#which is like 13? 14? for you other folks

[butchharts]

flannel weather 🍂

[nudityandnerdery]

[Image Description: A series of sixteen tweets by John Rogers @jonrog1 that say:

1) A moment at the Teamsters/UPS rally this morning clarified our current struggle with the studio CEO's (among other bosses). Teamsters got a lot of wins, but one of the main sticking points is the pay for the 65% of local UPS workers who are part-time …

2) If you read the SAG-AFTRA demands, a truly STUNNING amount of their points involve protecting background actors, and trying to improve conditions for the 87% of their union who makes less than $26,000 a year.

3) As WGA members know, this is not a strike for the showrunners. We're trying to fix the fact the the current younger generation of writers can't even afford housing and their pathway to advancement has been cut off.

4) Like … folks, I'm fine. There are maybe two proposals in there that affect me. I'm walking in 90% weather and losing over 50% of my income for the year because I want the younger writers to get what I got at this stage of their careers.

5) Our unions and the CEO's and various negotiators have a fundamental cognitive disconnect. Because CEO's types only succeed by FUCKING THEIR PEERS.

6) Zaslav, Iger , those types of execs, etc have never gone without so a fellow exec or a junior exec could thrive. A fellow exec failing is the moment to use your own leverage to advance past them, if not destroy them.

7) Part of it is the money but part of this, I think, is a genuine inability to grasp even the concepts of any labor action. Because it is always other-directed.

8) So many people treat capitalism as part of nature red in tooth and claw, but it's not. It's a human construct. There are different rules you can play by -- but not if you want to win.

9) The greatest gift capitalism ever granted was the ability to validate selfish behavior as a virtue because that's "just what's necessary, I don't make the rules!" (Look ma, it's reification!)

10) This is where I usually point out that Adam Smith wrote that you have to overpay workers to keep your labor force up, and you need to take into account the psychic damage of capitalism to the workers, and that admiring the rich is the greatest source of moral corruption …

11) But I'll stave off that diversion to just land with … this is a discontinuity of attitudes which I think was once breached by the fact that management USED to come from people who loved building their company or their trade, even if they eventually did management shit.

12) Now, even that thin thread of SYMPATHY (Adam Smith joke, get it? People?) is gone. The CEO's are working off a different scorecard, practically and morally. We're not just playing by wildly divergent rules, our lives and careers are DEFINED by those wildly divergent rules.

13) To them, we are IN FACT being "unreasonable", as our behavior does not make sense in their moral framework. They don't think they're being evil, they think they're playing by the actual rules, and we're nuts.

14) There's not great conclusion to this, other than to note that the bit about making writers homeless was described as "cruel but necessary" because they genuinely don't understand the meaning of cruel, because they are always on the other side of the power dynamic.

15) And if they're ever NOT on the top of the power dynamic, they're not suffering, they're dead. They are un-people in their own eyes.

16) These men are not irrational, but they are deranged. This isn't about money, it's about identity. And in a fight about identity … they will set billions on fire.

Because they can always get more money. But they'll never shed the stink of losing to their lessers."

end of image description]

[fatliberation]

I totally understand and can empathize with fat activists when it comes to medical fatphobia. But I do think its important to provide nuance to this topic.

A lot of doctors mention weight loss, particularly for elective surgeries, because it makes the recovery process easier (Particularly with keeping sutures in place) and anesthetic safer.

I feel like its still important to mention those things when advocating for fat folks. Safety is important.

What you're talking about is actually a different topic altogether - the previous ask was not about preparing for surgery, it was about dieting being the only treatment option for anon's chronic pain, which was exacerbating their ed symptoms. Diets have been proven over and over again to be unsustainable (and are the leading predictor of eating disorders). So yeah, I felt that it was an inappropriate prescription informed more by bias than actual data.

(And side note: This study on chronic pain and obesity concluded that weight change was not associated with changes of pain intensity.)

If you want to discuss the risk factor for surgery, sure, I think that's an important thing to know - however, most fat people already know this and are informed by their doctors and surgeons of what the risks are beforehand, so I'm not really concerned about people being uninformed about it.

I'm a fat liberation activist, and what I'm concerned about is bias. I'm concerned that there are so many BMI cutoffs in essential surgeries for fat patients, when weight loss is hardly feasible, that creates a barrier to care that disproportionately affects marginalized people with intersecting identities.

It's also important to know that we have very little data around the outcomes of surgery for fat folks that isn't bariatric weight loss surgery.

A new systematic review by researchers in Sydney, Australia, published in the journal Clinical Obesity, suggests that weight loss diets before elective surgery are ineffective in reducing postoperative complications.

CADTH Health Technology Review Body Mass Index as a Measure of Obesity and Cut-Off for Surgical Eligibility made a similar conclusion:

Most studies either found discrepancies between BMI and other measurements or concluded that there was insufficient evidence to support BMI cut-offs for surgical eligibility. The sources explicitly reporting ethical issues related to the use of BMI as a measure of obesity or cut-off for surgical eligibility described concerns around stigma, bias (particularly for racialized peoples), and the potential to create or exacerbate disparities in health care access.

Nicholas Giori MD, PhD Professor of Orthopedic Surgery at Stanford University, a respected leader in TKA and THA shared his thoughts in Elective Surgery in Adult Patients with Excess Weight: Can Preoperative Dietary Interventions Improve Surgical Outcomes? A Systematic Review:

“Obesity is not reversible for most patients. Outpatient weight reduction programs average only 8% body weight loss [1, 10, 29]. Eight percent of patients denied surgery for high BMI eventually reach the BMI cutoff and have total joint arthroplasty [28]. Without a reliable pathway for weight loss, we shouldn’t categorically withhold an operation that improves pain and function for patients in all BMI classes [3, 14, 16] to avoid a risk that is comparable to other risks we routinely accept.

It is not clear that weight reduction prior to surgery reduces risk. Most studies on this topic involve dramatic weight loss from bariatric surgery and have had mixed results [13, 19, 21, 22, 24, 27]. Moderate non-surgical weight loss has thus-far not been shown to affect risk [12]. Though hard BMI cutoffs are well-intended, currently-used BMI cutoffs nearly have the effect of arbitrarily rationing care without medical justification. This is because BMI does not strongly predict complications. It is troubling that the effects are actually not arbitrary, but disproportionately affect minorities, women and patients in low socioeconomic classes. I believe that the decision to proceed with surgery should be based on traditional shared-decision making between the patient and surgeon. Different patients and different surgeons have different tolerances to risk and reward. Giving patients and surgeons freedom to determine the balance that is right for them is, in my opinion, the right way to proceed.”

I agree with Dr. Giori on this. And I absolutely do not judge anyone who chooses to lose weight prior to a surgery. It's upsetting that it is the only option right now for things like safe anesthesia. Unfortunately, patients with a history of disordered eating (which is a significant percentage of fat people!) are left out of the conversation. There is certainly risk involved in either option and it sucks. I am always open to nuanced discussion, and the one thing I remain firm in is that weight loss is not the answer long-term. We should be looking for other solutions in treating fat patients and studying how to make surgery safer. A lot of this could be solved with more comprehensive training and new medical developments instead of continuously trying to make fat people less fat.

[ladykailitha]

Icarus Part 18

Hey, guys! I'm back!!! I had a great and very productive hiatus, the results of which can be found here.

But tl;dr is that this story is complete, so it will be regularly updated on Sunday until it's done. Then I will release the story that started this all "The Rise of The Fallen" in two parts, also on Sundays. Which will take us all the to December, if you can believe it.

I'm still working on the other stories and at least The Hellfire Exotic Club (stripper), The Caged Bird Still Sings (sugar!baby), and Of Butterflies and Backstrokes (Olympic swimmer) are all going to be fairly long so that should be exciting. Then I'll be working on the fun little game show story now called "A Love Connection". Which won't come out until one of the others ends. Sorry. But WIP Wednesday will show you teases of it until then.

I recommend rereading the previous chapter to refresh your memory and away we go!

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16 Part 17

~

Steve was riding on the best high. Their next song was “Kiss the Boys/Kiss the Girls”. The song was about finding love in whatever form that took. With a full verse on non-binary folks, despite the title. There was nothing in the world that could compare to crowds screaming your name. It didn’t even matter that the name they were screaming wasn’t Steve, it was Abbadon.

He stumbled into the green room that had all their stuff in it. Corroded Coffin had taken the stage and him and his boys were relaxing with their masks off, Hopper at the door.

