#standard repertoire

[nonstandardrepertoire]

anyway, violinists and pianists: what are the most obnoxious, overplayed pieces for your instrument? the ones that are on every audition, the ones you were sick of after the third time you had to play them but you'll have to keep on playing them again and again forever anyway? those ones. give me your trash…….

[loverboybrightsideghost]

hindemith be upon you

[rankuros]

i can only assume my sister picks her choir solo songs based entirely on what will make me cry the most

[uselessdancedata]

If you could have any dancer perform any variation, what would you choose? (Doesn’t have to be a ballet dancer/ballet student)

off the top of my head, shirin's variation for crystal huang! it is so technically complex but also very youthful and playful in a way that I think really suits her

[probablyasocialecologist]

Saito has made a career of teasing out an eco-theory from the late, unpublished writings of Karl Marx. He earned his doctorate at Humboldt University, in Berlin, and now teaches philosophy at the University of Tokyo. His first book was an English version of his dissertation, titled “Karl Marx’s Ecosocialism” (2017), which tracked Marx’s study of the physical world and communal agricultural practices. (Saito is fluent in Japanese, German, and English.) In a second academic book, “Marx in the Anthropocene” (2022), Saito drew on an expanded repertoire of Marx’s unpublished notebooks to argue for a theory of “degrowth communism.” He gained a following, not only in philosophical circles but among a Japanese public facing the contradictions of tsunamis, billionaires, and same-day shipping. “Slow Down” has sold more than half a million copies in Japan and launched Saito into a rare academic celebrity. He appears regularly on Japanese television and aspires to the public-intellectual status of Thomas Piketty, the French economist who had a surprise hit in his 2013 doorstop, “Capital in the Twenty-first Century.”

The key insight, or provocation, of “Slow Down” is to give the lie to we-can-have-it-all green capitalism. Saito highlights the Netherlands Fallacy, named for that country’s illusory attainment of both high living standards and low levels of pollution—a reality achieved by displacing externalities. It’s foolish to believe that “the Global North has solved its environmental problems simply through technological advancements and economic growth,” Saito writes. What the North actually did was off-load the “negative by-products of economic development—resource extraction, waste disposal, and the like” onto the Global South.

If we’re serious about surviving our planetary crisis, Saito argues, then we must abandon capitalism, with its insatiable appetites. We must reject the ever-upward logic of gross domestic product, or G.D.P. (a combination of government spending, imports and exports, investments, and personal consumption). We will not be saved by a “green” economy of electric cars or geo-engineered skies. Slowing down—to a carbon footprint on the level of Europe and the U.S. in the nineteen-seventies—would mean less work and less clutter, he writes. Our kids may not make it, otherwise.

[kiame-sama]

Drag Me To Hell- (Yandere!Alastor x Chubby!Fem!reader) pt 2.

