#the best thing out of Predator 2018

[symbioticyautja]

He’s worth every penny.

[haveyouseenthishorrormovie]

Stats from Movies 1601-1700

Top 10 Movies - Highest Number of Votes

Jaws (1975) had the most votes with 940 votes. The Last Winter (2006) had the least votes with 353 votes.

The 10 Most Watched Films by Percentage

Jaws (1975) was the most watched film with 67.4% of voters out of 940 saying they had seen it. The World Is Full of Secrets (2018) had the least "Yes" votes with 0,2% of voters out of 420.

The 10 Least Watched Films by Percentage

Leatherface (2017) was the least watched film with 66.6% of voters out of 515 saying they hadn’t seen it. Fired (2010) had the least "No" votes with 7,4% of voters out of 392.

The 10 Most Known Films by Percentage

Jaws (1975) was the best known film, 0,3% of voters out of 940 saying they’d never heard of it.

The 10 Least Known Films by Percentage

Fired (2010) was the least known film, 91.8% of voters out of 392 saying they’d never heard of it.

The movies part of the statistic count and their polls below the cut.

Headgame (2018) Loop Track (2023) Tarot (2024) Şeytan (1974) Broadcast Signal Intrusion (2021) The Guest (2014) Red Eye (2005) Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975) Yummy (2019) The Manor (2021)

Boys From County Hell (2020) Totally Killer (2023) I Saw the TV Glow (2024) Curse of the Werehuahua (2021) Alive (2018) Come To Daddy (2019) The Devil's Backbone (2001) Jaws (1975) High Tension (2003) Cape Fear (1991)

Below (2002) The Last Winter (2006) The 13th Warrior (1999) Run Sweetheart Run (2020) Meander (2020) Fired (2010) The Jack in the Box: Awakening (2022) Bed of the Dead (2016) The Vanishing (1988) The Eye (2002)

Mind-Ripper (1995) The Editor (2014) Thale (2012) Feed Me (2022) Organ (1996) The Severed Arm (1973) Night of the Demon (1957) ClownDoll (2019) The Quantum Terror (2022) The Furies (2019)

Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter (1974) I Bought A Vampire Motorcycle (1990) Identity (2003) The Stepfather (1987) The Black Cat (1941) The Clown at Midnight (1999) Solomon Kane (2009) Season of the Witch (2011) The World Is Full of Secrets (2018) The Clown Murders (1976)

Bloody Harvest (1987) All Hallows Eve (2013) Slaughter High (1986) The Gingerdead Man (2005) I Am Not A Serial Killer (2016) The Good Neighbor (2016) Killjoy (2000) Last Summer (1969) Cry_Wolf (2005) Predator Island (2005)

The Other (1972) Leprechaun (1992) Be My Cat: A Film For Anne (2015) I'm Thinking of Ending Things (2020) Beyond Re-Animator (2003) Better Watch Out (2016) Urban Legends: Final Cut (2000) Human Lanterns (1982) The Mummy (1932) The Mummy (1959)

The Pyramid (2014) New Year's Evil (1980) Black Christmas (2006) The Seventh Curse (1986) The Mummy's Hand (1940) Never Hike Alone (2017) Legend of the Mummy (1998) President's Day (2010) The Curse of King Tut's Tomb (2006) Unfriended: Dark Web (2018)

Leatherface (2017) [REC]² (2009) The Mummy's Tomb (1942) The Mummy's Ghost (1944) Predator (1987) Halloween: Resurrection (2002) Carrie (2013) The Mean One (2022) Cronos (1993) Terror Train (1980)

Ancient Evil: Scream of the Mummy (2000) The Boxer's Omen (1983) Stepfather II: Make Room For Daddy (1989) The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb (1964) Halloween II (2009) Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh (1995) Candyman III: Day of the Dead (1999) The Cat (1992) The Mummy's Curse (1944) ThanksKilling (2007)

[the-one-who-isnt-an-anon]

comic timeline

All non-holiday dates are approximate but should be accurate relative to each other. Using past tense for events before the comic, present tense for Day 1 and beyond. I'm not inferring anything that isn't explicitly supported in canon even if the events seem obviously linked.

Last updated 2/13/2024.

Referenced events from before the comic, undated. Sorted by main topic:

Showfall productions:

Riptide from JRWI was produced but canceled early.

Bizly played Florida Man in the original 100 days film. Tommy played Patient Zero on contract.

Slime Demon had an ad-libbed baking show. Niki's character debut was written out and show was canceled in the middle of filming only a few episodes in, supposedly due to lack of viewership.

Sneeg had an 8-episode-run detective show.

Personnel:

Hetch fired 5 people over the years, including Criken.

In pretty quick succession, 1) Frank was hired, 2) Jerma left, 3) then Charlie was hired.

Frank and Charlie are the non-founding members who have worked at Showfall the longest without breaks.

Showfall fired Charlie's stunt double without notice.

Criken worked alongside Sneeg and others. He was fired 1 month in.

Before the tapes, employees were still leaving or planning to leave.

Hetch:

Hetch had at least one parent who treated him poorly (implied to be due to the parent's trauma from serving in the Vietnam War)

Hetch previously wanted Ranboo involved in Showfall.

Hetch got his jacket as a birthday present.

Hetch stopped filling Ranboo in on Showfall's production details.

The Founder used to be Hetch's best friend until she said something inappropriate to Hetch about Kate (Hetch's former girlfriend, implied to happen around or after Kate's death)

Charlie:

When Charlie was 20, he posted homework from a college film course on Youtube. He was approached by Showfall to do the original 100 Days film.

Charlie got a day off on his birthday. once.

Charlie and Hetch used to get along, but Hetch treated Charlie coldly.

Ranboo:

Ranboo used to want to be an author until a dumb thing happened at school.

Ranboo "did" something which the cyberbully told all their (former) friends about.

Other characters:

Wilbur and Niki used to stream before she was hired by Showfall

Mark and Ethan were popular let's players who were going to start a collab channel (Unus Annus).

Mark Iplier went to Chuck-E-Cheese many times.

2007-ish (when Ranboo was 4):

Hetch taught rats to "talk" by coding a program with pre-programmed phrases and a standard computer keyboard.

Ranboo had nightmares that Skitters the rat was experimenting on them.

2010-ish (11 years before early 2021):

Showfall had a Youtube channel for shows/movies before later creating their own website. Original team consisted of Hetch, Founder, (implied) Jerma.

Doll House (Showfall's first production).

April 3, 2013:

Showfall was officially founded. (Presumably the Youtube channel predates this and this date refers to the website - if not, the above events move down here.)

A couple years before comic start:

Hetch used to be a better director to Charlie.

2 years before comic start (2018):

Vinny was hired at Showfall.

A year before comic start (2019):

Ranboo bought a varsity jacket at Homecoming (presumably 10th grade).

A couple months before comic start (Fall 2020):

Ranboo's mom died ("earlier in 2020," implied autumn).

Ranboo's 2020 birthday, they couldn't leave their bed (also only implied autumn or winter).

Hetch became an asshole.

Showfall sold its building and moved to the mall.

Ranboo liked to hang out in the woods and pretend they were being chased by a serial killer.

Ranboo found the tapes. (implied)

Dec 14, 2020:

Charlie's first interview.

Dec 15, 2020:

Sneeg's first interview.

Showfall has only 5 current shows. 1 of them is the 100 days TV remake.

Charlie meets Ranboo.

Ethan fights geese.

Twitter blows up about Hetch's misgendering of Ranboo.

Founder threatens Hetch into hiring Ranboo for a 1-year contract.

Dec 16, 2020:

Ranboo has his first interview.

A light almost falls on Vinny.

Ranboo meets Niki.

Midnight meeting between Hetch and the Founder in order to further threaten Ranboo.

Dec 31, 2020, NYE:

The crew plans a strike.

Last day/s of refilming the 100 days pilot with Ranboo written in. 14-hour work days.

Cast party was moved up to be a New Year's Eve party.

A light almost falls on Vinny.

Rebrand is announced.

Hetch warns Ranboo not to get attached to the actors.

Frank is mentioned.

Jan 1?, 2021:

Ranboo runs off set of 100 days in tears.

1 month hiatus begins.

Some point in January 2021:

Vinny breaks his arm due to a falling item.

5 new actors are being hired. Hetch was not consulted due to being busy with editing.

New projects greenlit: 2nd season of 100 days, soap opera, a game show for Austin, slime demon baking show reboot.

(possibly later into February) Frank is promoted to head of HR.

Jan 31?, 2021:

Ranboo passes out 3 times in one day, attributed to low blood sugar.

Feb 1?, 2021:

1 month hiatus ends.

100 days tv show was popular.

New Showfall streaming service and VIP pass.

100 days is filmed at a rate of 1 episode per week (at least?), filmed in a single day. The first season is wrapping up.

5 new actors are hired.

