#Defector

[abort-retry-fail]

[stephenist]

[djregular]

And before you dismiss this outright as a problem of the rich and famous, this kind of parasocial overreach is happening at all levels of the fame spectrum. I am famous in the way a spray-painted, run-down van that parks in a specific neighborhood can be famous—which is to say only to a certain group of people in a certain place. Sometimes, maybe twice a week, I meet someone who likes my writing or Normal Gossip. These interactions are almost always lovely, and I do genuinely like them. But it is odd and a little unnerving to find yourself in a situation where somebody clearly knows you and you do not know them. Imagine walking into a party filled with strangers, and realizing that a few of them are already talking about you. Now imagine you are famous enough that the whole world becomes like that.  

What’s strange about the behavior of these fans isn’t that they want to meet a celebrity. That has always been true of fans. For as long as there have been stage doors, there have been people waiting outside of them. What’s new is that today’s fans aren’t looking for a fleeting chance to feel close to an artist they love—they’re seeking confirmation of the closeness they already assume exists.

[lostinmac]

Escape (2024)

Dir. Lee Jong-pil

[onedesertrat]

[darkspellmaster]

Hello! What are the common knowledge and opinions in the world of twisted wonderland about grim reapers? Are there more defectors like bill blending in? Love your work so much💕 have a great day!

Hello There! Regarding the Reapers. They're known as all stories are known about grim reapers coming to ferry the souls to their place as the Spectral Realm is a known thing. For those with connections to the Land of Heroes and the Island of Woe, it follows the idea of the ferry men, who the Styx guys are based on, who take the souls to the underworld. However, as with the normal world Ciel comes from, they're not seen by everyday people and if they are, like Bill, they hide themselves as normal people, as Ronald did when he got on the boat and mingled with the lower deck. For the most part each country has their own type of Grim Reaper, meaning that they have their own legends about them. So what might be seen as a Reaper in Sunset Savanna won't be the same as the version that would be seen in the town of Harveston based on local lore. So while they are known, they're not like a every day occurrence, and yes they do come to collect in Twisted Wonderland, just like they do in Ciel's world.

Bill is the only known Defector in Twisted wonderland at the moment, but there maybe more later. One thing for sure is that they are not constrained to the same rules the non-mages, mages, and fae are subjected to due to what they are. There could be more hiding in the wings, and I can't say more than that at the moment. Thank you so much for enjoying it.

[fabbookreads]

Favorite books read in 2024.

[immortalcultofjmusic]

ALL CRUSTIES SPENDING LOUD NIGHT 2002

[unscramblerer]

Todays Word Of The Day is: Quisling

Quisling originates from the name of Vidkun Quisling. He was a Norwegian politician who collaborated with Germany during World War II. His name became synonymous with "traitor" after assisting in the occupation of Norway. English usage of the word began in the early 1940s.

[mywifeleftme]

357: Hailu Mergia & Dahlak Band // Wede Harer Guzo

Wede Harer Guzo Hailu Mergia & Dahlak Band 1970s, Ms Recording (Bandcamp)

I can’t 100% recall, but I’m pretty sure this was the first African record I ever bought (it was this or Nass El Ghiwane), and I wasn’t the only one—I’ve got a few friends with exactly one African record in their collection, and it’s this. When his music was rediscovered in 2016 after Awesome Tapes From Africa pressed this record (using Mergia’s own cassette copy as a source), Wede Harer Guzo became for western music nerds a part of that small company of gateway albums to the music of an entire continent. Let’s play a game of Remember Some Guys.

Remember Some Guys: That One African Record Edition

Expensive Shit Who is William Onyeabor? Wede Harer Guzo Nigeria 70 (The Definitive Story of 1970’s Funky Lagos) A dollar bin Miriam Makeba LP uh TEN$ION Remain in Light (honorary)

God I’m tired. Anyway, I’ve always had kind of an uncertain relationship with this record. Mergia’s organ can sound like a cool balm on my aching brain or… elevator music. Dahlak Band can sound like a perfect fusion of the floaty “intellectual highlife” of Celestine Ukwu and the grooves of Booker T. and the MG’s… or, what were we talking about? An entire side just past me by unnoticed, yet again. I think this has more to do with me than it does with the record… though at a cassette-length hour-plus run time, some ideas do get repeated.

(Three ellipses in one paragraph… I think that’s more than I’ve used in this whole series so far. I’m so tired of writing these things man. I’m not even really divorced, I can’t wait to leave.)

Anyway, again, at its best, the record is transcendently beautiful. The way Mergia’s organ expands and contracts like the shimmer of light on dark water on “Anchin Kfu Ayinkash,” guitarist Dawit Kassa answering his pauses with little soulful licks… there the ellipses go again. Sometimes the record feels like it’s insinuating I should go to the lobby for more popcorn. Maybe I’ll buy Raisinettes?

It’s very good I’m saying, obviously. See you tomorrow.

357/365

[now-winter-comes-slowly]

So this is a Christmas tradition you may not be familiar with if you're not American: every year, in the Christmas spirit of peace and reconciliation, people come together to enjoy what the internet was created for: mocking the contents of this absurdly expensive catalogue. The Williams Sonoma Christmas catalogue is its own parallel universe, in which peppermint bark costs $59.99 and the words "Smeg Jousting Paladins Dolce & Gabanna refrigerator" actually make sense strung together. If the history of American Christmas gift-giving (and indeed aesthetics) were represented by a line, this would be on the opposite end from little Laura Ingalls being transported with delight by Santa's gifts of a tin cup, a candy cane and a penny...

[lostinmac]

Beyond Utopia (2023)

Dir. Madeleine Gavin

[woahpip]

HELL YEAH WOMEN'S SPORTS

read this defector article about the insane way volleyball is THE sport in nebraska: https://defector.com/nebraska-is-a-volleyball-school

But Volleyball Day in Nebraska also made an argument for the small. It challenged the belief held by every decision-maker in college sports these days, that the only thing distinct about a school is the number of people who watch its football games on television. That belief can’t account for what happened last night. It insists that college sports have no worth beyond football. It insists they have no culture without men. It flattens the local, the particular, the peculiar. As clips of the event went around online last night, I saw that belief in some comments and replies, which treated the whole thing like a mystery to solve: Was everyone just there for the concert afterward? Were the tickets free? Well, what else is there to do in Nebraska, LOL? Those people are annoying and mostly not well-meaning, but they did remind me why I love college fandom. The experience isn’t universal. It shouldn't be. There’s a language you speak with your friends, and your family, and your neighbors, and everyone else is just some anthropologist who will never know the half of it. What's foreign to an outsider makes total sense when you were raised on Sarah Pavan and Jordan Larson and prep tournaments in Grand Island. It makes sense to the people who know a match at Devaney is the toughest ticket in town. Schools are in places, and places are special. It is so special to be from a place. 

shout out to Maitreyi Anantharaman for this amazing article, and long live defector (the best sports website)

[rastronomicals]

12:33 AM EST December 3, 2023:

Black Mountain - "Defector" From the album IV (April 1, 2016)

Last song scrobbled from iTunes at Last.fm

File under: Roman Numerals

[wheretwofacesmeet]

Karim x Miyana Kiss