#just not part of the official roundup

[beardedmrbean]

A popular story in Helsingin Sanomat suggests an hour's electric vehicle charging can cost a housing company hundreds of euros.

That's because a monthly power charge is determined by averaging the electricity consumption during the highest peak demand hour.

Housing companies in the capital, where EVs are more prevalent than elsewhere, have been particularly hit by this charge. Helsinki energy company, Helen, applies this charge to businesses, housing companies and even some single-family home customers.

Housing companies with low-voltage power transmission agreements with Helen face a charge of 5.65 euros per kilowatt during peak hours. To avoid this fee, EVs can be charged outside weekdays from 7am to 9pm or on weekends, according to HS.

Expensive leaks

Readers are also interested in a tenant's nightmare featured in Iltalehti involving a 40,000-euro water damage bill.

A leaking dishwasher hose caused water damage in four apartments in Oulu.

According to housing firm Lumo, the tenants made two big mistakes: the dishwasher's water inlet hose had not been sealed as required and the dishwasher's shut-off valve had not been properly closed.

In court, the couple denied that they had left the shut-off valve open. Lumo was, however, able to prove that no one else had entered the apartment before the damage was discovered.

Music for thought

This winter, patients in the Turku region who suffer brain injuries, including strokes and dementia, may be eligible for music-based virtual reality therapy, reports Turun Sanomat.

Neurologists emphasise that for new neural networks to form after a brain injury, the brain must remain as active as possible, and that's where plugging into a virtual reality concert can help.

Scans have shown that music stimulates all areas of the brain, and the results of a pilot project in Turku have been promising. The most remarkable outcome, as reported by TS, involved a patient previously thought to be paralysed who began playing imaginary keys in the air while wearing the VR headset.

Yle finds traces of drugs in parliament's toilet cubicles

Yle has found traces of drugs in three toilet cubicles of the Finnish Parliament building.

The samples were taken on an evening in November when parliamentary groups were holding their Christmas parties on the fifth floor, which contains meeting rooms and offices.

Aside from MPs, the Christmas parties are traditionally attended by parliamentary employees, ministerial assistants and journalists, including from Yle.

The samples taken on the evening of the Christmas parties were lab-tested and revealed traces of three drugs: amphetamines, ecstasy (MDMA) and cocaine.

[ellipsus-writes]

Ellipsus Digest: April 2

Each week (or so), we'll highlight the relevant (and sometimes rage-inducing) news adjacent to writing and freedom of expression. This week:

Meta trained on pirated books—and writers are not having it

ICYMI: Meta has forever earned a spot as the archetype for Shadowy Corporate Baddie in speculative fiction by training its LLMs on pirated books from LibGen. You're pissed, we're pissed—here's what you can do:

The Author’s Guild of America—longtime champions of authors’ rights and probably very tired of cleaning up this kind of mess (see its high-profile ongoing lawsuits, and January’s campaign to credit human authors over “AI-authored” work)—has released a new summary of what’s going on. They’ve also provided a plug-and-play template for contacting AI companies directly, because right now, “sincerely, a furious novelist” just doesn’t feel like enough.

No strangers to spilling the tea, the UK’s Society of Authors is also stepping up with its roundup of actions to raise awareness and fight back against the unlicensed scraping of creative work. (If you’re across the pond, we also recommend checking out the Creative Rights in AI Coalition campaign—it’s doing solid work to stop the extraction economy from feeding on artists’ work.)

Museums and libraries: fodder for the new culture war

Not to be outdone by Florida school boards and That Aunt's Facebook feed, MAGA’s nascent cultural revolution has turned its attention to museums and libraries. A new executive order (in that big boi font) is targeting funding for any program daring to tell a “divisive narrative” or acknowledge “improper ideology” (translation: anything involving actual history).

The first target is D.C.’s own Smithsonian. The newly restructured federal board has set its sights on “cleansing” the Institution’s 21 museums of “divisive, race-centered ideology.” (couch-enthusiast J.D. Vance snagged himself a board seat.) (Oh, and they’ve appointed a Trump-aligned lawyer to vet museum content.) The second seems to be the Institute of Museum and Library Services, a 70-person department (now placed on administrative leave) in charge of institutional funding. As we wrote last week, this isn’t isolated—far-right influence overmuseums and libraries means this kind of ideological takeover will seep into every corner of the country’s cultural life.

Meanwhile, the GOP is (once again) trying to defund PBS for its “Communist agenda.” It’s part of a larger crusade that’s banned picture books with LGBTQ+ characters, erased anti-racist history, and treated educators like enemies—all in the name of “protecting the children,” of course.

NaNoWriMo is no more; long live NaNo

When we initially signed on as sponsors in 2024, we really, really hoped NaNoWriMo could pull it together—but its support for generative AI and dismissiveness toward its own audience prompted us to withdraw our sponsorship, and many Wrimos to leave an institution that helped cultivate creativity and community for a near-quarter century. Now it seems NaNo has shuttered permanently, leaving the community confused, if not betrayed. But when an organization treats its community poorly and fumbles its ethics, people notice. (You can watch the official explainer here.)

Still, writers are resilient, and the rise of many independent writing groups and community-led challenges proves that creatives will always find spaces to connect and write—and the desire to write 50k words in the month of November isn’t going anywhere. Just maybe... somewhere better.

The continued attack on campus speech

The Trump administration continues its campaign against universities for perceived anti-conservative bias, gutting federal research budgets, and pressuring schools to abandon any trace of DEI (or, as we wrote on the blog, extremely common and important words). In short: If a school won’t conform to MAGA ideology, it doesn’t deserve federal money—or academic freedom.

Higher education is being pressured to excise entire frameworks and language in an effort to avoid becoming the next target of partisan outrage. Across the U.S., universities are bracing for politically motivated budget cuts, especially in departments tied to research, diversity, or anything remotely inclusive. Conservative watchdogs have made it their mission to root out “woke depravity”—one school confirmed it received emails offering payment in exchange for students to act as informants, or ghostwrite articles to “expose the liberal bias that occurs on college campuses across the nation.”

In a country where op-eds in student newspapers are grounds for deportation, what part of “free speech” is actually free?

We now live in knockoff Miyazaki hellscape

If you’ve been online lately (sorry), you’ve probably seen a flood of vaguely whimsical, oddly sterile, faux-hand-drawn illustrations popping up everywhere. That’s because OpenAI just launched a new image generator—and CEO Sam Altman couldn’t wait to brag that it was so popular their servers started “melting.” (Apparently, melting the climate is fine too, despite Miyazaki’s lifelong environmental themes.) (Nausicaa is our favorite at Ellipsus.)

This might be OpenAI’s attempt to “honor” Hayao Miyazaki, who once declared that AI-generated animation was “an insult to life itself.” Meanwhile, the meme lifecycle went into warp speed, since AI doesn't require actual human creativity—speed-running from personal exploration, to corporate slop, to 9/11 memes, to a supremely cruel take from The White House.

“People are going to create some really amazing stuff and some stuff that may offend people,” Altman said in a post on X. “What we'd like to aim for is that the tool doesn't create offensive stuff unless you want it to, in which case within reason it does.”

