#<- is the name of the maker. not an editorial.

[icterid-rubus]

I did it. I started on holiday gifts before December…barely.

[b00tyliciousbabe]

my baby daddies - ep. 2

wyatt cushman x male reader

summary: the scoop on how wide i buss it open for mr cushman xx

notes: hi beautiful ppl, back again! once he go black, he'll be back again. tell them hoes that it's crunch time, abdomen. yes i cop mad chanel and mad given. she did it again, imagine them!!! sorry nicki ate that verse tf UPPP. bout to make these bum bitches mad again, okay lemme stop. I KNEW EXACTLY WHAT I WAS DOING W THAT BLACK VERSE XOXO. hope you guys are all doing well <3 i will be releasing 2 other series ("the DILFs' and a surprise one which will become coming soon ) so stay tuned! any requests? ENJOYYYY…

you and wyatt met at one of your first shoots. you were the stylist’s assistant and your boss had tasked you with making sure all the models had their hair, outfits, and makeup all ready for the editorials. you were admired by so many in the industry, icons and the public alike, and even though you didn’t have your own company, it was clear that you were on your way to becoming one of the biggest names in fashion history. you enjoyed getting to know all the models personally, and it made the whole process of getting ready much easier. but one person that always had you flustered was wyatt cushman, who you had become really good friends over the years. you definitely found him attractive, but he was so distracting; the agency called him ‘the menace’ with all the harmless trouble he got the two of you into. years had passed, the two of you remained really close, but it wasn’t until the balenciaga show, that the two of you vocalised the unspoken tension between you two.

you were responsible for all of the outfits for the fashion week at balmain, a huge role that olivier rousteing himself appointed you to do. it was a huge success and the press had a field day documenting your achievements. your biggest supporter, wyatt, was there to give you the biggest hug on the runway, garnering an even greater cheer from the crowd. “Y/N, you’re amazing” he said staring intensely in love as he placed his hands on your lower back. the distance between your lips decreased as the two of you shared your first kiss…in front of the entire world. you pulled away; being brought back to reality and how 4.5 million people had witnessed the two of you together, you couldn’t help but laugh, as everyone applauded and jeered at your love. the rest was history.

one thing about wyatt, he is the goofiest mf ever and you love it. he’s always cracking jokes and the life of the party. You feel so safe around him, don’t get it twisted, he’d beat the shit out of anyone who even looked at you the wrong way, but you could handle yourself. flashback to the time where y’all were celebrating your collaboration with vogue: you were dancing the night away with your friends when some guy decided to get a lil too close. the creep groped your ass to which he was served a fat slap across the face. he fell to the ground and the crowd started cheering. wyatt smiled proud that you were able to defend yourself - so proud, that on the way home you took a detour where you guys had the best make out session in the history of rom coms.

the golfer’s wife and the holiday maker:

this man is always travelling and he loves to share those memories with you. other than being his personal photographer, the two of you are able to explore so many different ways of living on your journeys and you dream together of living abroad one day.

On one of your holidays, you had decided to take your boyfriend stargazing “come on wyatt, i don’t wanna miss it” you say gripping his arm as you led him to a quiet space overlooking the ocean. “babe, I’m pretty sure the stars aren’t going anywhere,” he chuckled “and besides, the sky isn’t as pretty as the star right in front of me” he stops and turns to face you. he strokes your cheek, looking down at you with a smile that rivalled romeo’s love for juliet. y’all sat down watching how nature looked so peaceful. he started kissing on your neck, leaving light hickeys to mark you as his. straddling your bf, you deepened the kiss as you felt him grow uncomfortably large in his jeans. you undid his trousers as 8 thick inches of uncut hairy cock made contact with the chill of the night. “you don’t know how much this turns me on, y/n”

you continued sucking on his tip, swirling and drooling all over him as a pool of your spit congealed in his pubes. all the while his hands gripped your roots urging you to take more and more of his cock. you gargled and took him like a champ.

“babe, ughh, I’m bout to, uuhhh shit shit” he came deep down your throat, cleaning your chin with his finger and then poking it in your mouth as he made sure to feed you with every last drop.

you laid down, proud of your efforts to calm him down and your head tucked into cushman’s shoulder, as you began to feel sleepy. your bf noticed this and chuckled to himself, using the blanket he brought to make sure you wouldn’t get cold. “mkay, y/n kinda had a point, this is pretty cool,” he whispered, still riding the high you gave him “but it’s got nothing on him tho, my cute ass bf” wyatt embraced you tighter. the wedding bells were already ringing in his head.

MORE SLUTTY THOUGHTS:

• he deffo has a spit kink. not saying that he’d treat you as worthless scum but, he’d would make sure to slut you out. and you fucking loved it. “you’re a dirty little whore, aren’t you” he’d grunt raw dogging your ass as he spat in your face.

• as dominant as he is, he likes to give you your time to shine, always enjoying it when you spell coconut with your hips as you ride his pole. as I’ve mentioned already his smile drives you crazy, and this position has him cheesing the MOST. wyatt just loves to see how much you’re enjoying the experience, and nothing turns him on more than when he can see the pleasure on your face. “fuck babe, you look so sexy riding my dick.”

• this leads on to missionary, nobody fucks harder in this position than this man. he definitely compensates for his soft strokes in doggy and prone bone because of how hard he hits your hole in missionary. He turns primal as well, feeling your chest bounce up every time he’s balls deep, but all in all he’s crazy for how your bodies are so in sync.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

The Cory Doctorow Humble Bundle

I'm on tour with my new, nationally bestselling novel The Bezzle! Catch me in TUCSON (Mar 9-10), then San Francisco (Mar 13), Anaheim, and more!

It's been 21 years and 29 days since Tor Books published my first novel, Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom. In the years since, Tor has published every one of my novels, sending me around the USA and Canada to talk about them. Now, they've teamed up with Humble Bundle to sell 18 of my ebooks on a name-your-price basis, with part of the proceeds going to benefit EFF:

https://www.humblebundle.com/books/cory-doctorow-novel-collection-tor-books-books

I've been associated with EFF even longer than I've been published by Tor! My first novel came out while I was working EFF's first-ever booth at CES. I split my time between the booth and my motel room, where I paid $0.25/call to dial up to Earthlink's local number and manage the launch-day publicity. Over the years, I've benefited immensely from Tor's editorial and publicity departments, working with brilliant publishing people like Patrick Nielsen Hayden, Patty Garcia, Dot Lin, Laura Etzkorn, Elena Stokes, Sarah Reidy, Lucille Rettino, and of course, Tor founder Tom Doherty.

