#please feel free to add stuff

[hesperocyon-lesbian]

since when are you pro-chat-gpt

I’m not lol, I’m ambivalent on it. I think it’s a tool that doesn’t have many practical applications because all it’s really good at doing is sketching out a likely response based on a prompt, which obv doesn’t take accuracy into account. So while it’s terrible as, say, a search engine, it’s actually fairly useful for something hollow and formulaic like a cover letter, which there are decent odds a human won’t read anyway

The thing about “AI”, both LLMs and AI art, is that both the people hyping them up and the people fervently against them are annoying and wrong. It’s not a plagiarism machine because that’s not what plagiarism is, half the time when someone says that they’re saying it copied someone’s style which isn’t remotely plagiarism.

Basically, the backlash against these pieces of tech centers around rhetoric of “laziness” which I feel like I shouldn’t need to say is ableist and a straightforwardly capitalistic talking point but I’ll say it anyway, or arguments around some kind of inherent “soul” in art created by humans, which, idk maybe that’s convincing if you’re religious but I’m not so I really couldn’t care less.

That and the fact that most of the stars about power usage are nonsense. People will gesture at the amount of power servers that host AI consume without acknowledging that those AI programs are among many other kinds of traffic hosted on those servers, and it isn’t really possible to pick apart which one is consuming however much power, so they’ll just use the stats related to the entire power consumption of the server.

Ultimately, like I said in my previous post, I think most of the output of LLMs and AI art tools is slop, and is generally unappealing to me. And that’s something you can just say! You’re allowed to subjectively dislike it without needing to moralize your reasoning! But the backlash is so extremely ableist and so obsessed with protecting copyright that it’s almost as bad as the AI hype train, if not just as

[hegory-grousing]

im not a writer so this doesn't have real dialogue. mad libs I guess. I imagine this happens often on their lunch dates hehe

[nightmaretour]

Happy disability pride month to disabled people who even other disabled people can't seem to be normal about in particular.

Happy disability pride month to people with paralytic disorders, people with moderate to severe brain damage and people with IDs.

Happy disability pride month to people with facial and limb differences, people with congenital deformities and people with extensive scarring.

Happy disability pride month to people who experience incontinence, people who drool, people with colostomy bags, people with feeding tubes and people with ventilation machines.

Happy disability pride month to people who struggle to or cannot bathe or keep their home clean, people who are fat either because of their disability or not, people who rely on takeout and pre-packaged meals, people who can't exercise, people who smoke, drink or take drugs and people who aren't "doing everything they can" when it comes to managing their disability.

Happy disability pride month to schizospec people, people who experience psychosis, people with stigmatised personality disorders and other widely misunderstood, misrepresented or unknown mental health disorders.

You're all amazing and I'm proud of you even if you're struggling to be proud of yourself. You deserve to be represented, heard and treated with respect. You deserve to be included in discussions about disability just as much as everyone else.

[thatmooncake]

Share silly thumbnail/WIP hour

[i-like-forcefem]

Sometimes all a guy needs is to become my cute little barbie doll

[royalarchivist]

If you’re looking for resources to support Palestine, I highly recommend checking out:

The resource page created by Fit's mods

Ceasefiretoday

The resource thread created by RichasUpdates

The TTRPGs for Palestine charity bundle

While some of the information and links are about previous strikes, the majority of the information and resources listed are still relevant to the current strike and current events!

[sweetpeapoppy]

With every season of Drive to Survive, I violently mourn the fact that we did not have it 2009-2013. I mean that era had so much…

- everything about Brawn GP

- Slagcaren

- Mark and Sebastian (I mean that’s a story line that would run and run)

- not knowing who was going to win in 2010 & 2012

- Mark and Fernando (saying they wanted each other to win, Mark telling Fernando he was retiring on the podium, easy homoerotic subplot)

- Kimi and Michael returning

[disaster-guys]

Assorted jercy head canons from yours truly

both have zero self worth, they reassure each other and built each other up over time

both have a hard time expressing emotions. especially: Percy worries over things he thinks will make him look stupid (or, more recent fear, scary), and Jason anything that would make him look weak

Percy has bad internalized homophobia, no matter how accepting his mom is, Gabe's insults left a mark on his brain, he just feels gross and wrong and doesn't know what to do (yes, it gets better, but it's rough)

feral motherfuckers, the both of them, they bite, they growl, there's so much here but there's already a post...

