#Decoded Magazine

[pandabrayant]

(Decoded Magazine)

[mamoonde]

i really really really love the idea of wei wuxian revolutionizing modern cultivation over breakfast and conceptualizing these different theories simultaneously because the adhd brain has no brakes and the only reason it took him a decade to publish all these ideas was because he could not stick to a single train of thought long enough to finish (verbalizing) it, let alone put it down on paper coherently.

the only reason he even got to publishing them eventually (and enrolling to cultivation theory grad program to get on that track) was because one morning, his undergrad thesis advisor, lan qiren, finally got fed up and sat him down for an early morning progress check-in because it was midterm season and wei wuxian still hadn't decided on a topic.

wei wuxian, fueled by an unhealthy amount of redbull and three all-nighters, finally word vomits all his 'convoluted' ideas which he'd thought were uselessly obvious and redundant (because he's gone over these like a bajillion times, it's very plain-as-day to him, so he probably just hasn't read the articles that say these exact things).

lan qiren, teacup frozen halfway to his mouth: ...first of all, i only understood half of how you got to these conclusions, which only means they are indeed too convoluted and will need to be pared down; secondly: you have never mentioned any of these ideas before. why.

wei wuxian: oh. haven't i? oh well, i just thought, xyz, because, obviously, abcde. which is really what the 2 centuries old law on ghjkl was alluding to, right? and so, logically, xyz.

lan qiren: [mind blown, screaming, good gods this is the same child who's always tardy and spent freshman year pulling on the metaphorical pigtails of my straight-laced nephew?!?!??!??!?!] ..again, why...how have you never even spoken or submitted these ideas?

wei wuxian: because!!! they're so obvious!! surely, it's been published somewhere already? i can't be the only one to connect these dots, surely??

lan qiren: incredibly, you are. no one else has even thought to question tradition nor pursued more thoughts on the law of ghjkl, with half as much...sound arguments as you seem to have. in the past century, the focus of modern cultivation has tended towards practical uses and tools, some fine-tuning, perhaps. not entirely new theories.

wei wuxian: huh....

lan qiren, sighing, feeling a migraine: your problem with your thesis is not a lack of focus or ingenuity, but likely to be more a lack of recent, evidentiary sources. you will need to become very familiar with the university archives and dig deep for sources that will back up every argument you make.

he jots down notes on a paper. "you will also need to strictly adhere to the structure and methodology of these articles, especially given how radical your thesis will be. if you are diligent enough, you may just be able to submit your thesis without too much of a delay." he slides the list of materials to a gaping wei wuxian. "depending on your output then, we can discuss the possibility of submitting this for peer review."

"peer review." wei wuxian repeats. "as in, that thing where some uppity committee of old coots put their stamp of approval for it to become the reading materials of undergrads like me. you're joking."

lan qiren chooses to ignore the sentiment about peer review committees being uppity old coots, especially considering how he can't completely deny it on account of some of his colleagues, but also as a member said peer review committee, he isn't exactly pleased about being lumped in the same category.

wei wuxian backtracks at his unamused look. "right, you're not joking, of course you're not." he slowly inches the list towards himself. "right, yes, i guess i'll uh, get to it then. ok bye."

----

idk, just, waves hand at wei wuxian candidly explaining new modern cultivation theories over cheerios at 2 in the afternoon to lwj who's trying to help him structure his grad thesis, getting mind blow dick hard at how this messy genius who's talking with his mouth full of half eaten cereal is the object of his affection....

wwx: --oh, oops, your highlighter fell

lwj: mn

wwx: ...aren't you gonna get that?

lwj: it's fine; i'll pick it up later. finish your thought.

wwx: right... i'll pick it up for you!

lwj, fighting for his life, trying to think unsexy thoughts: NO! sit. finish your meal, and then your thought.

[breykurenei]

Does anybody else play honey magazine?

[starlightseraph]

efforts to rid my dash of the rpf blogs have been going well, but, alas, there are always more, so i’m gonna get my thoughts out about the most recent things i’ve seen.

so i was looking at a post i very much agree with, only to see this in the comments:

…

firstly, where did op mention david/michael shipping? they didn’t. at all. they were talking about the boundless “analysis” (stalking), and how it’s creepy no matter its target; whether it’s predicting the end of a relationship, finding “evidence” of baby trapping or abuse, or insisting on an unconfirmed relationship. all of this is weird.

it’s still equally as weird when the subjects of this wild speculation are f/f or not same sex. i can think of multiple heterosexual examples (it happened in the doctor who fandom, also in the house fandom, although these incidents were both well before my time. i’m using old instances because they’re less likely to ignite a fight, but there are current ones too). our discomfort with this insanity has nothing to do with the shipping being m/m. like nothing. it has everything to do with the fact that none of us know anything about these people, yet you act as though you’re their closest friends and gossiping with them behind the high school bleachers.

i am not assuming that they’re straight, most of us aren’t assuming that. i’m not assuming one way or the other at all until they explicitly describe the situation, which they probably won’t, because their lives are likely far less exciting than you all imagine, and they have no obligation to tell us anything at all.

with regards to the “it’s not speculation when they say it themselves”: georgia’s ig caption genuinely seems like it’s part of a bit to me. like this is totally something that can and does happen platonically, all the time. if she posted something on her story saying “yes david and michael are in a relationship together,” then that’d be enough for me. but everything we’ve seen thus far is just as (or actually far more) likely to be platonic. her caption was worded ambiguously, in a way that’s frequently used to describe friends with no romantic interest in each other. regardless, they know each other’s boundaries, we don’t.

