#alaska living

[mountainannieak]

[angrylesbianstereotype]

Mike and Jesse’s relationship makes me insane bc it’s the perfect encapsulation of the tragicomic elements that make Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul so absurdly ingenious. Like this deadly dead-eyed professional hitman only becomes a father figure to this grown adult meth cook because his boss strong-arms him into the Very Serious Drug-Related Business of babysitting said meth cook and building his sense of self-esteem through the power of gold star stickers. And Mike is such a quintessential professional that he gets stuck in character and genuinely comes to love Jesse as his own becoming his least problematic and most influential father figure in the series. But also. Mike is doomed to watch young men reminiscent of his murdered child get chewed up and spit out by a world that holds their innocence in contempt, is killed in an attempt to save Jesse from this fate, and dies believing he failed to do so

[cheaprv]

Glacier Bay National Park, Juneau, Alaska. Photo by Matt Howard.

[slayerchick303]

I love Monet's pop culture references. They prove she's a big nerd just like the rest of us.

[laniidae-passerine]

Danver’s specific brand of racism is so intrenched in love it’s fascinating. Her daughter is precious to her and her daughter is Indigenous and in this town, an Indigenous woman is not viewed as a precious thing. They are abused and raped and murdered and therefore, being white is the ‘better’ choice. She is actively whitewashing her daughter, not only because she’s afraid of what she doesn’t understand and because of typical coloniser mentality, but because she doesn’t want to lose her. Danvers can’t distance Indigenous identity from white violence and it’s killing what she loves.

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL - new entries upset the rankings

Organized, in each category, with ones I'm enjoying most at the top.

April 2024 Wk 2

Ongoing Series - Thai

City of Stars (Fri iQIYI) ep 11 of 12 - Like most Thai BL pulps, this show doesn’t have much story to it. But I'm discovering that what it does have I actually really enjoy. I love that the gay boys got to play matchmaker for a change and I like how just GAY they are. It's nice. Refreshing.

We Are (Weds GMMTV iQIYI) ep 1-2 of 16 - University ensemble BL featuring PondPhuwin, WinnySatang, AouBoom, MarcPawinPoon. I like it. It’s old school Thai BL, but having fun with itself and its tropes. I’m not expecting much, so I don’t mind it waffling. All the couples are comfy. Chemistry is okay. Friendships are nifty. I like Pond's floppy hair. We fine. 

Two Worlds (Thurs IQIYI) ep 5 of 10 - What an extremely bloody episode. And bad guy turned out to be very bad indeed. And now pretty much everyone is dead. Nice kiss. Of course. 

Deep Night (Thurs iQiyi) ep 6 of 8 - It’s cute, they happy, not a ton happened. Random gratuitous bathing. As you do in BL. And I still think the sides should just end up in a thrupple

Only Boo! (Sun YouTube) ep 2 of 12 - Oh they very cute. Also very silly. 

1000 Years Old (Thurs iQIYI) ep 9 of 12 - No. NOT THE GUITAR. YES abandon guitar for the sniff test! Love this for them. And me. My most favorite trope defeated my least favorite trope. VICTORY!!!  

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

Unknown (Taiwan Tues YouTube & Viki) ep 8 of 11 - It’s just so good. Baby went away, grew up, and learned how to become a temptation... and a husband. 

Gray Shelter AKA Gray Currents (Korea Thurs iQIYI) 1 of 5 eps - SooHyuk, only just surviving, reunites with YoonDae, his (brief) younger stepbrother who feels abandoned. They end up living together. The younger brother is played by Lee Jae Bin of Choco Milk Shake. OMG. STEPBROTHERS TROPE. Lucky me! Two in one season. Yay!!!! It's Korea so great visuals too. I shallow but yeah, this is great.

Living With Him AKA Kare no Iru Seikatsu (Japan Thurs Gaga) ep 1 of 10 - Kindly Ryota goes off to uni only to find his new roommate is his childhood bestie, Kazuhito. Kazuhito doesn’t have a girlfriend and Ryota tries to help him figure out why. Same director as Old Fashion Cupcake. It’s utterly charming. I am charmed. Also the framing is gorgeous (of course). Very stylish.