Percy thinks Jason’s glasses are very cute, he steals them sometimes and Jason thinks he’s fucking adorable, unfortunately, to see this, he has to get pretty close. like kissing distance close

Jason is 6’4. Percy is 6’3. There is fucking relentless short jokes.

Percy, despite being only ~10 months older, is also teased about being old. He tells Jason to respect his elders.

Jason has abandonment issues. And autism, among other things

These two are so fucking cuddly. Like, it took a while before they were both on the same page, but now they're both so constantly in each other's space. always touching, always just near each other

Jason is a nice guy, he grew up trying to be Approachable and Nice, he tends to give out compliments bc people seem to like that (see above: autism), so naturally he compliments Percy and Percy 404's. he does not what to do, no idea how to take compliments (from his mom is normal but anyone else? weird). Jason does it even more just to see him blush (guaranteed result)

Cuddle and listen to audiobooks/podcasts together

Whoever introduced them to audiobooks/podcasts either thinks it's adorable or regrets everything, maybe both

Jason lighting round: cannot cook, can draw, bites his nails, king of lil kisses, car trauma, loves to play with Percy's hair, is scared of thunderstorms, the really loud ones that shake everything, likes to wear beanies (good sensory on his short hair)

Percy lightning round: best cook, loves gardening, grows some of his own food/veggies/spices, has so many fun piercings (pls hc your own favorite ones for him, I can never pick), has a weird relationship with food post-tartarus, also really sensitive to light post-tartarus, has long hair, dissociation problems and rsd, steals Jason's clothes (they're grounding)

@queer-brainrot I did it!! Hope you like it <3

[solplease]

here's something no one asked for, my ocs when they were a bit younger! :] (more like how they were in highschool lmfao) ((not aster tho sorry my king. u did not have a highschool.))

as always, close ups and more info under the cut!! OH and i put an updated relationship chart at the very end!! it's in writing this time because i thought that would be easier (it's long.) </3 i am so sorry in advance there's a lot under this HAHA

lune:

lune was a little shit, he's very rebellious now but he was even more rebellious when he was a teenager lmfao

he would CONSTANTLY get into fights, anyone that pissed him off he did not hesitate to attack

his relationship with his parents was already bad but it quickly deteriorated at this point in time

he was relatively popular in school but uh, everyone stayed away from him or tried to be on his good side because... well yk! didn't wanna get attacked..?

also people thought he was annoying but hey at least he was good looking!

he did not know he was popular btw. like at all, no idea, still doesn't know

his grades were like... okay, not great, but not bad, and he would skip class a lot... dumbass

his nails were constantly painted different colours bc cecilia would do them often, he was also never seen without a bracelet on his right wrist

huge troublemaker (some things never change!)

he hasn't really changed since then lmao

cecilia:

she was a bit more reserved back in highschool, still nice and friendly but she had a hard time approaching others because she was nervous (and others found her a bit intimidating cause she didn't smile much) ((and she's related to lune and that guy was known for being crazy))

her and lune were known as "those rich twins"

was constantly stressing over lune because of how much he got in trouble it's not like their parents would do anything about it.

kept her hair long and undyed! she liked doing different things with her hair and would try out diffy styles a lot of the time

she liked having long hair, and randomly cut it off impulsively lmfao (3 am on a school night, she couldn't sleep and was like ok why not)

good student, wasn't always at school but she was doing well

hated going to school, couldn't tell you why, just hated it

she was really awkward as a teen, but she was trying her best

always had bracelets on, if you saw her she had a bunch on her left hand, and then just one on her right.

always had her nails done (she did them herself ^^)

would always carry a few hair ties on her in case any one needed to tie their hair

one time she tried to be cool and approached a girl who didn't have a hair tie and just dropped it in her hands and walked away (she then walked out of class bc she felt embarrassed)

she tried out a lot of different clothing styles

nox:

so, he still had a shitty sleep schedule!