oh, and, since it’s perfectly fine to make up your own “interpretations” of real people existing objectively outside the realm of your perception: my interpretation of the rpf blogs is that it’s pure wishful thinking. you guys see characters with a strong attraction, played by 2 people with a strong connection, and superimpose your desire for the characters’ relationship onto the real people. but, since you don’t see the actors’ lives in the way you see a characters’ story, you pick apart every snippet that you can find and piece together a narrative. it’s fine when you make up a fun story or write a made up fic on ao3, i don’t have any real ethical objections to fictional rp shipping. however, you guys go way beyond that, and you present your story as an investigation and as an analysis of real life.

that’s what’s creepy. that’s what we don’t like. the absolute worst part is when you go after the kids. sincerely fuck off with that. who do you think you are that you can speculate that david and michael wanted to leave their partners but that georgia and anna “strategically” got pregnant. i have seen people saying that georgia and anna are baby trappers, abusive to their partners and kids, stupid, and manipulative. i have seen people using these exact words to describe georgia and anna in relation to their parenting and the existence of their children. i have seen people say that their children hate them. none of that is excusable no matter what it’s presented as. at the very least, leave their children out of it, please.

[dbstaches]

KNOCKING BACK A WEE DRAMA (OR TWO) DAVID BALL: treading softly Pic by Joe Shutter

Record Mirror magazine, 23 July 1983, Simon Tebbutt — full article text bellow

If you thought David Ball, the normally quieter side of the Soft Cell, had been so silent lately he must be off digging the potatoes in his allotment — forget it.

While Cell mate Marc Almond has been busy handling his Mambas over the past months, young Dave has been beavering away on the soundtrack for a play and a film and putting the finishing touches to his soon to be released solo LP.

“This year I've spent most of my time in the studio,” he says. “I've got a lot better at building up sounds and arranging.”

The play, Tennessee Williams' ‘Suddenly Last Summer’, a steamy tale of heat-oppressed passion set in New Orleans and now running at the New End Theatre in Hampstead, came about by chance.

“I was sitting in a hotel bar and started chatting to this bloke who turned out to be an actor,” says Dave. “I said if he could think of anything that would be good to put music to but keep as a play, not a musical, then I'd be interested.

“He phoned me up about two months later and said he wanted to do ‘Suddenly Last Summer’. Tennessee Williams is perfect, he's just so dramatic.”

The music, like the play, which Dave has financed himself, is heavily atmospheric and doom laden. And it has opened doors for the musician in the wonderful world of movie soundtracks.

“I'm doing a German film called ‘Decoder’ — it stars the real Christiane F and William Burroughs makes a cameo appearance. I really like the idea of the music emphasising and sometimes overstating what is going on in the action.”

All these themes have come together in Dave's solo work, provisionally titled ‘In Strict Tempo’.

“That's because of a track on the album called Strict Tempo,” he explains. “It started off as a military rhythm and then I got David Claridge to do a voice-over talking about his club Skin II. So you've got the military side of it, the discipline, and the rubber.

“I've got Psychic TV's Genesis P. Orridge singing on a couple of tracks, one of which, ‘The Troubled Sleeper’ or ‘Sincerity’, will be a single.

“The whole album is about musical cliches all put together in the wrong order. Like taking a country and western guitar solo and putting in the middle of a funk track. But it all works. If it didn't work, I wouldn't use it.”

But don't worry, gentle reader, this flurry of individual activity doesn't spell the end for Soft Cell.

“For me doing this solo stuff has been a break,” says Dave. “Marc and I play each other what we've done all the time. We're working on ideas that we'd only dabbled in with Soft Cell. Everything is more powerful. And now we're collecting bits for a new Soft Cell album at the end of the summer.”

[found-in-retro-game-mags]

Decoding PR Talk (IGN64.com The Magazine #1, 1998)

[hometoursandotherstuff]

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/10/21/how-scientists-started-to-decode-birdsong

Lyin' birbs!

[kiwi]

i cannot wait to tell yall about this WILD arg that some mysterious stranger is putting my household through. i wouldnt believe it if it wasnt happening to me

we make a monthly zine that accepts submissions, and someone emailed in this poem...

right away we noticed the capital letters and put them together.

Holy shit.

We thought it was cool, but had nothing else to solve. Then, the next day... A stranger asks one of our friends at their place of work if they know the editors of the magazine, hands them a beaten up envelope, and walks away.

On the outside is the name Malum Mors and the coordinates to a local fountain. INSIDE...

It solves to say "caesar cipher," a kind of cipher where you move letters in a message a certain number down the alphabet. the sum of the three 3's gave us 9, but nothing to decode yet.

Again, we hit a dead end. THEN.... an account with no content followed us. In the description was this:

Using the caesar cipher number, it says "What are you looking at?"

But guys. there is So. Much. More. its been so exciting and a little creepy, ill update this post once we write our article about this baffling chain of puzzles and riddles we've been getting

[prettyyoungandbored]

First Date - Dr. James Wilson

Pairing: Dr. James Wilson x Fem!OC

Summary: Takes place during S.1, Ep.20. Before his date with Cameron, House gets advice from both Wilson and his wife.