But I like to think that it was a two-way street. Tor and I have come a long way together on ebooks: most visibly, they allowed me to publish several novels under Creative Commons licenses (my first book was the first ever CC book, coming out just weeks after the licenses themselves launched). As my editor Patrick Nielsen Hayden said at the time, "Ebooks have the worst hours-in-meeting-to-dollars-in-revenue ratio of anything in my publishing career. Why not?"

https://craphound.com/down/download/

Just as important – but less visible – was Tor's willingness to let me insist that all my books be published without DRM, meaning that anything you buy on say, Amazon, can be moved to any reader program if you decide to start getting your ebooks elsewhere. This worked so well that in 2012, Tor became the first major publisher in the world to ban DRM on all its ebooks, flying me, John Scalzi and Charlie Stross to New York City to announce it this at a big, splashy event at Book Expo America:

https://web.archive.org/web/20130512022634/https://tor.com/blogs/2012/06/tor-books-announces-e-book-store-doctorow-scalzi-a-stross-talk-drm-free

Tor's unique status as the sole major DRM-free publisher in the world was well timed! That same year, I curated the very first Humble Ebook Bundle, which was very top-heavy with Tor titles, and raised more than $1,000,000 for the writers, publishers and charities associated with it:

https://web.archive.org/web/20121017215636/http://www.humblebundle.com/

That opened the floodgates to a series of Humble Bundles, tempting other major publishers to dabble with DRM-free, including Simon and Schuster:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-I5QyAfglU

And Harpercollins:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHMLfeCrCrE

Now, 12 years after that inaugural Humble Ebook Bundle, I find myself honored by being the subject of a bundle of my own (it helps that I've written a hell of a lot of books in the intervening years). Included in the bundle are (nearly) all of my Tor novels and novellas: The Lost Cause; "The Canadian Miracle" (a Lost Cause story); Red Team Blues; Radicalized; Walkaway; "Party Discipline" (a Walkaway story); Pirate Cinema; Rapture of the Nerds (with Charlie Stross); For The Win; Makers; Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town; Eastern Standard Tribe, Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom, Little Brother, Homeland, Attack Surface, and "Lawful Interception" (a Little Brother story).

(The sole exclusion is The Bezzle, which came out two weeks ago and is already a USA Today national bestseller!)

https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250865878/thebezzle

Also included in the bundle is Poesy the Monster Slayer, my 2020 picture book for the littlies:

https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781626723627/poesythemonsterslayer

All these books are delivered as DRM-free epub files. The Bundle runs for the next three weeks, and the minimum buy-in is $18 – that's just $1/book (full retail value is $187). Of course, you can name a higher price, and, as with all Humble Bundles, you can adjust the final split to share out the money between me, EFF, and the Humble folks.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/03/03/humbly-bundled/#eff-too

[theaudientvoid]

So, since both DC and Marvel are currently launching initiatives to created "simplified" continuities in a bid to attract new readers, I should probably do a periodic reminder about why efforts to "simplify" continuity almost never work, and even if they did, I don't think that simplified continuity is nearly as laudable goal as many people seem to thing.

In practice, attempts to simplify continuity almost always end up making continuity more complicated. Let's take the Marvel's current attempt, relaunching the Ultimate Universe. This is meant to be a new universe that readers can pick up of the rack without having to worry about decades of continuity baggage. So far, so good. The problem is that this is the second time that Marvel has done this trick using this exact name. So now, any time a prospective new reader hears about Ultimate Spider-Man, well which one are they hearing about. The old one from the 2000s who was a teenager, or the new one that's, like, 35?

The fate of the original Ultimate Universe is instructive. It went on for over a decade, and by the end had built up its own convoluted continuity, such that Marvel eventually decided to just pull the plug and merge it over into the main universe.

Now, keep in mind, the "New" Ultimate Universe is selling like hot cakes. Ultimate Spider-Man is currently out selling the main Spider-Man book. But how much of that is from "simplified" continuity, and how much of that is because Marvel editorial is committed to maintaining a status quo for the character in the main universe that many readers find uninteresting? (They still haven't undone One More Day.)

It's also instructive that Marvel chose to reuse the "Ultimate" name. If they really wanted to excise continuity baggage, presumably they'd pick an entirely new name, to prevent any threat of namespace collision. But that's not what they did. Presumably, they were hoping to capitalize on any residual good will associated with the Ultimate brand left over from the original Ultimate universe. Which new readers, who supposedly hate continuity, won't have.

All that being said, though, is "simplifying" continuity even all that worthy a goal in the first place? I'm not convinced it is. So, like, the thing to keep in mind is that Marvel and DC's business model is oriented around selling single issues to a small pool of collectors at exorbitant prices. Once a issues initial print run(s) end, it becomes an afterthought from the standpoint of the decision makers at the big two.

So, from the perspective of convincing randoms off the street to buy the latest issue of Batman, that decades of continuity baggage probably is an impediment. But, I would argue, it's not nearly as big an impediment that as the fact that single issues are a) expensive as fuck, and b) only sold in specialized stores. If you want to grow the population of comic readers, the biggest things you need to do are lower the price, and sell them in places that normies actually go to.

DC recently, with relatively little fanfare, started an initiative to sell collected additions of a handful of classic stories from their back catalog in regular book stores. Importantly, however, these special collections all collect 12 issues, and cost only $10. For comparison, ordinary trade paperbacks collect 6 issues and cost $17. Single issues run you $4 or $5. This is an okay start, but not nearly enough. If I was in charge of DC or Marvel, I would start by aggressively marketing our back catalog to non-comic readers at significantly reduced prices. Note that this would still allow us to continue selling single issues to super fans at full price, while also having a realistic prospect of growing the market. Because the idea that Marvel or DC can get people into comics by convincing them to walk into a comic shop off the street and pay $5 per issue for the latest crossover event is just absurd.

[agena87]

Hi! I'm Agena (they/them), 30-something, French (you can boo me for it, I know it sucks), NB, autistic/ADHD/OCD, awkward AF, spoonie.💛

WCIF-friendly, but please send asks, not comments or messages, for those (easier to answer and it helps others people who might looking for the same thing).

I do a bit of everything when it comes to Sims: CC-making, CAS-spinning of blorbos, renders, lore-imagining, building, you name it. Not really story-telling though (nor legacies) 'cause I tend to get bored really easily with those.

I post mature stuff sometimes, so minors: DNI with those posts, OK? OK.

°°°

VARIOUS LINKS

+Renders +My CC + on my Patreon +Characters page (premades + OCs) - easier use in browser/on desktop than mobile (unless you don't care about using filters) +My Pillowfort (where I post naughty sims spice)(NO MINOR ALLOWED! This is strictly 🔞) +My inspo Pinboard (fellow CC-maker, feel free to use it if you need ideas - fair warning: it's mostly strange/silly/out of this world stuff, though)

My other tumblr blogs:

+@camaieu-magazine (where I post my more artistic/editorial-looking renders) +@sappho-s-violets (where I post glamorous/sexy renders/CAS pictures of female sims) +@wolfgang-munch (where I reblog Wolfgang pictures from all around tumblr) +@malcolm-assgraab (same as above, but for Malcolm) +@agenafinds (CC finds blog) +@agenareblogscoolstuff (what it says on the tin)

°°°

As you can see from my other blogs, I might be sliiiightly obsessed with Wolfgang Münch & Malcolm Landgraab, and their families by extension. And the Villareals. And Goths. And Bjergsens. And Harrises. And, well, lots of premades, but those families are my favourites. I have plenty of lore stashed either in my head or written somewhere on this blog; so feel free to check the tags for characters that interest you (you can easily find said tags using my characters' page; just click the yellow circle in the corner of the image) or ask me questions. I love talking about my blorbos :) I also have the very annoying habit of creating new universes so, sometimes, my own lore contradicts itself, depending on the 'verse.

[wellntruly]

M*A*S*H - Season 11, misc. notes

It’s the last notes! Well, let’s be specific: the last notes I took as I was watching the show for the first time, THAT'S ALL.

As such, I’m taking this moment to editorialize on how I’ve editorialized, or perhaps, haven’t, so far. Namely, that I think Frequently about some of the things I wrote in public about BJ frickin Hunnicutt circa S4-5, and am like, honey who are you talking about! But the answer is, I have to keep reminding myself, that was BJ! He really was like that, in the early days! I have to leave them all, as an historical record. I will perhaps add a note on a note. “This was true then; it would not be true always,” that kind of thing.