hard to find, he was always somewhere, no one knew where tho

good student, did not give two shits about school though

not very memorable? he was quiet and would leave as soon as he could

every time there was a group project he would ask the teacher to work alone

didn't have any friends.

his classmates were kinda scared of him lol

would braid his hair a lot

had blue on him at all times, there will ALWAYS be blue in his outfits, whether it’s the shirt, pants, or a hair tie, he always had SOMETHING blue on him (this applies now too)

no one really knew much about him, and he liked keeping it that way

fuckass edgelord (kinda)

he was always like 5 minutes late to his first class (there was a cat that would wander around in front of the school and... he couldn't resist)

he would go see that cat every day btw. before and after school, he would also go eat lunch outside so he could see the cat (and he always brought something for it too!)

loser

cassian:

very social! had a lot of friends and was very outgoing

always doodling in class

he was rather popular! and well i guess some people didn't like that

he was known as the rich kid but people were always giving him things because he was super sweet HAHA

a really bright and helpful guy

he was usually seen with a smile on his face

it's a shame how things turned out, hm?

he would bring his shoujo manga to class and just read that (he was always sitting at the back of the classroom bc he was tall so the teachers didn't really pay attention to what he was doing)

and in the rare chance his teachers saw him doing something other than classwork they would mostly let it slide, he's a good kid, so it's fine (favouritism.)

lowkey the typical popular shoujo manga male lead (wow! just like he wanted!)

really good student too, always on top of his stuff

he had these sword earrings that he really liked, he used to wear them a lot!

always wore darker and muted colours, and liked more comfortable clothing

no one said anything but they really missed him after he left, maybe if someone helped him, things would've been different

rowan:

was completely different when he was younger

always angry, or sad, no one really knew what he looked like when he smiled

no one knew what was going on with him

but he was quiet, and didn't talk to many people, he wasn't a mean or scary kid, but people were still intimidated by him

his hair was longer and uneven, it looked like he had cut random bits and pieces

he was smart but wasn't doing so well in school

it always looked like something was stressing him out

he would stay behind after school

tense and uneasy most of the time

hair super healthy tho LMFAO (his mom would oil his hair regularly!)

he was completely different around his mom though, his source of comfort

if anyone from highschool saw him now they'd think he was a completely different person (in terms of personality, since he looks... pretty much the same)

although, in the last few months of highschool, his demeanor had changed for the better, he didn't smile much still but he looked a lot more relaxed and calm

aster: (his stuff is different because he didn't have school in his world lmfao. but here's how he was as a teenager and some other info about him!)

his hair was reallyyyyyyy long when he was still in his world (you end up cutting his hair when he came here lmfao)

he was really lonely because he was the only elf in his world and he had no company whatsoever

he ended up collecting a lot of things because he would wander around a LOT

dora the explorer has nothing on him bro

he was (and is) very curious about things, he really likes to learn

he somehow learned how to braid his own hair, would spend a lot of time doing that when he was bored

he has a horrible sense of fashion, you took him shopping once and he picked out the worst fucking outfits in existence, you're basically his personal stylist cause what the hell

he likes when you dress him up though teehee

he originally saw you in a mirror he found when wandering in the forest

he became really really curious about you and accidentally yanked you to him

he was confused but really happy

blah blah blah you end up living together, we all know the story! (if you don't, you suggested he followed you because you felt bad for him cause he was PAINFULLY lonely)

you took it upon yourself to cut his hair because it was REALLY long when you first met him, he likes having his hair long though, mourned the loss of his two front strands (he will be growing them back.)

he didn't talk to you for a few days after you cut his hair for the first time, wasn't your fault... you accidentally cut off one of the front strands and had to cut the other off to make it even

fun fact about him, his eyes glow in the dark, it can be scary at times.

oh and his ears are expressive, dunno how that works but it does! and he also never goes a day without wearing earrings! he prefers the ones he came with but doesn't mind wearing whatever as long as he has earrings haha

now for the updated relationship chart! (this whole post has been about them from a few years ago but this is their current relationships with each other!)

