#this got longggg

[blysse-and-blunder]

in lieu of a commonplace book: a new term

saturday, sept 2 — sunday, oct 1, 2023

been running around and then lolling around and then running some more, and the last time i really understood what day it was i think it was aug 28?? though i have gotten a new wall calendar for my room so hopefully that...makes a difference?

anyway. lots of things viewed, read, played etc., but this is the ilcb where i talk about michael sheen's sex show. y'all have been warned.

reading finished this month:

light from uncommon stars, ryka aoki — there was a lot about this one to like, and lots of things that i think...could have worked better? the dialogue stood out to me as weirdly stilted. the author got so much good, fluid, lyrical writing into the descriptions of the violin maker, all the meaningful resonances of the violin, and everything else kind of paled to that. a lot of vision in this one, and hopefully readers who are less picky than i am will be able to chill out and enjoy the representation, the demons and space and music and donuts.

the empress of salt and fortune, nghi vo (audio) — stunning. short, but suggests/captures an entire world. adored the emphasis on little artifacts and material details, the flashes of actual history and the absolutely elegant touches of fantasy.

clouds of witness, dorothy l. sayers (audio) — a lord peter wimsey mystery is always a wonderful excuse to listen to a voice actor just go nuts with posh RP accents, but i do miss my girl harriet even as i know that i'm reading all the prequels on purpose :(

one last stop, casey mcquiston —i didn't think i liked casey mcquiston before, but this book was genuinely a delight. is this how everyone felt about rwrb? the romance tropes worked for me this time, the dialogue here felt natural and fun (especially the secondary characters), and the little turns of phrase and comparisons and twists hit just like you'd hope. the history! the queer community! the roommates! and you know what, fuck it. a little tooth-rotting fluff can be good for the soul.

listening bounced off of the new olivia rodrigo (sorry 😥) and the new chappell roan (sorry sorry 😥) and won't be trying to articulate why for now, haven't spent enough time with the new mitski (liked it on the first listen though) so this section of the post is going to go to noah kahan's stick season, which i have listened to on repeat for the last few weeks. i think i've got a favorite song chosen, only to notice something new about another one—it's not just 'northern attitude' and 'homesick,' though obviously the lines 'i'm mean because i grew up in new england' and 'i was raised out in the cold' / 'i was raised on little light' do fucking resonate. but so does. most of it.

at some point i have added both 'halloween' and 'the view between villages' to my liked songs, and for some reason i get a real kick out of the line in 'new perspective' about calling an intersection downtown just because it's gotten a target. but anyway here's 'stick season', simply for the line 'and i'll dream each night / of some version of you / that i might not have / but i did not lose.'

watching masters of sex (2013). if i'm honest, this is a little bit of a dodge—i watched the entire first season of this show back at the beginning of the month, it fully took over my staycation cat-sitting gig time, and then i haven't been able to get back to it now that i'm home. i think i'm scared to dip back in, honestly? because i can't let myself get sucked back in that strongly.

this show is maddening. it's fascinating. don't ask me if it's good. it's based on this book by thomas maier, which i may have to actually read, because i keep getting distracted wondering about how much the script is changing, adapting, etc. i've taken my intro psych class (and then some), i had to read about masters and johnson, and i feel like the show must be taking liberties— but also, is it?

this show isn't mad men, but it does have that period midcentury / postwar aesthetic, and they do a very good job mentioning bits of history/current events that tie it to the actual history. and there is actual history here, and i love that. but also, i have never been this aware of a show making choices for baldly strategic reasons— you can so tell that this show was written for weekly release, plot threads come and happen for an episode or two at most, only then to be either dropped (for future use if necessary?) or solved.

then again, there's some very competent and tightly-constructed stories, e.g. the episode about the nuclear attack drill and how everyone behaved, how it did and did not matter to them, how their worlds were and weren't also symbolically ending in the intertwined subplots. also a big fan of the one where they're hearing about the new research on the female orgasm! and freud! it's so interesting to have this all framed as ~the frontiers of science!~ and then see how in some ways it's more progressive than you'd expect (than we are today still, on primetime).

the other lead, lizzy caplan, is new to me, but she kills it, kills it, as ginny johnson. allison janney is in this?! caitlin fitzgerald aka tabitha from succession is in this? see what i mean, like half the cast is people who either were in big prestige tv enterprises or who would go on to be, which to me says something about the way this show was viewed as a good move for your acting career in 2013. (link to a piece of historical journalism discussing this show and nbc hannibal as not-to-be-missed viewing for 2013. wild.)