Warnings: Certain lines are directly from the show so credit goes to the writer. There is also mentions of a panic attack.

A knock on House’s front door drew both House and Wilson’s attention. House made his way over.

“You made her come here?” Wilson asked.

House opened the door to find Odette Wilson standing there. She scrunched her nose, head cocking back.

“At least put in a little more effort and add a tie,” she commented.

House turned to Wilson. “Number Three is here.”

Odette pat his arm as she made her way inside. Wilson sat up on the couch.

“Honey, what’re you doing here?” he asked.

She gave him a peck on the cheek. “House going on a date with Cameron? I’m not missing this.”

She threw off her coat, putting it on the arm of the couch as she took a seat beside Wilson on the couch.

“You told her?” House asked Wilson.

“Cameron told me,” Odette corrected. “She sounded very excited about it.”

“So why aren’t you at her place bothering her?”

“Because I like bothering you. Also, it wouldn’t kill you to get advice from a woman you actually tolerate.”

Wilson turned to House. “She has a point.”

Wilson then laid down, resting his head on his wife’s lap. Her hand carded through his perfect brunette hair, her nails gently scratching his head and easing any leftover tension or stress from work.

She handed him the newspaper lying on the table before picking up a random magazine.

“So, what wisdom can you thrust upon me, Number Three?” House asked as he opened his closet door, which revealed a mirror hung on the back of the door. “Remind me, did Wilson tell you about the wives that came before you on your first date?”

“Funny enough he saved it for the third date,” she recalled. “That said, exes are off the table when it comes to first date conversation.”

“Then what else do we talk about?” he asked as he reached for a red tie.

“Literally anything else,” she said. “It is not that hard.”

Wilson looked up at and noticed House’s tie.

“The wide side’s too short. You’re gonna look like Lou Costello,” he remarked.

Despite his attempts to tie it, he found himself failing.

“This is a mistake. I don’t know how to have casual conversation,” House said.

Odette got up, gently moving Wilson off her lap. She walked over to House and held out her hand.

“Give me the tie,” she said. “I can pre-tie it so all you have to do is just tighten.”

“Do I look like a child to you?” House snapped.

Her hazel eyes glared at him. “Give me the fucking tie, House.”

He rolled his eyes, handing the red fabric to her. As she started to work on the tie, she continued, “House, casual conversations are not that hard. You-.”

House cut her off. “You think you’re talking about one thing, and either you are and it’s incredibly boring, or you’re not because it’s subtext and you need a decoder ring.”

“You sound awfully nervous for a date you say you don’t want to go on,” Odette remarked.

“I’m not nervous. I have been on a date.”

“Not since disco died,” Wilson commented.

Odette snorted as she presented house with the tie. “Put it over your head and tighten it.”

He took it from her and made his way back to the mirror. He put the tie over his head.

Wilson continued. “Comment on her shoes, her earrings, and then move on to D.H.A.”

Odette, leaning on the wall, cracked a smile as House turned to Wilson for clarification.

“Her dreams, hopes, and aspirations. Trust me. Panty peeler.”

House eyed Odette for confirmation. She nodded her head, a slightly embarrassed smile played out on her lips.

“Oh, and if you need condoms, I’ve got some,” Wilson chimed in again. “Got them from a drug rep. They’ve got antibiotics built in, somehow.”

House moved into the kitchen. “I should cancel.”

Wilson and Odette eyed each other before quickly heading into the kitchen together.

“Don’t cancel on her,” Wilson said.

“I’ve got a patient in surgery tomorrow.”

“And if you were a surgeon, that would actually matter.”

Odette then chimed in. “I almost cancelled on Wilson and I’s first date.”

The two men looked at her, stunned by how casually she admitted it.

“You did?” Wilson asked, his face softened.

“Yeah, I had a panic attack about the date and I nearly cancelled,” she said. “I was so terrified and stressed that I would mess it up. I was so attracted to you and I had a history of messing things up on dates. I figured I’d mess up with you and the thought of that killed me. I was at work and I could feel it building up during a session with a client. Once they left I started hyperventilating. The front desk receptionist almost called 911 but the other therapist in the building came in and talked me down. She asked me if I really wanted to cancel and I said ‘no.’ So, I didn’t.”

House rolled his eyes in disgust.

“Why didn’t you ever tell me this?” Wilson asked.

“I figured it didn’t matter,” she said with a shrug. “Besides, it all worked out.”

He threw his arms around her waist and kissed her forehead. “It certainly did.”

The sound of the fridge opened drew the couple’s attention back to House who grabbed something out of it. Wilson went to say something when House revealed a corsage in a plastic case.

“This is lame, isn’t it?” House asked, cringing a bit.

Wilson and Odette smiled.

“I think she likes lame,” Wilson esponded.

==========================

As Wilson and Odette watched House speed off on his motorbike, Odette put a hand on Wilson’s back.

“Should we go to the restaurant and spy on House and Cameron?” she asked, a mischievous twinkle in her eye.

He squinted, pretending to think for a moment. “I actually have a better idea. Let’s go home and recreate the end of our second date.”

She hummed in delight. “That was fun. Definitely in my top three.”

“Top three of what?”

“Our sex adventures.”

His eyes widened. “You rank them?!”

“Oh don’t act like you don’t do the same thing.”

“Dare I ask what number one is?”

“Our wedding night.”