Warnings; same warnings apply from Hazbin Hotel as to here, but if you know Hazbin, you're already prepared for what's coming, spoilers for episode 1 of Hazbin, a bit more "background" for reader, fem pronouned reader,

~~~~~~~~

"I swear, if you film me goin' at it with mister fancy-talk creepy voice here, you'd be rollin' in participants willin' to stay at this tacky hotel."

"Haha, never going to happen."

You glanced over from where you sat at Husker's bar, seeing Angel Dust make a few gestures to Alastor. The Radio Demon in question had a sneer on his face disguised as a wide grin, almost seeming annoyed with the consistent light flirting from Angel.

Angel would never have him.

Alastor- as you knew him- was not an overly sexual being, and anything that did come over him was fleeting if even substantial enough to act on. Besides, he was not one to expose himself to just anyone. It took decades for Alastor to come to you, and you were by his side more often than anyone else in his demonic life. You suspected part of why he was even willing to approach you about the matter was because you were already the equivalent of a lady in waiting to him.

His living diary. His secretary. His studio assistant. His bed-fellow. His ensnared soul bound eternally to be loyal to him alone. His favorite soul in the entire collection.

You weren't his strongest- if anything, you were his weakest- but you were his favorite.

"Hey," Angel started, "I have a question, if freaky-face over there is so powerful, then why can't he just make people stay here?"

"Oh, trust me," the light around Alastor faded and his antlers slightly grew, "I can!"

It was then Husker spoke up, a bottle in hand and a frown on his face.

"Why do you think I'm here?"

The hell-cat bartender was a familiar face to you. He was yet another soul in Alastor's repertoire and his contract was one that made you pity the gruff demon. You were there when it was struck after-all, not that Husker knew that.

Alastor didn't like going places without you, so he would often contain you inside of his microphone cane. In a sense, you were the spirit possessing his microphone. Where it went, so did you, meaning you were always by Alastor's side. Of course, you could be separate from it, he just didn't usually want you to be. An eternal summon bound by the shred of demonic power you had to your name.

"You actually think I'd be cleaning bottles and listening to you fucks bitch and moan all the time if he wasn't forcin' me?"

"I like being forced."

"Keep that to yourself, Niff."

The sudden interjection from Nifty actually made you laugh, knowing the twisted inner workings of another of Alastor's 'summons'. Nifty was more like you than Husker, far more intertwined to Alastor and his whims than others. Nifty was more of a pet to Alastor- not that you were any better- and she kept things tidied to Alastor's standards.

"Never change, Nifty."

She smiled at you and Husker rolled his eyes, wiping down the same bottle once again. Husker was damn good at being a bartender and listening, even if he bitched about it while it happened. Between the three of you, you all were used to Alastor and his general behavior in most situations. As Alastor's confidant and microphone, you knew him better than anyone else and even then there were things you didn't know about him.

"Darling, can we talk a moment?"

The words sent anxiety down your spine, but you were quick to answer the non-optional summons. Walking up to his side he lazily wrapped an arm around you, leading you away from the group.

"Yes, Alastor?"

"Ah-ah, what did we talk about?"

"Sorry... Yes... Dear?"

"Hm, I never get tired of hearing that. I just wanted you away from them for a bit, that's all~"

Part of you wondered if Alastor was being serious or not, but decided that he had done far deadlier things to other demons for far less than vaguely annoying him by existing. If anything, his new interest in 'pet-names' was a recent development that likely had to do with his growing jealousy. You had been with Alastor on his seven-year 'sabbatical' and now you both were among others like this. It was clear to you that he was finding himself a bit more possessive of you.

"Just happy to have you here, and trust me, I'll make sure you never leave."

[fatcatlittlebox]

Now that we are 3 episodes in, I find the dynamic and relationship between Celebrimbor and Annatar endlesslly fascinating when compared to Galadriel and Halbrand. First, for most of Sauron's existence he has lived in a constant and ancient adversarial existence where his relationships are mostly defined by subservience and/or control. He is either the servant or the master. You see that struggle play out with how he interacts with Celebrimbor. He postures himself as meek, humble and magnanimous. He lavishes flattery upon everyone around him with an unassuming air. But still the audience can frequently see his dominant and aggressive urges bubble to the surface. Gal clocked him when she said the rags of the common chafe him. There is a sinister and ambitious inferno that is just beneath his facade and Charlie Vickers does a wonderful job of showing that internal struggle.