“I’ve never been so nervous in my life!” Shane said after downing an entire water bottle. “That crowd was massive! And diverse! Usually we just get college aged kids but there were literal kids out there and old time rockers too.”

“Shit, yeah,” Spence said, pushing his hood off his head to splash a little water on his head. He didn’t have a spotlight on him but wearing all black still made for a hot set.

Shane laid down on the floor, sprawled out spread eagle. “Is this is what real fame is like?”

Steve slid off the chair he was sitting in, to sit next to him. “God, I have such mixed feelings about that if it is. Because the energy was off the charts and I’m pretty sure I sung my heart out...”

“But you aren’t sure you keep up with it for the whole tour?” Simon asked quietly.

Steve threw his head back to rest on the seat of the chair. “Yeah. I don’t want to burn out before I turn thirty, you know?”

“You should talk to Eddie about what they do not to burn out,” Spence suggested. “Because they’ve been doing this for ten years and longer tours than this.”

Steve hummed his agreement.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door. “Celeste, incoming,” Hopper muttered, before opening the door.

Anyone in view of the door, put their mask over their face and then off again when the door closed behind their manager.

“Good job, guys,” Robin said cheerily and sat down on the floor between Shane and Steve. “I just got off the phone with Vickie and she says social media is going batshit insane about the song and Steve’s intro. And it’s good. Like really good. There are some assholes, but it seems that even the media and music critics are calling it the next gay anthem.”

“What are they saying?” Simon asked, sitting up on the sofa and scooting to the edge.

Robin grinned. “This is my favorite one: Heaven is where the assholes are, we always knew all the good people were in hell. Keep up the good work, Abbadon and all of the rest of The Fallen. From Metallica’s official Twitter.”

The room was deathly silent for all of two seconds before they all erupted into gleeful screams. They all jumped on her and started hugging her tightly.

“Get off me! Get off me!” she shrieked. “You’re all sweaty and gross!”

They deliberately smeared themselves all over her before they got off, giggling like children.

“Boys!” she huffed dramatically. “So gross. I swear you lot don’t grow up you just get older.”

Steve leaned over and gave a huge kiss on the cheek. “Probably, but you wouldn’t love us if we were any different.”

Robin swiped her cheek in an exaggerated fashion. “Maybe, but boys are still gross.” She went on to tell them all things that Vickie was sending her about the world’s reaction to the song.

Then after a while she bumped into Steve’s shoulder. “Go on. I know you want go watch some of the show, I’ll hold down the fort here.”

Steve smiled at her and gave her shoulder a squeeze. He got to his feet and put his mask back on. After checking to make sure no one was in view, he knocked on the door for Hopper to let him out.

Once the door closed, Robin let out a long sigh. “I worry about those two.”

“Who?” Shane said, sitting up for the first time. “Steve and Eddie? Why?”

She nodded, pulling her knees up to her chest and tucking her chin between her knees. “Being in the closet is hard. And I know Abbadon has come out, but he’s still in the ‘closet’ as it were about his identity and Eddie and Steve having to hide their relationship on top of Steve hiding who is... let’s just say that great relationships then theirs have crumbled under the pressure.”

The room was silent as they all took that in.

“Are we just doomed from having relationships?” Spence asked. “Are we all destined to be lonely?”

Simon’s lips quivered. “I hate that I have all these women throwing themselves at me but they really don’t care who’s under the mask.”

“I hit up every gay bar in every city we tour in as me,” Shane muttered picking at the skin around his nails, “and I don’t know if it’s worse they don’t know who I am than if I had gone as Astraeus.”

“I’m trying to have a girlfriend,” Spence said bitterly, “but all I can tell her is that I travel for work. And yeah it’s new enough she isn’t asking as what, but how much longer can I dodge that question?”

Robin let out another sigh. “I know, and it’s not as though I can really date either. Are they dating the goofy lesbian Robin, or the sophisticated fashion plate, Celeste? But with Eddie I think Steve has it harder.”

“It’s because Eddie is famous, huh?” Simon asked, sliding off the sofa to sit next to Shane on the floor.

Spence got up and curled up around Shane. Robin inserted herself into the pile and they just cuddled until the show was over.

~

Steve wanted to be on that stage more than anything, just singing with Eddie, happy and free. But he was Abbadon right now and while he might get away with it, Steve didn’t feel comfortable with the not being able to kiss his boyfriend senseless.

He waited until the it’s almost time for the encore before he slipped back into the green room. Everyone else is already changed and gone. It’s just Robin as Celeste waiting for him.

“How did he not have a boyfriend before now?” Steve muttered as he pulled on the khakis and blue polo shirt of his ‘uniform.’

Robin snorted. “For the same reason you went pretty thin on the dating field. He was hung up on a special someone.”

Steve blushed and ducked his head. “I’m assume you think it’s me.” He ran his fingers through his hair, trying to get it lay straight after being hidden under the hood for so long.

Robin got to her feet and leaned down to look him in the eye. “Are you telling me you don’t?”

Steve looked away. Robin gently lifted his chin and then held his face her hands. “Steven Kincade Harrington, you listen to me close. You are worthy of love. You are worthy of care. You are worthy of attention. And Eddie Munson is one hundred percent onboard to give all three. Of course he was waiting for you. Any person with eyes can see how much he loves you. Fuck, Simon bristles every time he’s brought up now because instead him being your protector like it used to be, it’s Eddie.”

Steve stared at her with his mouth wide open. “Simon’s jealous of Eddie?”

Robin laughed and kissed his stupid head.

“Babe,” she said fondly. “Spence and Shane have been beating him off with a stick every time Eddie comes around.”

“But Simon doesn’t protect me,” Steve said tilting his head to the side. “I protect him. He’s so painfully shy outside of the band and he’s always curled up on my lap.”

“Please tell me you aren’t that naive,” she said. “He is always sticking up for you about your writing, about your singing. When it comes to band stuff Simon is the biggest mama bear of them all.”

Steve blinked at her for a moment and then mouthed the word “Oh.”

“You are such a dingus,” she said shaking her head. “But you’re my dingus so that evens it out a bit.”

He pushed her playfully. “I’m going to get out there before people wonder where the missing EMT is.”

He slipped out a different way from when he came in and she watched him go. Steve was brilliant at a lot of things, people included. But he always had a blindspot when it came to when other people caring for him.

She sighed and then made her way out of the green room so that Corroded Coffin could unwind now.

Robin passed Chrissy on the way out.

“Hey,” Chrissy said with a huge smile. “My boys want to go afterwards with your boys, you think they’d be down?”

“Of course they would!” she replied. “As The Fallen or no?”

Chrissy slapped her palm to her forehead. “Shit I forgot. As The Fallen. But they have casual masks to go in right?”

Robin smiled back at her. “It’s fine, of course they have casual masks. I’ll let them know. It’ll have to be much later because they have to be see as normies for a bit before they slip back into The Fallen.”

Chrissy winked and tapped the side of her nose. “I got you.”

Just then all the Corroded Coffin boys came bursting from the stage into the wings, whooping and screaming. They huddled together, arms around each other and counted to twenty.

Once they got to one, Eddie screamed whooped again and all four of them ran back on stage.

Robin blinked at them for a moment. “Didn’t they just have an encore?”

Chrissy threw back her head and laughed. “Depending on the city they can do anywhere from two to five encores.”

“Holy shit!” Robin said in genuine awe. “That’s insane.”

“It’s not even their record,” she said.

Robin’s eyebrows shot up. “There’s no way.”

“Six in Salt Lake City,” she explained. “Just coming off their third album, the one with eight singles. Which was too many in my opinion but apparently a couple radio stations thought there were a really good deep tracks and played. Then it got around, yaddy yadda. You get the drift.”

“But six?” Robin asked a little unsure.

Chrissy nodded. “Salt Lake is crazy for that shit though. I’ve heard bands go there if they want their ego stoked.”

“Any bands avoid it for that reason?” Robin giggled.

“I have no doubt there are,” she said with a hum. “Most of the time bands whine about the lack of boobs and booze when they refuse to go back.”

Robin rolled her eyes. “Men are so gross.”

“Agreed,” she replied with a wink. “Go lesbian power.”

Robin fist bumped her. “I’ve got to go look like a PA schlep for awhile. I’ll text you when they’re free.”

“You’ve got it girlie!” Chrissy said.

