#also thanks for 2000 follows c:

[gray-thistleclan]

moon (FIRST TRANS CAT) 27

[chaos0pikachu]

Trends in BL (Sorta): Genre Trends

So I've seen a few posts discussing trends in BL and I wanted to talk about that from a different angle. Specifically discussing what trends are, how they're formed, and to not remove BL from the rest of their countries own media.

The latter is something I see a lot when discussing BL this kind've ~separation of church and state~ but it's BL and Country's General Media. As though BL lives in a separate bubble outside of all other media and thus never influenced by the media being made in its country of origin nor the countries they share direct borders or trade with. Or all influence began and ended with seme/uke dynamics imported from Japan and nothing beyond that (no, Pit Babe was more than likely not inspired by Supernatural) and it's been static ever since.

All of that is, untrue, but also a really limited way of viewing international media. These countries are places with their own history, culture, politics, and of course, media arts. BL is a part of all of that. Which also effects the trends and potential trends we'll see in BL individually (as it's going to change country to country with some crossover).

I think a way of identifying trends in BL and also the root of those trends is by looking at the media of the country of origin their surrounding countries, and what BLs have unprecedented success and what has the industry learned from them?

So I'm gonna break this down by: genre, technical and business trend(s) in 3 part posts. In this post I'm just going to talk about genre trends in Thai and Korean BL as that's what I'm most familiar with.

Basically this post got hella long, I'm not in college anymore, and my motivation was tied to the length of my Jennifer Hudson Best Of playlist. So I had to split it up, es lo que es.

[This will not be a comprehensive list of like all BL trends ever respect to y'all who do but I do not and will not watch every BL in existence, bendicion]

To start we gotta talk first about how trends in media tend to work and also what we mean by "trends". Because there's genre trends, technical trends, and business trends.

Here's a good article breaking down various aspects of all three. When we talk "trends" in film it's not as simplistic as "office romances" or "cross country remakes" of which, one is a genre trend and the latter a business trend.

Some examples of what I mean:

Shared Universe (genre trend)

3d boom (technical trend, trended a few times in the industry, first in the 1950s until the 1960s and then again in the early 2000s until the mid 00s thanks to James Cameron)

Remakes/Reboots (business trend, this is a business based decision b/c the risk threshold for a pre-established work is lower than for an original work that may or may not have financial data backing it)

Trends in media, whether they are genre, business, technical or a combination, tend to take time to build up, and also tend last much longer than a singular year (generally for as long as something is profitable).

Example: it took time for the Shared Universe genre trend to gain traction.

Batman v Superman (2016) wasn't released until five years after Avengers (2012). Following this, The Mummy (2017) starring Tom Cruise was meant to kickstart Universal's The Dark Universe was released six years after Avengers. Before that Dracula Untold (2014) was supposed to be reworked to also start The Dark Universe (both these films flopped so no Dark Universe, rip).

Since the Avengers release, we have the shared universes of: Monsterverse (which combines Godzilla and Kong franchises together, technically started in 2014, officially started in 2017 with Kong Skull Island), and the Sony Spiderverse (Venom, Spider-man, Madam Web, Mobius lol) and The Conjuring Universe (Annabelle, La Llorona, The Conjuring, The Nun).

It's been almost 12 years since Avengers was released (fuckin'a) and we're only now starting to see some minor diminishing returns (Disney had a horrid year financially last year) for this genre trend, and not even across the board.

I want to iterate that Avengers did not 'invent' the idea of a cross-franchise shared universe. Things like Xena and Hercules, or Hanna Barbara cartoons existed long before the Avengers. However the Avengers kickstarted a genre trend in film. Just because a piece of media started a trend does not mean it invented the genre or technical innovation (James Cameron didn't "invent" 3D but he did revolutionize it with Avatar and I suffered through many 3D horror movies because of it).

[I point this out because sometimes ppl be getting testy when ppl say kinnporsche influenced the increase in mafia/crime BLs with well, um, actually history trapped/manner of death came first - yes, yes we know this. And Bi No Isu came out before all of them so everybody drink some tea and relax, everybody's faves are pretty okay😘]

Okay to let's get to what ppl actually wanna talk about, BL.

(Some) Genre trend(s) in Thailand and Korea:

In Thai BL genre trends I'm noticing are: horror, supernatural, paranormal, action crime, and magic/magical realism. A lot of these crossover, horror shows typically are also paranormal - Ghost House Ghost House (2022), After Sundown (2023) - supernatural shows tend to cross over with magical realism like time travel, or other soft magic elements - Time (2024), I Feel You Linger in the Air (2023), Cherry Magic (2023).

For the horror, supernatural/paranormal genre trend, this isn't at all surprising if you look at Thailand's recent film output from 2020 to 2023: The Medium, The Whole Truth, Ghost Lab, Haunted Tales, Cracked, Death Whisperer, Home for Rent, The Maid, Waning Moon, School Tales, and others, are all horror, paranormal, or supernatural films of some sort.

The horror genre trend especially has been around Thailand for a while, as far back as 2018 with the smash success of Girl from Nowhere which only gained a larger following when it hit Netflix in 2021. I'd almost argue the horror genre trend really picked up with Girl From Nowhere as now one of the main acquisitions of Thai series and film on Netflix are of the horror genre.

That larger media trend is now trickling down into BL with series like: Shadow (2023), After Sundown (2023), Dead Friend Forever (2023) and upcoming projects like Vampire Project.

While supernatural/paranormal series like Ghost House Ghost House (2022), 1000 Years Old (2024), I Feel You Linger in the Air (2023), Two Worlds (2024), Golden Blood (2024?) are increasing. OMG! Vampire (TBD?) will at least be supernatural but we can't say with certainty if OMGV will be horror or not as we only have a poster.

I imagine with the success of Dead Friend Forever, and I Feel You Linger in the Air we'll see the trend of horror and supernatural/paranormal series (I know some have already been announced) continued.

Then there's the genre trend towards more action and crime focused series; which more than often crossover but not all~ the time.

In terms of the increase in crime based Thai BLs I'd argue it was a joint combo of Kinnporsche's (2022) wild skyrocketed success, and the success of Manner of Death (2020). Alongside the influence of rise of crime and thrillers from Korean media (The Gangster, the Cop and the Devil (2019) and Unstoppable (2018))

Manner of Death I'd argue influenced projects like Never Let Me Go (2022), Unforgotten Night (2022), and Big Dragon (2022) if only because of their release times and taking into account the time it takes for a production to film and be edited down.

Whilst all these series came out after Kinnporsche - NLMG released a trailer in Nov, Big Dragon in Oct, and Unforgotten Night in Jun, while Kinnporsche dropped their trailer in Apr - they're series releases are so close to Kinnporsche that I don't feel confident in saying Kinnporsche 100% influenced their acquisition. Ngl it's hard not to see influences of KPTS in at least Big Dragon & Unforgotten Night if only in terms of technical film making, so there could~ be influence but I can't say that definitively. I'm gonna attribute these to Manner of Death since it came out two years prior to these other series.

Meanwhile series both released and unreleased My Gangster Oppa (2023), Red Peafowl (TBD?), Chains of Heart (2023), Kidnap (TBD?), are def riding the crime genre trend that Kinnporsche started and I'd argue series like Pit Babe (2023), Playboyy (2023) were acquired for production in part because of the crime elements included in their respective series.

Meanwhile series like Law of Attraction (2023) (crime/action) and The Sign (2023) (crime/action/supernatural) are combining crime, action and supernatural elements together.

I've said before Kinnporsche takes a lot of cues from Korean and Hong Kong crime films like Jet Li's The Enforcer, and Fist of Legend, Donnie Yen's Flash Point, Raging Fire, and Kung Fu Jungle, Han Dong-wook's The Worst of Evil, Kim Jin-Min's My Name, along with Japanese manga like Bi No Isu and KeixYaku.