Love is Better the Second Time Around AKA Koi wo Suru nara Nidome ga Joto (Japan Weds Gaga) ep 6fin - I don’t know. Kind of a flat ending with the leads apart for most of it. I enjoyed this show but it never really hit with me. 

Summation

After a teen betrayal and resulting separation a reporter reunites with his first love. That love wants him back. I enjoyed the authenticity of a reunion romance explored in Japan's quintessentially contemplative yet surreal way. The juxtaposition of the tenderness of the sex scenes with this Japanese style of authenticity was oddly elegant but all in all this still fell a little flat for me. There's nothing objectively wrong with it, but in total the narrative felt sluggish and the main couple were just... stiff (in the wrong way). Frankly, I'd rather just rewatch Tokyo in April is. 8/10

Love is like a Cat (Korea Mon Viki) eps 3-4 of 12 - What is going on with this show? No, I get the plot. I just don't get the show or why I’m watching it. Annoying. 

It's done, but I suck

What Did You Eat Yesterday Season 2 AKA Kinou Nani Tabeta? Season 2 (Japan Gaga) 10 eps

To Be Continued (Sat C3 Thailand grey) ep 7-8fin - I can't for the life of me find the final 2 episodes. Haven't had a real hunt, but yeah. No dice so far.

It's airing but...

Takumi-kun Series 6: Nagai Nagai Monogatari (Japan Furritsubs) eps 1-? of 10 - I may wait and binge it.

Lady Boy Friends (Thai WeTV grey) 16 eps - reminds me a bit too much of Diary of Tootsies only high school. Not my thing. DNF unless it turns a corner and is truly amazing.

Kiseki Chapter 2 (Sun iQIYI) 6 eps - It’s so boring DNFed at 2.

Close Friend Season 3: Soju Bomb! (Weds iQIYI) 6 - The problem with situational comedy BL is it must be situational, comedic and a BL. This show gets 1 of 3 claims correct. 33% is not a passing grade. Dropped at 3.

Memory in the Letter (Thai WeTV) - only 4 eps, tell me if I should bother?

Next Week Looks Like This:

4/18 At 25:00 in Alaska AKA 25 Ji Akasaka de (Japan Thurs Gaga) 10 eps - Yuki lands his first starring role in a BL drama alongside superstar Asami (previously his senior at uni). Said superstar suggests they form a sham relationship until filming concludes. As they actually begin to fall in love, the spotlight begins to burn. I think I've seen this before (joke) and also the trailer doesn't inspire confidence.

Still to Come in April

4/25 Boys Be Brave! AKA Roommates (Korea Thurs Viki) 8 eps - Trailer Jung Ki Sub is Kim Jin Woo's slacker friend - and secret crush. So when Ki Sub crashes at his place, his heart tingles to be near him everyday. But as the short stay turns into permanent mooch, how long can Jin Woo keep his true feelings under wraps and hold back from confessing?

4/26 My Stand-In (Thai iQIYI) 12 eps - adaptation of Chinese novel "Professional Body Double" by Shui Qiang Cheng. Stars Up (Lovely Writer) and Poom (Bake Me Please) directed by the same team as KP (not a recommendation IMHO - my biggest criticism of that show was the clashing directing styles). This one looks complicated, lemme try: Joe is a stuntman for famous actor Tong. Joe falls in love with Ming but Ming sees Joe as nothing more than a Tong-replacement. After learning this horrible truth, Joe dies. Joe then wakes up in the body of another man also named Joe. He manages to rebuild the same life as before—with the same people eventually re-meeting Ming. Ming wants Joe back but Joe doesn't understand why. But Ming seems to know what's going on and wants to give him some kind of explanation.

I'm exhausted just trying to describe the plot.

Knock-Knock Boys (Thai WeTV) - 4 college friends conspire to help their friend lose his virginity. Familiar faces like Seng (yes, Billy's previous pairing) and Best, news here. But will it actually air this month?

Upcoming BLs for 2024 are listed here. This list is not kept updated, so please leave a comment if you know something new or RP with additions.

NOTE: It looks like one of my personal favorites of last year Unintentional Love Story is getting a spin off!

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENT

Sniff test turning into a make out sesh? Please and thank you. City of Stars

(Last week)

Streaming services are listed by how I (usually) watch, which is with a USA based IP, and often offset by a day because time zones are a bother.