~

Eddie was not pleased that they were at a bar. A bar was the last place he wanted Gareth to be right now.

But he insisted he would be fine and seemed for the most part to be sticking to a cherry coke, but Eddie was keeping an eye on him.

Things were actually going well until...

Astraeus let out a yelp of pain.

Abbadon and Azrael were on their feet in an instant, Asmodeus close behind. There was a little action going on so Eddie couldn’t see what happened, but oh boy did he see the aftermath.

Standing behind The Fallen’s bassist was an asshole with his phone up, filming and another guy yanking on Astraeus’ hood.

“Get off of him,” Abbadon hissed. “Or else.”

Abbadon was the shortest of his band, but fuck in that moment, he looked the most intimidating.

The dude with phone scoffed. “Or what? I’m filming you, you can’t do shit.”

Steve let out a huge ear-piercing whistle and yelled, “Security!”

The two dudes’ eyes went wide as they turned to scramble away from their table, but ran into two very meaty looking guys flanking Hopper.

“You two boys going somewhere?” the head of security asked, low and dangerously.

“We weren’t doing anything!” the one dude said. Not the one with the phone, but the one who had pulled on Astraeus’ hood.

“Yeah?” he asked. “And would these boys say the same?”

The asshole with the phone scoffed. “They’re just a bunch of weird, rich assholes, they’d say whatever.”

“And the security cameras won’t show you filming your friend here, yanking on this man’s hoodie?”

The two dudes looked at each in actual fear for the first time.

“And by the way, that’s assault,” Hopper continued to press. “So unless you want to be arrested, you’ll delete that little videos of yours unless you really, really want to broadcast your crime to the internet.”

The guy with the phone had Hopper watch him delete it off his phone.

“Good,” he said, “now these two gentlemen are going to escort out of the building, a building you’ll never be allowed to come back to ever again.”

After Hopper left with the bouncers and the two idiots, Gareth turned to them.

“Shit,” he said, “that was fucking terrifying. Does that happen a lot?”

Abbadon and Azrael exchanged a glance.

“More than it really should,” Azrael said. “It’s why Ellie designed a hoodie that would be harder to yank off. The trade off unfortunately is that hurts like a bitch when it’s pulled.”

“That fucking sucks, man,” Jeff said. “The next round of drinks is on me.”

Eddie nodded, but inside he was screaming. He didn’t know that this was something the band experienced at all. And even if he didn’t know who they were, that would still freak him out. But it was worse knowing it was Steve that they were doing this to.

Abbadon squeezed his hand under the table. It didn’t reassure him, not really, but it was still nice that Steve recognized his turmoil.

The night was a little more subdued after that as the Corroded Coffin boys thought about the implications of what just happened and The Fallen boys because all they wanted was a fun night out and it was ruined.

~

Part 19 Part 20 Part 21 Part 22 Part 23 Part 24 Part 25

Tag List: CLOSED

1- @mira-jadeamethyst @rozzieroos @itsall-taken @redfreckledwolf @zerokrox-blog

2- @gregre369 ​@a-little-unsteddie @chaosgremlinmunson @messrs-weasley @val-from-lawrence

3- @goodolefashionedloverboi @carlyv @wonderland-girl143-blog @irregular-child @blondie1006

4- @yikes-a-bee @bookworm0690 @anne-bennett-cosplayer @awkwardgravity1 @littlewildflowerkitten

5- @genderless-spoon @y4r3luv @dragonmama76 @ellietheasexylibrarian @thedragonsaunt

6- @disrespectedgoatman @eyehartart @dawners @thespaceantwhowrites @tinyplanet95

7- @iamthehybrid @croatoan-like-its-hot @papergrenade @cryptid-system @counting-dollars-counting-stars

8- @ravenfrog @w1ll0wtr33 @child-of-cthulhu @kultiras @dreamercec

9- @machete-inventory-manager @useless-nb-bisexual @stripey82 @dotdot-wierdlife @kal-ology

10- @sadisticaltarts @urkadop @chameleonhair @clockworkballerina @garden-of-gay

[heavenlymorals]

Biblical References in the RDR Games: Part 2

You guys seemed to LOVE my original biblical references post for Red Dead so I am here to post some more because there are SO MANY. And like before, I am aware that some of these may be complete reaches, but it's my blog and I do what I want 🙃

Enjoy babes ❤️

@headersandheelers @secretcheesecakenacho Since you guys wanted to get tagged ❤️🤭

Arthur and Dutch mirror Moses and Pharaoh in chapter six. Arthur begs Dutch to let his "chosen" go, who are the people who he believes have a chance in living without the baggage of the gang (the women and John and his family). Dutch refuses to let them go, which creates the biggest conflict in chapter 6.

Arthur kicking out Strauss gives me heavy Matthew 21:12-14. Basically, Jesus kicks out loan sharks and sellers from a temple designated as a house of worship where people can be helped. Their presence destroyed the sanctity and the purity of the temple. Both the gang and the temple existed originally to help folks, but the presence of people like loan sharks destroy that original mission. So yes, Arthur kicking out Strauss is a parallel to Jesus kicking out the loan sharks from the temple.

The color for high honor is blue while the color for low honor is red. Blue in the bible is very often associated with heaven and God. Red in the bible represents the flesh that humans are trapped in during their time on earth, which can then correlate back to sin and violent.

Micah was a prophet in the bible who is most known for predicting the fall Jerusalem. Micah in the game also predicts the fall of the gang in the sense that he was the one who caused it. The name Micah also means he who is like God, so the irony is kinda funny.

John being able to see the cracks in the gang before many of the other characters could very well be a reference to this passage: "For you will know the Truth and the Truth will set you Free" - John 8:32. Abigail in RDR also says this which is a reference to this passage: "You knew the truth, John. And they hated you for it."

Just another passage that reminds of Arthur's redemption and the whole searching for peace thing: "Turn away from evil and do good. Search for peace, and work to maintain it" Psalm 34:14

The mission "A Fisher of Men" is a reference to Matthew 4:18-20. "While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him." Of course, beyond just the action of fishing with Jack, this is also a parallel to Arthur's empathetic yet still firm style of talking to Jack. "It's about time you earned your keep." "You got to stick at things, Jack."

The mission "The Sheep and the Goats." In Matthew 25:31-46, it describes how God will separate people in two groups. The "sheep" will inherit heaven and the "goats" will be damned. You can connect that to the gang as well. The sheep are the ones who leave Dutch while the goats stay with him and become damned or a shameful version of who they once were.

Also note in the epilogue how John says he doesn't like goats and chooses sheep as the first animals to raise on his ranch. That could also connect to Matthew 25:31-46.

The mission name "Do Not Seek Absolution" is really interesting to me because it's the first biblical mission name that could either be a reference to scripture, which I'm thinking Deuteronomy 12:13 in the sense that one shouldn't offer their praise or worship to false gods who won't answer prayers (think Arthur and Dutch and how Arthur was still following Dutch after the gang lost it's original image) or a rejection ofa the Christian mindset of the time. Absolution is the idea of the promise of having your sins forgiven by God. It might be saying that Arthur should try to redeem himself by his action towards the person rather than his guilt towards a higher power.

Molly getting burnt rather than having a funeral is less a biblical detail but more a cultural detail. Though cremation wasn't really condemned in the Bible, the passages about being buried in the ground or in tombs was the people's standards in how they wanted their dead body to be handled due to religious reasoning. Whether or not Molly is Protestant or culturally Catholic (I lean the latter), the fact that Grimshaw asks for her body to be burnt just adds so much more weight to how cruelly traitors of the gang were dealt with

Love this stuff sm

[ravingsockmonkey]

My top 24 screenshots for 2024

I got tagged by @changingplumbob for this, and woo I've got my work cut out for me! Genuinely, it was tough coming up with ONLY 24 screenshots. I could have kept on going until I hit the 30 cap.

To help make things feel a bit less chaotic (at least for me), I'll put SF1, SF2, and MISC to distinguish between save file 1 and save file 2 (which function as semi-connected AUs) and screenshots from miscellaneous saves that don't see as much consistent gameplay (like ones used to test patches and mods). Don't feel bad if none of that makes sense, lol.

Stuffing all the screenshotty goodness under the cut so folks can scroll on by if they would like.