For a little while I was definitely shying off from recommending some episodes due to strangeness from BJ, and that is where I could have failed as a viewguide-maker. By their nature, episodic shows can being picked & choosed, and through that, you can hide things. Or try to. I actually think that if I'd tried that would only have made it stranger, the way it would have still bubbled through just in these odd, off-handed moments, without the reference points of the wildest flights to allow you to say, ah yes, sometimes he is this way. 

And sometimes he isn’t! And yes, in my initial episode list (though babe, are the B-sides ever comin’), I admittedly have gone from a six or seven episode run of probably the most lovable late-seasons BJ, culminating in one that really hammers you with sweetness (& obsession) and tragic mystery, to then plummet directly into his unhinged (& tragic mystery) behavior in ‘Goodbye, Farewell and Amen’, and I do think that will play pretty beautifully, for all that this does mean that I did skip folks past the episode in Season 11 that had me going, oh, so that man is insane-insane, and that angle on Beej has its value too (the darkness!!!)

Anyway more on that below, in the Final Watch Notes. (I keep laughing, this is so not final.)

— — —

Ohhh what the FUCK is this now. Every damn season with re-orchestrating the theme!

The gulf between the S3 episode where the nurses leave and the men are all so dejected because they wanna flirt, and this one where the nurses leave and the men are all losing it because they can’t do their jobs without them: cavernous

I love Nurse Kellye so, SO much, her monologue in this about her qualities and interests is The Greatest, the overall plot line that she has a secret crush on Hawkeye: no good. 😅 Resolution of that though, of her being too busy now hooking up with the young officer from the inspection: I laughed so heartily. Now that was a genius bit of writing.

If the Halloween episode’s turn into ghost and goblins stories gets properly eerie I’m gonna get mad, because that will be good, and then I’ll have to recommend this one even with the tedious beginning. [Ed. note: I didn’t]

Hoooooooohhhhhhh, spear bone is something I was Not ready for…!

Hey, it’s finally 1953

“He’s got a shoulder big enough for the whole world to lean on,” and other Hawkeye-on-Sidney lines that make my heart hurt.

Cannot express how much I want nothing to do with the shortened credits

It is so fascinating how they recycle the supporting actors. Personally to me this adds to the time-loop quality: things come back a little different this time, people are arranged a different way, but the cast of characters is the same. They’re all trapped in the snow globe, none of them get out when it shakes.

I think Charlie is like, fully in love

Wait a second, IS this Jeffrey Tambor???

Charles you gotta be kidding me

Here to report that I had an entire heart attack over the Japanese ‘Happy Days Are Here Again’ cover starting 'The Joker is Wild' like we were back in early days, and then [Mulaney voice] it got worse!

Hawkeye: [mentions that he and Trapper used to pull a lot of jokes together] Promptly, through my hands: “Don’t do this to me.” BJ, smiling too much: “You and Trapper were quite the pair weren’t you?” Hawkeye, relenting: “Yes! Yes, we were!” Hands now just hanging in the air like I’m being held up, rapidly: “Don’t do this to me, don’t do this to me, don’t do this to me!”

Klinger, eyes warm at Pierce: “Seems to me the pranks used to be more original in the old days.” BJ, still smiling big and cold: “Awww the good old days, you mean like when Trapper was here?” We can’t do this!!!! I’m literally shaking!!!

Hawkeye: “Well that would be incredible, because I would love to see you sing ‘You’re the Tops’ without your bottoms.” BJ: “Haha I can understand that, Hawk, because anybody who’d want to get everybody, would want to get you worst of all.” I think this episode is going to kill me?

I’m gonna come out of this one with WHITE HAIR, Jean Valjean style. THEY’VE SAID “TRAPPER” SO MANY TIMES. They SO rarely do and I can never take it even briefly and now to do this, in this context!! It’s maybe the most darkly jealous BJ has ever been and it’s the literal plot???!!

Oh my god wait it really is, it’s ALL against Hawkeye, I AM seeing what’s happening here, aren't I. And the “getting” just psychologically torturing him for 24 hours, oh honey!!! And for WHAT, BJ, just because he admitted a joke he was describing was one of Trapper’s? Oh no!!!!!! It’s the literal plot and it’s WORSE. I’m laughing and weeping, jesus!

I CAN’T SPIRAL ABOUT THIS. I CAN’T. BUT. The whole thing about Hawk & Trapper was that they were a pair. That’s what both BJ and Hawkeye were saying in the first scene, them joking around together. And now, BJ’s retaliation is to make Hawkeye feel entirely isolated. Can’t trust anyone, all on his own and persecuted. Hahahaha I CAN’T BELIEVE HOW EMOTIONALLY FUCKED UP THIS IS ACTUALLY. Who wrote this!!! The same person who wrote ‘Period of Adjustment’!?? Wait actually who did write each of these BJ eps… 

O M G

I was making a joke, John turn your location on.

“Take it off, Hawkeye! I wanna see some skin!!” Father stop

Anyway this episode destroyed my mind.

Oh okay, so second episode in a row for Most Deranged Thing They’ve Ever Done contender: Hawkeye hooks up with a nurse and then she’s fucking killed by a mine. Nope?!

Are they suggesting Klinger invented the Hula Hoop

Oh, no, don’t read her diary…

My feelings about every part of 'Who Knew?' are just, 🙃 this was a mistake!

Charles and Hawkeye both vaguely gesturing to their shoulder: “You know, the- the wound.” The only reason I would want more seasons would be that we’re finally doing Hawkeye & Charles and it’s so dryly delicious.

Potter to Hawkeye: “You’re witty, swave [suave??], you lean toward handsome—” He leans.

Uh, that’s horrible. If BJ gets this medal all he’ll ever be able to think about is cutting the rope. Wow yikes.

Yes, yes, Charles & Hawkeye making phone calls, my favorite thing they do together. This Roxbury joke……now that goes out to the real ones (people who have lived in Boston).

BJ: “We sit around here in our Hawaiian shirts and red suspenders, thumbing our nose at the Army, drinking home-brewed gin and flouting authority at every turn and feeling ohh soo superior to those military fools who kill each other, and ohh soo…self-righteous, when we clean up after them. Well good luck to you pal, I hope you can...keep it up. The minute I cut that rope, that made me a soldier.” Haha good lord this season is miserable.

Margaret's phone performance is the greatest. This mortgage party plot is…odd. And meanwhile the sweet lieutenant plot is getting incongruously intense and not in the high-contrast way that usually works for them. Folks I am sorry but is this whole season mm, a Mistake?

Alright, time to get hawt

They have such LONG. LEGS. Why is it so much more apparent when they’re bare.

How come the lighting and color quality in the film distributor’s office is making me nostalgic for something

Potter is wearing Klinger’s Toledo Mudhens cap and has his bird pinned to the center, right over the T

Hawkeye: “Klinger it’s all in your head, just don’t be hot!” Klinger: “Don’t be hot??” He can’t ❤️

It’s great when Charles uses his power (intimidating baritone blue blood) for good

Margaret just doubling down on their betting scheme like well in for a penny, go big or go home, is sending me

Frankly all three of these visiting docs are babes

“Our summer home is in the Berkshires, just a baton’s throw away from Tanglewood.” Second Home Lane [REAL STREET], Lenox, MA, CONFIRMED Winchester residence

I like that Margaret and Charles both have crushes

[haltingly] It would, thrill me, beyond measure, if the kind silver fox Swedish doctor has a crush too, but it’s on Captain Pierce. Um, he needs that? I mean he’s sure not getting…. Don’t make me think about this…

[breathily] “So, you’re from Sweden. I’ve always loved Hans Christian Anderson.” Loretta help

Just gonna say: my idea of what the crushable Swedish officer plot could be, is honestly still plausible at this juncture! He’s laughing cutely at Hawkeye’s dumb jokes in the O Club! This injury-induced impotency story could be a careful lie, or rather, frankly, even a ruse, the carefullest of lies. If he asks for any sort of help with like, a pause, Hawk get your head on a swivel (and get on that, honey) (I'M NOT THINKING ABOUT THIS!)