Then you compare that to Halbrand and Galadriel's relationship. He literally yells at her. Insults her. Tells her to go home. He compares her to a horse and says she is beneath his "very low standards." He is RUDE. And unlike previous forms, he is shabby, weak and has no obvious gifts that wound endear himself to her as a strategic asset. And yet Gal is drawn to him. Sauron must have been tickled to pieces that despite pushing her away and adopting an insufferable manner, Gal KEEPS coming back. As a spirit that has spent his entire existence mesmerized and drawn to the light, without his usual repertoire of flattery and lies, Gal comes back to him. This creature of light is attracted to him, the Dark Lord. The Abhorred.

Where he lures Celebrimbor with grandiosity and outright lies, he doesn't with Galadriel. Moreover, you do not see those revealing moments of simmering rage and violent urges with Gal. I hypothesize it's because he doesn't feel conflicted with her. He is haunted by the ghosts of his mistakes, yes. But the war inside him is quelled. He finds some peace, a kind of balance. He doesn't try to control her or keep her under his thumb. He wants her at his side. Not cowering beneath him. Not shrinking in fear. Because he feels the white noise of his internal conflict is quieted, he is able to be clear-eyed regarding his purpose.

And I think Galadriel shares that immense feeling of overwhelming relief when one finds their counterpart. I believe there is a large part of her that drives her to wear the ring because she thinks she can, perhaps, reclaim some of that inner clarity. She can recapture that feeling she shared with Halbrand. Also, side note, I love that the writers gave Galadriel such a rich history with water and out of that came Nenya, the Ring of Water. It is where they met, where they clasped arms in partnership and where Sauron proposed their binding.

[hard--headed--woman]

"I had to fight to be myself and to be respected. I'm proud to say I'm a lesbian. I don't talk about it too much, but I don't deny it. I've had to confront society and the Church, which says that homosexuals are condemned. It's absurd! How can they judge someone who was born that way? I didn't learn to be a lesbian, nobody taught me to be the way I am. I was born this way. I've never slept with a man. I've never slept with a man. Yes, I'm a virgin and I'm not ashamed. My Gods made me this way"

- Chavela Vargas

Chavela Vargas (María Isabel Anita Carmen de Jesús Vargas Lizano) was a Mexican singer of Costa Rican origin, born in 1919 in Costa Rica and died in 2012 in Mexico.

She is considered a leading figure in ranchera music, which she sang with strength and emotion. Her voice, rough and warm at the same time, served her theatrical, passionate and human interpretations of standards from the traditional Mexican repertoire.

"And since I have to say it almost everywhere, I'll say it: my parents didn't want me. I suffered for it".

She has an extremely difficult and conflicted relationship with her family, who do not accept her in any way. As a teenager, she left her country and her family for Mexico. The young woman rejected and criticised the ultra-conservative society in which she lives. Once in Mexico, she began singing in the streets.

In the 1940s, she became friends with the painters Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo, staying with them for a while and becoming Frida Kahlo's lover.

At the age of 30, she was noticed on Mexico City's Avenida Insurgentes by the composer and famous rancheras singer José Alfredo Jiménez, who became the author of her main hits. With his help, she performed in the cabarets of Mexico City in the mid-1950s before embarking on the road to success in Acapulco, an international tourist destination, where she sang at one of Elizabeth Taylor's weddings.

Chavela Vargas rose to fame in the 1960s and 1970s, touring the world. She became a well-known figure in ranchera song, to which she gave a new lease of life.

Dressed like a man, smoking and drinking like a man, carrying a pistol, "the lady with the red poncho, silver hair and brown flesh" as the Spanish singer Joaquín Sabina described her, is characterised by her red sarape.

In a television interview in 2000, she came out as a homosexual woman. This is where the text at the beginning of the post is from!

Chavela's career reached its peak from the recording of her first album (Noche de Bohemia) in 1961 until the end of the 1970s. This was followed by a long period of fifteen years, during which the singer, suffering from a heavy addiction to alcohol, interrupted her musical career, which she did not resume until 1991.

Encouraged by her friend, the director Pedro Almodóvar, who compared her to Édith Piaf, Chavela embarked on a world tour, performing at the Olympia in Paris and Carnegie Hall in New York. Among her most outstanding performances was Tú me acostumbraste by Frank Domínguez in Pedro Almodóvar's film Babel. Being a close friend of Pedro, she has appeared in several of his films, including The Flower of My Secret.