Meanwhile The Sign is def taking cues from Chinese costume dramas like Ashes of Love, Fairy and Devil, White Snake (and it's many adaptions), Guardian, & Ying Yang Master Dream of Eternity. Alongside Hong Kong and Korean cop and romance shows like Tale of the Nine-Tailed, Hotel Del Luna, Director Who Buys Me Dinner, First Love, Again.

[I think the only reason Thailand or Korea hasn't jumped on the full fantasy train and pulled an Untamed is because of budget. The Sign has done very well for Idol Factory so I could see more studios trying to go in that fantasy direction if they can get the funding for it.]

Meanwhile shows like Time (2024), Two Worlds (2024), and Cherry Magic (2023) are leaning more into a combination of magical realism and a supernatural. Which is something that's been popular in Korea (Mr. Queen (2020), The King Eternal Monarch (2020)) in the past and obviously Japan (Cherry Magic (2020).

This, again, isn't a fully comprehensive list. I'm sure there's shows I've missed, and there's going to be evergreen genres that are always produced - university, high school, office all with a general romcom flavor - because they're cheap, easy, low risk and for the most part reliable.

That's not an insult to shows like Cherry Magic TH, or Middleman's Love or Cooking Crush or whatever.

Cooking Crush is just going to cost way less than The Sign it's simply a fact. Likewise Middleman's Love cost less than The Next Prince (TBD?) and was less risk as an office romcom. What helps offset the risk of something like The Next Prince is casting Zee and NuNew in the lead roles.

[watch these two trailers and tell me they cost the same]

Think of it of like, the 50 cop procedural dramas networks are always churning out; they do so because they're cheap, easy, low risk, and reliable.

Gmmtv made Cherry Magic not for the art of it all but because it was low risk and low cost to produce with a high value return. I imagine that's also why gmmtv cast Tay and New because while I don't know who the hell they are, lots of folks in BL fandom do because of Dark Blue Kiss and the reuniting of a well liked costars will also help offset financial risk for the project. Studios will often only greenlight a project if "a name" is attached to said project.

Anyways, Korea's turn.

The data for Korea is less because Korea comes out with fewer series than Thailand. Like currently Thailand has 9 ongoing BLs in 2024 while Korea has 1 (oh City Boy Log you lonely thing you).

For Korean BLs I'm still seeing mostly evergreen genre trends: the workplace (The New Employee, Oh! My Assistant, Roommates of Ponngduck 304,), high school/university (Light On Me, Cherry Blossoms After Winter, Semantic Error, Love Class, Love for Love's Sake) and Joseon (Nobleman Ryu's Wedding, Tinted With You, Director Who Buys Me Dinner) romances - which make sense, a lot of these were the trends of romance kdramas in the early to mid-00s.

What I am hoping, is we'll start seeing the acquisition of KBLs that are closer to what's currently trending in Korea: revenge (Revenge of Others, The Glory, Marry My Husband, Perfect Marriage Revenge), thrillers (My Name, Midnight, Somebody, Celebrity, Mask Girl), more class based social commentary (Devil Judge, Golden Spoon, Vigilante, Kingdom), and an increase in both sex and violence (Somebody, A Shop for Killers).

I could totally see more revenge based KBLs in the coming years since revenge and thriller shows can be combined pretty easily and you don't need a huge budget for either. You can also set them in evergreen settings like the workplace (Marry My Husband) or high school/uni (Revenge of Others).

KBLs have mostly stuck with evergreen settings with a couple outliers like Kissable Lips (2022), Once Again (2022) for example. I enjoyed Love for Love's Sake but it stuck in that evergreen space of school based romance, with magical realism. Again, not surprising given KBLs are just following trends of romance kdramas of the past.

Whilst not a bad~~~ thing, it can be a bit stale and hopefully with a bit more budget/investment we'll see the acquisition of series that are more in line with what's trending with Korean audiences currently.

There's other things I'd like to see develop into trends for KBLs but they're mostly technical and business trends.

That's all I got in the tank, this post took me almost six hours to write b/c of all the sourcing and research I'm freaking peeked.

See y'all next time ✌️

Check out other posts in the series:

Film Making? In My BL? - The Sign ep01 Edition | Aspect Ratio in Love for Love's Sake | Cinematography in My BL - Our Skyy2 vs kinnporsche, 2gether vs semantic error, 1000 Stars vs The Sign | How The Sign Uses CGI | Is BL Being Overly Influenced by Modern Western Romance Tropes?

[like these posts? drop me a couple pennies on ko-fi]

[porlatamconlouis]

louis in panamá! louis back in latam!!! louis is back in his spirit home!!!

the crowd was amaaaazing! listen, every louis show i've been to holds a special place in my heart for different reasons. but being in a crowd where everyone around you gives out the same energy, even when they don't fully know some songs, is something i've been craving for a long time now, and it's just the beginning and i'm sooo excited. the venue itself was kinda meh inside, the way they used the space was terrible in my opinion but as a brightside, gaby and i had lots of space to jump and dance and lose our entire minds.

the setlist order change threw us off, but god i love it. the 'chemical' cover... idk how to explain it but the videos i've seen so far (which haven't been many, i'm on wifi most of the time) don't do it one bit of justice. his voice! his voooooooice! that's all i kept saying throughout the song. because i didn't know the song, and the arrangement was so punk that i thought it was a song from an early 2000s pop punk band that i wasn't recognizing. but duuuude, his voice. i hope we get a good version, because that boi whined away with his whole chest... honestly. and i can't fucking wait to see how more and more comfortable he'll get with the song and more people singing it with him, and just... yeah!

oli, krystle and helen were in the open space where there were no chairs, right in front of us... oli walks to not draw attention to himself, but boi, most of us know you by now. i didn't see anybody coming up to them which was nice. they went to the sound booth for a big chunk of the show. and during ooms krys and helen came back to jump and dance to the side there. i loved seeing them like that!

the happiness we felt when we saw lucia coming down! gaby and i were jumping up and down screaming "lucia! lucia is back! lucia!", hajshajshs. and theeeen, at the end, as i always do if possible, we went to the soundbooth to thank my friends (jdelf, tom and oli c.) for the show, and we thanked them for bringing lucia (the lightbulb) and not leaving her behind, and they were amused (and probably a bit weirded out (they've seen me in the same shirt at least 4 times lmao)) and saying thank you for appreciating them and just yeah. i like to think maybe they already knew her name was lucia, but also, i'm glad someone on the ground straight up told them how fucking appreciated she is. 💚 look at herrrr! (lol)

living all my favorite songs live again was so cathartic. didn't know how much i needed it, wow. also, how are we gonna call that insane set of songs before the encore? my vote is for "rip steve's arms" or "no breathing mix" or "lose your shit time". because going from 505 to bty to kmm to ooms is fucking wild, man. it was absolutely incredible, i think i ascended a little bit and was fully exorcised, thanks.

oh! the kmm lights? soooo good! i know they've been done at all the shows after '22 but like... idk. it felt a bit extra special? and he sensed it as well, he couldn't contain his little smiles. and he gave it a shout out. literally everyone knew they had to do it. so cool!

as a sad note, during sibwawc, the lights from the stage weren't really colourful, they just kinda went from orange to white from what i remember. gaby and i waved our flags for the entirety of the megamix (and a bunch of other songs too, hajshajs, duh) and since we were going off the whole time, and not as many people were, he did see us all the way to the back and pointed at where we were and we looked at each other and just kept going. we then corroborated our stories in the hostal, hajdhaj. enjoy the following video as if you were next to us and just jumping around, okay thanks (when you see everyone else jump around that's when he comes to our side).

anyway, i wrote all of this while on the airplane that's gonna take me to puerto rico, which is a bit delayed. oh, and el puma rodríguez is on this flight, lmao. iykyk. some ladies, while boarding, just stood in front of him and took a selfie, eeep. right, here's some carpet photos.

i'm so lucky i get to do this insane adventure, i'm so happy.