i've never thought this much about how television has changed from the early 2010s to now. this feels like a bridge, connecting pre-peak TV to where we've ended up, where it's not as 'prestige-y' as it would be now, but is still going for the sophistication and intensity. michael sheen wears a funny little bow tie and got a golden globe nom for this, but he could not be further from aziraphale here—it's like watching a totally different person (acting_patrickstewart.gif), he smiles so little and is routinely so awful to various women in his life, including those he purports to love. i distract myself watching him make acting choices in response to some of the (frankly wild) things that they've given masters to say and do, and that's. all i'll say about that.

okay that was mortifying. let's move on.

playing have now completed (for the second time) the first act investigations in pentiment, with new scenes unlocked (the spinning bee! storytime with brother sebhat! midnight in the library!) and still not a solid answer to the mystery. methinks there is a message there, but we won't know for sure until i can next find a time for me to continue with either of my play-through companions. when i play with A, we make choices based on 'i would never pick that if i was playing on my own, but since you're here, you'll be the voice of chaos egging me on,' which if nothing else has led to a lot of cackling.

things this game also excels at, besides narrating women's stories and moral ambiguity: animating children and animals. we shook hands with this dog and it was perfect.

making hungry for a handicraft. sewed a bra back together (unpictured), glued a handle back onto this little ceramic pitcher, glued a hairclip back to its backing and a slipper sole back to its upper slipper (all hail having appropriate adhesives for a job!) watched as squirrels made a meal of the valiant, late-blooming tomatoes.

working on the court romances chapter has a new direction, but it does feel a little like an albatross around my neck at this point. i sent my committee the body and soul debates chapter, but at my most recent meeting it was clear most of them hadn't finished reading it so the discussion was largely 'where's chapter 2? why isn't that here also?' they still gave me the equivalent of a little pat on the head and said 'keep going', so. i'm taking drastic steps (enlisting other on campus resources, my therapist, etc.) to try and fucking make some fucking progress.

[chaos-of-the-abyss]

How would you envision Elrond and Elwing's reunion in Valinor 🥺? I can already imagine they would hug for a lonnngggg time to make up for the years of being forcefully separated from each other. Also, Elrond would be ecstatic to know that Celebrian and Elwing (in my head, lol) have bonded and become close to each other.

yesssss i too believe they would hug and cry for a very long time, like they'd just fall into each other's arms <3<3<3 and elrond can finally break down embraced by his mother the way he never had the chance to for literal thousands of years. a tangent, but i don't think elrond ever felt comfortable showing such extreme, uncontrollable vulnerability in front of others -- having been kidnapped as a child by the people who murdered most of his community and as good as forced his mother to suicide, he pretty much came to hide anything that could be perceived as "weakness" for fear of how maedhros and maglor would react to it. and even though he does grow more emotionally healthy once he finds people with whom he can truly have a good relationship, he still finds it difficult to so entirely let down his guard around people. but with elwing -- it's like he's a child again. as soon as he sees his mother's face, the exact same face that he remembers from his memories and his dreams, the exact same face he associates with strength and love and bravery ever since he was young -- everything all comes rushing out. it's like all the tears of pain and fear at her being taken from him are finally flowing after being reined in for millennia.

i can't imagine how utterly cathartic their reunion, at long last, would be to both of them. they wouldn't let go of each other for a while, that's for sure, and they would probably spend hours and hours and hours learning everything they can about each other. i doubt they'd be willing to be apart for at least several days after that. they are going EVERYWHERE together for the next month. joined at the hip. elwing at some point introduces him to all her friends and kin that she's met and connected with since she came to valinor, and elrond finds a litany of relatives who are delighted and proud and awed. lots of teleri especially are so heartened, particularly the ones who knew thingol from before they came west. that's the great-great-grandson of their king's beloved brother. and speaking of thingol -- elwing has already grown close to him since she came to valinor, she and elrond go to visit him together, and thingol cries once again and adopts yet another descendant. tbh he adopts every single descendant of his that sails west. spoils them rotten like they're children even though they're all grown adults who've seen some shit. what do you mean he can't shower them in every single gift that catches his eye or comes to mind. they're his descendants, he can do what he wants!! he will coddle them, and elrond is by no means an exception.

it's also my hc that elwing and celebrian meet when celebrian arrives in valinor! celebrian tells her mother-in-law all about elrond and all about elladan, elrohir, and arwen. elwing adores her daughter-in-law and celebrian is one of the few people who she'll regularly hang out with. they visit each other and everything, elwing is there with her when celebrian meets her telerin relatives (who already all know and love elwing). suffice to say you're right, elrond is absolutely delighted to learn how close his mother and wife have become. they all spend heaps of time with each other -- with earendil, too, when he comes home. it won't take away the injustice of elwing losing so much of her son's life, and elrond losing his mother at such a young age -- but it's good. at last they're the family they couldn't be long ago, and they're all very very happy together

[hypewinter]

So Barbara right?: Obviously much like Steph, much of Barbara's story happens independent of the batfam so there's nothing really to change. I'd say the only key difference is that she's moreso Jason's friend than anyone else's (you know cause it'd be fun).

