#like historical pieces are not truly a problem

[nevoadecaipora]

.

[foone]

Look if there's one thing, just one thing, that I wish everyone understood about archiving, it's this:

We can always decide later that we don't need something we archived.

Like, if we archive a website that's full of THE WORST STUFF, like it turns out it's borderline illegal bot-made spam art, we can delete it. Gone.

We can also chose not to curate. You can make a list of the 100 Best Fanfic and just quietly not link to or mention the 20,000 RPFs of bigoted youtubers eating each other. No problem!

We can also make things not publicly available. This happens surprisingly often: like, sometimes there'll be a YouTube channel of alt-right bigotry that gets taken down by YouTube, but someone gives a copy to the internet archive, and they don't make it publicly available. Because it might be useful for researchers, and eventually historians, it's kept. But putting it online for everyone to see? That's just be propaganda for their bigotry. So it's hidden, for now. You can ask to see it, but you need a reason.

And we can say all these things, we can chose to delete it later, we can not curate it, we can hide it from public view... But we only have these options BECAUSE we archived it.

If we didn't archive it, we have no options. It is gone. I'm focusing on the negative here, but think about the positive side:

What if it turns out something we thought was junk turns out to be amazing new art?

What if something we thought of as pointless and not worth curating turns out to be influential?

What if something turns out to be of vital historical importance, the key that is used to solve a great mystery, the Rosetta stone for an era?

All of those things are great... If we archived it when we could.

Because this is an asymmetric problem:

If we archived it and it turns out it's not useful, we can delete.

If we didn't archive it and it turns out it is useful, OOPS!

You can't unlose something that's been lost. It's gone. This is a one way trip, it's already fallen off the cliff. Your only hope is that you're wrong about it being lost, and there is actually still a copy somewhere. If it's truly lost, your only option is to build a time machine.

And this has happened! There are things lost, so many of them that we know of, and many more we don't know of. There are BOOKS OF THE BIBLE referenced in the canon that simply do not exist anymore. Like, Paul says to go read his letter to the Laodiceans, and what did that letter say? We don't know. It's gone.

The most celebrated playwright in the English tradition has plays that are just gone. You want to perform or watch Love's Labours Won? TOO FUCKING BAD.

Want to watch Lon Cheyney's London After Midnight, a mystery-horror silent film from 1927? TOO BAD. The MGM vault burnt down in 1965 and the last known copy went up in smoke.

If something still exists, if it still is kept somewhere, there is always an opportunity to decide if it's worthy of being remembered. It can still be recognized for its merits, for its impact, for its importance, or just what it says about the time and culture and people who made it, and what they believed and thought and did. It can still be a useful part of history, even if we decide it's a horrible thing, a bigoted mess, a terrible piece of art. We have the opportunity to do all that.

If it's lost... We are out of options. All we can do is research it from how it affected other things. There's a lot of great books and plays and films and shows that we only know of because other contemporary sources talked about them so much. We're trying to figure out what it was and what it did, from tracing the shadow it cast on the rest of culture.

This is why archivists get anxious whenever people say "this thing is bad and should not be preserved". Because, yeah, maybe they're right. Maybe we'll look back and decide "yeah, that is worthless and we shouldn't waste the hard drive or warehouse space on it".

But if they're wrong, and we listen to them, and don't archive... We don't get a second chance at this. And archivists have been bitten too many times by talk of "we don't need copies, the original studio has the masters!" (it burnt down), or "this isn't worth preserving, it's just some damn silly fad" (the fad turned out to be the first steps of a cultural revolution), or "this media is degenerate/illegal/immoral" (it turns out those saying that were bigots and history doesn't agree with their assessment).

So we archive what we can. We can always decide later if it doesn't need preserving. And being a responsible archivist often means preserving things but not making them publicly available, or being selective in what you archive (I back up a lot of old computer hard drives. Often they have personal photos and emails and banking information! That doesn't get saved).

But it's not really a good idea to be making quality or moral judgements of what you archive. Because maybe you're right, maybe a decade or two later you'll decide this didn't need to be saved. And you'll have the freedom to make that choice. But if you didn't archive it, and decide a decade later you were wrong... It's just gone now. You failed.

Because at the end of the day I'd rather look at an archive and see it includes 10,000 things I think are worthless trash, than look at an archive of on the "best things" and know that there are some things that simply cannot be included. Maybe they were better, but can't be considered as one of the best... Because they're just gone. No one has read them, no one has been able to read them.

We have a long history of losing things. The least we can do going forward is to try and avoid losing more. And leave it up to history to decide if what we saved was worth it.

My dream is for a future where critics can look at stuff made in the present and go "all of this was shit. Useless, badly made, bigoted, horrible. Don't waste your time on it!"

Because that's infinitely better than the future where all they can do is go "we don't know of this was any good... It was probably important? We just don't know. It's gone. And it's never coming back"

[enigma2meagain]

RWBY Relic Pieces in Volume 1, Symbolism of the Pieces, and How It Ties To the Broader Narrative.

Did a quick searchup on the symbolism of chess pieces, and taking what I saw into consideration (note that this is very abridged, and possibly not entirely correct):

CRDL and the Black Bishop

Bishops are representative of religion, as well as spirituality, morality, and wisdom, and a direct reference to Cardin's mythological reference, the Cardinal of Winchester. In regards to the broader narrative that RWBY sets up, he can be considered V1's partial representation of the institution of Huntsmen, more specifically the deeply flawed and darker side standing opposite to the better/neutral aspects of Huntsmen that RWBY/JNPR represent, due to being a racist bully who stands against Grimm, yet also willfully persecutes and harms the people he's supposed to fight for, such as minority groups like Faunus and (given Jaune at this point is basically a civilian in huntsmen's clothing and training wheels) the people depending on the circumstances. Also acts as a form of foreshadowing to the other deeply flawed or outright bad huntsmen we'd come to see later in the series, as well as highlighting the lack of wisdom and morality that can blight the institutions that Huntsmen are supposed to be, represent and protect.

The Black pieces in chess always move second, which highlights how the Huntsmen are a highly reactive organization, and how this severely limits their ability to truly tackle the bigger problems regarding threats like the Grimm, Salem, society's deep internal problems, and in the bigger picture, Ozpin's divine mission.

JNPR and the White Rook

Rooks are representative of the land, being symbolic of the fortress that guards a city or land and its royalty, and how they essentially "guard" the other pieces, as well as representing stability. The majority of JNPR come from civilians compared to the likes of RWBY, with this becoming completely the case after Pyrrha's death and Oscar's inclusion, and they're shown consistently throughout the series as having the strongest connections to civilians on a personal level. They also frequently as the bedrock and stabilizing influence, through Jaune, Nora and Ren's friendships and roles as supporting characters. Being white pieces also highlights how as time goes on, they would develop an increasingly proactive role through the questioning of the narrative told to them by the metaphorical "royals" (in this case, Ozpin's secret circle) and the latter's failure to actually protect them.

This is especially notable in regards to Jaune, Nora, and from a story perspective Ren, given how the former consistently questions Ozpin and his inner circle's shadier actions throughout most of V4 - V8, and Nora and Ren were failed miserably and made orphans due to the lack of huntsmen and the society around them failing to protect them, while putting them into a situation where their only recourse is to become part of the system that failed them.

RWBY and the White Knight

Knight pieces are representative of the medieval military, fitting given the status of Huntsmen, as well as being considered adventurous, valorous, and unpredictable due to their unique fighting style allowing them a level of unpredictability that other pieces don't have, fitting of how RWBY are the main proactive force to pushing Ozpin and the true nature of the secret war against Salem out into uncharted territory, forcing them to actually change and grow.

Knights are also often historically drawn from nobility, much like how every major character in RWBY has some kind of tie to Remnant's most illustrious groups or some kind of major player (Ruby and Yang being part of major Huntsmen lineages, Weiss being a rich heiress to the most powerful corporation in the world, and Blake being effectively the Princess of the Faunus, as well as having ties to the most prominent civil rights activists and movements in all iterations of the White Fang).

Much like JNPR, they are far more proactive compared to the royals they serve, actively pushing the latter outside their comfort zone in a two-pronged attack alongside JNPR, but the series also strives to highlight and deconstruct the messier aspects of their relationship as huntsmen (and thus a form of warrior caste/mercenary, with the following tension in that relationship with the people they are trying to protect) and how the unpredictable nature of their changes results in as much positive and messier forms of change, for better or worse.

This got way longer than I thought it would.