Feb 2?, 2021:

First day of work for Wilbur Soot (approached Showfall), Mark Iplier (1 year contract), and Valkyrae (was approached by Showfall).

We meet Frank.

Austin is rehearsing for a game show.

Sneeg and Vinny are forbidden from greeting the new actors.

Valkyrae works as an assistant on Austin's game shows (implied/offscreen).

Feb 3?, 2021:

Mark and Ethan get Unus Annus greenlit.

Vinny writes a song with Wilbur and Niki.

Cameron, Mike, and Ashley's names are shared with the audience.

Cameron is masked.

Hetch gets drunk after work.

Sneeg drives Ranboo home - they talk about true crime.

Feb 4?, 2021:

Frank gives Cameron the rest of the day off due to weird behavior.

Hetch greenlights "Untitled: The Musical" for Vinny/Wilbur/Niki.

Ranboo wants to stay at Showfall for the rest of their life.

Feb 5?, 2021:

Hetch plans Unus Annus filming to start in a month.

Hetch confronts the Founder about the secrets she's keeping and is told to take the day off.

Ask the Actors: Lightning Round before another month break.

Hetch almost tells Sykkuno to suck it as Sykkuno's first on-screen appearance.

Unus Annus has its first 8 episodes written at this point.

Ethan recently splurged on a new plant for his fish.

Ranboo has another on-set outburst while trying to defend his dad.

Jerma is revealed.

Niki? is invited to coffee dates with Charlie and Sneeg.

1 month hiatus begins.

Feb 6? - March 4?, 2021:

Charlie starts a prank war with Jerma.

Twitter teasers for the convention in Lostfield town square.

Ranboo remakes their twitter account

March 5?, 2021:

1 month hiatus ends.

Ranboo sees Charlie and Sneeg at the coffee shop.

Lostfield town square convention. Unus Annus's first 2 episodes and a teaser for "Your New Boyfriend: A Musical Obsession" are released.

March 6?, 2021:

Ranboo is up in the wee hours of the morning getting cyberbullied by a classmate.

Fan meetups.

Ranboo feels anxious from cyberbullying and lost sleep. They stick by Charlie at the audience's suggestion.

Founder confronts audience on their "roleplay."

Charlie and Hetch fight over who deserves Ranboo's trust more.

Charlie and Hetch are arrested. Founder bails them out with 1/4 of the Unus Annus budget.

Charlie sees a drone, yet unnamed.

The Box.

March 7?, 2021:

Ranboo greets Hetch at home after Hetch has been gone for 24+ hours.

March 8?, 2021:

Hetch leaves Ranboo at home and returns to Showfall.

March 9?, 2021 (2 days after Hetch survived the Box):

Charlie interviews other workers (Sneeg is the only one onscreen) about working conditions to bring about the "death of Showfall Media" - to spend his last months at Showfall getting as much evidence of worker abuse as possible. The terms he uses imply a legal case.

Hetch meets the askers with less of a filter.

Ranboo is left behind at home again.

The crew's behavior has become stranger lately and they rarely interact with cast.

Cameron appears with a mask and without, seeming his normal cheerful self.

Frank organizes an HR meeting with all Showfall employees except Ranboo and Founder. They discuss working conditions, the missing funds (allocated to death traps), and Hetch's behavior. Hetch apologizes.

Frank makes plans to "fix the Founder's issues" via HR

Hetch confiscates Ashley's iPad and uses it to contact the askers that night.

Hetch reveals that the mind control "wasn't supposed to get this bad" and was just to make employees stay at Showfall and follow directions on set.

Hetch agrees to work with the other employees to get them out of Showfall.

Hetch is told about Ranboo's cyberbully.

March 10?, 2021:

Hetch comes up with the "Sorry" pilot, an improv-based show made as an apology to Showfall cast.

Hetch uses the iPad and two spare earpieces to make a non-censored audio-based method of communicating with askers. Hetch later gives the iPad back to Ashley, but it is broken.

Ranboo confronts both Charlie and Hetch on the fight at the coffee shop.

Hetch gives Charlie one of the earpieces. Charlie doesn't believe the askers' uncensored warnings.

Half of the crew is out sick, which Charlie attributes to COVID.

Ranboo locks themself in a storage closet while their cyberbully messages them.

Hetch lends his own earpiece to Ranboo. The askers convince them to leave the closet. Ranboo apologizes to Charlie.

The Founder is aware of the situation and frustrated. She has created a black mask with red circuitry, apparently Hetch's mask from TSE, to "get him back soon."

Later in the day, filming for Sorry begins.

Hetch is reminded of the vote, confusing Charlie and inspiring Ranboo and Charlie to cheer him up with a "try not to laugh challenge." Hetch agrees for the sake of winning Charlie's trust. Ranboo seems to recover from earlier.

The Founder encourages Jerma to invite Hetch out to drinks as a distraction. Jerma and Hetch argue but end the night getting along.

Charlie explores the mall overnight for proof for his ongoing battle against Showfall, ignoring warnings from the askers; Sneeg waits in the car and notices someone enter the building.

Ranboo meets up with their stalker in the mall and pushes them during an altercation. A light falls on the stalker, killing them. The Founder and Charlie both witness this.

The Founder offers to hide the body in exchange for Charlie's silence and Hetch's cooperation regarding the earpieces. Charlie argues with the Founder and, with Sneeg, takes Ranboo home.

Something prevents everyone from contacting the police.

Ranboo explains what happened before going to bed.

Hetch warns Charlie and Sneeg about Showfall's future plans.

March through May, 2021

Ranboo continues to rise in popularity at Showfall. They start keeping a journal and socially withdraw.

The police have still been unable to be reached.

Sneeg, Charlie, and Ranboo are given extra work by the Founder.

The Founder makes Hetch watch her experiments.

Hetch buys a gun for himself and a pocket knife for Ranboo.

Hetch makes financial preparations for himself and Ranboo to flee Lostfield along with Sneeg and Charlie.

May 10?, 2021

After a 2-month gap where he tried and failed to contact the askers, Hetch manages to get through.

Hetch plans for him/Ranboo/Sneeg/Charlie to leave town at dark, asking the viewers to watch Showfall from now on on his behalf.

[prolibytherium]

PREDATOR SERIES DEFINITIVE RANKING by ME

Predator: I get why it's a classic and it has a few iconic moments and great lines but ultimately it is just a movie that exists. I guess it's nice that there's a movie where a bunch of bodybuilders get hunted for sport in the jungle, but like, whatever. 2.5 stars.

Predator 2: A movie that exists-er. Danny Glover gives a great performance and has some fun lines but that's about all I can say. 2.5 stars.

Alien Vs Predator: Stupid in a good way. Wonderful movie. I like that the Alien and the Predator fight each other. Awesome! The main character gets the respect of the predators in the end and teams up with one to fight big alien and it's like 'yay yayyyy'. She gets made into a blooded warrior and it's like 'wow cool'. We love to see it. Fun stuff. 3 stars.

Alien Vs Predator 2: Stupid in a bad way. Unmemorable. Painful watch. Occasionally manages to be funny (mostly unintentionally) but humor does little to aid this sad little production. Easily the worst of the franchise. 1 star.

Predators: Stupid in a bad way. Not even funny. Only saved from being the worst of the series by being a technically competent movie. The somewhat fresh premise is wasted by them doing pretty much nothing interesting with it. Cast of asshole characters falls flat because they're the boring kind of assholes. Not even such inspired lines as "Die you space faggot" can drag this movie out of its own irrelevancy. 1.5 stars.

The Predator: Stupid in a transcendent way. Hilarious. The hamfisted callback references to the first movie make me physically cringe and wince in a way that borders on sexual. Cast of stupid asshole characters shooting nonstop quips at each other somehow loops right back around into being delightful. 'Autism superpowers' pseudoscience subplot is absolutely baffling. Lame ass sequel hook at the end is just the cherry on top, like oh you beautiful little thing. "The Predator" 2018 you stupid, sexy thing. There will not be a sequel to this shit. They're not making a FUCKING sequel. Wonderful. Poetic cinema. The best film in the Predator franchise. I won't even call it a movie. 5 stars. 6 stars even.

Prey: Preddy good. The period setting is fun and refreshing. Not just a good predator movie but a solid movie on its own merits. It sounds like they're making a sequel and I look forward to it. 3 stars.

[karalianne]

Most of the information I'm finding about ADHD burnout talks about working outside the home. It's the same problem I have with all information for ADHDults. It always assumes we have regular jobs.

I don't.

What I have is household responsibilities that I have never been great at but was able to sort of manage until 2018 when I had my hysterectomy and entered surgical menopause.

What I have is a chronically ill husband (still no solid diagnosis in 8 years) who can usually manage his job but isn't often able to do much around the property.

What I have is an 8yo child who is absolutely ND (assessment pending and results will not be posted publicly) and supposedly being homeschooled because school would be a disaster for him. ("Supposedly" because I'm the one who's supposed to be making it happen and I cannot.)