It's finally Dick's time to shine: To celebrate Jason's official adoption, the Wayne's go to the new circus in town. The happy atmosphere of the night is quickly cut short by screams of terror as the flying Grayson couple falls to their deaths. Cass is the first to react, rushing over to the Grayson child and shielding him before he can see (or hear) them hit the ground. The other Wayne children are quick to follow, expertly dealing with the frightened crowd and leading them out of the tent in an orderly fashion. Bruce is the last one to take action, meeting up with Commission Gordon to detail what transpired. When all the dust has settled, the audience has left, the bodies have been taken away, and Dick Grayson is an orphan.

Naturally Bruce defaults on his trusty dusty tactic of simply becoming the boy's guardian but there's a snag this time, the state won't let him. They go on and on about how Dick is an emotional child and he needs a lot of one on one attention and he wouldn't get the proper support he needs in the manor and bla bla bla. Which would all be valid points, if the state didn't just turn around and put the poor kid in a boys home. Bruce is obviously pissed. Beyond pissed in fact. But until the courts rule in his favor, his hands are tied. You know whose hands aren't tied though? Damian's. Damian is a full scale legal adult who lives on his own and has the backing of his father (who just so happens to be one of the richest men on Earth). The state has no choice but to meekly hand the boy over.

Dick is a feral little monster. Constantly angry, constantly lashing out. He far surpasses early days Jason in sheer ferocity alone. But Damian is undeterred. He knows feral. He's seen feral. He WAS feral. This brat will not break him. Damian starts employing the methods his father used to help him deal with his emotions back in his "I just found out I'm the son of assassins and I'm so angsty" phase. Mainly the method of punching your feelings away. He gets Dick a punching bag and also trains him in every martial art/self defense method under the sun. When that proves to still not be enough, he does the next best thing, he takes Dick with him out on patrols. Dick finally starts working through all of his emotions surrounding his parents death, especially when he starts getting leads on who killed them. Eventually, he finally figures out who killed his parents and where they are and he's out for blood. He tries to sneak out but Damian is already waiting for him by the window. Dick prepares to get into a fight, only for his gear to be tossed at him with Damian already climbing out the window. He's stunned for a moment but he's also not about to look a gift horse in the mouth. So the two go to catch Tony Zucco together and the rest is history (Bruce nearly has a heart attack when he finds out Dick is Damian's sidekick. Why does no one in his family want to be normal!?).

Part 1 Part 2

[switchytransboy]

had some fun with halo’s feet tonight with plenty of toe ties 😏😍 their feet were so well restrained these could have passed as makeshift stocks hehehe

@ticklishprey

[luck-of-the-drawings]

THE ORDER OF PALMS An order of holy folk that serve The Helm, working to create powerful Aasimar Paladins for the purpose of protecting any who hire their help. [BACKSTORY UNDER CUT]

One day, Gjör and her peers were lead by their mentor Opheria, to a mission far from their home. On the peak of that mountain village, they saw upon the horizon, the castle of their home go up in flames. Horrified and scared, the apprentices sought to follow their mentors guidance, and followed her lead into a small barn. It was there, that Opheria proceeded to slaughter each and everyone of the apprentices. It seemed she somehow had a hand in this sudden attack on the Order of Palms. Gjör D'annevual survived a sword through the 'heart', on account of a rare condition, that places her heart on the other side of her chest. When she finally managed to bring herself back home, the Order was insulted by her survival. She had so many better peers, why couldn't any of them have survived? This runt was seriously the only thing that survived Opherias wrath? It was better to just wash their hands clean of this. Thus the Order decided to banish Gjör from their ranks. She now travels the land in search of a purpose.

[yesterdayiwrote]

Interesting how we've gone from F1 teams being downright reluctant to sign junior drivers to there now looking like there may well be 6 'rookies' on the grid in the 2025 season (Antonelli, Bearman, Bortoleto, Colapinto, Doohan & Lawson)

I think there's a lot to unpack with it and how it's come about (I think it's a combination of some good recent reserve outings proving that younger drivers are capable after having their opinions skewed by a run of lower quality pay rookies and teams realising that there's actually marketability in fresh blood after seeing how Oscar was so popular) but it does make me sad for the talented junior drivers who've missed out due to either wrong place at wrong time or teams not being brave enough to take a risk.