[justjudethoughts]

I think my favorite thing Stroud did is introduce Jessica into the narrative, and it's a bit complex to explain why. So I thought I'd start by sharing an unfinished poem written by myself as a bit of a framing "vibe":

There is a very specific, seldom explored, type of grief that accompanies there being more about the person that you don't remember than what you do. Of course, with Lockwood being 9 when Jess dies, he remembers a lot more about her than about his parents. But he was still pretty small, and the older he gets the less he is going to remember, especially considering that the bulk of his memories with Jess would have been before he even turned 9. In the context of Anthony's life, Jess is a historical figure, not a contemporary. And that is a different type of grief than the grief that comes from losing someone when both parties are significantly older.

The type of grief that Jess causes truly is a "ghostly" form. It's the "haunting the narrative" form. And it's a very real thing. It's the type of grief that comes from having a grandparent you never met, but their picture and stories being everywhere around the house and your heart always being aware that something is missing. It's the grief that comes from a tragic, untimely death that leaves the distinct feeling that the person "should still be here."

Our dining room table seats six people, but there are only five of us, so there is always one empty seat that happens to be the seat next to my older brother's spot. My eldest brother was still born, and growing up, sometimes I would look at the empty chair and mentally dub it "Patrick's" chair, where he was supposed to be.

A friend once told me she didn't like the idea of naming a kid after a deceased relative, because it makes the kid "a walking tombstone." That smacked some string in my heart really hard, because if I am honest, that's what I want to be. I want to be a living memorial of the people who have loved me into existence. I want people to know me, and in turn, know the people who my heart aches for. I'm named after my grandmother, who died in her 40s. She didn't meet any of her grandchildren. I also happen to look extremely similar to her. And it is my greatest honor to be recognized because of that. Because everyone loved her. Everyone has beautiful stories to tell. Her funeral was standing room only. If my name and face can be a reason she isn't forgotten, then make me a walking gravestone. I can think of no higher honor.

And I think, in some way (albeit an unhealthy way at first), this is what Anthony is trying to do. He goes by "Lockwood" so the family name always rings out on the lips of the public. He carries on a similar line of work to his parents, and a line of work that could have saved his sister. He doesn't change a single thing in the house. Despite his refusal to talk about them, he organizes his life in such a way that he is a testament to the fact that they are gone.

And then he reads his parents last lecture. Then he puts the pieces together. And something changes in him.

He no longer lives to be a testament to their absence. He lives to be a testament to the fact that they were here. And that it mattered. That everything they were and did mattered. That his parents were close to solving the Problem, and that he is close to finishing their work. That Jessica's death glow never went away so she could save her baby brother. That no matter how short a person's time on earth is, they leave a mark. His family is his reason to keep going. To show the world, over and over again, that they mattered.

And I love Stroud for that.

[allwaswell16]

All the One Direction fics I read and enjoyed in August 2023. You can listen to my podcast to hear me talk about each of these fics as well as an overview of what was posted on ao3 including the fics on this month’s fic roundup which you can find here! Please let the writers know if you liked the fics by leaving kudos and comments! Happy reading!

Fanfictional Podcast #53 |  ko-fi | fic recs

—Louis/Harry—

🌴 De amore ex tempore by @persephoneflouwers

(M, 101k, historical) the Middle Ages AU where Harry is a philosopher, whose thoughts happen five centuries too soon and Louis is a painter, whose art happens five centuries too late. & Or: the Time Travel AU where alternate versions of themselves live simultaneously in different realities and their paths collide every time, until somehow, they converge into one.

🌴 Gemma's Dad (Could Use A Guy Like Me) by @lululawrence

(NR, 82k, age difference) Louis wasn't planning on getting home and learning that Gemma's dad had gotten the house in the divorce and was dealing with things by focusing on work, the house, and his newly planted garden. It becomes obvious early on that Harry is a bit lost and Gemma is worried about him. To help both of them, Louis is more than happy to help Harry find himself again.

🌴 We Don't Need No Piece of Paper (From the City Clerk) by @2tiedships2

(M, 26k, a/b/o) In a matter of months, he would be bonded to an alpha his dad had chosen for him. Someone that Harry knew nothing about. Not even his name.

🌴 you give me feelings that i adore by @alwaysxlarrie

(T, 7k, a/b/o) 5 times Louis scents Harry's things and the 1 time Harry returns the gesture.

🌴 A Social Construct by YesIsAWorld / @louandhazaf

(E, 7k, established relationship) Five times Harry and Louis try to lose their virginity and one time they finally do. Part 4 of Swallow My Words

🌴 Rode Hard and Put Away Wet by @kingsofeverything

(E, 6k, Texas) Louis heard the same rumours in London, New York, and L.A., and he put them all to rest, but in Texas? Series Part 7 of Tiny Penis Fics

🌴 Trying to Find the Words (To Say For Ages) by @insightfulinsomniac

(E, 6k, uni au) As best friends and roommates, it’s really not a big deal when their on-campus housing provides Harry and Louis with an unusual, intimate bathroom arrangement. 

🌴 Come All Ye by @justanothershadeofblue

(E, 6k, historical) It's the summer of 1971, and Louis just wants to get out of town for a minute or a day. When his buddy Zayn says they should head down south and check out this radical new music festival, Louis is only too happy to agree.

🌴 Every Bit of Mine by skipper / @skipperxao3

(M, 3k, dark) Harry is an enigma. Louis still loves him.

🌴 every night with us (is like a dream) by moon_rose25 / @darkinfinity

(T, 2k, famous/not famous) A look into the life of a professional football player dating a physical therapist.

🌴 Everything Is Batter With You by red_panda28 / @red-pandaaa

(T, 2k, established relationship) Harry comes across a fun baking TikTok and convinces Louis to do it

🌴 No (Birth) Control by @haztobegood

(E, 2k, a/b/o) An unfortunate situation left Harry without contraceptives a day before his heat.

🌴 in my head we can love forever by @beardyboyzx

(E, 1k, girl direction) Harry might be a bit in love with her roommate.

🌴 Nights Like These, We'll Remember by @fallingdefenceless

(T, 1k, meet cute) Louis and Harry meet at a summer music festival and sparks fly.

—Rare Pairs—

🌴 The Light Out In The Madness (Hold Tight) by @lalalaartje

(E, 46k, Niall/Louis) When Louis ends up with Niall as a roommate after a messy break up with Harry, he considers it truly life saving. They become fast friends and while Louis is sceptical about Niall's idea to start fake dating to take revenge on Harry, it can't be that bad, can it?

🌴 Ask Him by LinksLipsSinkShips / @fxckingprincesspark

(T, 2k, Niall/Lewis Capaldi) When Lewis Capaldi gets pressed for information on who he's dating, he admits it... he's been seeing Niall Horan. The only problem? He jokes so much that no one believes him.

[brf-rumortrackinganon]

Will we never see the day the Harkles get what they deserve rumour tracking anon? I'm losing faith and I'm really tired. They are saved from all those scandals that demand their answer just with this one incident. I cannot anymore

I know, anon. It's really frustrating to see them keep getting away with it, almost as if they're constantly rewarded for bad behavior.

Some things that have helped me (bolding for emphasis to break up the giant chunks of text):

Taking breaks. Just walk away from it. A day, a weekend, a week. There isn't a whole lot happening in the BRF to counteract the Sussex shenanigans so Harry and Meghan are dominating the news There are no tiara or glam events. No tours/foreign visits. No projects being announced. 3 out of 7 senior royals are on medical leave and the ones who are working don't generate the same kind of headlines, attention, or coverage. Take a break from all this - maybe do a deep dive into another royal family or read historical books about the BRF (especially ones that pre-date the modern House of Windsor) or non-text books (like Angela Kelly's books or Chris Jackson's photobooks).

Spend time pursuing a creative hobby. I find that doing something creative helps keep my mind from wandering to the Sussexes and the nothingness coming from the BRF too often. Some of my creative pursuits: baking and cooking new recipes, DIY and craft projects (I love going to Goodwill, thrift stores, and architectural salvage places for home decor and furniture. Also, I'm not saying you need to pledge allegiance to Catherine, The Princess of Wales in every aspect of your life, but I'm also not not saying that Kate's Ring is an excellent accent color for an end table), learning how to make craft cocktails (it was a pandemic thing), and organizing decades and decades of family photos.

What I also find a cathartic is fanfiction writing. I've had dreams of being a writer since I was Princess Charlotte's age but listen. I cannot stick to a plot for the life of me, because I always want to know "what happens next." But let me tell you. It is hugely cathartic to write a fanfiction novel where a Meghan-like evil witch gets everything she deserves and a Harry-like tortured prince is redeemed by the pure love of an ordinary American girl (okay, that one was pre-Oprah before we all learned how truly messed up Harry is) or where a revenge fantasy where a Harry-like spoiled brat loses everything when he treats his saintly Kate-like girlfriend abominably and when he tries to win her back, she's fallen in love with a Henry Cavill-like swashbuckling Real Man or where the Harry-and-Meghan-like entitled spoilt prince and his wife try to overthrow the saintly and universally loved heir but the Queen swiftly, immediately, justly, and properly handles them with eviction, termination, and worldwide embarrassment. You can do everything to your characters and you can make them suffer in a way the real Harry and Meghan may never.

