#oop is the king of satire

[prunesthehippo]

Ride the Cyclone just feels like they would be drag artists

(Please excuse any inaccuracies I have about the drag scene, for I am a phony and do not know anything except that they do cool-ass performances.)

Noel Gruber - ....? Why are you still here? Did you really not see Monique Gibeau as his melodramatic, tragic, morally gray, French-inspired drag persona? or maybe Noel himself is his drag persona, and his persona is an awkward high-school gay boy who was Monique in his past life and is tormented by memories until a grand reveal and he turns into Monique in a super awesome quick change!? ...Too much? Never in drag.

Ocean O'Connell-Rosenberg - I feel like her drag persona is just her wacky backstory and character, but to the extreme: Hippie-raised raging narcissist. "Peace and love to all, of me!" and such. Monkey Love Drop or Spielverderber perhaps is her name? Just pure unadulterated chaos and a (coordinated) mess. Has-a-(staged) midday-crisis-in-the-middle-of-the-performance-about-the-hippie-side-of-her-and-then-pushes-a-man-down-the-stairs-because-he-was-running-in-the-(presumably) fake-hall kind of mess. What an icon.

Mischa Bachinski - Bad Egg: his gangsta-drag king persona!!!! His life is indeed awesome. Probably performs rap with hilarious amount of autotune, neon lights and heavy metal chain necklaces. Is it satire? No one knows. Orrr..... Talia is his drag queen persona, who is in love with some mysteriously handsome guy/fiancé named Bad Egg (which is literally just him. I'm imagining Talia performing and she goes on this very dramatic monologue about Bad Egg dying and her needing to deal with guilt and while she's talking about him, it's just a darkened silhouette of Mischa going like 🤘😎 behind her).

Ricky Potts - We all agree it's just him being a Space age. Swinging. Bachelor man. Or woman. Drag king or drag queen, either way the planet of Zolar and the cat-people will get out to the world.

Jane Doe/Penny Lamb - In this universe, Penny is the girl behind the persona of Jane Doe, a mysterious, horror-inspired, strangely endearing drag queen, who lost her head and is trying to find herself. Her performances consist of lots of doll imagery and floating. So... basically the performance of The Ballad of Jane Doe. Oops. But i would watch it. But i would watch a ball of crumpled paper on a stage, so maybe don't take my opinion into account.

Constance Blackwood - A sugary-sweets inspired drag queen who is just here to party and enjoy the life she couldn't before!! Sugar Cloud if you will. She comes in like a storm, throws candy around at the audience does a super-hype dance number and song! Just tries to make everybody have a good time.

Karnak - His drag persona is Virgil the Bass-Playing Rat. A rat chewing on the robot they so love only to end up killing them both in a fight against instinct! OR The Amazing Karnak is Virgil's persona, a magical sentient robot fortune teller forced to gamble with lives, only for their time to be cut short by a rat.

[my-name-is-apollo]

Two things! 1. Thanks for reporting on Apollo, he is my favorite god by far!! 😭

2. In an old post where you talked about the type of relationship that the main gods had with each other you said that there was a lot to talk about the relationship between Zeus AND Apollo!! Can you take advantage and tell it?

I can definitely talk about Apollo and Zeus!

Basically, Apollo is Zeus' favorite, his pride and joy. I know a lot of people believe Athena is the favorite, but I say Apollo is just as beloved, if not more and I'll tell you why I think so. I'll start by putting together various myths that surround both of them.

1) Zeus' protectiveness

Starting with Apollo's (and Artemis') birth, even though Zeus didn't directly help Leto, in one version, he asked Zephyrus to carry Leto away to Poseidon, so that Poseidon could protect her. He also managed to calm down Hera by the time the twins were born.

And when later Apollo killed Python, according to Pindar, Gaia wanted to send him to tartarus. But obviously that didn't happen and we can assume that it was because Zeus intervened on his son's behalf.

In Euripides' play, there's a particularly cute segment where Apollo, as a little boy, went to Zeus, wrapped his arms around him and supplicated him to deal with Gaia who has been interfering with his oracular business. And of course Zeus agrees and makes Gaia lose her prophetic influence on mortals.

There's also a version of Coronis' tale where Ischys, the guy with whom Coronis had cheated on Apollo with, got killed by Zeus.

In the satires written by Lucian, Zeus got defensive when Momos made fun of Apollo.

Lastly, this is just my interpretation, but in stories where Zeus intervenes in a couple of fights - the Apollo vs Heracles , Apollo vs Idas - makes me feel like Zeus did it because he was overly protective of Apollo (just like did with Athena - Pallas)

2) The way Zeus appreciates Apollo

In Iphigenis in Tauris, when Apollo killed Python and took over the delphic oracle for himself, Zeus is shown to have been proud that Apollo has started serious business at such a young age.

The opening of Homer's hymn to Pythian Apollo shows us Zeus welcoming Apollo and personally pouring a drink to his son. How sweet is that :3

In another scene where Apollo is entertaining the gods, Zeus and Leto together are shown proudly watching their son (Hera is absent oop-).

In the Iliad, whenever he commands Apollo to do something, he calls him "Dear Phoebus" (I've also seen it translated as "friend Phoebus) which is very sweet and shows that Zeus is quite fond of Apollo.

And in Lucian's work, he also appreciated Apollo by telling Momos how much work his son has to do everyday, and how difficult the job is for him.

3) Zeus grants a lot of Apollo's requests

even when he's personally offended. Take the story of king Periphas, whose reputation had personally offended Zeus and he wanted to destroy the king and his entire kingdom, but when Apollo asked Zeus to not do that, he ceased from killing them. In the case of Prometheus too, Zeus agreed to free the Titan when Apollo begged for it.

When Apollo appointed Hermes as the messenger god, Zeus approved that.

He also resurrected Asclepius on Apollo's request, in spite of Apollo killing the cyclops .

And here is what sealed my belief that Apollo is no less of a favorite than Athena: once Athena was using mantic dice to give out prophecies, and Apollo was unhappy with this. He complained to Zeus about it and Zeus made dice divination inferior (and Athena just threw away the dice lol)

Now this is again my opinion, but the whole thing with "Apollo tricking the Fates into postponing Admetus' death" is quite a serious offense, but surprisingly Apollo does not get punished for that. I like to think that that's because Zeus gave him the permission for that (maybe not openly, but more discreetly).

4) Apollo has some favorite child privileges.

He is said to be sitting on the immediate right of Zeus (according to Callimachus), he gets to use Zeus' lightning bolts and the aegis too (like Athena does), and he is the only one allowed to read the will/mind of Zeus.

5) Apollo acts as Zeus' right hand man

Now this could be said of Hermes and Athena also too, but I'm pointing this out because people tend to easily forget it. In the Iliad, Zeus sent Apollo to help the Trojans, since he was secretly rooting for Troy ,in spite of taking a neutral stance, and Athena was fighting against them. He also entrusted his son Sarpedon's body to Apollo and asked him to clean it up and hand it over to Thanatos and Hypnos.

In Orphic theogony, a similar responsibility is given to Apollo - he is asked by Zeus to bury the remains of Zagreus.

In the account given by Plato on soulmates, after Zeus tore apart the humans, he tasked Apollo with stitching them and bringing them back to life.

And of course the whole deal with Apollo's oracles is to pass on the will of Zeus to the mortals. Apollo is basically serving as an extension of Zeus. Arguably, that is one of the most important responsibilities and Apollo was the one Zeus trusted it with. He also actively prevents other gods from taking away this role from Apollo.

6) Apollo's rebellious nature and how Zeus deals with it.

In Alcaeus' hymn, when Apollo is born, Zeus adorns him with a golden headband, gives him a golden chariot driven by swans and asks him to go to Delphi to establish his laws. But Apollo instead just takes the chariot and flies away to Hyperborea and stays there for a whole year (rebellious from the get go XD) Of course, Zeus doesn't punish Apollo for this.

(I'm not bringing up Apollo and Poseidon's servitude under Laomedon because even though it is believed to have been a result of Apollo and Poseidon rebelling against Zeus, we don't really have evidence to say that that was the case. I only vaguely remember there being evidence of it in some scholia but I'm not able to find it at the moment so. Also in the Iliad especially, the coup - whose participants are Hera, Athena and Poseidon- and the servitude under Laomedon are clearly two separate, unrelated events)

But when Apollo killed Cyclopes in retaliation for Zeus killing Asclepius, Zeus intended to throw him into tartarus. This was an instance where he was clearly very upset with his son, and probably felt betrayed too. Even so, he changed his mind thanks to Leto, which makes me feel like he did not fully intend to carry out that punishment, and it was more a decision made in the spur of the moment. And as the alternate punishment, he made Apollo serve a slave and spend time on the Earth. This is in contrast with say, Hera - who was tied and dangled above tartarus. Zeus could have done something similar with Apollo because while one could argue that exiling and making Apollo a slave is pretty humiliating, it's still not as bad as being hung over tartarus. Besides, Zeus made Apollo serve under a very kind hearted king (and by the looks of it, Apollo actually enjoyed his time there, being in love with Admetus and all). So I think even after all that had happened, Zeus still forgave Apollo and went easy on him and even agreed to grant godhood to Asclepius on Apollo's request.

7) Apollo as Zeus' eldest son

Apollo is Zeus' first son in Hesoid's Theogony (born after 19 daughters). Putting it in the context of ancient Greek society, that would make Apollo quite important for Zeus in a way that no other child can be. And while Homer doesn't explicitly say that Apollo is the first son, it is quite evident in his works (Homeric hymn to Apollo, the Iliad) that Apollo's image is that of a first born son, - he is the only one who has access to Zeus' will, all the gods except Zeus trembled when he entered Olympus, Zeus often turned to him for help during the trojan war.

("Apollo" by Fritz Graf)

Of course, Zeus is never going to give away his throne to anyone and Apollo has no serious intent of overthrowing his father, but some scholars share the view that Homer paints Apollo as a potential usurper of Zeus, but also emphasizes how Apollo is very much on Zeus' side, using his powers for Zeus and not against him.

(^Source for this bit: "The Homeric Hymns: Interpretative Essays" by Andrew Faulkner & "Nursemaid to a Monster: Typhon and Pytho in the Homeric Hymn to Apollo" by Kelly E. Shannon)

Moreover, Apollo being Zeus' first son and sort of an unofficial crown prince would neatly explain all the ways in which Zeus favors Apollo over his other children.

