#Literally London in a nutshell | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

trans-queen-administrator · 1 year ago

Note

Hey, can I hear about your shatterbird thoughts? She's always been my favourite member of the nine :]

[@faultlinescrew]

Oh I'm about to type for entirely too long.

Alright so a chunk of this is kinda headcanon, but any of that is fully based on canon. I had a giant fanfic planned that was literally an expanded telling of Shatterbird's life from trigger to death, and some plot points there may bleed into this unconsciously.

Number one favorite thing about Shatterbird is that initially, she did nothing wrong. She was unwillingly dosed with a Cauldron vial, and her scream and subsequent exploding of Dubai wasn't her fault. She had no intention to hurt anyone, it was done entirely out of her control as she gained powers and she should not be blamed for her first time destroying a city. The thing is, that doesn't matter in universe. She's still going to be hunted down by countless capes because she killed an untold number of people with that scream. No one's going to just let her go because it wasn't her fault, because she's the only person who can be blamed. People want revenge for their loved ones, and I'm willing to bet that she had a sizable bounty. It's similar to the situation we see with Rachel, where she can't have a normal life because she killed someone in her trigger and her identity is public, but on a much much larger scale.

I think the guilt ate at her so fucking bad at first. She killed her dad, her friends, her sister, her mother, countless others, and as much as it wasn't her fault she's still the one that did it. There's no way she doesn't blame herself for what happened, but when does she even have time to mourn? She's fled to a desert, she's gotta be struggling with food and water, and she's being hounded at every turn by people who want her dead. What's she supposed to do, let them kill her so she can atone for what she did or something?

I just love what a tragic backstory this is. She's one of the most horrible people we meet in canon, and I don't think it's unreasonable to say she has one of the highest body counts on Earth Bet, but she started as someone innocent and desperately trying to survive. And as much as I love this backstory and will defend to the death that she did nothing wrong at this point, it doesn't excuse who she becomes.

Shatterbird laughed. “There’s only two ways to recover from something of that magnitude, to deal with the fact that you inadvertently killed thousands and thousands of people, and hospitalized twice that many. You break, or you become it.”

(quote is from the missing interlude)

This is the quote that puts her entire character in a nutshell. The biggest question to me is... when did she become it? She implies in that interlude that it was rather quick, and that she went to Britain so she could hit a big target, but the Tattletale clone calls this out as a lie. She was running, the desert that she'd been in for months was unbearably loud with all that sand, and I think she was sick of living on the run. She wanted society, structure, something to make her feel human. I think she's full of shit saying she went there to destroy it, some accident or desperate confrontation occurred (timeline fits well enough for it to be a result of the Simurgh's attack, but that's just one possibility) and she broke London just as bad as she broke Dubai. What do you even do from there? Any slim hope of clearing her name is gone, she just has to keep running and try to ignore the guilt. And she ran to America, where the Slaughterhouse Nine found her.

The recruiting of people by the Slaughterhouse Nine fascinates me, because most are unwilling to join at first. Unfortunately the alternative is to die. No one in Brockton Bay was jumping to be the lucky winner, and the only people we know nominated themselves are Cherish and I think Siberian. Shatterbird (ever notice how she's the only S9 member with no canon first name? drives me nuts) was dragged into the recruitment process with no say in the matter just like most everyone is. Someone in the Nine found her, thought she would be a good fit because of London and Dubai (and how would that feel, to have someone on the S9 see you as just as bad as them?) and even if she explains that was on accident... what does it matter? It never matters that it was an accident. It never will matter. It's just something that she can tell herself to keep her sane.

So she's doing the fun little tests, I'm actually very curious how she altered herself for Mannequin's since he always does the same test, she's a very vain person, but that's off topic. Atrocities, horrors, being hunted by the Siberian, and suddenly she's at the end. Her and someone else.

“That’s not really a test,” Shatterbird spoke, “There hasn’t been a round of testing since I joined the group where we didn’t whittle it down to one candidate.” “We could forego the final test, pitting them against one another.” Shatterbird turned to him, “Ah. But, again, the last test where we had to go that far was… mine?”

And she kills them. Dubai, London, those were accidents. This was on purpose, maybe even the first time she's done it on purpose. She could either break and decide she couldn't live with herself as a member of the nine, or she could just as horrible as everyone sees her. All her choices were rigged, there was never much of an opportunity to get better since so many paths closed off to her, but she voluntarily chooses to get worse. What's the point in holding on to the fact that it wasn't her fault at the beginning? She's never escaping what she did, so she'll become the monster everyone sees her as. You break, or you become it.

And there's not much of the more sympathetic side of Shatterbird in canon (partly because her backstory chapter was removed). She's fully embraced herself as a mass murderer. She revels in the attention, the fear. She parrots Jack's philosophy as a way to feel better about what she's doing, and eventually she doesn't need to feel better because she enjoys who she is now.

I don't know, I rambled for a while there but it boils down to me being fascinated by the circumstances of her gaining powers, and the shift from innocent but hated/feared to making damn sure that fear is justified.

Ok, so moving on from the backstory analysis, other miscellaneous details. Fuck it, I'm putting every thought I have on Shatterbird in this post.

She's the Nine's primary recruiter! Woo, good for her. Notably, she recruits Burnscar. Mimi is in a similar position to Shatterbird's past self with the whole involuntary mass destruction, although on a lesser scale (it'll always be on a lesser scale, Shatterbird has the worst trigger event out there in terms of consequences and she didn't even trigger). Mimi was on the streets and trying not to use her power, and Shatterbird scooped her up into the Nine.

“I- before I knew it, the Slaughterhouse Nine had found me. Shatterbird recruited me. And now I’m stuck. I’m trapped. You know there’s a kill order out on me? If I try to quit, either the Nine or the cops will off me. So I keep going, I work for them, and it all just gets worse.”

It's a situation Shatterbird can very likely relate to, but she's perpetuating it and making Mimi suffer like she did. No sympathy, no helping someone get through it and avoid the pitfalls she fell into, she's dragging other people down with her like a crab in a pot. Worth noting that I believe she's still bitter about the hand she was dealt even if she's embraced where it led her to, she remembers how horrible it was to be forced into everything and she does not care if she inflicts it on others.

But if someone else willingly joins the Nine, she takes it personally. Cherie says Shatterbird hates her, and that's because Cherie chooses the life Shatterbird was locked into. She's bitter that she never had that choice, and so she makes sure Cherie understands what it's like by chasing her for days for her test, not allowing any rest or sleep. However, this could also simply because Cherie sucks and is an unpleasant person to talk to, and Shatterbird is stuck-up.

Another thing I like is Shatterbird's appearance of knowledge and elegance. She's trying to appear put together, confident, in-control, and to be fair she does a pretty good job, her costume and theming are great. But under that is someone violent and angry, she's keeping up appearances to everyone else but also to herself. The fact that she's always trying to keep up appearances, even when locked in a room and doomed to die with one Witness (haha get it) she's trying to make it look like she was calm and in control when her body is found, is what 100% convinces me exploding Britain was an accident. The Tattletale clone calls her out, and to me it seems like another attempt to seem in control by framing it as deliberate.

Anyway, my attempts to woobify a mass murderer aside, I also like that she was a spoiled rich kid before all this and her prim asshole attitude points to that. She quotes Edgar Allen Poe, she reads because it makes her feel better than others, she's just so pretentious and unpleasant and to be clear I love this as a character trait, it's fun and leads to her speaking in overdramatic ways.

“Then you should know, nearly-Tattletale, that I’ve spent too long in the company of monsters to be scared by words.”

She thinks she was soooo cool saying that.

I also want to look at the last few weeks of her life. She spends so much effort propping herself up as great and in control, only to be locked in a box and puppeted around against her will. Genuinely I cannot think of anything more humiliating and agonizing for her to endure. She has nothing to do but think as she's used as a marionette.

She had a long time to reflect on her life, to look back at how she got here and what she regrets.

But I think she spent it stewing in her rage, itching and planning to get violent revenge and keep hurting others to be respected. She's unwilling and unable to go back, she'll double down on this forever because this is who she is now. And because 99% of characterization for Shatterbird isn't in Worm anyway, I may as well toss in this minor AU summary by Wildbow. If she escaped, she would have started her own version of the Nine with Damsel of Distress and Trickster. There is nothing left to sympathize with or redeem Shatterbird by the time we see her in canon, she's simply past that point. Side note but Shatterbird + Damsel of Distress + Trickster as a team is perhaps the funniest combo ever and I really wish those 3 fuckers got to interact in canon. Weirdo assholes who dress up fancy and have a taste for theatrics as a murder crew, we were robbed.

I could analyze the Hookwolf interlude but I don't want to. I'm very annoyed that Shatterbird (still no first name) is the only member of the Nine to lose the fight against her recruit instead of appearing terrifying and unstoppable. How come Burnscar can solo Faultline's crew but 3 nazis can take out Shatterbird, who has way more experience? It's pretty uncomfortable to have the only member of the Nine who isn't white be the one that loses to nazis, while one calls her a slur in his internal monologue, in the interludes where everyone else on her team is introduced as a force of nature. I think we should just collectively agree to make this interlude not canon and un-retcon the Witness interlude. While I'm on the topic it's also a bit questionable to have Sophia and Shatterbird (no first name. I am annoyed by this) as the only named capes puppeted by Regent?

But that's not the topic I wanna explore. The topic is that Shatterbird is a great character and I wish that she had depth in the story itself rather than scattered through 20 different sources, because she's legitimately my favorite non-undersider in the story. There is a lot of potential to explore her, one could interpret her backstory in a less charitable way than I did just for an example, and I really think she's neat! She takes hurting someone in an accident and then becoming the monster people see her as, something we see a few times throughout worm, to its ultimate conclusion in terms of scale. That alongside her outer layer of intellectualism and pretentiousness, which I'm a massive sucker for as a trait, and she's just perfect. Did nothing wrong (citation needed). I love her and I do hope that at least some of the stuff written her makes someone appreciate her character more.

