#2019/04/03

[merpmonde]

Palais Universitaire de Strasbourg

In 1870, a broad coalition of German nations waged a war against France. Napoleon III's Second French Empire fell swiftly, and the Second German Reich formed on the back of this victory, with a Kaiser at its head. Germany annexed Alsace and Moselle, and had particularly grand plans for Strassburg, the capital of the region. While the city centre on the island was repaired after heavy shelling, the Germans decided to develop around it. To the North, the Neustadt, "New Town", was built, with, at its core, a wide avenue with a palatial residence for the Kaiser at one end, and a University Palace at the other, the storefront of a brand new campus complex. It's still part of the university today, with classrooms and all.

Completed in 1884 in a neo-Renaissance style as a monument to Germany's newfound power, the Palace is richly decorated with statues, ranging from effigies of Germania and Argentina - no relation, the Roman settlement at Strasbourg was called Argentoratum -, and historical figures of German science and thought: below, theologist Martin Luther, mathematician Gottfried von Leibniz, astronomer Johannes Kepler and educator Johannes Sturm. Though probably not a direct response, the Eiffel Tower would provide a similar list of French greats a few years later.

France regained Alsace following World War I, and would de-germanify several buildings in the Neustadt area. The home of Germania insurances became the Gallia building, and the effigy of Germania, restored below, was removed from the University Palace. A similar process would be undertaken in 1945, after Alsace was once again be annexed by Germany in 1940 - the University Palace would need de-nazifying.

However, a few symbols remain as a reminder of the Nazi oppression. In the grand hall, called the Aula, a subtle swastika appears among the geometric patterns on the floor. It sits in a corner, as lonesome as it is loathsome. I thought I had a picture of that swastika, but looking through my folders, I don't appear to have taken photos of the interior at all. I seem to remember thinking "nah, it's weird to take pictures of Nazi swastikas". It's still weird, right?

[dangerphd]

smolweaving resources

a masterpost of resources to complement that post going around the other day with a glossary of several different kinds of small weaving. design your own potholder loom squares: https://friendlyloom.com/pages/potholder-design-wizard

make a pin loom: https://windsweptmind.com/2016/07/04/adventures-in-pin-loom-making-and-so-can-you/

warp a pin loom the regular way: https://adventuresinpinloomweaving.com/2018/09/21/choose-your-warping-method/

the diagonal way: https://howdidyoumakethis.com/square-pin-loom-speed-weaving/

fingerweaving

how-to: https://www.metismuseum.ca/fingerweaving/

another how-to: https://nativetech.org/finger/beltinstr.html

additional resources: https://jumaka.com/2019/03/finger-weaving/

tablet weaving

how-to: https://www.shelaghlewins.com/tablet_weaving/TW01/TW01.htm

another how-to: https://jumaka.com/2019/02/card-weaving/

personal favorite site for designing tablet weaving drafts: https://twistedthreads.org/

backstrap rigid heddle weaving

how-to: https://spinoffmagazine.com/backstrap-rigid-heddle-basics-get-weaving-handspun-bands/

3D printed rigid heddle backstrap loom parts:

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:6141824

3D printed rigid heddles for band weaving:

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3999858

inkle loom weaving

how to build a loom from pvc and get started: https://littlelooms.com/a-free-guide-to-inkle-weaving/

inkle loom/rigid heddle backstrap pattern design: https://carolingianrealm.blog/PatternGenerator.php

[mostlysignssomeportents]

#RedForEd rides again in LA

I'm on a 20+ city book tour for my new novel PICKS AND SHOVELS. Catch me in CHICAGO with PETER SAGAL on WEDNESDAY (Apr 2), and in BLOOMINGTON on FRIDAY (Apr 4). More tour dates here.

The LA Teachers' Union is going on strike.

Fuck.

Yes.

The last time the LA teachers struck was in the midst of the 2019 #RedForEd wave, which kicked off during the last Trump presidency. All across the country, teachers walked out – even in states where they were legally prohibited from doing so. These strikes were hugely successful, because communities across the nation rallied around their teachers, and the teachers returned the favor, making community justice part of their goals.

This was true across America, but it was especially true in Los Angeles, where the teachers were militant, united, relentless, and brilliant. The story of the 2019 LA Teachers' Strike is recounted in Jane McAlevey's essential 2021 book A Collective Bargain, which recounts her history as a union organizer on multiple successful unionization drives and strikes, including that fateful teachers' strike:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/04/23/a-collective-bargain/

McAlevey learned her tactics from a lineage of organizers who predated the legalization of unions and the National Labor Relations Act. Accordingly, her organizing method didn't rely on bosses obeying the law, or governments sticking up for workers. She fought for victories that were won by pure worker power. The 2019 LA teachers' strike is a fantastic example, a literal textbook case about rallying support from the entire shop – including affiliated workers, like bus-drivers – and then broadening that massive support by bringing in related trades (the LA charter school teachers walked out with their public school comrades), and the community.

The LA teachers' community organizing was incredible. They worked with community groups to understand what LA families really needed, and made those families' demands into union demands. The LA teachers' demands included:

in-school social workers;

parks and green-spaces in or near every LA public school; and

a total ban on ICE agents shaking down parents at the school gates.

Environmental justice, immigration justice, racial justice – these issues were every bit as important to the LA teachers in 2019 as wages, working conditions and vacation pay. And. They. WON.

Not only did the LA teachers win everything they struck for, they built an enduring community organization that ran a massive get out of the vote effort for the 2020 elections and flipped two seats for Democrats, securing Biden's Congressional majority.

So now the teachers are walking out again, and while their demands include wage increases (the greedinflation crisis wiped out many of the gains won in the 2019 strike – though imagine how much worse things would be without those gains!), the demands also include a slate of bold, no-fucks-given, material measures to fight back agains the Trump administration and its fascism:

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-03-26/l-a-teachers-union-pursues-salary-hike-progressive-goals-amid-trump-agenda

This time around, the LA teachers are demanding:

"targeted investment in the recruitment and retention of BIPOC, multilingual and immigrant educators and service providers" – that's right, the DEI stuff that makes Trump's incipient aneurysm throb visibly in his temple (keep throbbing, li'l guy, I believe in you!).

"support for, defense and expansion of the school district’s Black Student Achievement Plan and Ethnic Studies" – the same programs that make wrestling faildaughter Linda McMahon get the fantods.

“strengthened policies to support LGBTQIA+ students, educators and staff” – take that, Elon.

"increased support for immigrant students and families, with and without documentation, including support for newcomers" – up yours, Stephen Miller, you pencilneck Hitler wannabe.

Where'd all these demands come from? 665 meetings that solicited input from "students, parents and other community members." In other words, these are our demands – the demands of Angelenos.