(meant to save this in drafts while the video uploaded but guess it got posted instead, hajshajsh. anywaaaay... thanks for the lovely notes, loves.)

[tgmsunmontue]

Saga of Solitude 7/?

Nepo!Baby Bradley and his life at USNA and afterwards. DADT fully in force. IceMav AU. (Begun prior to 'It's not who you know' - the non-angsty version). (Side Hangster, which is ALSO angsty).

PROLOGUE (He remembers)

HANGSTER FIRST MEETING (Lonely Nights - set 2009)

Updating ~weekly (longer chapters).

PREVIOUS CHAPTERS

ONE (2000) TWO (2001) THREE (2002) FOUR (2003) FIVE (2004) SIX (2005)

CHAPTER SEVEN – 2006

                It takes some adjusting, having each other there all the time. He admits to himself that Maverick is likely more flexible when it comes accommodating others in his space, but Tom has had small children and Sarah, even if they’ve been divorced for over six years, feels he should be more accommodating when he wants Maverick there in his space so badly. It’s when Maverick is deployed and Tom misses him like a limb, that he realizes not only did he make the right call, but that he’s adjusted to having Maverick there just fine.

                “Ice! I can’t find the oil.”

                Tom sighs, pushes himself back from his desk and heads for the yelling voice coming from the direction of the garage. Because he knows exactly where it is, however if he ever needs to hide something from Maverick on purpose all he’s ever going to have to do is put it about eighteen inches above his sight-line and he’ll be golden. He reaches up and picks up the bottle easily, handing it to Pete and giving him a quick kiss while he has him there, pressed up against the work bench. Pete in jeans, white t-shirt, hot, sweaty and streaked with grease is definitely up there with views he likes to appreciate. And it’s finally where it belongs.

                “What’s it doing all the way up there?”

                “Because I have children who are curious and it’s easier to keep it up there than put child-locks on all my cupboards.”

                “Oh. Yeah that makes sense. Thanks.”

                Tom turns around and his eyebrows go up.

                “Are you changing my oil too?”

                “Yeah, of course. Only made sense to do everything at once. You said you didn’t have any plans to go out.”

                “No, no, I don’t, it’s fine. Just… thank you.”

                “You’re welcome.”

                It’s small things like that which make him appreciate how Maverick just envelopes Tom into his life, like the way he has a hot drink waiting for him at ten every weekend morning. How his uniform now gets to and from the drycleaners without him actually doing it. The first time he’d worried it had been lost, but instead Pete had just said he’d dropped it off. Then he’d picked up groceries. Now they either cook together, or he comes home to a cooked meal, or he cooks when Mav is running late and it’s so domestic and novel and he never thought he’d get to have this. Not with someone he loves as much as he loves Maverick.

                He goes back to his study, still has too much paperwork to read through but his car is getting its needed oil change, a cup of coffee will appear at ten without him doing anything, the girls will be here before lunch and to spend the night and he feels so lucky, that he’s somehow managed the impossible. The doorbell rings and he stands to go and answer it, opens it to find Admiral Paul Dawkinson standing there and he smiles blandly. There goes his good mood.

                “Paul, hello. Can I help you?”

                “Tom. Sorry to bother you at home,” Paul says, and Tom knows he’s not sorry at all. “I was wondering if you had the folder about the Iranian and Russian uranium deal?”

                “Yes. Finished reading it last night actually. Come in and I’ll get it for you,” Tom says, wondering if he has to offer him a drink as Paul follows him back to his office. He’ll give him the file and then offer, see if he really wants to linger. Of course that’s when Maverick walks in with his cup of coffee, his face going from soft to brittle as he takes in Dawkinson and Tom can’t even roll his eyes, just keeps his expression impassive as he thanks Mav for the cup of coffee.

                “Did you want a cup Admiral Dawkinson?”

                “No, thank you. I just came for a file.”

                Maverick leaves and Tom wishes he could follow him, instead fishes out the file from his locked briefcase and passes it over.

                “Captain Mitchell is here.”

                Tom’s immediate response is to stiffen, which is probably the worst thing he can do and he forces himself to relax and remain indifferent.

                “Yes, he’s currently tinkering away in the garage on his bike and my car. Was there something I could help you with?” Tom asks, because he is not at work right now, is not in uniform, and he doesn’t actually respect Admiral Dawkinson as much as people likely think he does.

                “Is Captain Mitchell here often?”

                “Maverick has a house he shares with his godson, however with both of them often away they both prefer to stay here, rather than stay alone,” Tom states, which is a slight stretch, because this is Bradley’s home, maybe more than the other house. “He does stay here most nights. Easier to cook for two,” Tom states. He will outright lie if he has to, but he’s also been making contingency plans and collecting his own information for years. He knows exactly what he can and cannot say around this subject.

                “Hmm. Interesting.”

                “Daddy!”

                Oh thank fuck. He doesn’t say the words out loud of course, but he feels the little body of Petra collide with his side, followed by the much taller body of Tamsin, both hugging him tightly and he places kisses to the tops of both their heads.

                “Is Papa here?” Petra asks and Tom smiles and nods.

                Oh fuck. Dawkinson is watching everything with a shrewd eye, and Tom has to admit it is pretty damning right now. But he cannot snap at his daughter, not for something which is not her fault in the slightest.

                “He’s out in the garage making a mess.”

                Petra runs off, whereas Tamsin makes a beeline for the piano, immediately starting to pluck out a tune because she wants to impress Bradley next time he’s home.

                “Tom? The door was open… Oh, hello.”

                “Hi. Sarah, this is Admiral Dawkinson. Paul, my ex-wife Sarah Kazansky.”

                “Mrs Kazansky.”

                “Sarah, please. Nice to meet you Admiral. Did I hear you say that Pete’s here? That’ll save me a trip to his place if he is. I have some of his and Bradley’s things in the trunk of the car.”

                He loves his ex-wife so much right now, her reading of the situation and immediate improvisation. He needs to send her and Melissa out for a romantic dinner.

                “Do you want a hand? Pete can take them home later.”

                “Yes please. I stupidly offered to fix one shirt of Bradley’s. That somehow ended up changing to hemming four pairs of pants for Pete and seven shirts. I think Bradley chews his buttons.”

                “Bradley is twenty-three. He should be fixing his own damn shirts.”

                “And Pete should probably be hemming his own pants. But it’s a fair trade if I never have to pay someone to change my oil.”

                He starts following Sarah back out to her car, and Dawkinson follows.

                “Sorry Paul. Family. You know how it is. Was there anything else I could help you with?”

                “No. Nothing else. Thank you Tom.”

                Unease prickles in his gut, but he has contingency plans in place, and he has friends in high places, friends who he is pretty sure know exactly the nature of his relationship with Maverick and simply do not give a fuck.

…             …             …

                Sure enough Monday morning he’s called into Admiral Austin’s office and he looks resigned but also a little annoyed.

                “Tom, have a seat. I just wanted to run something by you. As a hypothetical situation.”

                Okay, so that’s how it’s going to play out. He forces himself to relax and unbuttons the bottom button of his jacket before he sits down. The fact that David has called him Tom makes him feel a little more confident that while he’s effectively been called into the principal’s office, the principal is actually on his side. Dawkinson is sitting there looking very fucking smug and Tom keeps his expression completely impassive and uncaring.