The tag BLigade: @doorajar @solitaryandwandering @my-rose-tinted-glasses @babymbbatinygirl @babymbbatinygirl @isisanna-blog @mmastertheone @pickletrip @aliceisathome @urikawa-miyuki @tokillamonger @rocketturtle4 @blglplus @anythinggoesintheshire @everlightly

If ya wanna be tagged each week leave a comment and I will add you to the template. Easy peesy.

[vikzarts]

Winter with Angie, 2008.

[kc5rings]

Now that she’s playable I have a humble request for fic writers and artists regarding Viviana

She is a moose.

Moose are fucking massive.

Please picture with me the humor of Viviana seeming average sized until you get close and suddenly she’s towering

[sugarstrawberryshortcake]

[swinging-stars-from-satellites]

how do I explain to anyone that I grieve the houses I grew up in

[subsequentibis]

kazuhira miller very much on my mind of late

[creatingnikki]

at seventeen, I don't think I ever thought about the future in a way that then seemed so distant, a future that in my vision did not exist — ten years later, me at twenty seven.

had I thought about it then, I don't have much clue now as to what I would have pictured. but would it be this:

three days after turning twenty seven listening to the scientist by Coldplay, fetching out my hardbound gold and black edition of looking for alaska by john green on a Saturday evening. wearing a bottle green cropped hoodie, hair in a messy bun, clutching the book to my chest, crying as random snippets of being in high school having such an innocent and unsullied idea of the world and the people in it flash in my head.

grieving. isn't that what this is? life is a labyrinth of suffering — I had read it back at 17 and I didn't realize this in its true essence. so I guess this is me grieving my loss of innocence.

but it's not all so sad and tragic. the answer to how do we ever get out of this labyrinth of suffering is not one I yet have but I'm finding moments that have begun to answer it nonetheless.

friday game nights with new friends, post dinner walks where we talk about the films we love and the books that found a place in our hearts and stayed. why else do I come back home on Saturday and go through my book collection to pick this particular book that I haven't touched in a decade?

I used to always get mad at people when they hated on the sitcom how I met your mother's ending because they missed the point — it was never quite about the mother but who Ted had to become in order to meet her. and just in that fashion have I not missed the point of all the books and TV shows and movies I've ever loved:

the point of love and friendship is not to protect you like some guardian angel though often it can have that effect. nor is the point to fulfil you though they are integral in contentment and satisfaction overall. the point of friends and lovers is not to preserve your sanity when it is racing to its death like a burning cigarette though it can many times help.

I do not know what the point is, if I'm being honest. but I know that the point of this life of mine is to be a friend and lover to myself. how? maybe I need to reread my favourite books again to come closer to that answer. maybe I need to face the truth more bravely. at twenty seven, I'm sure I've mustered that much courage, perspective, and compassion for myself.

as I light my favourite candles and end my birthday week, I know this — the seventeen year old me did well, the twenty seven year old me will do better, and the thirty seven year old me will do even more fantastically.

[alux-ulkan]

Coho Salmon / Silver Salmon - Oncorhynchus kisutch

Scale Pattern, 07/10/2023

[techmomma]

Saw a post a few weeks ago with advice for getting one of those Comfy Desk Jobs and using a contract-to-hire staffing agency, and as someone working in a Comfy Desk Job in a Contract-to-Hire Staffing Agency, here are some tips from the inside:

they will likely ask you to come in for an interview or do an interview over the phone or in a Zoom call with one of their recruiters, first. fucking come on time. dress nicely. prepare like you're interviewing for a regular job, but also understand this is just so your recruiter can get a feel for you. it's to get to know you, your strengths, your weaknesses, your background, and to get a feel for what sort of work culture you might fit in.

if you’re taking the interview via a zoom call, please do not take it on something you hold in your hand, i.e. your phone, and if you have to, have it set up on something stable. please don’t. walk around. with the camera pointed at you. while doing the interview. it doesn’t look good and you may make your recruiter motion sick.

be nice. communicate. hell, over-communicate. for god's sake, do the paperwork we ask you to do and do it promptly. the faster you get it done, the more that tells us "oh they are so ready for a job." if you just sorta plod along and do things whenever, that tells your recruiter that you're not super interested, and they will put you on the backburner

please don't take it personally if they do. they're actively trying to find jobs for several dozen people, and passively trying to find jobs for a hundred more. they have to perform triage to know who to work with and who to prioritize for finding a job.