Lastly, this is my take on them: They both obviously have a strong bond founded on love and respect for each other. The road wasn't and isn't always smooth for them. I like to think that Apollo held some bitterness towards Zeus for not helping Leto (before eventually letting it go), but he still wants his father's attention and approval. In return, Zeus has complete trust in Apollo, which is why he entrusts a lot of important duties to him. After all, he knows very well of Apollo's struggles and his efforts to rise to power. Zeus might sometimes be more stern on Apollo than he is on the others, but that's because he doesn't want anyone saying anything unpleasant about his son. I also think he doesn't entirely understand or approve of Apollo's extreme attachment to some humans, but he is ready to turn a blind eye as long as nothing drastic is happening (not without his permission at least lol). It's easy for some people to call Zeus a bad father, but we should also remember that despite being knowledgeable and wise, Apollo can be a difficult child to deal with - he is haughty, reckless. Messes with primordial deities and cosmic order, wears his heart on his sleeve, forgets his duties when he falls in love. It's like he is a perpetual teenager not only in appearance, but also at his heart lol and Zeus does try his best to deal with it in the best way possible :') But they do get along well most of the times and no matter how bad their once in a while conflicts can get, I think nothing is irreconcilable :)

(Here's a post where I've linked sources for a lot of the myths I've mentioned. If there's anything you want to know the source for, let me know)

[secret-third-thing]

Good evening ✨

Characters, personal, and playlist (specifically do you have one song in particular that you keep coming back to)?

Good evening!!!

characters ; is there something you always incorporate into your characters? if so, what is it? (If N/A, then what is your favorite character trait?)

My answer is so boring 😤. I add flaws created from a core misbelief and deliberately have it drive character behavior, even if it's not hot/sexy/fun whatever. Which YES I know this is fanfic and it doesn't matter, but I am using fic as a practice ground for writing. I will do wholeass character sheets for SJM's fae boys just so I can go into a fic with confidence.

personal ; is there anything that you always try to add to your writing? like a message or moral? anything that you like to read, so you write it yourself?

I always try and add some kind of message, even to the pure smut stuff (except drabbles). I mostly like writing about non-romantic relationships and the grief they can bring. Fading friendships, strained relationships with family. I think this bleeds into my original fiction writing too. I've had workshop partners over the years point out to me that I utilize absurdism and satire to highlight anxiety, grief, and loneliness! Very morbid humor - not edgy, but just like.. oh my god this is true but also awful.

playlist ; do you make playlists for your characters or wips (specifically do you have one song in particular that you keep coming back to)?

These are tied OOPS A Dangerous Thing - AURORA and King by Florence and the Machine

[thetreetopinn]

After perusing my youtube homepage to see what the algorithm might be erroneously trying to recommend to me, I came across something and felt compelled to leak my unloveliness across the internet.

I am continuously baffled by the fact that there are still people out there who think that a specific tactic is wise and or good--though it probably IS somewhat efficacious.

You've probably seen these channels. They have flashy thumbnails and attention-grabbing titles like "IS MARVEL DEAD!?" or "DISNEY HAS RUINED STAR WARS!!" or some shit like that.

Just look at these:

I'm not going to bother sharing the name of this channel. I've already told youtube to not recommend it to me anymore. The video that brought this channel to my attention was "DISNEY DOESN'T UNDERSTAND LIGHTSABERS!!" which... um... okay... it's a fictional weapon, and I didn't really see anything in the mainline Star Wars movies that suggested this but go off, king.

Just looking at the thumbnails, without clicking on any of them to watch the videos, they all seem like reactionary, factory-fresh hot-takes just WAITING for you to get mad and write an angry comment because negative engagement is still engagement. I could be completely wrong. I could click on any one of these and it could be a thoughtful discussion of why some people think the thing found in the thumbnail, and it's intended to be satire to draw in people who WANT to argue. It very well could.

I don't want to click to find out.

Because it's just as likely--if not more likely--that these are all exactly what it says on the tin. It could be that it's done in a satirical manner to make fun of these kinds of reactionary knee-jerk people... but there's a problem with this thinking.

Satire is only effective if you KNOW that it's satire.

Satire--by definition--must be obvious, otherwise, it runs the risk of being confused for the very thing that it is attempting to satirize. At which point, it stops being satire. Oops.

I get channels like this popping up in my recommendations from time to time, because the Youtube algorithm is just... really good at understanding me... just the absolute best, no notes, completely perfect, roll it out to everyone and it will solve world peace.

(see how I used satire there?)

Every time I find one of these channels, I have to take a moment to look through their list of videos to look for the common red flags: - Click-bait thumbnails using reactionary hooks - Click-bait titles of the same sort - A relatively high video release cadence (multiple videos a month with relatively similar subjects) - An 'About' description that says A LOT without saying much

According to this person, "The Last Jedi" is, to quote them, 'very, very bad'. Now, far be it for me to say that someone is wrong for not liking a movie. If you don't like The Last Jedi, that's your right to hold that opinion. I don't agree, but that doesn't mean I'm right and you're wrong...

...that said... there's a very specific kind of person who thinks it's super important to announce that they think The Last Jedi is very, very bad. In their About description.

And right here is what I'm talking about when I say there's a specific kind of person who thinks it's super important to announce to the world that they are a big-brained genius who "knows" that a specific star war was one of the bad ones.

It's also why I don't think this person is attempting satire... but I know there are plenty of people who there who DO attempt satire of this kind of thing--and they end up looking exactly like the thing they're trying to satirize.

I don't really have much of a point here.

I guess I'm just kind of ranting.

I'd like a better class of video to be shown in my recommendations--not this hot garbage.

But that youtube algorithm just KNOWS ME SO WELL!!!

I guess that's why I follow a bunch'a folks whose work I genuinely like over on Nebula, so that I don't always have to put up with this nonsense when I'm looking for good stuff to watch.

[citiesinthedust]

WHO THE FUCK IS KAI CENAT

I’m SICK and TIRED of my 8 year old brother talking about Kai Cenat, sigmas, fanum tax, rizz and skibidi toilet. None of them make sense. Sigma is a letter of the Greek alphabet, I took Ancient Greek for TWO YEARS. My blood, sweat, and tears over that textbook (im not kidding i brought it up to my counsellor). My fingers would he blistered and calloused from writing the letters. I was DELIGHTED to hear my peers last year talking about sigmas and betas and alphas, as I thought my impressive Ancient Greek skills would earn me some friends. They LAUGHED when I asked what they were talking about and mentioned that my favourite letter is upsilon. Sigma means leader of the pack apparently, I have no idea why. It is ridiculous to say the least. Absurd. I would say a word that starts with r, but I don’t want to out myself as autistic. Oops just did it. Anyway, American Psycho is a book written by a gay man that was adapted into a movie by a woman starring a man who wears glittery eyeshadow. You cant be homophobic and sexist. It’s SATIRE you dumbass. READ A BOOK OR SOMETHING. The brainrot is getting so bad. I’m so tired. Im so glad I’m gen z because i think i would kms if i was gen alpha. Or at least try. By that I mean more than I already have, I wouldnt half asre it. I dont agree with genocide but maybe the bloodline should end here. We dont need more. We have AI. And cats. Anyway is baby gronk the new drip king or is he just getting rizzed up by Livy?

[hollow-lime-green]

oh golly! there are a few fics that i hold close to my heart. i have written a lot for jjk, but i'm gonna plug all my fandoms.

string theory - if you read nothing else from my ongoing fire in your mouth series, read this. it's my favorite piece of the verse so far, and tbh i think i kinda snapped here besties. (although I do also recommend that you read the series, especially 2sorcs, which makes me laugh even while I write it) (17k, 3 chapters, T-E, JJK, SatoSugu)

A Real Breakthrough - my favorite smut that I've written, probably. my favorite dialogue/character writing that I've done, definitely. (4k, E, Arcane, JayVik)

Swan Song - Balthus/Yuri Fire Emblem Three Houses still own a large chunk of my heart, although i haven't written for them in a while. i can't recommend my indefinite-hiatus slowburn AU fic for them (oops), but i have some finished pieces I really love for them. this one is my favorite :) (9.4k, Angst and H/C, M, Balthuri)

The Morning Storm: A Bilgewater Serial - this is a super niche, super meta fanfic that stems from the fact that Legend of the Ruined King (LoL singleplayer spin off game) canonically has a character that writes gay fanfic of two other characters. i had a lot of fun with this, and it's probably what got me into writing comedy. (9.5k, Comedy/Satire, 24 chapters, T-E (parody), LoL, TF/Graves)

On the Traditions of the Dol-Intiqua - i love the game series Dreamfall/The Longest Journey, which makes me one of approximately 2 dozen people who know what it is. the worldbuilding is just so cool, and i hope this fic is half as atmospheric as the world deserves. (5.7k, Fluff/Pining, Dreamfall/TLJ, Likho/Kian)

i feel like by the time i see these, the people i follow that i know write have generally already been tagged, so y'know, just jump in if you're into that kind of thing!

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let's spread the self-love 💞

Tricky but I can try!

Canary in the coal mine

Love is in the hands

Joy

Catharsis (I needed to include at least one porn and it’s the nastiest I think)

Witch fic (title too long)

Tagging @epickiya722 @littleholmes @chosoyukiism @lmskitty @fan-of-chaos

[lizziestudieshistory]

Books of 2020 - April

April was a strange reading month for me, on the one hand I read 10 books which is double my average 5-6 books a month! On the other I completely failed to read my OWLs Magical Readathon tbr... I did manage to read books that worked for the prompts but they weren’t the books I meant to read. Oops!

(Once again I haven’t proof read this and I’ll just apologise in advance for any mistakes, I’m lazy...)

OWLS Magical Reathon: Hogwarts Professor (what subject I specialise in will depend on the NEWTS...)

Wyrd Sisters - Terry Pratchett (Discworld #6, Witches #1)

OWLS: History of Magic

I loved reading Wyrd Sisters, it was so much fun! Pratchett retold Shakespeare’s Macbeth from the witches view point, but with his usual satirical twist. Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg, and Magrat Garlick shine through the narrative, offering a no nonsense, ridiculous, and lovable take on witchcraft (or headology) as worked to protect Lancre from Duke and Duchess Felmet after they assassinated King Verence.

The Shakespeare references, puns, and reworkings in this book was sublime! I had a great time picking them out and watching as the acting company performed the most ridiculous versions of Shakespeare’s greatest works. I adored the witches - which was a bit surprising. I’d gone into this thinking I’d dislike the Witches sub-series after reading Equal Rites a couple of years ago (to this day it is my least favourite Discworld book...) However, Granny Weatherwax is a very different character here and the story is so separate from the narrative in Equal Rites that I refuse to see this book as the second installment in the Wtiches sub-series. I’d highly recommed reading Wyrd Sisters, and it would be a fantastic place to start with Pratchett if you like retellings and/or Shakespeare!

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight - Anon, trans. by J.R.R. Tolkien

OWLS: Potions

I enjoyed this translation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Tolkien’s style and tone suits this style of poetry (would you call it epic? It’s more of a romance...) Tolkien brought the story in Sir Gawain to life for me, in a way I’ve never experienced in other versions I’ve read. I fell in love with this simple tale from Arthurian Legend, which I’ve never done before... It’s beautiful, simple, and captivating. I would highly recommend reading this edition if you’re interested in Sir Gawain. 