Ohhh now the glasses…mega babe!

Mr. Dish and Margaret you guys are maybe being a little bit stupid though right, I mean you could still do a LOT

Thaaank you :)

Oh very fun, this actor’s last name was Holahan!

Hawkeye: “Charles, for the sake of our sanity, which is iffy at best—” Iffy.

First three minutes of this episode cumulatively more fond of everyone than the first 10 whole episodes of this season---hello Karen my girl

Wish the A and B plots were switched honestly

WOW perm! ’83 is here, baby

Loretta Swit invented Michelle Williams as Gwen Verdon after her vocal cord surgery

What are the void shoulder patches on some of these guys, kinda eerie and I've wondered

I really like Hawkeye’s vibes this episode. Not paying the expected deference to the general in such a classic Hawkeye way, meanwhile quietly very watchful of him and his injured son, and whatever is going on there.

This is definitely the most sophisticated thing they’ve ever done with a general. He’s humanized but also still a profoundly bleak representation of those who make war.

Charles is this really time for Mahler

Ohhh is the void just the I Corps patch?? Sick. The Voids are here.

Okay 11 seasons in it was time for me to finally find out what I Corps is anyway, and TURNS OUT they were already in my own fucking life, causing problems. They’re just an administrative corps, US headquarters at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, which straddles the major interstate that runs up Washington State, meaning I’ve gotten stuck in JBLM traffic For. Years. 

Being Mad at I Corps

The 4077 🤝 Me just trying to get to my parents’ house

Karen’s flavor of scheming BJ continues to be the best of its type. Lets him maintain his early days detail of being good at people management, it’s just for crimes.

Margaret: “Perfume! Charles! Oh it’s just so…scented!” Oh em gee

This is very good. The two of them moving in on him, smiiiiling. The composition, Xtra Long BJ all folded up in this chair…

I spy: the cold weather coats

Margaret wants Charles’s book of Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s poetry, Sonnets From the Portuguese. Holy MO-ly!

Yeah :) it’s cold :)

“In the Bayou, legend has it that a selfish man will be possessed by demon bats, and never get no sleep ’til he does some good deed and mends his ways.” Rizzo…God bless u.

Beasts! Don’t throw beer on Klinger’s fur coat!

The B plot of the American soldier in the bed next to the North Korean he shot is very well done actually

Oh, full cassock, Father?

“Right on time. [points swiftly] I like that.” Harry Morgan :)

Wow that chopper pilot rules ass

I do quite like the Margaret v. Hawkeye time capsules thing, it feels very vintage them

OKAY! The fact of the M*A*S*H sleepover with Jody means I don’t actually have like, notes from the finale, I had a coupe glass holding a distressingly dry martini. But we’re cobbling, we’re cobbling! And that’s just a little cocktail shaker humor for you. (I actually have a Boston shaker.) (Charles looks up.)

I think the first thing I want to mention is that partway through Jody looked something up on her phone and was like hey, do you want to know who Soon-Lee is? And that’s how we learned that Klinger marries Keiko O’Brien. Yell!! Babe I hadn't recognized you!!! Anyway that whole plot, while sudden, nonetheless did have me going

And also unfortunately revealing to Jody that I do, in fact, do exactly this while watching this show. Always have! Never been more seen.

I also want to say just, thank god for Sidney Freedman. In every way. Imagine if we hadn’t had Sidney this whole time, if it was just some psychiatrist we’d never seen before treating Hawkeye? Weirdly, would immediately just feel, less real?? A fraction of the impact of how it actually plays out, where because it's Sidney, we know it's serious, but also because it's Sidney, we have something to hang on to.

Meanwhile, Hawkeye getting left by his best friend, again, no note, again, was like, this is nearly too much but also I’m falling fucking apart. Narrative cruelty in the way I 👍🏻 support. Top moments that have happened to Hawkeye Pierce that broke me in exciting new ways include: sopping wet in his clothes and Radar gives him Trapper’s goodbye kiss, and at separate tables in the mess tent, Hawkeye just trying to get BJ to say goodbye to him, and saying “What would you do if I was dying? Would you hold me and let me die in your arms, or would you just let me lay there and bleed?” and BJ just going “You’re not dying, you don’t even have a cold,” and walking away. And the way he goes “Goodbyyyye,” hey, I'm dying on the ground!!!!

Margaret is there for him at least. Yes, someone touch him, I thought, maybe said (Jody?), when she grabs his wrist in the scrub room and pulls him away with her. Y’know, I can tell you what I certainly said, and it was when they were standing there looking at each other and it’s time to say goodbye, and I sotto voce called out, because of the tightness in my throat, hand to the side of my mouth, “Make oout,” And They Do. And exactly in how I meant it: hold me bleeding in your arms, and I'll hold you bleeding in mine, here are my wounds pressed to yours, hearts, mouths, close as you can just for one last minute, it's the only way we know how to express it.

God, we won with that. Those two…my fucking heart !! I love them. They kinda secretly became everything to me? Oh god!

When I was rewatching the very end just now, BJ’s “I can’t imagine what this place would have been like if I hadn’t found you here” (found him there, he was just already there…), and then the ‘GOODBYE’ and the slow, minor key variation on ‘Suicide Is Painless’ started, just the simple horns like it was in the beginning, and rising up over the same view of the mountains as the ‘KOREA, 1950 - a hundred years ago’ opening golfing shot, and I sobbed. I know we say that a lot. I truly broke down crying, just set my hand to my face and cried so much. This show has been really, with me, you know? I started it so open, and it just, it got to me. I’ll never be able to shake you, either.

— — —

Season Viewguides

These

[artistsonthelam]

I've been sitting on this news for months, but now I'm giddy with excitement (and embarrassment?*) I can finally share with you that I've been named one of 2023's Culture Shifters by HuffPost! *(I burst into laughter when I saw the headline.) I'm so honored to be featured on a list alongside such creative change-makers. Endless thanks, love, and gratitude to:

- Reporter Yue Li, a graduate student at Northwestern's Medill School of Journalism. Yue had reached out to me for "a profile story about an outstanding Chicago-based artist" and interviewed me all the way back in January (I remember we wished each other a Happy Chinese New Year!). She then pitched her story to the HuffPost culture team in March... and not only did their editorial team say yes, but the editor also said she'd love to include me as a Culture Shifter!

- Photographer Taylor Glascock. Taylor took these photos of me in Chinatown on a brisk (to say the least!) but bright March afternoon. Everything I'm wearing here I've had for at least 14 years (exception: my sneakers, which I've had for 7) (this is a pattern you'll find with me and belongings)

- Senior editor of culture Erin Evans

- Senior photo editor Chris McGonigal

- Artist Nancy Bechtol, one of my Artists on the Lam, who was also interviewed for this and had such kind words to say about me

- Everyone who's been a part of my journey. We don't get here alone!

Read the interview here.

[thevindicativevordan]

Comics this week?

Danger Street #1 - Enjoyable! Not sure if King can handle all these characters, he's not a writer who is the best at giving everyone their own voice, but I liked the first issue. Haven't seen anyone offer a guess who the villain that traumatized Lady Cop is, must be a deep cut.