this also means sometimes they will be actively looking for something for you, but just nothing comes up, for weeks. the job market fluctuates wildly, ESPECIALLY in office jobs where you can have absolutely nothing open for months and then five jobs suddenly open up in a week. them not calling you does not mean they’ve forgotten you. please don’t call in multiple times a week asking for an update. call once, like on a friday. if there’s no update after two fridays, then just let them call you. really, if they think they’ve got a hit for you, they will let you know and let you know quickly. you getting a job means we make more money. we have incentive to let you know as soon as possible.

if they send you out somewhere, please, god, try to make a decent first impression? for places that that focus on contract-to-hire work, getting people jobs is partially dependent on our relationship to a company. we make contracts with companies dependent on our relationships with them. we can get people hired at places who would have never given them a second glance, but that's because the company has to trust our judgement. if we keep sending them people who flake out or are rude on the job or don't work, that hurts our reputation with them, and that in turns hurts our ability to get jobs for people.

it's okay if they send you somewhere and the company just isn't a good fit. just let your recruiter know, and they will usually do their best to find another place. your recruiter is only human. just be polite and try to hold out while they find you another. (they will also understand if you just absolutely CANNOT because TOO STRESSFUL, just COMMUNICATE)

some people interview REALLY well but then are terrible workers. your recruiter always sorta has this running in the back of their mind as they interview you. you have to SHOW THEM that you're not just all talk. walk the walk. show them you’re so prepared you could walk in the next day ready to start. or if you can’t, pretend you are.

yes, having a resume ready isn't necessary but will very much earn you brownie points with your recruiter. they will also often help if you don't know how to make one.

for desk jobs in particular, a knowledge of computers, word, and excel are a must. here is how you cheat that if you don't know them, or don't own them: go practice with google docs and google spreadsheets. anything you can do in google docs and google sheets, you can do in word and excel. if you feel comfortable with those, you can absolutely lie and say that you are “fluent in Microsoft Word and Excel.” and then if you have to actually use them at some company, just dick around and watch some youtube videos on them in your spare time. you'll be fine. I've never done anything in excel that I couldn't do in google sheets, and 90% of anything you're doing is just filling in spreadsheets with numbers, anyway. you will get bonus points if you can make spreadsheets look nice and readable, tho

honestly so many employers will give you heart eyes if you can say you're fluent in excel. part of how I got this job was telling them "yeah I do spreadsheets for fun sometimes." I mean, it's (mostly) true, but I would have said it even if it weren't. it was the deal maker for them.

everyone wants remote work. everyone. do not ask for it, not upfront anyway, unless it’s the only thing you can do. if the recruiter asks, say you're "open to it." almost nobody using a staffing agency is hiring for remote work. unfortunate, but them's the breaks. we can't even get remote work here, man, let alone get people hired for it. it's one of those rainbow unicorn jobs we can fill when the moon and planets are in alignment on the solstice and a comet is passing overhead. remote work is almost always hired through the company, not through a staffing agency, anyway

it's okay if you don't have a car. you can tell your recruiter. yeah, it takes away a few brownie points, but they can work with you to find something close to a busline. just make it apparent that, car or not, if you can get there, you will get there. they will work with you, if you work with them.

be polite. christ, you would be surprised how many people treat their recruiters like servants who can magically make jobs appear and then get angry when they can’t

your recruiter has what are called "job orders." these are open positions that we are currently trying to fill and are usually their highest priority. each has specific skillsets, but also comes with a company that has particular work cultures or requirements. your recruiter will not just send you out even if say, you have the right skillset, if they think the culture wouldn’t be a good fit. your recruiter has been to the company itself (or a coworker has, or there are notes about the company, etc., we have inside information) and sure, it may be your skillset would be perfect. but they may also know you're queer and the company is... let's just say "old-fashioned." they are not going to send you out to a place where they think you might get harassed. not usually, anyway. contract-to-hire focused staffing agencies get to be a little more deliberate and choosy in who we send out.