Trump is a scab. Musk is a scab. They hate unions. They've put the National Labor Relations Board into a coma, illegally firing a board member so that the board no longer has a quorum and can no longer take most actions. But the tactics the LA teachers used to organize their victory under the last Trump regime didn't rely on the NLRB – it relied on worker power. That power is only stronger today. The NLRB exists because workers built power when unions were illegal. Killing the NLRB doesn't kill worker power. Worker power comes from workers, not the government:

https://pluralistic.net/2025/01/29/which-side-are-you-on-2/#strike-three-yer-out

Now that Trump has canceled labor laws, all bets are off. Trump is illegally breaking the contracts of federal workers, as a prelude to eliminating unions nationwide. As Hamilton Nolan writes, this is the time to take a stand:

It is unreasonable to run around demanding a general strike every time a single union gets in a hard fight. It is not unreasonable to demand a general strike when the very existence of unions is under direct attack by a government that cares nothing about us, and does not respect our contracts, and is attempting to throw in the trash the union contracts covering hundreds of thousands of our fellow union members, as a step towards doing the same thing to millions more of our fellow union members. This is the bombing of Pearl Harbor, against the labor movement. Will we say, “We are filing a lawsuit against this illegal bombing, and we will keep you all updated as it progresses?” Will we say, “Pearl Harbor is way out in Hawaii. I’m glad those bombs didn’t fall where I live.” These are the terms that the union world needs to be thinking in, right now. This is not an exaggeration. If we do not go to war, the husk of American unions that emerges at the end of the Trump administration will be, probably, about half as big as it was when the Trump administration started, and immeasurably weaker. That is not an acceptable outcome if you believe that increasing organized labor’s strength is the key to saving this country, which it is.

https://www.hamiltonnolan.com/p/they-are-going-to-take-everything

McAlevey – who died in 2024 – agreed with Nolan. She wrote vibrantly about how union organizing, and the solidarity it nurtures, was the key to a revitalized democracy and a nation that truly takes care of its people, rather than lining them up in billionaires' feedlots.

I gotta go. I'm on my way to a Tesla protest. Maybe you could find one near you to join, too:

https://actionnetwork.org/event_campaigns/teslatakedown

But if I don't see you at this one, I'll see you on the picket line – with the LA teachers, the federal workers, and everyone else who's taking a stand against this scab presidency.

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/2025/03/29/jane-mcalevey/#trump-is-a-scab

[bl00dypawsiezz]

꒷꒦🎀🌈﹏⌗sims 4💤૮꒰mei mei skirt꒱ა⭐﹏☆(๑> ᴗ <๑)🖍️☘️

︵︵︵︵︵︵︵︵︵︵︵︵︵︵︵︵︵︵︵︵︵︵︵︵︵︵

♬ ྀི◜9 𝓼𝔀𝓪𝓽𝓬𝓱𝓮𝓼

♬ ྀི◜𝓷𝓮𝓮𝓭𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓶𝓮𝓼𝓱

︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶

︵︵︵︵︵︵︵︵︵︵︵︵︵︵︵︵︵︵︵︵︵︵︵︵︵︵

♬ ྀི◜𝓶𝓮𝓼𝓱: https://chukanovan95.wixsite.com/astya96/single-post/2019/04/03/dead-or-alive-5-fansy-dress

︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶

[rabidline]

ICE BRAVE 2025: Program Set List (Spoilers Alert + LONG POST)

Shoma Uno was blessed with many different programs during his competitive years, and ICE BRAVE 2025 utilized that really well. From my perspective, the main objective of the set list is to celebrate Shoma's range of music genre, highlight the individual skills of each performers, and also make sure they all not die doing this show because all of them charged forward with full power.

SPOILERS ALERT. If you don't want to be spoiled about the show (especially if you're flying to Japan to watch) I don't recommend reading. Because honestly, Shoma made some incredible choices, I tip my hat to him and his team as producers.

Warning: I have included relevant photos for visuals so this is going to be REALLY REALLY LONG.

01. GREAT SPIRIT (Opening Number - All Skaters)

Well Shoma can't not open the show without this one, can he? Bless the day Shae-Lynn Bourne chose Grespi for Shoma. The program started with Shoma skating alone, and then Rika and Marin skated together in the center, before all the men joined them and they all skated together.

02. COME TOGETHER (All Skaters without Stephane Lambiel)

Still on SLB's Shoma playlist of intense heavy duty music, all skaters except Stephane (who skated backstage) continued the intense opening with Come Together.

03. INTRODUCTION - MENT / TALKING TIME (All Skaters, introduced by Shoma Uno as MC)

So this show has no breaks / intermissions (there was no zamboni time between halves) and no pre-recorded videos to fill the space when the skaters are resting, meaning it's a full nonstop show for 90 minutes. How the 7 skaters bought time to rest was this "MENT" (Talking time, common in KPOP concerts) where the skaters are on the ice and talk to the audience with mics. So the first MENT was Shoma on the mic introducing the cast, and they did some tricks when they were introduced.... Stephane who is like. 10 years older than all of them did a cartwheel LMAO (my Steph fan friend: STEPHANE NEVER DID ANY CARTWHEEL EVER)

04. LEGENDS (Shoma Uno & Stephane Lambiel)

I was watching from the very first show, and after the introduction, I note that the next program is about to start and... Shoma and Stephane stayed out while the rest of the skaters went backstage. My brain went haywire trying to think what program they would do together in that black shiny pleather opening costumes??? AND THEN LEGENDS STARTED PLAYING AND I LOST MY MIND. THIS EARLY IN THE SETLIST... SHOMA YOU GALAXY BRAINED GENIUS. They did the program in a diagonal mirroring way, with THAT step sequence done side by side. Some amazing new choreo with a bit of ice work too at the end. Just... the coolest legends skating Legends... and on the third show, they did it in front of the legend that brought this program to the world: Mihoko Higuchi herself, there in the flesh. They bowed at the end to the audience- this is also an interesting detail, there were only 3 bows in the whole show outside of the closing number: Stephane/Shoma, Shoma/Marin and Shoma alone. The rest of the programs flowed into the next without any time for bows.

05. LA VIE EN ROSE (Yoji Nakano & Rika Hongo)

Now this is where Shoma's portfolio of programs shine: he has many music that allows for physically less intense programs but still allow for some really good delicious flowing skating. La vie en Rose was reimagined to be a romantic duet with a little bit of cheek. Yoji and Rika played off each other so well, they were in their own little musical. One thing that is a bit clunky was that they did play a little humorous skit, which while cute may be disrupting the worldview fans have of La vie en Rose, which is a very sentimental song in Shoma's career (JNats 2019 gala anyone...) but overall it's very sweet and cute, and Yoji is perfectly charming to Rika's gorgeousness.

06. TIME AFTER TIME (Yoji Nakano, Kazuki Kushida, Tsunehito Karakawa, Rika Hongo & Stephane Lambiel)

Still in the light-hearted cheeky romantic musical vibe, the charming couple of Yoji and Rika were joined by Maitre'd Stephane Lambiel and his assistants Tsunehito and Kazuki Kushida, and they had a charming dinner with jazzy entertainment provided by the assistants and then Yoji too, lol. Yoji and Tsune are Prince Ice World skaters so this type of musical interlude with tricks and smooth skating are very much in their wheelhouse, and Kazuki Kushida has also charisma to spare. Stephane and Rika spent most of this number on chairs to enjoy the show, and at the end they all lifted Rika up, lol.

07. TANGUERA (Tsunehito Karakawa, joined by Shoma Uno & Marin Honda)

Dinner's over, the Maitre'd kicked everyone out of the ice, except Tsunehito who took off his vest and stayed. And then Tanguera started playing... the lights turned red... and we're in the spicy part of Shoma's portfolio. Tsune's skating is smooth and sharp, and he's joined midway by the owner of the program himself, and then Shoma and Tsune faced off against each other with some sharp skating. It built and built to the reveal of none other than Marin Honda in an incredible one shouldered red dress entering the ice to skate against them both, and well, this section ends with her sitting on their knees, a queen on her throne.

08. STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN / PPA (Marin Honda solo, ft. Shoma Uno & Tsunehito Karakawa)

Marin's red dress was more flamenco than tango so it's obvious the next song was Stairway to Heaven / PPA. The guys did feature a bit on the opening choreo, but this is Marin's show and they are immediately dismissed. And what a show it is, Marin Honda at her most glamorous best with her full splendor.