Ok! That was... 2.2k words about Shatterbird (no first name). Woo! If some stuff seems inconsistent between paragraphs here, it's probably because I wrote this in chunks over the course of a few weeks and my feelings at the time can influence my interpretation of things and my writing to feel different when read all at once and compared. If you think I'm woobifying her too much, cool. I think it makes her more compelling to examine how much we know was her fault and how much she shouldn't be blamed for, and making her have less agency makes her more tragic which I always like. If you actually read this to the end, thank you! Have a nice day!

#worm #parahumans #shatterbird #long post #ramble #FUCK that was a long post #no way in hell i'm editing it #this may be incoherent #its a tragic case of so many thoughts fighting to be crammed into the post #and enthusiasm hindering quality #i shan't apologize

211 notes · View notes

soprano-sfogato · 10 months ago

Text

Christine’s part is more about the middle voice, not high notes

I’ve written a post about Christine’s technique in Leroux’s novel, but now let’s talk about the role of Christine in ALW’s musical. I can literally write a book about it—before I’ve chosen opera as my career path, I was aiming to play Christine one day (I had taken voice lessons from one of the actresses who played her many years ago, and I nearly auditioned for the London production). But today, I’ll try to write about this part in a nutshell.

High E is not the most important thing

I know that the role of Christine is primarily associated with that high note, but the whole part is more complex than just one note. It’s wonderful if you can sing this note with ease, but it doesn’t mean that you can sing the entire part well, because

Having a good and strong middle voice is crucial

Christine’s part sits mostly in the middle voice, and since that’s often the most challenging part of the soprano range, you need solid technique to manage singing in that tessitura. If you struggle with your middle voice, it would be impossible for you to sing this part. That’s why you should

Work on your chest voice

A developed chest voice is essential for a strong middle voice. It’s also critical if you want to handle the lower notes—Christine sings quite low at times, even below middle C. Chest voice is a must for this part, and it will also help with

A few high notes

Christine sings high during the Think of me cadenza and at the end of the title song (and in the ensemble at the end of Masquerade). That’s it. It’s not difficult if you have strong, proper technique. Regarding the Think of me cadenza, you should also

Be familiar with the opera style

Yes, Phantom is a musical, but Christine is an opera singer, and the score gives you the opportunity to show it! Plus, if you’ve sung some arias before, it will make the Think of me cadenza (in any version) much easier to sing.

To sum up, while Christine’s high notes are impressive, the role requires much more than that. A strong middle and chest voice, and familiarity with operatic style are essential to mastering that part.

#Phantom of the Opera #Christine Daae #singing #musical theatre #the Phantom of the Opera #Christine Daaé #POTO #soprano #vocal technique

72 notes · View notes

doverstar · 1 year ago

Text

A paltry 3 people have asked me to expand on my opinion that Clara (who I like) is bad for the Doctor, so here I go below.

Strap in, this will be long. I disliked Clara back when her tenure was happening live, but upon rewatching the show now, with my husband, I completely changed my mind and grew to really appreciate her and cried when she died. I like Clara. But I came to this conclusion you’re about to read during that rewatch. In a nutshell, Clara and the Doctor’s relationship is unhealthy. Stop wait let me explain-

*hands you the nutshell* First. The show itself acknowledges that this Doctor/companion relationship is something unprecedented and ugly and bad for both of them towards the end. Why? Is it Clara? YES AND NO children. Clara as a companion, personality-wise, is not different from or more special than many Classic Who companions, and Jenna Coleman is ridiculously likeable as Clara. I know Clara is The Impossible Girl (because Moffat can’t write 100% ordinary people), and I know she has met all of the Doctors up to Twelve at least once, but take away her decision to throw herself into his timeline – take away the fact that the Master literally orchestrated events so that Clara and the Doctor would travel together because their personalities would create something dangerous and unhealthy in the end – and Clara herself really is just a twenty-something who wants to travel and acts like she’s the coolest person in the room. So Clara herself on the surface wasn’t the catalyst for the relationship becoming unhealthy. At least not the way she was written in the beginning. At first, it’s the Doctor making big Red Flag decisions. And I say that with so much love towards Matt Smith’s Doctor, who is dearly missed in these trying times. The Doctor meets the first version of Clara (from his perspective) as a barmaid/nanny in 20th century London. She’s exceptional (and unnecessarily flirty because Moffat can’t write women who don’t lust after the protagonist) and the Doctor invites her to travel with him. This is huge because the Doctor has just spent who-knows-how-long mourning the Ponds, who he was not ready to lose and who he had grown increasingly afraid of losing before he lost them. He sits on a cloud and has sworn off of travelling or helping anyone because he is that sick of losing people. He’s hurting and he doesn’t want to go through something like that again. The Ponds were just the latest in a very long line of lost people—remember, directly before Amy and Rory, the Doctor had to say goodbye to Donna, Martha, Wilf, Mickey, Jackie, Jack Harkness, Sarah Jane Smith oh my goodness, and Rose Tyler. And then he loses the Ponds. It’s agony. And it just keeps happening to him over and over again, and the Eleventh Doctor is especially vulnerable because he’s so tender-hearted and raw from Tennant’s losses, and this is the first time he’s lost companions with this face. The Eleventh Doctor is literally described by Moffat as the incarnation of the Doctor who chooses to forget. He’s consistently not addressing things like Gallifrey, the Time War, Rose, Donna, Martha, etc. When he’s reminded of them, the only thing he really reacts with is a strained admission of guilt (Let’s Kill Hitler and The Doctor’s Wife, anyone?). Eleven does not focus on what he has lost and worked really, really, selfishly-at-times hard to preserve the safety of the Ponds in particular. And then he loses them and throws a Doctor pity party on a cloud in a top hat.

Enter Nanny Clara, and she reminds him of what he’s missing and how things should be and helps him get his mojo back. Great, good. But she also reminds him of this one chick in the Dalek Asylum who begged the Doctor for help and was already dead. And the Doctor not only loves a mystery, but hates losing (losing people in particular). So he invites this Clara to come away with him and begin his never-ending adventure all over again, because she seems perfect for the job. And then she dies. Just like Oswin the crazy Dalek. Just like Amy and Rory, and the DoctorDonna, and Rose Tyler on the list of fatalities during the incident at Canary Wharf. Like Adric. But the Doctor doesn’t give up and pout in the 20th century this time. Instead, he gets determined to figure out what is connecting Nanny Clara and Dalek Clara, and determined to find a version of this mystery girl who can travel with him and not die this time. Third time’s the charm.

He finds Clara Oswald in the present, saves her life, freaks her out with his desperation to befriend her, and then she finally comes away with him. It’s played incredibly sweet specifically because it’s the Doctor trying to entice a companion and working for it, because he’s already seen she’s the one—twice—and is determined to keep her. This is an inversion of what usually happens, which is that the companion has to prove themselves worthy of the position to the Doctor during a meet-cute adventure. Classy. Fun. But we see from that point forward that the Doctor is kind of…weirdly obsessed with Clara. And not just because she’s appeared as three different-but-the-same people in his life lately, but because he’s the man who forgets and he lost people and never deals with that, and now he has this girl who he’s been unable to save twice before and he wants to make sure that doesn’t happen again. What’s worse, Clara becomes “the ultimate companion”, saving the Doctor throughout all his lifetimes by jumping into his timeline so she’s technically companion to all of him at one point. This is bad because not only is it not fair (as the gamers call it, it’s OP, yes I’m hip with the kids) it solidifies to the Doctor that she is the culmination of all his past failures in companion tenures.

She’s not the ultimate companion; she’s the ultimate do-over.

He’s obsessed with keeping Clara safe. He’s obsessed with keeping her with him. It’s not because Clara is this gorgeous, super-special, Not Like Other Girl(s). It’s not because he’s madly in love with her (though Moffat wants repeatedly to be able to imply that without properly saying it because he can’t write a female who is not in lust with the protagonist, hey let go of my soapbox I’m using that-). It’s not even because he lost two Claras previously and he feels really bad about that. It's because he’s projecting every single failure to keep a companion onto this one girl. The Doctor is trying so hard not to be controlled by the circumstances around him. He is trying so hard to keep this one, just this one, with him this time that he kind of turns into a withdrawal maniac when she’s in danger or choosing to do anything other than travel with him. The Master (Missy) orchestrated events so that Clara and the Doctor would be able to travel together because it was obvious the two of them would destroy each other in the end. The Doctor was such a person (Eleven) at such a time in his long life that could not stand the idea of losing one more friend and would do anything to keep history from repeating itself. He has to have Clara. He can’t quit Clara. She’s all of them. She’s everyone. And poor Clara—Clara is great, but being with the Doctor brings out only the worst in her. The woman is obsessed with herself. She was better off before he came around! Keeping pace with the Doctor, traveling the universe with him, feeling like she had something with him no one else could touch—all of that inflated her sense of importance; she has to be special. She has to be in control. She’s bossy and confident and as long as the Doctor is around, she’s the most incredible human being in her species and he is lucky to have her. That’s how he makes her feel—because it’s obvious he can’t let her go. (“Traveling with you made me feel really special.”) And worse, Clara can’t let him go—but not even specifically the Doctor. The Doctor, to Clara, is only as valuable as he makes her feel. It’s very sad because the two of them are kind of convinced they’re best friends and that’s why they’re together, but that’s not it. They’re not best friends. They’re toxic.

(Best friends do not trick other best friends, lie to them, threaten their way of life and only home to get their boyfriends back and then say “I’m sorry but I’d do it again”. Best friends do not notice that their best friend is there for them in spite of that line of action and then still disregard their best friend’s safety and needs in order to get what they themselves want above all else. Death in Heaven, I hate you.) And! Clara was so rattled by Eleven changing into Twelve. The sweet young man who flirted with her and made her feel so romantically important was gone, now there’s this grisly old fella who is rude to her and makes disparaging personal remarks about her physical appearance, and who doesn’t like hugs. But they’re not done. Because now the relationship has changed even further—we went from “he likes me and he should because I am Important” and “she’s staying with me and she should because I am gonna keep her safe and it won’t be like last time(s) and that’s why she’s special, that’s why she’s Impossible” to “I’m with him because he needs me and because I am Important like he is” and “she’s staying with me and she should because I am gonna keep her safe and she’s still special and she’s still Impossible and I can’t lose her no matter what”.