1 - OK, I know this is not quite in the spirit of things mayhaps, but every time I look at this I want to scream. It's the only one that actually has a number ranking because of the sheer audacity of it all. Mr. Darrel Fucking Charm, a man with two toddlers in the other room (from two other sims I might add), actively taking care of a newborn who is one of a set of twins, that the man himself sired from an autonomous try for baby interaction in a pre-LS save that only had the Open Love Life mod installed at the time with his partner, Johnny, who he had only known for less than a full in game day, has assessed the situation at hand and is like "I want to do it again." - SF1

2 - Werewolf toddlers are great, and Rachael Charm was the cutest toddler! - SF1

3 - Darrel Charm being absolutely fed up with Casey Goth breaking into his house and stealing his tomes. - SF1

4 - "I want to be like dad!" Stephen and Malcolm Landgraab (don't worry, this Malcolm's actually a good dad) - SF2

5 - I made a basement pool for Caleb and Don - MISC

6 - Johnny Zest not-so-subtly sending a message to his parents. - MISC

7 - "STOP CALLING MY SISTER" - Robin Charm confronts her sister's dead-beat bio mom after she did one of those guilt trippy "when are you coming to visit?" calls. - SF2

8 - Finding your ex in the trash where you left him. - SF2

9 - Azure Goth finds Max Villareal's (they/them) Duplicato clone, Valentino (they/them) wandering around Willow Creek near her home. For some reason they refused to despawn. She took them home, lol. - SF2

10 - Speaking of Max, a copy of them got sucked into SF1 whenever Casey Goth tried to Necrocall the actual SF1!Max. So technically two Maxs exist in SF1: this one (shown with Lucas Munch [they/them]) and the actual world's Max (he/him) who is a ghost. - SF1

11 - That time whenever I got jumpscared by a vampire sim I made myself and put in a Racoon costume because it was funny at the time. - SF1

12 - Eileen Spurlock, mother of Bo Cash, claiming his death was a loss of no one of any importance. - MISC

13 - "Is there someone you forgot to ask?" - MISC

14 - Hector, can you please fuck off? - MISC

15 - A revived Bo Cash reunites with his sister, Meghan Spurlock, after years of no contact. - MISC

16 - Johnny Zest wearing the shortest shorts known to sim and humankind. - MISC

17 - Dusty Charm sitting with Grandma Charm's rocket missing her. - MISC

18 - Jeb's love and regret. - SF1

19 - Max Villareal, evil horse girl. - MISC

20 - TFW you fumble your Watcher-made relationship so badly that you practically hand him to your little brother (featuring Max Villareal [they/them], Erich Villareal, and Orlando Villareal). - SF2

21 - Best girl, Allie, giving smooches to Joshua Landgraab. - SF2

22 - Two brothers, each bound by the night in their own way, meet together under the moon to reconcile and reconnect. - SF1

23 - Toe in Mouth milestone! Harry Charm is a cutie~ - SF1

24 - Noah. Fucking. Harris. Enough said. - SF2

[britcision]

New day new conspiracy to be unhinged about woooooo

SO.

This right here.

The moment where Kabru reveals he’s Milsiril’s baby boy (and more relevantly the last survivor of Utaya)

Kabru telling them that he actually wanted to enlist in the Canaries directly, but couldn’t because of the racial barrier. How true that is……. Well let’s say I’m sure he wanted to when he was little, buuuuut by the time he left it wasn’t that they wouldn’t let him

And tbh the reason why is very much the next panel:

The Canaries learn he’s Milsiril’s little boy and immediately fucking claim him as theirs, asking if he’s been eating well, if he wants cake, telling him to cheer up and smile sometimes

It is notably the convicts, especially Otta and Fleki although Cithis has been leading the conversation; Pattadol is not in frame and Mithrun ruins all their fun by staying on track

Kabru is not 30 seconds out of saying he was raised by their vice commander before he is being babied, and there’s a fun read of just “well this is our child now we must care for him for Milsiril hello new nephew”

But. Given what we later learn Milsiril’s care is actually like. The room where Kabru could eat all the cake that he wanted, that he never ever wanted to return to even when freezing and starving.

Where she gave him such arduous and extensive sword training he thought he would die, with the stated intent of showing him how bad it could be to make him give up and stay with her forever.

“Wanna eat some cake” is suddenly a much darker comment, and doesn’t have a directional bubble, so I’mma pin it on Cithis on general Sketchy Bitch vibes

Now, that only makes sense if these folks know Milsiril directly, or have some way to know what her home life is like for her adoptees

(Or Cithis can read minds which let’s be honest absolutely no one needs to be true but she deserves it)

But. So does that immediate tonal shift

“Oh, you’re Milsiril’s kid. Now we care about you beyond being an interruption.”

We know Pattadol is on her very first mission. We know Cithis has been responsible for Mithrun’s care for long enough while he’s back on active duty that she gets bored of her new doll.

(And that she only started respecting him after they acquired Pattadol, whiiiiich. He got back to active duty 14 years ago. None of the other Canaries got their own timeline, but he’s also had long enough to have an established track record of getting his warden partners killed

When Flamela assigns Cithis to his wellbeing, she pretty clearly knows the extent of his caretaking issues, and this whole section of the timeline is fuzzy, but it is specifically Pattadol who is the first to tempt Cithis into telling Mithrun to hurt her

And specifically not until after he refuses that she begins to respect him)

Milsiril has been retired for the same 14 year period, taking Kabru and for some reason one of her own Canary convicts home with her, but she served with Mithrun when he initially became a Dungeon Lord 40 years pre series… and most of that squad died in Mithrun’s dungeon

(Also his lover became a snake person at some point for some reason sooooo monsterfucker ahoy)

(We know that’s the lover from both Mithrun’s initial vision and his Adventurer’s Bible comic which identifies his brother as the one with the short hair. Presumably they were not always a snake?)

None of the names he gave Kabru in his backstory refer to any of his current party members

Otta and Fleki mention Milsiril in Otta’s comic when teasing Otta about being a pedophile because she only dates halffoot women and breaks up with them when they turn 30

(This being past middle age for halffoots, who become adults at 13 and live to around 50; Chilchuck is 29.

One might expect… say… visible signs of aging to show up around 30. Reminders of how little time they have left. Although, frankly, how much free time does Otta actually have to be dating outside of work???? They’re so shorthanded Mithrun made captain the minute he could serve after Utaya)

Ahem. We digress.

Otta’s reaction (directly saying Milsiril treats shorter lived people like pets while she loves them as individuals, which Kabru Does Not Deny) might be because she’s seen Milsiril’s behaviour directly, or just being sick of the comparison. Hard to say, but Milsiril already doesn’t like elves

No, the conspiracy theory today is that CITHIS in particular has worked with Milsiril between Mithrun being rescued and Utaya’s destruction, possibly with Fleki and Otta

They’re all close to Mithrun’s age so there’s a very real possibility they were serving when Utaya fell, and either were lucky enough not to get sent there (there are so many dungeons in the world) or unlucky enough not to retire in the aftermath

Dumping Mithrun with Milsiril’s survivors makes perfect sense - the two had served together as wardens and Milsiril Barest Possible Minimum took a personal interest in Mithrun returning to duty after Utaya

She’s the one getting him to take his first steps and tells him she’ll get him back in a dungeon

Milsiril, known hater of elves, left the Canaries on good enough terms with her convicts to take one with her (Helki, shown in Mithrun’s story and Kabru’s training flashbacks - the only other survivor we know of from Mithrun’s dungeon)

And these particular convicts immediately brighten up knowing that Kabru is one of Milsiril’s; he’s in a very different position from Mithrun, who basically has direct power over their lives and deaths, but if you have a potentially unstable new captain who’s gonna be extra dependent on his convicts coming in…

Well, it’d be nice if the convicts have a reason beyond “well if both of our wardens die we can’t use magic so we will too” to keep him alive and moving

Note: they did at some point hand him directly over to fucking Cithis, who has an established track record of wrapping her captains around her little finger and doing whatever the fuck she wants anyway

(To the point that she’s left and “rejoined” the Canaries multiple times, and her behaviour with Mithrun is considered her having calmed down… while actively trying to have him hurt his subordinate wardens and plotting to kill Pattadol)

So. Not. Y’know. Convinced that anyone necessarily was thinking that particular assignment through. Although you could argue that they were just heading off the inevitable and letting her know this one is high maintenance

ANYWAY.