Still, the people must meme. And while cottagecore fox girls are fine, we suggest skipping straight to the truly cursed (and far more creative) J.D. Vance memes instead.

Let us know if you find something other writers should know about, (or join our Discord and share it there!)

- The Ellipsus Team xo

[ririya-translates]

Jack Jeanne March/April 2025 News

Apologies if someone has already done a big news roundup post but I figured I'd write one for covering the fourth anniversary stuff and new book and manga releases.

This year's anniversary art took a very different direction from the formal styles from last year's with a more streetwear look. Official website here.

We got a livestream too with Yuka Terasaki (Kisa), Masumu Ono (Kasai), and Taichi Kusano (Mare) where they read some fan mail about things people like about JJ and which class they'd be in. The stream didn't reveal a lot of new news, although it does sound like Ishida and Towada are working on the sequel pretty much every day. Towada also posted this cute art before the stream on Bluesky.

On another stream Kisa's VA did with Gakuto Kajiwara (Shirota) she mentioned that she's only met with Ishida twice so far (and that he reminds her of Kenshi Yonezu??) so it sounds like probably a lot is going on in the planning and writing stage, but they're not at the recording stage yet. Also please watch this adorable clip of them singing Faded Color together.

As far as anniversary news, a lot of it was the expected things (mostly stuff that's hard to access outside of Japan) like Joysound karaoke collab, Gratte cafe collab, popup shops in Shibuya and Umeda with a little digital stamp collection game. I'm expecting merch to be sold online on Broccoli's store after the shops close at the end of March (requires a JP address so you will likely need a proxy shipping service outside of Japan). In addition to the acrylic stands and pins, there was a cute Tummy coffee tumbler and a sorta itabag-style tote with a window in it for showing off merch. They also announced a new drama CD coming out based on Towada's birthday stories (currently untranslated to my knowledge).

But the most exciting thing is that we're getting some new content! The first is a novel by Towada called 玉坂の光跡 or "Tamasaka's Trail of Light" which includes both the first anniversary novel "Happy Anniversary" (which used to be free but has sadly been cut to just a sample) and a new episode of 30k characters. It's a bit over 300 pages long which makes it slightly longer than the summer novel and Seven Winds. There's also some pre-order bonuses (art from Stella Worth and a visual board with a short story from Animate)

The second is a manga collection titled ジャックジャンヌ FOLIAGE ～アンバー・オニキス～ (Jack Jeanne FOLIAGE - Amber & Onyx) which has both Puppet and Parsley manga with some new art. If you want to check out the JP versions, I suggest trying to do so before April 17th as I'm unsure if they'll continue to be available for free after the commercial release.

But perhaps one of the most exciting things is that just today Ishida announced a new two-part manga one-shot published in Ultra Jump on April 18th. It's called "Duckweed" and will be focused on Minorikawa's first year after being picked to the be class lead's assistant and his challenges in managing all the Rhodonite girlies. Unlike the others, I do not expect this one to be posted officially online for free since it's being published.

For those who were maybe hoping for more sequel news, I do think the biggest thing we can take away from all this between the note at the end of Parsley, Kasai and Mare on the anniversary stream, and now a Minorikawa manga is that I get the strong sense the sequel will take place in the following year with Kisa as a second-year. I'm not sure how they will make this work with the graduated students, but that seems to be the direction all signs are indicating.

[rivalsforlife]

Ace Attorney News Roundup

Very behind on several of these, but news doesn't always cross over from twitter to tumblr, so I thought I'd recap some things here:

AAI 15th Anniversary

First: today marks the 15th anniversary of Ace Attorney Investigations! Tatsuro Iwamoto, the art director for AAI, made a celebratory sketch of Kay to commemorate the occasion (link to tweet):

Iwamoto has also been drawing fanart of minor characters throughout the ace attorney trilogy on his twitter page. These include: April May, Dee Vasquez, Yanni Yogi (and Polly), Richard Wellington, Turner Grey, Moe the Clown, Max Galactica, Oldbag (alien mode), Matt Engarde, Doug Swallow, Luke Atmey (and Mask☆DeMasque), Viola Cadaverini, Valerie Hawthorne, Lisa Basil, and Glen Elg. Technically these aren't official art, but it's always good to have more art of obscurer characters!

The Great Ace Attorney Hit A Million Copies

Some big news: The Great Ace Attorney's 2021 port hit a million copies sold, making it the second ace attorney game to hit Capcom's platinum titles list, the first being the Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney Trilogy from 2019! This comes just under 3 years since the release of the duology in July 2021. In comparison, the original AA trilogy hit a million copies in December 2020, shortly under two years since the release of the game in February 2019.

The update to the platinum titles sales shows that Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy has reached 3.3 million copies sold, which means that it has sold over a million copies in less than a year! (My last post that had information on sales, where I said the trilogy had sold 2.3 million, was in September 2023.) It also makes it the 30th highest selling title for Capcom, which I think is pretty impressive considering giants like Resident Evil, Monster Hunter, and Street Fighter are making up the majority of the top 30.

So, the AA trilogy made its first million in approximately 22 months, but now it has sold a million over the last 8 months. I don't know anything about game sales and so this next part is just speculation, but I wouldn't expect it to be very common for games to sell more years out from their release compared to at release? I think that's really saying something about the long-term staying power of this series, and its increasing popularity over the last few years despite not having any new releases (aside from ports - and porting the series to all platforms probably has something to do with the popularity.)

The AA Twitter Is Very Active Right Now

Here are a couple of bullet points with no relation to each other:

-The official ace attorney twitter has been VERY active, particularly the last week. They've been doing the same "weekly book club" for each case that they did for the Great Ace Attorney duology, but that wrapped up last week and now it's just been memes, at least one a day. In most of my time following this account over the last uhh six years, they mostly ramp up marketing around new releases but are kinda silent the rest of the time, with the occasional meme, but definitely not at this frequency.

-Summer Game Fest is next week.

That probably means nothing, as it has every other time I thought we might get some big ace attorney news, but I think it's worth noting.

So, lots of stuff happened this week! Thanks for reading.

[writing-for-life]

2024 Roundup

Thank you all for being here!

It’s that time of year again—the recaps are flooding in. Ruuuuuun! 🤣

First of all: Thank you everyone who connected this year—you are all so appreciated, no matter if we are mutuals or not 🖤

I’ll give you a little selection of the posts that people loved most in 2024, plus a few related thoughts about what happened during the fandom year (I always do, so if that’s not your thing, you know what to do 😉)

And what a year it’s been for the Sandman fandom—lots of complicated feelings. For me, they start straight off the bat with this (I’ll get to why later)…

So let’s have a little look at:

Art

Here are the art posts you enjoyed most in 2024:

1. Dream by Vince Locke

2. Dream by Frank Quitely

3. Dream and Death by Mindy Lee

March Mania

My partner in crime @tickldpnk8 and I ran our first fandom event: March Mania. In a Tumblr fandom mostly interested in the show and shipping, it was so much fun to reconnect with the source material and feature the amazing original artists, and I still want to send the biggest “Thank You” to everyone who took part—you know who you are! 🖤

If that’s still not enough art for you:

You can find all my art curation posts via the #sandman art (all art, including my own somewhere) and #sandman x art (official artists only) tags on my blog.