Clara is controlling and the Doctor is controlling. Missy would have you believe the Doctor won’t be controlled, but that’s just another form of control. The Doctor can’t stop travelling with Clara. Twelve will not let her rest, Twelve will not let her die. Clara will not stay home, Clara will not put anyone or anything else before herself, before traveling and saving the day and feeling special. In fact, it’s gotten to the point where the Doctor treats Clara with such reverence, she actually believes she’s 100% his equal and should be him. That was not a typo. I did not say she should be like him. I said she thinks she should be him. It gets worse and worse as time goes on. Clara thinks she can be the Doctor. She can travel anywhere, she can do whatever she wants, and she will always win. Because she’s important. Because she’s special. She doesn’t realize that she can’t, and that that’s not who the Doctor is anyway. And the Doctor watches Clara get eaten up by this addiction to travel, addiction to heroics. Clara loses Danny and that’s her last tether to normal life. It’s sad because Danny was twice the man anybody expected him to be and he was almost there, almost good enough for Clara to stay and be safe with. But the Doctor and time and space are a tough act to follow, and when Danny died, Clara felt she was owed better. She wasn’t angry because Danny was young and she loved him and she wanted better for him. She was angry because as a time traveling hero, she deserved to have her boyfriend alive and not hit by an ordinary car in the middle of an ordinary day on Earth. (But she wouldn’t have stayed with him anyway, and she wasted so much time with him treating him like he wasn’t special enough and then it was too late. If the Doctor had not been part of the equation, treating her like she hung the stars and making her believe it, they could have been happy. She could have been okay.)

More adventures, more close calls. At this point everything likeable about Clara in the past has faded away because she is just not the same person anymore. She’s ruined. And it’s her fault, and it’s the Doctor’s fault. Clara isn’t addicted to travel or heroics. Now she’s addicted to feeling important. She’s addicted to being special. And she needs to feel that so badly that she decides she is the Doctor and can do what he does and ignores the danger and ignores the rules and the risks and what it might do to the Doctor to lose her, and she faces the stupid raven. This girl legit dies a painful, scary death because she thought she could do whatever she wanted, control every situation, and it couldn’t possibly turn out badly because she’s Clara Oswald, the Impossible Girl. Did the Doctor ever give her any idea that that wasn’t true? Didn’t he worship the ground she marched on? She dies for it. And the Doctor, bless his poisoned hearts, cannot handle it. No way, it is not happening again. Not Clara! He’s avoided her death every other time. It’s not even about Clara anymore—Clara is actually a pretty rotten friend to the Doctor at this point; he’s nothing to her, not really, just a means to an end (and you can tell because when push comes to shove, she will choose herself and time and space over him, and over any sense at all, but if anyone asks, that’s her best friend and do you know why? because it’s very special to be the Doctor’s best friend). It’s not about her, it’s about them. About Adric, and River, and Rose, and Donna, and Tegan and Susan and Ace and Vicki. It’s about Ian and Barbara and Wilfred Mott. Not this time, universe! Not this time, Clara! "I have a duty of care." "Which you take very seriously, I know." Twelve goes through the most contrived, horrendous, comically-lengthened torture Moffat can think of (Heaven Sent) and comes out on the other side only to bring Clara back from the dead. Think of that. The woman is actually very long dead at this point and the Doctor braves literal Gallifrey to pull her out of the moment before the end. He breaks every single rule he has ever, ever had. And he does it violently, are you telling me for real that Clara is the best companion for him? She drives him to do right, to be the greatest he can be? She helps, she brings him back to who he’s always tried to be? No she doesn’t. She drives him to total depraved madman status because they can’t quit each other, and no, not the cutesy quippy Madman With A Box type of madman.

What makes Clara so different from all the other people the Doctor had to lose and who remained lost? Nothing at all. Nothing except that the Doctor decided this one isn’t going anywhere. Because she is every companion to him. This poor woman has a sack full of the Doctor’s past-companion baggage tied to her back but to her it feels light, because he treats it outwardly like a pedestal. So he “brings her back” and she figures out what he’s done and what he went through to do it, and they both learn that their relationship is actually so toxic that together, they would destroy the universe just to have what they want. Because that’s what they bring out in each other. The Doctor has to keep Clara safe, and Clara has to be special. They’re so unhealthy it affects everything around them, to the point where the Time Lords literally have a name for their destructive dynamic in their prophecies called the Hybrid (go lie down, Moffat). And the Master knew that because Time Lord…stuff…and deliberately ensured that Clara and the Doctor get together.

Luckily the Doctor is still, somewhere, miraculously, himself—so he recognizes at last that this is going too far and it’s bad, it’s all bad. The only solution, because he still can’t just return Clara to her fate, is to wipe her memory (hello Donna) of him so that they aren’t together but she also doesn’t have to die. So that he still doesn’t have to deal with losing people. And then the very worst part, writing-wise, happens. Clara complains and decides she must be allowed her memories, she’s entitled to them (too special to lose her memories!) but goodie for her, she doesn’t lose them. The Doctor, instead, loses his memories of her. Now, this is ultimately a good thing for him because of the horse I beat to death over there, don’t make eye contact, but—how sad is it that he still has to lose? That he still can’t keep someone, even after all that carnage? The healing process is beginning and he’ll be a better man than ever after this, but take a moment to mourn because that really sucks for him.

Okay here’s the worst part—Clara lives. And not only does Clara live, Clara lives forever. Clara is immortal. Clara gets her own Tardis. Clara gets her own immortal companion! (Ashildr.) Who learned something? Anyone? Not Clara! Who grew as a person around here? No one? Not Clara! Poor Clara Oswald, who started out nicely enough and likeable enough, at least on level with Classic Who companions, is ruined in the end. She gets exactly what she wants. She’s the Ultimate Companion! She’s met all the Doctors. He even fancied her at one point, well, how could he not? She didn’t die, she didn’t learn anything, she didn’t even really grow, she just got worse. Danny died and the Doctor lost, but Clara got to keep her memories, lose her mortality, and gain her own infinite time travelling machine. She became the Doctor. Yippee. Neither of them were made better by the other’s company. Rose Tyler said more than once, at least in three different ways, that the Doctor’s influence, that the opportunity to travel in time and space and help, brings out the extraordinary qualities ordinary people already have. He taps into their potential to be better, even better than him sometimes. The human factor, I call it. And they inspire him to be better, which is important for someone who is essentially immortal and can essentially go anywhere and do anything he likes. Wilfred said it, too, that Donna was better with the Doctor. But the codependency, the noxious way the Doctor and Clara interacted with each other—their whole relationship—it’s devoid of that improving quality. It wasn’t at first, at least not on Clara’s side, but that’s what it turned out to be. At least Moffat acknowledges that in Hell Bent, but he does it more in a way that is trying to communicate to you that that’s how deep and special the Doctor and Clara’s relationship is, isn’t it so important, isn’t it the best companion/Doctor relationship ever? Isn’t she hot, isn’t he whipped? Have you ever seen such devotion? Gag me. He doesn’t say it like it’s a bad thing. He’s just trying to win the 60-year-long companion race. And Clara and the Doctor both suffer for it.

I still like Clara. I blame the writing entirely for how things turned out, because I genuinely, really enjoyed her this last rewatch, and I wish that she’d met a better end. I wish she’d stayed with Danny and figured out what Danny was trying to tell her all along—that normal life is precious and worth it, and worth giving up the big sparkly universe for if you find someone else to live for besides yourself. I wish she’d sacrificed herself to save the Doctor in the present, not just throughout his past, because she proved that at one point she was capable of that. I wish she’d come to terms with the fact that she couldn’t control everything, couldn’t have what she wanted every time, and then chose to learn from that and use what she could control for the benefit of others (including the Doctor). I wish she’d gotten out the way Martha had gotten out. And I really, really wish the Doctor hadn’t had to prolong the pain he was always going to feel when someone else had to say goodbye. Anyway, that’s the essay a trifling three lovely people asked me for. Not really an essay, just word vomit. If you read it all, please let me know what you think! I could be wrong.

84 notes · View notes

seasurfacefullofclouds1 · 5 months ago

Note

Listen. I am here since 2012. I have seen everything. From larries to antis to big larries who swore they knew every and had secret infos about larry. LOL.

I’ve seen big larries saying they had infos about that old trashbag irving, who wanted to sign 1D and save them from simon cowell. Then I’ve seen larries saying that harry didn’t sign a contract on that yacht and it wasn’t for a solo career. I’ve seen larries saying that harry didn’t want to fo solo or act in movies. They lied and lied and lied like they breathe.

Funny how now all those “big larries” have left the fandom. 🤣

I remember the Big Larrie who met Louis at a M&G in London and said he was appreciative of her LGBT signaling and then later wrote a big Tumblr post about how she was disillusioned by Louis (@conscious-rambling).

And the other Big Larries, who bullied and drove out “rad Louies” from the 1D fandom, told their followers that it was of course okay to have honest feelings about not believing in Larrie anymore as long as you support Harry.

They’re still in the fandom, slagging Louis lol.

They’ve always been like this. Since 2015. That’s Larries in a nutshell.

I love when Larries cry about how they’ve been bullied by Louis and people in the fandom when they were literally calling fans cunts for not supporting Harry, and “rads” and “Hitler.”

#Larries and Harries always worried about numbers and winning #who the fuck cares lol #they don’t rule anyone and can’t censor anyone

11 notes · View notes

lcndonboysstuff · 1 year ago

Note

People got too spoiled with all the content! This is Joe in a nutshell. I see some Instagram fan pages begging for him to show up or do something every day and it’s like oh, you naive children! 😂 It’s going to be literal crumbs for at least the rest of the summer if not longer depending on his other films. Just the way it is with him. May and June was all about KOK promotion - not the norm for him.

yep totally normal for him. we might get a sighting of him out and about in london but aside from that i’m not expecting anything

#anon

2 notes · View notes

l-in-c-future · 2 years ago

Text

A look at Earth in 2050 if climate change isn't stopped

A series of pictures showing many major capital cities will become the Atlantis-under water.

Take a few examples:

Washington DC-the only thing still above water is a patch of the Lincoln Memorial Square as a lonely floating island.

Sydney Australia-the only thing still above water is a part of the Opera House-the shell roof.