09. BUENOS AIRES HORA CERO / BALADA PARA UN LOCO (Shoma Uno solo)

After 8 years and countless questions by fans... she's here. The original and inimitable Loco, now skated by 2025 Shoma Uno, who is not only blonde, but wore a costume with such a sheer back I can see his entire back and shoulder blades moving to this music. And well. Loco is Loco. Shoma's masterpiece, and he kept the axel on the music change, with either 2A or 3A depending on his mood. He's on his full dangerous mode with this one.

10. GRAVITY (Stephane Lambiel solo)

How best to follow Loco? (this is a question that comes up often in this show, lol). Well, how about Gravity skated by the man who created it? Stephane is clearly the best professional skater in the cast with his years of experience, and it's amazing to see Gravity free from the shackles of competition, in its sensual, languid and emotional best. And Steph picked an excellent shirt for this one too ;) Also I included the jump landing photo because STEPHANE JUMPED SO MUCH IN THIS SHOW. Incredible.

11. WINTER (Rika Hongo & Marin Honda)

Beautifully dressed in all white, Rika and Marin look like the Winter Queen and Snow Princess respectively in this program. The choreography for Winter was pretty faithful to Shoma's original short program, especially on the step sequence. The ladies took turns skating harmoniously with the musical phrasing of the piece, which I loved.

12. NARCO by TIMMY TRUMPET (NEW PROGRAM) (Shoma Uno, Yoji Nakano, Tsunehito Karakawa, Kazuki Kushida)

This was a fun group number that was converted from land dancing choreography. The long training time really showed here, the guys are so good and synchronized, and this was probably when Shoma's projection power was at his very peak and brought up the temperature of the venue up. Very nice red costumes for this one.

13. MENT / TALKING TIME (MC by Shoma Uno, Yoji Nakano, Tsunehito Karakawa, Kazuki Kushida, Stephane Lambiel)

More talking time! Stephane joined the guys on the ice with towels and water bottles, making it very similar to KPOP MENT. At the shows that I attended, this is where Stephane said his compliments and thoughts on the show IN ENGLISH. Which Shoma does not understand. And then Shoma talks about his compliments and thoughts on the show IN JAPANESE. Which Stephane does not understand. (Spoiler alert: they both just said the same thing basically. IDK if they coordinated but they both look so confused askjdnaksjdnkadsn) It's a whole ass skit on its own lmao. 14. EARTH SONG / HISTORY (Yoji Nakano, Tsunehito Karakawa, Kazuki Kushida)

Shoma's one and only Michael Jackson program was a deep cut with Earth Song as its opening, but it was really convenient in the show because the slower, more mellow song allows for the guys who skated this to catch their breath before really turning on the full MJ experience when History started. It has everything a classic MJ program has: moonwalks, hip thrusts, popping, backflips, MJ poses. This is also one of my favorite program of the show- Yoji, Tsune and Kazuki Kushida were AMAZING. Love the energy in the program, and I still remember the sound of Kazuki Kushida blowing a kiss to my direction even now lol. 15. RIVERDANCE (Rika Hongo solo)

How can you not ask Rika Hongo in your show to do her legendary Riverdance program? This is a music Shoma and Rika shared. The opening choreo is actually Shoma's choreo from 2009, and then new choreography was added before Rika going full legend and unleashed her legendary step sequence from her original FS. It's a really cool way to both honor Shoma's portfolio and Rika's program. Also the penlights by the audience turned to all green for her, it's a really cool sight to see. 16. TIMELAPSE / SPIEGEL IM SPIEGEL (Stephane Lambiel solo)

This is a masterpiece. There is no way around it. For the promotion of this show, Shoma talked about making Stephane do this program that was really difficult. Which most fans thought it was Bolero, but Timelapse / Spiegel im Spiegel was Stephane's own selection of music given to Kenji Miyamoto to choreograph for Shoma, and the first time Shoma and Kenji listened together to the songs they went .... "oh shit" because it was SO HARD. Stephane was faithful to the original choreo by Kenji Miyamoto, and it was truly incredible. This is masterpiece level.

Also when the music started the crowd can't help but gasp... Shoma gave the best music choices he can choose for Stephane. Incredible. 17. WILD SIDE by ROBERTO CACCIAPAGLIA (NEW PROGRAM) (Shoma Uno & Marin Honda)

How do you even follow a masterpiece like Stephane's Timelapse / Spiegel??? Well, you don't. All you need to do is reveal that you have been practicing ice dance together for NINE MONTHS. When I tell you I sat there with my mouth open the WHOLE TIME. How do I even talk about it. More than the twizzles, the lifts, the dance spin... it was that they moved together as one. They were breathing together... their lines polished to match each other. Marin looking ethereal like the fairy queen... and Shoma looked like he would destroy and remake the world anew for her happiness.

This was really the moment everyone broke character in the audience, so far we were applauding really hard (Stephane's program had the biggest applause), but this was when we just started talking in disbelief to each other when it was over. Shomarin bowed to the audience after this, and it's hard not to feel like this was Shoma's way to tell the audience, his long time fans, that this is his happiness now, with Marin. And as his fans love him because of his skating, he tells them through their skating as well.

18. DANCING ON MY OWN (Yoji Nakano, Rika Hongo, Kazuki Kushida)

I'm kinda sad that there's not many photos for this program (I guess the photographers were reeling after Shomarin revealed THAT). But this was a beautiful callback to La vie en Rose back in the start, but this time, Rika left Yoji for Kazuki Kushida. Again this is where Shoma's portfolio of variety of songs shine, it was a beautiful, lyrical interpretation of the song with just lovely skating skills, and giving skaters time to breathe and recover. And they honor David Wilson's penchant for very literal choreo with Rika doing her beautiful Biellman spin on the lyrics "I'm spinning around in circles".

All choreographers in Shoma's competitive career were well represented, in my opinion. From Mihoko to Stephane to David to Shae and to Kenji, with Kenji overseeing the overall choreo for this show to make up for his choreo only represented in one program and its skated by the person who chose the music for him to choreograph (Stephane's Timelapse).

19. BOLERO IV - NEW BREATH (aka SHOLERO) (Group Number - All Skaters)

The program that Shoma was most happy about during his competitive life... of course it will end with this. All skaters were decked beautifully in gold and cream, and they did this beautiful circle formation and choreography reminiscent of Bejart's Bolero at the beginning, before it goes into the song. The skaters then left the ice one by one to leave the skater and choreographer alone with this program that made them World Champion and the coach of the World Champion, before Stephane sent Shoma off to finish the program with the legendary demonic step sequence. 20. SEE YOU AGAIN (Closing Number - All Skaters)

Just beautiful outro song to conclude the show, with the skaters showing beautiful, lyrical skating to this song, which had been with Shoma almost every step of his career. The jackets the skaters wore for this song has Ice Brave tagline: "BRAVERY ISN'T JUST MINE, IT'S BUILT BY THOSE WHO STAND WITH ME." And it really is Shoma's thesis statement for this show- he wants to show what he can create with other skaters, away from skating alone in competition. In his interview after the first day of the show, he confirmed the same thing- this is what fulfills him now, skating together with others to reach the same goal. He even said that it makes skating alone to his solo program (Loco) felt lonely.

21. OUTRO / TALKING TIME & FINAL LAPS (All Skaters, MC by Shoma Uno)

"Hello, Shoma Uno here." was the opening line of so many posts on Shoma's website back during his competitive days, so of course he started his final MENT with that. It was really a moment to thank all the audience, before going to the final laps. Tsune does a jump, Yoji does a backflip, and Shoma does his 4T and 4T3T... in his ice dancing blades. You know. Just Shoma Uno things.