[Speaking of art: I post art for all Sandman characters. However, if you look at the top posts squares on my blog, you’d think it’s only Dream. It’s both funny and a bit sad. You can use my character library to get started, but please, please support all the amazing artists and writers on here who create for more characters than just “the two” by checking character tags on main. You’ll only find the underappreciated characters if you go into the weeds yourself].

Fics & Poetry

I’m a professional writer. However, I’d never written fanfic before 2022. But I had a Sandman idea that wouldn’t leave me alone, and I clobbered it all together during NaNo ‘22 and published on a weekly schedule in 2023. It was a slow start (people on Tumblr are apparently a bit weird about OCs), but it’s really picked up since. I’m grateful for the little community I built around The Light of Stars, and writing its sequel “The Pillars of Creation” also kept me busy in 2024. It still has me in a tight grip right now (if all goes well, I’ll finally start publishing in January/February, yay!). But my writing in 2024 mostly belonged to canon characters, and these fics/poems were what you liked most:

1. Lupē (short vignette, Calliope x Morpheus)

2. Requiem (poem, Death & Dream)

3. Ode to Death (poem, Death)

Honorary mention: Dream’s Therapist [a fun little project I started just because I honestly think he needs one. Many of you seemed to agree, because you liked it more than all the other fics and poems of ‘24. This is the episode you liked most, but I personally don’t think it’s the best one—it’s just the first 🙈]

And again, if you’d like to read more, you can find all my fics and poetry here.

[Another annoying side note 🤣: The work of fic-writers gets shared so much less than that of artists and meta-writers. Even less if you don’t write reader fics, smut or for one of the big ships. I had this conversation with many other writers, and it’s the same for most of us, to the degree that people will ask us for the next chapter and tell us how much they like our fics, but never, ever share them. So maybe that’s something we can all improve on in 2025: If we like something, we’ll share it?]

Meta-Analysis

The Sandman is one of the few stories that hasn’t left me alone since my teenage years, despite having books and bookshelves clogging up literally every available space of my house. I find something new in this work all the time, and I just love taking the fine tooth comb to it.

And the next one is tricky for me, because in 2024, three of my metas took off a bit for certain reasons:

1. The Endless are not their Opposite—they only define it

2. The Truth of Mankind is also Dream’s

3. Only Hope calls you out like that

And at the time, the creator reading and acknowledging my thoughts meant something, simply because the story always meant so much to me—I’m not particularly susceptible to parasocial relationships or putting people on pedestals. But that doesn’t mean that I didn’t feel a sense of anger and disgust on…

July 3rd

The Tumblr Sandman fandom has been limping for some time now because it’s mostly a show fandom. After such a long time with hardly any news, many people simply move on and get their shipping needs met somewhere else. As someone who is mostly interested in the source material/comics and literary/meta-analysis, it never worked like that for me because neither characters nor stories are replaceable for me. But NG turning out to be a piece of shit was definitely the death knell for an already dying fandom—I could actually show you stats to make a point, but I won’t because I want to keep the demarcation lines clean here: None of this should ever be mostly about fans being disappointed or “losing their comfort show”, or whatever. We didn’t lose anything. Those women did. And I personally think every new fan should know about what he did so it doesn’t happen again. Plus, the structures that enable the abuse of power and, more importantly, keep people like this in power, will never be brought down if we pretend they don’t exist. But whether someone can separate the art from the artist is entirely up to them, and no one owes anyone an explanation. Emotional processing is hard, not every personal thought needs to be aired publicly, and our actions matter far more than our words. That’s all I’m going to say about it—my first post on the matter still stands.

Community: The Sandman Book Club

The news awkwardly coincided with having just founded the meanwhile biggest Sandman community on here. And despite everything: I love what my co-admin @tickldpnk8 and I have put together to reconnect people with the source material. We’re always happy if new people join and participate (it’s a community, not a blog 😉).

Fandom Thoughts

There was a lot of stuff in between (we got a S2 sneak peak!)—the same old fandom discourse is one of them. But if I have one goal for 2025, it’s that I want to maintain creating the space I’d like to see.

So in that vein, I’ll be honest and tell you what I lament most: It’s the transition of fandom into a consumer space. As someone who is more of a creator and sharer, I want to keep doing my bit because I love doing it. But I’d lie if I didn’t admit that my well felt fairly empty at times, and that my energy is a bit drained at this point. Investing energy into a limping fandom while others openly stated they would “only come back when S2 starts because there’ll be more engagement” felt strange, and I freely admit it annoyed me at times. It’s just a way of thinking I don’t get—are we primarily fans, or are we primarily chasing clout?

And speaking of engagement:

I often see beautiful art and wonderful poetry that has under 10, or even 0, notes. And it breaks my heart a little that so many people don’t share/reblog anymore. Because every time I reblog someone’s underappreciated art, I see the notes of those posts go up because my blog is connected enough to kick off a chain of engagement, even if it’s not always earth-shattering. You can do that, too. But it won’t happen if you only like. Reblogging is not for social clout—I personally believe that’s a fundamental misunderstanding when it comes to fandom. I see it more as saying Thank You for a gift someone gave us, and to make sure that more people also receive that gift.

Because artists/writers give their gift to fandom. Making others happy and connecting over it is the whole point!

And I’d love to see fandom turning into more of a gifting culture again. These pockets exist, so I’m not saying it’s not a thing anymore. But I also see a growing culture in which people only consume and at best engage in a TikTok/Insta-type manner by giving a like that holds no real thought. I get not everyone is a creator. But if you’re not, your gift could be to share and engage more thoughtfully. It doesn’t have to be with everything—it already makes a difference if it’s only the stuff you’d like to see more of. That’s my fandom wish for 2025…

I’ll see you all on the other side—much love to you, and may only the best come your way 🖤

[rememberingliampayne]

Dear Liam,

I'm going to miss you so very much. I'm going to miss opening your snapchat stories, I'm going to miss watching your tiktoks and I'm going to miss hearing your new music. You were such a huge part of my life, even if you never knew me.

I was around 6 years old when what makes you beautiful was released. I live in Canada and One Direction was the only thing every girl in my class talked about. I was wearing one direction pajamas to bed every night and had a 1D backpack just like every other girl my age. However, I wasn't able to fully appreciate everything the band was, I was mainly invested into the singles, and LOVED zayn, especially as a indian girl in western culture.

That is until I was around 12 years old in 2018, where I became a full blown stan. As I learned more about the band, watching every interview and memorizing the entire discography, I imediately fell in love with everything about you (no pun intended). You were always so sweet and funny, which is why YOU, liam, became my favourite. I started getting fully emerged into everyone's solo music, but bedroom floor and strip that down were the songs I played the most.

I was so excited for LP1 to release, I remember staying up all night (no pun intended again), just to be one of the firsts to listen. However, even then I recall everyone hating and comparing your music to the other boys' releases. I didn't care and stood by everything, I remember using the lyrics of 'heart meets break' as a part of my romeo and juliet english presentation in ninth grade LOL.