What I don't have is a job outside the home or a boss who isn't me. What I don't have is help digging out aside from my parents, who should NOT have to help their 40-something daughter manage her life.

What I don't have is outside support, because we live in the country and because finances wouldn't allow us to hire someone anyway (and I don't qualify for disability-related assistance of any kind).

"You need to rest," but I also have to keep my people fed and my animals fed (we're down to 3 chickens thanks to predators, we have 1 cat, and we have 6 guinea pigs--2 of which are rescues that need to be rehomed).

The house is a disaster, all my houseplants have died except the aloe and the huge snake plant (both on their way out), and I no longer sleep.

"Set boundaries with your time," but my 8yo is an extrovert and talks constantly. It takes my introverted ass hours of alone time every night to sort of recover from spending the day with him.

"Limit how many things you put on your to-do list," but I have to include eating meals because remembering to eat is not something I am good at, and the same goes for personal hygiene tasks and the like. Today I put "get dressed" on my list.

"Make sure you get enough sleep," but as I said, I need to recover from constant chatter, and I don't even get tired until the wee hours since menopause.

"Do things that make you happy," but there is so much I need to do, and if I read a book I won't do anything else all day, and making art doesn't contribute to anything.

"Practice calming techniques," which are great and all but don't do anything to actually deal with the source of my stress.

"Practice self-compassion," which can help a bit in the moment but does nothing for me long-term.

I don't know what to do, and I am so tired of being so completely ignored and left out of all of these discussions. Nobody has anything that can help me.

I just want to leave. I want to be done with everything. I am so tired of looking for solutions, of trying to look for information, of trying to figure out what to do about it all.

I am not okay. But I will keep going and keep doing the things that I can, because that's what I do.

[pyropaw-studios]

Half of this is copied from discord: Not so happy news for:

@everyone

I hate to break this news to everyone… but here goes..

<@&1004117175554023576> <@&1017464516952465480>Its with heavy hearts We are sunsetting <#1059559508042600549> temporarily til we can make a easier project to get some money off of, we've been working on this game since late 2021 with no progress, we've had too many scammers, allegded groomers/predators here, r15/cosmo, along with other chaotic stuff, lot of staff members left, and more recently our cheapest 3D modeler went missing, and we do not know how long they have been missing for, so me and <@755924638349131866> feels its best to work on the comic <#1171308144031453224>. Im sorry to everyone who was hopeful this game was coming quickly at the time we didn't realize how hard it was to make a game especially a MMORPG even if we can write and draw we do not know how to program nor 3d model even with the amount of staff we have were sorta outnumbered. with this out of the way i want to point out some things and get some unanswered questions out of the way.

so What will happened to <#1059559508042600549> and its respected channels?

nothing, we will let people ask questions about concepts, and lore and ideas here the channels will stay despite our inability to make the game

What will happened to <@&1017464516952465480> ??

I have already been thinking about this before the decision to call it quits temporarily and if everyone is fine with it i am thinking on promoting staff to the <@&1034906676840628244> to promotee the comic, give their ideas, background designs and more! i will give staff their time to gather their thoughts on this, maybe even have a meeting on it, no one will loose their roles and will keep their respective <@&1017464516952465480> roles

What is the future of pyropaw??

To be fair me and ozy are not sure yet, we rather need time to think before jumping into another project as big as draco warriors, phurelz is most likely our only backburner to help us right now, as its also my dream and the interest of a few others that we work on this comic, even though if it doesnt make it to become big of the likes of lackadaisy or glitch i will continue to work on it til i can't no more along with any other people who decided to join this project

Was there any official <#1059559508042600549> art completed?

Some but i never got pass one npc, and a few pets along with some playable characters and one more made by a staff member/admin who decided to leave

Is this sunset permament?

Never, as much as we care about draco warriors we would not completely cancel it nor stop it this is temporary til we have more money, staff, and energy to work on this, working on a comic for now is easier though, and <#1171308144031453224> actually has been in the works since around 2018/2019

To add on to this we've had other complications such as our head founders running into issues with love ones trying to force our staff to stop working on the game, forcing staff to control our heads to change rules around such as not people to not ask for monetary value at all cost and getting staff members leaving us, and an anonymous person harassing a staff member who lefted the server, and even when the staff of the server enforced them to stop they didnt and it resulted in the owner blocking them from the server and the staff blocking them personally, everything is so stressful to the point the secondary founder did not want to be the 2nd owner of the game anymore due to money issues and scammers as well, and it caused the owner of pyropaw and phurelz, and draco-warriors to go into a creative block and slump, lots of staff also started to work on concept arts left without notifying other staff while some did, so at the end of the day thats why we are calling draco warriors quits til 2026 or 2027 it's too much stress and there's barely any staff to work on it and too many people including scammers and IRL people got involved and destroyed our game, Were still working on our comic phurelz which can be found here:

Phurelz will be entirely different from draco warriors but we hope this will interest you :3, we sorry for anyone's inconvience and hope we can make exciting things for you guys in the future!

Discord

[scarlettaagni]

watching predator for the first time rn, what parts of the rest of the franchise do you think are good? looking to you as an expert :>

Oh, 2 is absolutely buckwild in such a fun way. [foams at the mouth] You already know what's up, you just have to watch the characters figure it out. It's also quite necessary given how little people have seen it, because it introduces a lot of worldbuilding staples of the Yautja (the existence of differing clans, for example). Also the last time Kevin Peter Hall reprised his role before he died, he got top billing on this movie! AND this movie is the first cinematic link between Alien and Predator, since it came out after the crossover comic (a cameo towards the end, you'll see)

AVP (2004) hurts a lil bit because Ancient Aliens BS and the way they crossed two R-rated franchises into a PG-13 movie, but more importantly. Sanaa Lathan with a basically romantic lead in a Pred. also big gator men doing WWE moves on xenomorphs. get the unrated version where they CGI in more blood and it'll be fun. dumb, but you can wring out a lot more from it if you really want to

AVP: Requiem (2009) has what most fans consider the best Yautja character, but the human storyline is annoyingly front and center and everyone is unbearable. Also, the movie is poorly lit, so you don't get to see a lot of the fantastic work the prop and costuming company did. Watch if you want have like 10 total minutes of excitement seeing outlines of cool aliens doing cool things while a romance plot interrupts them and you remember this is a dumb movie. Pretty gory though! That might be why they went so dark with the lighting, so they could get away with it. Warning for implied and kind of explicit child/fetal death.

Predators (2010) is personally a mixed bag for me because they make up their own thing (that I think is dumb) rather than adapting anything from the comics. a lot of people say it pays respects to the older installations, but I don't see it. It's not terrible, I am indeed very biased, you can go ahead and watch it if you want. They certainly did try to flesh out the characters, and it's star-studded if you care for that.

swear to me on Sigourney Weaver you will not watch The Predator (2018) I will experience a nuclear meltdown trying to describe it to you. Thank me later

please watch Prey (2022). if you are so inclined, find the Comanche dub version with English subtitles to experience it the way the director intended. If you intend on watching this, you really need to watch Predator 2.

[wyrmguardsecrets]

(sorry for the length) I haven't been seriously RPing since 2018, and I had taken a full on break from RP all together for this past year and just played the game without it. I have been here for over 10 years in our RP community, ever since Emerald Dream was the place to be. And yeah, I've been through hell and back in terms of drama especially when I was a teenager (I'm not excusing myself btw, I was a piece of shit on a few occasions and I recognize that, I got caught up in drama and wasn't able to maturely handle it).

I decided to jump back into RP this past autumn because I missed it, so I switched from WrA to MG just to test the waters and I've just got to say: I've had a wonderful time. People have been so friendly and welcoming to me and have shown genuine interest in my character and writing. We're building little friendships and plotlines and I am so happy. I don't know if it's the fact that I'm older and have had the time to regulate my emotions and stuff and be more mature in my own writing and interactions, but I just care so much less about OOC drama. I care so much less about being The Best or the most interesting character. And I'm having fucking fun, the most fun I've ever had RPing on this game in more than TEN years of this hobby.

The key is not caring disproportionately. The key is being mature enough to understand the OOC dynamic of this hobby and what you should rightfully expect from other players and knowing what they rightfully expect from you. The key is being able to separate yourself from OOC drama and view this hobby as what it is. It sounds obvious and easy, but it is not, emotions get in the way, people take things personally, it gets away from them. But for example; I used to read this blog like the morning paper and go feral over OOC secrets years ago, and now I skim it and can't even be bothered to give a shit about 90% of them. I peek at it since I've come back out of curiosity but I just find I cannot give a shit about the RP secrets, and it makes the community look way more toxic than it is - I'm not denying that there is very real pestilence among us but you understand.