TL;DR IT WAS A REALLY GOOD SHOW IM SO HAPPY

Photo Credits:

MATSUO.K for AFLO

Kota Yoshida for Mainichi

[37sommz]

✼. THRU SPACE 'N TIME | MLIST.

MASTERLIST & UPCOMING WORKS⠀⠀. . .⠀⠀ last updated 04 oct 2024

view:⠀navigation⠀⸻⠀join the taglist⠀⸻⠀request.

001.⠀⠀MEET MICHAELA SOMMERS⠀⠀. . .⠀⠀

✼.⠀about michaela. ✼.⠀social media profiles. ✼.⠀meet the team. ✼.⠀grid dynamics. ✼.⠀meet the family. ✼.⠀more grid dynamics.

002.⠀⠀WRITINGS & REQUESTS⠀⠀. . .⠀⠀

✼.⠀pre-formula 1 masterlist. ✼.⠀rookie season masterlist. ✼.⠀2020 season masterlist. ✼.⠀2021 season masterlist. ✼.⠀2022 season masterlist. ✼.⠀2023 season masterlist. ✼.⠀2024 season masterlist.

003.⠀⠀HEADCANONS⠀⠀. . .⠀⠀

✼.⠀ms37 x cs55. ✼.⠀ms37 x lh44.

004.⠀⠀TWITTER THUMBS⠀⠀. . .⠀⠀

✼.⠀maple-scented: 2024 canadian grand prix recap. ✼.⠀motorsport: 2024 spanish-austrian-british grand prix recap. ✼.⠀hands ii heaven: 2024 summer break recap.

005.⠀⠀DRIVE TO SURVIVE⠀⠀. . .⠀⠀

✼.⠀season 02, episode 01: australia 2019. ✼.⠀season 03, episode 04: tuscany 2020.

[kipperlillycopperkettle]

kristen & bucky applebees.

the great divide, noah kahan (unreleased) / fantasy high: junior year, episode 17: the name (2024) / the great divide, noah kahan (unreleased) / brother, madds buckley (2022) / fantasy high: junior year, episode 03: not all who wanda are lost (2024) / twin size mattress, the front bottoms (2013) / fantasy high: sophomore year, episode 2: mirror madness (2019) / war of the foxes, richard silken / fantasy high: junior year, episode 04: under pressure (2024) / two birds, regina spector (2009)

[thealieninhiding]

The Katie McGrath Archives (WIP)

A repository of my ongoing digital archeology & archival work please contact me if you have anything to contribute and buy me a coffee if you value my content

Updates

(last updated 2025-01-14)

2025-01-14

Scans:

2008-10 InStyle (LQ)

2009 DRAMA Magazine (LQ)

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2010-10 Tatler

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2024-07-03

Scans:

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Audio:

(Un)likeminded 2x02 How to Survive The Apocalypse

2024-05-24

Video:

2017 Katie McGrath interview [CW|KMcGsource]

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2021-09-15 Supergirl Season 6 Katie McGrath Reflecting on Supergirl

2024-05-22

Audio:

Interview - 2009-07-17 Katie McGrath Mr Media interview

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2024-05-17

Archived interviews

2008-12-07 Tribune Magazine - What Katie Did

2011-10-14 What's on TV - Merlin's Katie McGrath- 'Bad girls have more fun!'

2012-12-03 Fanhattan Blog - Colin Morgan, Katie McGrath and Bradley James on Season 5 and The Series Finale

2018-08-01 The TV Junkies - Supergirl SDCC 2018 Interviews- Lena’s Impractical Lab Outfits, the Return of Reporter Kara and a More Grounded Season 4

Audio

HHush samples

Interview - 2009-2011 Sci-fi Talk rewind merlin the series specials episode 1

Interview - 2011? Merlin S4 Sci-fi talk byte katie mcgrath on morgana

Interview - 2013 BBC Radio 1xtra part 1 & part 2

(Un)likeminded 1x02 While You Were Dreaming

Trees a crowd- Irish folklore segment

Magazine scans

2008-09-20 Radio Times

2009-06-08 TV Week (Aus)

2010-09-05 Sunday Express

2010-09-30 Totally Merlin Magazine

2011-12 Total Film

2012-03-14 Sci-Fi Now

2012-10-06 Radio Times

2013-04-06 Irish independent

2013-09-02 Marie-Claire (UK)

2013-12 Instyle

2013-12 Total Film

Video:

Fans - 2012-04-16 Merlin4 [carlospyrrhus]

Fans - 2017-08-30 Supergirl cast together on set [Joyce Law]

Interview - 2009-09-?? Merlin S2 audio interview with Katie McGrath [BJsRealm] part 1

Interview - 2010-09-06 Merlin Series 3 - BBC Radio 1xtra Interview with Angel Coulby & Katie McGrath [BJsrealm]

Interview - 2011-10-14 Merlin S4 Colin Morgan, Eoin Macken Katie McGrath on The Late Late Show

Interview - 2012-07-15 Colin Morgan and Katie McGrath at SDCC 2012 - innerSPACE [merlinnetwork2]

Interview - 2012-07-18 Katie McGrath Talks Merlin At Comic Con 2012 [ThinkHeroTV]

Interview - 2012-10-25 BBC Radio 1 Breakfast - Colin & Katie part 1 & part 2 [BJsRealm]

Interview - 2012-12-03 Merlin S5 Katie McGrath interview international press day [BJsRealm]

Interview - 2012-12-03 Colin, Bradley, Katie phone interview [BJsRealm]

Interview - 2013-11-09 Katie McGrath on BBC One Saturday Kitchen [BJsRealm]

Interview - 2019-07-22 ENTREVISTA SUPERGIRL Elenco fala sobre a nova temporada [Warner Channel Brasil]

Interview - 2019-07-23 Melissa Benoist Teases Directing An Episode Of 'Supergirl' [ET Canada]

Interview - 2020-02-21 ‘Supergirl’ Celebrates 100th Episode [ET Canada]

Panels - 2011-07-28 Merlin Comic Con 2011 Panel [ThinkHeroTV]

[staydandy]

Guardians of the Dafeng (2024) - 大奉打更人 - Whump List

List by StayDandy Synopsis : The modern office worker Yang Ling unexpectedly enters the fantasy-filled Dafeng Dynasty and takes on a new identity as Xu Qi'an. He seizes the chance to change his fate by joining a powerful organization of Guardians, responsible for supervising officials and solving cases for the people of Dafeng. In this world filled with monsters, magic, complex human relationships, and hidden dangers, he and his like-minded companions bravely face challenges, willing to sacrifice themselves to fight against the dark forces within the court. Together, they speak up for justice and the people, united in protecting the peace and stability of Dafeng. (MDL) AKA : Dafeng Guardian

Whumpee : Yang Ling / Xu Qi'an "Ning Yan" played by Dylan Wang

Country : 🇨🇳 China Genres : Action, Comedy, Wuxia, Fantasy, Bromance, Romance

Notes : This is a Full Whump List • Adapted from the web novel "Da Feng Da Geng Ren" (大奉打更人) by Mai Bao Xiao Lang Jun (卖报小郎君) • 💯 going on my personal 'worth rewatching' list (& not because of the whump) This show was fantastic! • Similar vibes as Joy of Life (2019) • Opening credits song : 我本俗人 performed by GAI周延 (Spotify : Youtube) • Fight song : 来者何人(电视剧《大奉打更人》高燃战歌) performed by 黃子弘凡 (Spotify : Youtube) • The end did feel ever so slightly rushed - they better have a 2nd season!