Following a final concert in Madrid on 10 July 2012 to present her album (La Luna Grande), she was hospitalised in the Spanish capital with serious respiratory problems. She died on 5 August 2012, aged 93.

I am sure you know at least one of her song, La Llorona !

In any case, Chavela was an immense artist who had a profound impact on music, and I'm delighted to have discovered her, or rather re-discovered her. I listened to some of her songs and they're amazing if you like that kind of music ! And please look her up yourself, she was such an interesting person, I couldn't talk about everything in this post or it would have been too long !

[clove-pinks]

The actress Louisa Cranstoun Nisbett as Cornet Fitzherbert Fitzhenry in 'The Married Rake', 1830s (NPG).

The standard critical framework used to explain and interpret breeches roles has been that of the male gaze and the sexualised – or in Kirsten Pullen's terms ‘hypersexualized’ – display of the actress's legs and body. The repertoire of Louisa Nisbett suggests instead that female-to-male drag is a potentially more valuable critical lens through which to view many such performances. Drag, with its connotations of de-naturalising, reifying, and parodying gender norms, fits neatly with the recurring challenges to masculine complacency in Nisbett's cross-dressing repertoire, within which Nisbett repeatedly undermined male authority, mocked the totemic male ritual of the duel and disrupted notions of gender hierarchy.

— Eltis, S. (2023). Is She A Woman?: Alternative Critical Frameworks for Understanding Cross-Dressing and Cross-Gender Casting on the Victorian Stage. Nineteenth Century Theatre and Film, 50 (1), 3-20. https://doi.org/10.1177/17483727221148852 (open source).

[jazzstandardspoll]

welcome to the jazz standards bracket! we are currently collecting submissions for the best jazz standard. if you have a song in mind, please fill out the submission sheet above.

to be counted in the bracket, your submission must be a jazz standard, i.e. a musical composition, with or without lyrics, that is widely considered to be an important part of the musical repertoire of jazz musicians

*this includes songs that were not explicitly written as jazz compositions, e.g. tin pan alley popular songs, broadway show tunes, songs from hollywood musicals, certain traditional folk songs

feel free to submit as many times as you like, but please only submit one song per form. links to recordings, both audio & video, of your submitted song are also encouraged.

thank you for your submissions! looking forward to starting the tournament once they have been compiled :)

[notafraidofredyellowandblue]

Article Rammstein giving visually impaired fans a special experience

Article from 3voor12vpro.nl Rammstein show in Nijmegen 2024-06-18/19

Googly translated

--

Special tour by guitarist Paul Landers on the stage of the German metal band

june 24, 2024, text: robin hogenboom. photos: jens koch & lonneke prins.

When you think of Rammstein, you think of theatrical shows full of flames and fireworks. But what if you cannot enjoy it optimally due to a visual impairment? The German metal band organizes a guided stage tour for those people, where these fans can feel before the show what the rest of the audience will see later. 3voor12 Gelderland is lucky and can join the tour of June 18 in Nijmegen.

Of course, musically it's all rock solid. Yet the more than 100,000 music lovers who travel to Nijmegen on June 18 and 19 also expect a show that has been taken care of down to the last detail. Cooking pots, flamethrowers, rubber boats and a gigantic penis that squirts foam: it is part of Rammstein's standard repertoire. But what if you have a visual impairment? How do you make a show accessible to people who will experience little or nothing of all those theatrical excesses?

That thought also struck guitarist Paul Landers. “At one point I thought that blind fans couldn't see the stage and so maybe it would be good if they could feel the stage. That is how the first stage tours in 2022 came about.” Since then, fans have been able to register for the tours with a simple email – and a medical certificate. “On average, 4 to 6 people register for the tour, but due to increased safety measures, only 2 groups can participate at a time. Of course, every participant also has a supervisor.”

And safety, that is of course a thing. Paul: “The tour takes place once all preparations and rehearsals have been completed. That is why we take very small groups behind the scenes and extra security is present to guarantee the safety of the visitors.” And it comes as no surprise that parts of the stage also remain closed. Paul: “There are areas that are too unsafe for visitors, for example because pyrotechnics are ready there. These pieces are not part of the tour.”

The tour