ROWAN -> LUNE: he’s a weirdo but i’m glad we’re friends, i can handle his craziness more than most people… probably, i’d say he’s like a brother to me, but at the same time i’d probably lose my mind if he was my brother. no idea how cecilia does it

LUNE -> ROWAN: somehow he’s gotten used to me, he’s not so bad, i guess i’d call him a friend

ROWAN -> CECILIA: she’s like a little sister to me! cute! we’re good friends :] i met her through lune, they’re close! we’re like siblings the three of us

CECILIA -> ROWAN: reliable and nice! i wonder how he’s friends with lune. also. we’re the same age?? he’s real sweet tho, and he’s kind of like a big dog? haha

ROWAN -> NOX: who? :D

NOX -> ROWAN: i’ve seen him before (around the twins) he’s close to cecilia and that other guy who she's unfortunately related to

LUNE -> CECILIA: my little sister <3 we are best buddies, i’d do anything for her, she was there with me in our hardest moments, i wouldn’t let anyone hurt her, and she wouldn’t let anyone hurt me, one of the only people i’ll listen to lmao (she’s kinda scary when she’s mad at me but it’s also kinda funny?) i like bothering her but she might kill me one day though. she hides herself a lot, i don’t know why, it’s always been like this. i wonder if it’s because of me..?

CECILIA -> LUNE: dawg you’re like two minutes older than me (won’t deny the best buddies comment) he’s a really good brother though… but tough to deal with, he’s always causing some sort of trouble, but uh, well. anyway, we’re basically best friends… his words, not mine (she’s lying) he’s crazy but he’s not a bad person..? <- would defend him with her life. he’s an interesting fella that’s for sure, i’ve known him my whole life but there’s always something new with him lmfao. sometimes he comes into my room to knock something over and then he leaves, what an odd guy.

LUNE -> NOX: cocky asshole. so annoying. go to hell already. and stay away from my sister, i don't want you plaguing her with your presence.

NOX -> LUNE: fuck you insane bastard, go die.

CECILIA -> NOX: he’s pretty sweet (??????) we’re really great friends! i didn't think we would become such good friends tbh, he didn't seem to be the social type, and i'm not very social either haha... we're pretty similar i think! i can't remember who approached who first but that's fine. also, this guy has one of the worst damn sleep schedules known to man, i worry for that man. also, him and lune hate each other, no idea why.

NOX -> CECILIA: she's a close friend, i don't usually like making friends cause they end up thinking i'm weird, i don't really care about that but... i'll admit, it's nice to have a friend. she acts really differently in front of other people than she does with me, i don't think she's realized though? it's like having a cat open up to you haha, so i won't say anything. i hate her brother though, pretentious dickhead.

CASSIAN -> CECILIA: we were kids when i met her and her brother? she’s nice… and a lot like me… we still talk, she’s a good friend, thanks for keeping me company… and thanks for not asking me too many questions either

CECILIA -> CASSIAN: oh! cass is a childhood friend! we met at some event, he’s changed a lot since then, but i guess we’re more alike now? he doesn’t come out of his house much anymore, but we still text often. sometimes i see him online really late... bro... please get some sleep.... anyway, i never got to know what happened with him, and he doesn't like talking about it either, i won't pry though, because i understand.

CASSIAN -> LUNE: he’s scary, but i guess he’s not that bad..? i talk to him too, we’re not the closest, but he’s still a friend, i text him sometimes, he’s crazier than before, he was fun to hang out with when we were young, not that i don't like him anymore, he's definitely... special

LUNE -> CASSIAN: i don’t know what happened to him, but he doesn’t leave the house anymore, he’s not bad. he texts sometimes, i don’t know why because i think he’s scared of me, no idea why tho (???) i guess he’s a childhood friend? him, ceci, and i used to hang out before… well yeah, still don't know what went down

CASSIAN -> NOX: oh… i’ve never met him. cecilia’s told me about him before, lune’s mentioned him once, they have really different opinions about him

NOX -> CASSIAN: no clue, cecilia’s mentioned him before, i think he’s friends with her and… the other one.