He grinned at the memory. “That was a great night.” He shoved his hands into his jacket pocket. “If I had told you about my ex wives on our first date, would you have gone on a second date with me?”

She nodded. “I would’ve considered it a bold move. But you also were so open and honest and I appreciated it. Made me feel like you actually wanted to be with me.”

“I’ve wanted to be with you since our first date. Why do you think I was so quick to make that second date?”

She licked her lip and glanced at House’s apartment. “Wanna recreate our second date in House’s bed?”

[hotdaemondtargaryen]

EWAN MITCHELL INTERVIEWED BY THE INVERSE MAGAZINE.

HOW HAS AEMOND CHANGED OVER SEASON TWO?

"For the first four episodes, you see Aemond operating from the peripheries."

"You see him and Criston Cole during their Shadow Council scenes trying to manipulate the Council table to the way they want to run things."

"Aemond is waiting for his moment to strike."

"At the end of Episode 4 — at the Battle of Rook’s Rest — he seizes his opportunity to take two dragons out with one stone."

"It's only until the “Red Sowing” in Episode 7, where Rhaenyra enlists and raises new dragon riders, that Aemond’s power is threatened."

"You're going to see a more desperate side to Aemond."

"And a desperate Aemond is a dangerous one because he might overcompensate."

"He might be a little more irrational than the composed stoic face that he's had before."

"In Episode 8, he's outgunned and he's outraged."

"The Blacks have seven dragons, the Greens have three."

"We have Vhagar, we have Dreamfyre, and we have Daeron’s dragon Tessarion, who's just taken wing."

"Aemond very much wants to win the war."

DO YOU CONSIDER AEMOND THE VILLAIN OF HOUSE OF THE DRAGON?

"It's very easy to make that assumption and judgment just because of the way that he looks."

"His Targaryen blacks, the long hair, the eye patch — it screams villain, but it depends on what side you're on."

"He's the guy who is prepared to do the necessary evil."

"He wants to be seen as a war hero."

"He knows he can be loved, but he knows he can achieve more if he's willing to be feared."

"He's done a lot of bad stuff to support the theory that he is the villain of the show."

"That's one of the most satisfying things for me is decoding his DNA and discovering that he isn't just that two-dimensional villain."

CAN YOU ONCE AND FOR ALL SET THE RECORD STRAIGHT ABOUT THE BATTLE OF ROOK'S REST? WERE AEMOND'S ACTIONS PURPOSEFUL? WAS THAT COLLATERAL DAMAGE OR DID HE JUST TAKE AN OPPORTUNITY TO SEIZE THE POWER?

"I think it could be all three of those things."

"It could be that Aemond did, in fact, see an opportunity to take two dragons off the board with one stone, or was Aegon just in the way?"

"Aegon was never part of the original plan for the battle."

"But with everything that Aegon did and the ringleader status he inhabited in Aemond's childhood, there's an awful lot of evidence to support that."

"What Aemond did was intentional, but whether or not it was premeditated is another thing."

SO WHEN YOU WERE ACTING ALONGSIDE AEGON IN THE LATER EPISODES WHEN THERE'S A CONFRONTATION AT HIS SICK BED, THAT WAS WITH THE KKOWLEDGE OF MALICIOUS INTENT?

"I think so."

"Their relationship is so multifaceted."

"There's a hatred for his brother, but also a certain love that he always craved from him."

"Aegon was supposed to be his big brother."

"He was supposed to look out for him."

"He just never did."

"I thought there was something really fascinating in the fact that Aemond left that marble marker on Aegon’s chest."

"Maybe he left it there for him in a way to say, “The chair's there for you when the war is finished,” or he might've just been pressing the stone marker into his chest to make him hurt that little bit more."

IN EPISODE 8, WE FIRST SEE AEMOND AFTER HE RAZES THE ENTIRETY OF SHARP POINT BECAUSE HE'S MAD ABOUT RHAENYRA'S NEW DRAGON FORCES. WHAT IS GOING THROUGH HIS MIND?

"It's a spur-of-the-moment retaliation."

"He has to overcompensate for this newfound knowledge that Rhaenyra has raised new dragonriders against him and changed the tide of the war."

"Sharp Point, from what I understand of the geography of Westeros, is actually very closely connected to The Gullet."

"Aemond feels like it's justified."

"He's destroying a bit of the Gullet and destroying the blockade that Rhaenyra set up at the beginning of Season 2."

"But ultimately, what he does is atrocious."

WE NEXT SEE HIM TALKING ABOUT THE SMALLFOLK HAVING TO SACRIFICE FOR THE WAR EFFORT. WHAT IS AEMOND SACRIFICING?

It goes back to that moment when Helaena's by the throne Aemond's just gazing up at it and Helaena says, “Was it worth the price?”

"Ultimately, what he sacrificed is his humanity."

"It's that theme that is so prevalent throughout our series: whether love trumps duty or duty trumps love."

"In Aemond's eye, love is a weakness."

WE SEE HIM CONFRONT ALICENT IN THIS EPISODE AND BASICALLY ACCUSE HER OF HAVING TOO MUCH COMPASSION. DOES AEMOND SEE HER AS AN ENEMY? IS THERE ANY AFFECTION REMAINING?

"I think there is."

"One of the main motivations I've played from the beginning of Season 2 was this idea that he wants his mum."

I think he's heartbroken when he says, “Would you not have us prevail?” and she says, “Not like this.”