                “How can I help sir?”

                “Just seeking your guidance on what you would do if you found out, or suspected, that someone in the Navy was homosexual.”

                “Sir?”

                “Just humor me. Run me through what you would do.”

                “Well, I’d have to be very certain sir. I’d either have to have had them admit it outright, or caught them in a situation that was irrefutable to my own eyes.”

                “And if someone came to you with such a belief?”

                “Well sir, it’s a very serious allegation to throw around. I would be very hesitant to take anyone else’s word. I would need to see the evidence myself, not second hand at all.”

                “Go on.”

                “This is because it will be a case of he said, she said,” Tom states calmly, but there is ice in his veins as he talks. People talk about burning bridges and salting the earth, but he knows his approach can be just as terrifying. “You need to consider what evidence you have. Years of service of the person concerned, who you’re going to accuse. Credible information needs to be ironclad, otherwise you’re in danger of reprisal. Or a court case.”

                “The policy is not just don’t ask, don’t tell. But also don’t harass and don’t pursue. If I were to attempt to gather information I would be in breach of that policy. I would also be asking myself if I have all the information at hand. Are there extenuating circumstances which might be going on which I have no knowledge of? If the information has been brought to me second hand I would also need to consider if there was a personal vendetta between the accused and the person accusing them. Also I’d want to know if the person identified is doing irreparable damage to the Navy. Because for me the reputation and protection of the people are paramount.”

                “Interesting points. Anything else?”

                “While considering their years of service I would also consider the potential possibility that their commanding officers have been or are aware and have simply ignored it due to how the person does their job. Or other people higher up in the chain of command might have knowledge. Then it would be my own job on the line if they were deemed more important than me.” He takes a quick chance then to glance across at Dawkinson and the man is staring at him, looking paler than he was and Tom settles into his chair a little.

                “Do they do their job well, Admiral Austin?”

                “Exemplary.”

                “Have they ever acted in a way which would bring the Navy into disrepute?”

                “No. Never.”

                “Do you trust their judgement?”

                “With regards to everything for the Navy and United States? Yes.”

                “Now, after you have taken all of that into consideration and still wish to move forward, then you need to consider your own situation. Often when someone starts casting stones, they themselves are then looked at more closely. And gambling debts or extra-marital affairs need to be… carefully hidden from view to ensure that you yourself aren’t dragged into anything. Hypothetically of course, sir.”

                “Of course,” Admiral Austin says, and his face is calm and unmoving but Tom has known him for years and the slight twitch of his eye tells him he’s hiding his amusement very well. “Well Admiral Dawkinson, I hope you found that helpful getting a third set of eyes on the issue.”

                “Yes sir.”

                “You’re both dismissed.”

…             …             …

                “Hey, you’re quieter than usual. Everything okay?”

                “Yeah, just a really rough day at work. I love you.”

                “Love you too.”

…             …             …

                Bradley graduates from flight school and he can’t help smiling every time he glances down and sees the wings. Which is pretty often, because he can’t believe that they’re finally there. Like when he graduate from USNA, there are a handful of people there to watch him, all in uniform and with them are also Ice and Maverick, and he introduces them to the friends he’s made, the very small handful who he’s let into his inner circle. Natasha, Sandy, Callie and Billy. They either don’t care about who Bradley’s family is, or they care and it just doesn’t factor into how they treat Bradley.

                By share luck of the draw he’s home for Tamsin’s tenth birthday. She’s opinionated and serious with it, she despairs of her parents and he wonders if she’s hitting the teenage years early or if she’s going to become even more despairing and rebellious. He loves it, the conversations he can have with her now, because she at least thinks that he’s cool and worth her time. Sometimes Maverick falls into that category, but at twenty-four Bradley is definitely the cool older brother. He drops her and Petra off at school, walks them in and introduces himself to the teachers. Petra has started copying Tamsin, saying she’s old enough to do certain things by herself, and sometimes Bradley has to wonder if it’s just Mav’s blood running true because she is an absolute firecracker, to put it nicely. Hellion would be another word. He’s very glad he’s not got any desire to have kids, although Ice’s lips twitch when he voices that opinion out loud.

                He enjoys every moment with them though, he has his first deployment at the beginning of December and he won’t be home for Christmas and he will never take his loved ones fore granted when he knows how easily they can be taken from him. Or him from them he realizes, and he thinks back to the conversation he had with Mav and Ice, about how his mom didn’t want him to become a pilot and…

                Oh shit…

                If he dies then he’s going to leave behind Mav, and Ice, and Tamsin and Petra.

                The people he wants to protect but will hurt the most if he fails.

CHAPTER EIGHT

[katiekatdragon27]

To my other followers: I am so sorry.

To my two new followers: *comes out with silver platter* Here! Eat uuuuupppp~~~~

This! *slams fists on table then slams face on table* This GODFORSAKEN MOVIE HAS ALTERED MY BRAIN CHEMISTRY I'M NOT JOKING.

I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT KIND OF "RECLAIMING MY CHILDHOOD TRAUMA" MINDEST MY BRAIN WAS ON BUT THE OBSESSION WITH THIS PIECE IF MEDIA IS ACTUALLY SCARING ME-

Most stuff below. Lots of rambling.

So. Flatland. It's a good book, and an amazing f*cking movie. I love this goddamned movie so much bro. It's not even like a "good" good movie I just really like it for no reason.

Some lore I have with this book, since I want to talk about it.

I watched this movie the first time when I was in 6th grade. It scared me so bad that I had nightmares about it for a week. I hated the style of the 2D world and was so scared about the amount of murder that I psychologically blocked it all out.

Now in the present (as an adult in college), my friend brought up the movie for us to watch during a movie night. I was way more excited to watch it than I thought I would be (cuz of my previous encounter with it and wanting to "reclaim" the movie), but we only got 4 minutes in before my other friends got bored and decided to watch something else. I sorta dropped it for a bit after that before @/goosesartblog posted their ONE - Flatland crossover and 10000 emotions flew over me. I then proceeded to watch it with my siblings, who also did not care about the movie.

Now, it has become a lifestyle of watching it every single day. Every. Single. Day. It's bad. I can't stop.

And it's on YouTube for free.

AND the book is on YouTube as an audiobook AND the actual PDF book is just there to read.

PLEASE. I NEED PEOPLE TO NOT BE NORMAL WITH ME.

Anyways, actual relevant doodles. These characters are A. Sphere (the objectively best character idgaf) and Carlton Cube(?). I saw something about them being John-locked and thought it was really funny. Also, I saw a meme about the two getting Starbucks or smth during the week I lingered, so here lol.

Some more doodles of concept stuff. Actual A. Square art and some style testing, Hex doodle, and more A. Sphere bc I love him so much. His ass is gay idk if you think I'm wrong just look at him.

Silly little idea I had about if Spherious *(the sphere from the other Flatland movie) and A. Sphere were in the same universe. It's unlikely, but I think Spherious would be the Messiah of 2000 and A. Sphere is the Messiah of 3000. They met at some point where their lives overlapped, and Spherious tried to give A. Sphere advice, to which he was completely ignored. A. Sphere's a bratty teen here and Spherious is a grandpa. They treat their apostles very differently.

Another silly idea I had was that when A. Sphere "died", he was actually picked up by a 4D being named A. Tesseract. He stays with her until the war is over in his dimension, and he is able to see A. Square one last time during his hallucination (that's why A. Sphere's innards are seen). Also also, A. Sphere learns how to treat people better b/c of A. Tesseract and the 4th dimensions' more liberal views on expression and gender. Development for the stupid shiny solid.

Thank you for looking at this mindless rambling. If anyone knows of more Flatland media, please send it to me I'm starving. Expect more, and have a great day :)

[gothamnewsnetwork-official]

Opinion Hour - Dick Grayson’s fursona; improved?