You need to dive into Melbourne and Adelaide's international airports. You need submarines-NO MORE planes. And that glimpse of such reality had already happening during the great floodings in 2022. Don't need to wait till 2050.

New York-the only thing still above water is the liberty statute-literally only the statute.

Santa Monica-Carlifonia. If you catch up one of the 9-11 previous seasons, what happened after huge tsunami hit turning a giant theme park into a giant lake, that will be the new reality.

Havana Cuba-nothing will be above water surface.

Guangzhou, China-same.

London, UK-swim to St Paul's Catheral please!

White House-same.

In a nutshell, everywhere looks like Venice but everywhere is deep under the water. The only way of transport is submarine. Good luck! The reality is already happening NOW whenever you watch news of huge floodings anywhere.

How about those costal cities not mentined in these pictures? Likely they will be wiped out on the world map. Scientists need to dive under to search for the new lost cities.

Still don't get it? Watch the Day After Tomorrow movie.

#climate change #rising sea levels #floodings

3 notes · View notes

ventageie · 2 months ago

Text

How Does Q-Commerce Differ From Traditional e-Commerce? An interactive guide for restaurants, startups & hyperlocal delivery services

An interactive guide for restaurants, startups & hyperlocal delivery services

What’s the Real Difference between Q-Commerce and Traditional e-Commerce?

At first glance, it might just seem like a race against the clock. But Quick Commerce—popularly known as Q-Commerce—is not just faster; it’s reshaping how local businesses serve their communities.

So let’s dig into it.

1. Is It Really All About Speed?

Yes—and no. Traditional e-commerce typically delivers in days. Q-Commerce thrives on delivering in minutes, sometimes under 10 minutes. Think groceries, hot meals, or even medicine—delivered while your customer is still deciding what to watch on Netflix.

Did you know? Over 30% of urban consumers in the UK and USA now expect delivery times under an hour. That’s where Q-Commerce becomes essential.

But it’s not just about speed. It’s also about proximity, inventory control, and real-time logistics.

2. How Does Q-Commerce Fit into the Restaurant Business Model?

Great question. For restaurants, Q-Commerce means:

Partnering with hyperlocal delivery services

Offering smaller menus tailored for fast prep and delivery

Managing on-demand inventory through smart dashboards

In a nutshell, it allows restaurants to serve more customers, faster, without relying solely on dine-in or traditional delivery channels.

💡 Pro Tip: Cloud kitchens and dark kitchens thrive on Q-Commerce models—fast food, literally.

3. Can Startups Compete in This Space Without Huge Investment?

Absolutely. Thanks to tech enablers like Ventagenie, startups can now launch their own branded Quick Commerce apps without the overhead of building from scratch.

Ventagenie provides:

Ready-to-deploy Quick Commerce delivery software solutions

Real-time order tracking

Integrated payment gateways

Hyperlocal mapping and route optimization

Case in point: Startups using smart Q-Commerce tools have seen up to 40% faster customer acquisition due to improved service speed and local targeting.

4. Is Hyperlocal Delivery Just a Buzzword or a Real Strategy?

It’s as real as your morning coffee.

Hyperlocal delivery is the engine behind Q-Commerce. It focuses on delivering goods within a few miles radius, reducing transport costs, and drastically cutting delivery times.

In cities like London, New York, and Los Angeles, this model is fueling the 10-minute delivery service trend.

📍 If you’re a local business or restaurant, Q-Commerce isn’t just optional—it’s your competitive edge.

5. Isn’t Building a Q-Commerce App Complicated?

It can be—unless you have the right partner.

That’s where Ventagenie comes in. Their all-in-one Quick Commerce delivery software solution is built for businesses who want:

Customizable branding

Scalable order management

Smart dispatch systems

Real-time analytics to optimize performance

Whether you're a single-location restaurant or a growing hyperlocal delivery startup, Ventagenie helps you deliver better, faster, and smarter.

6. What’s Next for Your Business?

Ask yourself:

Are your customers expecting faster delivery?

Are you missing out on hyperlocal demand?

Is your current system optimized for real-time logistics?

If you answered “yes” to any of the above, it’s time to think beyond traditional e-commerce.

Q-Commerce is not the future—it’s the now. And with the right tools and mindset, any business can jump on this fast-moving train.

✅ Ready to launch your own 10-minute delivery service?

✅ Want a sleek, scalable, and powerful Q-Commerce platform?

👉https://www.ventagenie.com/quick-commerce-delivery-solution & take your first step toward building a high-speed, hyperlocal delivery empire.

0 notes

theohonohan · 1 year ago

Text

On Primary Generators

I'm working on writing something about the use of geometry in design, specifically the use of cycloids, hyperboloids and "concave elliptical frusta" in lighthouse design. In that case the named curve is a generator of the form (literally, the generatrix). I'll try to mention the work of the French sculptor Raphäel Zarka, who has used the cycloid in his work, as well as making many sculptors reflecting on the ideal nature of geometry. I should probably also discuss polyhedra in art, and Noam Andrews' book The Polyhedrists.

One thing I've just come across, that I want to dispatch quickly, is an issue involving the design of the Sydney Opera House. The story, in a nutshell, is that Utzon conceived the opera house as a set of freeform shapes, but in order for it to be constructed, these shapes had to be made regular. Years were lost before construction began, as Arup engineers tried to work out a satisfactory geometric definition.

To work out how to build the shells, the engineers at Arup & Partners needed to express the shell shapes mathematically. Asked by the engineers in 1958 to define the curves of the roof, Utzon took a plastic ruler, bent it against a table and simply traced the curves. He sent these drawings to Arup & Partners in London, explaining these were the shapes he wanted.

Eventually a solution was found which involved defining the shapes as sections of the surface of a sphere:

The celebrated story is told in detail here: https://www.sydneyoperahouse.com/our-story/the-spherical-solution and in oral history form here https://drawingmatter.org/jorn-utzons-sydney-opera-house/. It's notable that, in adopting the spherical solution, Utzon was abandoning the arbitrary form that Arup had previously been wrestling with. He was going right back to the drawing board and redefining the shape of the building.

What's funny is that some people tell a version of the story which has the wrong moral. Bryan Lawson's book How Designers Think contains the following passage.

These early ideas, primary generators or organising principles sometimes have an influence which stretches throughout the whole design process and is detectable in the solution. However, it is also sometimes the case that designers gradually achieve a sufficiently good understanding of their problem to reject the early thoughts through which their knowledge was gained. Nevertheless this rejection can be surprisingly difficult to achieve. Rowe (1987) records the 'tenacity with which designers will cling to major design ideas and themes in the face of what, at times, might seem insurmountable odds'. Often these very ideas themselves create difficulties which may be organisational or technical, so it seems on the face of it odd that they are not rejected more readily. However, early anchors can be reassuring and if the designer succeeds in overcoming such difficulties and the original ideas were good, we are quite likely to recognise this as an act of great creativity. For example, Jorn Utzon's famous design for Sydney Opera House was based on geometrical ideas which could only be realised after overcoming considerable technical problems both of structure and cladding. Unfortunately, we are not all as creative as Utzon, and it is frequently the case that design students create more problems than they solve by selecting impractical or inappropriate primary generators.

The problem with this is that it gives the impression that Utzon started with a geometrical "primary generator" and stuck to it stubbornly. But, in reality, Utzon only solved Arup's problems by throwing out his initial arbitrary and freeform design and replacing it with the geometrical simplicity of the spherical solution.

Departing from Lawson's version of events, Paul Taylor's design theory blog discusses how Utzon allegedly "conceptualised the design of the Sydney Opera House using geometric slices through a sphere, at the same time brilliantly working in a mirage of the First Fleet’s billowing sails on Sydney Harbour." It goes on to claim that "the primary generator does not dictate the design of the solution, just as Utzon’s treatment of his conceptual sphere constrained the macro design problem but offered little guidance on how to solve the substantial engineering problems presented by the remarkable building’s enormous concrete shells or its waterfront foundations."

But, as the historical record makes clear, the idea of using spherical sections was not Utzon's original design concept, established at the outset and rigidly defended. It was, instead, his brilliant and flexible technical solution to the problem of construction. Perhaps what Bryan Lawson says is acceptable, depending on how you interpret "geometrical ideas". Utzon absolutely did not change his "major design idea" or "theme", to use Rowe's words. But that idea did not involve a sphere. Paul Taylor, it seems to me, has clearly come away from reading Lawson holding the wrong end of the stick.

0 notes

daimonclub · 2 years ago

Text

Christmas story

Christmas Story Christmas story, customs and traditions in Great Britain, Ireland, and London by English-culture blog plus other links to our posts on Christmas festival. In the old days, it was not called the Holiday Season; the Christians called it 'Christmas' and went to church; the Jews called it 'Hanukkah' and went to synagogue; the atheists went to parties and drank. People passing each other on the street would say 'Merry Christmas!' or 'Happy Hanukkah!' or (to the atheists) 'Look out for the wall!'. Dave Barry Happy, happy Christmas, that can win us back to the delusions of our childish days; that can recall to the old man the pleasures of his youth; that can transport the sailor and the traveller, thousands of miles away, back to his own fire-side and his quiet home! Charles Dickens Were I a philosopher, I should write a philosophy of toys, showing that nothing else in life need to be taken seriously, and that Christmas Day in the company of children is one of the few occasions on which men become entirely alive. Robert Lynd The name Christ itself was borrowed into Old English from Latin Christus, which in turn came from Greek Khristós. This meant literally ‘anointed’, and came from the verb khríein ‘anoint’. It was a direct translation of Hebrew meshiah (source of English messiah), which also meant literally ‘anointed’. Christian is derived, of course, from the name of Christ. It is a surprisingly recent word, having been introduced in the 16th century from Latin Christianus, replacing the existing English adjective christen, which came from Old English cristen. The latter was the basis of the Old English verb cristnian, from which we get modern English christen. Christmas" is a shortened form of "Christ's mass". It is derived from the Middle English Cristemasse, which is from Old English Cristesmæsse, a phrase first recorded in 1038 followed by the word Cristes-messe in 1131. Crist (genitive Cristes) is from Greek Khristos, a translation of Hebrew "Messiah", meaning "anointed"; and mæsse is from Latin missa, the celebration of the Eucharist. Christmas: "Church festival observed annually in memory of the birth of Christ," late Old English Cristes mæsse, from Christ (and retaining the original vowel sound) + mass. Written as one word from mid-14c. As a verb, "to celebrate Christmas," from 1590s. Father Christmas first attested in a carol attributed to Richard Smart, Rector of Plymtree (Devon) from 1435-77. Christmas-tree in modern sense first attested 1835 in American English, from German Weihnachtsbaum. Christmas cards were first designed 1843, popular by 1860s; the phrase Christmas-card was in use by 1850. Christmas-present is from 1769. Christmas Eve is Middle English Cristenmesse Even (c. 1300). The Christmas Story in a Nutshell Jesus in Manger. Wise men bring first Christmas gifts It all started with the Angel Gabriel just over 2000 years ago. The Angel Gabriel proclaimed that Mary would have a very special baby and that the newborn would called Jesus. If we move forward to Bethlehem, Mary and her husband Joseph, went to town to pay their taxes. Unfortunately, there was nowhere for them to stay, so they took shelter in a stable. There in Bethlehem, in a manger, the baby Jesus was born. A bright star in the East guided wise men to the stable. They brought with them gifts Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh. This informal ceremony has extended to the celebration of Christmas as we know it today.