CASSIAN -> ROWAN: another one of lune and cecilia’s friends i think? they sure are popular. (even lune???)  i dont know anything about him though

ROWAN -> CASSIAN: no idea who this guy is! 

ASTER: ??? :’D 

[proshippers-against-censorship]

You say pro-contact MAPS & Zoos does it means MAPS/ZOOs that let their feelings flow and Walk free and have contact with their attraction in any form even If its not direct (Visual contact, watching the things that attract them, using things that remind them of their attraction ) Or does It only means direct physical interaction with their object of attraction?

I confess im still confused what pro-contact acctually means.

Like, having a crush on a kid or animal from far a away count as pro-contact? Or is It only the moment they choose to touch/talk to them ?

Pro/Neu/Complex Contact all hinges around justifying direct sexual contact with the object of the attraction. Having a crush from afar but not making any physical move isn't pro-contact, but instead just a thought.

[sonntam]

I don't think I've seen a write-up on various fairy-tale and Russian sayings references in the English translation, so I'd like to make one.

"Puddles make poor drinks" and "Gorkhon water will turn you into livestock": what's up with that?

There is a fairytale about a big sister and the little brother. They walk for a long time and the brother is very thirsty. His big sister keeps telling him to keep going and not to drink from the puddles, like a goat. Eventually the little brother drinks from the puddle.

And promptly turns into a goat.

Rest of the fairytale is about the big sister returning the little brother to his original form.

So, this is where the talks about puddles and water turning you into livestock is about.

The Akela joke did not work at all in the translation.

It comes from Mowgli, which is well known due to the USSR cartoon. In the book (and in the cartoon) the elderly wolf leader Akela misses during a hunt... after which he promptly is deposed as a leader of the pack. Mowgli loses his protection and this is a Big Deal.

So whenever a boss in real life makes a silly mistake (say, throwing a paperball into the bin and missing) everyone thinks it's very funny to say "Akela missed!" implying that they will get a new boss now and the current one will get deposed for this mistake.

Here "Akela never misses" means that Khan being at risk of infection and coming into the nutshell does not diminish his importance at all and his dogheads are just as loyal as before, happily delivering loot to him.

There is a saying: "Better a sparrow in hand, than a stork in the sky."

It means that you should treasure what you have, instead of preferring that which you can't get (so easily).

Lara Ravel references that she can't be happy with the little she has. She wants to help others and for this she needs more.

"Maybe I could be useful to you" is a classic thing that various animals say to people in fairytales, once they are caught and plead for their lives.

I think, this is a popular trope in English fairytales as well, but the phrasing here is lifted directly from fairytales in Russian, so pointing it out either way.

"Everyone's shirt is closer to their skin" is a well known Russian saying.

It means that your happiness and comfort is always more important to you than the comfort of other people. Hence: your shirt is closer to your skin, so you care about it more.

"Silence implies assent" is another popular saying (it even rhymes in Russian).

If someone proposes a course of action and no one speaks out against it or for it, then people usually say "silence is a sign of assent" and consider the matter settled. (Or, more often, people then suddenly say that they disagree and you get a more lively and productive conversation.)

I can't find another screenshot, but Dankovsky says something similar about "I wore down seven pairs of shoes getting to this town".

It obviously could be taken as a factual statement, but most likely it's a reference to fairytales.

In a lot of fairytales the protagonist will be given on a long journey seven pairs of iron boots. Once all of them break, the hero has reached his destination.

Same here: it's a fairytale way of saying that you had a long and arduous journey (or in Capella's case, ran around the whole town for years).

"I'll just peek with one eye" is another popular Russian phrase.

"Can I look?"

"No"

"How about if I look with just one eye?"

Obviously, it's nonsense, but it's a typical thing to say if you REALLY want to look at something, so you just say "pleeeease, I will just look only a little".

[sylphscope]

Dialogue from The Case of the Greater Gatsby, Episode 21 - One Headlight

Screenshot from The Case of the Greater Gatsby - Kickstarter Video!