The Last Hero - Terry Pratchett (Discworld #27, Rincewind and the Wizards #7)

OWLs: Astronomy

This is a book of two halves for me. The story itself is a bit too simple for my tastes... We see Cohen the Barbarian (the only Discworld character I actually hate) heading towards the Hub to return fire to the gods, however, Ankh-Morpork sends a party afte him to prevent him from destroying the Disc. This party was hilarious: Rincewind, the Librarian, Leonard of Quirrm, and Captain Carrot Ironfounderson all confined to a tiny ‘spaceship’... This was not a combination of characters I ever expected to see and their personalities, particularly Carrot and Rincewind, created several spectacularly ridiculous moments I loved! But the plot itself wasn’t great, I was expecting a bit more from Pratchett at this stage in in the Discworld.

However, the artwork in this book was stunning! It worked so well to elevate the story, I couldn’t help but love it... If the artwork hadn’t been included this book would have been a lot weaker... It’s hard to rate the book because of this, but I did really enjoy it (and hopefully this will be the last time I have to read about Cohen the Barbarian and the Silver Horde.) Also, look up Rincewind as The Scream, it’s brilliant!

We Should All Be Feminists - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

OWLs: Arithmancy

I usually don’t read essays for pleasure, nonfiction has been relegated to academic pursuits for the last 5ish years... Yet, this classic (I’m calling it a classic, everyone should read it) essay from Adichie was incredibly powerful. It emphasised the importance of feminism to non-western/European women and highlighted how important and beneficial feminism is for everyone. It’s a really important piece for people to read and I’d highly recommend finding the audiobook, or a reading, done by Adichie as her passion for the subject shines through her words.

Beren and Luthien - J.R.R. Tolkien (Middle Earth)

OWLs: Transfiguration

I ADORED Beren and Luthien, it was the best book I’ve read all month. I was expecting to dislike this book because of it’s formatting. It’s told through several fragmentary versions of Beren’ and Luthien’s romance that at Tolkien wrote throughout his life. Christopher Tolkien edited together 5 or 6 (maybe?) manuscripts along with his own commentary, introduction, and parts of the Earendil story to give us a fleshed out picture of Tolkien’s greatest romance. Unlike The Fall of Gondolin, which I read earlier this year, the format worked beautifully for Beren and Luthien, probably because the different versions that have survived were incredibly different and more complete.

I was feeling a bit so-so about this collection until we started seeing the Lay of Leithian (sp?) woven in between a few prose versions of the tale. The verse in the Lay of Leithian was gorgeous, it was beautiful, etherial, and passionate. I actually cried reading a few sections from it, such as the end of Felagund’s part in the tale. It was such a shame Tolkien never finished the Lay as it probably would have been his best work within the Middle Earth legend. It was captivating and the poetry suited the tone and style of Beren and Luthien’s story. The verse would have made the final acts of Luthien in the Halls of Mados exquisite, poignant, and heartbreakingly tragic.

I cannot love this book more - it might be my favourite in Middle Earth, knocking The Silmarillion off the top spot... But, I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this book for everyone. If you’re a Tolkien fanatic then I’d consider this a must read, it contains Tolkien’s most beautiful writing along with his most tragic romance! If you’re only mildly interested in Middle Earth then I don’t think you’re going to enjoy it.

The Children of Earth and Sky - Guy Gavriel Kay

OWLs: Charms

The Children of Earth and Sky was an incredibly read, it’s a powerful but understated historical fantasy set in a world based on (I presume) renaissance Italy and the Ottoman Empire at its height. There’s not a vast amount of story here, however, the character work, world building, and thematic discussion around history, religion, the ability of an individual to change the fate of nations, corruption of power, and so much more, was stunning. It was a beautiful study of characters and cultures, which was complimented by Kay’s sumptuous writing style. This was a gorgeous read! 

My biggest criticism is for the romances, Kay had 4 main characters - two men and two women - and rather predictably they ended up in relationships by the end of the novel... The relationship between Danica and Marin did make more sense to me by the end of the book than the relationship between Leonora and Pero. However, both were a bit instalove-y and could have done with more development.

Nevertheless, I’d highly recommend this book! It would be an excellent read for people who aren’t fantasy fans as the fantastical elements are minor. The focus is on the historical influences, themes, and character development. It’s an excellent standalone fantasy book and I’m excited to read more of Kay’s work in the future.

The Merchant of Venice - William Shakespeare

OWLs: Divination

Most of what I could say about The Merchant of Venice has already been said before. Shakespeare’s portrayal of Shylock is incredibly problematic (I haven’t got the time or energy to go into why, but there are literally thousands of books, essays and blogposts about this, go forth and read if you want more details), the relationship between Portia and Bassanio makes NO sense, and I cannot believe that ending means anyone is going to be happy...

However, this play has a certain charm that I loved. I couldn’t help but like the relationship between Antonio and Bassanio, Portia and Nerissa are darlings, and I had fun reading the wacky plotline and (yet more) crossdressing shenanigans going on in here! I think most of my enjoyment came from the RSC version I watch alongside the play (currently availbale on Marquee TV). Either way, I’m happy to have read the play AT LAST and be one play closer to my goal of reading every Shakespeare play!

Assassin’s Apprentice - Robin Hobb (Farseer #1, Realm of the Elderlings #1)

OWLs: Defence Against the Dark Arts

We all know how I feel about Robin Hobb and the Realm of the Elderlings. I adore this world, Fitz and the Fool are (probably) the best written characters in fantasy and two of my all time favourites! I reread this for the Elderlingalong (that I somehow missed...), which gave me the perfect excuse to pick up the new 25th Anniversary edition with the GORGEOUS illustrations from Magali Villeneuve. I had a wonderful time rereading this and if you’re a fan of Hobb and you haven’t seen the work this book already you MUST get your hands on it ASAP. 

Non-OWLs books

The Gathering Storm - Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson (Wheel of Time #12)

I wrote WAY to much to include it on this long list of books... I’ll post my thoughts on The Gathering Storm separately. 

Conclusion of my ramblings: I really liked it, there were flaws in Sanderson’s writing and treatment of some characters (Mat in particular), however, it was a really good installment in the series! Sanderson really impressed me and I’m slightly nervous and very excited to read the last two books in the series!

The Fellowship of the Ring - J.R.R. Tolkien (Lord of the Rings #1)

I’ve already put up a lot of my thoughts on my latest read of The Fellowship of the Ring here. I really loved rereading this book (as I always do), I had a lot of new thoughts, and I gained a new appreciation of Boromir and Tolkien’s poetry. My annotation reread will continue in the near future with The Two Towers - I just need to clear a few urgent reads off my shelves first!

Currently Reading

Nevermore: The Trials of Morrigan Crow - Jessica Townsend

Buddy read book! I’ve actually finished this at time of posting but I’m trying to give an accurate view of my April reading!

The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet - Becky Chambers

I was supposed to read this for Arithmancy, but I didn’t get round to it... I’ve also finished this one early this month.

Words of Radiance - Brandon Sanderson

Another buddy read with @towerofleeza​! We’re not the best at reading this at the same time (sorry dear!) but I think we’re both loving it, I certainly am!

Witches Abroad - Terry Pratchett

I couldn’t help myself I needed more of the Witches! I’ve also finished this one at time of posting this and enjoyed it.

[thatyanderecritic]

been reading a lot of yandere stuff and it feels like the targets of the yanderes' love are not allowed to feel anything besides fear or all-purpose kindness (or arousal in the dubcon/noncon works). ex: they can't feel frustrated enough at their situation to vent (without the yandere/world deciding to "punish" them violently for it). its pretty frustrating... yeah twisted love is cool, but why does it seem like a lot of yandere works lack the romance and are just rape/torture porn fantasies?

And I OOP.... You just spilled all the tea on this message box anon. 

Anyways, Kai here to answer to the call of rants! Cause this pathetic sack of flesh (That’s me, Kai!) just loves to bitch and moan about yandere stories :) So let’s ponder why this is the case...

All the blame falls onto the author. I mean, they’re the only person who’s writing these stories after all. It’s not like these characters are real, ya know? But why is it that authors just like to copy one another? Well, I have a bunch of theories but none of them particularly nice. But they’re the hard truths.

1. Authors who write yandere stories are simply unimaginative and they just copy their predecessors.

While writing is a passion, I know there’s a grind in wanting views and increasing in popularity. I can’t tell you the type of schemes Julie and I came up with to make this blog more popular on tumblr since the demographics here seem to want the yandere aesthetics or the dramatics. Sometimes, authors just like to chase those clicks and views. So the appeal to the majority and what is a safe to write is normally the go to. Since they see that other people who write ‘X’ about yanderes get to cum money, they don’t really have the incentive to think outside the box or explore an avenue they were interested in because other people might not want to explore that avenue with them.

Or they aren’t schemers (like Julie and I lol) and are simply that unimaginative. They see something they’re predecessors wrote and go, “I like that” then just copy it thinking they’re doing something original simply because they’re the one writing it now. Let me say this now before anyone mistaken me: there’s nothing wrong in writing an overdone trope or following a path of your favorite author/story. Tropes are fun and if you like a certain thing, that’s cool. There’s a reason why the liberal arts study previous works compared to, say... the sciences. You wouldn’t study a medieval medicine practice since it’s outdated. But you would study the Scarlet Letter to widen your horizon and develop your craft. And that’s the important key: “wide your horizon and develop your craft”. The problem with most writers is that they see a book and consider it the word of god. It is terrifying when I hear people say something like “I’m trying to copy Stephan King’s writing style”. Fucking yikes my dude! Besides the fact that Stephan King is generally a bad writer, you shouldn’t mimic a teacher but become your own person. Take a technique or two you like and blend it to your style. Don’t become a chameleon (unless you are going to parody/satire said author). If you’re going to do a trope, I say consider two things: 1) Are you planning to do anything with the trope? Are you going to push it forward or explore a facet that you don’t think others explored? and 2) If you don’t plan to push it forward and just do a gratuities writing of the trope, are you willing to accept that fact? Are you going to accept it and not cover your ass when someone comes around to point out  that it’s a copycat of another story (Ex. The Hunger Games Series and the Divergent Series)? Are you willing to stand up and say “Fuck yeah I was inspired by them and made my own version because I love the trope.” If you’re will to answer these two points confidently, then go for it. Cause the worst thing you can do with a trope is A) Not do anything with it and B) Lie to yourself that you’re doing something new.

This suddenly reminded me when I saw one of these writing blogs complaining about getting copy and paste writing requests. They were complaining about wanting to be original and not wanting to be a commodity. Well... first of all, if they don’t want to be a commodity then stop writing people’s requests, the fuck lol. Next it’s laughable that they think their original. Let’s ignore the fact of the complete irony that they think they’re writing something original when what they’re writing is a plot given to them by a stranger and also that they’re a fandom writer (oops, spilled the tea again). There’s really nothing “original” anymore since we can point out a specific trope and trace it back to an ancient text that done the exact same thing. What is “original” is the blending of tropes, the reactions of tropes, and the element that authors put in their writing to give it life. Cause at the end of the day, if you entertained an audience, then you won.   