Episodes on List : 20 Total Episodes : 40

*Spoilers below*

01 : [modern] Yang Ling shaking his head slightly … [Dafeng] wakes as Xu Qi'an, imprisoned … handcuffed

02 : (near end) Fight

03 : (near end) Fight, ganged up on, cheek cut … arrested

04 : … continued from previous ep. ... Arrested, imprisoned … kicked to the ground, stepped on … tortured; chained up, stabbed with spike

09 : Kicked across a cavern & knocked unconscious.. wakes & spits out blood … fight with monster (the fight song is so good!)

10 : Beat & knocked out with a stick (comedic) … retching from over drinking (semi-comedic)

11 : (@ 22:26 Yang Yan ge is such a badass!)

14 : Dizzy, unsteady, caught

15 : Repeatedly hit at with scaborded sword, blocking it with his arm, sore … arm bruised from previous beating … ear ringing, unsteady & pale from overexertion … arrested, tied up

16 : Imprisoned

17 : A little unsteady & shaking head after performing an ultimate move

19 : Pretends to faint from heat exhaustion (comedic) … (17:03 it's so cute!!)

20 : Fight.. arm sore

22 : (@ 37:12 the swaying is so cute 😆)

23 : (@ 37:23 I'm sorry, the chin thing is just stupid) ... (at end) Fight, hallucinating/entranced; fight, stabbed, collapses, spits up blood, passes out

24 : … continued from previous ep. ... Found passed out … (@ 2:04,I'm sorry, what?! … @ 4:45 thems a good set of bitch-slaps!) … (@ 25:50 thank you for saying what we're all thinking 😂 … @ 26:40 oh common! we all know you want to hug him!) … (at end) nightmare/memory of being possessed

25 : … continued from previous ep. ... Nightmare/memory of being possessed, wakes with a gasp.. startled, dizzy, passes out … (@ 15:28 😂 😂 😂)

30 : Trying withstand a formidable energy pressure … knees buckle (semi-comedic) … quick flashback of being possessed

31 : Duel; cast into an illusion

32 : (@ 5:18 😂 😂 😂) … Passes out from over exertion / exhaustion, falling … [flashback] unconscious, cared for

34 : (past half way) Hit with a rock (comedic)

36 : (past half way) Passes out from over exertion / exhaustion … wakes after 7 days, coughing

[bbygyal123]

my favourite alpha hair creator ♡

i've recently been trying out alpha hairs after swearing i was a maxis match girl in 2019, and i absolutely love @wingssims hairs!! so here's my favourites.. ♡

01. - 02. - 03. - 04. - 05. - 06.

cc creds : @busra-tr @serenity-cc @caio-cc @wingssims

[mostlysignssomeportents]

“Brand safety” killed Jezebel

I'll be at the Studio City branch of the LA Public Library this Monday, November 13 at 1830hPT to launch my new novel, The Lost Cause. There'll be a reading, a talk, a surprise guest (!!) and a signing, with books on sale. Tell your friends! Come on down!

Progressives: if you want to lose to conservatives, all you need to do is reflexively praise and support everything conservatives turn into a culture-war issue, without considering whether they might be right. Because sometimes…they're right.

Remember early in the Trump presidency, when conservatives all woke up and discovered that America's spy agencies – excuse me, "the intelligence community" – were dirty-tricking psychos who run amok, lawlessly sabotaging democracy? Progressives have been shouting this ever since Hoover's FBI tried to blackmail MLK into killing himself:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FBI%E2%80%93King_suicide_letter

But millions of progressives forgot about COINTELPRO, CIA dirty tricks and CIA mass spying when this "intelligence community" temporarily set out to wrong-foot Trump. Remember James Comey votive candles?

https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2019/08/30/james-comey-fbi-memo-leaks-trump-inspector-general-report-column/2157705001/

Anthropologists have a name for this phenomenon, in which one side reverses its positions because their sworn enemies have done so. It's called schizmogenesis, and it goes like this: "If they hate it, we love it":

https://pluralistic.net/2021/12/18/schizmogenesis/

Schizmogenesis is an equal-opportunity delusion. Within living memory, white evangelicals supported abortion, because their sworn enemies – Catholics – opposed it. Some of those white Boomer women who voted Trump because abortion was literally the only issue they cared about held the opposite position on abortion not so long ago – and completely forgot about it:

https://text.npr.org/734303135

The main purpose of the culture war isn't immiserating marginalized people – that's its effect, but its purpose is to distract low-information turkeys (working people) so they'll vote for Christmas (the ongoing seizure of power by American oligarchs). For the funders of conservative movement politics, the cruelty isn't the point, it's merely the tactic. The point is power:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/03/09/turkeys-voting-for-christmas/#culture-wars

Which brings me to "woke capitalism." Conservative string-pullers have whipped up their base about the threat of companies embracing social causes. They (erroneously) claim that corporations have progressive values, and that big business is thumbing the scales for causes they despise. The purpose here isn't to sow distrust of capitalism per se. Rather, it's to stampede talk-radio-addled supporters into backing the oligarchy's agenda. Remember when culture war leaders told their base to support being gouged on credit-card junk fees "to own the libs?"

https://pluralistic.net/2023/08/04/owning-the-libs/#swiper-no-swiping

That's schizmogenesis working against the conservative rank-and-file, tricking them into taking the side of a cartel of wildly profitable payment processors who are making billions by picking their pockets (credit card fees are up 40% since the covid lockdowns), because (checks notes), Target pays these profiteers a lot to process its payments, and Target sells Pride merch (no, really):

https://pluralistic.net/2023/08/04/owning-the-libs/#swiper-no-swiping

It's easy to point and laugh at conservative dopes when they're tricked into shooting themselves in the balls to own the libs. This is not a hypothetical example:

https://pluralistic.net/2020/05/28/holographic-nano-layer-catalyser/#musketfuckers

But progressives do it, too, particularly when they embrace monopolies as a force for positive social change. Remember 2019, when people got excited about playing loud pop music at Nazi rallies in the hopes that the monopoly video platforms' copyright filters would make any video from that rally impossible to post?

https://memex.craphound.com/2019/07/23/clever-hack-that-will-end-badly-playing-copyrighted-music-during-nazis-rallies-so-they-cant-be-posted-to-youtube/

I warned then that if this tactic worked, it would be used by cops to prevent you from recording them when they're macing you or splitting your skull with a billyclub, and yup, within a couple years, cops were blaring Taylor Swift music in hopes of preventing the public from posting videos of their illegal conduct:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/04/07/moral-hazard-of-filternets/#dmas

Conservatives are (partially) right about woke capitalism. It is a threat to democracy. Concentrating the power to decide who gets to speak and what they get to say into the hands of five or six corporations, mostly run by mediocre billionaires, is bad for society. The moderation decisions of giant platforms are a form of (commercial) censorship, even these don't violate the First Amendment:

https://locusmag.com/2020/01/cory-doctorow-inaction-is-a-form-of-action/

(The progressive delusion that censorship only occurs when the First Amendment is violated is a wild own-goal, one that excuses, for example, the decision by school book-fair monopolist Scholastic to remove books about queers and Black and brown people from its offerings as a purely private matter without consequences for free speech):

https://www.themarysue.com/scholastic-response-to-authors-and-illustrators-on-diverse-books/

Conservatives are only partially right about woke capitalism, though. Here's what they're wrong about: corporations don't have values. Target isn't selling Pride tees because they support progressive causes, they're selling them because it seems like a good way to increase returns to their shareholders. Individuals – even top executives – at Target might endorse the cause, but the company will only durably support the cause if that endorsement is profitable, which means that when it stops being profitable, the company will stop supporting the cause:

https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/23/business/target-lgbtq-merchandise/index.html

The idea that corporations have values isn't merely stupid, it's very dangerous. The Hobby Lobby decision – which allows corporations to deny basic health-care expenses for women on the basis that a Bronze Age mystic wouldn't approve of an IUD – rests on the ideological foundation that corporate personhood includes corporate values:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burwell_v._Hobby_Lobby_Stores,_Inc.