Find trashier, more trainwreckier drama to get stuck in. Bravo, anyone? A new season of Vanderpump Rules has just started, Summer House is about to start, and two of the villains from OG Vanderpump Rules (Jax and Kristen) have a spinoff series that's about to launch.

Changing your perspective. There's a famous leadership quote about problem-solving: How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. In other words, you have to take big things (big problems) one at a time, piece by tiny piece. So yes, the big "elephant" is that the Sussexes look like they have everything - they still have titles, they still have massive million-dollar deals, they've got the Olive Garden, the BRF isn't stopping their PR. But also look at everything they don't have anymore:

They can't use their HRHs.

Their RPOs were taken away.

Their royal charities and patronages were taken away.

Charles isn't paying them as much money, if he's even paying for them.

Everyone is blaming them for hastening Philip's and The Queen's deaths.

They were evicted from Frogmore Cottage.

It took six months for the palace website to add Prince/Princess titles to Archie and Lili but it was instanteous to change George, Charlotte, and Louis to "of Wales."

Charles calls them "Harry and Meghan" or "my other son and his wife."

The family doesn't want to be seen with or around them. Even Eugenie seems to have abandoned ship these days.

William isn't taking Harry's calls.

Lili doesn't have a webpage on the royal website.

Harry's military titles and honors have been revoked. All he has left is the merit-based rank he "earned" as an enlisted soldier. (Which is being generous.)

Their Spotify deal was cancelled early. (Scobie admits this in Endgame.)

No more social media birthday greetings/shout-outs from official royal accounts.

Nothing has come out of Netflix except a whinefest docuseries that no one has taken seriously. Everything they've pitched gets shot down and Meghan isn't getting the talent she wants for her movie.

The only awards they're getting are the ones that they pay for - no Grammys for Spare's audiobook, no Emmys or Golden Globes for their documentaries or the Oprah interview, no Pulitzers or Literary Awards for their books. No Nobel Peace Prize for their recordbreaking humanitarian aid work.

They got the knockoff Kennedys (William got the real ones).

Meghan isn't "in" with A-List Hollywood. The celebrities she's been namedropping haven't had commercial box office hits in at least a decade. She isn't hosting or presenting at award shows.

Meghan isn't getting the lucrative influencer sponsorships and merching she wants, which is why she papwalks in parking lots.

Their foundation is a joke and their philanthropy/giving is increasingly under scrutiny for things that don't make sense.

Their "good deeds" are actually ulterior motives designed for maximum PR and celebrity bandwagons, rather than actually helping underserved communities.

There is actual, open, frequent speculation that their children aren't even real and that has to hurt as a parent.

The British press doesn't take them seriously.

They're a comedy punchline, and not just for satire. The Golden Globes made fun of them. The whole world laughed at them after the "car chase."

Harry's lawsuits aren't going well. He's now trying to relitigate a court finding so he doesn't have to pay his fines.

Elton John isn't flying them anywhere anymore. Oprah and Gayle have cut ties. Ellen DeGeneres seems disinterested. Tyler Perry noped out.

Harry's balding is atrocious. (I mean, really. In the overhead camera angles of The Queen's funeral, his bald spot jumps out at you from a mile away. Not even William's bald head stands out that much.)

They/Archewell bleed staff faster than a flesh wound.

Andrew -- ANDREW! -- still has a royal residence, still has RPOs, still gets papped with members of the royal family, still gets friendly press coverage (on occasion), still gets to wear/use some of his honors (like the RVO at coronation).

Eugenie got to have her own personal social media while Harry and Meghan got a "business" account.

The Sussex wedding was overshadowed by so much drama that still persists to this day (thanks for the Markle v Markle lawsuit, Sam!).

Spare made everyone realize Harry is as bad as Meghan and it's not all on her.

Harry's "Hero Harry"/Queen's Soldier PR persona has been completely and thoroughly shattered. Everyone knows it was just a publicity facade now.

Harry isn't even getting the "William's brother" edit anymore - that's now Mike Tindall.

They were erased from most of the Platinum Jubilee - their only official event was the service of thanksgiving. They didn't even get Trooping - Meghan had to arrange for a pap to take her picture to show us they were at Trooping.

They were erased from the Coronation - Harry got lumped in with the extended family (vs the line of succession, order of precedence, or working royals) and didn't get into any of the official programs, memorabilia, or portraits.

They've been shunned by most of British aristocracy - no invite to the Grosvenor wedding later this year.

No royal christening for Lili, and it's exceedingly more and more likely that the BRF hasn't met her yet.

The British media/press actually shows up and will be the first to defend the BRF against Sussex allegations when it really matters.

There are accusations of stolen valor against Harry because he seems to be supporting American military more than British military.

Harry's African charities, of which he is the figurehead, are in crisis with the discovery of SA and other allegations.

Supposedly Harry's role with BetterUp has been downgraded/demoted.

Invictus Games is going through some serious money issues. There's talk of cutting Harry and Meghan loose because they aren't/can't fundraise, and you know they won't go down swinging.

I'm sure there are more, but my point is that even though it looks like the Sussexes are getting away with things, they really haven't. after all, it's death by a thousand cuts...or eating an elephant piece by tiny piece -- it builds up over time.

Also I just realized that the Kate's Ring paint chip linked up earlier shows it being more of a teal or an inkier blue. It isn't - it's more of a cobalt blue or a royal blue.

[artaphant]

Corsetry design for creating a hoop skirt, best attached with webbing and buckles to avoid cutting into the waist.

Skirts!

Horsehair- sewn into the lower layer to give waves into a gown

HANG AND ALLOW FOR STRETCH ON A CIRCLE SKIRT then resize before designing.

Bodice!

Not always a corset or boned bodice

Boned bodices place boning along the seam lines to keep the fabric smooth and long. Will not change the shape of the bodice like a corset though.

Buy your bodice for the construction, not the style. Most measurements are made for a B cup- you're better off making a higher bust and taking in to fit.

SLASH AND SPREAD- great for adding poofs to sleeves.

References- Cosplay panel. Also the book "The Cosplay book of Ballgowns"

Corsets! W/ Cowbutt Crunchies Cosplay

Expect to have 3+ mockups before the finished product.

Check out the Facebook for Truly Victorian to get community help too.

Mockups should use cheaper fabric, usually muslin so you can draw on it and it won't tear. And add bones to the mockups! Heavy duty zip ties work well.

Middle's issue- the spacing is off in the lacing. The cup should be bigger.

Wrinkles are the best indicator of a problem, when in doubt try ripping a seam for how the fabric moves.

Prewash fabrics!! And follow the grain lines on the fabrics. Mark each piece, stay organized or things will go together upside down and you will cry.

Contille fabric is the standard for corset fabric. Get it all from a coset specialty store, farthingales is Canada based and good for gown supplies too. Some of those places will let you buy boning to length w/ tips and coatings.

Featherlite will not work for anything don't do it.

Bone casing- super helpful in setting in the bones where you need. Twill tape can also work- also good for hoop skirts.

Busk- front hooks to open the corset and will have a bone and seam included.

Corset flossing?

DO NOT MACHINE SEW AFTER THE BONES ARE IN STEEL V STEEL IS NO GOOD.

Magnets and buckles into a corset for armor pieces!!!

Bernadette Banner- historical costumer with scoliosis for good tips.

Foundational sewing books are best starts and "old lady" blogs. THREADS MAGAZINE- get the online archive for resources from 1970's on super helpful.

[astriiformes]

hello!! this is kit. happy birthday!!! you don't have to answer all of these but

🎞️if you could change one scene from any of the movies, which one would you change and how?

⏲️what time period would you want marty to travel to and what would you want him to do? for fun or for something serious?

💫if you have any bttf related wips, here's the oppurtunity to ramble about them! (<-PLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLSEPLSPEL)

Thank you!!

🎞️ - If you could change one scene from any of the movies, which one would you change and how?

Oof, just one scene is difficult, because the thing I'd like to change most would be how Jennifer's plot was handled in the second movie, and that requires a bit more overhauling. I think you could still make it better with a little tweaking though -- maybe she doesn't get knocked out and is simply told to stay watch the DeLorean, which still ends up being a problem when she tries to lure someone away from it, or something like that.

I guess that still modifies more like two scenes, but you get the idea! Anything to make her feel like she's got a little more agency. Because I like her a lot and it bothers me that the BttF movies aren't even that terrible at writing women (Lorraine and Clara are both really interesting characters!), but sidelined her anyways.

⏲️- What time period would you want Marty to travel to and what would you want him to do? For fun or for something serious?