2. Authors who write yandere stories secretly hate yanderes.

Okay, so this is a theory that Julie came up with and I probably won’t have a lot to write on it compared to the first point. Anyways, the theory is that some of these authors who write yandere stories just hate yanderes. I mean, look at half the shit that are yandere stories. Straight up torture, clickbait yanderes, and scumbags. This is what people imagined a yandere would be. You can at least tell the difference between someone who liked yanderes or hate them. For example, when yandere’s has a “gentle moment”. If it’s genuinely sweet and soft, then that person probably likes yanderes. If not, then that person probably doesn’t and can’t get their head out of “I hate yanderes” mode. We can also look to the first point about scheming and getting them views for tossing in a yandere. Just like the otome game community, even if the product is shit, we’ll still eat it up because it’s a product for a community that doesn’t get a lot of products of their bias. 

3. Authors who write yandere stories are simply bad at writing romance.

Again, probably not a lot to write on this point since I spent it all on the first point. Anyways, as this point state, sometimes authors are simply bad at writing romance or not interested in romance. It just happens, you know? An author will bite off more than they can chew and end up making a mediocre story. And that, combined with point one and maybe point two, then of course no one can make an actually good yandere romance story since they can’t get out of their head of “Romancing a scumbag”. Also, sometimes people read a story thinking it’s a romance story when really, it isn’t. It happens and we can’t fault the author too much since they either need more practice or it’s our fault for assuming it’s a romance to begin with. Also, can I complain about all these people who tag some stories as a romance when it’s clearly not? Now they’re the real villains here. 

4. Specific authors who write yandere stories have a fetish for rape/torture porn.

Okay okay. I get it, some people got their fetishes and coping mechanisms. Put down your pitch forks. What I’m annoyed about are people who don’t acknowledge their fetish or at least state it at the beginning of their stories. Come on, don’t be those tagging jackasses who incorrectly tag their shit. Not everyone likes your fetish. You stay in your clearly defined lane and I stay in my clearly defined lane. Cool? Cool. Well, on this website. People are pretty good at their tagging and warnings. The problem are the jackasses outside of this hell site. If tumblr is hell, the rest of the internet is the void.

Well, tbh, this point isn’t too bad. People do what people do and I can’t complain too much. And hey! I would rather read these rape/torture porn stories versus the copy cat stories. At least we get porn and the possible reward of being able to jack off to it. It’s just that nine times out of ten, the “yandere” isn’t a yandere. What a surprise. 

Anyways, I hope writing this post help vent out your frustrations anon. 

Julie: Just edited Kai’s rant here. She’s really spilling all the tea 🍵.

[arlingtonpark]

#worthit

You know, we’re lucky Zeke is a moron. At long last he has access to the ultimate power in the world, and instead of using it then and there, he tries to show Eren the error of his ways like this is A Christmas Story or something.

Zeke thought he was Chris Marley and Eren was Ebenezer Scrooge. Turns out, he’s a QANON believer and Grisha is the owner of Comet Ping Pong.

It’s just stunning how unself-aware Zeke is. He’s like one of those hyper-partisan, extremely-online people who shout about how Obama is a tool for the rich, but freeze up when asked for details. This is a man so immersed in his own worldview, his head so far up his ass, that all he accomplished is making the most spectacular own-goal of the entire series.

I mean, he takes Eren on this wild ride, is basically making this all up as he goes along, certain that the next memory will be the one that proves Grisha’s EVIL-ness, and they spend God knows how long watching a dude filing paperwork.

This exercise was meant to turn Eren to his side, but all it’s done is create an opening for Eren to turn Zeke. And that may happen, honestly. Zeke’s beliefs have been pretty shaken now, so he may be receptive to some reasoned persuasion.

But up next is Grisha stealing the Founding Titan, so Zeke definitely won’t be want for validating material.

The only bigger jackass this chapter is Eren.

Eren really, honest and for truly, fucked up. He shat on his friends, he shat on his country, he shat on little kids, and he did it so he could trick Zeke into unlocking the Founding Titan powers for him.

Except now all that’s out the window because actually Zeke is in charge.

Oops.  

Eren presumably did all this because he couldn’t bear to see Historia’s life shortened, but now it seems he has no choice but to do it anyway, meaning he did all this shit for nothing! Amazing! Dreams really don’t come true in this story!

I love how the chapter foreshadows Eren dropping the ball by showing him literally dropping a ball.

At least now it means Historia is going to be relevant again soon. I don’t think I’ve ever said it before, but I lean towards the pregnancy being fake.

Yeah, Historia having a kid means Zeke’s dream can be easily undone, but Zeke probably realizes this and plans to overwrite King Fritz’s deal with the Founding Titan with one of his own: all future royal bearers of the Founding Titan will be infected with Zeke’s ideology instead.

After that, all he’d have to do is feed Eren to Historia. Zeke’s ideology takes over, and everything is set.

Eren needs Historia to eat Zeke, and Zeke would need Historia to eat Eren. And all the while Historia just wants to eat out Ymir.

Would Zeke really do that to his little brother?

…Yeah, he would. Zeke himself said Eren was just a key this whole time. He wants to save Eren from Grisha’s brainwashing, but remember that means convincing him life isn’t worth living. Because of that, Zeke probably wouldn’t even see it as a betrayal. From his perspective, it’d be him freeing Eren from the hell of life.

The reason why I think the pregnancy is fake is because I figure Zeke somehow coerced Historia into it, but then Eren told her about his true intentions and told her get pretend-pregnant. Then, once Zeke was disposed of, Historia could drop the act and live happily ever after.

(And then die with no heirs, thus leading to a succession crisis.)

And if the pregnancy actually is real?

Well, that would be a travesty and I’d rather not think about that.

This chapter has the most explicit endorsement of nationalism so far. Which is bad because no matter how much gold the series puts on it, nationalism is still a garbage heap of an ideology.  

Talking about nationalism and this series is a bit complicated because really there are two levels to this. There’s the depiction of nationalism in itself and then there’s that depiction as it relates to the social context of the story.

Just looking at the story, taking back the Founding Titan and actually having a ruler who cares for his subjects is very reasonable. King Fritz is a lunatic who believes Eldians deserve to die for the sins of their former Empire. And it’s understandable that people like Grisha would be pushed to support extreme beliefs like that the Empire must be restored.

Issues start to arise when you look at the social context of this story. King Fritz is pretty obviously a caricature of progressives who emphasize the need for society to own up to past sins. You see this in the United States with recent debates about Confederate monuments, for example.

Other debates about how the founding of the country is glorified and morally questionable actions like the three-fifths compromise are swept under the rug have been ongoing for literally centuries.

There are progressives who think these facts are not reflected upon enough, and then there are conservatives who think the progressives want Americans to hate being American.

Japan has a similar debate going on. The Japanese Empire of course did many awful things throughout its history, especially during World War II, when it tried to conquer East Asia. Japanese progressives argue this history is not given its due. (It isn’t)

King Fritz is obviously a caricature of these people and not a very flattering one. The strongest evidence that this series leans conservative is the echoing of the popular Japanese conservative talking point that the official history is a “masochistic” one designed to shame Japanese people.

Like, I don’t actually have to explain how the obvious parallel is obvious, do I?

Everything about King Fritz reads like a satire of liberals written by a Fox News pundit. Deranged king so obsessed with past sins he’s cool with his people dying for it? Did Sean Hannity write that?

Said King is a chump because he’s…a pacifist, which makes him weak, I guess. (How can a series be anti-war if #pacifismisforlosers?)

SNK’s brand of anti-pacifism seems reasonable on the surface, but when you consider the real world analogs the story’s set up, things start to fall apart.

The story’s message seems to be that the Eldians should be allowed to live as themselves with no outside interference and they should be allowed to use the wall titans to defend themselves if needed. That seems reasonable, but then you realize the Wall Titans are basically nukes, so the series is basically endorsing nuclear weapons and nuclear proliferation.

Nuclear weapons are not military weapons, as their in-story equivalents are set to be cast as. They’re used to wipe out women and children and unarmed people, and not for military uses. And their use leads to massive environmental damage.

It’s disturbing that the series treats the morality of their use as a given. Isayama doesn’t seem interested in grappling with this exceedingly difficult question at all. There is no debate between the characters on this, literally everyone wants to use them, even Armin who previously made a point of not wanting to.

It’s simply stunning that this series would set up such a weighty situation and just not grapple with the moral implications of it. Does Isayama even realize the metaphor he himself has written?

This isn’t to defend Fritz’s actions. Just up and leaving like he did was lazy and irresponsible, but that just ties back into the hyperbole of the caricature. The details aren’t important in the sense that what’s important is the overall statement being made. It may seem weird, defending the idea this character supposedly stands for, but not defending his literal actions in the story, but that’s because you’re not approaching the story from the perspective of satire.

Isayama’s laughable statements aside, Attack on Titan is clearly satirical. It is making its point through hyperbolic caricature. Though with King Fritz the series arguably veers into straw-manning.

It may be hyperbole, but no reasonable pacifist actually believes we should roll over and let other people kill us, and I honestly can’t believe we are apparently supposed to take this seriously.

The point is that pacifism is bad.

King Fritz swears a vow to renounce war, which the series has lambasted at every possible opportunity. This vow is directly analogous to the vow to renounce war contained in Japan’s constitution, which also binds future generations no matter their personal beliefs since, ya know, it’s the law.

Fritz does this because he believes it will lead to an everlasting peace, which also echoes Japan’s constitution, which renounces war specifically in the name of peace.

Article 9 in Japan is broadly popular with the public, but is criticized by a small usually conservative minority.

All of this is to say that the series echoes conservative talking points and generally seems to be written from that perspective.

Now we come to this chapter. Zeke explicitly refers to Grisha’s ideology as a nationalism and is then made to look like a dumbass for thinking Grisha is an evildoer.

#nationalistshavefeelingstoo.

Yeah, Grisha loves his family, but who cares? The series is clearly going frame Grisha forsaking his mission to be with his family as a mistake, because that’s what this series does! In the world of SNK, people who chase their dreams either fail in some way or are otherwise evil, unless that dream is to fight for the survival of your race, in which case you’re a hero.

Nationalism is bad because it’s an ideology centered on loving your race. It is an inherently exclusionary belief system. The series may not be afraid to criticize specific methods, but the idea of fighting for your race is itself not presented as a bad thing.

Even though in the real world, you would be hard pressed to find a similarly sympathetic example of a nationalist movement.

Nationalism is an inherently emotional ideology, it is fueled by grievance. The series acknowledges that certain expressions of nationalism can be fueled primarily by emotion, but we are also apparently supposed to think that a “rational” nationalism is possible.

In fact, rational nationalism is an oxymoron.

The idea of fighting for your race can never be rational because the notion is inherently irrational. The only people who would care enough about their race to emphasize fighting for it are the desperately insecure.

Whether it’s because they’re desperate for anything about themselves to love, like with Floch, or outraged over the targeting of their race specifically, like with Grisha, nationalism is never born out of some coldly rational thought process.

So now the Yeager Bros. finally succeed and Eren finally gets to betray Zeke. But wouldn’t you know it! It’s the royal who has control of the Founding Titan!