[touteytout]

everytime i use my markers i am forced to realize just how much my art has changed over the past like. 8-10 years bc i have p much every peach and teal and purple color that copic ever sold and only like 2 nasty greens....

[velvetrogue]

Why am I not surprised that less than 24 hours after updating my core rules to be super clear, they get broken once again. Ughhhh.

[bug-farm]

[ophernelia]

i was scrolling through ashleyplays' twitter and saw she posted you before. i literally love her hows it feel to live my dreaaammmmm

Girlllll, that's all because of the tik tok algorithm! We were mutuals on there back when I had it. Literally love her sims content and her lifestyle content too! I was geeked too so I get it lol! I even showed my momma lol. She's fantastic. A true creative and a trendsetter!

[holocene-sims]

for better or for worse, i've been bitten by the fallout 76 bug 🫡

[conditionvarietysilence]

begging and pleading for writing ideas for zakkura pleaseeeeee (and thanks)

[coffeeandcalligraphy]

"french novel" by richie hofmann / "move-in day" by @coffeeandcalligraphy

Stay right there | Lost Gods

"...of course his brother wouldn’t forget him, he couldn’t, no one could forget Jeremiah, especially not Harrison who thought he’d be okay if this was his life now, the quiet Saturday mornings rating the persuasiveness of infomercials, laughing at the laundromat as they shared a quick kiss by the dryers, evenings where they held each other and knew they would be held, Harrison thought it might be nice to remain here forever..."

An excerpt all about love for Valentine's Day! <3 The full version is under the cut!!!

He’d overheard their conversation once, Jeremiah in the middle of an assignment as he walked his brother through long division on the phone. Harrison was stooped against Jeremiah’s bathroom sink, shaving clean ledges of stubble off his face. The apartment still smelled like orange and vanilla which Jeremiah had been boiling all afternoon—a trick his mother taught him years before to mask unsavory scents, though nothing smelled off that day, he’d just wanted to do something nice. As Harrison thwacked shaving cream off his razor and into the sink, he listened to Jeremiah talk on the phone. He’d heard his voice in so many forms—at a bare whisper in the mornings when he offered to put on coffee, at a sarcastic mutter as he complained during Psycho about men with mommy issues, at a giggle when at the bar, they teamed up on 80s trivia night and beat everyone bad, the plastic trophy still on Jeremiah’s bookcase. But Harrison hadn’t heard his voice like this. Deliberate almost, every consonant rounded and warm, like he was reciting poetry.

Harrison watched him from the mirror. Jeremiah was slumped over the desktop he and Rory shared, only half of his face visible because he covered the other with his hand. He looked stressed. The first assignment of the school year due so early, and Harrison realizes now that he hadn’t even asked what it was, is still unsure what Jeremiah had even been studying. He held the home phone to his ear with his shoulder, sharpening a pencil over and over until it broke and he inevitably started again. Three mugs teetered on the desk, all different drinks just for him—green tea, a decaf latte, hot water and lemon, all gone cold. Harrison would heat them all up again as soon as he finished like he’d done for the last two hours and like he’d do for the next. But for now he watched Jeremiah, a man who jotted down class notes at the same time he helped his brother through homework. They hadn’t seen each other in years—on an evening when neither Jeremiah or Harrison could sleep and they took turns naming hits of iconic pop divas every time a car honked past their building, Jeremiah confessed he worried his brother would forget him. Then, Harrison ran a finger up his wrist and said that wouldn’t happen, a brother’s love could last centuries, but he didn’t know that. He was an only child and not really a figurative brother to anyone at all, at least not anymore. But as he waved his razor in the sink, watching Jeremiah nod although his brother couldn’t see him, listening to Jeremiah say, yeah, you got it, you got it, his voice suspended in gentleness somehow, he knew he was right.

Right then, Jeremiah turned so his face pointed directly into the bathroom, and in the second before he realized he was being watched, Harrison thought of how lucky he was to be here, to know this man who was more like an angel, to be in his bathroom borrowing his shaving cream, to spend the night again and maybe even forever, with him, something playful in their time together like a childhood sleepover where they’d drape cucumbers over each other’s eyelids during a re-watch of Rumble Fish and share a bowl of Cheetos on the couch, and Harrison thought it was kind that Jeremiah spent the previous hour answering his brother’s questions and rephrasing a confusing math problem until they both seemed to get it, that even though they were separated by a country, it was like they were in the same room and that that was a conscious effort on Jeremiah’s part—of course his brother wouldn’t forget him, he couldn’t, no one could forget Jeremiah, especially not Harrison who thought he’d be okay if this was his life now, the quiet Saturday mornings rating the persuasiveness of infomercials, laughing at the laundromat as they shared a quick kiss by the dryers, evenings where they held each other and knew they would be held, Harrison thought it might be nice to remain here forever.