Then when COVID hit YOU were the only thing keeping me going. I felt completely isolated and lost, but you going on tik tok live, the LP show, the weekly roundups on youtube and everything else you were doing at the time helped me get through it. Every bit of content you released brightened my day, and it gave me something to look forward to ESPECIALLY during those uncertain times. I remember seeing the tik toks you made like wap/wmyb one with abby, or the other one captioned something along the lines of "the meeting after zayn left the band," and i rmr you posting and talking abt Eitan. I remember every tiny detail because of how much it meant to me, and how much I enjoyed your content.

On a lower note, after the logan interview, i rmr distant friends who didnt even listen to 1D text me to debrief the interview, because everyone was hating on you. I however, always defended you to everyone I know. I was truly upset by people who ridiculed you for saying sum along the lines of the band being built around simon's promise to you. Yes I agree everyone in the band is so talented and successful in their own ways, and everyone has come a longg way from then, but I told everyone who approached me abt this that you were probably the most comfortable and strongest vocally during XFactor. You are so so talented Liam, and I have always defended that. I was truly upset by the hatred being sent towards you during that time, and although I missed your regular content during that break, I'm so glad you were able to take some time for yourself.

Fast forward to this year, I was so excited to be signed up for whatsapp updates officially, and thought that was the coolest thing ever!!! I listened to Teardrops as SOON as it was released after waiting forever because this was the start of a new era :). I couldnt wait to hear new music for the first time in a couple of years, the hype with the stickers and everything was also super super cool. The song felt so authentic and I couldnt wait for you to drop a second album. I imagined you'd go on tour next year to promote a new album, but I guess we'll unfortunately never know your plans.

One day when I was opening snapchat stories from my friends as I normally do, I clicked next and stumbled upon a story from you! It was so surprising and shocking, I mean I've subscribed on snapchat to u since I made my account in like 2020, but I've never really seen you POST. Eventually this became a regular thing, the snapchat stories, and I rmr you even posting on your instagram story telling fans to watch the snap content lol. Even up to the days before you unfortunately left us, I would watch those stories over and over because your content has always brightened my life.

I love and appreciate you so much Liam, thank you for everything you've done for us as fans. I hope that one day I will meet you, and that I will be able to thank you for everything. I hope you're happy wherever you are and know that you have always been loved :)

[thesoftboiledegg]

A few weeks back, I visited a head shop that had a rarity: seasons six and seven merchandise. ✨

Aside from the apparel they drop before new seasons, most of the official merchandise has barely made it to season five. Bootleg merchandise is mostly stuck in season three. But this place is ON it!

Pickle Rick and regular Rick look pretty anguished in their silicone form.

But nobody's angrier than the screaming Rick, who gets an entire set!

And don't worry: there's plenty of grinders.

Anyway, you might remember that I visited the Rickmobile when it stopped in my area. What I didn't tell you is that on the way up there, I saw something that made me stop, say "Holy shit, no way!" and frantically pull over so that I could grab a picture.

"Samurai Rick" has landed. You'd think that this smoke shop would be crammed with wall-to-wall merchandise, but nope--they only had a couple of things. Bud Rick is hilarious, though.

And a Beetlejuice Rick just in time for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice!

More recently, I visited a local craft fair. Croc charms are all the rage now. They're just as ubiquitous as Colorstreet and handmade tumblers.

Morty magnet! He looks better when you squint.

One booth was lined with light switch covers. I picked up a stack with animated show pictures, hoping I'd strike gold, and sure enough...

That was fun, but it's not the main event. Because the best part of this merchandise roundup is:

RUE 21 IS BACK! 😭

After a sudden closure, they're back in business, and they had a couple of new Rick and Morty items on display.

This shirt was a little different. Instead of the front or back, the illustrations are printed on the sides.

I hope Rue 21 stays afloat because they have the best Rick and Morty apparel. It's cute, it's classy, and...hey, speaking of cute and classy, let's see what's going on at Spencer's!

Yep, that's Spencer's. You can always count on them for subtle, elegant and understated apparel. When is Rick and Morty going to collaborate with Goop? Tick-tock, Gwyneth. ⏱️

[tiannasfanfic]

GossipWeb

Eddie Munson x Reader (Angst)

| Eddie Munson & Steddie Masterlist |

Summary: If you want to stay up to date on celebrity gossip, GossipWeb is the site to subscribe to! Monday’s Weekend Roundup for July 17 has an update on Corroded Coffin, and you should totally check it out!

Author Note: Modern Rockstar!Eddie AU. Reader not mentioned in this first part, but will be in future installments so I went ahead and labeled it as an x Reader fic. Written in the style of a gossip column.

CW: Mentions of divorce; mentions of alcoholism and drug addiction; mention of a fistfight.

(The following is an excerpt from the July 17, 2023 edition of The Weekend Roundup, a gossip column posted every Monday afternoon on GossipWeb.com and the GossipWeb app.)

Wedding bells are in the air for model Chrissy Munson and nature photographer David Greggs. The pair have officially announced their engagement on Sunday via social media, confirming recent rumors.

The happy couple shared the news on their respective Instagram accounts, showing photos of the two happily embracing on a beach at sunset. In one, Munson is holding out her hand to show off the huge sapphire and diamond engagement ring now sitting on her finger.

“I said YES!” Munson captioned her photo while Greggs captioned his, “She said YES!”

The pair first made headlines back in 2021, when they were spotted having dinner together just a few weeks after Munson filed for divorce from Corroded Coffin’s frontman, Eddie Munson.

While “Irreconcilable differences” were listed in the official court filing, representatives for both Eddie and Chrissy have declined to comment further on the matter. In the social media post announcing the divorce, Chrissy took a diplomatic path, stating, “Sometimes our plans in life just don’t work out the way we want them to. Unfortunately, this is one of those times. I wish Eddie nothing but the best and wish nothing but happiness for him. While our marriage may be over, he will always hold a special place in my heart.”

But, while her words made it sound like the split was an amicable one, many have their doubts it was that simple.

Rumors had been circulating regarding her ex husband’s hard partying lifestyle for years. Insiders have come forward to provide accounts of escalating drug and alcohol abuse, and extremely irrational and erratic behavior from the rockstar. Shortly after the divorce filing, it was reported to multiple news outlets that an intervention was been staged for Munson just a few days prior to the court filing, but it had failed.

In related news, the former members of Corroded Coffin are continuing to stay busy and are enjoying far more laid back schedules.

Following a highly successful album with their band Fallen Shadows, Jeff Richards and Grant Lee have announced a small, twenty city tour that will occur early next year. While the dates and cities are still to be determined, the two are looking forward to getting back on the road.

“It’s been awhile, but we’re itching to get back out there,” Richards stated in a Facebook post. “There’s nothing like bringing our music out into the world and sharing it in person with the fans.”

But Gareth Emerson hasn’t been so eager to return to the spotlight.

Following a successful stay at the Betty Ford Center, which he entered in December 2019, Emerson says he has done a lot of thinking about his life and who he wants to be, both as a person and an artist.

“The stress I was constantly putting myself under was ultimately my downfall,” he explained in a Facebook post full of self reflection. “And one of the biggest stressors for me was the constant need to promote myself, to sell myself basically. I stopped feeling like a person and started feeling like a piece of meat. In this business, it doesn’t take long before you start getting treated like a machine and you start looking for ways to cope. And, usually, you find yourself coping by turning to drugs. Now I don’t have to just cope because I refuse to put myself back in that stressful position.”