I was leaning against this idea, but for a while now I’ve had the inkling that the Founding Titan is supposed to be a metaphor for the concept of sovereignty, and now it seems that instinct was right.

Sovereignty refers to the absolute authority that governments have. In republics like the United States, sovereignty resides in the government, but it is exercised on behalf of the people.

In monarchies, sovereignty resides in the reigning monarch, who rules by God’s grace.

The key word here is “resides.” The king/president is merely a vessel for the sovereign authority of the government.

For many centuries, kings, and, later, officeholders in general, were thought of as having two bodies.

Their body natural, that is, their physical, human bodies.

And the body politic, that is, the power that comes with the office.

When the king dies, only their body natural dies, but the body politic is eternal and passes on to the next body natural that occupies the position of king.

The Founding Titan is apparently modeled after this idea. Each successive Eldian king is a vessel for the Founding Titan, which grants absolute authority over all Eldians, but only to those who are of royal blood, ie those with the right to rule.

Of course, only people with a legitimate claim to the throne may properly exercise sovereign authority, just as only Zeke may command the Founding Titan. As I said in an earlier post, as a commoner, Eren’s use of the Founding Titan is illegitimate by default.

Needing a royal sympathetic to his cause creates an opening for Historia to become relevant again and that just highlights how everything would’ve been better if Eren had just used her in the first place.

I get that Eren cares about his friends (really hoping he and Historia are just friends), but if you think that makes Eren sympathetic, then let me tell you a little secret: it doesn’t.

Prioritizing someone’s literal life over another’s simply because you know them is awful. It reduces the choice of what you should do to the randomness of who you just so happen to have gotten to know better.

If this was just about who Eren was going to spend a Saturday night with, then choosing based on rapport would be fine, but the stakes here are significantly higher. People are dead.

The excuse that Eren is doing this for his friend’s sake is no excuse at all.

At this point we’re half way through the fourth volume of this arc. The next chapter will probably wrap up this A Christmas Story riff and the chapter after that will most likely end with the Wall Titans finally being awakened.

Afterwards, I’m betting it’s just one more volume to close out the story proper and then maybe we’ll get a volume for that epilogue Isayama mentioned once in an interview.

[sunnysynthsunshine]

3rd Comedy Monologue

“Do any of you remember Rugrats?”

“The 90s cartoon about talking babies that went on adventures”

“Yeah well you know Angelica the whiny,spoiled character?”

“I actually kind of liked her maybe it’s because I related to her when I was little or maybe it’s because I liked how cool she was she was able to tell the babies about stuff they didn’t know about, playing a part in their imagination.”

Anyways speaking of children,they’re alright and they are usually one of the following

“Mummy Daddy why do they get to pick a sweet not me what did I do?”

“Waaaa I want that I want that”

“Hi there, do you want to play?

“Your good at art,I couldn’t draw like that”

“Thank you young soul you are too pure for this world”

Me on the other hand,was a whinging cowardly little sod

Now I’m not a child anymore but I am still mistaken as one

Yeah,that happens

17/18 years old,old enough to vote,old enough to drive,old enough to move house & old enough to realise my phases of being a tory “skeptic” were pointless

Yet sometimes people still think I’m someone who likes ice-cream,toys and video games

Well I mean I do like those things I’m sure some of you like those things too

We are children at heart but physically and mentally we evolve and learn with time

I’ll be an young adult,and I love it I might not have a place of my own yet but I love being able to learn new things and see new places I couldn’t see when I was a kid.

Then again my teenhood wasn’t that good either because I had a developmental condition that made me different than others mentally,my interests were very intense and I got panic feelings when around crowds or in difficult situations

My primary school classmates liked JLS,Partying and other things that I didn’t like or couldn’t do

While now I’m warming up to certain things I’m still happy I didn’t like JLS.

I on the other hand, liked the sims 3,dolls,the 1980s,old cartoons and films.

So...a game where you become God,plastic models,the age of neon graphic design, and innovative video games and...yeah that hasn’t changed has it?

Well I don’t play the sims anymore,my laptop has no cd rom drive,I used up the data on my old one, from downloads I’d buy from the exchange store

Sims also was one of the few things that got me into my “emo” phase

I’d be looking at sims videos on youtube they’d usually be very sad and in the background there’d be evanescence,my chemical romance or avril lavigne

I’d be sitting at the back of the living room at a gathering and I’d be listening to Sims 2 sad story part 1 because it had good music. I later learned the names and that I was a bit of a goth,a emo,a metalhead because I liked gothic and j-metal any of that.

Dolls…..

now this was embarrassing I’m sure we all have those songs where as soon as you hear them you feel a film reel of negative memories return. For me that was

Barbie Girl by Aqua, weird because aqua are a good band,but that song oh that song it was so annoying

Picture this

Someone in their final primary school years, who still collects dolls,

Now!  Would you ignore that or would you use that outdated song as a way to mock them because they were still enjoying a thing, meant for children.

I received the latter,because of that when I’d hear people sing that song simply just because they liked it I’d get confused and offended a similar thing happened with my little pony

I used to sing and perform for people in the playgrounds other times I’d keep to myself

I loved my little pony before the new wave I loved rewatching episodes of the old 80s mlp series of goblins,witches and giants...oops that was a different show I was describing there

And one of the songs I’d perform was the original theme song

My Little Pony~ My Little Pony~

What will today’s adventure be?

My Little Pony…My Little Pony

Will there be exciting sights to see?

Nope to some of my primary school audience the lyrics were

“My little pony skinny and boney”

*sarcastic deadpan laugh*

Ha ha ha,  

Then again I wasn’t much better

I used to make youtube videos with those “dolls”

They weren’t very good

They had bad editing and barely any plot beyond badly structured fourth wall jokes

Yet I wanted the whole internet to know about them even if they weren’t interested

I was a easy target and while I did get tired of that,change interests and go into a different fandom direction

Some things were still the same

I was still cowardly,weak and timid and that was a problem

I was always following others,I didn’t make my decisions often,because of the condition and my own loneliness I couldn’t do things other teenagers could.

I never had a sleepover,I never had a crush that wasn’t one-sided and I didn’t have much independence

Even when I did have “friends” those friends I would later learn were not nice making me believe I had wasted years that I couldn’t get back.

On...the topic of regrets, dance  something I sometimes enjoy but when I studied performing Arts it was what I dreaded…

Note I’m ok with  anyone who does like to dance,party or do any of those things

I would just try to take part like everyone else but many times I was put aside or embarrassed in front of the others because of either me having a meltdown or because “my timing was off”

Yes,he did teach me some cool moves and I am more supple now but that was the content and even if I was crap I knew it and tried to practice

Everyday I’d practice each technical exercise and routine but it was still not good enough.in fact it was because of that and other reasons that I couldn’t do that course anymore

All because of,of….Craig Revel Hor not him but he was like him.

Because of that I had to take saturday dance classes...those weren’t fun

The most fun I had was from the songs we danced to and the few positive examples of small talk I attempted with the people there.

Otherwise it was not good...me and little kids specifically loud hyper kids don’t always go well when in the same place..again my timing was off it wasn’t told but I could tell

One of the moments I hated the most was the headshot day

Now we were supposed to just be getting photos taken but the photographer noticed I was shorter than she thought.I laughed it off because I know I’m short but then what did she say in response…

“Your a wee bit vertically challenged”

EXCUSE ME

Now,I may be short but in a class of kids and teens of different ages and heights I was far from the shortest person there.

When I was a teenager I wasn’t a proper teenager the only things that made me a teenager was my age,my angsty attitude and the drama I got into involving political meme posters and anime roleplayers.

The less I say about that the better

So while all the “adults” were telling me to beware of the adult years because of

Oooh responsibilities...ooooh independence ooooh….education

Honestly  it’s ok for me so far I’m a fairly organized person so studying is good,I did a assistant stage managing gig for a west side story production which was class by the way and I think i’ll feel a lot happier as a adult.

I have not much to mock about today my political jabs are sometimes good other times they’re like a bad Ben Elton joke on Saturday Live.

“Ha teresa may is like the wicked queen from snow white when she’s in disguise”

yeah? …..and  You look like you could front the band Wings mate

(pause)

Speaking of a bad Ben Elton joke

“Oh I never really understood the whole “comedy” business I always prefered being a bit of a writer and I think now with Bohemian Rhapsody being out that those critics will think

We Will Rock You wasn’t that bad.”

Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a show that layered it’s satire of the mainstream establishment under a sitcom narrative about alternative young adult characters where the comedy was good

for once

Once in every life time

Comes a moment like this

Oh I need you, you need me,

Oh my darling can't you see.

Young Ones.

Darling we're The Young Ones.

The Young Ones.

That show,oh I only watched last year but I have so many words

The jokes,the satire,the characters,the setting,the fact it still holds up

I found that show at the right time

It was august 2017

I had finished my GCSE’s,I had left a manipulative friendship and I felt horrible

When I’d go to the cinema people were making noise and I would remember the panic more than the film itself *coughs* Spiderman homecoming

I felt like I didn’t know how to laugh anymore

Summertime sadness

When edgy me came across ben elton’s ronnie barker memorial lecture

Being a fan of Porridge and Open All hours I listened and after hearing about a certain sitcom  I started watching...The Young Ones...and it was out of this world

I roared with laughter with each episode,I related to the characters and I felt a connection of some sort

Researching more about the “alternative comedy” genre and I saw a familiar name

I learned I had seen some of his work before,he was the andrex puppy,he was in that king Arthur cartoon and he was in that drop dead fred movie I didn’t watch just because internet critics said it was one of the biggest cinematic flops ever….

Yet I never knew his name until then and I’m still not over that

I looked up his other work,where he was richie,richie rich,lord flashheart and a b’stard of a conservative

(which I would later try to do an impression of, on my final girls brigade show.)

So many thoughts,so many emotions he changed my life

Many things and people have. He is one of them  

his work was incredible and iconic  and his mantras are very inspirational and useful. He made me realise a lot of things about life,my love of his work also resulted in me meeting most of the friends I have now.

It’s 2019 and I’m now the anarchist I always wanted to be,I’m out of my shell, a bat out of hell,I followed others for too long but I’m my own person now that’s who I will always be

Now say it with me   Young Ones..

You shouldn't be afraid.

To live, love, there's a song to be sung.

Cause we may not

Be The Young Ones

very long.

Oh,Doctor Rik.Mayall we miss you,you bastard

The world wasn’t as much of a crap place when you were there to cheer us up

But your still here spiritually in her hearts

As you said yourself we still have your shows  and poems

Now!  all you punks,skins,rastas,emos,hipsters,creators,viewers,performers,entertainers,observers and fellow peoples poets

let’s gather round and hold our hands in sorrow for our fallen leader

Love is the answer!  Goodnight

[lesbian-ed]

So, as promised, here’s my list of lesbian movies for all of our lovely followers and the people you want to share it with. I hope I haven’t forgotten any good ones, but if you feel like that is the case, feel free to add movies to the list! 