I've been RPing for about 3 months now again and I've only had a great time and met so many people, been to so many community events (MASSIVE shout out to the people who organize these!! You rock!!) You have a hand in what you'll put up with and how you react to it, and when you figure that out everything changes.

Stay having fun, stay being creative <3 We're all just a bunch of losers playing pretend in a video game. And to my new friends: thank you, even though you won't know this is about you. I'll thank you in person myself anyway. I love reading your writing, I love diving into your stories. I love being able to share creativity with such awesome people all across the world.

If you're frustrated and drained and not enjoying this, remember why you loved it and maybe take a step back. Under the bowling for soup song there is real good here and really great people. (since people read into things with negative intent i would like to state clearly that holding predators and abusers accountable is not at all what I'm talking about)

-

[laresearchette]

Friday, October 13, 2023 Canadian TV Listings (Times Eastern)

WHERE CAN I FIND THOSE PREMIERES?: LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY (Apple TV+) THE PUPPETMAN (Shudder/AMC+) RAID THE CAGE (Global) 9:00pm CURIOUS CATERER: FATAL VOWS (W Network) 9:00pm CREEPSHOW (AMC 10:00pm/Shudder/AMC+) SHINING VALE (Starz Canada) 10:00pm

WHAT IS NOT PREMIERING IN CANADA TONIGHT? JOHN CARPENTER’S SUBURBAN SCREAMS (Premiering on October 18 on Showcase at 10:00pm) NEXT AT THE KENNEDY CENTER (PBS Feed) READY TO LOVE: MAKE A MOVE (TBD - OWN Canada)

NEW TO AMAZON PRIME CANADA/CBC GEM/CRAVE TV/DISNEY + STAR/NETFLIX CANADA:

AMAZON PRIME CANADA THE BURIAL DARK HARVEST EVERYBODY LOVES DIAMONDS JIGEN DAISUKE

CBC GEM CHUCK AND THE FIRST PEOPLE’S KITCHEN COME TRUE HOW TO FAIL AS A POPSTAR

CRAVE TV BRIA MACK GETS A LIFE (Season 1, Episodes 1-3) CABBIE THE CABLE GUY THE DROP FINDING A FAMILY FREDDY VS. JASON THE HATEFUL EIGHT PREDATOR (1987) THE PREDATOR (2018) PREDATORS (2010) SHINING VALE (Season 2, Episode 1) SPOILER ALERT STAYING INN: HOTEL JULIE (Season 1) STELLAR THE THING

DISNEY + STAR GHOST OF THE MOUNTAINS GOOSEBUMPS (five-episode series premiere) THE SOUND OF THE POLICE

NETFLIX CANADA THE CONFERENCE IJOGBON SPY KIDS SPY KIDS 2: THE ISLAND OF LOST DREAMS SPY KIDS 3: GAME OVER SPY KIDS: ALL THE TIME IN THE WORLD

CFL FOOTBALL (TSN/TSN4/TSN5) 7:00pm: Lions vs. Ti-Cats (TSN/TSN3) 10:00pm: Roughriders vs. Stamps

MONSTER HIGH 2 (YTV) 7:00pm: As they enter sophomore year at Monster High, Clawdeen Wolf, Draculaura and Frankie Stein face new students, new powers, and an even bigger threat that could not only tear their friendship apart but could change the world forever.

NHL HOCKEY (SN) 7:30pm: Penguins vs. Capitals

NBA BASKETBALL (TSN2) 7:30pm: Heat vs. Spurs (TSN2) 10:00pm: Warriors vs. Lakers

BE MY VALENTINE (Super Channel Heart & Home) 7:30pm: A widowed firefighter (William Baldwin) asks a florist (Natalie Brown) to be his date for a Valentine's Day ball.

MARKETPLACE (CBC) 8:00pm

THE MULE (CTV2) 8:00pm: Broke and facing foreclosure on his business, a 90-year-old horticulturist takes a job as a drug courier for a Mexican cartel. His immediate success leads to easy money and a larger shipment that soon draws the attention of a hard-charging DEA agent.

THE REAL HOUSEWIVES OF JERSEY (Slice) 8:00pm: A Grave Concern

THE VERY VERY BEST OF THE 80s (AXS Canada) 8:00pm (SEASON PREMIERE): We're ranking EPIC MOVIES OF 1987. From tear-jerking to side-splitting, find out what made our list as Jodie Sweetin, Tia Carrere, Morgan Fairchild, and more give us their opinions!

PLANET WONDER (CBC) 8:30pm: Johanna dives into how climate change is messing with the motion of the ocean.

FRIDAY NIGHT THUNDER (APTN) 8:30pm: Joshua Hill, alongside friends and family, orchestrates a massive lacrosse stick giveaway to help kids in the community and remind us of the importance of giving back.

BIG NEWS (CBC) 9:00pm: Unpacking the media's role in polarization and its effects on democracy.

TRANSPLANT (CTV) 9:00pm: When a sinkhole traps a man beneath the city street, Bash dives in.

THE DROP (Crave) 9:00pm: A married couple face a marriage test when one of them drops a baby during an island wedding.

DEATH OF THE PARTY (Super Channel Fuse) 9:00pm (SERIES PREMIERE): After a night of partying, a young California woman disappears; the police and her parents scour the area around her abandoned car, but there is no trace of Denise; three long years pass without a single clue to the mystery.

W5 (CTV) 10:00pm: Who Killed Sonia?: A 50-year-old cold case murder is blown open by new scientific evidence.

CRIME BEAT (Global) 10:00pm (SEASON PREMIERE): A sexual predator on the loose in the 1970s and 1980s; two little girls are attacked by the "Southwest Calgary Rapist" while riding their bikes one hot sunny day; homicide investigators were on the trail for a killer.

MARRIED AT FIRST SIGHT (Slice) 10:00pm (SEASON PREMIERE): In Denver, 10 singles take the plunge to marry strangers, sight unseen in two weeks; among them, an inexperienced bride questions her decision, while a groom's girthy secret shocks everyone; the countdown to the weddings is on.

MYSTERIES OF THE ABANDONED: HIDDEN AMERICA (Cottage Life) 10:00pm: A curiously designed, windowless building adorned with gold tinted diamond shapes now stands derelict in Tulsa; experts investigate and uncover a controversial religious figure and the headquarters behind a pioneering form of American TV evangelism.

STELLAR (Crave) 10:35pm: A man and a woman meet in a bar as catastrophe looms outside.

[spider-bren]

two sinners can’t atone from a lone prayer | Rukenna (Quinn Mckenna x Billy Russo)

Welcome to my insane rare pair because Pinterest put the two of them next to each other on my feed! 

This #Rukenna fic started as a brainrot of drabbles on my Twitter (sanktbren) which is collected here and added onto to create a fic. This will probably continue for a while hence it is multi-chap. This work was originally posted on AO3 under the pseuds: angelwriter 

Premise: Billy Russo meets Quinn Mckenna, a US Army ranger sniper, through Frank Castle. 

The pair end up hooking and somewhere along the way realise they have feelings for each other. 

Billy Russo is played by Ben Barnes from the series The Punisher (2017) 

Quinn Mckenna is played by Boyd Holbrook from the film The Predator (2018) 

There is an edit (along with some frankbilly edits if that's your thing) on my tiktok for this pairing (sanktbren) 

enjoy!! (if you like this PLEASE come scream at me in the asks or comments) 

CHAPTER ONE 

Billy came back from the bathroom fully naked. He never saw the point in slipping on underwear afterwards if they were just gonna do it again. And they always did it again. 

Quinn was staring out of the window of his room. Glass reflecting the first rays of morning light. He must have drawn back the curtains while he was pissing. He looked contemplative. Almost drained. But not in the sexy way. Billy had seen that look on Frank too many times. He wanted to make him forget what was bothering him.

He never had the courage to outright pursue his long-standing crush on his best buddy, Frank Castle. And he was pretty sure Frank was straight anyway. He had only met Quinn McKenna once or twice before. He wanted to fuck him almost immediately

Guys like them needed to forget. 

Billy pulled back the covers and slid into the bed. Quinn turned to face him. He was struck by the stunning blue of his eyes. Billy had never really been into blondes. To be honest, McKenna wasn't his usual type. But there was something about him. 

"You're pretty in the morning," Billy sweet-talked with a smile that he knew was charming. 

"Almost as pretty as you. The guys must have been rolling their tongues out at you." 

Billy gave an uneasy chuckle. "They knew their place with me. Gave a few of them a quickie between raids. And you, Cap? Fuck any soilders?" 

"Nah, I didn't know I was bisexual until after I left. I divorced my wife some years ago and got drunk too many times and wound up in gay bars. That's when the shit started. What about you? How'd you know?"

Billy pulled onto Quinn's hair. "I guess I was always a slut. I had both from very young. Knew what I was into." 