The opinions voiced in this article may not reflect the opinions of the journal

Hello readers, once again I have returned with another overview and review on the eldest Wayne son, Richard ‘Dick’ Grayson’s ( @notnotnightwing ) (see related articles), fursona design and characterization (see related posts).

As per my previous articles on the subject of the Wayne’s and their fursonas (see related posts), I will be giving my two cents on the matter as well as the professional opinion of my trusted colleague and expert in fursona design (see related articles), though they will remain anonymous.

On top of this I have instructed this journal, which I would like to thank for providing me a platform, to interview Mr. Grayson on his thought process behind this new redesign.

Given Mr. Graysons apparent frustration at the previous reviews of his anthropomorphic character (see related articles), this reporter sincerely hopes he has given ample thought to his new design.

Without further ado, let’s take a look at this (hopefully improved) fursona -

To begin, there are several changes from his earlier designs to note;

The inclusion of what appears to be top-surgery scars (see related articles) on the characters chest and a more defined under-coat (see related articles), aka the section of fur on the anthro’s stomach.

There also seems to be more piercings and general expression in these designs, something we commend Mr. Grayson for as his prior art lacked further emotion for the character.

This reporter also finds it prudent to note the change in style from his previous design, and how it helps further the characterization of the anthro, something akin to late 1990’s/early 2000’s emo and scene fashion (see related articles).

I was able to, once again, reach out to the fursona design and psychology (see related articles) expert to ask for their opinion on this new design. Here is what they had to say -

“Good development, [I] like the scars. Very 00’s skaterboy energy but in the best way possible. Can def see more personality in it now.

Main downside is just the 3 facial piercing things, they kinda make it look stuffy, ya know? 7.5/10”

This reporter is still inclined to agree, though I’d lean the ranking closer to an 8/10 for the inclusion of multiple angles and facial expressions.

(interview cont. by Gotham Reports)

As requested by the anonymous journalist, we sent our intern to interview Mr. Grayson on this fursona in order to get a better picture of who this anthro is. This is what he had to say -

“ Q: What is the characters age, name, and pronouns? ”

“ A: Cosmo, 28, he/him they/them. ”

“ Q: And what time period is he from? 90’s, 00’s, 10’s? ”

“ A: 2010’s I guess. ”

“ Q: Are the scars on his chest top-surgery scars or simply there for decoration? ”

“ A: Top Surgery ”

“ Q: Lastly, in what ways does Cosmo reflect you [Mr. Grayson]; their creator? ”

“ A: The trans stuff, duh, how they act..what they say and do. Well, did.

I try not to do any of that stuff anymore at least...And I do have some of the piercings that they have, and some that I haven't shown.

But yeah, some of the stuff that they do I did in the past. And how their mindset works. ”

We can only assume this is referencing the smoking habit and seeming self-deprecating view of himself that Cosmo holds.

When asked what he would like to say to the anonymous journalist who has been responsible for these past reviews, he responded as follows -

“ FUCK YOU COSMO IS PEAK ”

All in all we hope both Mr. Grayson and the public are satisfied with this, hopefully final, part in the story of the Wayne’s and their various fursona’s.

Let us know your thoughts on the topic (here)

Gotham Reports is certified in unbiased, reliable, and fair reporting

See further images and comparisons of Cosmo and previous iterations (here)

[myloveforhergoeson]

i really think one of the craziest parts of btrtv was their school situation like. yeah we never see them in school after the second season but in theory they were getting an education and i simply think the writers handled it in the only way they could. let me explain.

typically young people in the entertainment industry are schooled either through the company they work for or through their parents. obviously, since btrtv was aimed at a younger audience they couldn't just not have the boys go to school - what kind of example would that set for the viewers? moving to hollywood equals never having to learn again?

while i was thinking about this topic earlier i was trying to come up with some different ways the show could have gone about this but managed only a few examples:

jennifer could homeschool them. but when? she's barely at the apartment as is and would have to juggle two different curriculums, one for the boys and one for katie. we already know thanks to bt school of rocque she also isn't caught up on modern schooling practices. plus i feel like, though she is their mother in many ways, she'd have difficulty controlling those 5 for 4 straight hours. i feel like they'd always be able to convince her to run off on a tangent instead of actually teaching them anything. next!

the boys could have been enrolled in regular high school. in theory, this would work for maybe a few months. until their first tour at the very least but after that i believe it would likely be dangerous for them to leave the sanctity of the palm woods or rocque records and venture out into the real world. while this could open up plotlines like people only wanting to be friends with them for their fame, crazy fans finding out where they learn, the boys being in trouble for being a genuine safety risk to other students when the paps follow them to school... seemed like more trouble than it's worth! also pretty similar to the plot of jonas which was airing at the same time on disney channel. next!

school at rocque records... had potential i believe. if gustavo had put the proper amount of funding to a quality space and quality teachers, i think the boys would have (aside from generally hating school) been alright there. while not ideal, it could have served it's purpose for the whole four hours they'd have to spend in school. it's very similar to how most industry kids learn now. in addition, they could have worked hard to graduate early, as many industry kids do, but i also believe this would have been a hard plot point to achieve. overall, i'd rank this option pretty high for the guys - it could have had everything they needed, except for the socialization they so desperately craved. next!

online school? in the early 2000's? yeah right. next!

this brings us to what i see as the final option, being of course, school at the palm woods. while not ideal, it does serve all of the boys needs to the best of the writers abilities. i do, however, feel the need to speak on the quality of education they are being granted. no shade to miss collins, i know that poor woman is doing her best and juggling probably six or seven grades worth of curriculum in her classroom, but as someone who was in a split grade class (4/5 when i was in 4th grade, 5/6 when i was in 5th grade!) i can assure you she was not giving her full attention to any of the grade levels she was trying to teach. i'm so sorry they set you up for failure queen.

while this probably worked out in the end for the guys (logan can snatch all A's and look amazing on college/med school applications and his friends could just coast by on the grades they need to pass) i think the episode in which they come back from tour and earn their final grades speaks the most to the education they're afforded. no way they (logan really) did weeks worth of work in one afternoon and earned straight c's lol. hope the band lasts forever and ever and ever after btrtv ends because if not... yikes.

but at the same time... i think this was the best option for schooling both from a writers perspective and the band's needs! socialization, check! normal school events like dancing, check! adequate enough education (how much do they really learn in four hours anyway?), check! it always fits into their working schedules. and it's union-approved! while not ideal, at the very least it's something.

in all, good luck boys! hope miss collins offers some office hours if you ever have questions... maybe there's a reason we never got to see them graduate <3

[marzipanandminutiae]

you know, everyone talks about “being a teen in the 2000s!” in terms of being either the Wannabe Buffy Extra period (teen c. 2000-2005) or the most mainstream, popular styles of the broader 2000-2010 span

but personally I would like to raise a glass to the YA Literature Golden Agers. my fellow 2006-2011 teenagers who made “dramatic nerd” our entire personalities and were...actually weirdly catered to by adults about that? at least, adults who wanted our money and/or were just happy that The Youths Were Finally Reading

teens reading this, if your local library has a YA section, thank us. (especially if there’s also manga. adults weren’t entirely sure what manga was at the time, but they knew it was Hot With The Youths, so they were determined to get onboard. anything to ride the wave of kids suddenly wanting to spend time in libraries again)

if you ever followed an author’s LiveJournal, you know what I’m talking about. if you ever took style cues from a book with any sort of Dark Angsty Faeries In A City theme. if you had any sort of DFTBA or Pizza John merch in your high school or college days. if you ever had to spend a whole evening explaining your Halloween costume, starting with “so there’s this book about [angels/demons/werewolves/vampires/faeries]...” if you ever read a classic novel just because your favorite Deep, Emotional Teen Protagonist quoted it that one time.

it’s all well and good to be nostalgic for Hollister cologne and Fergie, but spare a thought for those of us with cheap Ren Faire patchouli oil and the three Within Temptation songs we heard in every fanvid ever

[snowdropluck204]

Sweetness - Sweet Pea x Fem! Reader

Hello my lovelies! I'm not sure if this fandom is even alive anymore... at least not the Sweet Pea love, but I hope the people who find this story might like it? Just to make sure, Trigger Warning! For anyone who is triggered by the following; Death, illness, gang related activity, injury, guns or knives - Please read this book with caution, there will most likely be mentions of at least one of these in each chapter, but I will give a proper warning for any scenes that detail these events!