job orders are what they’re trying to fill first. no you do not get to see the job orders. again, if you do well in the interview and we send you out there and you flake, that looks bad on us. our reputation sours, the less jobs we can get people hired at

be professional even if the place they put you sucks. the last thing you want is to burn bridges, or to cause your recruiter to burn bridges. you make your recruiter burn a bridge because you were unprofessional? then all the skills in the world will not get you hired because we are only human and assholes get the round filing bin. ask for your recruiter’s advice if you really just ain’t sure.

if you take medicinal or recreational drugs, especially weed, please tell us. we’re not narcs. we’re not here to rat you out and that’d be way too much trouble we don’t want to deal with. but we can try to find a place that doesn’t do drug testing if you really think you’re not gonna be able to pass the drug test. it’s okay. (we will, however, give you a little bit of a worried side-eye if you tell us that you can’t be off of alcohol long enough to not pass a drug test but that’s more of an “are you... are you okay??” kind of look. we’ll still try to find a place if you are otherwise a stellar candidate.)

you will technically work through us for a set amount of days, usually 60 or 90, until the other company hires you on. until then, you are technically our employee, so please be nice to us even if it seems like a sure-fire thing that you will be hired on. if you’re nice to us, sometimes we can negotiate you a hefty pay raise before you’re formally hired on ;)

If I think of more helpful hints, I will add onto this post, but there ya go! Feel free to comment with any questions. I am an admin, so I don’t know all of the ins and outs of what my recruiters do or how it works, but I have a decent idea of what they’re looking and not looking for. Hope this helps, and try to remember your recruiter is not a wizard and is not magic and is only human, and there are so, SO many things NOT in their control when it comes to getting you jobs.

Your recruiter is working against bad odds for you. And often putting in a lot of unpaid time to do so. Please keep this in mind, and be patient with us! Being nice and being professional can sometimes carry you farther than any amount of skill or experience!

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL - Lesbians WIN & I'm excited about a Thai BL again!

Organized, in each category, with ones I'm enjoying most at the top.

April 2024 Wk 4

Ongoing Series - Thai

My Stand-In (Thai Fri iQIYI) ep 1 of 12 eps - Adaptation of Chinese novel Professional Body Double by Shui Qiang Cheng. Stars Up (Lovely Writer) and Poom (Bake Me Please) directed by the same team as KP (not a recommendation IMHO - my biggest criticism of KP was the clashing directing styles). The MDL description made it sound complicated af but actually it's not so bad. In fact it's GOOD.

Stuntman Joe dies on the job and wakes up in the body of another Joe who has an entirely different life. But our Joe just gets his new body right back into his old existence, full of friends, enemies, and one troublesome ex. Poom is absolutely killing it in the lead. Mek is perfectly cast as the Actor du Jerk. I’m not sold on Up’s bratty brokenhearted rich kid... yet. The show though, I like it. I like a one (two) night stand starting things off and I like a lot of morally gray characters. Fun fun!

Deep Night (Thurs iQiyi) ep 8fin - The lesbian moms are the cutest thing in the world and my favorite thing this week. Bar none.

Summation:

It's about a host club and all the gay boys in it and some stuff that's not important because... PEOPLE OF EARTH WE HAVE A HONEST REP OF POLY IN A BL. Stand up and raise your hands in prayer to the Thai BL gods because sure as shit no one else was ever going to give this to us. For that alone this show gets 8/10 from me. Bonus Lesbian moms and great kisses.

Two Worlds (Thurs iQIYI) ep 7 of 10 - Say what you want about MaxNat all these years that they've been paired makes them great onscreen boyfriends. And you know me, I'm a total sucker for linguistic negotiation. Makes my heart go all mushy. That said, now that the leads are together, I’m really uninterested in all the drama around the ex-boyfriend/triangle. I'm glad this is only 10 eps.

1000 Years Old (Thurs iQIYI) ep 11 of 12 - They gave me the tiniest teaser for the kinky vampire BL that I have wanted my whole life. And now I'm just fucking annoyed with the rest of the show. 

We Are (Weds iQIYI) ep 3-4 of 16 - Q & Toey are the only interesting thing going on. I actually didn’t like this pair in My School President, but I’m enjoying them here. The others are all fine but these two have my heart. I have questions like: did Phum ever get his shopping bags back? And why is Phum driving a different colored car half way through the ep?

