe. Christophe was a spring fey. He knew how to handle delicate things. He understood emotion. Victor rose, motioning for Christophe to follow, and Christophe did.

part 1

[saucylobster]

Dwellunder was originally a single stage mon and Dwellanche was going to be its Mega. That would make for three Ice type megas so I decided to repurpose it as an evolution and give it a baby too. Sproutrap are ambush predators that bury themselves in snow and lure prey with the promise of fresh spring growth, actually a fleshy growth sprouting from their head. With eyes that can rotate in their sockets they are able to scan the horizon in all directions whilst waiting motionless, ready to turn the tables on a hungry passerby. Dwellunder can take much larger prey due to their own larger size and have an even more elaborate lure for this purpose. When uncovered by snow (which is rare) the warts on their back secrete a fluid that freezes into icicles, retained for defence or fired at opponents if on the offensive. Dwellanche are huge and require much larger prey to sustain themselves but mitigate this somewhat by being more sedentary than either of their younger forms. The lure on their head now forms a mighty horn and is very elaborate; replicating even the needles of a pine tree. Travellers seeking shelter from the harsh weather would do well to select their resting spot carefully. --Attack Info-- --Ability Info--