Christmas story and traditions The Christmas Story - The Version from the King James Bible. Matthew Chapter 2. Jesus in Manger. Wise men bring first Christmas gifts 1. Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, 2. Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him. 3. When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. 4. And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born. 5. And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet, 6. And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel. 7. Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared. 8. And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also 9. When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was. 10. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. 11. And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense and myrrh. 12. And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way. SAINT NICHOLAS (Santa Claus) ON CHRISTMAS EVE (December 24th) He comes to visit every child on the night before Christmas. The children hang stockings on the end of their beds and Santa Claus (or Father Christmas, as he is often called) fills them with toys. Santa comes from Greenland in a sleigh pulled by reindeer, he lands on the roofs of houses and comes down the chimney to bring presents for the children. The children write letters to Santa Claus a few weeks before Christmas and leave them in the fireplace. In Britain December 31st is called New Year's Eve and January 1st, which is a public holiday, is New Year's Day. The Scots have another name for the New Year holiday, it is called Hogmanay- and in Scotland it is the most important holiday in the year. Friends and relations meet and have parties to see the new Year in. They eat and drink and sometimes dance and sing. At midnight they have a drink and wish each other "A happy new year". In Scotland, and in many parts of England, people visit their friends after midnight, this is called "first-footing". If your first visitor after twelve o'clock is a tall, dark man with a piece of coal and sometimes a herring in his hand, you will be lucky for the whole year! The day after Christmas is called Boxing Day and January 6th is called Twelth Night. CHRISTMAS DAY December 25th It is 1.30 on Christmas Day and the Browns are eating their Christmas dinner. Mrs Brown's father is carving the turkey and Mrs Brown is serving ... Mrs Brown: I hope the turkey's cooked properly, Father. Father: It looks fine to me. Mrs Brown: Will you have ham and sausages with your turkey, Barbara? Barbara: Yes, please, Mum. Mrs Brown: And bread sauce? Barbara: Yes. Mrs Brown: And chestnut stuffing? Barbara: Oh yes - I'll have everything. Mrs Brown: Here you are then. Barbara: It looks delicious. Pass the gravy, please, David. Mrs Brown: Don't wait for us, Barbara. Start yours or it'll get cold. Now, David, what'll you have? ... And after the main course the Browns had Christmas pudding with brandy butter, mince pies with cream followed by nuts and fruit and coffee. Then they all pulled crackers. Inside each cracker there was a coloured paper hat, a joke and a small toy - a whistle or a doll perhaps. (A Christmas cracker is a cardboard, very thick paper that is used for making boxes, tube covered in coloured paper and containing a small present. Crackers are pulled apart by two people, each holding one end, at Christmas parties. They make a loud noise as they break. After such a large meal - and a lot of washing up - they all settled down to watch the Queen on television. In the evening they went carol singing with the church choir and visited an old people's home. This is one of the Carols they sang. I saw three ships come sailing in on Christmas Day, on Christmas Day. I saw three ships come sailing in on Christmas Day in the morning. And what was in those ships all three, on Christmas Day, on Christmas Day? And what was in those ships all three, on Christmas Day in the morning? Our Saviour Christ and His lady, on Christmas Day, on Christmas Day; Our Saviour Christ and His lady, on Christmas Day in the morning. BOXING DAY December 26th It's the day after Christmas - a Bank holiday - and David is sitting in the stalls of the Palladium Theatre with his Aunt Kate and his little cousin, Emma. They are watching the pantomime, Babes in the Wood. It's the first time Emma's been to a pantomime and so she's asking a lot of questions. Emma: Why's that man dressed as a woman, Mummy? Aunt Kate: It's just funnier that way. There's always a man like that - usually he's somebody famous - that's Arthur Askey and he's pretending to be the children's mother. Emma: He's rather ugly, isn't he? ... And why are there two men inside that horse? Can't they get a real one? David: Well, it would be a bit difficult to have a real horse on the stage - it might get frightened by all the noise. Emma: Why did the man leave the children in the wood? Aunt Kate: What a lot of questions you ask! Now, shh! Watch. Arthur Askey's going to take the children to Robin Hood in Sherwood Forest ... Customs, story and traditions St Nicholas was the bishop of the Italian town Bari. He was a very good and generous man. He died in December and parents started giving gifts' to their children on the anniversary of his death, in order to remind them of the saint's generosity. At the end of the Roman Era and during the Middle Ages, Europe was far more united than we can imagine: pilgrims' travelled to sanctuaries, scholars' went from one university to another - and so St Nicholas, or Nicolaus , became known all over Europe. And in northern Europe Santa Claus, who brings gifts during the Christmas period, is still St Nicholas from Bari with his new northern name.

Indoor Christmas decorations Yet, in the original Celtic tradition there were two other people who brought gifts during winter. Of course you know them. One is the Italian Befana, who is a good witch on her way back from the witches' Sabbath. The others were the tiny' gnomes from northern Europe, who lived in old trees in the forests. They also wore a big red hood'. A little girl who spoke to wolves' and walked in the forest wearing a red hood and carrying gifts is no doubt known to you: Little Red Riding Hood. All over Britain, around Christmas time, children are taken out for a special treat - a pantomime or a circus. A pantomime is a kind of comedy play with singing and dancing, based on a well-known fairy story or folk-tale such as Aladdin, Cinderella or Babes in the Wood. Sometimes one story is mixed with another. The Babes in the Wood that Emma saw took place in Sherwood Forest and Robin Hood had to save the children from the Sheriff of Nottingham. Pantomimes have certain traditions. There is usually a 'Principal Boy' or hero, who is actually a woman dressed in men's clothes - except that 'he' doesn't wear trousers, but stockings and high heels instead! There is a “Dame” - an old woman acted by a man dressed in women's clothes. There is always a villain (a man or a woman who tries to harm the hero) and often there is a comic animal played by one or two men. The audience is often asked to join in It sings popular songs, it hisses or boos t e villain, and it tries to warn the hero or the Dame when something bad is going to happen. However, all pantomimes have a happy ending - usually a beautiful and romantic wedding scene. Why is December 26th called “Boxing” Day? In the old days, servants, shopkeepers and other people who performed a service for the rich used to come to their houses with a box and be given presents and sometimes money. The custom still continues in a way, but only with people who deliver things or take them away - like milkmen, postmen, newsmen, newspaper boys and dustmen. Christmas Meals in the United Kingdom & Ireland. What is now regarded as the traditional meal consists of roast turkey, served with roast potatoes and parsnips and other vegetables, followed by Christmas pudding, a heavy steamed pudding made with dried fruit, suet, and very little flour. Other roast meats may be served, and in the nineteenth century the traditional roast was goose. The same carries over to Ireland with some variations.

London streets Christmas lights decorations From glittering Christmas lights and ice skating to traditional markets and Christmas shows, London is a Christmas wonderland. After a festive meal, where better to burn off energy gliding around the Christmas tree at the Natural History Museum’s magical ice rink. London has plenty of other rinks to pirouette upon, including Skylight’s rooftop rink, with impressive city views, or cutting your crystal in the rink of the Tower of London, outside the Queen’s jewels. London rinks sell hot chocolate to warm hands and cockles after whizzing around the ice. You can see the beautiful Oxford Street Christmas lights shimmer in the skies above the world-famous shopping district and check out one of the quirkiest London Christmas lights displays, glowing across the 13 streets of cool Carnaby. Admire the gorgeous mistletoe chandeliers at Covent Garden, and explore the magical Christmas lights in nearby Seven Dials. See the luxurious area of Bond Street sparkle with magnificent Christmas lights or marvel at more than 300,000 Christmas lights and 16 glowing spirits glittering above Regent Street. You can also sing along to carols around Trafalgar Square’s world-famous Christmas tree and support your favourite furry friends at the Battersea Cats and Dogs Home Carol Concert. You may also be part of traditional Christmas carols at the historic St Paul’s Cathedral. Or join in with carols by candlelight at the Royal Albert Hall and enjoy carols and concerts at St Martin-in-the-Fields Church. Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus. The word nativity comes from the latin word 'natal' which means birth (and is also where we get the word 'native' from). It is traditional in the UK for Primary (Elementary) schools to perform Nativity Play for the parents and local people associated with the school. The Nativity Play recreates the scene of Jesus' Birth and tells of how Mary and Joseph were visited by the Shepherds and Wise Men. The parts of Mary, Joseph, the Shepherds and the Wise Men are played by children. If the school is attached to a Church, the play often takes place in the Church. Sunday Schools in Churches also sometimes put on Nativity Plays. In the past, it was common for live animals including an ox and donkey and other farm animals (but not pigs) to be used in the plays. Sometimes they still are, but it is now more common for children to dress up as the animals in costumes or to have animal props. The first Nativity Play was not performed by Children in the UK, but in a cave by Monks in Italy! St. Francis of Assisi and his followers acted in the first play in 1223 to remind the local population that Jesus was born for them, as he was born into a poor family like theirs and not to a rich family.

Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus. St. Francis told the part of each character in the story himself using wooden figures in the play. After a couple of years, the play had become so popular that real people played the parts of the characters in the story. Songs were sung by the people taking part and they became what we call Christmas carols today! Now cribs are used in Churches all over the world and even in some homes (we have a wooden one in my house) to remind people of the story. Sometimes religious pictures and statues are called icons. Some Catholic and Orthodox Christians have icons of Mary and the baby Jesus in their homes. In some countries such as Italy and Malta, and many South American countries, the crib is the most important Christmas decoration. The city of Naples, in Italy, has used cribs to decorate houses and Churches since the 1020s! That's even before St. Francis of Assisi put on his play. Naples is also the home to the world's largest nativity crib scene. It's in the 'Museo Nazionale di S. Martino' and has 162 people, 80 animals, angels, and about 450 other smaller objects. Find out more about Nativity cribs in Naples in Italy. Nativity Scenes called 'Pessebres' are popular in the Catalonia region of Spain. Cribs also have a long tradition and importance in Malta, where they are called 'Presepju'. There's a special society that keep the tradition alive. Find out more about Nativity cribs in Malta. And now enjoy some proverbsw on Christmas: Christmas comes, but once a year is enough. Proverb, (American) Christmas has been talked of so long that it has come at last. Proverb, (French) A green Christmas makes a fat churchyard. Proverb, (Danish) A turkey never voted for an early Christmas. Proverb, (Irish) After Christmas comes Lent. Proverb, (German) Another year will bring another Christmas. Proverb, (Danish) If the ice will bear a maman before Christmas, it will not bear a goose after. Proverb It is good to be priest at Easter, child in Lent, peasant at Christmas, and foal in harvest-time. Proverb, (Danish) Green Christmas, a white Easter. Proverb, (German) The devil makes his Christmas pies of lawyers' tongues and clerk's fingers. Proverb http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ze2h6pdR54 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYyZKUFPCMo Read also our other posts on Christmas Read the full article

#Angel #anointed #Bethlehem #boxing #carols #children #Christ #Christmas #customs #Eucharist #Gabriel #happy #Jesus #Joseph #London #Mary #mass #OldEnglish #SantaClaus #Traditions

0 notes

unfavorableinstigation · 3 years ago

Text

My review of Persuasion (2022) in a nutshell: it's not what they were trying to do (a contemporary/period mashup) and more how they were trying to do it (refusing to give 19th-century culture more than a passing glance in favour of using it as cheap set dressing for our 21st-century eyes to judge).

One of the writers admitted in an interview that she decided she needed to "give Anne agency", to all appearances completely uncritical of the cultural lens she was looking through to make that assessment. The story is literally about agency, who has it, and how it can be used in a society that doesn't like women to have it. Agency is the core of the story, not a period-piece furbelow you can decide to add in like a set of beachy waves. If you give Anne agency, she has nowhere to go and no way to grow as a character. The plot of the story doesn't really leave room for character growth any other way - why would it?

The problem of the jarring modernisms isn't necessarily that they exist - this can be done well! A Knight's Tale comes to mind. But A Knight's Tale had two things going for it that Persuasion didn't - one they could have fixed, and one they couldn't. The first was in setting up expectations in the very first shot - the stomp-stomp-clap tells you exactly what you're in for. All issues of characterization aside, Persuasion might have been a better movie if they'd started with the wine in the bathtub rather than trying for Pride and Prejudice (2005)'s lush and sexy landscape shots to hook the viewers. The second was simply tone, and that's a difficult one to get around. A Knight's Tale isn't a mildly melancholy meditation on agency and second chances with satirical comedy twisting the knife, it's a Hero with a Thousand Faces farmboy narrative. I don't know if you can really overcome that one, although I would love to see a really skilled set of filmmakers try.

If I were to try... There is a way to do an Austen modernization well, and it's what Clueless did. Clueless asked, who is this character today, and wrote the screenplay that answer offered. Austen was fantastic at characterization - everyone in her books is a 'type' you have in your life today. I'd argue that the infamous "5 in London, 10 in Bath" quote was actually Persuasion's best achievement of this, and that their issues lay in 1) not taking the care to do that cultural translation right every time (perhaps not so much of a surprise, given the writer's surface understanding of the idea) and 2) not using it consistently enough that it wasn't a surprise every time - see the Knight's Tale problem above. The character of Mary was their most consistent success with the tactic in my mind - she was a relief every time she was on screen because they really did nail the 'type' with her and everything she said was her no matter what century it was flavoured as. But the core mistake of wanting to substitute Anne, the story's emotional heart, with someone else entirely makes the entire film fall flat.

#persuasion 2022 #jane austen #persuasion 2022 negativity #persuasion negativity

92 notes · View notes

the-empress-7 · 3 years ago

Note

What is Pippa’s job?

She used to be an event planner, with Party Pieces and also Table Talk. She leveraged that and her post-royal wedding fame as a socialite into a party planning book and lifestyle columns/correspondent gigs in the UK and US media. The book bombed and her columns didn't last very long, less than a year (but still longer and with more effort than Meghan's 72 days!).

Around 2016ish, she pivoted noticeably towards charity fundraising, and that's been her main gig, plus obviously her family. It's thought that William helped her in that shift to charity fundraising because he didn't like the idea of a royal-adjacent being involved in for-profit self-promotion (hmm, sounds familiar).

She reminds me a lot of the housewives on RHONY, where they do all this charity work off-camera but we hear them talk about it all the time on-camera, have all these connections, but we see them mostly going to parties, dinner, and walking around NYC. Which is Pippa in a nutshell: we hear a lot about her charity work, don't really see it, she has a lot of connections, but we mostly see her walking around London for the paps.

Thanks anon. Although I don't think it is fair to say that Pippa mostly walks around London for pap shots. She literally does not need to. Plus she keeps to herself now and does not get involved in anything Royal or political except for showing up to support her sister. Which is more than I can say for many members of the BRF. She does not owe the public anything vis a vis her charity work or otherwise.

29 notes · View notes

greywindys · 3 years ago

Note

New g mix analysis????

There were so many songs....God. But anyhow, yes. I'm ready to tackle this. The theme is once again “Tips for _____”, in this case, “Tips for 2022.” I'm going to alternate between 2D and Murdoc, as if they're in conversation. That's nearly 22 songs in total (2 of 2D's are instrumentals). I'm dying. Obligatory disclaimer that this is just for fun and obviously, shipping is dumb and will never happen. ANYHOW:

Security by Amyl and the Sniffers (Murdoc): Murdoc didn’t have to go so hard in his opener. It’s been a while, so I could be forgetting things, but is the most straightforward he’s been on these mixes. “Security, will you let me in your pub? // I’m not looking for trouble, I'm looking for love.” Tell us how you really feel. The opening verse is 2Doc in a nutshell. “Distracted you with all of my bullshit // I covered myself in distractions // Colors and patterns, you couldn't see the real me // I wanna deceive you, you're stupid, I'm fast.” Yeah, he’s been running away from 2D for over two decades now. Enough is enough!!1

150 by Porj (2D) - Hopefully, this is the right song. The only lyrics seems to be “Tell me what you want me for, me for…” Anon, I’ve only looked at 2 songs and I already know you’re correct. They’re basically talking to each other.

R&B by English Teacher (Murdoc) - “I've been writing R&B for you // I’ve been making you a tea.” Excuse me??? Murdoc literally made 2D tea. Who’s making these G-Mixes? What are you trying to do here? Also, I want to point out “Thing is, I've got a taste of what it feels like to be close enough // And I hope I can get my mind right so I can keep it up.” It’s very early to make any assumptions about what they’re going to do with Murdoc’s character, but lines like these always make me hopeful that they’re at least considering making his character more than a 2 dimensional villain.

Dark Blue by Caroline (2D) - Very little lyrics again. Just “I want it all // So tell them.” All of what? All the power? Full control of the band? (Let me have my evil!2D daydreams) All of Murdoc? Honestly, idk.

The Overload by Yard Act (Murdoc) - The return of angry activist!Murdoc. I love that Murdoc.

Strawberry by Doss (2D) - G-Mix maker, please. We were just reminiscing about the 2Doc strawberry story a few days ago. This song is more optimistic. In the artist’s words: “‘Strawberry’ feels like a pause, a punctuation between past and future moments. It’s about realizing that you are good and ok.” I picture 2D reminiscing about his relationship with Murdoc, and feeling okay because after everything, he’s still alive and inspired.

Clockwork by Lime Garden (Murdoc) - This song is about, per Lime Garden, “shedding light on the apprehension of adulthood.” Obviously, we all know Murdoc is an adult, but I’m sensing a theme here - coping with transitions in life. Murdoc, for all his terrible choices and near death experiences, is actually very risk averse in matters of relationships (platonic, romantic etc). But in his mix so far, he’s expressing a desire to commit to it, if he can; take the plunge and trust someone with all of himself *cough2dcough*. I mean, I’m not trying to sway him in one direction or another, but 2D did just say “he wants it all”….

London, I Love You but You’re Bringing Me Down by Malady (2D) - This one is weird. Activist!2D? Or at least a departure from the last song. Critical!2D, perhaps. Someone can correct me if I’m wrong, but Kong Studios is in London now, I think. Is 2D finally being more open about his fatigue with the rigamarole of touring, promotion, a constant audience, parties etc? That’s pure assumption based on personal hc, but I’m just saying.

Wet Dream by Wet Leg (Murdoc) - The artist call this song a break up song inspired by a period of time during which their ex would text them about having a dream about them. So, between 2D and Murdoc, who’s doing the dreaming and who’s doing the texting? Hmmm. I wonder if the answer is in 2D”s playlist…

YKWIM by Yot Club (2D) - Another break up song where the singer is “scared to be alone with their thoughts of what could have been and what is not.” The lyrics are very 2D ngl - “Seems like I care too much // When I'm all alone, oh no // I feel like I care too much // When no one's at home for me.” This kind of conflicts with earlier songs suggesting an more evolved 2D. But also, fair. Murdoc has always been his biggest obstacle emotionally and psychologically.