Citizens United – the idea that corporations should be allowed to funnel unlimited funds to politicians who'll sell out the public good in favor of investor profits – also depends on a form of corporate personhood that includes values:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizens_United_v._FEC

There are undeniably instances in which corporate monopoly power benefits progressive causes, but these are side-effects of corporate power's main purpose, namely: taking money and power away from working people and giving it to rich people. That is what monopoly power is for.

Which brings me to ad-tech, "brand safety," and the demise of Jezebel, the 16 year old feminist website whose shuttering was just announced by its latest owner, G/O Media:

https://www.metafilter.com/201349/This-is-the-end-of-Jezebel-and-that-feels-really-really-bad

Jezebel's demise is the direct result of monopoly power. Jezebel writes about current affairs – sex, politics, abortion, and other important issues of great moment and significance. When we talk about journalism as a public good, necessary for a healthy civic life, this is what we mean. But unfortunately for Jezebel – and any other news outlet covering current events – there are vast, invisible forces that exist solely to starve this kind of coverage of advertising revenue.

Writing for the independent news site 404 Media, reporter Emanuel Maiberg and former Motherboard editor-in-chief Jason Koebler go deep on the "brand safety" industry, whose mission is to assist corporations in blocking their ads from showing up alongside real news:

https://www.404media.co/advertisers-dont-want-sites-like-jezebel-to-exist/

Maiberg and Koebler explain how industry associations like the World Federation of Marketers' Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM) promulgate "frameworks" to help advertisers automatically detect and exclude real news from consideration when their ads are placed:

https://www.peer39.com/blog/garm-standards

This boycott makes use of scammy "AI" technology like "sentiment and emotional analysis" to determine whether an article is suitable for monetization. These parameters are then fed to the ad-tech duopoly's ad auction system, so Google and Meta (who control the vast majority of online advertising) can ensure that real news is starved of cash.

But reality is not brand-safe, and high quality, reputable journalistic outlets are concerned with reality, which means that the "brand safe" outlets that attract the most revenue are garbage websites that haven't yet been blacklisted by the ad-safety cartel, leading to major brands' ads showing up alongside notorious internet gross-out images like "goatse":

https://www.404media.co/sqword-game-dev-sneaks-goatse-onto-a-dozen-sites-that-stole-his-game/

More than a fifth of "brand safe" ad placements end up on "made for advertising" sites, which 404 Media describe as "trash websites that plagiarize content, are literally spam, pay for fake traffic, or are autogenerated websites that serve no other purpose than capturing ad dollars":

https://www.ana.net/miccontent/show/id/rr-2023-06-ana-programmatic-transparency-first-look

Despite all this, many progressives have become cheerleaders for "brand safety," as a countervailing force to the drawdown of trust and safety at online platforms, which led to the re-platforming of Nazis, QAnon conspiratorialists, TERFs, and other overt elements of the reactionary movement's vanguard on Twitter and Facebook. Articles about ads for major brands showing up alongside Nazi content on Twitter are now a staple of progressive reporting, presented as evidence of Elon Musk's lack of business acumen. The message of these stories is "Musk is bad at business because he's allowing Nazis on his platform, which will send advertisers bolting for the exits to avoid brand-safety crises."

This isn't wrong. Musk is a bad businessman (he's a good scam artist, though). Twitter is hemorrhaging advertisers, notwithstanding the desperate (and easily debunked) stats-juking its "CEO," Linda Yaccarino, floats onstage at tech conferences:

https://www.techdirt.com/2023/10/11/math-problem-for-linda-yaccarino-if-90-of-the-top-advertisers-have-come-back-but-are-only-spending-10-of-what-they-used-to-how-screwed-are-you/

But progressives are out of their minds if they think the primary effect of the brand safety industry is punishing Elon Musk for secretly loving Nazis. The primary effect of brand safety is killing reality-based coverage of the news of the day, and since reality has a well-known anti-conservative bias, anything that works against the reality-based community is ultimately good for oligarchy:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reality-based_community

We can't afford to let schizmogenesis stampede us into loving things just because conservative culture warriors have been momentarily tricked into hating them as part of oligarchs' turkeys-voting-for-Christmas project. "Swivel-eyed loons hate it, so it must be good," is a worse-than-useless heuristic for navigating complex issues:

https://locusmag.com/2023/05/commentary-cory-doctorow-the-swivel-eyed-loons-have-a-point/

A much better rule of thumb is "If oligarchs love something, it's probably bad." Almost without exception, things that are good for oligarchs are bad for the rest of us. I mean, this whole shuttering of Jezebel starts with an oligarch imposing his will on millions of other people. Jezebel began life as a Gawker Media site, beloved of millions of readers, destroyed when FBI informant Peter Thiel secretly funded Hulk Hogan's lawsuit against the publisher in a successful bid to put them out of business to retaliate for their unfavorable coverage of Thiel:

https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2018/02/hogan-thiel-gawker-trial/554132/

This, in turn, put Jezebel under the ownership of G/O Media, who are unwilling to pay for a human salesforce that would – for example – sell advertising space on Jezebel to sex-toy companies or pro-abortion groups. G/O has been on a killing spree, shuttering beloved news outlets like Deadspin:

https://deadspin.com/this-is-how-things-work-now-at-g-o-media-1836908201

G/O's top exec, an oligarch named Jim Spanfeller who answers to the private equity looters at Great Hill Partners, is bent on ending reality-based coverage in favor of "letting robots shit out brand safe AI-assisted articles about generic topics":

https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/ai-articles-disinformation-future-g-o-media-rcna95944

Three quarters of a century ago, Orwell coined a term to describe this kind of news: duckspeak,

It was not the man’s brain that was speaking it was his larynx. The stuff that was coming out of him consisted of words but it was not speech in true sense: it was a noise uttered in unconsciousness like the quacking of a duck.

When investors and analysts speak of "content" (rather than, say, "journalism"), this is what they mean – a warm slurry of platitudes, purged of any jagged-edged fragments to render it a perfectly suitable carrier for commercial messages targeted based on surveillance data about the "consumer" whose eyeballs are upon it.

This aversion to reality has been present among corporate decisionmakers since the earliest days, but the consolidation of power among large firms – ad-tech firms, online platforms, and "brands" themselves – makes corporate realityphobia much easier to turn into, well, reality, giving advertisers the fine-grained power to put Jezebel and every site like it out of business.

As Koebler and Maiberg's headliine so aptly puts it, "Advertisers Don’t Want Sites Like Jezebel to Exist."

The reason to deplore Nazis on Twitter is because they are Nazis, not because their content isn't brand-safe. The short-term wins progressives gain by legitimizing a corporate veto over what we see online are vastly overshadowed by the most important consequence of brand safety: the mass extinction of reality-based reporting. Reality isn't brand safe. If you're in the reality based community, brand safety should be your sworn enemy, even if they help you temporarily get a couple of Nazis kicked off Twitter.