When we report to the agreed location, we meet Twan Driessen (21) from Nijmegen, who will participate in the tour with his father as a guide. Although he will experience something that many Rammstein fans would sign up for, he only became a fan of the German band relatively recently. “I'm normally not a metal fan, but 'Deutschland' made me become a fan of Rammstein. That song really stuck.” The song also had an impact on his father: “he really ended up in the Rammstein corner!”

We walk past the dressing rooms and end up behind the characteristic stage. There we meet Paul Landers, who quickly takes Twan through some highlights. Paul places Twan's hands on a gigantic steel tube that holds the stage upright. The colossus, 60 meters wide and 35 meters high, weighs about 1,350 tons and is transported through Europe by 90 trucks, says Paul. “And we have two. The other is already in Dublin.”

Schedule

And then we enter the actual stage. Just below Christoph Schneider's drum kit, Twan is allowed to experience some attributes that are already ready for the show. For example, he receives an explanation about a flamethrower and the cooking pot from 'Mein Teil', but also the pram that will be rolled onto the stage for 'Puppe'. Although, roles? Paul: “The ceiling under the stage is very low, so the wheels don't fit under it yet. They are added at the last minute.”

The more you think about it, the more special it actually becomes. About an hour and a half before the start of the show, which is known for how tightly organized it is, Paul takes the time to explain everything about the show to Twan. And the pleasure with which he provides the tour is admirable. Only the supervision of a few crew members reveals that the organization is more involved than the guitarist lets us experience.

Paul dismisses the fact that it has an impact on his own planning: “it must be well timed between the arrival of the audience and the start of the show. I have to be there on time, but it's all worth it to me. I really enjoy doing the tours for the visually impaired.” What do you find most special about the tours? “Every tour is different. Sometimes people are moved to tears. People who have poor or no vision often have a sensitive and reserved character. I love it when I can make those people happy!”

The stage

Finally, the hydraulic lift that leads to the actual stage lowers. As the field slowly fills up, Twan gets the opportunity to feel the floor of the stage. And the type of flooring comes in very handy today. Paul: “This material is normally used on oil platforms, so that you do not slip when it is wet. It's sharp and hard, so you'll need thick shoes to stand on it for the entire show. And if you trip and fall on your knee, it will hurt you for a while!”

After a photo moment with Paul we are escorted back to the field. Twan: “When I was selected for that blind tour, I already had the feeling that something special could happen. And then the guitarist comes to do the tour! It's almost surreal that you can just chat with someone so big and famous. That someone from the band takes you along and takes the time for you. I think that is really special and exceeds my expectations!”

The show

Then of course it's time for the show. Although the weather is anything but good, the atmosphere is exceptionally good. Of course, the show is phenomenal again, just like two years ago . The differences with that show can be counted on one hand. 'Armee der Tristen', 'Zick Zack', 'Zeig Dich' and 'Heirate Mich' have made way for 'Ramm4', 'Keine Lust', 'Asche zu Asche' and 'Wiener Blut' respectively, with the latter in particular having a considerable intense addition to an already impressive show. The men play very tight and don't really loosen the reins anywhere. You would almost forget that the band is celebrating their thirtieth anniversary this year.

Twan: “I thought they played well live, full of energy. The singing was also good and it was really heavy at times. 'Puppe' and 'Adieu' at the end were impressive!” But: did the tour have any influence on Twan's concert experience? “I liked getting an insight into what that stage looks like, with the flamethrowers and the cooking pot. When you feel the stage and how big it all is, that is impressive and that also gives a better idea of ​​what you get on such an evening.”

The last word goes to Twan: “compliments to Paul Landers and the management of Rammstein. They did a really good job: the service, the reception, everything. Well organised!”

We would like to thank Greenhouse Talent, the management of Rammstein and in particular Paul Landers and Twan Driessen for their cooperation in this article!

[rocksibblingsau]

How would Clay react to classical Branch writing an ENTIRE RULEBOOK TO ETIQUETTE and being one of the Crown Jewels of symphonyville? (and being an influential composer and all that Jazz🎶)

Well when they meet there's his initial jealousy over Branch being better at being 'serious' than he is. Anything he brought up as an achievement would be pretty ignored or watered down, so for something to actually be listened to, Poppy or Dante would need to say it. Even then, they try to steamroll over it because they don't want to think about the implications.