Already answered this one but since there are plenty of time periods to choose from I will simply pick another. As someone who studies the history of science, I think that Doc and Marty could get up to some peak shenanigans in Enlightenment-era America (thinking late 18th and early 19th century here) when everyone was obsessed with the phenomena of electricity. I want to unleash Doc Brown on the people that thought lightning rods defied the will of God.

💫- If you have any BttF related WIPs, here's the opportunity to ramble about them!

OH BOY DO I

So, four years ago I started a diptych of stories I am yet to finish but that are some of the fics nearest and dearest to my heart, surrounding the idea of Marty being transgender. (I once called them my love-letter to transmasculinity, which is a little dramatic, but genuinely a bit how I feel about them)

The first is from Doc's perspective, and deals with the fact that, when Marty was first born, the version of him who'd been visited by 17 year-old Marty back in 1955 must've had an absolute heart attack at first. It features a very confused Doc and (eventually) a younger Marty figuring some important things out about himself, and is probably about half-written at uh. Almost 9k words.

The second, companion piece is from Marty's perspective, and set post-trilogy, dealing with him navigating questions of identity as someone who is trans and who now grew up in a different timeline. It follows his relationships with the important people in his life, his dueling existential crises, and the isolating feeling that maybe there's no one who understands you in the entire world -- and the relief that comes from learning that you're wrong.

I've done a truly monster amount of research for these fics--including having a librarian friend help me track down digitized historical documents during lockdown back in 2020--and am contemplating diving into the historical queer archive where I currently work for a second round, though we'll see what I can find. Regardless, I really want to finally finish these stories now that I've circled back around to having a lot of Back to the Future feelings again.

(Also to show the BttF fandom that I'm a much better writer when I'm not churning out only-mildly-edited 1-2k fics every day for a writing challenge, rip, although I'm honored people have been enjoying those ones, too! Just, you know. I can do better.)

[kryptonbabe]

to a degree, if taste in art did not reflect a personality it would render the art meaningless. it's supposed to evoke a feeling. if there is nothing inside you that speaks to the art, it truly is just pure consumption and nothing beyond that.

Here are the posts about this for context. Yeah, of course one's taste in art might reflect aspects of their personality. That being said what we consider a personality is vast and multifaceted, your taste in art can reflect your fears, your desires, your past experiences (positive and negative), your views of the world - these can be intimate, or surface level. However I should say it at once: our actions and how we affect each other in real life are the only mesures by which we should be judged. To ponder over a disturbing theme is not the same as commiting a disturbing act. As Susan Sontag says in Regarding the Pain of Others: “Nobody can think and hit someone at the same time.”

Art can speak to facets of our psyches that are surface level, based on a recent experience in school you might look for a book on fishing, you never fished, you don't even intend, but your teacher talked about it in such a vivid way it spoke to you, so you borrowed a book, read it and never thought about it again. What motivated you then? Empathy for the dear teacher, a fleeting desire to experience that, a sudden curiosity?

On the other hand, art can speak deeply to us, as I felt when I first read Light in August by William Faulkner, a book dealing with parental abuse and race prejudice to a mixed race person, who was not a "good" person by the way. Still, my own past, as a mixed race person with some traumatic experiences made me really connect to the character, the book is also beautifully written despite its violence. Books like the Xenogenesis series by Octavia Butler also explore disturbing themes of violence and abuse in a graphic manner, and still, they can speak of a message that does not endorse these subjects. And I am fond of that kind of fiction, they open paths for me to understand my own traumas, intrusive thoughts and other undesirable feelings that have been part of my life for a long time. I developed coping mechanisms that take advantage of the fact that we are imperfect beings and there's acceptance in that. This is my experience however, there are no wrong ways to enjoy or appreciate art, even if those reasons are aspects of yourself that you're not proud of, a bad memory, a bad thought. According to E. H. Gombrich in his book The Story of Art:

“I do not think that there are any wrong reasons for liking a statue or a picture. Someone may like a landscape painting because it reminds him of home, or a portrait because it reminds him of a friend. There is nothing wrong with that. As long as these memories help us to enjoy what we see, we need not worry. It is only when some irrelevant memory makes us prejudiced, when we instinctively turn away from a magnificent picture of an alpine scene because we dislike climbing, that we should search our mind for the reason for the aversion which spoils a pleasure we might otherwise have had. There are wrong reasons for disliking a work of art.” The art objects he's talking about of course are not relevant, the focus is on our approach to a piece of art and how our prejudices can alter our perceptions of a given work.

I have't even touched on the matter of curiosity, the unconscious and the historical context of transgression in art - which is so interesting. We could talk about for instance if the philosophers and writers (Epicurus, Hume, Dostoievsky) who pondered about the problem of evil and wrote about it were all deranged human beings, if the researchers / teachers of literary studies who dedicated their lives to understand works of Marquis de Sade are all perverts. Why were they thinking about these things? Why would they dedicate so much time to make sense of those awful works of art. But then, why shouldn't we think about these things? They might be frightening, painful, uncomfortable aspects of life, but they are not going away any time soon. We do live in a society after all... and in that way we feel like part of its mess. We are not evil by nature like that silly Thomas Hobbes used to think, but we do have the potential for it and we often act on it, why? That is the place of science, philosophy and yes... art to answer. Until we find out, we keep trying.

So yeah, art can and will reflect characteristics of our existence, collectively and individually (as in what we can call personality), on the surface level as momentary interest or deep and emotionally, or yet as curiosity, intellectual concern, it might be instead an unconscious parts of our being (the Jungian shadow-self), who am I to pick and choose what moves others, people I don't even know and never met, towards any given art work? I don't even fully know my own self.

Sorry for the long ass answer, now let me just finish with another Susan Sontag thought, also from her book Regarding the Pain of Others: “Someone who is permanently surprised that depravity exists, who continues to feel disillusioned (even incredulous) when confronted with evidence of what humans are capable of inflicting in the way of gruesome, hands-on cruelties upon other humans, has not reached moral or psychological adulthood.”

[shouldhavestayedawayfromhere]

The Satanic Bible – book review

Sooo I finished reading the Satanic Bible by Anton Szandor LaVey this week, finally. I have a couple of thoughts on it, so I thought I'd share them for those who have, and maybe more importantly, for those who haven't read it. (I'm quite opinionated, so if you're a big fan of his work, consider scrolling)

Firstly, my overall opinion on this books is that it gets progressively worse the more you read. It starts out with some interesting philosophical takes – much of which are not LaVey's own, as I learned. The only truly original part of this book is LaVey's system of magic, which calls upon powers that LaVey does not even believe in, and the deeply rooted despise that he has for Christians, the left-hand-path(LHP), and pretty much anyone who practices magic differently than him.

Imo, LaVey is not a philosopher, nor is he a religious leader. He called a new kind of Satanism into life only to abandon it after it started to evolve on its own (like every religion does). His attempts at being progressive failed miserably. He tried hard to be better than Christians by being inclusive and scientific, but that doesn't hide the fact that he doesn't know what he's talking about.

His magical concept is male-centered and heteronormative, some might even say sexist. His understanding of asexuality is extremely limited and in my opinion (as an asexual), quite controversial and insensitive. LaVey's approach to magic is to stress the fact that he doesn't really believe in magic, so his religion will appeal to the modern and progressive masses. He makes his satanism look scientific by claiming Satan does not exist, but still claims to be speaking for him. Also a bold claim to make.

Yet, when the satanic movement was over and people no longer cared about his edgy ideology, LaVey ditched his own religion, said he didn't wanna be associated with it anymore (he's the founder lmao) and called his fellow satanists "weirdos" and "freaks".

In an attempt to be liberating, he pushed yet another dogma onto people, centering his concept of magic almost entirely around sexuality. And the worst thing yet – LaVey was full of hate and faux pity for 'outsiders'. His work pushes a strong we-vs-them agenda. Wether it's satanists versus Christians or RHP vs LHP, it's ridiculous. LaVey actively slanders and makes fun of people who follow the LHP. He could educate on the topic. He could explain how white and black magic don't exist, how everything is balanced, how dark and light coexist in nature and justify his choice of the RHP that way. But instead, he incorporated his despise for white-light religions & practitioners into his satanic rituals. Rituals which leave nearly no room for any kind of spirituality.

LaVey says himself in the satanic Bible in the chapter about devices used in Satanic rituals: "Satanism is a religion of the flesh, rather than of the spirit". And I couldn't have said it better. His religion has nothing to do with growth and spiritual development. It leaves you exactly where you are, but hey, you can use magic to get money, luck or sex! LaVey didn't believe in Satan, nor any other higher being, yet he used them for his greedy desires and fetishes. He focused in on a minor part of what Satanism really is and got stuck there.