Tl;dr: Mithrun’s a monsterfucker, this is established fact and not a conspiracy theory

Kabru’s been adopted by the Canaries the second they know who his mom is, which may explain why no one actually tries to stop him when he grabs Mithrun later despite him not having a weapon

(Fear of Milsiril finding out they’ve hurt her boy > rescuing Mithrun or later even stopping Kabru from helping Laios repeatedly)

And Cithis, Fleki, and possibly Otta worked directly with Milsiril at one point before Utaya, which is why Mithrun was given them specifically - he was one of Milsiril’s projects too, Milsiril’s personal involvement unclear

How much this has to do with Mithrun getting all his warden comrades killed but apparently not his convicts: unclear

(Still bet Cithis “helped” with the warden before Pattadol)

[thalialunacy]

[written for the @calaisreno FABULOUS MAY PROMPTS FEST! This is the last one from me, folks. Thanks for being along for the ride. 💋]

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) (12) (13) (14) (15) (16) (17) (18) (19) (20) (21) (22) (23) (24) (25) (26) (27) (28) (29) (30) 31: pride

'End, begin, all the same.' - Aughra, "The Dark Crystal"

The tannoy at the train station nearest Sherlock's parents' house is phlegmatic enough that John almost doesn't catch their names being called.

He exchanges glances with Sherlock over the top of Rosie's head, but the detective is of no real help. 'Fine, then. Let's go at least see what it is.'

Sherlock makes his Calculating Risk face, then nods. 'The odds of it being an assassin are low.'

'Comforting,' John replies dryly as they exit towards the car park. Then he sees what's ahead of them. 'Are you sure?'

Because in the waiting zone is an understated but incredibly expensive car, and there's a well-suited, quietly brick house-like man standing by the driver's side door.

'Fairly,' Sherlock says, mouth twisting. 'He's one of Mycroft's.'

'Not reassuring, really.'

The man assesses them blandly as they approach. 'My only objective is the car hand-off, gents. You're to drive yourselves.'

John shifts Rosie to his other side. 'Yes, erm. Where… To?'

'Dumfries,' the man says shortly, handing a thin dossier to Sherlock. 'Cheers.'

Sherlock watches him go with a scowl. 'If Mycroft could stop being an interfering busybody for one moment-- Oh.'

John glances at his expression, and clearly there's something of note in the dossier--presumably a case--but he has a toddler to wrestle into a car seat. Because of course there's a carseat. Interfering or no, Mycroft is an incredibly detail-oriented busybody.

Sherlock's scowl stays in place as they get underway, and John clears his throat. 'Want me to fire up the old GPS?'

Sherlock looks for a moment like John's vocabulary pains him -- it probably does, John thinks with not a little bit of amusement -- then nods.

This is unusual-- Sherlock likes to show off his navigation skills, and to be fair, John finds them impressive-- so John complies without issue. He pulls open the dossier and scans it for the name of their lodgings, which he puts into his phone absently. 'I've not been to this part of Scotland since I was a kid. There's a triangular castle with a real siege weapon, and--'

He stops. Stares at the phone screen.

"Gretna Green," it declares as their destination.

'I see you've figured out Mycroft's cunning plan,' Sherlock intones.

John lets out an incredulous laugh. 'Is he taking the piss?'

'He's hired us a car which is probably worth more than the one he owns, so I'd say not.'

As if on cue (and that will never not be creepy, John swears) John's phone pings with several texts.

Consider this a hint.

The case is more than adequate, if my brother complains.

Don't let your country, or my mother, down.

MH

John opens his mouth, but Sherlock cuts him off. 'He sent me a similar message.'

'Lovely,' John mutters. 'Well.' He considers. 'The hired house looks like something out of a very brand-conscious fairy tale, so that'll be amusing for Rosie.'

'Grimms tales, maybe,' Sherlock mutters. John's lips quirk.

They're silent for a while, comfortable, listening to Rosie smash plastic toys together in the back-- she's very fond of dinosaurs, particularly the bloodthirsty kind-- and not really watching the countryside go by.

John's scrolling through podcast options on his phone when Sherlock eventually breaks the silence. 'Do you know--' he starts.

'Probably not,' John says easily.

'Gretna Green have actually been very reluctant about relinquishing their old-fashioned image.'

John watches his face. 'Meaning… white?'

Sherlock's mouth quirks. 'Among other things.' He glances at John, who only takes a moment to get the inference.

'Ah, I see. Well.' He considers it, then his risk-loving brain decides for him. He plucks Sherlock's free hand up and presses his lips to one knuckle. 'Feel like upsetting some apple carts?' he asks, smirking.

Sherlock's hand tightens with his answering grin. 'God, yes.'

Fin fuckin finally

[Y'all, I have been to Gretna Green and it's reeeeal heteronormative, despite technically offering same-sex weddings (eg that's literally the only queer-coded picture on the site afaik). I just love the idea of J&S causing chaos there by being extraordinarily traditional while also being two blokes, and, you know, being themselves.]

[leiflitter]

Have some more Saltburn Thoughts from someone who was y'know

Sentient in the UK in 2006/2007

Because it's honestly pretty important in a lot of the Stuff About It.

So I was 13/14, so obvs a little younger but!

Section 28 had been repealed 3 years before, which effectively meant schools couldn't teach about anything other than heterosexual relationships- and was still found to be impacting sex ed in 2016. Farleigh being an absolute pansexual menace is honestly fucking iconic.

This also goes into why Felix and Ollie didn't just fuck- when I was in secondary school and college, there were maybe one or two "out" lgbtqi+ folks, and even then... if you weren't popular, you would absolutely be a target for horrendous bullying. Felix's family may have been cool, but Oliver would have just come from a world where Gay was a go-to insult.

Yes, everyone dressed Like That. Y2k fashion nowadays has taken the good parts, but the peak of girl fashion was wearing jeans under miniskirts and about 3 layered t-shirts. LOW RISE JEANS. Absolutely awful.

You couldn't go anywhere without hearing The Black Parade, which tbh probably explains a lot given that I was at a very malleable stage in development.

Posh people are absolutely from another planet. I did a course thingy with my school's science club at the University of Strathclyde and the one posh kid there was absolutely astounded by, say, us not knowing how to ski. He was a cool dude, though.

EVERYBODY cool at my school smoked. I'm talking 13 year olds. It was A Thing and it Was Cool. I was not cool, so I escaped.

[friendsim2]

Hi! I just wanna say I finally got to finish volume 13 and I loved what you have done with the story!! Can't wait for the volume 14!

I have to ask though, since it's nearing the end of this game. Do you have any other plans for other games? Or is this it? You guys seem REALLY talented and I'd love to support and see your work much more! Though if it's unclear that's fine too! Please keep creating! :D

(Jonaya, FS2's lead writer and developer, responding)

Oh boy do we ever have plans for more games!

While we don't have plans for more Homestuck content, nor will we likely have such a big team on future games, we have a couple ideas for future visual novel/adventure game projects, as well as some ideas for smaller projects with a couple of people on the team.

The hope was to get FS2 done, and then to put some time and money into a couple smaller pieces before tackling something else larger in scope. There's also a set of RenPy development tools that I'm working on that I'd like to get out there, since I think they'd be helpful both in developing our own games and for other RenPy developers.

I'm the main writer/developer on stuff and plan to continue doing that, Anna is our primary composer and voice director, and I've spoken with a couple of our artists about working together in the future. One of the nice things about FS2 was building up a good working relationship with a lot of awesome, talented folks who I'd love to continue making stuff with.

If you'd like to play another visual novel we published, check out "Welcome to Your First Day at Amazicom" which is a short visual novel originally developed for the Fuck Capitalism game jam. It's a short play, and it's free!

It's unlikely that we'll have anything out before next year other than FS2, but we'll cross-post announcements on here when we start working on other things!

[juniper-divination-and-witchery]

The Evil Eye in Irish Folklore

In pre-modern Ireland, like in many other cultures, the power of the gaze held immense significance. Practices and customs associated with the evil eye were passed down through generations, and many were collected in The School's Collection in the 1930s.

The School's Collection has proven to be an indispensable asset in my exploration of Irish paganism. However, it can be quite a task to read, classify, and integrate all the materials on any given topic. The following are my notes from what I've encountered searching the records, but I hope they'll prove useful to others.

What is the evil eye in the Irish folk tradition?

In Irish folk traditions, the evil eye was believed to possess an otherworldly power, capable of causing illness, misfortune, and even death.