Sorry, Jeremiah mouthed as soon as he noticed, his face bronzed in light, the focal point of the room, this man, the material of abundance an artist sees a masterpiece in, and he held up his hand as if saying I’ll just be a minute, please wait for me, but Harrison wanted to tell him it was unnecessary to apologize or to rush. As Jeremiah started to rise, telling Mika he had to run soon, that he’d call tomorrow as usual, Harrison wanted to say take your time, the sun setting, the evening almost touching them. Stay right there.

[angelhummel]

Welcome to the Every Rachel Berry Outfit season 3 round up! It's been a long time coming but it's finally here. And this is also the longest style summary yet, so buckle up! Brought to you as always by the me, AngelHummel

Season 3 gives Rachel 192 new looks. She has the most outfit changes in Michael and Goodbye with 14 outfits each. While Pot O Gold and Nationals are tied for the least amount of outfits, with a mere 3 each. This is also the fewest outfits featured in any episode overall

While Rachel's style matures this season, it also gets a lot more samey. Gone are her animal sweaters, and gone is the variety in her silhouette. These days, dresses are her best friend.

Though she's never been a big fan of pants, that article of clothing is all but eliminated from her wardrobe this season. She's gone from 23 in season one, to 16 in season two, to 11 in season three. And the majority of those are either workout clothes, or pajamas. She also wears a pair for a coordinated group number (something else that is lacking in s3), and a pair as part of her Saturday Night Fever suit. Her only real pants outfit features a pair of shorts - soon to be a staple of Rachel's wardrobe - seen at the very end of the season

Pants weren't the only thing Rachel decided were restricting her legs too much this year. Knee high socks and tights' stocks plummeted this year thanks to Rachel leaving her legs bare more often than not. But of course these signature accessories haven't vanished completely. This season, Rachel sported...

25 pairs of knee socks. Okay, still a lot, but we've cut back from s1's 38 pairs

18 pairs of tights. Again, sounds like a lot, but compared to last season's 45 count...

13 pairs of ankle socks. She was trying something new but must've decided they weren't for her, as they don't appear after the halfway point of the season

As for accessories that have all but been wiped out, the headband fans were starving this season

We see Rachel sporting headband a pitiful 6 times - and one of them was Tina as Rachel! She wears two stretchy headbands to hold her hair back, once during dodgeball and once while in the shower. Then all the girls wear headbands in 3x14's competition. The only real headbands we see her wear are both in 3x22. An homage to her fashion roots, before she can branch out and find new styles

The 2011-2012 school year was a real "Say Something" Hat Year for McKinley, and Rachel was no exception. In addition to her headbands, she also wore 9 hats, along with flowers, bows, blue streaks, a welder's mask, and several other fun accessories for a total of 25 head based accessories

Most memorable of all? A wedding veil, a prom queen tiara, and a graduation cap. Landmark accessories, all of them.

And the final lost staple of Rachel's old wardrobe? Plaid skirts. She only wore two this season. But plaid made an appearance a total of 9 times, popping up in her outerwear and dresses more often. She also featured hearts a handful of times, and even a few florals this season

But the patterns that featured most in her wardrobe this season?

Stripes, which appeared 21 times, and...

Polka dots! Which appeared 24 times.

Rachel's wardrobe also featured 26 costumes this season, including matching group number outfits, themed looks, and all her potential Maria outfits

And of course it wouldn't be an outfit review if we didn't quantify the colors of her wonderful wardrobe. Have to appreciate them now because New York definitely bleaches out her rainbow a little. But for now...

Rachel rocked every color under the sun this season, but some much more than others. While some people, like myself, might associate her strongly with the color pink, that didn't even crack the top 5 this season

Honorable mentions this season are grey and pink, featured heavily in 16 and 17 outfits, respectively

Fifth place with 20 looks is Navy

Fourth place with 23 looks is Blue

Third place with 30 looks is Red

Second place with 41 looks is White

And in First place with a total of 52 looks is classic Black

And finally, to close out this extra long review, we will conclude with a visual list of my Top 10 Favorite Rachel Outfits of the season

[nbmudkip]

RRRAAAAAHHHHHHHHH FINALLYYYYYY

[thegingergal]

me: i have made my peace with hbo rome’s historical inaccuracies and come to appreciate (some of) them

also me: VORENUS GETS ANTONY’S ICONIC IDES MOMENT?