Thank you my lovelies (Also, I'm not sure when exactly the series takes place, so be gentle with my dates please!), and enjoy the chapter! Xxx __________________________

July 1999,

Dear diary,

I used to think that Riverdale was the safest place for me, Ricky always had my back, someone I could always trust, someone who loved me and that I adored. And now he's gone.

Ricky was a badass! He was an angel of death and was a big deal in the Serpents, he died protecting his friend! He was so young... He was in the hospital for days, I still think they could have saved him, they chose not to! They saw the snake on his shoulder and chose to give him the bare minimum help!!

Screw this town. Screw the Ghoulies. Screw the Northside. The Southside.

I can't help but feel selfish now. Thinking about myself and what I'm going to do with Peanut. Sure they were a surprise, but they were a welcome one. Ricky was so excited about you, little one. He would have spoiled you rotten.

I know that the Serpents would have taken care of us, F.P is definitely going to be named Godfather now, but they aren't Ricky. And everything in this damn town reminds me of him, of what he was. So I'm leaving. My parents are moving with us out of town, as far away as we can.

I love you so so much Peanut, and I'm hoping one day you'll be a nosy little shit like your dad and find these entries one day, it will be much less painful than telling you his story myself.

Until I meet you, Kathryn (aka mama)

________________________________

February 2000

Dear Ricky,

She's here. She's beautiful. Ten fingers and ten toes, I named her (y/n), the name you wanted, it just seemed perfect for her. I'm going to love her and protect her the way you would have. I've written to F.P, letting him know that he has a happy, healthy god-daughter. I wasn't convinced about him being her godfather, but it's a bit difficult to argue with you now, huh?

Don't think I'm going to let her forget how painful it was getting her out of me though! If this kid ever gives me sass, I'm going to tell her they nearly had to cut her out of me so she can zip it!

I wish you could see her, I was so worried when she first arrived, she didn't make a sound. She hasn't cried since. She just sort of scrunches up her face when she wants something, sort of the way you did when I refused your kisses.

I hope she winds up keeping your eye colour, the gorgeous (e/c). Most people who lose someone say they can't bear to look at others that look like their loved ones. But your eyes, were my everything. My slice of heaven. My oasis. She has my nose, I want her to have your eyes.

I love you Ricky,

Kathryn

________________________________

December 2015

Dear Diary,

It's been a while huh? Being a parent is a bit of a full time job I guess! But (y/n) is beginning to suspect that I'm hiding something from her, she sees me getting weaker, she can tell I'm going places without her. How am I supposed to tell her that I'm running off to the Oncology department a few times a week...?

I want to tell her, desperately. I hate hiding this from her, she's seen me getting weaker for years, she's been taking care of me, ditching school to make sure I'm okay for fuck's sake! She's my angel, she means everything to me.

I can't hide it from her any longer, I'm going to tell her tonight over dinner.

Wish me luck,

Kathryn

________________________________

August 2017

Dear Peanut,

I'm sorry it has to go this way, believe me, if I could have stayed longer I would have, but you wouldn't have wanted that. You need to live your life without having to worry about me, follow your dreams without me holding you back.

I love you so so much (y/n), but I think we both know its time for me. This is the hardest thing I have ever written, and I hope you can forgive me.

With this letter, I have left you a folder, it's just dumb legal bullshit really, but I think there are some things in there that you'll like. I know you found your dad's old recipe books, you and him were so alike my darling.

Hopefully, the stuff in the folder will help you, please don't mourn too long, live your life for me, for your dad.

I love you more than words can say.

Be a good girl (y/n).

Love mama

________________________________

Patient Name: Rick (l/n) Age: 24 Status: Deceased Reason for Admittance: Stab wound Cause of Injury: Gang Fight

Treatment: Patient was admitted with a stab between the second and third ribs (left) at approximately two AM. Patient was given steroids and antibiotics to avoid infection. The wound was more severe than originally believed, the left lung had been punctured. Patient was lost in surgery.

________________________________

Seeing all the memories that I spent the last month avoiding was harder than I had expected. If I thought it was difficult holding my mother's hand as she fought through the cancer and eventually as she passed away, I wasn't prepared for the feeling of resurfacing memories. Mama's lawyer had handed me a large brown folder, a solemn look on his face, struggling to think of something to say to the girl who was now an orphan.

I left the folder in a draw of my dresser after I'd got home, the house felt so empty without her around. Even when she was weak, my mama lit up the room she was in. She was happy and, as cliche and now untrue as it was to say, full of life. Now the house felt cold and dead. My mama was my best friend, my closest confidante, she hasn't been gone an hour and I was already so lost. The worst part was, when I felt this lost, I spoke to my mother.

I went to my mama's room, followed by our dog. I had found him in the park when I was younger, he was just a puppy, I begged and pleaded with mama to keep him, after a pretty big temper tantrum, she finally gave in. Sonic wasn't a puppy anymore, he was nine years old and huge! Mama liked him eventually, when he began exhibiting guarding behaviour, feeling more comfortable with him as a guard dog, a big Rottweiler cross that looked like her came straight from guarding Hades.

Sitting on her bed as carefully as I could, I thought about how strange it was, that everything still was the same, the day was a beautiful, blue sky, the house still looked the same. I contemplated opening the folder now, but it was too hard to think about. Instead, I curled up in the bed sheets, humming a lullaby my mama used to sing, until I fell asleep.

But now I was reading the files. It was a lot of suppressed pain that had suddenly bubbled its way to the surface. My heart felt like someone had taken a hammer to it, there was a photo album full of pictures of me and mama, even some of her and my dad, when they were in high school. I never knew my dad, now I knew why.

Mama had told me he had died, she had just never told me how. Now I knew, someone in a gang had murdered my father. But the diary entries mama had written, my dad was in a gang as well. He died, for another gang member. F.P Jones.

I'd seen the name in the folder too, he was listed as my legal guardian, my godfather, on my birth certificate. I'm not sure just how much I was interested in hunting this guy down, yes he was the person that my parents trusted enough to be my legal guardian, but he was also the person my father took a knife for...

Anyway, I began enjoying myself, looking through all of the pictures of my parents, I even smiled a few times at the pictures of mama and I. The smile faded into confusion when a few certificates and documents were mixed into the nostalgia. Leafing through the documents, I was shocked to find deeds. Specifically to my inheritance and to the house my parents had bought, before dad died. Mama did say she wanted to move away when he'd passed.

Away from Riverdale... ________________________________

The house was bigger than I had expected, a two story suburban dream house, sure it was a bit worse for wear, the wood panelling had chipped paint, some of the windows were so filthy I couldn't see through them and the porch was most definitely a health hazard, but that just meant I had something to distract myself with.

Unfortunately for the house, it would have to wait for some TLC, I was already on my way a few streets down, Sonic trailing behind me, to a separate building, one that my parents had left me money to be able to purchase. It was small, but I knew as soon as I'd seen it, I loved it. It had been my dream since I was a little girl to run my own bakery. I loved cooking and food as much as my father had seemingly.