"That's not part of Aemond's vision."

When he sent Alicent away in Episode 6, he said, “Look, let me deal with the war.”

"You just wait by the margins and then when I've won this war, we can pick up and work on our relationship."

"But the fact that she rebukes him at that moment in Episode 8, he's heartbroken."

"It's horrible for Aemond to comprehend that his mom isn't on his side."

SPEAKING OF WOMEN IN AEMOND'S LIFE, HELAENA GOES TO AEMOND AND ACCUSES HIM OF BURNING AEGON PURPOSEFULLY AND HINTS AT AEMOND'S DEATH. IS HE SHAKEN BY THAT?

"He's definitely shaken."

In an act of desperation, he goes to his sister and says, “Look, you and me, we need to ride out. We need to go to the Riverlands. We need to take out Daemon and destroy all of the influence that he has with the houses of the Riverlands.”

"Aemond is ultimately rebuked by both Alicent and Helaena."

"He's always had this very singular vision of how everything was going to go down."

"But when that starts to get challenged, when he recognizes that Alicent and Helaena aren't on his side, and then when Helaena comes out with this prophecy."

I think a part of him definitely thinks, “Oh no, my sister could be right.”

WHAT CAN WE EXPECT FROM AEMOND IN SEASON 3?

"I think you're going to see someone who's a lot more desperate and a lot more erratic."

"Targaryens were always considered closer to gods than men."

"And what Rhaenyra does at the end of Episode 7 very much challenges and questions the belief that you have to be a legitimate Targaryen to ride a dragon."

"And although their heritage from what we've heard sounds pretty legit, the rest of Westeros doesn’t see that."

"As Aemond says at the end of Episode 8 in that confrontation with his mother and his sister, the people of Westeros ultimately see commonfolk made into dragon lords."

"It very much paints a large target not only on Aemond's back but also on the back of all the Targaryens."

"It compromises their god-like status in a sense."

"And Aemond is definitely going to retaliate."

[waldau]

crescendo — chwe hansol | 1,042 words | fluff

boinon! chwe! hansol! back on my marriage agenda because it's ME. song taken from vernon's playlist from weverse magazine. also i'm a firm believer that vernon is the kind of guy who looks at two of anything and just goes "us." please enjoy me simping for him.

gender neutral reader. warnings: none.

you notice vernon's not sleeping anymore.

he's looking up at you from where his head is resting on your chest. he always does this thing where his gaze is focused on you till you acknowledge it, whether it's by asking him what's up, or blushing at how intense it is.

this time, though, you don't do anything to shake the moment. so it's just you looking down into his eyes that are looking back at you, and it's not the first time you've paused to admire his eyes.

before vernon, you didn't really understand how you could be lost in someone's eyes. but his eyes? hazel brown, shining when they catch the light just right, a hundred thoughts running through them. streaks of light you wish you could decode.

there's a soft love song playing in your ears while your hands rest on his chest, tracing the shapes of the stars on his shirt. he manages to look good even when he's upside down, somehow.

soft. vernon would shake his head if you said that to him out loud, but he wouldn't deny it. not anymore. he likes when you call him nicknames. he likes when you call him, even. content to listen to your self-professed rambling about whatever's on your mind.

just like you're content to listen to him ask you ridiculous questions out of the blue. ridiculous to anyone who doesn't know him.

"do you believe we're made of the same stuff stars are made of?"

you'd blinked out of the show you'd been watching. "i...yeah? technically? hydrogen and all."

"does that mean we found each other all those years ago? and not just now?"

vernon has a way with words, really. he doesn't downplay it, but that's because you don't let him know how much it affects you in the first place. you could be talking about two seeds in a segment of tangerine and he'd say it was the both of you. two moths flying around a lamp? you.

and then there's times you think his humour couldn't get any worse.

"hey, you dropped something."

you'd looked around to find nothing out of place. "what?"

"my jaw."

suffice to say, vernon didn't get a single kiss from you for the next few hours.

(of course, you'd had to make it up to him with a ton of kisses and cuddles later on.)

right now, he's still looking at you, and the song has changed. you don't know the name of it, having picked it from the playlist vernon made for you, that he keeps adding to.

i hope you like this, he'd said shyly, when he'd sent you the link to it.

it's not surprising that you've liked almost every song you've heard so far. of course, there's a few that don't match your vibe, but when you close your eyes and think of vernon enjoying the song, lost in his own world, it makes you like them a little more.

back to the present. your fingers are tapping along to the rhythm of the song, something about love and self-doubt, upbeat yet heart-wrenching with a guitar riff that's so painfully vernon that you have to lean down and kiss his head.

vernon grabs your fingers where they're dancing on his chest and presses a kiss to your thumb. then your index finger. then the rest of your fingers. and then your palm.

you stop the song, amused at how affectionate he's being.

"what's up?" you ask, taking off your earphones.

he shakes his head. you push at his shoulder lightly.

"keep listening to your song."

you frown. "am i ignoring you?"

vernon sighs. "not at all. it's just...you'll stop doing it if i point it out."

"stop doing what?"

he takes your hand and places it on his chest, trapping it in place with his own. "you do this...thing. you tap out a song on me when we're not listening to it together. and then i try to guess what you're listening to. and i almost always get it wrong. it's...silly."

your heart feels too big for your chest. "vern? have i ever told you how much i love you?"

he shuts his eyes, a smile on his face. "yeah. 'course you have. love you, too."

squeezing his hand that's holding yours, you resume playing the song. he lets go of your hand so you can continue tapping out the beats.