It was believed that those who possessed the evil eye could knowingly or unknowingly project this baneful magic onto others simply through their gaze. The evil eye could affect many aspects of life including people, livestock, and crops.

This ability is often referred to as "overlooking" or "blinking" in the Duchas records and the terms can be used interchangeably.

In this locality, long ago, it was a common belief, that if people met with any reverses, or suffered any loss of property, the misfortune was due to "the evil-eye," meaning that some person supposed to have an evil eye "overlooked" their property, and that was considered the reason for the particular piece of ill-luck. If a person with an "evil-eye" took particular notice of any animal, for example, the animal would either do himself an injury or pine away gradually. Usually, the possessors of the "evil eye" were not aware that they had such a particular kind of eye, or were connected with other people's misfortunes. Duchas.ie

What causes the evil eye?

There are numerous things that could cause someone to be born with the evil eye (people are generally considered to be born with it rather than acquiring it later in life). Some of the reasons recorded are:

Having the surname Marrinan 1, 2, 3 or Kingfisher 4.

Being born on Whit Sunday (the seventh Sunday after Easter) 5, 6 or on June 29th 7

Babies returning to breastfeeding after being weaned 8, 9

Babies seeing their baptismal towel before it was washed 10

Your Godparents omitting a word during your baptism 11

Prevention of the evil eye

To protect themselves from the ill effects of being overlooked, people developed customs and rituals, the most popular of which included:

Waiting to light their fires on May Day so that the evil eye did not take their luck and profit for the coming year 12

Placing St. Brigid's crosses around the home (and outhouses) 13, 14

Nailing a donkey's shoe to the threshold of the home (this also helped to guard against the Good Neighbors) 15

For animals, placing a Gauldoron Garragh knot on their back would provide protection 16

Using red items (usually cloth) to distract the evil eye 17, 18, 19, 20, 21

Asking God to bless the person or thing being talked about after you suspect an overlooker (a common term for those who possess the evil eye) has spoken about them 22, 23, 24, 25

Jumping through the flames at midsummer 5

Cures for the evil eye

If all your preventative measures failed, there were several cures that could be tried.

For a baby born on Whit Sunday or another unlucky day, the cure was to place green sod over them three times 4, 6, 8

A cure commonly used with animals thought to have been overlooked was to write the overlooker's name (if known) or the entire alphabet (if the overlooker's name is unknown) onto a piece of paper or other burnable material and burn it under the animal's nose so that it inhales the smoke 26, 27, 28, 29, 30

A piece of thatch from the overlooker's house, or even a piece of their clothing can also be burned under an animal or person's nose (or burned and then the ashes put into a drink) to cure the evil eye 27, 28, 29

Water from a place where three townslands meet can cure when sprinkled on the overlooked animal or person, but the person who gets the water must not speak to anyone on their way there and back 30

Forge water can also be used in the same way 31

While the belief in the evil eye has faded over time, the echoes of these traditions can still be felt in Irish culture today. These records serve as a reminder of the deep-rooted folklore and superstitions that once shaped the lives of the Irish people and can help inform our Irish pagan practices today.

[too-antigonish]

Tux Tuesday: String Quartet Edition

Morse doesn't just wear his tux so he can stand around and look pretty.

Nope, sometimes he wears his tux to go to a performances of the Debussy String Quartet...

For instance...

...at about 14 minutes into S3E4: Coda, Morse attends an outdoor concert at one of the Oxford colleges. The performance includes Debussy's String Quartet in G minor, Op. 10 (L.91). What we see played is a brief excerpt of the beginning of the third movement, "Andantino, doucement expressif."

Debussy’s only string quartet (composed in 1893) was revolutionary for its time. He kept the usual four-movement structure but used harmonies, rhythms, and tonal shifts that broke every rule in the book. It was all of a piece with the French milieu of the time--the same one that brought us Symbolist poets and Impressionist painters.

The third movement, which appears in this episode, is drastically different from the other 3 which are highly rhythmic, energetic, and use a lot of repeating themes. The  Andantino is still intense, but in a really sustained, dreamlike way.

Lots of music used in Endeavour has contains an element related to the plot or some other nod to the episode. In this case I can’t see any connection with the possible exception of a few characters who might be seen as similar to Debussy himself. He was a man renowned for both mismanagement of money and his absolutely horrible treatment of the women in his life.

The Alban Berg Quartet has a good recording:

String Quartet in G Minor, Op. 10, L. 91: III. Andantino, doucement expressif

If you’re looking for something a little different, I much prefer Ravel’s quartet to Debussy’s. He hated Debussy (because almost everyone did) but still used his quartet as a model and you can hear the influence. It’s much more of a banger though. Also, Quatuor Ébène is amazing:

BBT20 Sunday 11 June 2023 - Quatuor Ébène plays its signature work Ravel's String Quartet in F

Morse also saw a Beethoven quartet played in Oracle:

At around 36 minutes into S7E1: Oracle, just before he meets Ludo, he is watching a performance of Beethoven's String Quartet No. 13 in B-flat Op. 130. It's the 5th and most famous movement, the "Cavatina: Adagio molto espressivo."

The quartet is one of the composer’s Late Quartets (12-16). When they were first published, a lot of people seriously thought he’d lost it. They were just that “different” from what had come before. As is the way with such things, they’re now generally regarded as masterpieces.

The Cavatina from the 13th Quartet (which like several of the late quartets was written with more than the usual four movements) is additionally regarded as one of Beethoven’s greatest works overall. One of its biggest claims to fame is that it was included on the Voyager Golden Record that was sent into space in the seventies.

While I like the Cavatina, it’s not my favorite—and it’s definitely a piece where the quality of the performance makes all the difference. I’ve heard versions that are breathtaking and versions that are deadly dull.

Like the Debussy, this is a piece without an obvious connection to the episode. Given the Voyager connection, I desperately wish they had found a way to use this piece in Apollo. It would have been perfect. It’s quite literally music that we chose to send into space.

I love the Takács Quartet’s recordings:

Beethoven: String Quartet No. 13 in B-Flat Major, Op. 130 - 5. Cavatina. Adagio molto espressivo

If you need something to wake you up after the Cavatina, I highly recommend the Grosse Fuge. It’s one of my all-time favorite pieces. It was the original final movement to the 13th String Quartet but folks hated it so much that Beethoven replaced it and published it separately. Some quartets still perform it separately and some put it back with the rest of the 13th. Either way it’s non-stop stunning.

Beethoven: Grosse Fuge in B-Flat Major, Op. 133

[gizkasparadise]

2023 wrapped: cdrama edition!

taking a page from @dangermousie and doing an overview of all the cdramas i watched this year (i'll do one for kdramas later)! listed in order of least favorite to most favorite. favorite =/= objectively best/most well-made. just the ones i had the most fun watching.

15 have a crush on you. oh dear lord. this drama should be a case study for what happens when a bad drama has charismatic actors and they keep you trapped hostage. i watched this whole damn thing hating every minute of it on behalf of the poor female lead who definitely deserved better. the ending? absolutely batshit, and not in a fun way. one of the weirdest, worst endings ive seen since with you

14 back from the brink. too kitschy for me, i didn't last long on this one (i think 2 eps lol).

13 gone with the rain. i wanted to like this one because i love sean sun and troll general is exactly what i want out of life. but i didn't like the weird daydream asides, constant animal noise sound effects, and i found everyone kind of off-putting in a non-watchable way, so i peaced out really quick--ep 4ish

12 here we meet again. i love janice wu. i continue to try out her dramas hoping for something to grab me again. this one was pretty boring/too focused on the work element and not the rest of it.

11 exclusive fairytale. i have a secret weakness for youth-to-working-life dramas, so tried this one out. flat, not a lot of chemistry, and very color-by-numbers. the show was clearly made to vehicle jun, and that's okay, but not my thing

10 the starry love. i wanted to like this one because the side characters were fun and i loved the male lead/prince of heaven and all his awkward "please leave by 9" energy. but it bored me overall and unlike most folks i had no interest in the demon secondary ship. i dropped around ep 10

9 my journey to you. it kills me to rank this one so low because it was my most anticipated cdrama this year, but i just couldn't get into it. the pacing was too slow for me, and i couldn't stand how everyone talked to each other (long. pauses. and then. staring. and then. whispers. always the. whispers). i dropped this around midway

8 the love you give me. the chemistry between the leads was cute and it was a decent modern romance. started losing me around the midpoint when the paternity reveal hit and the ML got way into boundary crossing because of it

7 circle of love. objectively not a good drama. in fact, a toxic and batshit drama that has probably made me a worse person for watching it. but gd did my messy ass enjoy the trainwreck.