[jamiethebeeart]

Lineart by me! (extra info for colorists in og tags) I couldn't resist a dappled light variant on this. @green-with-envy-phandom-event

fun fact: this lineart originally had the actual lunch/picnic table ridges and then i realized that was too much, especially without access to the layers of lineart (personally, I would color the lineart for the table and then the support bars would be colored and the layer moved underneath the table top. I decided not to put colorists in a position to try to color it with one layer of lineart, but I did get quite far before making that decision)

[tathrin]

A Bit of Mirkwood World Building:

The amethyst deceiver mushroom, Middle-earth style.

Commonly called Violet Despair, Violet Deceiver, False Delight, Purple Liar, and Shadow Deceiver in Westron.

*elvish name pending someone better at Sindarin than me devising one.

They grow in the southern part of Mirkwood, near Dol Guldur, and in the poisoned lands around Minas Morgul, where instead of arsenic they absorb the Shadows of the place, becoming darker and richer in color, and capable of swamping you with despair and paranoia if you eat them.

They predate the Shadow, but without a source of evil and corruption to feed upon they were nearly harmless: used often for dyes and decorations, although rarely for eating, for even then the Violet Deceiver was known for feeding on the rot and echo of darker feelings, and thus their flesh often became tainted with these sensations and capable of inducing fear, sorrow, and dismay in those who ate them.

Those fungi which found Evil on which to feed were, of course, much worse.

They are not quite bioluminescent, but their coloring is vibrant enough that in the black shadows of Mirkwood's trees and Mordor's gloom, they can trick the eye into thinking that they glow; but it is a glow that sheds no light to drive back the surrounding dark.

The Rangers of Ithilien encounter them much more rarely than do the elves of Mirkwood, for the Rangers do not brave the lands close to Minas Morgul; but they have come across them often enough to know to be wary of them also. (Among the Rangers, the mushrooms are sometimes referred to as "Violet Joys," as a form of bitter irony.)

Their spores exude a mild compulsory effect, tempting those who smell them to eat them, even when they know better.

The initial taste of the mushroom is sweet, almost too sweet, thick and cloying; this is followed quickly by a sharp sensation of peppery heat, and then a heavy nauseating muskiness (although few people are paying much attention to the taste at that point; mostly the latter is noted as a foul, rotten aftertaste lingering for a while in the mouths of the survivors).

Their scent is distinctive: alluring and floral, like lilies or lilacs, but with a hint of the sickly-sweet stench of rotting flesh lurking beneath that floral fragrance. By the time you notice the latter, you are already close enough to be imperiled.

Consuming even a single mushroom is enough to trigger the effects, engendering overwhelming sensations of despair and paranoia. Most victims report simultaneous symptoms of both, but some experience primarily hopelessness, while some suffer predominantly from the fear, and others vacillate between the two extremes.

Eating more than three or four will leave one in a fraught emotional and even hallucinatory state for several hours, or even days.

here have been no known cases of fatal poisonings from consuming the mushrooms, but many folk—elves and mortals—have died while under the effects, whether as a result of blundering into some peril they could not properly comprehend, being too absorbed or apathetic to defend themselves against another threat, or from breaking under the despair and terror and taking their own lives before their senses clear.

The Unhoused Shades that haunt Southern Mirkwood are prone to lingering near the mushrooms as well—or perhaps it is the other way around, and it is the rot of those trapped souls upon which the mushrooms feed.

Either way, the sight of them is a sign of peril.

These mushrooms were devised for @tathrin's fic And In The Darkness to Unmake Them and @babybat98's fic The Last War of the North, but are offered free for use of anyone writing in the Tolkien fandom who wishes to add them to their stories.

Ideally we ask you to link back to this post so that other readers can likewise make use of this bit of shared world building, but that's not a hard requirement for inclusion in your works.

All you have to do it not claim the idea for your own, and continue to freely share it with anyone else who wants to play too. Thank you!

[jennyfromthebes]

hi!! i know you've posted some favorite liveshows before but as someone who gets easily overwhelmed choosing shows off the Archive i'd love to hear some more of your fave shows to listen to!