"can you guess what it was?" you ask, once the song ends.

"hm. kinda fast paced, and there's only a few of those on there. breaking the law?"

"nope."

"rock with you?"

you shake your head. "did you really add one of your own songs on there?"

"hey, we make good music, too."

"never denied that."

vernon shrugs. "i don't know."

"marry me."

vernon freezes noticeably under your hand, before pushing it away and sitting up, staring at you.

it's just you and him and the silence in the room. his eyes have you trapped in place, unable to look elsewhere.

"by ellegarden!" you blurt out, suddenly realizing how your words could be misconstrued. "it's..." you scroll through the playlist. "the first song you ever put in there."

"oh," is all he says, but he's blushing. he's blushing. you made your famously stoic boyfriend blush.

"vernon? did you think i..."

"...maybe?"

you let out a small laugh at that. "do you really think...have you ever thought about getting...y'know?

"married?" he asks, smirking. "you shouldn't ask me about it if you're so shy."

"i didn't—!" it's a losing battle. of course you've thought about it, and of course you're shy about it. spending the rest of your life with the person who means the most to you sounds like a dream, and you're living in it right now. halfway there.

"if it's any consolation," vernon says, slotting his fingers with yours, "i've thought about it."

"and?"

"i like it."

it's nearing six in the evening. vernon has his head on your chest again, listening to a song with you this time. you're going to have to listen to it again, the way your brain is clouded by thoughts of him and you.

it can't get better than this.

taglist: @bookyeom @wootify @strnsvt @cloudycaramel @thepoopdokyeomtouched @minnieminshi

[brian-in-finance]

Twitter

NOTE: I don’t speak or read Spanish. The following text is what Google Translate gave me… I think… Errors definitely abound. 🤷🏻‍♂️

Caitríona Balfe begins her new journey.

Enter the name of Caitríona Balfe (Dublin, 1979) in any internet search engine is to enter a universe of biographies that start with her career as a model, fans who admire her for her work in Outlander and information about the well-known series, which this year will broadcast its last season. Among the results it is also possible to find a video recorded in 2002, shortly before she participated in the parade of Victoria's Secret, in which they ask her about her acting studies and if she will resume her acting career. "I don't know, I have no plans, maybe," replies smiling and insecure a young woman who is barely over twenty. Four years later, aware of how important age is in the fashion world, the possibility became a fact.

"When you look back on your life, you realise that everything that has happened has brought you to where you are," explains the Irish actress.

"Every moment can feed your existence later on. I have been very lucky to have had an interesting life so far," she recognises.

A moment, the current one, in which the day to day that has marked her biography in the last 11 years has undergone a change, because the filming of the series that led her to world fame has ended. "I know I've been doing this for 15 years, but since I was in Outlander for so long I feel like I'm starting a journey," she confesses.

The first stop of this journey is The Amateur (April 11 in theatres), a feature film starring Rami Malek in which the actor known for playing Freddie Mer-cury in Bohemian Rhapsody, is Charlie Heller, a brilliant CIA decoder who makes revenge for the death of his wife, murdered by a terrorist group, his most personal mission. To carry out this bloody task, he will have the help of a computer hacker of Russian origin played by Balfe.

As Inquiline in The Amateur (2025). Blurry screenshot from PressReader’s presentation of the April 2025 issue of Mujerhoy (Spain)

"When I read the script I thought: "This is fun," she confesses, before adding that although "these action movies are dominated by force, because everything revolves around fights, The Amateur is a very intelligent and very funny version of the genre." Something that added to the admiration she feels for Malek - "He is a very interesting and unique actor" -, with whom she had not worked but whom she knew "socially because we coincided in the Golden Globes", made that in a break from the filming of the latest installment of Outlander changed the wardrobe of a doctor of the Century XX who travels in time 300 (stet) years through that of a woman who lives hidden today.

For the actress, the best thing about the character is that she is "A lone soul who lives in the shadows." She was inspired by Nadya Tolokonnikova, a member of the Pussy Riot, because she "tried to find someone who felt very comfortable in English but who had a Russian origin," because of the accent of her character, but also because of her motivations. "I really enjoyed finding in it a commitment to justice and integrity that is not contaminated by the influence of a regime," she acknowledges.

The revenge that moves Malek's character, and hers, is for the actress "very interesting to portray, because it is very different for each person: in some it is debilitating and paralyses them by complete; in others it drives them forward and leads them to do really incredible things. That's a point where my role and Malek's diverge, but it also gives them this place where they connect deeply," she explains.

Photo: Observer Magazine (The Guardian) 23 January 2022

A child's dream with an unexpected diversion

Fourth of five siblings and with two other foster children at home, Caitríona Balfe grew up in rural Ireland dreaming of being an actress. "It was that annoying girl," she shares smiling, "who has been doing small performances at home since she was three or four years old. My father used to do comic sketches with his friends, so I think, somehow, it was in my genes." So when the time came to choose a career, she opted for interpretation. But he didn't expect that, while helping some friends raise funds for multiple sclerosis, a man who worked for a modelling agency in Dublin would give her her card and, little later, a French agency hired him to work as a model in Paris.