Quinn hummed as Billy trailed his hands down his neck and along his chest. He bit into Quinn's earlobe and felt the lurch in his stomach at the feeling he was missing. The feeling of being full. Quinn was one of the best shags of his life. Okay, he was the best shag of his life. Although he'd never admit it. Once Quinn had him down and whining, begging, drooling it was hard for Billy not to become addicted. This man had a cock on him and he knew how to use it.

"Fuck me again." He wasn't above begging. 

Quinn grinned. "Say please." 

Billy bucked his hips into Quinn's thigh. 

"No." 

"No? Babyboy don't want to be dicked down until he cries again?" 

Billy pouted. God, he was pathetic. A pathetic whore. He needed to get a grip.

***

Billy hardly heard it. Could hardly feel his body and his mind fuzzed out, a disconnection between the two. It was like he was in water and everything was silent. The rush of warmth suffused into him and his eyes rolled back into his head. 

"Ah," Billy made a high, keening sound. One that he never made before. It didn't help that his blood supply to his brain was being cut off as well. It was loud. Thready. It couldn't have come from him. 

"God, you're a needy one. I barely touched you." 

McKenna. 

He could hear him in the distance. His voice was gruff and thick in his ears like cotton wool. 

"Just breathe," the man coaxed, his voice sounding like what he would imagine smooth whiskey over ice to sound like. That tightness and heat that had the same effect on his body when he talked to him.

"You can take one more," McKenna said. 

Billy grunted. "No, no, no." 

He threw his head back. His body wanted to curl into itself. Try to push away the onslaught of pleasure that was currently wrecking him. 

"One more. You can do that for me, can't you?"

Billy growled, fighting back. Nails pressed into the arm that pinned him down. 

"I can't take any more of your fucking fingers!" He hissed with teeth. He wanted to bite McKenna's ear off. 

McKenna clicked his tongue. "And why's that?" 

Suddenly a flush of shame overcame him. Billy settled back down. Quiet now. Silence except for his heavy breathing. 

"Your fingers are thicker than mine." He swallowed. "When I do it myself it doesn't feel the same...and..." He breathed heavily, forcing the images away. "They never were gentle with me."

Billy met McKenna's eyes. 

"Not like you. You...took your time with me. Your fingers are...fuck. like that!" Billy cried as Quinn curled in again in the way he liked. 

"What are my fingers like? Good?" 

Billy licked his lips, closing his eyes. 

"Fucking religious." He sighed. 

Quinn pulled out his fingers just as Billy relaxed into the pillow. His eyes shot open, a deadly look in his eyes. 

"Why did you stop?" Billy asked, a bite to his tone. 

"Because I'm done playing with you." 

Billy rolled his bottom lip between his teeth, hiding a pout. He didn't need to be called a brat. Again. 

"But what—"

Whatever Billy was going to say died down on a moan as Quinn let the tip of his cock nestle between his ass cheeks. 

"There now. Good?" 

Billy nodded. "Yeah. Yeah." 

His fingers came to press into the skin of Quinn's pecs. He was already breathless as Quinn slid inside. He trembled from the intensity of it. The pleasure curling in his stomach, his muscles tightening, trying to force it away. Sometimes Billy wondered if he deserved it. If this was the only way to experience anything other than the fear that the nightmares brought him. The pain from his past echoing into his daily life. Sex was the one time Billy didn't have to feel so shitty about himself. He was good at sex. 

But this was different. Billy wasn't the one fucking this time. He let himself be fucked by Frank's friend. He let him inside his body. To touch him in places he never allowed anyone to touch. He hadn't fucked a man since the last time he was…forced. This was….consensual and it made him scared in another way. Quinn was kind to him. Quinn focused on his pleasure. He wanted him to feel good. Did he deserve to feel good? To just take it? Take it all and everything Quinn offered. Billy nearly cried from a particular good thrust. It was too much. 

"Da---oh!! Jesus, fuck!" 

"What's that? Da? Da what?" 

Billy fought against Quinn's hold. He intended to flip them over, twist his body to gain the upper hand. Quinn was strong. Almost as strong as Frank. When Frank and him used to grapple, Billy's only advantage was that he was small and lithe. 

"Go on," Quinn coaxed. "Tell me..." 

"Fuck you. Just fuck me! I didn't say nothing." 

Quinn grinned. He pinned Billy's hands down hard on the floor with one hand. The other pushed his leg further up and made space for him to fuck into him harder. 

Billy whined so prettily. 

"You were gonna call me Daddy?" He laughed. 

"I wasn't!" Billy protested. 

"You like big strong men, don't you? I've seen your Punisher friend. I know Frank Castle.  Made of steel that one. All rock hard muscles and abs. You like men who could throw you against a wall." 

Billy was reminded of when he would watch transfixed at how Frank would use his brute force to snap bones. 

Dammit Frankie, I love to watch you work. 

Billy flushed. He knew he liked Frank's body. 

"So what if I do?" He was drooling as Mckenna set a harsher pace. 

"Just need to be told what to do. Need to be fucked quiet. I know when a man has too many thoughts. You just need to be fucked so hard you forget, don't ya?" 

"Yeah, yeah. Make me forget....Daddy." Billy raised his brow in question and Quinn loved every second of it. 

"Daddy's got you, pretty boy." 

Mckenna rolled his hips in a steady rhythm. His eyes never left Billy. Billy's mouth opened, his eyes shut. He looked lost in it. Lost in Quinn. There was a deep guttural sound that scraped through Billy's throat when his cock hit on that spot inside of him. Quinn took it slow, pulling out and back in, making him feel every inch. Making sure he felt every slide of his cock, he wanted him to know every part of it. 

Quinn loved it when Billy struggled. He loved the hitch in his breath when he first slid in. He loved the way his voice would kick higher when Quinn forced himself inside and stretched him open. 

"That's it, Russo. Take it nice and easy. Come on, you've done this before. Got a bigger body count than a kill count." Quinn chuckled as he pushed in further, holding a firm grip on Billy's neck. 

"You're..." A hitched breath. "Bigger than I've had…"

"I'm the biggest you've had? Damn. Then I guess I have to prove it to you." 

Quinn gave a hard thrust and Billy moaned, startled by the force. 

"Prove what?" 

"That there is no one after me." 

*** 

Mckenna laughed. A smile stretched on his face as he covered his face with his hands. Billy smoothed over his taut stomach. Smooth creamed hands gliding over his abdomen and playing with the hair there leading into his dark grey sweatpants. Billy admired how Quinn looked this rainy morning. His hair spilled in bronze tendrils on the white pillowcase. The man who could twist him into shapes was actually a softie. 

"Lemme see those beautiful blue eyes!" said Billy, playing with the sensitive parts of his sides. 

Quinn choked on a laugh. "Ah! It tickles!" 

"That's the point, dumbass. I wanna see the sparkling blue irises of yours!" 

"Shut up!" 

"You're blushing! Look at you! You're glowing red. That's fucking adorable." 

"I swear to god, Russo, if you don't stop now I will take you over my knee."

"I kinda want you to take me over your knee. Since I've been so bad…I'm in need of a good spanking. Want me to take off my pants? I know you like to see the marks you make." 

Quinn tackled him down onto the bed and pinned him with his hands around his wrists. Billy reached up to kiss him, moving his body so that their chests brushed up against each other. He was whiny and desperate and Quinn could barely keep up sometimes with how much Billy wanted him. It was almost all the time. Every time after they were done, Billy would cuddle into his neck, have his head pet like a needy cat and then roll onto Quinn begging for it again. 

Quinn kissed him back with force, sucking on his bottom lip, rolling his hips in a way that made them both breathless. Billy whined in the back of his throat. Quinn pulled back and sat on the end of the bed. He patted his lap. 

"Come on. Bend over." 

Billy rolled onto his stomach, all too eager, and showed his bare ass to him. Quinn loved this part. He couldn't see Billy's face. He covered it with arms, but he could see the tips of his ears go red, a beautiful flush that emerged down his neck. And the way his hips gave an involuntary jolt when it got too much. Quinn licked his lips. He couldn't wait to spank him until he was panting, watch him whimper and drool for it. 

Quinn knew the danger he was in. How badly he wanted to stay here with Billy every day. Pretending like he didn't have work to go to. Staying over like this was what they strictly agreed not to do. If Quinn was honest with himself, he was attached. Seeing Billy made me smile. He cared for him and he never thought he'd care for anyone since divorcing his wife. 

He wanted this. He wanted whatever they had. And he sure as hell wasn't about to give it up easily. 

[tryslora]

Hiya! I absolutely love your spreadsheet, it gives me such joy to use and I also delight in seeing it arrive every end of year (one of the best gifts!). I was wondering if you would give us a little behind the scenes? What is your process like in developing it? What makes you decide to add in a new category (love the new addition of time btw!!). I really just love it but wanted to ask about it and find out from the mind behind the magic!

Hey @candybarrnerd!