Landline by Binki (Murdoc) - “You're like a landline // Always keep my hands tied // Wonder how I like you and lie to you at the same damn time.” Literally so many of Murdoc’s songs are just like. “2D, you’re my anchor. You understand me. But I’m afraid of how real this is getting so I’m treating you like shit or running away, but I think I’m ready. Okay, maybe I’m not.” He came in so strong in the beginning!

Not Into You by Brooksie (2D) - As the title suggests: "Dude, she's just not into you, gotta move on, move on." Now, whose perspective is this from? Is it 2D trying to convince Murdoc that he's more over him than he actually is? Or is it 2D trying to convince himself to move on because Murdoc is never going to figure out his feelings, which must mean he's not as "into" 2D as he claims he is. 2D's just figured it out before him. Or is it broader...is 2D telling Murdoc he's not "into" him the way he was in P1. Sure he cares for him, but he isn't bending over backwards for him without question anymore. This is the most optimistic read, imo. 2D loves him, but his love is healthier now. he can move on if he has to.

GDP by Bob Vylan (Murdoc) - Political!Murdoc makes an appearance. Thank you Murdoc.

Anybody Else But U by poolsideconvo (2D) - I was forced to listen to this because the lyrics aren't easily google-able. It seems to be "Anybody else but you" repeated over and over. Something notable - the lyrics to the songs on 2D's mix are sparse relative to Murdoc's. My initial read is that this is reflective of how easy their relationship could be vs how hard Murdoc makes it. 2D's not incredibly complicated. He just wants to know what Murdoc wants. But Murdoc is going through a thousand different reasons to stay or go 24/7, so he can't even answer that simple questiton.

South by Wu-Lu ft Lex Amor (Murdoc) - Political!Murdoc makes his second appearance.

Jessica by Surya Sen (2D) - "Come on, Jessica // I know, I know // You're tired of the runaround." This one is also ambiguous. Who is Jessica in this situation? Murdoc? Or is this 2D talking to himself again.

Hung Up by The Mysterines (Murdoc) - I looked at the song title, and I already knew where it was going. "Will you ever come and let me know? // 'Cause you always leave me hanging me on." He literally always is, Murdoc, I stg. I also want to take this moment to ask: where exactly are the tips for 2022 in any of these songs? I don't feel like I'm getting any meaningful advice here. I feel like I'm getting unwillingly pulled into the relationship drama of two manchildren.

Rah That's a Mad Question by Barry Can't Swim (2D) - Instrumental. Thank god.

I am the Mud by Cheap Teeth (Murdoc) - No one seems to have posted the lyrics anywhere, so I had to listen again. "Your hands 'round my body. My dirty lizard body." I hear that. This sounds like a song you drink to in the pub.

Riviera by Loods (2D) - Another instrumental. Bless.

Handsome Man by Wednesday (Murdoc) - Murdoc's final song. There's a lot of Gorillaz-esque imagery in this one: "Holdin' a crossbow in a family photo," "Sending the biggest smile from Tokyo," "Whistlin' past a graveyard smash // With broken glass from a car crash." The end sounds like Murdoc has his decisiveness back. "The only reason I’m coming home // Is for my second hand handsome man." But who knows.

Intersection by Cortese (2D) - An instrumental. But I'll say something anyway. An intersection is "a place or area where two or more things (such as streets) intersect." So, while there may have been a lot of break up songs on these playlists, I think it's notable that 2D's final song is similar to Murdoc's in that there's this suggestion of meeting again, or at least crossing paths. Just something to chew on.

Anyhow, that's my liveblog. I may think of more later, but this more optimistic than I thought it would be. Overall impression is that 2D is coming into this a little more mature, but still attached to Murdoc. Murdoc thinks he's matured too, but time will tell if it's a false, transient sense of bravado. They both seem to think they'll find meet each other in the middle, some middle, eventually. But you know, they could still fail or the writers could ignore the hard work of whoever is in charge of these mixes (an unsung hero and agent of chaos).

#asks.#Anonymous #2doc #gma

50 notes · View notes

whimsicaldragonette · 3 years ago

Text

ARC Review: The Perfect Crimes of Marian Hayes by Cat Sebastian (The Queer Principles of Kit Webb #2)

Preorder

Add to Goodreads

Publishing Date: June 7, 2022

Synopsis:

Cat Sebastian returns to Georgian London with a stunning tale of a reluctant criminal and the thief who cannot help but love her. Marian Hayes, the Duchess of Clare, just shot her husband. Of course, the evil, murderous man deserved what was coming to him, but now she must flee to the countryside. Unfortunately, the only person she can ask for help is the charismatic criminal who is blackmailing her—and who she may have left tied up a few hours before… A highwayman, con artist, and all-around cheerful villain, Rob Brooks is no stranger to the wrong side of the law or the right side of anybody’s bed. He never meant to fall for the woman whose secrets he promised to keep for the low price of five hundred pounds, but how could he resist someone who led him on a merry chase all over London, left him tied up in a seedy inn, and then arrived covered in her husband’s blood and in desperate need of his help? As they flee across the country—stopping to pick pockets, drink to excess, and rescue invalid cats—they discover more true joy and peace than either has felt in ages. But when the truth of Rob’s past catches up to him, they must decide if they are willing to reshape their lives in order to forge a future together.

My Rating: ★★★★★

***My Review and far too many Favorite Quotes below the cut:

My Review:

This book is EVERYTHING. I live and breathe books and I would be happy to never read another book and just live in this one. It's that good. But more than that it's the perfect book *for me.* Like Cat Sebastian knew it's been rough lately and wrote it just for me. I'm predicting it makes it *at least* into my top 5 books this year. It’s a cleverly disguised Robin Hood and Marian book. It’s the *perfect* Robin Hood and Marian book. I want to paper my walls in quotes from this book (and I probably highlighted enough to do just that - a full 11 single-spaced pages of them!!) and just live in this story from now on. Is this because I love Robin Hood stories? Yes, partly. But also I love queer love stories and Cat Sebastian's writing in general, and the Queer Principles of Kit Webb in particular, so this was just the happy convergence of all of my favorite things. This is an *excellent* queer love story. Both leads are bisexual and Marian is probably some flavor of asexual and the dynamic is very much a dominant/aggressive/in charge Marian and a submissive Rob who only wants to please her. That stable scene! She pins him against the wall! Flip the gender status quo of historical romance why don’t you? I LOVE it. I love how Marian is the prickly and closed-off and responsible one in this relationship, and Rob is friendly and charming and is distracted by kittens. And, now that I think of it, this is yet another case of me falling completely for a grumpy / sunshine trope. Another reviewer pointed out that this book in a nutshell is ‘disaster bisexuals’ and ‘be gay do crime’ with a side of ‘eat the rich' and if that isn’t Marian and Rob I don’t know what is. I can't top that as a description. I see hints of future books of 'be gay do crime' and i just want to say YES PLEASE. And baby Eliza will be raised by four doting queer parents and immersed in planning of heists before she can talk. I desperately want more books in this world, with these people. *Thanks to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for providing an e-arc for review.

***You can find my review of book 1: The Queer Principles of Kit Webb below:

The Queer Principles of Kit Webb (Book 1)

**Note: I highlighted literally 11 single-spaced pages of quotes so obviously I can't include them all here. I have consolidated as much as possible but it will still be rather long. But trust me - you want to read these. They will absolutely make you want to read this book.

Although, if you don't want to read them, that's fine too. This is the last section of the review for a reason.

Favorite Quotes

Now he was increasingly drawn to the charms of a soft mattress and clean sheets, and wasn’t that a depressing thought.

—

What a trick it was to be able to say I beg your pardon in a way that meant fuck off and die, and to look serene and saintly while saying it.

—

The memory made him feel both wistful and somehow homesick, in the way that happy memories too often did.

—

“I think we’re still in the cave, hitting one another with sticks,” Rob went on. “I know that I broke the law when I stole from those arseholes at the tavern this afternoon. But how is what I did any different from putting poor men into debtors’ prison? What I did is comparatively gentle. A targeted tax on rich men who behave badly. It’s very civilized, actually.”

—

He was lost, and he had been from about the first time she sent him a scathing letter –what kind of person did that to a man who held her future in the palm of his hand? – and followed it up with trivia about that Italian fellow and his peculiarly organized version of hell.

—

“In the winter, you can imagine that the land could become anything. In the summer, all that’s left is for winter to come.” Rob had never heard anyone express anything of the sort and didn’t know what to say, or even to think, beyond reflecting that if anyone were to enjoy an uninterrupted view of mud and dirt it would have to be Marian.

—

She moved so slowly and deliberately it was as if she were inventing the concept of kissing right there on the spot, as precisely as if she were counting change in the marketplace. He kissed her back with none of those qualities, with nothing but profligacy.

—

He wore rainwater and mud the way other men wore silk coats, only better, and she wanted him.

—

And now he was looking at her as if she were a cake, if cakes were also religious icons, and she was possessed of a mortifying certainty that she was looking at him in precisely the same deranged manner.

—

Rob knew better than most that sometimes nothing could salve your conscience. You just had to live with the guilt and find other ways to be the kind of person you wanted to be.

—

But when she looked at him, what she felt wasn’t attraction. Or it wasn’t only that. It was a bright spark, something warm and glowing that took up residency in her chest and refused to budge. It was something like contentment, only sharp and with teeth. It was the urge to wrap her hand around his arm and not let go. It was the knowledge that he would let her.

—

The idea that she was planning to go into mourning for a man she had killed with her own hands, while – regardless of what she said – robbing, extorting, or otherwise dealing feloniously with another man, made Rob feel faintly dizzy.

—

“Gentlemen typically don’t extort money from their tenants,” Marian retorted. “That is precisely what gentlemen do,” he pointed out, exasperated. “It is practically the entire point of gentlemen.” She opened her mouth as if to protest, then frowned. “Fair.”

—

It was a dark day indeed when he wanted to congratulate an aristocrat for simply remembering that servants were human beings.

—

In his arms she felt as sharp as a knife and as sure as a promise and he never wanted to take his hands off her.

—

And he didn’t try to hold it back, either. His friendship was like a creeping ivy – all one had to do was let it be, and it covered the whole barn.