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/2023/11/11/ad-jacency/#brand-safety

[seoul-bros]

Jikook Week 68 Complete (25/03 -01/04/2025)

Jikook have finalized their 68th week and it's time to look back at this week in 2019.

These were good times for BTS and they were feeling grateful. On 26/03, JK posted on Weibo, "Because of all our blessings we are living a very happy life". Jimin posted on Twitter on 01/04 with the words "I really want to see you"

On the 28/03/2029, Entertainment Weekly published The Greatest Showmen article. It's an odd article, all over the place it doesn't really hit its stride but to be fair it must be strange to be transported right into the middle of the intimate but chaotic BTS member dynamic. Like landing on an alien planet and not being able to read the cues.

Though they're unfailingly polite and attentive in interviews, there's a certain amount of contained chaos when they're all together—a sort of tumbling-puppy cyclone of playful shoves, back slaps, and complicated handshakes—but also a surprising, endearing sweetness to the way they treat one another in quieter moments.

"We've been living together for a while now, almost eight, nine years," says Jimin. "So in the beginning we had a lot of arguments and conflicts. But we've reached the point where we can communicate wordlessly, basically just by watching each other and reading the expressions."

The photographer also posted showing the behind of the set up for this iconic shot.

Post Date: 31/03/2025

[idlingintheimpalapodcast]

New Episode Alert: “Write what’s in yourself to write.” IV with SPN FanFic and Original Fiction author, @impala-dreamer

Sandra and Kasey chatted with an author creating OFC and reader-insert fics for the SPN fandom since 2016.

Beka, known as Impala Dreamer, was one of the first tumblr blogs Sandra followed in 2019. Beka keeps the fandom well supplied, with over 1000 fics to her name, and also writes and publishes original fiction.

She indeed lives up to her tumblr tagline: “Smutting People, Writing Angst, A Dreamer’s Business.” Such a fun chat that covered a bunch of topics! Enjoy!

You can find Beka and her fics on tumblr and AO3.

Listen on Spotify Watch on Youtube:

Chapter Timestamps 00:00:00 - Intro 00:02:42 - The history of tumblr 00:03:19 - When did Beka get into Supernatural? 00:05:52 - Dean in the water should keep you hooked 00:07:03 - Beka truly connected with SPN 00:07:58 - The babies in S1 00:09:36 - Beka’s favorite brother 00:14:30 - A beast in bed 00:16:22 - What kept Beka coming back to the show? 00:18:36 - Sweaty Sam 00:19:40 - A season you could give up and never watch again 00:24:29 - Beka likes the Brits 00:25:07 - The show had a lot of great ideas 00:27:41 - Favorite supporting characters 00:30:07 - Does Beka binge or consume SPN buffet style? 00:30:35 - Mystery Spot 00:39:04 - The start of fanfiction for Beka 00:40:43 - The spark to write fanfic 00:41:35 - Writing for comfort 00:42:19 - How the community built up on tumblr 00:43:29 - Reader-Insert focus 00:44:12 - How does Beka decide whether it’s an OC or Reader-Insert story 00:48:35 - tumblr skews reader-insert 00:52:13 - Creative social spaces, reader reactions, and the goal of writing 01:03:18 - Beka’s other fandoms 01:04:48 - When does Beka find the time to write? 01:05:19 - Following Jensen for character inspiration 01:08:31 - Fave fanfic tropes 01:10:46 - Does Beka ship? 01:16:17 - Does Beka have a fave fic she’s written? 01:18:46 - How down the research rabbit hole can Beka get? 01:25:35 - Favorite SPN Authors 01:29:43 - Patreon 01:31:51 - Beka’s original fiction 01:38:03 - Being a part of Jacklesverse Bingo 01:42:00 - A Reader-Insert Big Bang? 01:47:11 - Is Beka a Plotter or a Pantser? 01:48:49 - Happy endings in original fiction? 01:50:53 - Highlighting a handful of Beka’s fanfics 01:57:56 - Fiction isn’t reality 02:00:47 - More of Beka’s fanfics 02:05:21 - Beka isn’t a heavy AO3 tagger 02:08:29 - Kasey’s questions 02:11:42 - Writing words of wisdom 02:19:57 - Final thoughts and outro

Become a Ko-fi member? 👉👈 You get a digital goat!

[beastwistenworld]

CREEPYPASTA_BEAST WISTEN_REFERENCE SHEET 2025

PERSONAL DATA:

Full name: Wisten Welin Köhler

Alias: Beast Wisten

First appearance: March 16, 1936

Age: Has no exact age, but looks like a guy in his 20s-25s.

Birthplace: “WistHell” an otherworldly world located next to Hell.

DESCRIPTION:

A demonic creature or monster with human features. Except for his face and hands, his body is covered in fur and has a dark gray skin tone. Therefore, it's important for him to wear a turtleneck sweater with long sleeves and light gray pants that cover his strange legs. He also wears an old gray-green jacket, which helps him blend in with the forest. For convenience during adventures, he wears long boots and gloves. He has long ears, turquoise eyes, and long horns. On his left ear are visible two earrings, and the tip of his tail is covered with stitches. Among his belongings is a dark gray bag in which he keeps his notes and information about other strangers.

MAIN TASKS:

Observe and extract information from each stranger he meets along the way.

Eat human corpses.

Report on new arrivals to the Slenderman forest.

BEAST WISTEN MEANING:

Beast: has many meanings, in my case it has always been a scary creature, between a demon and a regular monster.

Wisten: He began calling himself this after being exiled from the world of “WistHell”. His name comes from Dutch as “knows” about something that others don’t know.

PECULIARITIES:

He hates the sound of metal rubbing together, because it makes him aggressive and makes him want to kill strangers.

Doesn't like to show his true nature as a monster and therefore tries to behave calmly.

When he began to serve Slenderman, he, like many proxies, began to have the ability to quickly regenerate.

Has excellent stealth and can quickly move to different places.

Excellent sense of smell, but not very good eyesight.

WISTEN’S DESIGNS:

12/15/2019: Gothic period, dressed all in black and has gray soulless eyes. Originally he was a character in my goth band that broke up.

1/1/2020: His clothing designs have become more elegant in the form of a jacket with a striped shirt. On the jacket you can also see a brooch with the sign of the city “WistHell” in which he lived.

10/1/2021: The most memorable design that was first shown in #creepybeastober and was mainly included in the Slenderverse. At that time there was a comic called “Home Sweet Home” where the main characters were Wisten and Toby, as well as the characters “Marble Hornets”. The comic was soon removed.

09/12/2022: In principle, the design didn’t change much, but at the same time he began to carry a crossbow with a sniper scope and a pocket knife, which were only in the 2022 version. This design and its old history were created exclusively for the Creepypasta Fandom.

10/31/2023: Plaid shirt, white sweater and scarf with pin, on rare occasions wore a khaki coat. There was a scar on his eye and his hands were burned. At that moment he was fighting his fears.

04/5/2024: This is a remake of the 2021 and 2022 designs, only he now wears a regular black turtleneck sweater. He also now has a light gray hooded work vest that goes with his jeans. Also, the end of his tail has stitches from a fight with one of the strangers and stitches on his old jacket, which he has altered many times.

03/16/2025: The final design of Wisten as a proxy of Slenderman. His clothes almost completely repeat the 2021 design, since it all started from there. There are still some small changes, for example, the design of the boots, his gloves have become longer and his ponytail with hair has almost remained as in the 2024 design. Also, in very rare cases, he can wear glasses.