I swear, I have seen this Ask, I have just been trying to remember enough to say something useful and entertaining! Sadly, my original spreadsheets from 2012 through uhh... 2015... seem to have been lost, although I did just think of another location to check (which I shall do shortly).

HAH I found them. Cool. I do see blank spreadsheets starting immediately with 2013, but do not remember when I started to share them. Through 2016 at least, the blank sheets are dated uhhh early January. So. I feel like mid-December is a definite win now!

In 2012, my base goal was to create something to help me track my writing and tell me that I was moving forward, kind of like NaNo did in November. The spreadsheet looked super different in terms of tabs. I didn’t even have the NaNo style graph then! The Wordcount, Daily Graph, and Monthly Graph tabs look pretty much the same. I had tabs to track things I had posted as well. 

It’s almost identical in 2013--I hadn’t started tracking year to year, yet, either! However, the Monthly Totals tab has a goal, and words to goal, for the first time, along with an average/day. I’d started to notice that ups and downs were good, and started thinking about goals, but hadn’t yet made it to pledges and automating the spreadsheet.

In 2014, with the third year going, I decided I wanted to see how things matched up between the years. Especially since 2013 was such a weirdly productive year (never happened again). The first early Annual Comparison tab came in that year--no totals, just a chart that kind of showed how they matched up, along with an average.

That was also the year that the AO3 stats page first appeared, which I am pretty sure was in response to the meme that goes around. I was like. I have a place to keep that information so I can see how it changes over the years!

2015 brought in pledges! In its first form, I just wanted those NaNo style charts, and the pledges were place on that tab. It pulled numbers from wordcount, but nothing was really automated yet. But I had my pretty charts finally.

I mean seriously. These were why I made the sheet originally back in 2012 and i didn’t actually implement them until 2015!

In 2016 I realized I wanted to see the totals for each year on the Annual Comparison page. Like. that seems obvious? Yet. It took me that long...

In 2017 the spreadsheet as it is, mostly, came into being. The color coding was added due to, I think, a conversation with @froggydarren who had implemented it in their copy and showed me. I may not have shared that until 2018--keep in mind, me using something may predate sharing it by a year.

But in 2017, in my spreadsheet, I brought in the way the Monthly Totals tab looks now (without instructions) so a pledge could be set there, then it carries automagically into the Pledges tab for graphing and calculations. 

Why? I AM LAZY. I wanted it to get easier and easier to use. More instinctive to see what was working and what wasn’t. Easier to put numbers in one place and everything else be automated.

2018 continued as is. In 2019, I started adding more automation with a year end date, and being able to recalculate words to goal on the Monthly Totals page based on where we were in the year and current progress. 2020 brought in the Range/Median on the Annual Comparison tab. All of this was driven by me just... wanting to see more information. I like numbers, but mostly, I like a visual way of knowing I’m okay, even if I feel like I’m not.

Like I say: ZERO DAYS ARE OKAY.

2021 brought a few changes. For one, I started embedding instructions in the spreadsheet itself because y’know, it’s big. And confusing. And I wanted to be helpful as folks were using it! I had realized by that point that it had gained a life of its own, and that is SO AWESOME I also added the Weekly Graph tab based on a conversation in the @weekendwritingmarathon Discover server.

All 2022 brought was a refinement to the instructions provided, and 2023 of course refined those even further by creating documentation on Google Drive so I don’t have to retype everything every year (PHEW).

Time was added this year purely as a reaction to the hell that I went through in 2022. A year ago (today), my mom fell. Everything went haywire after that, taking care of my folks, and I’m just really recovering. There’s been a lot. So much. And I also had a lot of projects that were time intensive but not words.

Remember what I said about feedback? I needed to know I was moving forward. So. TIME. I can now see that hour I spent working on my author site, or critiquing, or the next @welcometophu Kickstarter coming in the summer, or any other publication things (like EDITING jeebus that takes forever).

Pretty much, every enhancement I’ve made comes down to: - it’s pretty - it’s easy to see/visual - I’m lazy and it does it for me - I need to see progress in a new way - I want to make it easier to share

So uhhh that may not have been as entertaining as you’d hoped, but I found it really interesting to look back at my first spreadsheets. I’d have to go really digging to figure out when I first started sharing it... that’s one thing I don’t know. Because I created the blank copy for myself anyway, and I think I started sharing once because I was talking about it, and someone asked, and I was like SURE HERE and posted it. And so. Here we are.

<3 Thanks for asking, and I’m really glad you like it!!!

[mywifeleftme]

17: Alanis Obomsawin // Bush Lady

Bush Lady Alanis Obomsawin 1985, Radio Canada (Bandcamp)

A review of the well-meaning things I meant to say about Alanis Obomsawin’s Bush Lady

“No matter how accomplished Obomsawin’s sole LP, 1988’s cult classic Bush Lady may be, it’s naturally overshadowed by her extensive work as a documentary filmmaker. Her searing Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance (available to stream for free from the National Film Board), covering the 1990 Oka standoff between local Indigenous land defenders, Quebec police, and the Canadian military, is a landmark. Her films are celebrated, broadcast on public television, and taught in schools.”

1.5/5—Book report quality. This is a not-very-slick way of admitting the only one of her movies I’ve seen in her most famous one. Also saying a director’s films are “celebrated, broadcast on public television, and taught in schools” in Canada sounds a lot like saying not many people have actually seen them.

“Her roots as a singer-songwriter predate her filmmaking, however. By the late 1950s, when she was in her twenties, she was performing and writing original songs in the Waban-Aki/Abenaki language, English, and French, but her recordings are sporadic prior to cutting this set at the CBC in the mid-1980s. The material was scantly issued at the time, and it probably found its widest listenership after a 2018 reissue by Constellation Records.”

2/5—Solid enough exposition, though it does beg the question why I didn’t just paste in the press release from the label.

“Bush Lady finds her singing and playing a handheld frame drum alongside a Quebecois chamber quartet. I was drawn to the record by ‘Odana,’ a melancholy fable about resisting colonial land grabs written in Abenaki by a tribal elder in the 1800s, which Obomsawin has presumably set to music of her own devising. Arranger Jean Vanasse and the quartet, likely trying to equate the song to a mode they were more familiar with, approach it like Nelson Riddle on Sinatra’s Only the Lonely. Nocturnal strings and woodwinds ripple around Obomsawin’s satiny vocal, lending the tragic folk tale the style of a blue ballad in an urban theatre.”

2.5/5—It took a while, but finally something about the music, an opinion even!

“There may be a bit of a feint in opening an album called Bush Lady with such a high-thread-count piece. ‘Odana’ lulls the non-Abenaki-speaking listener in with its soothingly westernized take on ‘Indian music,’ the lyrics’ message about stolen land masked by the unfamiliar tongue.”

2/5—Translation: “I am sort of embarrassed that the song I like best on this protest album is the one that sounds kind of like Nat King Cole, so I’ll change the subject to rhetoric.”

“But as the music segues into the theatrical 13-minute title track, its politics become explicit even to an English speaker. Obomsawin chants ritualistically over the insistent thump of her frame drum, interspersed with semi-spoken dialogue. She acts out characters: leering white men who harass and prey upon young Native girls; scornful, gossiping housewives; and finally the ‘Bush Lady’ herself, asking a white woman to care for her blonde mixed race child for fear it will be rejected by her own people. The recurring chant serves as a Greek chorus, a mournful counterpoint to the acrid sarcasm of the dialogue. The song undergoes a dramatic shift at the end when the fallen woman is visited by the spirit by her kokum (grandmother), who ushers her into paradise, accompanied by fluttering strings.”

3/5—Decent exegesis. But, dammit man, do you enjoy it or don't you?

“The track is a surprisingly good fit with reissuing label Constellation’s own catalogue. Like their cohort of Godspeed You! Black Emperor-adjacent projects, ‘Bush Lady’ is expansive and confrontational, fusing funereal cello and violin with blunt agitprop. When it works, it has a palpable force. Like agitprop though, the song isn’t subtle fare, and I have to admit the melodramatic conclusion (which is a harp or two away from a caricature of Christian heaven) feels a bit Wizard of Oz to me. I also don’t have a lot to say about the nearly side-length ‘Théo,’ a second drum-driven story song, this one sung in French. It is even more in a spoken word style than ‘Bush Lady,’ and as an Anglophone I can’t glean much despite another magnetic Obomsawin vocal.”

2.5/5—Reader, that must be one comfortable fence.

“I’m glad to have this reissue of Bush Lady in my collection for its transfixing A-side, and its significant overall historical interest. It’s well worth a listen for the curious.”

Overall review rating: 2.2142857142857142857142857142857/5, or 5 CLICK THE LINK TO WATCH HER FILMS FOR FREEs out of 5.

[double-diffuser]

where do you see seb and lewis' relationship going long-term in the daemon verse? what particularly inspired the choice of animals?

oooh this is a great question! I'm very fond of this verse, I'm hoping when work has eased off a bit I can get back to it, I want to spend a lot of time with it. Apologies now for the essay this became, there's a lot of rambling that you definitely didn't ask for.