This is my gift for all of you, I hope you’ll like it ♥

/ Mod W

Tipping the Velvet 

based on the book by sarah waters (she has written many lesbian books!)

it’s a bbc adapatation

technically a mini series but i like to see it as three hours of lesbian content heaven

it’s about this girl who falls in love with an actress and she goes to see her at the theatre five billion times until the actress notices her (that’s just the first part, other things happen to the main so watch the rest for more lesbian content~)

the main character (nan astley/king) is like... my fave. i love her.

the book is very good too!!!

honestly i have so much love for this movie/book i get all giddy just thinking of it

Bound

lesbian gangster/mob movie do i need to say more???

the main actresses are cute af (one of them is a butch lesbian!)

it’s awesome and very cool

(gonna trigger warn for use of lesbophobic slurs used by some characters/some lesbophobic violence)

Below Her Mouth

meh plot with amazing sex scenes basically?

a lot of sex scenes

i mean it like half the movie is graphic sex so if ur uncomfortable with that you probably shouldn’t watch it lol

all female cast

willa from wynonna earp!

The Handmaiden

also based on a book by sarah waters (called Fingersmith, there’s a bbc adaptation of it too which you should totally check out as well)

good quality movie right there

(putting a trigger warning here for sexual and psychological abuse and abuse in general)

Kyss Mig

one of few good swedish movies

basically about two step-sisters who fall in love (they’re not actually related i promise)

But I’m a Cheerleader

baby natasha lyonne is in this one! also i have a crush on clea duvall in this movie lol

a very cute love story tbh

good aesthetic

you’ve probably heard of it before but idc cause it’s great

(it’s like a satire of conversion therapy so if that’s something you can’t watch i don’t recommend this movie for you in particular)

If These Walls Could Talk 2 

a bunch of famous actresses (like chloë sevigny, michelle williams, natasha lyonne, ellen degeneres, etc. etc.)

divided in three segments from three different periods in time

one segment is set during the feminist movement in the 70s and features chloë sevigny as a butch lesbian with a motorcycle do i even need to say more??

Anatomy of a Love Seen

this is about two actresses who were a couple when they shot a movie together and now they have to go back and re-shoot some love scenes but they’re not a couple anymore and it’s sad af

i have basically never seen this movie in any rec lists but it’s actually one of my faves and i cry so much to this movie tbh

Saving Face

this is a good one

also pretty funny tbh!

it’s about a doctor who falls in love with a dancer and the doctor’s relationship with her conservative mom

it’s kind of rom-comish

Lost and Delirious

warning: very sad like super sad?

it’s about a girl who goes to a boarding school and so happens to become roommates with a lesbian couple

teen angst squared and multiplied with gay panic

The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls In Love

you may have heard of this one but if you haven’t it’s time you watch it

that woman who plays tina on the l word is a butch-ish girl in this one

VERY CUTE and chill

every time i watch this it feels like this movie is the director’s BABY like it seems like she cares about this story so much and it makes the movie feel so genuine and lovely

i want every baby lesbian to watch this, please, it’s my gift to you.

D.E.B.S.

you may have heard of this one too but if you haven’t seen it yet it’s definitely worth a watch!

lesbian spies!

the heroine falls in love with the villain (that enemies to lovers trope tho!!)

Desert Hearts

old but good!

i feel like this movie is on most of these long rec lists but people probably don’t watch it cause it’s old but it is actually pretty good!

your classic “oops i thought i was straight but that woman is hot” story

Margarita With a Straw

indian girl figures out she’s bi when she goes to uni in new york and meets a lesbian girl

cute, funny, sad, it has everything tbh

The Hours (actually one of my all-time favorite movies/books!)

The Intervention

The Kids Are All Right

The Children’s Hour

Elena Undone

Fucking Åmål 

[mindwideopen]

I’m looking for a job in satirical journalism, and I live in Chicago. Hot dog! Looky loo! (Not Lucy liu) Here’s a newspaper that is straight up my comic sensibility alley! The much loved and revered, “the onion”! This is great! I’ll just cobble together some writing samples and oop.... uh oh.... read this:

Oh no.... and this:

Well, I guess that answers that. Exclusion. Hey onion, I have a fantastic....

NO!

But...

NO! We will throw your shit AWAY!

To be fair to “the onion” there’s most likely a ton of nut balls like me, who come up with what they deem to be “comedy gold” all the time, and it probably gets old. Lots of dad jokes. Lots of silly aunt petunia pickle bottoms out there that had their brush with fame in the local community theaters back in aught aught, and now they are the resident experts in the funny. But there are people out there, that may have a decent idea or two, that deserve a chance, and don’t know how to get their foot in the door with this writing thing. And it kinda puts a wet piece of lettuce on your passion part below the belt; all this instant rejection prior to the “try to apply”. And yes, they have job openings every once in a while, so try back then.

No. An answer that an actor hears, or doesn’t hear until they see the show or commercial on the air WITHOUT them in it. I was an actor/singer/jack of most trades for a good 15 years here in Chicago, and to me, a “No” never got easier. It got more and more frustrating as time went on. And as much as I hate to admit it, my “no”, came first.

When I read this initially, I was pissed. “Oh, no?! Oh! Ok! Well guess what, onion, you stink! Yeah! Onions smell like someone’s B.O. and all the rest, and you know what? I don’t even eat onions, cause my husband hates them, and I’ve avoided them for so long that now when I try to eat them, I get agita, so no to you first, onion! Ok? Yeah! You don’t say no to me, cause I, yes, i, the small egoic i, say no, to YOU, so go stick that in your armpit and blow it out your onion hole!”

George Carlin: oh man.... Kari?

Kari: oh shit....

Carlin: Kari, you are single handedly alienating yourself from every creative group in this country...

Kari: actually it’s the world, i went after the good folks of Monty python, and I’m gonna do a piece on, “the thunder from down under” an all Australian male strip show that I can’t be a part of either, cause I don’t have a peep.

Carlin: ok, Kari, seriously, what is with you?

Kari: I’m feeling lonely and left out of the comedy world. It’s been at least 12 years since I quit acting, and I’ve been mad ever since. And I was told by someone in the biz that the best I can hope for is to be a secretary or bit part on one of the Chicago shows; Chicago Hope, Chicago fire, Chicago this, Chicago that, Chicago, the movie...

Richard Pryor:... already made, you missed that shit.

Kari: see?! I miss out on everything!

Carlin: Kari, do you want to do any of that?

Kari: well, I’d like to think I could, but probably not.

Carlin: well ok! Then leave that to the people who want to do it. What do you want to do?

Kari: i..... dooooont....knooooowwww!!! Waaaaaaaaa.... (cries like Lucy from I love Lucy. Again, NOT Lucy liu, unless she’s cries like that)

Carlin: ok, then how about figuring that out before you burn every bridge you don’t even cross yet.

Richard: she’s burned all the bridges, and the buildings, and allll the shit. Kari is maaadddd. She’s more “Carrie” than the movie “Carrie” by Stephen King...

Kari: He’s also like gayle king, a man who needs to clarify his last name! I can’t get past the cover of any of his novels! Stephen King who? Which king? One of the kings in a deck of cards? Elvis? King Louie from jungle book?! Who?!

Richard: ok, Kari this is our point. You are not ok with success.

Kari: I’m not?

Carlin: no! You yell about the stupidest shit, really! How do you expect to get a job at “the onion” when you have already written them off as “exclusive”? You haven’t even looked to see if they’re asking for submissions.

Kari: again, I’m not sure.. any suggestions?

Richard: well, you write your own shit, but you are not known, so going after people, seems mean.

Kari: um, you both did it.

Carlin: yes, but we came up during a different time, Kari. And we had friends and collaboraters.

Richard: I talked about stealing my shit on the tonight show. I stole Bill Cosby’s shit before I did my own shit. So just steal someone’s shit!

Kari: I can’t steal someone’s shit! I’d be horrible doing someone else’s shit!

Carlin: Kari, you were an actor, you were paid to do other people’s shit...

Kari: yes, but I don’t want to steal their shit!

Jerry stiller: Kari, to date you owe the king of queens $8 million dollars in back quotes. You love us.

Kari: yes, I do. You currently in production?

Jerry: no.

Kari: ok then! I didn’t even have an LA agent... so I wasn’t even able to be considered. oh man... I’m totally depressed...

Carlin: ok, Kari, maybe we shouldn’t discuss this subject for awhile, ok? Lay off the concept of collaboration for a bit. What do you like?

Kari: I like the concept of working with like minded people.

Richard: well, you have us...

Kari: yes, but I mean here in the 3d world. Someone who’s not me.

Richard: good point.

Carlin: ok, well you want like minded or people who like your comedic sensibility and can build from that with you.

Kari: yes. And I want to laugh. A lot.

Carlin: yes, laughing is good, we haven’t done much of that as of late.

Kari: yes. And I want to have the freedom to write whatever I want, as crazy and as silly as I want to be, and I want people to act it out. And I want the people to be sweet, and cooperative, and kind, and supportive, and good natured, and all the good stuff that makes for a good collaboration.

Carlin: great! How about money?

Kari: yes. I’d like that too. A shit ton of it. & I want to feel like I belong. I’m tired of feeling like someone on the outside peeping in at the nude people on the inside...

Richard: oh shit...

Carlin: ok, Kari. Do us a favor, and focus on what you do want, and not on what you find wrong with everyone. The world doesn’t hate you. Some people may, and if you keep this shit up, you will get everyone to hate you. That’s what your negative beliefs do. They fuck your shit up. They have you acting a fool. And then you wonder why people are afraid of you, cause you end up making your nightmares come true.

Freddy Krueger: yesss! You’re mine now, bitchy woman....

Kari: ok, you know whuuuut? I will take your jello 1,2,3 face and body and separate you into different jello cups, and chill you for 2 hours, and then I will as ready whip, and I will have the dog in “nightmare on elm street 4” eat your jello ass as a parfait, ok?! Don’t you ever talk to me like that again, you wormy piece of liver and onions, ok? Good...

Freddy: oh shit... even I’m afraid of her...

Carlin: Kari, be cool, ok? Watch the stooges (not iggy pop’s band, but the 3 nut balls) and relax. Things will start looking up, give it time.

Kari: fine, but I’m not into this exclusivity, shit.

Groucho marx: she does want to be a part of a club who will have her as a member. I don’t share in that opinion, but she does. Maybe that’s why no one will have her. Her jello 1,2,3 is made of Freddy Krueger’s ass.

Richard: Scene. 🤣

[rebeccaheyman]

reading + listening 09.14.20

The Smash-Up (Ali Benjamin), eBook ARC (pub date Feb 2021). A rare five-star review from me on GR and NetGalley.

For fans of ASK AGAIN YES and FLEISHMAN IS IN TROUBLE, Ali Benjamin's THE SMASH-UP is a razor-sharp but deeply heartfelt satire of our contemporary social and political systems, framed as a retelling of Wharton's classic novel, Ethan Frome. Like its original counterpart, THE SMASH-UP is a framed narrative; we begin with an introduction that asks the question that plagues the original Ethan Frome from the very start: What happened? While the answer to that question in Wharton's work is purposefully vague ("a smash-up"), Benjamin's work is driven by answers. What happened? The 2016 election. Harvey Weinstein. MeToo. Police overreach and brutality, Resistance. Bret Kavanaugh. The Women's March. On and on, all these things that happened and are happening as the country tries to remake itself in the wake of all our ugliness rising to the surface. "What happened?" THE SMASH-UP asks. "Well, sit down and I'll tell you."