She paraded for firms such as Louis Vuitton and Chanel, but she defined herself as a "blue collar model", those who live in the step before the supermodels and go unnoticed.

When in the 2000s she decided to return to the path of acting, she moved to Los Angeles and went back to classes. "I was very lucky because I met great teachers and it helped me regain confidence," she shares after recognising that "when you come from the world of fashion, you feel comfortable with rejection." After getting small roles in movies and series, in 2013 she had not worked for several months when her agent proposed to present himself to the audition of Outlander. In the absence of news, she organised a vacation that she finally had to cancel because she was asked to travel to London for the final audition. After getting the role with which she became famous, she decided that she would change Los Angeles for Scotland for a Year.

More than a decade later, she still lives in Glasgow and enjoys spending time with her son, "because it was hard not to do it in recent years." A project as long-lived as the series based on Diana Gabaldón's novels has been a "very hectic time, as if you were on a train that never stops." That unstoppable convoy took her, among other destinations, to work in Belfast, the film by Kenneth Branagh with which she got a Golden Globe nomination. "Now I enjoy the luxury of taking some time and choosing good projects," she admits, expectant of the direction taken by her new, although experienced, career.

Mujerhoy via PressReader

Remember… do you know what a foreign accent is? A sign of bravery. — Amy Chua

[mossy-chaos]

These are all of the codes I could find in the Book of Bill!

The order is decoded message-page-type of cipher

Spoilers under the cut (for those of you who decode yourselves):

Black and white-back of the cover jacket-authors cipher

Even his lies are lies-inside the front cover-theraprism cipher

Praise the fallen angle-first actual page-Cipheric (this is the only time Cipheric is used for some reason)

Olaf was here-same-rune (not sure what this is a reference to)

Remember us-same-Bill's cipher

Let him in and break the seal between what's fiction and what's real-books new master-Bill's cipher

The Axolotl thinks he's won but Ciphers games have just begun-handprint page-color cipher

Irregular-fake covers(very top)-color cipher

The one who writes the codes-about me-Caeser cipher

Glotto/slotheny-Magazine cover(7 new sins)-Bill's cipher (I love the new sins lol)

Not a phase-Stanford pines here(on the goth moth)-Authors cipher-love the jack skellington reference (if thats what that is lol)

Warning/Folding this card may/result in crossovers-the universe is a hollogram-rune (Maybe that's how we finally get an owl house/gravity falls crossover)

My optometrist never saw it coming-What is a human-Theraprism

Paper is book skin/Shave your grandma-Skin-Bill's cipher

Love pain-Bill's tattoo knuckles-Same

Lies-How to trick everyone into loving you-same

Regrowing limbs is Axy's art/but can he regrow a ripped out heart-How to cheat death-Bill's cipher (he must really be mad at the Axolotl)

Eye doctor of a different kind/who wants to make his patient blind-silly straws-caesar

The doctor says/three sips a day/will make the visions/go away-Same

Fussy eater/baby Billy/wouldn't drink/unless it's silly-same (love how this implies that he only drank out of silly straws)

Mason-Embarrassing memories-Bill's cipher (love seeing Dipper's real name again)

Booberry-the meaning of life(popsicle stick)-Bill's cipher

One eyed king-the early years-theraprism

Suck it-The good times(liscense plate)-Caesar

Can warp narrativity/protect fourth walls-Alert from time baby-A1Z26

Lone survivor of the Euclidean massacre-Rune (I wonder what happened during that event and what that event actually is)

Tantrum-Bill's Cipher

Which henchmaniac ratted me out-The shaman-Theraprism (I find this one funny)

Titans blood-the dark ages(Wizards hat)-Rune (Love the owl house reference here)

Suck it Merlin-Never trust a wizard-Rune

Daryll-Cipherstitions(lobster lord of the deep)-Theraprism (love how that's his name)

Curse Wittebane-Witchcraft-Rune

It's all made up-America(the dollar)-Caesar

Countries aren't-Bill's cipher

Rubberhose-Animation-A1Z26

Bill cipher-top secret file-Same

Six fingered freak-Lost in the woods-authors cipher

Stanley would have made her laugh-same (he just rolled better charisma dude)

If lost return to Bill-my muse and me-Theraprism (love how he said this means wise one and also more billford hehe)

Forget the past-A voice from the past page 2-Bill's cipher (this implies that Bill wants Ford to forget Stanley so he won't get in the way)

Hopefully F's gloves will hide what Cipher has done to my hands-I was wrong about everything page 2-Author's Cipher (I love this one <3)

Ouroboros-Wakey wakey here's a snakey (on the snake)-Bill's Cipher (I guess this is the snakes name?)

Miss you-try to forget (on window)-bro's secret code

Have I been too harsh all along?-Should I contact S-Bro's secret code

Hotxolotl-Dimensional authority call transcript (on the sauce packet)-Bill's cipher

I can write codes too it's not that hard!-Dipper's page-Bill's cipher (he do be flexing his intelligence there)

(What a buncha) Love ya bro-Stanley's letter-Bro's secret code (love how this shows that they both still remember the code they made up as kids)

Just fit in (repeated)-SSSSTANNNNLEEEYY-Rune

Holy mackerel-color cipher

AXOLOTLLOTAXOLOTLLOTLAXLOTLAXLOTLAXOLOTLLOTLAXLOTLAXLOTLAXOLOTLLOTLAXLOTLAXLO-Theraprism

Wellwellwellbeing-message from the theraprism-A1Z26

Spheremonger, Eternalor, Bill cipher, The Logicube, Paingorious, Jessica, Shadorg, Mr Silly, The beast-recent inpatient names-Theraprism (the hallucination dog is still creepy lol)

Justice for Scrimbles/Remember Grembley-inside Back cover-Theraprism/Rune (JUSTICE FOR SCRIMBLES!!!!)