In this verse I see them as nearly cosmically destined to be together. I think that's one of my favourite things about a lot of fic about them: the intimacy and genuine liking, the comfort in presence and the gentleness that's possible, even with the environment they're in.

I think events will roughly follow that of the real world, and I think because of that things proceed similarly - they skirt around each other for years, and Baku happens, and for some reason, against all expectations, this is the thing that finally breaches the last of the walls they had between them. But their job is literally to compete, to best each other, and as the season runs away from Seb, and Lewis basks in the victories he's earnt, after such a year as 2016, I can't help but think they'd both be too raw.

I think the fact that while Seb's been contending with his feelings and the strange cocktail of his run of glory at rb, with everyone saying he would be next to get the 7 after Michael - to beat him - to then years of bittersweet in the face of Lewis really doing it, he's had time to really think about it, consider his feelings and their implications. Lewis hasn't, Seb's been as much of a friend as he could be through all their shared series and seasons, but the depth of any feeling has been carefully hidden, and the natural separation that comes from being in the two teams pitted against each other, and having a really toxic breakdown in communication with someone who used to be your best friend, perfectly seals it. There's so much vulnerability that Baku brings about.

It takes some time though - it has to. From a quick check, 2018 is when I estimated they first truly admit their feelings to one another. I think Lewis has gone on a real voyage of discovery. I really want to write about that and do it justice.

All this is to say: long term is interesting. If you think about it, it's not just the two of them, it's the four of them. There are more personalities at play, even though Seb-Lucilla and Lewis-Tanja are two wholes. But I can't see them as being anything but together. And I think at that point, Monaco maybe starts to lose its appeal to Lewis, or maybe it begins before then. I envisage them bundled up during mountainous winters in Thurgau, pursuing their loves, and being enriched by each other's passions.

In terms of daemons, I know that Seb's came to me first, in fact I think it's what inspired me. And then I was trying to work out Lewis' and Charles'. I think in the end Lewis' was most difficult. I've seen a few takes of Lewis' being a bulldog, but for me personally, it didn't properly fit? I came upon foxes while thinking about drivers, the kind of mindsets they have, the personalities, opinions, and those of the people around them when they were young, and thus how this might have coloured their development too. I want to explore it more because I love the world building in this verse, it's really been fun!

While doing some early on I came to the realisation that there would be a preponderance for medium sized predators, especially land-based ones. This fit with the lynx idea already, and then after a few days of thinking the fox fell in. They both compete for the same prey, as it turns out, and can threaten each other in the wild. They're intelligent, especially the fox, which also forms strong family units. They have differences in adaptability though, as it turns out - hence why the red fox thrives, but the lynx has been very much threatened and nearly became extinct by 2000. I didn't actually know the latter two things while writing, and it's weird how they just kinda felt right beforehand?

There's also the catty nature Seb can have, and he's not meek either, definitely self-assured in a way that originates from within himself rather than external. Foxes have conflicting presentations throughout history and in different cultures, sometimes having negative connotations, other times spoken of as wise, faithful, and loyal. They run the full gamut of characterisation, which reminds me of a person embracing all aspects of themselves, including their past mistakes. If anyone does that, it's Lewis.

[humb1ug]

selcouth, sukuna

chapter one, amnesia

year: 2018

YUUJI ITADORI liked simplicity. Even if he knew that needing simplicity was his own dismay. Being tied up in a dark, musty room was not among the simple things he cherished in his life. 

     Before him, in the shadows, stood a man—tall, with snowflake hair that shone even in the dim light. His eyes were covered by a black bandana. 

    But he wasn't the only one there. Hazily, he turned his head to face a girl that could be only a few years older than him, maybe even his age. She wore ancient, intricately detailed robes that seemed far too delicate for the modern world, like she's just tumbled out of a storybook. Her long hair cascaded down her back, a few small braids in her hair, and her eyes were wide with confusion. He couldn't help but notice she was out of breath, and looked drained.

    Yuuji swallowed hard, trying to make sense of it all. 

    The white-haired man broke his silence. 

    "So, you're Yuuji Itadori, huh? The kid who swallowed the King of Curses' finger. You sure know how to make an entrance." The man flashed his teeth. He was like untrustworthy prey; he could become a predator if he needed to, if he wanted to. "I'm Satoru Gojo, your new teacher—assuming you survive, that is." 

    Yuuji tensed, his gaze shifting briefly to the girl, who was staring at Gojo without fear, only pure curiosity. Like she'd been here before. He felt a strange need to protect her, despite barely knowing her. Gojo's attention drifted to the girl as well, his expression turning slightly more serious. "And you... well you are a problem," he started, sauntering closer to Yuuji and the girl. He stopped in front of her, squatting so he could face her, as Yuuji and her were tied to the grimy floor. ''Would you have any idea as to why we simply found you unconscious in Jujustu High? And on top of that, anyone who tried to wake you up, almost was choked by vines?'' 

    ''No,'' she croaked, her gaze stern. 

    "You've really caused quite the stir," Gojo continued, in his savory voice. "It's not every day someone simply appears in Jujustu High. Especially not someone with a complete lack of cursed energy." He rose. "Tell me, do you remember anything at all? Anything that might help us figure out who—or what—you are?"

    ''No.''

    ''Is that the only word you know?'' Gojo scoffed. ''No.''

    Gojo sighed, clasping his hands together. "Well, we'll figure you out later." He turned back to Yuuji, his grin returning. Yuuji gulped. 

    ''I'm one of the teachers here at Jujustu High, for first years, maybe you remember me.''

    And that's when everything came crashing into Yuuji. ''Fushiguro! What -- where is he?''

    Gojo tsked, returning to his chair. ''You shouldn't be worrying about others when your execution is being discussed, Yuuji Itadori.'' His head turned back to the girl. ''You might be gone soon too,'' he laughed. What the hell is wrong with this guy?

    Gojo messily and horribly recapped the events of the last two days, then added, ''But the end result is still your fingers.'' Yuuji couldn't believe Gojo was pointing finger guns at him. 

    ''Your recap doesn't match with the current events!''

    ''And I still have no idea what the fuck 'Jujustu High' is,'' the girl deadpanned, fixing herself nonchalantly into a more comfortable position. Gojo peered down at her. ''So you do know other words,'' he teased. 

    ''Anyway, I did my best, Yuuji. I got your sentence suspended.''

    The girl raised a brow. ''So. . .he is still going to die?''

    ''How about you stick to your one-worded answers, smartass?'' Gojo said. 

    Gojo reached down into his pocket, pulling out a finger. The girl and Yuuji gagged. 

    ''Don't gag, you ate one of these. There's twenty of them in total, we only have six,'' Gojo explained. ''And don't worry, mystery girl, I'll get to your situation in a minute here.''

    ''Oh, so for each finger and toe?'' Yuuji asked. 

    ''No, Sukuna has four arms.'' 

   Sukuna? The girl felt her heart race at the name, maybe even a little irritation. ''Who's Sukuna?''

    Gojo ignored her, and instead threw the finger into the air, then blasted it into the wall. And the finger fell to the floor, unharmed. ''As you can see, the curse is powerful enough that we can't destroy them. That I can't destroy them,'' he laughed. ''Not to mention, the curse on these damn things grow stronger everyday, so our seals need to keep up.''

    Suddenly he pointed at Yuuji, the girl's eyes darted to Yuuji's face. What was so familiar about him? It's like all of her senses were working at full. She could hear, smell and see everything perfectly. 

    ''That's where you come in!'' Gojo beamed. ''If you die, the curse inside you dies. Imagine that Sukuna is a virus, and you're his host. He needs a habitable place to stay, right?'' Gojo went on, ''You see, our elders are cowards--think of them like. . .glorified principals, essentially--they wanted you dead yesterday, but wouldn't that be such a waste?''

    ''A waste?'' Yuuji pressed. The girl could smell how anxious he was.

    ''There's no assurance that someone is capable of holding Sukuna is born again--a vessel--so, like any smart person would, I proposed that you should eat all of his fingers first. Great plan, right?'' Gojo flashed his teeth. 

    Gojo bent down, meeting Yuuji's gaze. ''So, Yuuji Itadori, will you die now, or wait until the most powerful cursed spirit to ever walk this Earth needs you alive?''

[isabellatomasblog]

Before Black Panther: Afrofuturism as short films 

Before big feature films like Black Panther hit the big screen, writers who dealt with afrofuturism were limited to short films. Until Black Panther took the world by storm, Black artists who wanted to dabble in afrofuturism style films had to resort to short films. In general it’s very difficult for Black artists to get the same recognition as white artists do, especially in the world of sci fi and fantasy. Book covers featuring Black main characters have to be edited to show white people. This is shown in Samuel R. Delany’s book Nova where the main character is half Black. So this features a boy who wasn’t even fully Black nor was his Blackness a main part of the story yet the front cover of the book conceals him. He is shown with a helmet over his head floating in space. And this centers around the idea that publishers were so afraid of Black people driving sales down that they wouldn’t even draw these Black characters. This fear does hold some truth white people are very concerned with seeing themselves be represented and it’s hard for many of them to connect to the experience of being othered. They are overrepresented and black people are unrepresented especially when it comes to futuristic style works. 