LaVey Satanism, as I see it, it a blunt sexualization of the occult and it holds no spiritual value to me. I don't see TSB as a piece of spiritual educational literature. Rather as a historical and cultural classic that may be of use to understand the evolution of modern occultism. But it's nice to be able to say that I've read it.

My words are a bit harsh here and there, so I wanna clarify that I don't have a problem with anyone choosing to practice this religion respectful of others.

[unholyverse]

waterparks // alternative press spring 2023

(full article text under the cut:)

TO THE MOON

With their new album INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, WATERPARKS are diving deeper than ever before. The result is an exorcism of deep trauma and the sweet afterglow of catharsis.

STORY: Alessandro DeCaro • PHOTOS: Jawn Rocha • Styling: Josh Madden

Between international flights, jet lag and no days off in between, it is a miracle that Awsten Knight isn’t face down in a pile of pillows. For the past two weeks, Knight and his band Waterparks have been head down in a run of massive shows throughout the U.K. supporting British rockers You Me At Six as well as a series of intimate appearances at record stores with some of the band’s most die-hard fans. It was a landmark run for a group who have hit the road relentlessly the past year-and-a-half, with sold-out North American and European headlining tours, a top slot at the 2022 Sad Summer Festival and even a “bucket list” opening slot for My Chemical Romance. Their latest milestone? They played to 10,000 people — their largest show in the U.K. region — at London’s historic Alexandra Palace. Exhaustion should be Knight's baseline, but instead, he's as chipper as ever when he hops on Zoom back home in Los Angeles. There's only one problem. The bandleader has been on vocal rest for days leading up to this very interview.

“Dude, my voice feels so shot,” Knight confesses from his living room couch. “We did 12 performances back to back, then combined with really short cut-up sleep on the flight, 1 just feel, ugh.” Sleep deprivation aside, Knight is almost at a loss for words (not from the vocal rest) but because the experimental pop trio he formed 12 years ago have unlocked another level of fandom where new listeners are still flocking by the droves. “It turns out there are a lot of people [in this world].” Knight quips, referring to his newfound fans. But in reality, global domination doesn’t really seem too far off.

Knight barely has time to slow down. The band are set to release their fifth studio album, INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY (out April 14 via Fueled By Ramen). But the self-professed workaholic has never known any other way. “It's a really hard mentality to shake,” Knight reveals. “When we were a local band, we didn't have any family connections in the music industry, and no one cared, so you had to take on every role. Even though we are not local anymore and get to play arenas with our favorite bands, if I'm not actively doing stuff to push the music, then I don’t know if anyone else will."

In some ways, Knight fears downtime or stillness because that's when he feels like his brain will start to turn on him. He admittedly functions better when he's working on something creative, whether that’s writing a new song or simply designing streetwear for his clothing brand hii-def. “It's not necessarily the most healthy thing in the long run, but people have worse coping mechanisms,” he laughs nervously.

But Waterparks remain his main focus. The trio, which initially formed in 2011, began to truly put the pieces together the following year when Knight enlisted his now-best friends, guitarist Geoff Wigington and drummer Otto Wood, to round out the lineup. “Otto loved classic rock and bands like La Dispute and Touché Amoré, whereas Geoff was all about EDM," Knight recalls. “We all had different tastes, but at the core of it, it's guitar and drums.” Their individual musical backgrounds helped craft the genre-less sound they have now cultivated.

"THE BIGGEST REASON I didn’t want that pop-punk label is that I know exactly what we are capable of." - AWSTEN KNIGHT

It wasn't until 2016 when Waterparks finally released their debut album, Double Dare — an intentional choice. “I always felt like if no one was looking at us, why put out a large body of work? I wanted to do cool shit as opposed to oversaturating and waiting until enough people [actually] wanted to hear it.” There is a common adage that you have your entire life to write your first record and six months to write your second, to which Knight agrees, and from there, the band began making records like clockwork.

With those albums came carefully curated eras — a moment in time with a clear aesthetic, theme and overall mission statement. While always writing music from a subversive and experimental perspective, it was when the band released both FANDOM (2019) and Greatest Hits (2021) that they began to stray from the confinement of genre and inaccurate labels. Knight himself spoke out vehemently about being boxed in by the term “pop punk. “I learned [during that time that] you can’t control everybody, and you can only frame the narrative so much,” Knight explains. “Obviously, we grew up loving and still loving blink-182, Green Day, Sum 41 and Good Charlotte, so it’s in our DNA to a degree, but I just don't want that label because it’s so synonymous with the past and what cynical dickheads or mega naysayers say is just for preteens and kids. However, the biggest reason I didn’t want that label is that I know [exactly] what we are capable of and what our output is.”

Take, for example, the breakbeat madness of the FANDOM single “Turbulent” or the distorted experimentation of “Numb” from Greatest Hits. Nothing is off the table for Waterparks. The group join a cohort of other trailblazing acts like Bring Me the Horizon and Paramore, who both successfully pivoted away from the late Warped Tour circuit in favor of mainstream appeal without losing any substance. “There's a song for everybody, and I once tweeted that anyone who doesn't like Waterparks just doesn't like Waterparks yet,” Knight says confidently.

If you have yet to be on board with the band's music, you've at the very least been entertained by — or seen — Knight's fiery social media presence.

It's undeniable that Waterparks’ meteoric rise has stemmed from the bandleader’s unofficial side hustle as a social media celebrity. And at times, his online presence can feel truly monolithic in scale, something Knight has attempted to analyze over the years in many songs, including the aptly titled “You'd Be Paranoid Too (If Everyone Was Out To Get You)" When asked if his status as an extremely online figure has influenced the band’s latest album, INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, Knight isn't entirely sure but reveals that he has had to set boundaries nonetheless, as someone who's regularly met with constant praise and vicious internet trolls. “I try not to let it influence things too much [lately], and with therapy, I've learned that you can only control yourself. However, that doesn’t mean I'm not still vulnerable in the music that I write.”

He tackles the subject on INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY with closer "A NIGHT OUT ON EARTH" and parts of the song “RITUAL,” where he recalls when he felt things were “caving in" around him due to the pressures of constant attention. “There are people who listen to Waterparks who aren't on Twitter. and then there are those who view the band in this bubble where it's just them and the people who reply to the tweets,” Knight resigns.

But beyond the topic of social media, Knight gets admittedly “introspective” on the record. When asked to discuss the overall lyrical themes and concepts behind INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, he takes a deep breath and delivers a warning: Things might get a little turbulent.

“There is a love story throughout the record that is expressive to and for other people, but the album itself has to do with overcoming, unlearning and growing past religious guilt,” Knight explains. “It's something that I've struggled with for a long time.” On “FUNERAL GREY," he delivers the punchy line “baptized in my spit,” which is a playful twist on a weighted subject. The theme of religious guilt doesn’t just apply to the overall lyrics of the record but also extends to the album's striking cover art, which at first glance appears to be an image of a blue frog over a red backdrop; in actuality, it possesses a much more poignant meaning.

“Frogs have always been one of my favorite animals,” Knight reflects. “However, when I learned that frogs were seen as dirty and unclean in a biblical context, it was interesting to me that something that I saw as so good, natural and beautiful could also be seen as a bad thing through a biblical lens.” In other words, the concept of shame plagued the charismatic bandleader for as long as he can remember, and INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY was the moment for Knight to finally face his trauma head-on and “come to terms with himself” once and for all. That explains why a majority of the new songs possess “hypersexualized” energy — a conscious rebellion against a conservative past. “Growing up in church, you're taught that everything is so wrong and bad. I always felt like shit, so [this album] is the breakaway from that specifically.”

By overcoming his religious guilt, Knight was able to tap into an evolved sense of self-worth that he’s since applied to his very own love life, which he details on the album's stripped-down ballad “CLOSER.” “My concept of love has changed throughout the years, and that song is about [looking at the past] and realizing that when I was younger, it was maybe more of an obsession. Now I'm taking it apart and learning more about love and the way I present the current version of myself to other people.” Inversely, there is the alt-radio-ready anthem “BRAINWASHED,” where Knight admits that he still wrestles with the idea of true love, constantly making sure that he’s not just wrapped up in the “honeymoon phase.” Knight jokes that this track and “FUCK ABOUT IT” which features a guest vocal spot from blackbear, are “polar opposites,” as the latter couldn't be further from the “hyperfixation” he details in “BRAINWASHED.," once again proving that he feels the most comfortable when inserting juxtaposition wherever he can.