Those are all of the codes that are in this book! (Or at least that I could find lol)

[tunglo]

Whisper magazine, November 1964. (scans from HoustonLGBTHistory)

Anyone have any ideas who they're hinting at here??

It made me realise how little I know about 60s Hollywood... The silent era, I can decode the gossip columns just fine. Then sound hits and my pop culture knowledge goes with it. xD

[auroralwriting]

rockstar v. popstar

billy dunne x popstar!reader

rockstar v. popstar masterlist

synopsis: billy dunne can't stand popstars, especially if it's you

warnings: sexual comments, billy is a hater, intro chapter to a new series so that’s why it’s a little short i’m sorry i promise the rest will be longer

Billy Dunne had always been a rockstar. Even when he lived in Pennsylvania, he was a motherfucking rockstar. Everyone knew it was just a matter of time until he got big.

And then, he did.

Daisy Jones and the Six were everywhere. Every radio station, every billboard, every magazine. Truly, you couldn't avoid the band even if you wanted to. Maybe that's what made it so surreal for him. His words, his voice, his fans. Billy loved being a rockstar.

That was.. until a little popstar began to climb the charts.

Her stupid fucking album, Feather, was blowing up. Every goddamn song was some work of pop-art. The lead single, Feather, went insanely popular. Then followed Juno, Espresso, and Please Please Please. All four songs were everywhere. Of course, the rest of the album was amazing, but it was like those songs followed him like the Grim Reaper, reminding him that his number one spot was limited. Very limited, apparently.

Billboards of her and her frilly, see-through, cute fucking outfits were everywhere. All with these stupid slogans, like 'she's gonna make you come to see her set!' or, 'come right on me-- camaraderie, is important to have at this concert!' It made Billy fucking sick with how smart it was.

Pop was a stupid genre. It had no meaning. It simply existed for a good beat-- sometimes-- and fun spirit. Pop was the dumbest most invaluable genre music had to offer which was just another reason why Billy hated her so much. Out of every genre, why pop?

Billy had every intention of completely ignoring the pop princess. In no scenario did he ever see himself in the same room as her. Unfortunately, Teddy thought otherwise. Camaraderie in the business was important. Apparently, she'd seen their shows. She'd even covered their song Aurora. So, in the spirit of goodwill and supporting other artists, there Billy was in the front row of one of her little concerts.

He couldn't even call it little. It was a huge venue. She'd rose to fame so quickly; he hadn't expected so many people to be in the crowd. He also didn't expect such a setup. A heart stage, themed props. It was.. almost incredible. Incredible if you ignored that it was for some frilly pop artist with little to no talent, that is.

But then, the concert started. It started with a song Billy had never heard before, one he discovered very quickly was called Taste. Taste was a fine song. Then came the one he wasn't expecting, Good Graces. That one was a little bit better, but not by much. The third song, well, Juno was.. different live. Juno was sexual, it was risqué, and it was really, truly, and unfortunately sexy. Her little sex position, showing the underpart of her dress, just showing a little ass-- good god.

The next song was basically whiplash, Decode. It was a really good song, actually. The lyrics were impressive, smart, even. The message was personal, no doubt something she'd experienced before. It almost made Billy wonder how someone could fumble her of all people.

After the concert was over, Billy was surprised to learn that the band would be meeting the little pop princess. She'd apparently asked if she could meet them. Billy had no clue what was going to happen next.

So, backstage they went. So far backstage they went to her goddamn dressing room of all places. One, two, three knocks. The door opened.

You stood there, smiling like some angel as you greeted the band so sweetly. "Daisy Jones and the Six! Hello, oh my god, it's so nice to meet you all! Come in, please!"

Of course, Karen and Daisy were all over your wardrobe in an instant. They loved your aesthetic more than anything in the world. Graham, Warren, and Eddie all asked more basic questions. Inspiration behind your songs, your arrangements, choreography. Billy had been silent. Silently seething because how on earth was he supposed to pretend to like you when he wasn't even sure if he hated you anymore?

And then, of course, you had to go and say your favorite song was Honeycomb. Your eyes had locked with Billy's and he knew he was in for it now because they shimmered and sparkled like your bedazzled microphone.

So, begrudgingly, Billy explained some of the background of the song.

"I just think it's so beautiful. Your harmonies are so amazing, I mean, you're all just so talented!" You exclaimed, looking like a golden retriever.

"I could say the same about Decode," Billy found himself saying. He didn't mean to, but it came out before he could stop himself.

You had lit up at his words, "Really? You think? That means a lot coming from you."

But, as Billy normally does, he made some shitty comment about your performance to a magazine. Something about being too risqué for the fanbase you had. It was a dangerous comment. A very, very dangerous one. It could've really hurt your career. But, it didn't. You were smarter than that, using it as one of your new slogans. God, you had to be some genius.

That was when Billy Dunne decided he hated you.

And that was when the rockstar v. popstar feud began.