Only Boo! (Sun YouTube) ep 3 of 12 - The quality is good (it’s GMMTV) but the acting is... not. Still I loved that Moo just made the confession for both of them. Very in character. Does this plot remind anyone else of Footloose? Just me? Side couple was cute but now a bit too stalker for me. 

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

Unknown (Taiwan Tues YouTube & Viki) ep 10 of 12 - It’s fantastic. Such a great show. We are so lucky. This is basically Taiwan’s The Eights Sense. I didn’t know they had it in them, but I’m really glad that they did.

Living With Him AKA Kare no Iru Seikatsu (Japan Thurs Gaga) ep 3 of 10 - As JBL’s go this is way more my speed (than Alaska). It’s just so sweet and awkward but charming about it. The confession was so earnest. 

Blue Boys (Korea YouTube) 2 of ? No MDL link - It’s very sexy this one. Not sure what Korea thinks it's doing, but I’m not mad about it. 

Gray Shelter (Korea Thurs iQIYI) ep 5fin - summation: About a slacker nursing a crush on the (brief) older stepbrother who abandoned him. Upon finding him again he moves in with him, upends the mans lost suffering life. A dark gritty piece with confusing subs making it too chewy to really grok. It's trying to do too much for its length. The tension is real and the acting is good, it's just everything else stymied clean execution of the core concept. Frankly I spent this show expecting (and wanting them) to just fall into bed together - in a kind of desperate fight sex. It didn’t happen, and I’m disappointed by the non-ending we got. (Whether it’s going to have more in the series or not.) 7/10 I'm open to changing the rank if a part two fixes this one's flaws.

Boys Be Brave AKA Roommates (Korea Thurs Viki) ep 1-2 of 8 - Oh dear. Terrible hair. Jock nerd pairing. OCD baby cakes. Cohabitation trope. Killer side couple. Def unhinged. 

At 25:00 in Alaska AKA 25 Ji Akasaka de (Japan Thurs Gaga) ep 2 of 10 - I’m still genuinely not sure about this one. It’s just a little too awkward for me in the wrong way. I expect all Japanese BL to have a certain aura of awkwardness so I don’t know what it is about this one turnign me off. I do enjoy that we’re getting both stories, the one between the actors, and a little bit of the roles that they’re playing on screen but... yeah

Love is like a Cat (Korea Mon Viki) eps 7-8 of 12 - The leads finally had a moment but there is negative chemistry. Why am I watching this? 

It's airing but...

Lady Boy Friends (Thai WeTV grey) 16 eps - reminds me a bit too much of Diary of Tootsies only high school. Not my thing. DNF unless it turns a corner and is truly amazing.

Memory in the Letter (Thai WeTV) - 6 eps, when it's done, tell me if I should bother?

In case you missed it

Kiseki Chapter 2 (Sun iQIYI) 6 eps - finished its run but I won't be finishing it. Stays dropped.

GMMTV announced the second half of their 2024 line up. I got excited and picked my favorites, details + trailers here. Basically my ranking is:

The Heart Killers

ThamePo

Revamp

Sweet Tooth

Perfect 10 Liners

The Ex-Morning

Ossan’s Love Thailand

Next Week Looks Like This:

What happened?

Knock-Knock Boys (Thai WeTV) - 4 college friends conspire to help their friend lose his virginity. Familiar faces like Seng (yes, Billy's previous pairing) and Best, news here. But will it actually air this month?

Upcoming BLs for 2024 are listed here. This list is not kept updated, so please leave a comment if you know something new or RP with additions.

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENT

I have adopted him. He is MINE. I love him, your honor. (The Stand In)

I love them SO MUCH. (Deep Night)

(Last week)

Streaming services are listed by how I (usually) watch, which is with a USA based IP, and often offset by a day because time zones are a pain.

The tag BLigade: @doorajar @solitaryandwandering @my-rose-tinted-glasses @babymbbatinygirl @babymbbatinygirl @isisanna-blog @mmastertheone @pickletrip @aliceisathome @urikawa-miyuki @tokillamonger @rocketturtle4 @blglplus @anythinggoesintheshire @everlightly @renafire

If ya wanna be tagged each week leave a comment and I will add you to the template. Easy peesy.

[introvertedswimmer]

@wooden-surface

I would recommend this forest over the other one to live your dreams of becoming a magical forest being. This forest so much nicer.