Hi!! Here's a handful of recs, but if you want a more specific vibe feel free to send another ask and I can definitely give more :)

2023-07-13 (Four-piece band configuration) is maybe my all-time favorite for sentimental reasons, since that was my first tMG concert ever. Primarily Bleed Out and The Sunset Tree, with a banger solo set of Jam Eater Blues/Commandante/From TG&Y/The Monkey Song. Crowd energy is really high and there's some delightful banter and interactions!

2017-11-11 (Four-piece band configuration) is a slightly older but still fairly recent one. Since they were touring Goths at the time, it's a pretty Goths-heavy setlist, with my all-time favorite rendition of Shelved, also featuring a really cool solo Night Light and a gorgeous full band rendition of Snow Crush Killing Song!

2021-08-06 (Five-piece band, with fifth goat Erin McKeown) is notable for being the first show back after a year and a half of lockdown, and the energy is palpable. Live debut of a lot of Getting Into Knives, featuring an unreleased song and one from the first tape, and overall really fantastic and high-energy from both the band and the audience. This show is the one I reach for when I've had a bad day.

2009-06-13 (John solo) was the first of two shows back-to-back at Zoop, and while I shy away from describing any shows as "definitive", the Zoop shows are big in the same way Bottom Of The Hill shows are big. This one features a really great range of older and more obscure songs, and if you like this one, there's another show directly following it!

2014-06-15 (John + Peter duo), speaking of Bottom Of The Hill, this is a favorite BotH show! They play the entirety of Taboo VI: The Homecoming, and to this day I've still never listened to the actual Taboo VI tape, just this performance. It's the third of three consecutive shows at BotH, and all three are worth a listen for sure, but this one is my go-to recommendation.

2024-03-01 (John solo) is probably one you've seen me recommend before. This solo show from earlier this year was at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, and the atmosphere of it is haunting and gorgeous. The acoustics of the cathedral make a lot of these songs just immensely powerful - there's something about this Hast Thou Considered The Tetrapod that makes me cry pretty much every time I listen to it.

Additionally, no talk of live tape recs is complete without shouting out Emerald's live comps! You might know Emerald as The Sticker Lady, or if you've spent a few hours in queue with her, just an absolute delight of a human being and one of my favorite people in this community - she's seen tMG probably a hundred times, and each of her themed compilations are lovingly made with great skill and artistry.

(ETA: also worth including here, What's the Live Music Archive?)

Hopefully this is a decent enough rec list! I tried to keep a decent assortment of shows without being too overwhelming with options, but again, please feel free to drop another ask if you want more specific recs or anything. Happy listening!!

[xiakeponz]

for modern AU fics - what chinese media did diaspora consume?

making this post because some of us in the diaspora server were having a chat about what Chinese media "Diaspora Chinese" watched in the 90's - 2000's (and even sooner than that) while not having access to satellite chinese media or streaming services - this is in the context of writing modern AU fics based off Chinese media/novels (so your main character's grandpa or uncle is not, in fact, watching an episode of Friends or Shortland Street or something as flavour text because sorry what the hell-)

We generally watched a lot of stuff on VCDs, including bootlegged and non-bootlegged movies, shows, anime/donghua. My household had a whole VCD album of this, and a lot of VCDs (even if they were pirated editions) would have a fancy hardcover box with a magnetic clasp and some artwork representing the show on it.

All of this is Mandarin - so not TVB stuff, because I'm from Northern China and I don't know any cantonese - but Canto friends, please feel free to add to the list! This is mostly stuff my parents liked to watch, or I liked to watch with them, with the exception of a few which I mainly watched with friends/cousins when I was maybe (in most cases) eleven/twelve years old onwards. This is a pretty personal list, meant to give people general idea of a possible "ballpark" of sorts, and by no means exhaustive.