"Branch wrote a book? Last time I saw you, you couldn't even read. Remember when it took us longer to record 'Baby girl Baby' because you couldn't read your lines?"

When he's actually LISTENING however, Clay is beyond impressed.

Clay: you wrote an entire book on etiquette? Branch: No no, I didn't write the book. I merely invented hundreds of new additions to the standard Classical Etiquette Repertoire to account for the movement and positioning of the lower body and allowed the experts to write it on my behalf. Branch: The contents of which actually spanned 52 books. Branch: Put some respect on my name, fool. As they say.

[mommyhelgayanderelover]

You got Optimus to use the holoform. You have a plan

Pairing: yandere Optimus Prime x reader

“You're a freak.”

Of course, you were lying. Optimus' holoform was wow... In appearance, at least. Optimus looked pretty cute by your standards.

By Miko and June's standards, Optimus looked like he was on the cover of a fashion magazine.

“I thought my image matched your idea of human male beauty, my Spark.”

“Beauty? Well that's important to me too. The most important thing about a man is not his looks, but his soul,” you sighed demonstratively, ”and you don't have a soul. You have a Spark.”

“But I could at least try to get closer to people. To you. That's why I'm here in holoform in front of you.”

“'Get closer,' you say...?”

***

“I'll teach you what I know myself about the joys of being human,” you examined all of Optimus with a hard stare. The one with his clothes on looked a little too... sleek. As if Knockout's spirit had taken over the holoform in place of Prime, “jump,” you nodded.

“Where to?” Optimus looked around. “There are puddles everywhere, my Spark...”

“Of course there are puddles. I asked to be sent away from the desert for a reason,” you caused circles on the water with the sole of your sneaker, ”jump in a puddle. A few times.”

“Why?” Optimus frowned. There was no logic in what you said, only if... “If you want me to get dirty, then...”

You weren't listening to Prime. She picked a greener puddle and jumped into it. The dirty water flew in different directions with a splash, getting Optimus a little dirty. But you didn't stop: after jumping a couple of times on the puddle, you jumped into the next one.

“All people from childhood love jumping in puddles. It's fun, that's the secret. Maybe there's a pig in every person,” you stopped to catch your breath. She was dirty and wet, but perfectly content, “you know?”

Optimus didn't understand. It was a strange thing to do, completely devoid of meaning, but you looked so happy and free that Optimus couldn't say no to you.

So he jumped into the nearest puddle... but the bottom was muddy and slippery. Prime's head lurched and he fell flat into the water.

You giggled. And then another. And then another until you burst out laughing.

“I can't believe it... I wish I had a camera.”

Optimus smiled weakly. His Spark was still in his repertoire.

***

“Okay, you've conquered the puddles... or they've conquered you - it's a matter of which way you look at it,” you patted Optimus' shoulder encouragingly, ”now it's time for a harder lesson.”

“It's hard for me to imagine what comes next.

“I see,” you nodded upward, ”see that apple tree? We need those apples higher up.”

“But... That apple tree is behind a fence,” Optimus pointed to the neighboring lot to the house, ”if we start picking apples, that would be stealing.”

“Of course it would,” you smiled, ”that's the point. You find someone else's apples and take them, but without the owners burning them. Other people's apples are sweeter,” you waved your hands quickly, ”bend over. You'll get a lift.”

Optimus hesitated only a few clicks. Stealing was bad enough, but refusing to let you sit on his neck... almost impossible. Prime leaned over, letting you get more comfortable. He got up.

You were stuffing apples wherever you could: in your pockets, under your shirt... And it could have gone on for a long time, if a shout from outside hadn't interrupted it.

“Attention!” you almost fell off Optimus' height, losing a couple of apples. “Run!” and flung yourself into the nearest bushes.

Optimus watched almost with doom as you fled, and then turned his attention to the old woman who approached.

“Well, sweetheart. Let's go, since you didn't run away. You can help me in the garden for apples.”

***

“Well, you're a sucker. You should have been running, not standing there...”

“I don't run from old ladies,” Optimus looked at his Spark with a slight chuckle, ”and I had no trouble digging up the entire vegetable garden.”

“Of course you didn't. You're a truck,” you squinted, ”okay, it's time for the final stage of your human initiation. Well, your holoform. Ta-da,” you set a bottle of vodka on the table. “Now you and I are going to have a drink like they drink on Earth.”

“We've already talked about alcohol being harmful.”

“Okay,” you shrugged, ”then it'll just be you drinking. I'll watch.”

Prime squinted, but nodded.

You opened the bottle, poured a shot to the brim.