Mama was right in her diary, I had found dad's old recipe books when I was five, I used a lot of the recipes to learn how to cook, and even more of them because they were claimed as healthy, I was a kid, I thought that because an adult deemed it good, it would make her better. It didn't, but I remember mama's face when I eventually fessed up about snooping through dad's stuff.

Dad had a lot of baked goods in his books, I even managed to tweak a few of them, but he never got to have a place of his own, I was looking forward to this. I would be dedicating my life to something I wanted to do, but also to my parents, forming a legacy I hoped they would be proud of.

My future bakery looked a lot worse than the house did, that was putting it lightly, the windows were smashed, glass was everywhere, the door was practically falling off its hinges and the bricks looked like they had been whacked with a battering ram! Although, the most confusing part about the building, was the old woman sitting on the bench outside, staring at the 'Sold' sign in the window of the door.

I walked up to the woman, cautiously, clearing my throat to avoid startling her, "Excuse me?" I asked, seeing her turn her head to face me, a small smile on her face.

"Oh, sorry dear," She began, struggling to get to her feet, I hurried to offer her a hand, Sonic herding around her knees. "Thank you, such a lovely girl! Oh, and dog!" I smiled at her, curious as to the people my age around here, she seemed surprised I offered to help her, what were the other teenagers like here?

"What were you doing sitting in the cold, all on your own?" I asked, trying not to sound too suspicious, the old woman sighed, staring up at the dilapidated building once more.

The woman smiled, wistful, "This used to be my husband's business." She told me, "He passed on quite long ago now, but he loved this place." She placed a hand lightly against the bricks, I smiled at the woman.

"I'm sorry for your loss," I replied, seeing her nodding in response, "Actually, I own this building now, I'm about to start working on it," I told her, hoping she wouldn't be upset with me.

To my surprise, she grinned widely, clapping her hands in excitement, "Oh, that's wonderful news! I'll be delighted to see the old place back to its former glory!" She cheered. "I'm Ruthie, but such a sweet soul like you can call me Granny, if you'd like, all the other kids in town do!"

I took her hand for a shake, shocked at how strong her grip was, for an old woman, she sure had some muscles! And that was the start of a very odd relationship between the two of us.

Granny was lovely, for the first few days, she would pop by to give me lunch and some hot chocolate, saying that I needed the sugar and some 'pep in my step', but then one day, she picked up a saw, beginning to saw planks for me to use. She helped a lot with the renovation of the bakery, we even kept the name that her husband had used for it, Ray's. We did modify it slightly, now it was Rays, as in 'Ray of Sunshine', but still remembering her husband, Raymond. ________________________________

With the place up and running, I had to force Granny to take a break, in return, we had to make a deal, she could have as many free bakery goodies she wanted, and she would cover the shifts I couldn't make because of school. I was so excited for this, today was the grand opening! Unlike in movies and TV shows, I didn't make a huge deal out of it, even if I was positively buzzing! I didn't deck the place out with banners and balloons, instead, I just flipped the sign on the door and went back to baking, I was gonna let the open windows bring people in.

I was kind of worried about the area, especially considering I'd left my scary teddy bear at home, Sonic would have just gotten stressed each time the door opened. But apparently the Southside of town had a pretty bad reputation, most of the place was pretty run down compared to the preppy, expensive Northside, and was riddled with gang activity...

It had been a couple of hours and I was getting bored! I let my eyes wander around the walls of Rays, the glossy, white brick walls reflecting the florescent lights. All the industrial ovens, mixers and fridges were pretty high-grade, but they weren't the things I loved the most.

Next to the coffee machine, were two framed pictures, one of my parents, happy in their high school days, the other, a black and white photo of Granny and Ray, happy in their own. I was brought out of my reverie by the timer on the oven, pushing off of the counter to the kitchen, pulling the cupcakes out of the oven, relishing in the sweet smell of freshly baked cake.

I felt my heart swell with excitement when I heard the bell above the door ringing, we finally had customers! Quickly, but carefully, cause it was blisteringly hot, I set down the tray of cupcakes on the metal decorating tables, wiping my hands on my apron.

Walking back around to the main shop, I saw three teenagers, probably around my age, two guys and a girl. The guys were staring at the display case, their eyes practically sparkling, it was rather strange to see. One of the boys was quite tall, leaning on the display case, the other was significantly shorter, pressing his hands to the front of the glass. The girl on the other hand was gazing around the room, smiling, her most outstanding feature was her bright pink hair, all three of them were decked out in leather jackets and flannel.

A relaxed smile made its way onto my face, "Hey you guys, what can I get ya?" I asked cheerfully, a bounce in my step. The guys hardly looked up from the display case, the girl shaking her head at them disapprovingly.

"Hey, never seen this place before," The girl said, nodding at the door. I smiled and nodded understandingly.

"Yeah, we only just opened today! We've spent the last few weeks renovating this place!" I told her, offering her a hand to shake. "I'm (y/n), sort of new to town," I told her.

She took my hand, strong grip, something that most of the people here seemed to have. "Toni, congrats on opening! Sorry about those two, usually they're not this rude... Shorty is Fangs, the giant is Sweet Pea." She said, causing me to giggle.

"It's cool, I remember going to places like this when I was a kid and being starstruck by all the pretty cakes, not to mention the fact that there were way to many options!" I joked, happy when Toni laughed with me.

Seeming to wake up from the glutton induced trance they were in, Sweet Pea and Fangs looked up, only now realising there was a second party in the room.

The shorter guy, Fangs, looked at me in awe, "Did you make all these?" He asked, pointing at the goodies, I nodded in response, proud that they seemed to like the look of them, I only hoped that they liked the taste.

"Sure did! Would you guys like to try something, no charge! I need some guinea pigs!" I said, giving a cheeky smirk. The boys shared an excited look, fully prepared to say yes, when Toni interrupted them.

"You only just opened, we can't just take from your stock, at least let us pay for them!" She protested, I smiled kindly at her, it was very sweet of her to consider the business aspect, it was pretty important, but it wasn't why I started this! I wanted people to enjoy my food!

"No worries! You guys are the first people to come in today, well, ever! It would be good to have some feedback about some stuff, if it really bothers you, then feel free to come back another time and buy something? For now! I'll set up a sample plate!" I told her, not giving her time to argue.

I put together a large plate of lots of different things, cupcakes, cookies, pies, tarts, cakes, pastries and some drinks, bringing them over to one of the tables on the shop floor. I'll be honest, it was rather funny seeing these edgy teens sitting in my pastel bakery, I offered them seats before taking one myself.

Sweet Pea and Fangs were practically giddy, getting their hands smacked by Toni as they tried to grab some of the sugary treats. "Hey! If (y/n) wants feedback, you can't just shovel it into your faces! Have some manners, damn who raised you two?" She muttered.

I chuckled, "It's fine, go ahead, maybe start with the cookies? They should still be warm from the oven!" I told them, pointing at the chocolate chip cookies, a simple classic.

They each took a bit, their eyes widening as they bit into the warm, gooey chocolate. "Oh my god." Fangs muttered, his mouth full.

"These are amazing," Sweet Pea added, taking another bite.

I clapped my hands slightly, "Yay! I'm so happy you guys like them," Toni nodding along, giving me some info that was actually really useful. We let the boys keep trying the goodies as we settled into conversation.

"So why did you and your family move to Riverdale, we're not exactly a tourist destination," Toni joked, gazing out of the window at the run down streets of the Southside, "Your bakery is probably the nicest thing to be in this side of town for decades..."