Another book cover that was changed was Octavia E. Butler’s Dawn which has a Black main character named Lilith. Lilith is at even more of a disadvantage because she is a woman and just like in Nova, her cover was replaced using a white woman. It’s very disappointing to learn about this because while Delany's Nova came out in the 1960s and Butler’s in the 1980s, things have only changed a bit. Black Panther helped afrofuturism gain the respect it deserves but today I want to talk about what came before that when there was no big feature film. One of these short films that doesn’t get nearly enough recognition is Jonah directed by Kibwe Tavares. This film came out in 2013 which predates the 2018 Black Panther masterpiece. Jonah stars a boy named Mbwana and his best friend Juma who live in a small town set in Tanzania that mostly makes revenue from tourists. While out adventuring the boys accidentally catch a picture of a giant fish leaping out of the water. They soon realize they can charge people to look at this picture and this slowly turns the town into a tourist hotspot destination. 

At first the new revenue and tourists are great and Mbwana becomes very famous enjoying a lavish life of partying and having sex and basically doing whatever he wants. However, through amazing CGI, we see the town become overrun with propaganda supporting this giant magically fish. It seems that the town starts to lose its original charm and becomes extremely commercialized. The video shows cool transformation shots of how normally looking sideways and alleyways are covered by postered and merchandise. Tourism is one of the prominent themes of this short film, specifically how tourism can be a very negative thing and can cause towns to become engulfed. In this specific example it seems to be more than just the town losing itself but also an indication of outsiders attempting to destroy what they rudely call “third world countries.” Tanzania is not highly regarded by these tourists (outsiders) until it becomes special with the introduction of the fish. Jonah sets out to make the point that tourists in this world only care about being entertained and not the potential consequences that commercializing a town could have.   Jonah ends with Mbwana, now old, remembering his younger self who lived such a good life. He seems worn out and distraught as he walks through his now trashed town. He then gets the idea to finally kill the fish once and for all. It’s clear that he blames the fish for the destruction of his home, if he hadn’t taken that picture the town probably would have remained the way it is. While trying to kill the fish it shows the fish eating him but this scene is kind of up to interpretation. It can be imagined as more of a metaphor: the fish engulfs him just like tourism engulfed his town. The reason I think Jonah is something important to acknowledge in the art of afrofuturism is because it's severely underrated. It’s also not what I would typically think to be afrofuturism but when you look closer it does have those elements of past, present, and future connections. It also tells an important message and connection to real world issues. I see it as almost a cautionary tale of what not to do, a way for us to change the future by showing this very extreme ending. Jonah is very important to acknowledge because this is what afrofuturism was before Black Panther, just short films. I think it’s interesting to look back and to see just how far the Black speculative arts have come and what they may be able to do in the near future.

[yeonchi]

Sea Princesses: Into the Liamverse Part 24: Yo-Kai Benja Special

There's no YouTube Community post link for this one as these OCs, created by Liamverse YouTuber Yo-Kai Benja, were sent to me via Discord DMs. This is a look into the salines of what could possibly be yet another universe. The World of Salacia, located off the coast of Brazil (particularly near Santos, Sao Paulo), isn't the only place where salines, kingdoms and royal families can be found. These princes and princesses are from kingdoms located across a mass of Dryland from Salacia, off the coast of Viña del Mar in Valparaíso, Chile. Read to the end for some lore and theories.

Leo (Mussel Prince)

Name: Leo

Occupation: Mussel Prince

Race: Saline

Residence: Mussel Kingdom (off the coast of Viña del Mar, Valparaíso, Chile, former)/Salacian Metropolis (current)

Gender: Male

Age: 15

Likes: Chilean culture, Chilean rock, music, playing bass, Drylander customs

Dislikes: Drylander fishermen

Relationships:

Mussel King (father) ✝️

Mussel Queen (mother) ✝️

Chorito (pet)

Felipe (best friend)

Merluzina (friend)

Reinetina (friend)

Globina (friend)

Delfi (friend)

Agostinha (friend)

Marcello (bandmate)

Hugo (bandmate)

Sirilo (bandmate)

History

Leo is the Mussel Prince. When he was 9, fishermen destroyed Leo’s home in the Mussel Kingdom and his parents were killed, leaving him in the care of the families of his friends Felipe, Merluzina, Reinetina and Globina as he frequently moved between their kingdoms with his pet Chorito, becoming more and more independent as a result.

When Leo turned 15, he decided to move to Salacia, where he made numerous friends including Delfi, Agostinha, Marcello, Hugo and Sirilo. Although he loved living in the metropolis of Salacia, he would visit his friends back home sometimes, hoping that they could go on a trip with him to Salacia one day. He also frequents the Dryland cities of Valparaíso and Viña del Mar in Chile.

Leo is a kind person who likes to help people around him and works to prevent Drylanders from bringing harm to the sea.

Curiosities

 - Leo prefers to travel between his kingdom and Salacia through Dryland as it would be a two-week trip by bus (around the treacherous Drake Passage) whereas it takes 6 to 7 hours by plane and public transportation (from Viña del Mar to Florianópolis via Santiago). Before the Salacia-Dryland Peace Treaty was signed in 2018, this would have been an impossibility due to it breaking the First Law of Salacia.

- Leo is a fan of all things Chilean, such as the food, the cities and above all, music.

- Leo loves to listen to Chilean bands such as Chancho en Piedra, Los Prisioneros, Los Bunkers and 31 Minutos. He plans on forming a tribute band with Marcello, Hugo and Sirilo but he is unable to decide which group to tribute.

- Leo is a bass player, with his inspirations being Felipe Ilabaca and Jorge Gonzalez.

- Leo’s initial design had him wearing a t-shirt with the Chilean flag on it.

- Leo also has a pet mussel named Chorito.

Globina - Globefish Princess

Name: Globina

Occupation: Globefish Princess

Race: Saline

Residence: Globefish Kingdom (off the coast of Viña del Mar, Valparaíso, Chile)

Gender: Female

Age: 14

Likes: Music, hanging out with her friends

Dislikes: People making fun of her for her enlargement reflex

Relationships:

Leo (best friend)

Merluzina (friend)

Reinetina (friend)

Unknown prince (love interest, created by elpijazo)

History

Globina is the Globefish Princess, her family distant relatives to the Blowfish Royal Family. She lives in the Globefish Kingdom, off the coast of Viña del Mar in Chile, across a mass of Dryland from Salacia. Her design is based on the longnose puffer.

The Globefish Royal Family has a peculiarity about them; every time they get excited, their heads inflate and they have to deflate themselves. They can also trigger this inflation manually to prank others or scare off predators. Globina feels uncomfortable when she stays inflated for too long as it makes her body feel tight. Other people tend to make fun of her family for this, much to their chagrin.

Globina’s best friend is Leo, with whom she shares some of the same tastes such as their love for music.

Other OCs

Felipe (Chilean Abalone Prince)

No other details are known at the time of writing.

Merluzina (Southern Hake Princess)

Note: Merlo and his family are the main royal family of the Hake Kingdom, mostly representing the Argentine hake.

Merluzina is noted to be a kinder version of Tubarina.

Reinetina (Southern Ray Bream Princess)

Reinetina is Merlutina's best friend, though the latter finds her annoying at times.

The lore of sub-species

While the World of Salacia may be vast, there are only so many kingdoms that can be located in the realm, so other kingdoms were established outside of it. Like with the kingdoms of Salacia, there are families who represent and look after smaller genera or species of fish. Some of them may be princes, princesses or high-ranking generals or ministers who are assigned a smaller species by their kings and queens. Some of them may be other nobles or aristocrats from a particular kingdom. Some of them may just be ordinary people, whether upper, middle or lower class, who could be distantly related to a Salacian royal family.

These families still have responsibilities to their particular species and are answerable to a family that oversees their taxonomic rank, up to the top rank that is the Salacian royal families. One such example is the Hammerhead Shark Kingdom; prince Marcello and princess Marcela are cousins to prince Veto and princess Tubarina of the Shark Kingdom. While Veto and Marcello may be the heirs to their respective thrones, Tubarina and Marcela could still be queens, only to a lesser sub-species and they would also be answerable to their respective monarchs. Not every prince or princess will become the ruler of a sub-kingdom, though they may be assigned to other positions.

Despite this caste system, there is rarely any discrimination, for the Laws of Salacia state that all families and all castes, whether royal, commoner or anywhere in between, should be respected.