“Well, taste it. This isn't the booze you had on Cybertron.”

Optimus carefully took the shot glass, afraid to spill the alcohol, and then drank it all down in one swoop.

The vodka was a bone in the holoform's throat. There was...

“Bitter,” Optimus turned his face to the side, registering the redness of his skin. “How do you drink that...?”

“I'm telling you, it's not sweet Cybertronian supercharged. It's normal alcohol. You drink it, don't snack,” you poured another shot, ”the first three are better to drink without a break. It goes better after that.”

Optimus obeyed. For the last month of his frequent stays in the holoform, he listened to you more than ever. Because never before had you behaved so... openly with him.

When the third drink was empty, something happened. Optimus read a glitch in the holoform, and then the connection was lost.

... You watched boredly as Optimus fell off the chair. The vodka mixed with cyanide and arsenic had taken its toll. Of course, you knew it wouldn't kill Optimus, only disable his holoform, but...

Pouring yourself a shot of poisoned vodka, you drained it in one swoop.

Optimus would have to hurry if he wanted to save you.

[gatheringbones]

["There's a growing body of published work, including both personal accounts and scholarly research, on how the suppression of non-normative embodiments for the sake of compliance with standards of neuronormative performance (a compliance toward which the neurodivergent are relentlessly pursued throughout their lives) does profound psychological harm to neurodivergent people and is strongly correlated with depression and suicidality. The dominant culture, in other words, pushes neurodivergent people to prioritize passing for "normal" at the expense of their own well-being, mirroring the way that queer people have traditionally been pressured to stay closeted. In the emerging discourse on this issue, the suppression of non-neuronormative embodiments is commonly referred to as masking, and the reclaiming of those embodiments is referred to as unmasking. So it would be entirely accurate to say that neurodivergent unmasking is a form of neuroqueering (one of the most vital forms, I'd argue).

The sort of bodily unmasking I'm talking about here, the reclaiming of previously suppressed ways of moving, can be intense and profoundly transformative. When the suppression has become ingrained unconscious habit (as happens especially when suppression begins in childhood), it's maintained in large part by the layers of deep, chronic unconscious muscular tension which Wilhelm Reich referred to as character armor. Character armor is the bodily component of repression: it serves not only to block the spontaneous performance of various bodily movements and self-expressions, but also to block access to the feelings, yearnings, organismic impulses, and psychological capacities associated with those movements and self-expressions. The process of recovering one's capacity for spontaneous neuroqueer movement is thus deeply and inseparably entwined with both the process of liberating oneself from the chronic tensions of character armor, and the process of recovering and cultivating modes of self-attunement and embodied expression from which one had previously been cut off by those tensions.

The neuroqueer project of reclaiming specific hand movements and stims that one was forced to suppress in childhood is a doorway to broader vistas of neuroqueer practice: in working to reconnect with those movements, one is also reconnecting with and cultivating one's attunements to the inner stirrings, inclinations, and impulses from which such movements emerge. The cultivation of this attunement can develop over time into a vastly expanded repertoire of spontaneous self-expression and a greater capacity to creatively reshape ourselves. Neuroqueering at its best is not only a creative defiance and subversion of both neuronormativity and heteronormativity, but also simultaneously a path toward living more authentically and creatively than the strictures of normative performance would allow."]

nick walker, from neuroqueer heresies: notes on the neurodiversity paradigm, autistic empowerment, and postnormal possibilities, 2021

[this-acuteneurosis]

A 3-in-1 set of questions for Don't Look Back if you don't mind?

1) Is Duty Bound the last fic in the series? It's already heaps longer than the previous parts, and I'm wondering if it'll just keep growing and how close we are to the end of the AU story. (I kind of hope it's a while away because I just want to keep getting new chapters ;) )

2) Where about are we right now in the timeline relative to AotC and RotS / how long since the war started? I'm having a hard time keeping a sense of in-fic time.

3) Fun one: What is Shmi dressing like nowadays? I'm pretty sure she's not in her TPM grey dress, but what has she become comfortable wearing? Does she try different hairstyles or stick to her practical braided bun? For that matter, what does Leia wear when(/if) she's not in formal Senator's Assistant garb?

Good questions!