6 road home. you really got to be in the mood for this one, but it's a nice, understated and slow melo romance. but def not a bingeable show since it takes its time with everything

5 wonderland of love. another drama that i dont think is objectively great, but two competent schemers/martial artists trying to one-up each other is like ship catnip for me and this was a show that lived or died by its ship. surprisingly tame for the screenwriter, and had a happy ending! popcorn watch.

4 till the end of the moon. me and this drama were in a bad romance, which i suppose is thematically appropriate. i hated parts of it, i was super invested in others. the post-dream human arc was giving wuthering heights tragic obsession incredibleness. even with its flaws, i think most of cdramaland is in agreement that lyx/tantai jin stole the ML competition this year. great gowns, beautiful gowns

3 story of kunning palace. i adored the characters in this drama! even when the plot was losing my interest, everyone was cast so well and had so much charisma that i stayed pretty hooked from ep 10ish on. absolutely loved the mean high school theatre director wreck that was xie wei, as well as the other (imo) true love interest of the show, princess leyang. the desperate speech about being like iron is gonna live rent-free in my head

& then 1&2 are way ahead of the others for me this year/a very close race between them!

2 a journey to love. i love this drama so much!!! i have not skipped or speed watched a single scene which for me is a huge feat! great character work across the board -- even the side characters have a lot of nuance and interesting dynamics between them. beautiful fight scenes. great ost. one of the best, most balanced main couples ive seen in a show. it's gonna break my heart in a few eps when it ends, but i'll be happy about it

1 lost you forever (s1). this drama came out of NOWHERE and the vicegrip it had on me while it was airing!!! my favorite FL this year (although a journey to love's ruyi is a close second), and just a ton of fun while also being quietly devastating in parts. i loved how lived in and tired the FL felt, enjoyed the various flavors of mess from her love interests, and enjoyed how extra it could go while still giving us really grounded and complicated characters. this drama gets extra points for converting me on several actors i did not think that highly of before the show.

overall, despite how many i dropped (lol writing it out made me realize i dropped so, so many), cdramas delivered for me this year! my top two are on my short list for favorite dramas, period. everyone go watch a journey to love and lost you forever if you havent yet!!!

AWARDS

Favorite ship: definitely goes to ruyi and yuanzhou from a journey to love. it's just nice to see a couple that mutually supports each other's murders

Favorite FL: xiaoyao from lost you forever with ruyi from journey to love as a very close runner-up. i am here for this year's theme of competent, jaded ladies trying to reclaim their lives

Favorite ML: objectively, tantai jin from till the end of the moon should win this, but story of kunning palace's xie wei was just so entertainingly grumpy, petty, and unhinged which is a winning combo for me.

Favorite 2FL: princess yang ying from a journey to love. she's doing amazing and im proud of her!!

Favorite 2ML: technically third male lead, but xiang liu from lost you forever was my favorite to watch and had the best tuxedo mask exits

Best Cast: a journey to love, i literally adore all of them, even the ones i hate

Best Blood Cough: tantai jin, you beautiful bastard who needs a bib

[marxonculture]

Albums of the Year 2024

I used to do this every year, but as with everything else in my life, the pandemic and academia got in the way. This is the first year since 2021 where I've made a concerted effort to keep up with (at least to some extent) new music, and I'm feeling the itch to do that typical too-online, self-indulgent thing of writing up a list of my favourite new albums of the year in the vain hope someone might care about it.

Believe it or not, I used to do a full 50-album list, but I'm chilling out a bit with this one and limiting it to 20. These are the records that have gotten me through a hugely transitional year in my life, and my only hope is that if you're reading this, at least one of these records might end up meaning something to you, too.

20. Cunningham Bird by Madison Cunningham and Andrew Bird

A collaboration, built over the last few years, culminates in a wonderful ode to one of the greatest, most volatile, singer/songwriter collaborations of all time.

19. Understory: Live at the Village Vanguard by Ben Wendel

One of those great, live jazz recordings that makes you feel as if you're sat in the venue, watching it all unfold. Brought me back to my own, religious experience at the Vanguard from a couple years ago.

18. Woodland by Gillian Welch and David Rawlings

The neo-old time genre's greatest songwriting duo return with an unapologetically contemporary suite of beautiful new songs. There's a reason Welch is your favourite folk songwriter's favourite songwriter.

17. Nothing by Louis Cole and the Metropole Orkest

If you're into Louis Cole's whole deal, then the majority of this record will feel pleasantly familiar to you. Just add on a full orchestra to give the oddball's usual brand of jazz/funk/fever dream songwriting some extra depth, as well as provide a new colour palette for some rather daring compositional diversions. Lovely.

16. Eagle's Point by Chris Potter

Not a huge amount to say about this one other than that it's an immensly entertaining set of new tunes from four of the greatest jazz musicians currently alive. What's not to like?

15. King of the Mischievous South Vol. 2 by Denzel Curry

Not usually my preferred brand of hip-hop, but at this point, I'll give anything Denzel Curry does a chance, and while this record isn't as much my thing as his last few projects, it's so meticulously made and visceral that I've found myself returning to it over and over again.

14. HIT ME HARD AND SOFT by Billie Eilish

The first of three absolutely essential pop records from 2024 on this list. Eilish and her brother/producer have designed an imaculate album of queer love (and lust) songs which feel especially mature for such a young artist.

13. Against the Fall of Night by Sungazer

I'm glad bassist Adam Neely has diverted his attention away from video essays to focus on his metrically-experimental, electronic jazz group, Sungazer, because this band is doing legitimately crazy and fascinating work. Give this a spin if you like the challenge of trying to head bang to music which refuses to be rhythmically predictable.

12. brat by Charli XCX

Maybe the album of the year in terms of pure cultural dominance. brat is, by my count, second only to one other pop record released in this calendar year (stay tuned). If you could make an audio recording of adrenaline, it'd sound like this. Summer may be over, but I'm not ready to stop bumpin' that.

11. Cowboy Carter by Beyoncé

She's just unstoppable, okay? This latest record from arguably the most famous woman alive is properly totemic pop Americana. If I had to pick a single song of the year, it might be '16 Carriages', which makes it all the more impressive that the rest of the album is good enough to hold up in comparison. It's also cool getting to see some of my favourite bluegrass musicians being involved in a project this massive.

10. Speak to Me by Julian Lage

Julian Lage might be the single most impressive jazz guitarist alive. All of his projects are good if not great, but this one was particularly exciting because he made his recorded return to the acoustic guitar - a real treat whenever it happens. Surrounded by a large-ish and very eclectic ensemble of musicians, Lage's compositions and playing sparkle even more than usual.

9. Wall of Eyes by The Smile

I like Radiohead, okay? I do think Yorke, Greenwood and drummer Tom Skinner have found something special with this new collaboration. The sophomore record is more assured than their debut and has Yorke's best songwriting in years. This stuff is hypnotic!

8. All Now by The Staves

I was so worried that after the eldest Stavely-Taylor sister left the band, that the sound produced by the two remaining sisters would suffer some. Sometimes it's nice to be emphatically proven wrong. All Now is a sonic extention of The Staves' last record, Good Woman, but this one trades wistful melancholy for relentless optimism, and my goodness does it work for them.

7. Fearless Movement by Kamasi Washington

There are very few things more satisfying than when an artist you've felt let down by in the past makes an unequivocal return to form. Kamasi Washington has always been compelling, but I've found him liable to get caught up in his own legend at times at the expense of his music. This new record feels a lot more grounded and a lot more substantial. It's also just a ton of fun!

6. Väsen & Hawktail by Väsen and Hawktail

Two of the most exciting acoustic ensembles in the world, who have been dancing around one another for years now, have finally come together for a full-length record, and it's marvellous! Both bands have lost a member to other projects recently, so given their natural proclivity for each other's music, it made sense for them to collaborate in order to fill those gaps. The sound of these combined groups is nothing short of miraculous. If you like instrumental folk music at all, then this is essential listening.