BACKGROUND:

Sometimes people believe that completely different creatures surround them and that there is a completely different world. Well, they will be right...

A long time ago, next to Hell there was an otherworldly world, which was soon nicknamed "WistHell". People who were debtors and didn't fulfill the contract with the Demons ended up there. There, these people were hunted by cruel monsters who slowly tore their bodies apart, and then ate them. One of these monsters was Wisten himself, who first began hunting people back in 1936. At that time, he didn't realize that his life would soon change.

In the 2000s, Wisten got bored with the constant routine and became interested in human life, to which the Demon, who was watching from above, decided to punish him.

The Demon decided to make a deal with Wisten that could turn the monster into a human, and in exchange, he had to kill many people. However, due to the fact that Wisten never had a human soul, he was not able to fully acquire a human appearance, but only half: facial features, human speech, hands and physique.

WISTEN: “You said that I could become a real human if I killed many people for you! We had a deal!”

DEMON: “I did it, but your very origin interrupted this process,” - the Demon said with a grin, - “Now you are an outcast and a freak of our world!”

After what happened, Wisten was severely torn apart by his own people, half to death, and then banished, throwing him into the world of people to be finished off there.

In the world of people, Wisten found himself in a dense forest and after being thrown, he hit a tree hard, which completely paralyzed his legs. After some time, Wisten sensed someone's presence and realized that he was not alone here:

WISTEN: "Please... the ruler of this forest... stop my suffering," - Wisten said, dying and bleeding.

After what was said, a silhouette of a tall man without a face approached him and began to wrap him with sharp tree branches, piercing his body. Then he was completely swallowed by the dense forest and deathly silence fell.

When morning came, Wisten was already on the river bank, fully recovered from his wounds. Having woken up, he became a proxy for Slenderman himself, whom he was now obliged to serve, now having fast regeneration.

Now working for Slender, Wisten ate human corpses, and reported on new arrivals who came to this forest. And so it continued until Wisten began hanging out with certain creatures and killers who taught him how to survive in the world of people when you are not like everyone else.

[ar3-y0u-l0st]

》 🄻🄾🅁🄳🅂 🄾🄵 🄲🄷🄰🄾🅂

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Fandom: Lords of Chaos

Release Date: 29/03/2019

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》 DEAD 06:12

》 EURONYMOUS 01:23

》 NECROBUTCHER 01:26

Little Tipsy

》 HELLHAMMER 04:20

》 BÅRD FAUST 32:04

》 OCCULTUS 18:33

》 METALION 03:48

》 ANN-MARIT 39:34

Slumber Party

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Item Count: #008

TOTAL:

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(*) Will not, under any circumstances, write smut

(**) If you're into them then I won't deprive you ig

Credits: @cafekitsune for the caution tape divider

[calderacitylovers]

Zutara SlowBurn FanFiction: Personal Favs, part I

·        I AM STILL HERE by owedbetter Published: 2017-10-09 | 77K words | 7 Chapters

After the Last Agni Kai K heals Z with the help of bloodbending. Very sweet.

 ·        THE SUMMIT by AJLenoire

Chronicles post-war years, as Gaang and other characters gather for annual summits to keep peace and build relationships between the Four Nations. Katara yearns for a bigger purpose than the Avatar’s companion and slowly grows into a shrewd diplomat. Very sweet slow burn ZK story. Has mature scenes.

 ·        CLOTHE ME IN SEASONS, DRESS ME IN SNOW by sadladybug Published: 2015-01-05 | 62K words | 7 Chapters

Follows old Zuko as he reflects on his life and what would have been if he kept Katara closer. Absolutely beautiful, but also a devastatingly heart-breaking story about loss and pain.

 ·        SILENT DECLARATIONS by Megara Pike (Megara_Pike) Published: 2021-01-20 | 2,6K words

A short story based on animation by Hayley Wong. Z finds K asleep in her study and carries her to bed. Very sweet, gentle story.

 ·        COVERED IN YOU by evergreenonthehorizon Published: 2021-04-02 | 55K words | 14 Chapters

Eight years after the war Z convinces K to take on a role of a Southern Water Tribe ambassador in the Caldera city. Both are completely clueless about each other’s feelings. Features political talks, big gestures, and a ball. Very cute, sweet slow-burn story. Has mature scenes.

 ·        TEN STRIDES IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION by evergreenonthehorizon Published: 2021-04-03 | 29K Words | 12 Chapters

A collection of short stories filling in the gaps between some of the events of ATLAS3 and up to the Last Agni Kai. Features accidental cuddling, embracing in the rain, sharing a bed for warmth, post-Ember Island Theater discussions, being discovered, waiting to be kissed, Suki & Katara being good friends, battle plans, Zuko & Sokka getting drunk, slow burn & angst. Very sweet.

 ·        THE SWAY OF THE SUN by TheBlackBriarSparrow Published: Published: 2019-10-14 | 102K Words | 27 Chapters

Two years post-war Gaang reunites in Caldera city for a secret party in honor of the overworked Fire Lord’s birthday. Rebels attack the palace setting a thrilling consequence of events in motion. Adventures, investigations, and fights ensue. Z & K work together and enlist old friends to help find missing people. Beautiful slow-burn story with an exciting plot.

·        A WARM EMBRACE by ewinkie Published: 2020-10-06 | 19K Words | 7 Chapters

An ATLAS3 rewrite from Southern Riders to the Last Agni Kai. Katara and Zuko have to hide in a cave following their encounter with Yon Rha. Comforting turns to cuddling, which turns to waking up on Appa's tail in each other's arms. Katara is shocked at how comfortable she is. Zuko is shocked that Katara doesn't hate him for it. Features sharing a bed, being discovered, slowburn, and lots of teenage silliness.

 ·        FOLLOWING BLUE by Boogum Published: 2018-11-07 | 39K Words | 10 Chapters

ATLA S2 rewrite. After Katara falls from Appa’s saddle during a pursuit, the Blue Spirit becomes her reluctant companion and helps her reunite with her friends. Ba Sing Se scenes are completely rewritten, and Z ends up joining the Gaang much earlier. Thrilling beginning, sweet middle, average ending.

 ·        ANOTHER WORD FOR ALCHEMY by FanPanda13 Published: 2014-08-19 | 108K words | 24 Chapters

Five years post-war Aang summons old friends for a summit and invites them on a trip to investigate mysterious locations where he experiences loss of bending. Features Gaang setting Z & K up, travelling on Appa like in the olden days, lots of sparring, royal courting, magnificent navy ships & war ballons. Thrilling story with fun banter between old friends. Slowburn, mature content.

 ·        CONSUME ME WITH FIRE, FLOOD ME WITH DESIRE by Dacamia Published: 2020-08-14 | 86K words | 24 Chapters

Steamy ATLAS2 and ATLA S3 rewrite. Z & K accidentally meetup on their way to Ba Sing Se and decide to travel together. Features aged-up characters, lots of intimate scenes, staying in a beautiful cave, helping villagers, betrayal in Ba Sing Se, reunion, forgiveness, etc. Explicit mature content.

 ·        ROOTS AND WINGS by zukoscomet Published: 2020-08-14 | 250K words | 25 Chapters

A series of short stories of Z & K as they grow closer, confess their love for one another and start a family.

 ·        THOSE WHO FAVOR FIRE by hiwasseelane Published: 2021-05-02 |29K Words | 13 Chapters

An ATLAS3 rewrite. Sweet, teen-appopriate.

Here’s a link to Part II of my personal favs.

Here’s a link to Wholesome Zutara Short Stories.