Dark Crisis: Big Bang #1 - An entire issue devoted to Waid indulging his Silver Age fanboy, but in a manner I don't enjoy compared to World's Finest. What the hell is the point of bringing back all these obscure worlds from Pre-Crisis that no one except Waid and a few other boomers know or care about? Why do we need two official vampire worlds? Or the Justice Lords and Injustice? Or the Crime Syndicate and apparently a Pre-Crisis Earth where the names stayed the same but the moralities flipped? Yippee I guess, must make sure that every evil Superman has their own official Earth. Morrison wanted to make sure that the Multiverse was more than just "hey here's Superman and Batman but this time they're Egyptian", they wanted the Multiverse to support different characters as being equal to the usual A-Listers. This new Multiverse is regressing back to the old status quo of there being a million Earths and Superman and Batman are the stars on every one. Weird that they left off the Arkhamverse, Tomorrowverse, and YJverse but included Injustice and DCSG. No films or TV Earths besides the Reeve/Keaton one, and even that is just meant to stand in for the Superman '78/Batman '89 comics. If this aimed to get me excited about the Multiverse it failed, I just want the damn thing to go away for a while and let DC focus on Earth 0 for a bit.

WildC.A.T.S. #2 - Breezy read but fun. Didn't expect Mr. Majestic to make his return so soon. Lot of Superman analogues, and actual Supermen, running around the DCU, somebody should do something with all of them.

Superman: Son of Kal-El #18 - Well this issue encapsulated this entire run in a nutshell: some interesting ideas that are failed by terrible execution resulting in a bland book. At least I can finally hop off Taylor's ride, won't be letting sunk cost tricking me into reading the next miniseries. A recent interview by Taylor made it sound like AoS will indeed be the finale for his time with the character, he was talking about how other people will be writing Jon after him and how Jon will be a big player in what's coming up. Until Taylor finishes writing Jon I've got zero interest in Jon anymore. Let his era be over soon please, this issue was clearly not meant to be the end of the series which tells me this was a sudden change, likely caused by editorial losing faith in Taylor as Jon's caretaker.

I Am Batman #16 - Huh. Didn't see that coming but I am intrigued where it goes. Ridley also gave an interview recently where he talked about other people writing Jace after him. Maybe Jace will be getting his own follow up mini just like Jon is, but by someone else.

Batman Incorporated #3 - Ghost-Maker is a total asshole and I'm not sure how long I'll keep reading if he remains the star. Dude needs to get humbled fast.

Invincible Iron Man #1 - Fine. About the same level of quality as Duggan's X-Men for what that's worth. Should have gotten Hickman on this, it's insane that Iron Man was the breakout star of the MCU and Marvel cannot seem to get him that modern day epic run he desperately needs.

Planet Hulk: Worldbreaker #2 - Pak is sleepwalking through this it feels like. Either that or it's decompressed for the trade, because not much is actually happening issue to issue. Jen's fate reminds me of the 40k God-Emperor.

[elxctrics]

(—) ★ spotted!! JONATHAN ‘JOHNNY’ KENNEDY on the cover of this week’s most recent tabloid! many say that the 30 year old looks like BILL SKARSGARD, but i don’t really see it. while  the ACTOR/REALITY TV STAR/LORD is known for being CHARISMATIC my inside sources say that they have a tendency to be CHAOTIC i swear, every time i think of them, i hear the song SUPER RICH KIDS by FRANK OCEAN { HE/HIM, CISMALE }

  ˗ˏˋ ＊ ‣ 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐬    :  

connections || musings || instagram || headcanons

𝓼𝓽𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓼𝓽𝓲𝓬𝓼

name: jonathan fucking kennedy

age: thirty

nicknames: johnny, jfk

date of birth: june 5th, 1994

astrological sign: gemini

place of birth: calabasas, california

occupation: reality star / model / actor / lord

label: the lothario

positive traits: charismatic, humorous, witty, debonair

negative traits: impulsive, manipulative, womanizer, unfaithful

characters/celebrities he’s like: schmitt from new girl, chuck bass from gossip girl, young rob kardashian, scott disick, joey tribianni from friends, michael kelso from that 70′s show

𝓫𝓲𝓸𝓰𝓻𝓪𝓹𝓱𝔂

johnny was born into reality tv royalty. the only son of the kennedy family (not to be confused with the political dynasty), johnny was practically birthed in the spotlight. (basically very much like the kardashians) 

his mother kathy being a famous fashion model  and his father jonathan being a famous football player (very much tom and gisele vibes) their whirlwind romance was a headline maker in the 70's/80′s and once they started having children, a reality tv series was practically handed to them.

their family’s show - kicking it with the kennedy’s, was the pioneer of reality tv and the very first reality show to reach such high levels of success.

the show focused on their day to day life as a famous family in california and all the drama that they got into.

while his sisters had much more going for them plot wise- from business ventures to marriages and babies, messy relationships, scandals and everything in between, johnny didn’t have as much going for him and had always been considered ‘the black sheep’ of the family, so he had to carve his own path.

he became the troublemaker of the family, the one the cameras turned to for some comedic relief. he played pranks on his sisters, had all of his womanizing ways exploited for the world to see, and was known for being an absolute menace, simply because it was the only way he could get any screentime.

and unlike his sisters, he didn’t have anything outside of the show going for him. he didn’t have drive or motivation or something he was passionate about, so he simply used his family’s money to do whatever he wanted.

it didn’t take long for him to become a notorious party boy in hollywood, using his last name to get any girl he wanted into bed, throwing insane parties in his calabasas mansion, buying more cars than he ever needed, and treating money like it grew on trees - especially since he invested in cryptocurrency at such a young age one night when he was a bored teenager browsing the web with nothing else to do.

when he turned 18, in a desperate attempt to make him grow up a little bit, his mother got him signed to a modeling agency, where he began a successful runway and editorial career, but the only thing he ever enjoyed about it was that he got to be around hot models and go to insane parties.

he spent the next ten years of his life being and living up to what everyone thought of him - a boy who would never grow up and while people loved it for entertainment's purposes, he was getting sick and tired of not being taken seriously.

𝓲𝓷 𝓬𝓪𝓼𝓮 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓶𝓲𝓼𝓼𝓮𝓭 𝓲𝓽…

last year, he found himself in a complete mental rut - his usual vices not doing the trick for him anymore and everything around him seeming completely bleak and meaningless.

he wanted to be something more than just the menace brother on kicking it with the kennedy's and after a mental breakdown...or two..he fled to paris for a few months and enrolled in the most prestigious acting academy in france.

and much to everyone's surprise, including his own, he was brilliant, an absolute natural who was able to engulf himself into a character and switch into a different personality with ease.

christopher nolan caught wind of this and decided to cast him in 'the dark knight' as the joker and while johnny's goal was to be more of a leading man kind of guy, he played the villain well, so well that his performance in the dark knight is being quoted as one of the greatest performances from an actor of all time.

he entered his first serious relationship around that time with ophelia evans, and she became his whole world. although it didn't last long until someone else sabotaged it.

however, he's trying his best to not let that get him down, focusing on wrapping american psycho, gearing up for his next project, pulp fiction and being the same old johnny everyone knows and loves. leopards can't change their spots that easily, after all.