Now, for the list of shows which I can confirm I had or someone I know had on VCD or some kind of offline media format lol (I'll try add release year stamps and links to the EN wikipedia where possible):

Period dramas (mostly Qing Dynasty stuff):

Huan Zhu Gege 还珠格格 (1998, April-) This is a classic, so many memes come from this show; hugely popular series, basically cemented Zhang Tie Lin's face as the face of the Qing Emperor for about a decade. Tie Chi Tong Ya Ji Xiao Lan 铁齿铜牙纪晓岚 (2002-2010) - I loved this show as a kid and watched all four seasons on repeat with family... The "trio" in this show are well known and loved.

Amazing Detective Di Ren Jie / 神探狄仁杰 (2004) A very popular and addictive show. Ok now the Big Four:

Romance of 3 kingdoms 1994 / 三国演义 (1994) - a classic that has had many remakes, my older cousin would play this on repeat...

Hong Lou Meng/红楼梦 （1987） - another classic with many remakes, but I think the most recognised by the public one is the 1987 one.

Journey to the West / 西游记 live action (1986) - I think the 1986 version of the live action is the most recognised one. *Shui Hu Zhuan / 水浒传 (1998) - I am not too familliar with the live action of this one in my household tbh bc my mum doesn't like it lol (she keeps saying it's too depressing) but I'm sure it's up there with the rest of the big four, if anyone has an opinion on this one please let me know!

Modern setting shows:

My dad loved all the Sun Honglei (孙红雷 - actor name) stuff, iirc it was a lot of MinGuo period espionage stuff, your shanghai 1920's sxc aesthetic. This actor has been around since 1999? Qian Fu （潜伏）was very famous, and Ren Jian Zheng Dao Shi Cang Sang （人间正道是沧桑）。 These were around '08 and '09.

Chuang Guan Dong - 闯关东 (2008) (Baidu link, sorry - couldn't get an EN wikipedia one). This show was huge when it was airing, everyone was watching it. I was pretty young but even I watched it and got invested ... and I thought it was such an "old person" show at the time lmao. Xiao Bing Zhang Ga / 小兵张嘎 （2004） (sorry, again Baidu link) - yo, anti-japanese war movies set between 1937-1945 were crazy popular - this is one of them and was very popular):

Donghua/Anime (all the stuff kid me watched and some which I didn't but were popular):

喜羊羊与灰太狼 (2005-) Calabash Brothers / 葫芦兄弟 （1986-1987） Black Cat Detective / Hei Mao Jing Zhang 黑猫警长 （1984-2010） Lan Mao Tao Qi 3000 Wen 蓝蓝猫淘气3000问 AKA 蓝猫 (blue cat) (October 1999 - Present) Legend of Ne Zha 哪吒传奇 (2003) Journey to the West/Xi You Ji 西游记 This was truly the Donghua I grew up on from when I was a bb, the OP song and ED song are classic bangers all kids know. Slam Dunk/ 灌篮高手 - People truly watched a lot of anime that may or may not have been terribly dubbed into mando (possibly canto too). Late 80s and 90s kids were all over this, and Dragon Ball, Crayon Shinchan (labixiaoxin).

Taiwanese Dramas:

This is mid-late 2000's, I would be remiss to not talk about the Taiwanese dramas of this era. Mike He, Rainie Yang, Wu Zun (amongst many, many others) were huge. Stuff like Dou Niu Yao Bu Yao, it started with a kiss, Hua Yang Shao Nv (Taiwanese version of Hana Kimi) were all pretty popular. Not sure if these shows all hold up in 2023, but boy were they popular at the time.

Note about CNY:

For CNY, people would try to tune into 春节联欢晚会 (the CCTV official CNY show) at that One Friend Who Had China Satellite TV's house. Zhao Ben Shan / 赵本山 was a comedy staple, and the show would often feature people from the music industry to perform. Eventually these people became more and more relevant to my gen and Jay Chou etc started appearing.

Last but not least Xian Jiaaaan 仙剑:

In 2005 I was all over 仙剑奇侠传 (Chinese Paladin), based off the video game. This show was crazy popular and probably sent me and a whole lot of other kids into Xianxia / Wuxia hell (and Hu Ge hell, and later I came back to love Liu Yifei). Thank you. The OST is a true banger.