We follow an unnamed narrator as they drive into Starkfield, Massachusetts, and spot Ethan Frome, who is without a limp but still "hobbled" by a flat tire. The narrator gives Ethan a ride home, and thereafter becomes a one-person Greek chorus of a kind, showing up frequently to uphold the mirror that reflects that which is under the surface of the main action. Once the close third-person narration begins, we're drawn into Ethan's life with documentary filmmaker and activist wife Zenobia (Zo); their hyperactive, Wicked-obsessed daughter, Alex; and their live-in, Millennial, would-be nanny (of a sort), Maddy. Everything is in a state of unrest, from the forever-unfinished home renovation to the country to Alex's attendance at the new-age, ultra-conscious Rainbow Seed School, to Ethan and Zo's marriage. An encounter with the local police throws Zo and her women's activist group, All Them Witches, into the spotlight, and not everyone in Starkfield is happy about it. Meanwhile, Ethan's former marketing agency partner asks him to help make a pending MeToo lawsuit disappear. In the literal and figurative background is Maddy, whose ennui is a challenge and counterpoint to the Fromes' intense attention to every detail of their fractured, fracturing lives.

THE SMASH-UP is a novel of colliding -- who these characters are, what they believe, what they do, how they feel, what they show the world and what they hide -- all of it being forced to the surface by impact after merciless impact. Everything that happens in THE SMASH-UP is just as important as what doesn't; our mysterious narrator from the introduction (whose identity I won't spoil here), says it best: "New ideas, new worlds, new truths, always begin in the negative space. Unlike the groaning heft of What Is, possibility has no mass of its own--no force, no shape or structure, not yet. To most eyes, What Could Be looks like nothing at all. It takes faith to discern this invisible thing, to protect it and tend to it, until the day it comes screaming into the open, startling everyone with the plain fact of itself, a truth that's suddenly clear as day."

The Heiress (Molly Greeley), eBook ARC (pub date Jan 2021). My NetGalley review fails to capture the way I sat on my couch and wept for the duration of the last chapter. Just sayin’.

THE HEIRESS climbs inside Pride and Prejudice the way you slip between the sheets of your own bed, made up with entirely new sheets. This brilliant, compact novel takes as its subject the enigmatic Anne de Bourgh, best known as the cousin Darcy was supposed to marry before Elizabeth Bennet stepped onto the scene. Greeley imagines Anne as an accidental -- or rather, incidental -- laudanum addict, whose treatment with that "remedy" since infancy left her frail and mostly catatonic as she aged. THE HEIRESS follows Anne on a tumultuous journey of self-discovery and becoming that begins with the end of her addiction.

Greeley's writing is deft and authentic, nodding to source material without relying on what readers think they know about Anne's life at Rosings Park. There's a touch of the gothic here, too, as Anne's connection to her land -- hers indeed, since Rosings Park is not entailed -- and the house itself, becomes a critical site of identity-production. Though Anne enjoys somewhat unprecedented independence due to her inheritance, Greeley never loses sight of the way Georgian society shaped, stymied, defined, and limited most women -- or how they flourished in private revolutions despite this.

Readers of THE SEVEN HUSBANDS OF EVELYN HUGO, THE LADY'S GUIDE TO CELESTIAL MECHANICS, and of course, PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, will find THE HEIRESS a triumph.

Luster (Raven Leilani), aBook (narr. Ariel Blake). LUSTER is getting a lot of positive press, and with good reason. Roxane Gay’s brief GR review says it best: “So uncomfortable and stressful and beautiful and haunting and honest and ugly.” Protagonist Edie is anxious and adrift when her anchor drops somewhat of its own accord in the suburban home of her married lover, Eric. The seas there may appear calm but they churn under the surface, where marital, sexual, and racial politics threaten to capsize the appearance of domestic bliss. What ultimately saves Edie -- what keeps her afloat, if I’m really going to beat this metaphor into the ground -- is her identity as an artist, which she interrogates persistently regardless of her mercurial circumstances. 

It’s natural, I think, to draw comparisons to Candice Carty-Williams’ QUEENIE, as these are both novels about young Black women drawing the curtain back on their experience of the world, and delivering the fullness of that experience with honesty of the highest, rawest order. Attempts to place one novel over the other, though, would be remiss; where Queenie’s journey ultimately leads her closer to the refuge of family, Edie’s safe haven is her art -- which is to say, the world is still coming for Edie, and her protection against can be washed away with so much turpentine. 

LUSTER is touted as “darkly comic” and while it most assuredly is that, I also found it deeply heart-wrenching. I felt old reading this, and anxious, and like I wanted to sit Edie down in my kitchen and feed her a nice brisket dinner. There’s some inconsistency around Edie’s age (she’s twenty-three, but often references nostalgia-points that would place her closer to her late 20s or even early 30s), but I just kept thinking about how hard it is to be young and unsure, now more than ever. 

Lady Derring Takes a Lover (Julie Anne Long), aBook (narr. Justine Eyre). This was my first Julie Anne Long novel, and I’m happy to report it was a delight! Delilah and Tristan are fun to watch together -- great chemistry, just enough internal angst to enhance tension without being cloying, and plenty of hot, consensual sex. For me, the difference between an enjoyable historical romance and a snoozer often boils down to the external conflict, and LADY DERRING has it in spades. Delilah and her dead husband’s mistress, Angelique, open a boarding house in a bad part of London, and the goings-on at The Grand Palace on the Thames provide a nice counterpoint to the romance. There’s plenty of fat for Tristan to chew, too, since someone is smuggling cigars into the country, and the king has tasked our hero with finding out precisely who, and how. As always, Justine Eyre’s narration is just this side of too much, but she shines on this recording. I’ve got the second-in-series cued up on my eReader this week, so we’ll see if Long can.... go the distance. I’ll show myself out.

Never Kiss a Duke (Megan Frampton), aBook (narr. Jilly Bond). Another new-to-me author and narrator, and the first in a new series, Hazards of Dukes. I’ll take the second part first: Jilly Bond is a delight! She gets a bit whispery at times -- appropriate times, to be sure, but it was a struggle to hear some of the asides. I also found her transitions to Sebastian’s narration/dialogue rocky at moments -- a sudden, almost comedic drop in register. Once the chapter/POV is up and running, the awkwardness instantly fades, but the transitions were strange for me. Still, she’s excellent, and I hope she narrates the next-in-series. 

To the rest: Fans of Kleypas’ DEVIL IN WINTER gaming hell setting will appreciate the external conflict around Ivy and Sebastian (yes those names are oddly similar to DEVIL’s Evie and Sebastian...a tribute perhaps?!). She is the proprietress of London’s only egalitarian gambling house, and he is her newest employee after having -- oops! -- lost his dukedom. Conflict isn’t as dynamic as I would have hoped, but this was an entertaining listen nonetheless. Hot heat, tumultuous personal histories, quality banter... I’ll be back for the second installment (Tall Duke and Dangerous, Oct 2020).

[mcmansionhell]

50 States of McMansion Hell: Oakland County, Michigan

Greetings friends! Believe me - believe me - this house is going to make up for Monday’s missed post (I’m going to move away from theory next week but more about that later). This may be one of the tackiest McMansions in McMansion Hell history. Behold, my friends, behold! 

This incredible chateau, built in 1994, boasts 5 bedrooms and 5.5 baths, totaling around 5,300 square feet. You can be the king or queen of this counterfeit castle for just around $1 million USD!

Without further ado:

The Royal Foyer

Not only is this room the pinnacle of logic, but it made me realize how long it’s been since we had a true brass n glass chandelier! For those of you on the West Coast who don’t know about Dillard’s, giant round windows/entrances are their thing:

Photo by Michael Rivera, CC-BY-SA 4.0

The Great Excellent Room

The ratio of floor area to ceiling height is rather boggling, even by McMansion standards. 

Kitchen

The apples and oranges joke was a test to see if any dads out there read my blog. 

Sitting Room 1

The funniest thing about the trim is that if they did continue it, it would run into the types of the windows. Oops, indeed. 

The Royal Dining Room

Liberté, égalité, fraternité! If you like French Revolution jokes, friend, oh boy are you in for a treat. 

It’s worth mentioning here that ya girl has primary source material related to this room: 

The funniest part is that the furniture in the McMansion dining room is a dang knockoff of this insane Italian furniture found in the 1986 International Collection of Interior Design. It’s almost like the people who built this house aren’t *actually* royalty!

Master Royal Bedroom

One has to wonder about the people who decorate their houses to look like royalty, especially the niche practitioners of “Dictator Chic.”

Master Bath

Dear Every Frat Dude in the University of North Carolina School System, I am Throwing Shade Directly At You

Princess’ Bedchamber

Guys, you guys, France has elections now. Little Alliesonn and Anndrieah can still be your little princesses - no need to re-establish the monarchy. 

Bathroom Two

AHA!

Image via The World’s Best Ever 

Rec Room

Who put in that fireplace?! Who looked at that and said “I have completed my task effectively and am satisfied with my work”?! Guillotine! Guillotine! 

Mystery Room

I’m not sorry. 

Well, that does it for our lovely tour of this McCastle - now for our favorite part: 

Rear Exterior

Those balconies are sus af. 

Well, that does it for Michigan! Stay tuned for a post Next Monday in which I delve into the nitty gritty details of architecture (what is that random ornament/window style/etc. called anyway?) and dissecting these monstrosities by comparing them to the great houses of the past. Be sure to come back Thursday for a Minnesota McMansion! 

If you like this post, and want to see more like it, consider supporting me on Patreon!  Also JUST A HEADS UP - I’ve started posting a GOOD HOUSE built since 1980 from the area where I picked this week’s McMansion as bonus content on Patreon!

Not into small donations and sick bonus content? Check out the McMansion Hell Store- 100% goes to charity.

Copyright Disclaimer: All photographs in this post are from real estate aggregate Zillow.com and are used in this post for the purposes of education, satire, and parody, consistent with 17 USC §107. Manipulated photos are considered derivative work and are Copyright © 2017 McMansion Hell. Please email kate@mcmansionhell.com before using these images on another site. (am v chill about this)

[incredibletinyhouse]

Twitter pulls Trump’s ‘manipulated’ CNN parody video after media outcry, citing copyright violation

Twitter has removed a satirical video shared by US President Donald Trump – a parody CNN clip it flagged as “manipulated media” after the broadcaster saw red over the tweet and following complaints from the footage’s owner.

The meme clip, which featured mock CNN chyron and was meant as a dig at what Trump and his supporters see as biased media coverage of his presidency, was pulled on Friday after a company representing the original creators of the video complained to social media platforms, saying the footage was used without permission. In addition to Twitter, Facebook has also deleted the clip.