5. Service Merchandise by Previous Industries

Often, nostalgia can be a blight on culture, but when employed effectively, it can be a tool for exposing deep truths. My personal favourite rapper, Open Mike Eagle, along with Video Dave and Still Rift, have done just that on their debut album as a trio. Service Merchandise doesn't bemoan the loss of the past, but rather highlights the out-of-placeness of those who cling to it. The themes are sombre but the bars carry Eagle and co.'s signature whimsy.

4. GNX by Kendrick Lamar

In contrast, the latest release from LA rapper Kendrick Lamar is maybe the least whimsical major release of the year. It's direct, confrontational, and introspective to the point where it comes uncomfortably close to self-indulgence. What is lyrically quite a challenging record is made spectacularly listenable thanks to its absolutely stacked lineup of bangers which are sequenced to perfection. Undoubtedly Kendrick's best since To Pimp a Butterfly.

3. Fly by Michael Mayo

To my mind, the most deeply underdiscussed and most exciting young voice in jazz right now is Michael Mayo. I'm deeply obsessed with his debut album, Bones, which is a big, dense production. His latest, Fly, is far more intimate by comparison, but no less ambitious. Backed up by virtuosos Shai Maestro (keys), Linda May Han Oh (bass) and Nate Smith (drums), this suite of songs by the vocalist and composer is the most involving jazz record I've heard all year.

2. Only God Was Above Us by Vampire Weekend

I wanted to put this list out today, because come Monday I will have seen Vampire Weekend tour this album live, and the experience will likely skew my opinion of it.

I cannot think of another mainstream popular music outfit that addresses the modern Jewish experience at all, leta lone this well. Vampire Weekend are truly singular in that way. Every new release of theirs speaks to diaspora Jewishness in new, specific and relevant ways. What makes this particualr record so special though is how aesthetically adventurous it is while being so cogent in the delivery of its themes. This is up there with the band's very best records in a discography without a single dud. P.S. 'Classical' is an all-time great indie rock song.

1. The Golem and Other Tales by Sam Reider and the Human Hands

Accordionist and pianist Sam Reider's newest project is a manifestation of something I've been personally wishing for for close to a decade now: jazz and progressive instrumental music as a vehicle for explicitly Jewish cultural expression.

When I was in New York working towards the PhD I would ultimately flame out of, I spoke with Sam Reider and his bandmate, saxophonist Eddie Barbash, about the connection between their music and their relationship with Jewishness (not to be confused with Judaism). It was a lovely and eye-opening conversation that I'd like to think was as helpful to them as it was to me.

I'm not arrogant enough to suggest that this album is a result of that conversation, but it's so unbelievably exciting to see Sam, Eddie and the rest of the Human Hands construct a suite of pieces which so perfectly capture what I was searching for during that period of my life.

Reider's compositions are a particularly magical amalgamation of jazz, bluegrass, klezmer and other folk traditions from around the world. Those combined sound worlds feel like natural bedfellows in Reider and co.'s capable hands, and on this record. The result is an instrumental retelling of the 16th century Jewish folk tale, The Golem of Chelm. I can't tell you just how special this album is to me, but I can tell you that it sounds amazing, and that this group of musicians, led by Reider feel like they were cosmically destined to make this music together.

[dont-leafmealone]

this post got one like quicker than I expected (and @juhanislitterbox called me a no-balls if i didn't share; I could not let them impugn my honor) so without further ado: will it matter (long after i'm gone) : The Playlist(s), part one: The Beleaguered Clairvoyant Zuko playlist

For this playlist I really just wanted to to follow Zuko's journey through the story (incomplete as it is), from his initial irritation with his situation to his growing bond with Jet. There's a lot of "emo" ('00s pop-punk/numetal) and a lot of indie/indieadjacent folk-pop-rock. Individual song explanations for notable choices below the cut.

1/2. Take Me Away/Anything But Ordinary — I couldn't decide which of these two to keep on the list, so I'm treating them both as functionally the "opening credits" angst anthem, portraying Zuko's frustration with his lack of control over his circumstances.

4. The Hearse Song — A nice deathy vibe. The impermanence of physicality is obviously an ongoing theme of the work, and I love this cover of the folk tune.

6. Abstract (Psychopomp) — This one appears on both Zuko's playlist and Jet's, from a different view — Zuko, through memory, sees Jet's care for his found family and grows to care for him in turn. For Jet it's a much more literal interpretation.

8/12. How Not To Drown/Screaming — Another pair of songs that appear on both playlists. For Zuko, How Not To Drown refers to his family's rotten history and its affect on both his life and Jet's. Screaming refers to the rose-colored filter over memories of his family.

13. Turn Me Over — this song represents, in a very melodramatic way, Zuko's resolve to find out what happened to Jet and get closure for his death.

14. Asking For A Friend — A more vulnerable side of Zuko, when his relationship with Jet turns tumultuous as more details from both their pasts come to light.

15/16. Eat Your Young/Walk Me Home — Technically these two don't go together but thematically, story-wise they reflect the same point: Zuko drawing parallels between his circumstances and Jet's as victims of abuse of power (Eat Your Young) and then finding comfort in each other's presence as they reconcile with the hands they've been dealt (Walk Me Home).

17. I Know The End — soundtrack to a bus trip near the end of the story to literally dig up the past, with all the anticipation that comes with it. The apocalyptic theme of the song reflects the anxiety both characters feel.

19/20/21. Found Love In A Graveyard/All My Ghosts/Like Real People Do — A soft epilogue <3

[alpaca-clouds]

Do Adults Remember Being Kids? Or: Adults that do not understand kids make bad kids media

A few days ago I had a discussion with one of those male crybabies in their 40s, who are very butt-hurt about media not always being made for them. But that discussion kinda got out of hand, with more and more people chiming in. And this got me to wonder: "Uhm, do people not remember being kids?"

For context. Someone posted the scene from Thor: Love and Thunder, in which Thor shares his power with the Asgardian kids. The person posted that was like: "Can we all agree that this was the worst scene in the MCU?" And one of my moots quote-tweeted this with: "Yeah, how dares the movie made for children include a power fantasy for children?" At which quite a few nerds got angry with them for daring to suggest that those movies, they love-hate so much, are for kids.

And they went like: "So you are saying that Winter Soldier is for kids?" Which I personally found hilarious. While normally I watch most movies in the evening, for time reasons back in the day I watched Winter Soldier in the afternoon in a full cinema one day after release. And my then roommate and I were the oldest people in the cinema who were not parents that afternoon.

Because yes. There is a reason why Disney makes a point of making all the movies (other than Deadpool & Wolverine) PG13 rated. Which means that 13yos can watch the movie alone, and kids younger than 13 can watch it together with their kids. There is a reason why there are a lot of kids toys for those movies. Because it is for kids.

Now, to be fair, I argued all those things, and one of these professional crybabies ended up agreeing with me after a while. So, I guess that could have gone worse.

However, I also tweeted about it myself and one of my followers also noted another topic where this shows: Folks claiming that Shonen anime are like totally for adults, while... you know... while the official core demographic is "boys between 8 and 14 years".

That is a lot of preemble, I know. But... Uhm, yeah, I don't know how to say this:

Children are absolutely able to deal with dark themes!

They love them in fact. Because they are kids, and they like cool stuff.

Will they get everything about those things? Nope. But is it for them and will they love it? Yeah.

I mean, I remember a lot of those shows I loved as a kid. The reason Digimon Tamers was my favorite Digimon season from the moment it came out, was that it was the first season that took me as a kid serious. It is still a kids show, but it allowed for themes like death and depression. It allowed also for adult characters to exist and to be important in the show, which gave it a more realistic vibe, wihtout ever destroying the power fantasy for kids.

Or another show that was fairly popular back then in Japan: Ojamajo Doremi. A show with a core demographic of girls between 4 and 12 years of age. And this show deals with death, suicidal thoughts, bullying, sickness, children dying of sickness, war and so many other shows. But... You know, look at this show and try and tell me it is not for kids:

I am sorry folks, but kids can deal with those topics, as long as it is not too graphic and are explained properly within the show.

And to get back to the MCU movies: I am sorry, none of them is actually all that adult. It being a thriller does not make it "adult". I mean, fuck, the MCU does for the most part not deal with death as a topic. Because nobody bloody dies and stays dead. Those movies are very, very kid-friendly. It is the equivalent of taking action figures and smashing them together.

Sure, in some of the movies there are topics that kids might not inherently grasp (like the parenting themes in the Guardians movies and the historical context for Black Panther). But those are in only a few movies - and you can still explain them to the kids!