Emerson continues to write and record new music, which he releases on iTunes under his own name. While he’s leaning heavily into experimental sounds, his new style seems to be gravitating towards a blend of classic rock n’ roll, folk and heavy metal. It’s not a combination you would expect to hear from a speed metal drummer, but Emerson clearly has hidden talents he’s only just starting to show the world.

As for the frontman and lead guitarist, Eddie Munson, unfortunately, there’s not much can be said.

The statement from Corroded Coffin announcing their hiatus came in late 2019 just a few days after Munson and Emerson’s very publicized fistfight at the UK Music Video Awards. While he virtually dropped out of the spotlight as a musician in the following months, Munson was frequently in the news due to his excess partying and rowdy behavior.

Then, in 2022, he unexpectedly disappeared from the LA party scene, only to resurface a few months later in his old hometown of Hawkins, Indiana.

Representatives for Munson have declined to comment, so the true reasons for his returning to Hawkins are still unclear. The rocker has yet to make any return trips home to California within the last eighteen months since his departure. This adds credibility to a more recent rumor we reported on last week that Munson is in negotiations to sell his Malibu home to a private seller.

Perhaps the rockstar has finally turned over a new leaf?

Some signs point to yes.

Earlier this year, Gareth Emerson’s wife, actress Kim Simmons-Emerson, sent well wishes to Eddie in a heartfelt Instagram post. She posted an old photo of Munson and Emerson from high school with the caption, “Today marks a new beginning for old friends. We’re so proud of you. We knew you could do it.”

Subscribe to our free newsletter to stay up to date on any new developments!

[nnicknnelsonn]

‘Warfare’ Boasts a Roster of Hollywood’s Rising Talent — Here’s Who They Play and What They’re Up to Next

-IndieWire (X)

Kit Connor (Tommy)

Bursting onto the scene in the Netflix LGBTQ teen series “Heartstopper” and recently making his Broadway debut alongside Rachel Zegler in “Romeo + Juliet,” Connor is proving his range with the intense “Warfare.” He plays Tommy in the film, a gunner whose fortitude is tested when his unit comes under attack. His role is to maintain weapons and engage in surveillance, supporting combat efforts through target accquistion.

While “Heartstopper” has not been officially renewed for Season 4, Connor is still keeping busy, appearing in films like the British horror mystery “One of Us” and an adaptation of Laura Taylor Namey’s romantic novel “A Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea and Tomorrow.”

more film stills of the cast members below:

The real-time account of an Iraq War assault was co-directed by U.S. Navy Seal veteran Ray Mendoza and Alex Garland.

will poulter

After working together on the fictional, somewhat dystopian/somewhat familiar “Civil War,” filmmaker Alex Garland and Iraq War veteran Ray Mendoza have joined forces for an up-close-and-personal depiction of battle and the band of brothers who offer their lives to wage it. Their new film “Warfare” offers a real-time account of Mendoza’s platoon, a group of U.S. Navy Seals stationed in insurgent territory during 2006, and a conflict they were forced to engage in during their deployment.

d’pharaoh woon-a-tai

“Warfare” features an all-star cast of Hollywood’s rising talent including D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai as Mendoza, Will Poulter, Cosmo Jarvis, Joseph Quinn, and Charles Melton. In preparing for the project, the cast not only went through rigorous training, but lived with one another for the entire duration of the shoot.

joseph quinn

Rather than the traditional red carpet premiere, Mendoza and Garland unveiled the film last week at the Hollywood America Legion Theater in Los Angeles to a crowd of mostly veterans and members of the military community, with representation from partners including Veterans In Media And Entertainment, Navy Seal Foundation, Warrior Heritage Foundation, Team Rubicon, Team RWB, Writers Guild Foundation — Veterans Writing Program, Screen Actors Guild Veterans Committee, the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Navy, and U.S. Space Force.

charles melton

Addressing the crowd at the premiere, Garland said of how “Warfare” came to be, “It was based on memory. We had a handful of photographs that we got of the building, but aside from that, it was just interviews and it began with Ray and I sitting for a week and Ray just unloading everything he could remember. And then we spoke to as many people as we could. These guys opened up, never tried to make themselves look good, never tried to self-aggrandize, really dug it into themselves to try and say what really happened and what the truth was.”

noah centineo

Mendoza has wanted to tell this story for a long time, but didn’t understand how to until he started work on films like “Act of Valor” and “Lone Survivor.”

cosmo jarvis

“When I first got out of the military, there was a lot going on with this event, and I didn’t understand how to describe it,” he said. “I didn’t have the vocabulary of the verbiage to convey it. I had to first understand what was physically going on and then just kind emotionally, spiritually, trying to figure out how to communicate.”

the part of film director ray mendoza is played by d’pharoah woon-a-tai

read the article for “a roundup of the film’s acclaimed ensemble cast, including who each actor is playing and what they’re up to next.”

[tyrantisterror]

The Unfinished ATOM Kaiju Showcase

Out of, well, I want to say "a pragmatic assessment of my ability to finish illustrations since carpal tunnel set in" but you could just as easily shorten that to "impatience," I've decided to post a hundred or so ATOM kaiju concepts I've had sitting in my "to finish" pile for the last few years. Here's an official roundup of each post:

Part 1: Retrosaurs

Part 2: More Retrosaurs

Part 3: Tyrantor's Coming of Age Romantic Comedy

Part 4: Even More Retrosaurs but This Time They're Monster Hunter Homages

Part 5: Big Bugs

Part 6: Aliens

Part 7: More Aliens

Part 8: Paul Bunyan. No, Seriously, Paul Bunyan. Also Some Fearsome Critters.

Part 9: Mythic Monsters

Part 10: Recycling Plateodon

Part 11: Oddballs

Part 12: More Oddballs

Part 13: The Oddest Oddballs

Part 14: OOPS I FORGOT A FEW

Will I ever finish the artwork for these guys? I mean, I'd like to, but, uh... let's say the Odds Aren't In Our Favor here. But I want them to get some spotlight all the same, and if/when I write ATOM Volumes 3 and beyond, they can at least enjoy starring in some prose.

[loonarii]

the best kpop songs you've (probably) never heard

the title is there to sound good, if you are an individual with taste who happens to listen to a lot of 2nd gen and nugu 4th gen girl group music then there is a high likelihood you will know many of the songs on this list. also omfg if any of these songs are like globally known smash hits that everyone and their mother knows im sorry lol im just dumb and late to the party apparently. This will most likely become a series, so stick around for a part 2 and drop your favourite kpop deep cuts in the comments and reblogs. my june kpop monthly roundup is dropping tomorrow, so stay tuned for that too. ~ ari

(1) Someone Like U - Dalshabet

On the fateful day that spotify snuck this banger into my queue after my daily five hours of streaming SNSD music, my life was forever altered - something shifted in my cranium, the veil was pulled from over my eyes, and I was introduced to probably thee most underrated 2nd gen banger known to man. I was going to say this is one for the SNSD stans, but to be honest, this one is for the stans of good music. 'Someone Like U' is jazzy, anthemic, and quintessential kpop. And to the OG Dalshabet stans... how does it feel to know you have superior taste xx

(2) UN-NORMAL - Queenz Eye

This is such an if-you-know-you-know type of track, the few people I've talked to on discord or whatever who know of this song are obsessed - you either know it and love it or don't know of it and thus exist in the before times, because there is only before Un-Normal and after Un-Normal. I'm slowly realising that I just really love it when kpop does jazz because this is another banger along those lines. Now that I think about this kind of takes notes from AEAO, and I know for a fact you love that song, so go give this one a stream.