[markstevensmith]

Mark Steven Smith: An Investigation of Marks Art

Craftsmanship isn't simply a vehicle of articulation; an excursion takes both the maker and the crowd through scenes of feeling, thought, and insight. One such striking excursion is that of Imprint Steven Smith, a visionary craftsman whose work has re-imagined present day craftsmanship. Through his remarkable point of view, Smith has made an inheritance that proceeds to motivate and spellbind craftsmanship lovers all over the planet. Marks smith art driving

The Beginning Marks Art

The tale of Imprints Workmanship started with the energy and inventiveness of Imprint Steven Smith. Brought into the world with an inborn ability for catching the embodiment of life through craftsmanship, Smith sought after his fantasies with steadfast devotion. His excursion as a craftsman began quite early on when he originally got a paintbrush. What started as a basic side interest before long developed into an undeniable profession, bringing forth what is currently known as Imprints Craftsmanship.

Marks Craftsmanship isn't simply a brand; it is a portrayal of Smith's creative vision. It incorporates many imaginative styles, from dynamic to authenticity, each piece recounting to a story that reverberates with the watcher. Smith's capacity to mix various mediums and procedures has separate him in the craftsmanship world, making Imprints Workmanship a name inseparable from development and imagination.

The Extraordinary Style of Mark Steven Smith

Mark Steven Smith is known for his unmistakable style, which flawlessly mixes customary methods with contemporary components. His work is described by strong tones, dynamic creations, and mind boggling subtleties that bring the watcher into the craftsmanship. Smith's pieces frequently investigate subjects of nature, human inclination, and the intricacies of present day life, offering a significant editorial on our general surroundings. Mark Steven Smith

One of the characterizing highlights of Imprints Craftsmanship is Smith's utilization of surface. He utilizes different strategies, for example, layering, scratching, and coating, to make a rich, material quality in his work. This adds profundity and aspect to his pieces, making them outwardly dazzling as well as connecting on a tactile level.

Smith's capacity to pass development and energy on through his specialty is one more sign of Imprints Workmanship. Whether it's the twirling examples of a turbulent sky or the delicate progression of a stream, his work catches the pith of movement, causing it to feel like the craftsmanship is invigorated. This powerful quality is especially clear in his series of scene works of art, where the play of light and shadow makes a feeling of profundity and show.

Marks Smith Art Driving: Another Point of view

Notwithstanding his conventional work of art, Imprint Steven Smith has wandered into the universe of computerized craftsmanship, making a progression of pieces that investigate the topic of driving. This assortment, known as Imprints Smith Craftsmanship Driving, is a special mix of authenticity and deliberation, catching the experience of being out and about according to a new viewpoint.

Marks Smith Workmanship Driving grandstands Smith's capacity to convey the sensations and feelings related with driving. The pieces in this assortment portray different scenes, from clamoring city roads to peaceful dirt roads, each delivered with Smith's trademark scrupulousness. The utilization of lively varieties and dynamic pieces rejuvenates these scenes, causing the watcher to feel like they are important for the excursion.

This assortment likewise mirrors Smith's interest with the idea of development. The demonstration of driving, with its steady difference in view and the feeling of opportunity it offers, is a repetitive subject in Imprints Workmanship. Through his craft, Smith investigates the connection between the driver and the climate, catching the consistently changing nature of the world external the window.

The Effect of Marks Art

Marks Craftsmanship essentially affects the workmanship world, procuring Imprint Steven Smith a standing as one of the most inventive specialists of his age. His work has been displayed in exhibitions and galleries all over the planet, drawing in the consideration of gatherers and craftsmanship aficionados the same. Smith's capacity to associate with his crowd on a profound, close to home level has made Imprints Workmanship a darling brand in the realm of contemporary craftsmanship. Marks Art

One reason for Smith's prosperity is his capacity to advance as a craftsman. Throughout the long term, he has tried different things with various mediums and styles, continuously pushing the limits of what workmanship can be. This readiness to advance has kept Imprints Craftsmanship new and important, guaranteeing that Smith's work keeps on reverberating with crowds, everything being equal.

Notwithstanding his work as a visual craftsman, Imprint Steven Smith is likewise a backer for human expression. He has utilized his foundation to help different craftsmanship drives and projects, assisting with making workmanship more open to individuals from varying backgrounds. Through his endeavors, Imprints Workmanship has become something beyond a brand; a development empowers inventiveness and self-articulation.

The Fate of  Marks Art

As Imprints Workmanship keeps on developing, Imprint Steven Smith stays focused on his vision of making craftsmanship that moves and inspires. He is continually investigating groundbreaking thoughts and strategies, guaranteeing that his work stays at the front of the contemporary craftsmanship scene. Whether through customary canvas or advanced craftsmanship's, Smith will probably keep pushing the limits of what is conceivable in workmanship.

Looking forward, Imprints Craftsmanship is set to grow its arrive at considerably further. With plans for new displays, joint efforts, and ventures, Smith is ready to carry his remarkable vision to a considerably more extensive crowd. For devotees of Imprints Craftsmanship, what's in store holds energizing prospects, with more imaginative and provocative work to come.

End

In the realm of contemporary craftsmanship, not many names stand apart as much as Imprint Steven Smith. Through Imprints Craftsmanship, Smith has made a group of work that is both different and particular, catching the excellence and intricacy of life in a manner that reverberates with individuals all over the planet. Whether through his customary canvases or his computerized craftsmanship, Smith's work proceeds to motivate and enamor, making Imprints Craftsmanship a genuine power in the realm of present day workmanship.

For anybody hoping to investigate the universe of craftsmanship, Imprints Workmanship offers a special and improving experience. With its mix of development, inventiveness, and close to home profundity, Imprints Craftsmanship is something beyond an assortment of works of art; it is an excursion through the brain and soul of perhaps of the present most gifted craftsman, Imprint Steven Smith.

[timesofinnovation]

Elis Kiss will be the new editor-in-chief of Vogue Greece, taking over from Thaleia Karafyllidou, as announced by Kathimerini Media, the magazine's publisher. Kiss has a rich history with Vogue Greece, joining in 2019 as fashion features director amid its relaunch after securing a licensing agreement with Condé Nast. Starting her career at the International Herald Tribune in Paris, Kiss gained invaluable experience working closely with renowned fashion critic Suzy Menkes. Her deep understanding of the fashion world and strategic editorial insight set her apart, making her a natural successor for the top editorial position at Vogue Greece. The previous incarnation of the magazine, Vogue Hellas, started in 2000 but closed in 2012 due to the financial crisis affecting its publisher, Lyberis Publications. Now, Kiss is tasked with pivotal roles as she aims to grow the magazine’s readership and reach. Her strategy includes leveraging print editions and optimizing engagement on social media platforms. Furthermore, she will play a crucial role in events like the Change Makers fashion conference, aiming to solidify Vogue Greece's position as a household name. Kiss’s appointment promises a dynamic and evolving future for the magazine, aligning with global fashion trends while embracing local flavors. Such strategic moves aim to root Vogue Greece deeply in both the global and local fashion scenes.

[jobsbuster]

Top UK Newspapers You Should Be Reading in 2024

In this fast-paced digital age, staying informed is more crucial than ever. With a myriad of online newspapers to choose from, it's easy to get overwhelmed. But fear not! We've curated a list of the top UK newspapers you should definitely have on your radar for 2024. Let's dive in:

Eastern Eye: A leading source for news, opinions, and analysis focusing on the UK's South Asian community. EasternEye online newspaper covers a wide range of topics including politics, culture, business, and entertainment, providing a unique perspective on current affairs.

The Guardian: Known for its independent journalism and progressive stance, The Guardian covers a wide range of topics from politics to culture with insightful commentary. It has a strong online presence, offering multimedia content including podcasts and videos.