"I've learned that you can ONLY CONTROL YOURSELF. However, that doesn’t mean I'm not still vulnerable in the music that I write." - AWSTEN KNIGHT

Beyond the emotional clarity that Knight gained during the creation of INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, it's the album's sonic risks and exploration that he is the most fired up about. Though Knight wanted the band to return to their more guitar-driven and organic roots for certain parts of the LP, much of the record ventures into eclectic territory, with hyperpop, trap, synthwave and even subtle elements of hard rock and nu metal. “RITUAL, ‘A NIGHT OUT ON EARTH, ‘REAL SUPER DARK’ and ‘ST*RFUCKER' are the craziest instrumentals we have done ever,” Knight exclaims. “I love the idea of taking something like a guitar or my voice and making it sound entirely like something else” “A NIGHT OUT ON EARTH,” however, is what Knight describes as “the biggest production flex,” and it most definitely shows. “There's fucking elephant sounds in there and weird Batman villain-sounding horns — it's evil and heavy, and not to mention, the outro is just game over,” he says.

Beyond production, Knight pushes his voice and stretches the idea of what constitutes a strong hook on INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY. With “END OF THE WATER (FEEL),” Knight is at his most “bombastic,” in a “cartoon-like” state, weaving falsetto melodies that are meant to shock. “I always make a mental note when I hear a song that makes me go…" He pauses, imitating an explosion. “For me, that's when I hear some high-ass vocals that I'm not expecting.” Even on the first day of demoing “END OF THE WATER (FEEL)” in his home studio, Knight was already so confident in the song that he called longtime producer and collaborator Zakk Cervini and “essentially” forced him to come over to his house right then to help finish it. “I also want the record to show that I had a mustache [during this time], too,” Knight laughs.

With collaboration on the brain, Knight is the first to admit that for many years, he was precious about his art and was hesitant to work with others. However, during the COVID-19 pandemic and quarantine, Knight changed his mind, which was evident on Waterparks’ previous album, Greatest Hits. This time around, Knight, who's an outspoken fan of the U.K. boy band One Direction, finally got a chance to live out one of his dreams by working with esteemed songwriter Julian Bunetta, who co-wrote beloved One Direction classics like “Olivia,” “Infinity” and “Best Song Ever,” among others. “I flew to [Julian's] place in Nashville, and we ended up making five songs together, two of them being ‘FUNERAL GREY" and ‘BRAINWASHED,” Knight recalls. And while he still plans to keep the majority of his music close to his chest long term, he won't rule anything out. Knight would undoubtedly jump at the chance to work with everyone from Post Malone and Damon Albarn to Donald Glover and Toby Keith.

"I'd rather make the coolest f*cking thing, RATHER THAN HOLD BACK and make something that wasn't that good." -AWSTEN KNIGHT

Now, with the band's new LP incoming, there raises the question: Does Knight feel a sense of relief after both exorcising his deepest traumas and inviting listeners on his journey to self- discovery? "I still feel pressure with it," Knight concedes. “It would be a lot easier if only strangers heard this, but everyone in my whole fucking life is going to hear this album, so that's what makes it strange." But he's never let any awkwardness or controversy hinder the artistic output. "I wasn't not in trouble when I put out a song like [2018's] 'TANTRUM' where I listed a bunch of dudes I wanted to kill, calling out by name," Knight acknowledges. Though his lyrical choices have sometimes resulted in strong reactions, even within his close circle of friends, Knight can't help but accept that he is meant to be unapologetic. "At the end of the day, I'd rather make the coolest fucking thing, rather than hold back and make something that wasn't that good."

Pressures of lyrical vulnerability and transparency aside, INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY is Knight's attempt to "normalize” the catharsis he finds within songwriting, which ties into the album title itself. "Intellectual property is the mental space you give to something in your head. The 'property' may be the thing that you are struggling with. By materializing it and giving it its own world, it's actually a great way to express it and then, eventually, expel it,” he explains. "I want this album to go to the fucking moon." ALT

[decepti-thots]

(I’ll preface by saying: huge JP fan who has no problem with people not liking it)

Anyways I’m actually super curious…

How are most JP fics “boring”? 🤔 I’ve always found their dynamic to be more entertaining than most, given the dichotomy of their characters.

So I’m curious as to how you’ve wound up at “boring” of all the possible reasons to dislike it. 🤣

I'm going to be a bit blunter here than I usually would be on the topic, as I was directly asked. So I'll cut the uh… negativity? I guess? For those who prefer not to see folks talk shit about a ship they like, lol.

First and foremost Jazz/Prowl is basically just… essentially made up and purely based on fanon inventions/additions, and made up fanon stuff is usually not of real interest to me without a very strong hook somewhere in the actual canon material. It is 99% fanon by volume that draws on little to no canon material of any kind but just... years of fanon, reproducing itself and mutating almost like a fanfic game of telephone, all developed in fandom echo chambers. Which renders the characters in the vast majority of fic a) largely unrelated to any canon material I like in a meaningful sense and b) tbqh, the kind of generic stuff found in a lot of typical, large dudeslash fandoms where the characters are… they're Dudeslash Fandom Archetypes with a gloss of paint on top, you know? People come in, look for which character in a fandom fits their favourite m/m trope the most, and then squish the character down to fit into that pre-existing archetype.

And the thing is, J/P has historically made a certain kind of sense for this, because the appeal was basically that… they didn't HAVE that much canon material? In the Marvel G1 comics, they have a little more specific characterisation and canon, but the G1 cartoon is not exactly a character exploration piece ANYWAY, and for Prowl especially he is a blank slate you can functionally project an OC onto. Which like, that's fine! That makes a lot of sense even if it's not what usually draws me into something.

My issue has become that if I read one more G1-fanon-soup fest mistagged "IDW" I'm gonna scream. I like IDW Prowl (and IDW Jazz too!) for the fact that these characters have specific, strongly delineated canon personalities, arcs and dynamics, and both of these characters- Prowl especially, but both of them!- have like. Things about them which are true, and which J/P fic not only tends to ignore but actively treats in a loooot of cases as somehow Inferior To Our Fanon and something to be "fixed" with idk, the power of Extremely Generic Dudeslash Tropes. I've been in many a fandom with Migratory Dudeslash Fandoms writing fic. J/P is extremely rote to me as a result, if nothing else.

It warrants mentioning that J/P fandom is where one does find a lot of examples of just undeniably racist treatment of Jazz in fic, both the truly inexcusable phonetic accent bullshit and also a lot of bad decisions around tropes. I don't think this is a function of the ship, per se, but that its specific persistence in J/P fandom (bc trust me: this has been a point of criticism for A Long Fucking Time) is in part due to it having this long entrenched fanon-to-fanon game of telephone going on? It would be better to talk about the fandom's issues there outside ship talk so I'll leave it at that, but I can't deny it has not… helped my feelings. TBH. And I know that's where a lot of the resentment you will find in the fandom obviously stems from.

IDK. It's just. It's usually fanfic of itself, you know? J/P largely feels to me, in most cases, like fanfic of fanfic of fanfic, and I come to TF fandom for fanfic of a canon. So. Yeah. Not a fan. At all.

[digo3d]

The timeskip in my second finale idea made me think of another good question:

How do you think TC, The Gang, and Dibble might end up around 10 or 20 years after the timeframe of the show?

One of em's gotta be dead lmao /hj

Uhhh in my head they're all in their like mid-to-late 20's in the show (sans Dibble naturally) so they'd be close to 40 or 50...

Hmm i dunno they're not really seniors yet they're just kinda middle-aged at this point, this is a good question

Lemme display my thoughts to you in bullet points because ✨🧚das jus what ah dewwww🧚✨

T.C. did wind up in jail for a few years before the gang managed to scrape together enough money to bail him out. The gang then confessed to him that scamming people was starting to get old and more difficult, especially since they were all getting older now. He eventually folded and agreed with them, especially since Dibble was retiring soon which would make things harder regardless. Perhaps he managed to invest in some really good stocks and that's how he makes a living.

Benny temporarily moved to Bacon Fat Flats to take care of his Ma since she wasn't doing very well and he's a massive mama's boy, naturally. It was especially hard for himself and T.C. and their goodbyes were filled with comically loud crying as Benny got on the train. He'd call T.C. several times a day to tell T.C. what was goin on and just to chat. Eventually Ma got better and Benny was able to move back, of which their meetup was again filled with comedically loud crying.

I like to imagine that Chooch started a family at this point, two little girls maybe (he's such a girldad fr) and a baby mama that is absent in some way (dead divorced or somewhere unknown to Choo) so T.C. and the gang helped him raise them and he loves them more than anything. They're probably in their teens at this point and they still love their dad very much and call the rest of the gang their uncles

Spook became a certified bonafide musician after a song he had made blew tf up. He still lives in the alley to humble himself and so people don't constantly bother him. His song still plays on the radio and his other songs have really hit it big with the beatnik community and he's well-regarded and a bit of a VIP within it. His song actually provided people with a better perspective on the LGBT community and actually helped out the movement a little bit. (because of course he's not straight he literally only talks to ONE woman in the ENTIRE franchise and it's Mrs. Vandergelt with one sentence. Also he's a beatnik and that was one of the points of the beatnik movement)

Fancy stopped gunning after girls after a while and has now taken over his Nonna's restaurant since she had passed. He never married because he realized he was just chasing pleasure instead of love and thought that maybe he'd be at his happiest as a single man carrying on the legacy of the one woman he knows he truly loved; Nonna. Of course he still has his absurd amount of charm and charisma but holds back when he sees a hot piece walk into the restaurant nowadays.