—

From where she lay, she could see at least half a dozen scars on his arms and back. He spoke of them as if he didn’t mind them, and she thought she understood – what were the pair of them, after all, but a collection of things gone wrong and then, slowly, made right again.

—

“Well, she did leave me tied to a bed all night,” Rob offered as an explanation. “It’s how I make all my friends,” said Betty.

—

“Running away?” Rob scoffed. “I’m not running away from anything. I’m refusing to participate in inherited wealth.”

—

“They’d suit you perfectly well if it were twenty years ago.” He sank into a chair by the fire. “And if you were a provincial spinster who drank tea without any sugar and terrified all the neighborhood children.” Marian, momentarily impressed with this aesthetic success, preened a little before remembering why she needed to speak to Percy.

—

He wore a blue suit of clothes so fine that Rob wanted to set things on fire.

—

It would not, however, accommodate Marian’s father and his household, and indeed the idea of cramming an elderly earl, a highwayman, a baby, the bigamous wife of a duke, and whatever on earth Percy considered himself these days under one roof was too farcical for Marian to take seriously.

–

She was certain that most women felt something warmer for their children, something less sharp and jagged. Marian wasn’t much given to warmth, but whatever she felt now – a champagne lightness mixed with the usual knife-sharp protectiveness – felt like enough.

—

Her laughter was rare and precious; it was the sound of church bells, the sound of coins dropping into a pocket, and he wanted to save it in a bottle and wear it close to his heart.

#queer books #cat sebastian #the perfect crimes of marian hayes #the queer principles of kit webb #robin hood #queer romance #historical romance #regency romance #disaster bisexuals #be gay do crime #eat the rich #shilo reads #arc review #netgalley

15 notes · View notes

sapphic-luthor · 4 years ago

Text

cwsg season 5, in a nutshell

season 6 starts tomorrow, so in a painstakingly long task, a friend and i have rewatched all of season 5 and broken down and discussed each and every plot point until we finally genuinely understood what the hell was going on. in extremely short form, it looks like this:

Pre-Crisis

Kara reveals herself to Lena, who pretends to be fine with that while also scheming to create Non Nocere, a project that sort of mind controls the whole world. Lena eventually comes clean to Kara and tries to launch it, but the Superfriends manage to stop her.

CatCo gets bought up by Obsidian, a tech company that creates VR lenses and is run by Andrea Rojas, a shadow assassin working (against her will) for a centuries old god-like organisation called Leviathan.

Andrea Rojas is also Lena’s childhood friend, and she got her shadow powers by making a hard decision to betray Lena way back when. The powers came with the allegiance to Leviathan.

New guy reporter comes from London, and is super suspicious of the Rojas family (but ultimately incorrect, because Leviathan did all the bad things he thinks Andrea did.)

J’onn’s long lost brother is brought back by The Monitor. J’onn betrayed him really badly in the past, they struggle around this for a while, but eventually forgive each other and all is fine.

Crisis

The Monitor needs help killing the evil version of himself, the Anti Monitor. The Anti Monitor launched an anti-matter wave that is destroying every single world across every single existence in the multiverse.

Everything does get destroyed, but through sacrifice and various heroics, one final world is recreated. This world kicks off the start of a new multiverse but only the audience knows that.

The new world that was created was made to Lex’s whim. He’s no longer a villain, and huge parts of the pre-crisis history were erased.

Post-Crisis

Lex wants to both use Leviathan, and destroy them. The entire season is just Lex playing 4D chess: he purposely orchestrates every single situation, from the main plot points to each of the villain-of-the-weeks, all with the intention of becoming friendly with Leviathan, and ultimately using that trust to weaponise and then destroy them.

He brings Toyman/Winn back in time so he can get hold of an immortality code.

He sets Leviathan up for failure via tampering with Obsidian, then rescues Leviathan at the last second to earn their trust.

He tells Eve, a blackmailed Leviathan assassin, that he can save her if she works as a double agent for him, and uses her to fuck with literally everyone’s storylines.

He tells Leviathan their big genocide event will only work if Supergirl is already dead, thereby using them as a weapon to be rid of her.

He gets Brainy on his side so that somebody can invert the immortality code and use it to make Leviathan mortal.

He also sets traps for Brainy to continually fall into, furthering his own plans.

Lena tries Non Nocere again, with Lex’s help. After a ton of trial and error, she finally realises it’s a shite idea and it was never going to work anyway. She turns on Lex, and jumps back over to the Superfriends to help them defeat her brother.

Where We Are Now:

Lex has (most of) Leviathan in a bottle, thanks to Brainy, and took it to Lillian to do whatever evil thing they have planned.

Gemma, Leviathan’s favourite milf, was inexplicably not bottled and is still going to have to be dealt with.

Leviathan is run by some all-knowing and all-powerful mystery figure who is referred to only as “she” and we’ll probably find out who she is soon.

Lena’s abandoned mind control tech is in Lex’s hands, in conjunction with some ‘kill people’ tech that probably will be Very Bad.

#so this is the extremely truncated version. i regret to say that when you delve into it it actually DOES make sense #and lex's storyline of how incredibly well he manipulated everyone is lowkey impressive #but it was told very very very badly and it should never be this difficult for the audience to know what's going on lmao

275 notes · View notes

chooseyouovereveryone · 3 years ago

Note

Your coming out story sounds interesting so I’d love to hear it if you felt comfortable to share more :)

Well I did actually blog about my full coming out story for pride month before and it’s pinned on my profile under “personal”, but in a nutshell…

I definitely always had signs I was gay growing up that I can recognise in hindsight but I didn’t realise at the time. But I was probably like 16/17 when I started questioning my sexuality, but any time the thought would come up I would shove it deep down and try to suppress it.

I definitely had feelings for my best friend at the time but I tried to push it away and I got sucked into comp het life instead and became a serial dater with guys and I was just trying to be like everyone else around me. Whenever I slept with a guy I would feel awful afterwards like it didn’t feel right and I felt guilty almost? And I could never catch feelings for any of them even though I dated some really nice guys. But the math wasn’t mathing and I just thought I was a cold, heartless person or something was wrong with me.

Around the time I was 17/18 I discovered Brittana from Glee and they literally changed everything for me bc they made something click in me bc I finally felt represented, and I began to accept that I liked girls. I didn’t accept I was a lesbian yet, just that I liked girls, and I never told anyone either. Just kept it all to myself and continued to date guys and got defensive if anyone ever questioned my love life.

Then when I was 19 I met a girl and we clicked instantly and became best friends like overnight but there was always this flirtatious energy between us and we were like attached at the hip. I literally used to skip uni all the time to go stay with her in London and we were like unhealthily obsessed with each other. Then one night we got drunk and kissed and I was like woah…& then a few weeks later we hooked up and it was the first time sex felt right for me. But the next morning I felt so panicked I literally threw up lol and spent all day googling if it meant I was gay now.

So we didn’t speak about it and it took me a few weeks to process but I began to accept I actually did like her and we started sleeping together but for ages we would just never talk about it or acknowledge it and any time I tried she would shut me down bc she was even more in denial than I was. So that’s when I turned 20 and told my friends bc I felt like I needed to tell someone. And then my best friend at the time, her boyfriend outed me at her 21st birthday party to all our friends and social group bc he was mad that I was texting this girl I was in the situation with all night instead of enjoying the party. He shouted “why don’t you just admit to everyone you’re a lesbian?” and I was so mortified and cried all night haha!

Meanwhile the situation with the girl was still super confusing bc we were so on and off and like she wouldn’t let me date other people but she wouldn’t fully commit to be my girlfriend either bc she said she could never properly date a girl and it all got very toxic and messy but I guess in hindsight she was just struggling too with everything. I really wanted to come out in time for my 21st birthday (I was labelling myself as bi at this point) and introduce her as my gf but when the time got near she wasn’t ready so I never came out bc I knew if I did it would out her too (by this point we lived together and literally shared a bed every night so our families were already suspicious)

I just figured she would come out in time and it would all be okay so that relationship with us continued for 3 years and got more and more unhealthy and then when I was 22 we both graduated uni and did summer programmes in America. We applied for the same programme but she didn’t get accepted into mine so I went to Cali, she went to Florida, and we had all these plans to travel together and then get an apartment in London when we got back but when she got to Florida she ended up getting with another girl and being official with her straight away and I was so hurt and blindsided (we’ve talked this all out since and basically being in another country gave her courage to be fully out). But at the time I just felt so heartbroken bc she could never be like that with me in the 3 years we were a thing so I literally swore off girls and was like “I’m only dating guys from now on bc they can’t hurt me.”

So that’s what I did for the next couple of years and I even told all my friends I was straight and it had all been a phase. In the midst of that I fell madly in love with a straight girl so…who was I kidding? But all that heartbreak further proved to me I didn’t wanna date girls and risk being hurt.

Fast forward to the beginning of 2020, I was 26 and finally felt like I’d processed the heartbreak and worked on myself and I decided to date both girls and guys after a break from dating altogether, and just see what happened. I dated a couple of girls but nothing serious took off and then I started dating a guy in June bc I convinced myself it would be an “easier life”, and then in July, Naya Rivera (who I looked up to so much during my early sexuality struggles) passed away, and it literally brought all the memories back. I rewatched Glee and rediscovered Brittana and I had like this huge epiphany of life being too short and that I should be authentic, so that’s what I did. I embraced myself as not just someone who likes girls, but as a lesbian, and finally fully admitted it to myself. I broke things off with the guy I was dating and I’ve never looked back.

From then on I really found myself, started dating girls and I came out to my parents a couple of months later bc they had just never known everything that had went on bc my 1st relationship had to be so secret. They weren’t shocked though so I guess it must have been obvious. My friends always knew the history so I was just like “so I’m dating girls again…” and none of them were shocked. I’m lucky to not have had any awful reactions and to be accepted, my dad took a while to come around, but now the initial shock has worn off he is super supportive.

So I guess it’s been almost 3 years since I fully came out properly and I’ve been so happy since I did. It’s been a process for sure, but like I said I’m grateful to have had a positive experience from the people around me. My difficulties I think stemmed more from not being truthful to myself, but I am now so :)

Also sorry I love how I said “in a nutshell” then wrote an essay, but it’s shorter than my blog post at least haha!

6 notes · View notes