The Times: Providing in-depth coverage of national and international news, The Times is renowned for its rigorous reporting and analysis. It also offers specialized sections on topics such as education, environment, and technology.

The Telegraph: With a reputation for authoritative reporting and balanced analysis, The Telegraph is a go-to source for comprehensive news coverage. It covers politics, business, sports, and lifestyle, catering to a broad audience.

The Independent: As its name suggests, The Independent prides itself on its editorial independence, offering a diverse range of news, opinions, and features. It has a strong focus on investigative journalism and in-depth reporting.

Financial Times: For those interested in business, economics, and finance, the Financial Times is indispensable, providing insightful analysis and market updates. It also offers special reports and data visualizations for a deeper understanding of economic trends.

BBC News: A trusted source for breaking news and in-depth reporting, BBC News offers a wide range of multimedia content, keeping you informed wherever you are. It covers domestic and international news, with dedicated sections for regions and topics.

The Sun: Known for its tabloid style, The Sun is a popular choice for those seeking a mix of news, entertainment, and sports coverage. It has a large online readership and offers a range of lifestyle content alongside its news coverage.

Daily Mail: Offering a blend of news, celebrity gossip, and lifestyle features, the Daily Mail is a widely-read newspaper catering to diverse interests. It covers everything from politics and current affairs to fashion and health.

The Mirror: Providing a combination of news, opinion, and entertainment, The Mirror is a staple for those looking for a quick and engaging read. It covers national and international news, as well as human interest stories and celebrity news.

Metro: A free newspaper distributed in major cities across the UK, Metro offers concise news coverage tailored for busy urbanites on the go. It covers a wide range of topics including news, entertainment, and lifestyle, with a focus on local events and issues.

City A.M.: Targeted at London's business professionals, City A.M. delivers up-to-date financial news and analysis tailored to the city's dynamic environment. It covers markets, companies, and economic trends, providing insights for investors and decision-makers.

Evening Standard: Another London-centric newspaper, the Evening Standard covers local and national news, as well as arts, culture, and lifestyle topics. It has a strong online presence and offers a mix of news, features, and opinion pieces for its readership.

These newspapers offer a diverse array of perspectives and coverage, ensuring that you stay well-informed about the latest developments in the UK and beyond. Whether you're interested in politics, business, culture, or sports, there's something for everyone in these top UK newspapers. Happy reading!

[mellowwastelandstranger]

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[la-chronique]

A beautiful book on beauty

Dear reader, I rarely think about beauty. Firstly because I think that beauty comes after function in graphic design. Like a lot of my contemporaries, I have learnt to consider the pursuit of beauty as an old-fashioned, meaningless and not respectable goal for today’s creatives. Besides, I have never questioned myself about this subject before reading Beauty. The book was published by Phaidon in 2018, thought by two relevant creatives from New York : Stephan Sagmeister and Jessica Walsh.

My eyes were directly attracted by this publication which has a design out of common. A black and white book case protects the book. On the cover, a large decorative, ornemental letter is debossed, while the back cover mixes iconography and text. On the spine, we find the headline followed by the names of the designers. When we take the book out the box, the object reveals a sliver printed margin where a decorative design appears. We can read « beauty = function » and « beauty = human ». 

The book is chaptered in several parts, mixing information, research, data, questions developed through a thought process about beauty. Thus, words and editorial design both contribute to creating beauty. Sagmeister and Walsh use at least five different typefaces, one of which was created for the occasion (the AB Beauty) and ornemental and illusional patterns to dress up each chapter page. 

« Beauty is the dose of humanity that makes our lives better », « beautiful works are not only more joyful ; they work better ». The two designer suggest to go against the consensus of the contemporary vision of beauty in the creative world. 

The theme is slowly introduced by research and scientific experiments about this theme with the idea to defining it better. We discover, for exemple, that humans are capable of recognizing beauty unconsciously : according to an experiment on brains, muscles for smiling are contracted when beautiful images were shown.  

The book refers to History too. Experiments have demonstrated that we generally prefer vertical axes and asymmetrical shapes. Contrary to what we used to think beauty isn’t only built with complex ornamental shapes, but can be really sober and minimalist also : Piet Mondrian is the perfect example. 

Architect Louis Sullivan said « Form follows function ». In History, many artistic movements (especially in architecture) wanted a certain lifestyle like the International style who imposes economical and functional shapes addressed to a plurality of persons. The idea was to push everyone to adopt a common lifestyle based on sharing houses thought out for the need of life in community. But can we live well without beauty ? Could we live healthily in a brutal building ?

The question of beauty automatically leads to social and ideological questions.  Historically, geometrical, economical and easy shapes are more accessible to the masses. At the same time, ornemental and complex forms are expensive objects, inherent to a privileged class.

Today, reaching beauty is still complicated for a designer because we are « problem solvers » more than beauty makers. In an other sense, the reflexion leads us to what our ambition as designers is ? Would we make precious objects or design for all ?

I Think that it would be easier to think that the graphic design world is only black or white. Accessible and yet beautiful and valuable design does exist.  

With Beauty, The two designers propose a  very inspiring reading experience, an open research with a lot of references, where the reader must open his eyes, question himself and, at the same time, think about beauty. 

The publication of Beauty gave way to an exhibition on year latter. The place reuse the content of the book to investigate why people feel attracted to beauty, how deal they with it in daily life ? what positive effects can beauty have ?

Julia Ducretet, 05/01/2023.

[splathousefiction]

Joyful Stick: Mods And You

Good day my lovely deviants. Welcome back to Joyful Stick. Miss our last entry? You can read it here. As you can probably tell, it’s been quite some time since that. Before getting into our main topic I’m going to explain why.

Joyful Stick was a series I originally started as a “warm up” for my other projects, such as fiction stories and editorials. In a similar way, Jack’s Sack also filled this role. Both series kept me writing and engaged with my craft. Both also kept me more engaged with the larger NSFW community as well. Thanks both to support on patreon and gifts, these respective series more or less could continue in perpetuity if I wanted them to. There was always the promise of a new entry either weekly or bi-weekly. Except there was one problem.

I got bored.

Sex toy makers do go through trends and changes with their products, but it’s a long wait for new models to go from an idea to being available. This often meant I was left reviewing extremely similar toys, with little to add to the conversation or recommendation from the previous review. Though I found alternative means with which to generate revenue from them (like fansly), these reviews rarely “popped” and often were ignored in favor of the other content I created with the toys. Quite a few of you enjoyed watching me/hearing me use them over reading a review, and I can understand why. The last entry of Jack’s Sack was in April of 2022.

As such, that series won’t be returning. Any toys sent to me will be reviewed on my fansly in either audio or video form as per request of the person that sends it. These reviews will be behind a paywall, available either a subscription or a one-time purchase on my fansly page. If you’d like to see that series continue, I suggest following me there.

Joyful Stick had the opposite issue. With two major platforms supporting a wide variety of NSFW releases (that being Steam and Itch.io), there was a veritable ocean of content from all kinds of creators. However, curation and coverage of these titles is extremely rare. While I’m well aware I’m hardly alone in covering adult games, these kinds of discussions are in the niche. I can’t name anyone else off the top of my head that does these styles of reviews. Likewise, the NSFW/Adult game community suffers from a major issue-that being an ongoing bout of “hentai-itis”. It made finding games that had quality writing and gameplay exceedingly difficult. Many titles started to become a slurry of indistinguishable characters and engines before my very eyes.