I like to think that Brain ended up saving up enough money to take some self-paced college courses and majored in historical geology and managed to get a degree. Did it take him longer to achieve than other people? Yeah, naturally, but he did it and that's all that matters to him. He was so proud of himself, as was the gang, and people were so impressed it made the news. He still lives in the alley because that's where T.C. and Spook are, so he typically does all his geology shenanigans and articles by mail. Oh and him and Spook are secretly gay married because yes

Dibble has retired (although begrudgingly because both the precinct and the gang were getting concerned about him getting too old for the job and causing health problems) and considered moving down to Florida to enjoy the sun and golf every day, although decided against it because 1. He hates humidity 2. He's lived in New York his whole life that's just who he is now and 3. He would miss the gang way too much but would NEVER admit it.

Of course this is all in my head and based off pretty much nothing but headcanons but it's a silly little thought nonetheless

Also sorry this took me so damn long it was pretty much finals right into hip surgery 😭 your patience is appreciated 🐁

[talenlee]

Decemberween 2024 — Napoleon Blownaparte

I’ve talked in the past about how there’s a wealth of watchable and listenable material that is readalong or companion material to things that I will never watch. My usual example of this is Victorious, a show that was itself only part of a speedbump in the greater project of its own creator’s intention to fully and thoroughly chronicle the series iCarly, which I also didn’t watch and have no intention to. These are shows made for children in the early 00s, and in the context of Australia, where those shows would belong on cable TV, they were for middle class children of the 00s. I could not be less of the target for that media, but I’ve watched a whole day’s worth of documentary explaining what those shows are and what they did from the perspective of one guy who has nostalgia for them.

On the other hand, I am an emotionally damaged male who grew up in a culture of aspirational violence that loved to discuss the question ‘who would win between X or Y’, which makes it kinda strange that I both have no interest in mixed martial arts, and that I have voraciously consumed everything I can find made by one Napoleon Blownaparte.

Lert’s go for a walk.

THE MADNESS OF MAKE BELIEVE MARTIAL ARTS

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First of all, let’s talk about the introductory material from Blownaparte that got me interested in his stuff. My interest in con artists, liars, and ridiculous fantasists is I think at this pretty well established, and it should not surprise you to learn that through the 1960s through to the rise of MMA as an industry, the world of Martial Arts was populated by some truly hilarious examples of full-time smoke peddlers. Some of these liars you know by name already, because of their international fame — well okay, no it’s just Steven Seagal in that category. You don’t know names like Ashida Kim or Frank Dux unless you’re already the kind of person who at some point in your adolescence yahoo’d ‘street fighter real’ and then ‘street fighter real NOT THE VIDEOGAME.’

Blownaparte has a series of videos, totally about three hours, which talk about some of these goobers, both the historical like Ashida Kim and Count Dante, and the more immediately contemporary examples of people selling this kind of obviously fake fighting (‘bullshots’ as it were). It’s even got a full hour long video explaining why Frank Dux is or was something like a household name in this space of Well That’s Obviously Just A Lie, Right? storytellers.

These are really easy videos to start with, because they are fundamentally confrontational media about dorks, liars, and fools, and only occasionally veer into people who are obviously mentally unwell. Sometimes you’ll encounter someone who is just a completely obvious liar like the George Dillman no-touchies school of combat. There is an awkward piece in the first video discussing Charlie Zelenoff, who is a big lying asshole on the internet, so, sure, it’s fine to laugh at him but around the point he’s taking to instagram to holler at Nicki Minaj as if they’re in a relationship it becomes pretty clear it’s a guy who’s struggling with a consensus reality problem. I recommend skipping that chapter if you’re only here for the people who are very clearly and obviously lying to people for money.

Blownaparte got me on board by being a hater, and a funny hater. But hating famous losers from the 70s and 80s is one thing, what about hating someone much more contemporary and, because of scope and impact, much more hateable?

ALL MY HOMIES HATE JAKE PAUL | A Brief History of Freakshow fighting

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All My Homies Hate Jake Paul could have just been a simple, straightforwards video about how the whole experiment of what Vine based fame could create as the dry run for Tiktok resulted in the the refinement of the Shitty White Boy attention economy turbocharged into the Shittiest And Whitest of Boyests. The Paul brothers have been a specter haunting the lives of my young relatives while I desperately try to show them that actually that guy their friends think is cool sucks so much shit in a way that won’t get children I care about beaten up by their peer groups, and the shocking thing about each Paul is they’re not only both the worst at the same time, but they’re both getting worse. The point is: Fuck Pauls.

What Blownaparte uses the rise of Pauls Jogan to do, though, is to retrospect on the history of Weird Fights in the context of martial arts tournaments, the way that some people took an unserious idea very seriously and the many different miscommunications that follow. It also makes fun of Jake Paul, which is good, because he sucks. All My Homies Hate Jake Paul, after all.

This style of video, where Blownaparte takes the story of a fighter and uses it to build a thesis around, are a good way to build familiarity with the MMA context. There are stories of people who are walking memes in the space, guys like Conor McGregor, Jon Jones and CM Punk, where they are literally deployed like punchlines about things that suck, and using these single people’s careers, over a stretch of time, helped me to learn about the broader history rather than simply stepping through things in a sort of sequence of years.

They also serve as a gateway for the third form:

NEVER DIE - SUPERCUT EDITION: THE FULL STORY OF PRIDE FIGHTING CHAMPIONSHIPS

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At this point I am well interested in the stuff Blownaparte is putting out. Four hours of recapping of the UFC’s reality TV show The Ultimate Fighter or TUF for short? Why, I don’t mind if I do. Two hours explaining a Japanese promotion that’s been gone for seventeen years, and in the process engaged in some truly bonkers promotion? Delicious! The background and history of Power Slap, a show that sucks so bad that its primary home — according to it — is on Rumble, the streaming service for Rapists, Nazis, and Rapist Nazis.

I’ve watched it all.

I’ve watched every video Blownaparte has put out, including the trailers. I really love the stuff he puts out, even though I am so very far afield from what got me here. Blownaparte isn’t making videos about bozos like David “David “Race” Bannon” Wayne Dilley, he’s making videos about the story of Minnowaman and Kimbo Slice, stories that are legitimately tragic in the context of people finding niches that they can thrive in if only the thing that they can never stop doing is getting punched and kicked.

I suppose it is strange to have such an interest in these documentaries. Not only do I not follow MMA or any of its permutations but I have a bunch of complaints about it as a sport. Fights have a too-high chance to be abruptly short, or boringly long. The fighters in so many of these cases are truly garbage humans, just awful dudes. The entire industry is run from the top down by people who are rich and scum and rich scum.

In the case of Blownaparte, I followed a path that led to an appreciation and fondness not for the players, not for the game, but for the fans. I don’t like MMA. I like Napoleon Blownaparte loving MMA. The story he shares about a thing that means something to him that he enjoys, that resonates with me deep and loud and he has enough of a sense of humour about it. It is a story where Blownaparte shows a willingness to clearly indicate the way that the sport he loves is clearly defined by gaggles of losers, assholes, cheats and rapists, and yet loves it anyway not for what it is but for what it can be when it’s not being used as an excuse for the worst people ever.

Check it out on PRESS.exe to see it with images and links!

[rahabs]

I think my main problem with Wolf Hall is that, and I hate to have to borrow this phrase, "it insists upon itself". And historical memeology aside, he phrase has entered public thought as meaning something akin to, "[something] most think is profound but in reality is pretentious and ostentatious," but I would specify that it also often means something that the actual media creators themselves think is profound, but in reality comes across as pretentious ans ostentatious.

That's where I'm at with Wolf Hall. For years I've sat and listened to people extol the supposed virtues of the book (which I have read), and now it continues with the television show, but on a larger scale.

"The costumes are so accurate! Oh, it's so unique, writing from Cromwell's perspective and delivering unto us a new take on this oft-covered period of history! Look at it, Cheyenne, the production design and costuming and ~historical accuracy~ set it so far above other pieces of Tudor media!"