(3) Joker - Dalshabet

Yes, another Dalshabet song, because THEY DESERVE THEIR FLOWERS. Like 'Someone Like U', 'Joker' also has that jazz-meets-girlpop edge that we love but with a little more sass and spirited confidence. In 'Joker' the girls aren't as much calling for the attention of the audience, but implicitly demanding it. What I would've given to have been a kpop stan when dalshabet were making music. What could have been.

(4) Colors - LOONA

(this is the obligatory reminder that there is a boycott going on against LOONA content to protest Blockberry Creative's actions towards the girls - please stream LOONA music via the twelveM account or the loona podcast on spotify, and dont watch official LOONA content on youtube either. thanks xx)

This is your once a post reminder that I am in fact a die hard orbit, and this track from the '[X X]' album lingers in my playlist month after month, so I had to include it. Filled with airy vocals from the members, distorted vocaloid decorating the background of the soundscape, along with all the classic bells and whistles we know and love from this group, 'Colors' is classic, quintessential LOONA. Give her a (boycott friendly of course) stream, and experience rookie era LOONA in all their glory.

(5) Chiyu - tripleS

This song dropped only a couple of months ago with the rest of the '<ASSEMBLE24>' album, and while the tracklist as a whole was stellar, 'Chiyu' is utterly gorgeous. Ethereal and hypnotic, giving this song a listen late at night with headphones is a deeply spiritual experience. tripleS are really the ones to watch in the 5th generation, and 'Chiyu' makes that blatantly clear. You probably heard the title track 'Girls Never Die', and if you ventured into the realm of the b-sides you probably remember the upbeat anthems like '24' and 'Heart Raider', but if you let this one pass you by, I would highly recommend another listen. This is making it onto my 'best of 2024' list for sure.

[miracrownnews]

Mira Crown Pinnacle Roundup V.1.4 First Half

Here's the new Pinnacle Roundup for 1.4 first half. This is not an extensive guide, just a general summary of what the current Pinnacle needs that focuses on F2P clears.

Let's talk about this Pinnacle specifically:

+15% bonus score to glowed up items is a bit painful for newcomers. You only get access to the glow up feature at Mira level 31. Though new players should expect to clear up to R6 reasonably, R7 and R8 it's expected that you have completed the Interlude in order to pass without any issues. That said, this is a great bonus for older players as most of us already has quite a few glowed up outfits so it'll be a breeze.

R5: Very easy, just select whatever outfit you already have leveled up, then select Sweet and Romance in the in-game filter and choose any three accessories (you can also look them up at Infinity Nikki Library). So long as your other pieces are leveled up, it's very likely you'll be able to complete this without having to level up any accessory that matches the 3rd star requirement. Hometown Breeze is, as always, a great pick here.

R6: Very easy, select Rebirth Wish, profit! Shoutout to Scarlet Dream for being a quick and easy outfit to craft and glow up for this as well. If you start this Pinnacle late and you want to rush it, Scarlet Dream will probably be your best option.

R7: Your outfit MUST be glowed up (level 11) and it MUST be a complete outfit. Misty Waves is pretty much a requirement here, so I hope you farmed it during the previous Eureka double drop event from the last patch. If you only have Heart Kiss then you'll most likely need flat styling nodes. Starwish Echoes works flawlessly, as expected. Kilo outfits stay winning as always. 💅

R8: Your outfit MUST be glowed up (level 11) and it MUST be a complete outfit. It is with great sadness that I announce that Wind of Purity unfortunately cannot clear this, even with all flats. After carrying us for 5 or 6 Pinnacles back to back, she is allowed to take a vacation for now (jk, you can still use WoP in R5 🔥). There's very little difficulty here. Most people already have Wishful Aurosa glowed up so it's very easy. Dream in Glimpses can clear without any flat nodes as well. Wind of Purity and Endless Longing are the only 4-star outfits that cannot clear this in any way, shape or form. Every other 4-star Elegant outfit can clear but they may need flat nodes.

Overall this is a very easy Pinnacle. R7 and R8 specifically need glowed up outfits to clear and having enough resources for glowing them up will be a bit of a bottleneck, particularly for new players but that’s to be expected as Pinnacle is part of the endgame content.

Hope this helps you clear the Pinnacle more easily and as usual, if you have any questions please feel free to ask them in the #strategy-help channel of the Official IN Discord.

See you on the next Pinnacle reset!

[7grandmel]

Todays rip: 07/09/2023

Bigger at Night (Chung Yard)

Season 4 Episode 2 Featured on: SiIvaGunner's Highest Quality Rips: Volume for Wii U

Ripped by MtH

BIG CHUNGUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's kind of funny to see just how naturally Big Chungus, the demon itself, slotted into being a core part of the SiIva meme line-up. The meme, obviously, has cemented itself due specifically for how unfunny and Reddit-coded it was, something with no real comedic value beyond making fun of its oversaturation akin to something like Pickle Rick. During Season 4 Episode 1, Big Chungus suddenly showed up in a couple rips in April - a solid four months after the meme had effectively exploded and already became tiresome to a lot of people. KFaD2 took advantage of this and turned the meme, along with a certain bandicoot and echidna, into a joke contestant - a character representing the idea of "dead memes" being remembered purely out of irony. And as I've said before, if Season 4 Episode 1 was the competition, then Season 4 Episode 2 was the celebration.

After the tournament was over, and Cool Meme Team had made themselves known to the SiIva audience...Big Chungus started showing up again. More than even during the tournament, he sort of just became another meme in the roundup, and at this point most everyone was on board. The four or five songs used in association with the characters offer such a wide spectrum of melodies to use in interesting and funny ways, and rips like Bigger at Night (Chung Yard) show how the meme had gotten past just having ironic appeal. Its a genuinely incredible, authentic-sounding arrangement, to the point of even being used in its album release video's list of examples of just how good rips have gotten over the years. MtH has this touch for quality that is just indescribable.

As mentioned before, a big appeal of Big Chungus rips in particular to me is just how many songs the meme comes packaged with - its mainly using the aptly named Big Chungus song by CG5 as its lead melody, but later switches in elements of both BIG CHUNGUS | Official Main Theme by Endigo and Big Chungus by The Slopster as the rip progresses. A kind of variety gets to be injected into this already high-quality arrangement without having it lose focus from the core joke.

That joke, of course, being the very sensible and sane "What if Big Chungus was in Shovel Knight". SiIva truly is wonderful for enabling things like this happen - and for it to always be of such high quality.