The only review I actually remember well is the one I did covering Ghost of Tsushima. A title that, while mature and incredible, notably wasn’t pornographic in nature. Following that was my review-cum-editorial of Bloodborne PSX, which also notably wasn’t a porn game. Both of these reviews stay in my mind more so for what I personally-as a player-gleamed from them rather than what they were able to accomplish. Both are great, go play them-but their existence in my life brought more than any RPGMaker title with giant tiddies ever could.

I found it extremely difficult to write anything for this review series that matched that level. So, I got jaded. Burned out. Bored, and disinterested.

As December came in 2022 and I was going through a depressive episode, I began to ask myself what I truly wanted from my creative endeavors. Addressing the obvious, growing gap in my writing was first and foremost. It had been months since I wrote anything, even longer for series like Joyful Stick. I thought back to those prior reviews-and the answer became readily apparent.

Joyful Stick is returning, as made obvious by this entries existence. However, it’s no longer going to focus just on the games themselves. I always felt a bit shameful measuring anything with arbitrary metrics of  “buy or don’t”, as I felt it cut into the artistic endeavors of the developers. Rather, I’m going to focus much more on what the title itself is trying to say, along with my personal reception and the communities.

I absolutely, positively will review anything gifted to me. This includes Non-NSFW/Adult title. If I feel as strongly about something as I did Ghost or BBPSX, you can expect a write up on it in due time. I’ll try to veer towards coverage of NSFW/Adult games, as there’s not nearly enough done for them. But I am no longer going to limit myself to those only.

So.

Got something you want me to check out?

Drop me a line, and if you’re so inclined I’ll give you means to gift me it.

As always, I’ll gladly answer questions on twitter.

Now without anymore delay…onto our review.

One Thick Robot Changes Everything

Haydee is not an great game.  

Not really.

It’s not terrible, but rather something a bit worse-exceedingly average and simultaneously aggravating in ways too familiar to even draw inspired criticism. It’s a third-person shooter that has enemy variation you can count on one hand. There’s minor puzzles and platforming, which are either brain-dead simple or inherently crafted so badly that asking for a guide would be meet with a sneer before someone tells you to “get good”. It’s three hours long and feels twice that.

But Haydee had exactly two things going for it-Haydee herself, the tit-ular character, and Steam Workshop accessibility.

Haydee is a faceless, curvaceous robot with her assets on full (if tasteful) display. Her upper body is covered in white-plated science fiction clothing meant to simulate combat armor. Her long legs and ass lead to the floor running free of a blue-tinted singlet. Yes, every part of her jiggles as well. While not an especially inspired design, Haydees presentation launched a thousand Source Film Maker videos and several careers. If we’re to make an argument on whether that design was inherently sexualised or not, I think therein lies the answer.

Players get to gaze and look at Haydee through an over-the-shoulder camera which can be rotated freely with the mouse. Her movements are likewise exaggerated, requiring additional button presses to make her squat then get back up, haul herself over platforms and more. The water effects in the game are a far cry from sensational-but getting Haydee wet predictably adds an appealing shine to every part of her.

It’s no wonder then that I heard about the game through the porn first. Before I was even made aware that Haydee had a steam page, I watched her deeply impregnate several Dead Or Alive girls, tit fuck several men and jerk off folks with her ass cheeks. Her design, albeit horny, was just “sci-fi robot generic” enough that I had no idea what she could have been from. Upon finding out there was an entire game with this character, I purchased it the moment it went on sale.

And.

Well.

Yet, Haydee continues to be something I come back to every so often specifically because of the community response to Haydee herself. The reaction to a character who was realistically “thick” and proportioned right at the front stage of a game garnered the title enough success that a sequel was released. I’m not purchasing the sequel and have zero interest in playing it. A community of fervent supporters also began cranking out mods, reskins, new levels and more within the same month of the titles debut.

Which lead to the discovery of one of the greatest collective efforts of archiving I have ever seen.

Nude Mods, Censorship And More

Nude mods and alterations which add sexual content to games aren’t a new concept.

I remember reading a preview for Morrowind in an issue of PC Gamer in middle school that very specifically joked about “the harem of nude, big tiddy mages” available through community efforts-and that was the specific reason I bought the game. A Gameshark code to make Kasume in Dead or Alive 2: Hardcore nude was available at some point when I was a freshman. With sweaty palms, I fervently typed in fifty lines of code to get a character model with as much anatomical detail as a barbie doll. Someone had legitimately sat down and figured out how to remove her layers by reverse engineering that specific part of the game and building a code to alter it. Rumors of a “nude mode” in the original Tomb Raider are almost as old as I am.

These aren’t new concepts, but industry and platform reactions to it absolutely are. It’s a mixed bag of ethical reasoning-fighting sexism in the industry and creating safe environments and platforms for everyone is always a good thing. Puritanicalism is not. Some companies fumble this, others don’t. There’s no right answer saving abstaining, which in of itself can be particularly insidious.

Steam handled this a few years ago by announcing they would allow any content that didn’t represent a direct threat to it’s user base, adopting the “new grounds rule” of “everything by everyone”. Except this wasn’t a hard and fast rule-Red Candle Games infamously had their title removed after place holder art was left in by accident. Similar layers of censorship have also occurred with other titles, often after pressure was applied by the public or a government entity.

In regards to adult titles, Steam has a hypocritical stance. Titles themselves can often have any number of NSFW/Adult things or themes within them (over half the games purchased for this series were on steam). However, things uploaded to the Steam Workshop abide by a totally different set of Terms of Service. Quite specifically, adult content is more or less forbidden, with uploaders and creators resorting to clever titles, hiding what’s actually in the file or altering the mod with minimal censorship to abide by Steams rules. Most of the time users simply circumvent this by going to larger, more lenient mod databases such as Nexus.

The Haydee community had a radically different idea.

For all the obvious reasons, Haydee is a title that had an abundance of sexualized content in it’s mods. Total reskins, posers, levels mimicking BDSM dungeons and more abounded. Of the most wild I personally saw was a “barefoot sounds” mod which…made Haydees bare feet sound like bare feet. An overwhelming majority of these were pulled from the Steam Workshop, often without notice to the creators. As the last seven years of my life have been devoted to sexual entertainment, I can’t even begin to quantify how devastating de-platforming can be to an individual or team.

While these were often dual uploaded on other platforms, the Haydee community decided to fight back in a unique way. As the Steam Discussion features for games has a totally different terms of service from either Workshop or Steam itself, they created a thread with a google-drive archive of every single mod pulled as a result of censorship.

As of this writing, it’s over twelve gig and features over two hundred mods.

It’s single handedly one of the most ambitious community efforts I have ever seen for what is otherwise an un-extraordinary game, the direct response of attempted censorship. The mere fact this is pinned at the top of the community board featuring content in flagrant violation of Workshop’s TOS lays bare how pointless crusades against such content actually are-and made me come to the following realization.

Censorship in of itself is a pointless practice compared to efforts like proper age gating and other means of restricting adult content. Removing adult content from your platform does not stop people from being horny. As a sex worker, we’ll either exist in spite of your TOS or because you directly allow us to. One is going to be a much bigger pain in your ass than the other. As sex workers and adult content drive a sizable portion of website traffic in all cases, adjusting the TOS and allowing us to ethically conduct business is paramount to maintaining your own.

This efforts of the Haydee community reminded me of the countless times a “NSFW Purge” has been rumored to occur at some point on twitter. Except SWers, porn and more make up so much of Twitter’s traffic that there were internal talks to simply allow us a platform of our own within twitter’s ecosystem. Getting rid of us would have killed the site, just like tumblr.

Censorship isn’t the answer, ever. Rather, it’s a band aid on an issue to show investors and nothing more.

-j

[markstevensmith]

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End

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