Except when you really look into it what, exactly, is so unique and special about it? What actually makes it better? Sure, it's from Cromwell's point of view, but all Cromwell's point of view serves to do is peddle the same stereotypes historians have been trying to move away from. It's the same portrayals of Anne Boleyn as a cruel, cold, jealous, flat, oft-unkind and vicious, unpleasant, and calculating woman, conveniently ignoring how vivacious she was said to have been in real life, "more French than English", and her real instances of kindness she displayed; the same overall despotic tyrant portrayal of Henry (much as I love Damian Lewis in general); the same humourless, fanatical portrayal of Thomas More; Cromwell himself is basically every stereotype I've ever heard about the historical figure conveniently stuffed under a round cap, despite Rylance's attempts to the contrary; Jane's bland as ever; etc.

These aren't "new" or "deep" portrayals. The only things she really changed from the tried-and-true script is that suddenly Thomas and George Boleyn have taken some classes at the University of Gobdaws and instead of the usual portrayal of Thomas as some evil Machiavellian prince he's just... sort of an idiot, while George is a violent and angry man with little to no talent, in direct contrast with what we know of the historical George.

The Tudors did a lot wrong and gets a lot of flack, but I stand by the fact that the Tudors was one of the first mainstream attempts at focusing on characters outside of just Henry and his wives, while also managing to give nuanced portrayals of characters like Anne and Cromwell that felt new and fresh while also accurate to the reports we have. I also felt The Tudors better portrayed the relationships between Cromwell and the Boleyn family as a whole, despite having less screentime dedicated to it, especially Cromwell and Anne. I am not a fan of Mantel's "nerr nerr Cromwell hates u evil bitch Anne >:P" take, and there's so much with Cromwell that's just straight made-up that Mantel claims as fact and it sours the character. The Tudors portrayal of Anne in general was also much more nuanced, and there's a reason it still sits with so many today.

I also love how The Tudors really tried to tackle the religious politics and the people surrounding Henry as the show went on. Does it mess up? Of course. Norfolk and Cranmer inexplicably vanishing was pretty eyebrow-raising, as was the decision to combine Mary and Margaret Tudor into one character, and there are some truly questionable costumes (shouting to Anne's purple Boob Dress and H&M Trenchcoat in particular, as well as to that one extra not wearing a hose and dancing around in bare legs that I always notice in the background) but what they did well they did very well. I enjoyed the portrayals of Mary Tudor/Mary I, I enjoyed the portrayal of Edward Seymour, I enjoyed seeing these all these people come and go from Henry's orbit.

And as for the accuracy claims, yet again we have another author suffering from Phillipa Gregory Disease going around crowing about how "everything in [her] books is 100% accurate bye!" even when it's not. Mantel's series is a perfectly adequate work of fiction, but it is fiction. Yes, the costumes in the miniseries are far more accurate, but so many of the characters onscreen are just so unpleasant and pretentious, and honestly, so is the overall flavour of the production surrounding this show.

And don't even get me started on how the show was crowing about "period-accurate lighting" when it first came out as though period accurate lighting and relatively accurate costuming is any sort of substitute for the bland, tired stereotypes it insists on preaching.

At times there really is this sense that the show is trying to tell us, "wow, we are so deep, so amazing, so accurate, so much better than The Tudors", and I do say it feels as though it's aimed specifically at The Tudors (as opposed to, say, The Spanish Princess, about Catherine, or that incredibly questionable adaptation staring Jodie Turner-Smith) because The Tudors, for many, was their first major mainstream introduction to the time period, and so The Tudors, for many people, has become the defining zeitgeist, inspiring new generations of historians, researches, etc. Wolf Hall therefore competes directly with The Tudors in a way that, when combined with their own comportment, suggests that supplementation rather than coexistence is the goal. It does this in a way that condescends to the audience, the way Mantel herself seems to condescend to her readers both in her insistence that her way is the "correct" way and in the general insistence that this series is somehow new or fresh or inherently more accurate because it's told from Cromwell's perspective, even though it, again, is merely peddling the same tired tropes we historians have been fighting against for decades and even centuries.

Further, this series is somehow hailed by the press, the media, the creators, the fans, etc, as this bastion or scion of historical accuracy, but the fact of the matter is it makes up just as much stuff as the Tudors while being overall more inaccurate to the period, even if that's hidden in the television show behind a veil of "period-accurate" costuming.

And I say this with all due respect as a historian and as someone who wrote her postgraduate thesis on Mary I of England: there's just something so overwhelmingly mean-spirited about all of Mantel's takes and portrayals that leaks into the entire series and the television adaptation as a whole. It makes it incredibly unpleasant to watch and I just do not any aspect of this series' existence as a result. It's not new, it's not fresh, and that's fine, it doesn't have to be, but it constantly insists that it is and constantly tries to act like it's somehow more grand and profound and intelligent than what is actually presented, and I'm just tired of it.

(Just a note, as well: what I'm saying here does not reflect on or necessarily apply to any of the actors/actresses involved in the show, either. They are given a script and work with what they have. I may disagree with some of the casting, but the actors, to my knowledge, have only ever comported themselves respectfully.)

And finally, I want to leave this post with this quote here, which I think further illustrates some of the problems I have with Mantel and Wolf Hall:

"[Michael] Hirst, in his interview with me, pointed out with some justice that while The Tudors got slammed for its gaps and inventions, Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall gets nothing but praise for its liberties with history. Wolf Hall, he says, is “complete fiction. But nobody says that. They all say: ‘What a wonderful book, what insights it brings to the Tudors.’ Isn’t that bizarre?” Mantel’s quirky, magisterial portrait of Thomas Cromwell is a wonderful book … yet Hirst is right, it doesn’t shy away from tweaking the facts. Ignoring the fact that Cromwell and Anne had many of the same religious commitments for most of Anne’s reign, Mantel paints Anne through Cromwell’s eyes as a predatory calculator, brittle, anxious, and cold- a view that Cromwell is unlikely to have held during the period that Wolf Hall takes place. [...] Although historians complain about the distortions of history in The Tudors, the show actually sticks much more closely and in greater detail to the historical record than any other production. … And despite the condescending remarks of the British press, the show is actually intellectually far more demanding than The Six Wives of Henry VIII. Perhaps its chief offense is being “pop” rather than “literary”.”

-Susan Bordo, The Creation of Anne Boleyn

[the-martyrfication-of-the-matron]

Okay so I am gonna rave more about how cool I find your mech to cyberpunk au concept because it truly is one of the smartest things.

Objectively speaking, mech stories are incredibly pro-military and pro-capitalism and generally have a parallel to WWII somewhere in there. The original mechanism concept comes from Japanese media post WWII after their rather extreme defeat via America. (Per Propaganda) We were the alien invaders with the super advanced technology, and they were the human resistance defending their home and rights. Then the concept flew from there

I am mentioning all of that because it lays the perfect groundwork for a cyberpunk dystopia. There is nothing better for technological advancement than war, and there is nothing more catastrophic to the people than those profiting off the war. Cyberpunk stories originate from America during the end of our highly protested Vietnam war and gained its highest popularity during the Cold War. When America was advancing a lot in technology and the people were suffering from it. So its themes are incredibly anti-war and anti-capitalism.

Having a mech to cyberpunk transition is actually pretty historically accurate in the most nerdy way. A time of extreme pro-war and pro-capitalism prosperity that is eventually taken too far and then leading to a time of anti-war and anticapitalist dystopia is so perfect. Cause it gives reason as to why the world is currently what it is and is just a good ground work.

haha tytytyty

I am getting really giddy over every praise you give it haha.

I love shoving politics into my personal projects, because it just IS that deep. Like politics is in everything, even if people say it's not.

I've had to trim this post down a lot because i was rambling, but.

I just find the juxtaposition of 'robots = power' and 'robotic parts = a lack of it' with the genres really interesting. Something in the hands of a government is an object of authority, but when distributed to the people it's an object of exploitation.

Especially because Mechs are an external piece of equipment. Once you're done with it, you can step out. If it's causing you problems, you can just stop using it. However, cyber-prosthesis is often integrated into their actual bodies - even removeable parts still have a connective part embedded into the person's flesh. It's not just a fun little suit, it's a part of their body, and if it causes them grief they have to fix it, they often cannot afford to walk about without a limb, whether for practical reasons or because they live in a high-crime area and any visible disability marks them as a target. but, even though it needs to be fixed, they are often not able to do so themselves, and they have to rely on the companies they buy these parts from to help them.

but they won't.

mechs are belonging to the government, are fixed or replaced because it benefits them, but no one truly relies on them. Cyber-prosthesis belong to the people, they have to pay to get things fixed and themes often put the casual person as impoverished, even though they are so reliant on them. And often they're marketed to people who don't initially need them, to expand the group of people who will be paying these companies regularly until they die.

I have more to say but migraine is giving me blurry vision so i can't actually read back what i wrote. i hope you get my point haha.