The offending video repurposed old viral footage showing two toddlers, one white and one black, running to embrace each other. The spoof clip was captioned “terrified toddler runs from racist baby.”

Also on rt.com

No memes, no chill? Twitter flags Trump’s fake ‘CNN clip’ intended as satire as ‘manipulated media’

The meme, which was slapped with a manipulated media tag on Twitter before it was deleted, prompted outcry from CNN.

Earlier on Friday, CNN correspondent Jim Acosta sparred with White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, accusing Trump of exploiting the toddlers to “make some sort of crass political point.”

McEnany shot back, arguing that the video parodied the network’s “misleading headlines.”

“I think the president was making a satirical point… It was a play on CNN repeatedly taking the president out of context,” she said.

While Trump’s detractors raced to declare the takedown a victory, a number of netizens slammed the critics – some singling out Acosta by name – for their inability to “comprehend a meme,” pointing out that the video was clearly a joke.

.@PressSec TORCHES @Acosta after he repeatedly asks questions because he can’t comprehend a meme.

CNN regularly twists the facts and puts misleading headlines on their network.

That was the point of the meme.. pic.twitter.com/IAjtkL2XDS

— Benny (@bennyjohnson) June 19, 2020

It’s called a meme. A video was edited to make a funny meme. Defund cnn is also a meme. You really are shallow if you think you’ve got it all figured out 🥱

— Boseph Jiden (@boseph_jiden) June 19, 2020

He posted a meme and CNN and you crazy fools took it seriously. Just like that one video where trump body slams CNN.

— Oop- (@Oop67678189) June 19, 2020

Others observed that the parody video in question had been on Twitter since last September – the original remains on the platform – yet was only removed after the president decided to post it, one dubbing the move “censorship at its finest.”

Been up since September but now when trump tweets it there’s an issue? Hmm twitter first threw a “doctored image” label on it. And after cnn bitched they removed it from trumps page… censorship at its finest. If you don’t see it you’re part of the problem 😬 https://t.co/GiwdjIe3JA

— 🤷🏻‍♂️ (@Emil_5oh) June 19, 2020

CNN was so hurt about being called out for lying & manipulating for a narrative that they got a tweet Trump shared from a fan taken down. Doesn’t CNN have more important 💩 to do? Like “journalism”? 🤦🏽‍♀️ https://t.co/sA6YBQEHq9

— Kaydee King (@KaydeeKing) June 19, 2020

The creator of the parody video, an internet personality who goes by Carpe Donktum, has waded into the controversy, thanking Twitter for “millions of dollars in free advertising” and pointing out that no media organization complaining about the video had bothered to contact him about its intended meaning.

The most 2020 thing ever is…

Trump tweeting a meme about how CNN spins narratives on social media, which is immediately followed by CNN claiming the REAL story is that Racist Trump is exploiting children, which is then followed by Twitter flagging and removing the video. pic.twitter.com/amZT3qNP43

— Carpe Donktum🔹 (@CarpeDonktum) June 19, 2020

Trump’s meme-sharing has landed him in trouble with Twitter before, having a number of posts and retweets flagged or outright deleted for violating copyright or “community guidelines.” Most recently, the platform tagged and hid a tweet for “glorifying violence” after the president warned that “when the looting starts, the shooting starts” amid rioting and unrest in Minneapolis late last month.

Like this story? Share it with a friend!

#news #covid #coronavirus #like #india #love #instagram #media #follow #music #viral #fashion #breakingnews #instagood #noticias #corona #politics #trending #repost #sports #indonesia #tv #business #berita #new #usa #info #entertainment #football #bhfyp

[hollywoodgothique]

The I Like Scary Movies Experience is an immersive world of horror where visitors become both artists and subjects.

Conventional wisdom dictates that haunted attractions are not sustainable in Los Angeles except during Halloween, yet that doesn’t stop ambitious impresarios from trying (as with 2017’s Queen Mary Ghosts & Legends, which was essentially a haunted house tour relying on special effects rather than actors). Probably the most effective attempt at an off-season horror event we have ever seen is the new I Like Scary Movies Experience, a series of installations immersing viewers in a cinematically inspired world of horror.

The giant Freddy glove is impressive but strangely empty without a victim.

More art gallery than Halloween haunt, I Like Scary Movies Experience offers an opportunity to peruse macabre exhibits with the enthusiasm of the demented connoisseurs in Dan Gilroy’s Velvet Buzzsaw (though – so far, at least – with less fatal results). And since we live an era when seeing with the eyes is secondary to photographing with smart phones, Maximillian (the “experiential artist” who masterminded the event) has cleverly contrived to turn selfie-addicts into both artists and subjects. Many exhibits feature an empty space that needs to be filled; the work is not complete until someone stands in place or sits in a chair to have a picture taken. Or to put it more prosaically, these artworks are arranged like a series of photo-ops, which invite not only poses but also participation, such as flinging oneself into a pit of foam blocks. Looking, it turns out, is only half the experience.

I Like Scary Movies Review: Location

As if to underscore that this is an upscale event, not just a little horror show, I Like Scary Movies is located inside the Desmond Building in the Miracle Mile district of Wilshire Boulevard, not far from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. There is street parking on Wilshire for those lucky enough to find an empty space; otherwise, you have to shell out for a spot in a nearby parking lot. Side streets are tempting ticket-traps – with resident-only parking after 6pm. Fortunately, this is the kind of area where walking a block or two affords an opportunity to find a great place to eat after attending the show.

Exterior of the Desmond Building

Sinister stairway inside the Demond

Elevator from Hell

Ubiquitous black butterflies make their first appearance

Suspiria (1977) is not one of the official inspirations for I Like Scary Movies, but this corridor is reminiscent.

The event’s logo, rendered life-sized, affords one of many photo opportunities.

The building itself is venerable enough to engender an aura of respect but old enough to project a slightly creepy atmosphere when dimly lit. More important, it offers vast amounts of space for the exhibits, with large showrooms separated by long corridors that, with the help of a few color gels, would not look out-of-place in an actual horror movie.

Upon entering the main exhibition area, the first impression is one of magnitude. I Like Scary Movies is nothing if not immense, immediately dwarfing any concerns about the $39 ticket price. Each exhibition area is practically worth admission on its own, and there are five, based on horror movies owned by Warner Bros. Studios: The Shining, IT, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Beetlejuice, and The Lost Boys.

I Like Scary Movies Review: The Shining

First in line is The Shining, with visual inspired by Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 feature film (not the made-for-TV remake). On display is not an exact reproduction of the Overlook Hotel but some interesting variations that combine and re-imagine famous visual motifs to great effect, such as the hedge maze trimmed to spell “Redrum.”

The Hedge Maze

What kind of shoddy joint is this?

The elevator of blood

Recreating Wendy’s escape route

Adopting the twins who want to play “forever and ever.”

“Here’s Johnny!”

Shattered doorways float above the Gold Room.

All work and no play…

…make Jack a dull boy.

The Shining exhibit occupies four rooms: one for the hedge maze, one for the elevator of blood, one with the window through which Wendy (Shelley Duvall) escapes in the film, and one more or less representing the Gold Room, with walls and floor carpeted in the distinctive pattern seen in the movie. Don’t let the rattling lock scare you away from looking through the cracks in the door to the infamous Room 237, for a little surprise.

Here more than anywhere else, I Like Scary movies achieves the illusion of immersing visitors inside a horror movie. The effect makes the Shining maze from the 2017 Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Hollywood look puny by comparison.

I Like Scary Movies Review: IT

The 2017 film version of Stephen King’s IT provides an opportunity for some demented fun house stylings. As with the Shining exhibit, the scale of what’s on view is extremely impressive, ranging from a mountain of discarded toys and balloons to what must be thousands of paper boats, with Pennywise lurking here and there, though never fully revealing himself in human form.

We all float…

Moutain of toys

Oop!

Hi there!

Shaking Pennywise’s hand

Found!

This exhibit features one of the less obvious photo ops: by entering the mountain of toys, you can position yourself inside Pennywise’s gaping maw so that your face is visible to those staring down his throat.

I Like Scary Movies Review: A Nightmare on Elm Street

Unlike the first two exhibits, the scenes from A Nightmare on Elm Street are not presented in large show rooms but in smaller spaces set off of a long corridor. There is an over-sized version of Freddy Kruger’s signature glove – with movable fingers so that you can better position those razor-sharp knifes, a macabre throne, and hedge formed into Freddy’s hand, reaching out for a woman obliviously taking a selfie. The latter exhibit seems like a piece of self-reflexive satire, depicting what visitors to I Like Scary Movies are doing.

Razor sharp!

Freddy’s throne

This will be her last selfie!

The Freddy exhibits are great, but they receive less space than those of the other franchises on display. Considering the wealth of dream imagery in the Nightmare on Elm Street films, we wish the opportunity for surrealism had been explored a little more.

I Like Scary Movies Review: Beetlejuice

More comedy than horror, Beetlejuice would seem to be the odd-man-out in the I Like Scary Movies Experience, but Maximillian seizes on the film’s many memorable visuals to create life-size versions as macabre as anything seen in the rest of the exhibition. In fact, this exhibit features more memorable photo ops than any other. At this point the only thing more we could have wished for would have been for Dante’s Inferno to be open for business.

Here Lies Betelgeuse.

Rise from the Grave

Out for a night on the town at Dante’s Inferno

Striped worms are cute!

Betelgeuse was here.

Volunteers can jump in the pit of foam blocks in the background.

Barbara and Adam Maitland in haunting mode

Lunchtime!

And people say I have a big head!

Occupational hazard of being a magician’s assistant

Wonder how he died?

Time for a shower

I Like Scary Movies Review: The Lost Boys

Last and least among the I Like Scary Movies exhibits is The Lost Boys, only because less space is devoted to the 1987 vampire film; there are only two rooms. The first contains the gang’s lair in the caves of Santa Clara and the overhead train tracks from which the vampires dangled. Both settings are wonderfully rendered, and the trestle bridge allows visitors to recreate the scene from the film.

Kicking back in the vampire’s lair

Dangling like bats

Extra large takeout order

Giant noodles

The second room features a giant box of takeout noodles, which is just weird enough to be interesting but not the best expression of the film’s vampire theme. The far wall offers merchandise for sale, indicating the end of the I Like Scary Movies Experience has been reached.

I Like Scary Movies Review: Conclusion

I Like Scary Movies is much more a gallery of weird exhibits; it truly is an immersive experience, inviting viewers to become part of the scene. There are so many amazing detailed exhibits on view that a visit will last at least an hour, possibly more if crowds are thick. It may go without saying, but bring smart phones, iPads, digital cameras, and/or camcorders, because the point of I Like Scary Movies is not merely to see but to be seen – and not only seen but photographed for the rest of the world to see. Fans attending should be ready for their closeups, because I Like Scary Movies turns you into the star of the show.

Be ready for your closeup, because the display looks empty without you.

Review: I Like Scary Movies Experience The I Like Scary Movies Experience is an immersive world of horror where visitors become both artists and subjects.