Duty Bound is not the last fic in the series. There is one more story after this with a current working title of We Will Not Wear Chains. I am desperately looking forward to the end of this arc and the start of the next and if I could just get my A plot to stop rewriting itself I might actually be able to get to part 4. Don't worry, there are plenty of chapters of this fic left.

We're close to 2 years since the start of Like Fire, give or take. This means literally nothing in terms of the timeline of the original canon since I've scrapped not only the majority of AotC and RotS plot canon, but also 98% of TCW. Time is an illusion. Mostly the important things to know are Leia showed up just barely older than Padmé and several years older than Anakin and every second she is in this timeline is a second that Sheev is that much closer to death.

Alright, general answer, but I will need to get back to you on this one because @saltkettling is my fashion consultant for all my stories and helps me keep my character's clothes and hair in line and I need to review notes with her one more time to refresh details. Essentially, both Shmi and Leia will have been impacted by Naboo dress standards, Shmi more by middle class ones with a bit of Tatooine flair, and Leia more by Padmé at this point. But Leia also has all of her historical clothing influences in her repertoire, including not only her Alderaanian influences, but also people she was very close to the last few years before her time travel shenanakins. She dresses very differently for anything where she's a representative of Padmé's office than for her personal, practical business.

[soylent-crocodile]

Legendary Monster in Pathfinder

Legendary actions are, to put it plainly, one of the very few things I appreciate about D&D 5e. It's a great way for GMs to prevent their cool boss monster from being Action Economy'd to death. Legendary resistances are... less beloved, but I think in Pathfinder (a game positively ridded with save-or-dies and save-or-sucks) it provides a more interesting tactical gameplay than boss monsters simply being immune to petrification, paralysis, etc etc.

Additionally, I deliberately didn't make any of the legendary actions here do anything NEW, in contrast to 5e monsters. I, perhaps uncritically, assumed that these Bestiary 1 monsters didn't need new tools as much as they just needed more actions. Hey, did you know that Pathfinder 1e turns 15 years old in a month?

Legendary monsters are exceptionally powerful or important members of their kind; the blue dragon at the center of a web of mysteries, the sphinx guarding a legendary artifact, the vampire who rules an entire kingdom. Fights with them are meant to feel monumentous, and legendary monsters have a repertoire of tools that ensure that battles with them are drawn out and memorable. 

Any being can be granted the legendary quality; they gain legendary resistances and legendary actions as seen below. Most legendary beings have a third option when spending legendary actions or modify their Strikes and Respositions; some monsters that tend towards the legendary have a specific recommended action, but a GM is free to modify these as they see fit. 

Legendary Resistances

3/day, a legendary creature may choose to succeed on a saving throw without rolling. It makes this choice before rolling the save. 

Additionally, these uses can be expended as a swift action on a legendary creature’s turn to remove any of the following conditions; blinded, deafened, entangled, paralyzed, or petrified.

Legendary Actions

At the start of a monster’s turn, it gains three uses of a legendary action. Additionally, a monster gains three legendary actions at the start of combat if it is not flat-footed. Legendary actions are taken at the end of any other character’s turn, be they player or non-player. Legendary actions can only be used on specific things. All legendary monsters have access to the two following legendary actions;

Strike

The monster makes a single attack against a single target. 

Reposition

The monster moves up to 30ft using any of its movement type. It cannot move farther than its movement speed. This movement triggers attacks of opportunity, but grants the monster a +2 bonus to AC against such attacks.

Example Monsters

Aboleth

As a legendary action, an aboleth may use its Persistent Image, Mirage Arcana, or Veil spell-like abilities.

Kraken

When making a Strike legendary action, a kraken may attack with two tentacles against one or two targets, instead of making a single attack against a single target.

Lich

As a legendary action, a lich may cast any necromancy spell she knows or has prepared that have a casting time of 1 standard action and are level 3 or less 

Gynosphinx

As a legendary action, a gynosphinx may use its Dispel Magic spell-like ability.

Androsphinx

As a legendary action, an androsphinx may cast any of its prepared Cleric spells that have a casting time of 1 standard action and are level 2 or less.

Unicorn

When using the Reposition legendary action, a unicorn does not trigger attacks of opportunity.