[wanderlust-in-my-soul]

My weekly roundup CW 23

I try to write down my thoughts after watching stuff to create a little weekly ranking in relation to the previous week on my, most of the times, quiet sundays (and because I love lists!). These are just my personal opinions and preferences based on the feeling I got watching the episodes.

And yes, this will contain spoilers!

↑ 1. Be My Favorite (Ep 3/10)

The one with the most adorable heart eyes this week:

All right, so now Kawi is trying to keep Pisaeng at a distance so that he doesn't fall in love with him and yet to get closer to Paer so that he will be the man at her side later. We can already see that Pisaeng likes Kawi. I mean, he has such heart eyes that it's really hard to miss! And I love how Pisaeng keeps reassuring Kawi that being himself is enough that others will like him. Even if Kawi eats like a pig and is just socially awkward at times. And I can understand him trying to keep Pisaeng at a distance to pursue his own selfish goal and trying to cement bridges between two former friends because he knows how it feels to lose friends and be lonely. And I'm even more looking forward to when Kawi finally realizes that the best thing he can do is not to stay away from Pisaeng, but to let him into his life and allow everything that happens next.

☼ 2. Love Tractor (2/8)

The most adorable puppy falling in love:

This is so cute! I read the manhwa and it's so cute! And the adaptation is so good to begin with! I have no idea how the story will fit into eight episodes, but I like to be surprised. The characters are well met. Yechan is one of the cutest puppies we've had on screen so far and he needs to be protected at all costs!

↑ 3. Our Dining Table (10/10 Final)

And there it is again over with getting hungry all the time. It ended the way it began, on a soft episode of feel-good. Yutaka is now officially part of the family, I love Minoru's father, everyone is happy, even though everything is transient, but that's just part of life and it would be much worse if you didn't allow beautiful things to happen just because they might be over again someday. All in all, a very nice, very quiet series.

↑ 4. My Story (9/10)

The most adorable couple in love this week:

Zeke and Fifth are back and cuter than ever. Fifth finally agrees and poses naked for Zeke and the latter can't stop looking at him as if the most delicious food was being served there. The fact that he didn't have water dripping out of his mouth is everything, too. The two are just incredibly cute lovers. And Sky and Win are also on cloud nine and then Sky's dad dies. And I'll be honest, it was somewhat foreseeable, but for a change in the land of drama.

↓ 5. La Pluie (7/12)

That is me watching flirty Patts and Saengtai:

Can I first say how pissed off I am with this ending? It just overshadows everything! That Lomfon finally discovers that Saengtian isn't so one-dimensional after all. The cute animals! And that Saengtai and Patts have taken the next step. Even though Sengtai isn't ready to be sexually satisfied by Patts, that doesn't mean he can't satisfy Patts. And I'm absolutely on board with that! It's nice to see that there's consent there. That it's being shown that you don't have to have sex at the first opportunity. That it's okay to say stop. That it's okay to give instead of take, especially if you're sexually inexperienced. Because receiving can be embarrising at first. It needs time to open up and to have the trust in the other person. Well, and then comes the end. And that pisses me off. Why the hell is Patts just standing there and letting himself be kissed? Afterwards it's going to be back to, she kissed me, I didn't mean to, and I'm going to sit there wondering why he didn't just turn his head away, kept her at a distance, said no, and why he closed his eyes…It's such a crappy source of drama. So not just the kiss with the ex, but the misunderstanding as such. I hope they resolve it wisely. I'll try to muster up that much trust after all.

The most unnecessary drama of the week:

↓ 6. Step by Step (7/12)

It went on and I don't like Put. I don't like how he tries to manipulate Pat into continuing this relationship with him. I don't like how he takes Pat for granted. I don't like how little effort he puts in. I don't like how he uses the stuffed animal as a distraction from the real problem. And basically, nothing has changed. They broke up because Put prioritized his career, which is a legitimate reason, totally non-judgmental here! But then he has the audacity to come back and put Pat back in the closet, to continue to put his career above everything. I think it could have possibly even worked between the two of them if he could have made Pat feel like he came first, if he could openly stand by him, openly care about him. But also only maybe. Because actually Pat has had feelings for Jeng for a while. And I think that's absolutely fine. Jeng is an adult and knows what he wants. He doesn't play games and doesn't have to defend his territory unnecessarily because he's so insecure that someone else wants to play with his toys. And he looks at Pat with that look that I think everyone likes to be looked at with, so that gives plus points. I'll give Jaab and Jane some more time to pick me up. I find their relationship…difficult. So everything, every interaction is difficult for me.

↑ 7. Our Skyy 2 (15+16/16 Final)

The most romantic shit I have seen in a while:

Yeah, still not a fan of the mix of Bad Buddy and A Tale Of Thousand Stars. I don't know, somehow I don't like Pat and Pran as much after watching this. I'll have to watch Bad Buddy again soon to get rid of the pale aftertaste. Otherwise Phupha and Tian…It was so nice to see them, just the two of them living their lives together like that and cuddling. Would be enough for me, but we were able to witness how our Chief gives his Tian the 1000th star. My heart wanted to stop for a moment. What a fucking romantic ending for the two of them and for the series. It really was a perfect ending. Not to mention all the kissing between the two…I mean hello? Seven or eight? In one episode? That's when my heart almost stopped for the second time…

↓ 8. The Luminous Solution (3/6)

So, next week my predictions come true…cheating…Basically I don't even mind the subject, especially if I don't like the couple and would rather see them in the arms of the other party. And right now, I don't think our doctor and Thana make a good couple. And Ryou and Mai are cute together. That's all I can say right now. The best friend is a pain in the ass, but I'm sure that will resolve itself. And hey, maybe the café will have a reason to be in the story soon!

↓ 9. Naked Dining (9/12)

I really don't know what to make of this at the moment. It's all kind of crap. Mahiro is so impatient that it's kind of upsetting me. I mean, he's been aware of his feelings for years and has accepted them, but for Souta, this is all new and he's confused because he feels something for Mahiro. What that is, he doesn't know. Basically that's okay, what pisses me off is the fact that they don't play on with it now. The two could have gotten closer now. They could have done something other than just cooking. They could have given Souta the space and time to get to know himself better and his feelings. Instead, you randomly throw drama into the mix. This week our dear colleague, who of course knows that there is something in the air between the two, but still wants to fight for Souta, even though there is no indication that Souta likes her that way. And then next week comes an ex who causes Souta to get jealous…This is unnecessary drama that doesn't feel natural and thus somewhat spoils my enjoyment of the series.

As a goodbye, here you have the cutes puppy of this week. Have a great week!

[donnerpartyofone]

4, 7, 15

Thanks pal!

4. I'm looking forward to a bunch of things I guess, although also everything makes me so nervous that anticipation is never untainted! I'm looking forward to my book coming out, even though it has all sorts of little flaws that I can barely prevent myself from spontaneously defending/confessing. I'm looking forward to a blu-ray commentary I'm gonna record soon (can't announce yet) plus a bunch of writing I got assigned, all really cool things but I know how much work they are and I wonder if I'm going to survive it every time! I'm looking forward to a horror event I have to host in a couple weeks; it's insanity, I'm paying $$$ for travel and lodging to be on a stage for probably ten minutes to just sort of be the face of the event and provide "support", but that's what it means to me apparently. I think that I should try to find some longer term things to look forward to, but that will be a whole project, I've always had a lot of trouble with goal formation. I'm always doing one short-term thing at a time and feeling like I barely got away with it.

7. 2023 was really insane. My mental health was crumbling really badly in tandem with our tiny, ridiculous apartment where we had lived for ten years. There were huge ups and downs with the big TBA project I basically gave my life to, that I may never be able to "A" but hopefully some day someone will tell me if it is officially cancelled so I can at least talk about it a little. I also wrote my book and I got a chance to go to London to record my first blu-ray commentary, which was a huge adventure and it happened amidst a bunch of really complicated dramatic events I don't have the space for; it was like, we moved out of our apartment, and somebody died, and I had to get on a plane to another country immediately, and I still have this feeling like I went through a portal to another dimension and when I landed at home again it was in another universe and that's where I've been ever since. I got to do some major writing projects that kind of felt like, well OK I did THIS, maybe it will be alright if I die now. I got to be on the jury of the local horror film festival and that was really awesome...and I'm starting to realize that this roundup makes it sound like I'm an incredibly ambitious and busy professional person who is fulfilling her dreams, but none of this stuff pays the bills and I am chronically unemployed, and I seem to have a lot of cognitive and intellectual problems, and I'm just terrified that I'm going to have to starve to death eventually. Toward the end of the year I tried to go back into therapy (round 3) and the search itself was really frightening, but when I finally picked someone I had made a really bad choice and the ~3 sessions I had with her fucked up my mind so badly, I wasn't OK for like two months. I still need to figure that out though, there's a lot of stuff wrong with me.

15. Personality description, wow. Maybe it would be fun to do one of those Marvel cards with all my "stats". How do I answer this? My instinct is to list all my pathologies, but then I think I should say what I'm like socially, but then I remember that I'm pretty different from one situation to another. I have incredible anxiety and I'm always tired from a lot of heavy duty masking, but the masking is 1 part survival instinct and 1 part compassion for others I would say. Almost all of my relationships are these intense one-on-one bonds, I don't do well in groups or with people who can't sustain a long conversation about one thing. But even with people I really know and love I have trouble being spontaneous, I have to script all my phone calls just in case I suddenly lose my mind. I think a lot of people perceive me as like really tough and self-possessed and even ambitious, which blows my mind; I've had a number of relationships that fell apart because the person came up with the fantasy that I was this bad bitch and then they were disappointed that I'm actually really vulnerable and nervous and incompetent. I'm not completely sure what that's about, but I think it could be partially a "social cues" problem; like sometimes I don't realize that I'm being inappropriately harsh until it's too late, and other times I'm like daring myself to be more honest and frank because I think that I'm too meek and it's not normal and people don't like that and I should practice having more self-confidence...and then I'm mortified when I find out the hard way that I was being inappropriate. But the one thing I can probably say without reservation is that I have a great sense of humor. It's like my prized possession, an incredible survival tool, and it keeps me entertained even when I have nothing else.

[guardian-angle22]

I read books! Sometimes, I remember to talk about books!

Here’s a roundup of some of my favorite things I read in 2023. I'll put half of this under a cut to save the timeline.

Middle Grade:

When Life Gives You Mangos by Kereen Getten - This is a sweet story about friendship, grief, and family set in a close knit community in Jamaica following a young girl who can't remember anything that happened the previous summer. I don't read middle grade often so I wasn't expecting to be on the edge of my seat during this book, but I sure was!

Garlic & the Vampire by Bree Paulson - An anthropomorphic village of vegetables - what more could you ask for? When the village learns a vampire moved into a nearby castle, they decide Garlic has to be the one to face him. A cute, wholesome graphic novel - and the sequel Garlic & the Witch was also lovely!

Nonfiction:

A Mind Spread Out on the Ground by Alicia Elliott - This is a collection of essays by an Indegenous author covering a wide range of topics including race, gentrification, parenthood, and mental illness. I annotated the shit out of this book... which is always a sign of a well loved read in my house.

Bad Blood by John Carreyrou - A fascinating account by the journalist from the Wall Street Journal who broke open the case against Theranos and Elizabeth Holmes. The entire story is absolutely bananas and made for a wild read.

Excellent on Audio:

How to Be Perfect by Michael Shur - If you watched and enjoyed The Good Place, this audiobook should be required listening. Pretty much everyone from the cast pops in at random times to narrate something. It was also just a great, thought-provoking book. I actually read this for a work book club and it prompted me to finally finish The Good Place. Most successful book club pick ever.

Finding Me by Viola Davis - She won a Grammy for the narration of this book (and earning her rightful place as an EGOT) and it was well deserved. I'm not usually one for celebrity memoirs, but Viola's life was incredibly interesting and her narration was amazing.

Thriller/Horror:

The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas - This is a Mexican, historical, gothic horror novel set after the Mexican War of Independence. It features a secluded, potentially haunted hacienda and a priest who might actually be a witch. Atmospheric vibes are peak here. Highly recommend listening to the spotify playlist the author made while you read!

No One is Watching by Alyssa Cole - The official blurb says "the gentrification of a Brooklyn neighborhood takes on a sinister new meaning" and that about sums it up. It also compares it to Get Out and that's a pretty good comp, in my opinion.

Poetry:

Artemis Made Me Do It by Trista Mateer - I'm not gonna lie, this poetry collection and the one in the series before it (Aphrodite Made Me Do It) were absolutely cover buys. The cover art is stunning! but luckily the inside is good too.

If My Body Could Speak by Blythe Baird - This collection deals a lot with the feminine experience, how we relate to our bodies and its traumas. Definitely check the trigger warnings for this collection first before picking it up.

Romance:

Take a Hint, Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert - I'm not one to read a ton of romance books but I did enjoy a couple this year. This one was definitely the most explicit but also wholesome and something has to be said for being able to do both. Fun tropes include: fake dating & grumpy/sunshine.

Glitterland by Alexis Hall - While this is still a romance book at its core, it also deals heavily with depression. Fun tip with this book: definitely get the re-released edition with this cover because it has author annotation notes! It was very fun to read those at the end of every chapter.

Short & Quick Reads:

The Appendix by Liam Konemann - This is a very small little pocket book, part of the 404's Inklings collection. In it, Liam is reacting to transphobia he encounters through various media, but also discussing how he navigates being a gay trans man in today's culture.

Silver in the Wood by Emily Tesh - I think I would best describe this as a queer forest fairytale. I'm a sucker for any story that can transport me to a mythical forest and while this one clocks in at a little under 115 pages, it packed a good plant magic punch.

Misc Books I Couldn't Find a Category For:

Captive Prince by C.S. Pacat - I never thought I would read this series, but I stumbled into the first one and then devoured the entire series in the span of 2 days. While I know the core of what people love about this is the love story... the political intrigue happening absolutely gripped me!

Oona Out of Order by Margarita Montimore - Another trope/plot device I love is time travel... or whatever weird timey wimey mess you would consider this: Oona faints after she's about to turn nineteen and awakens 32 years in the future in her 51 year old body. She learns that after each year completes, she'll leap to another age at random. It's as messy and complicated as it sounds but never a dull moment.