My face soured into a sad smile, "Um, it's just me actually, my parents have both passed away, but they used to live in Riverdale before I was born, they left me a house in the Southside." I told her quietly, looking down as tears began too well in my eyes, already beginning to flood my face. I let out a choked laugh, "I'm so sorry, I never cry, this is so strange..."

I wiped my face, feeling my cheeks burn, I can't believe one of the rare times I cry and it's in public. Hearing the chairs scrape against the floor, I thought Toni, Sweet Pea and Fangs were saving me the humiliation and leaving me to my tears. Instead, I felt a gentle hand cup my own and sudden large hands resting on my shoulders and knee.

Looking up confused, I saw a soft smile on Toni's lips, as well as Sweet Pea, kneeling beside my chair, his hand on my knee, leading me to believe that it was Fangs' hands on my shoulders.

Sweet Pea, though he wasn't smiling, had a soft look in his eyes, "All of us have lost someone, we get it. You don't have to be strong all the time, we got your back now." He told me, keeping his voice quiet. I looked into his deep brown eyes, wiping my cheeks and smiling at him.

"Thanks, you guys are being so kind to me, you don't even know me," I chuckled.

They laughed with me, "I mean, you gave us free sweets and you don't know us," Toni joked. We once again, fell into relaxed conversation, the guys joining in this time, whilst still snacking on pastries.

Fangs looked over at me, "So, if I can ask... Who were your parents? If they lived here, maybe someone knew them?" He asked, cautiously, probably trying not to set me off again.

"Rick and Kathryn (l/n)." I told them, playing with the straw in my drink, noting how quiet the three had gotten.

Looking up, I saw them all looking at me like they'd seen a ghost, "What?" I asked.

Sharing glances, they seemed to be mentally arguing about who was going to tell me.

"Spit it out, you guys, I thought we were friends now?" I muttered, trying to guilt them into just telling me.

Sweet Pea sighed, "We know your parents, or really, we know of them..." I looked at him confused, gesturing for him to continue.

"Your dad is a Serpent legend! He died saving F.P, he's kind of the boss now. His picture's been in pretty much every Serpent hangout since we before we all joined." He finished.

I smiled at them, clearly not the reaction they were expecting.

"Thank you, for keeping his memory alive, I'd love to meet some of the Serpents that knew him, I only found out what happened to him about a month ago, mama didn't really like talking about it."

Once again, the conversation started up, but, once again, was interrupted. This time, by Sonic, barking outside the bakery, freaking out the Serpents into standing up, "It's okay, he's my dog! Something must have happened, I left him in the house..." I told them, grabbing the keys to the bakery and rushing out to follow Sonic back to the house, Toni, Sweet Pea and Fangs following close behind.

________________________________

So I'm going to end the chapter there! I hope you guys enjoyed it! I based a few characters off of my family... My mum and dog for example... Anyway! I love you guys, see you soon, hopefully! Xxx

[hollygl125]

On rabbit holes and fanfic (in my own life):

*This is a note I wrote for AO3/FFN, but I’ve been meaning for a while to write a post on how I—a member of the Oregon Trail generation—wound up signing up for Tumblr in January 2022, and this kind of hints at that, so I thought I might as well share it here, too.*

What follows is a TMI note on why I can’t make any promises on when the next chapter of this story will be up; please read or don’t, as pleases you.  I would like to state first, though, what I also state at the bottom of this note: thank you so, so, so very much for reading; your kind support means more than I can tell you.

So, I’m, ah… not very good at all this.

Two years ago now, as I was doing a “CSI as love story” rewatch and falling far, far, far down the GSR rabbit hole, I was also falling deep into ADHD burnout and overwhelming anxiety (without, at the time, realizing that I had either ADHD or a lifetime of anxiety).  By the time spring 2022 rolled around, I was lacking executive functioning abilities for even basic tasks, while my mind sought solace or dopamine or whatever it was with—you guessed it—these two lovely science nerds.

I read hundreds and hundreds of GSR fics, without managing to leave a single, solitary comment/review.  (I wanted to comment!  I couldn’t!  I’m not saying commenting would have killed me, but I just couldn’t do it; I wouldn’t have been able to continue reading if it were required, and obsessing over these two science nerds was basically all my mind could handle.  So when I tell you that I get that commenting can be too much sometimes, I get it.  I should also note my eternal gratitude to all the amazing GSR fic writers who—unknowingly—helped me during this time.)

I occasionally questioned whether I might try writing something about these science nerds, but I always dismissed that pretty quickly.  I’d never willingly undertaken a creative writing project in my life (unless you count my last dog’s Instagram).  For added context, until 2022, I had last (and first, for that matter) previously read fan fiction in the mid-2000s, when my favourites on The West Wing were taking their own sweet time.  So in January 2022, while desperate for more GSR content, I was like, “Is fanfic still a thing?  Is there GSR fanfic?”  I literally started by googling “GSR fan fiction.”  I’d never even heard of AO3 or FFN; I think the fic for The West Wing had been on Yahoo! Groups.

But I had all these romantic scenarios and headcanons and such constantly running through my head, and I was getting tired of having to recreate the dialogue for them every night as I fell asleep.  So eventually, in late June 2022, I thought maybe I should try writing something down—at some point in the future, once I’d had more time to prepare.  Naturally the next day my brain was like, no, now, now, we’re doing this now.  I had no conscious say in the matter.  I wasn’t sure whether I was going to post anything, but apparently I was going to write it.

I had a lot of fun writing out so many of my thoughts and feeling and hopes and dreams for our two lovely science nerds, and pretty soon I had a draft for this series of stories (although it was only a fraction of what I have now written).  I started posting the first story in September 2022.  Luckily I got to participate in a (also luckily, not very mentally taxing) overseas professional placement for several months at the end of 2022, and this was a welcome distraction from *everything else* about my life.

When I got home in winter 2023, the anxiety returned in full force.  I got an ADHD diagnosis, but neither that nor the anxiety are effectively managed yet.  And, truth be told, posting these stories gives me a lot of anxiety.  It’s sort of been a weekly cycle of posting, feeling very anxious about it for several days, talking myself back to a place of peace, getting ready to post again, posting again, rinse, repeat.  Sometimes I’ve found myself feeling too anxious to post, and the chapter/story in question has been pushed back by a week.

So I wasn’t exactly feeling great about the posting process, but I was still determined to proceed.  I had a posting schedule that would have seen me finish posting this story by the end of November (last month) then post the remaining four shorter stories over the next couple months.  (A few of them are synced to dates/times of year: the winter holidays and February, i.e., the anniversary of the AAFS conference.) But then, with the last chapter I posted, I was just too anxious/unhappy.  This may have been because I’d slightly accelerated my posting schedule and hadn’t left myself enough time to process everything; I’m not sure.  But I found myself looking at Tumblr gifs of our two lovely science nerds and feeling sad and resentful, not happy, and I realized that, if I continued on as I was doing at the time, I was going to destroy both my deep love of the characters and my own happy place.

So I told myself that I didn’t have to keep posting now—that, as much as I was determined to have the complete series of stories posted, I could do it in months or in a year or some other time when no one was left to read it; honestly, that thought made me feel a lot better.  But then I decided maybe I didn’t have to wait quite so long—that I could try posting once per month or something like that.  On the upside, I tell myself, this should also leave time for me to respond to comments more promptly and to go engage with other writers’ stories.  (I managed to go back and read and comment on a handful of stories this summer.  Commenting still gives me a lot of anxiety; at one point I felt like I almost gave myself a panic attack.  But I’m going to try to work at it.)  As of this morning, I have responded to all comments on these stories, including to comments by guests/people who aren’t logged in (unless I thought the comment was from a bot!).

I can’t promise when the next chapter will be posted.  My goal is for next month, but it really depends on how I feel after posting this one and how I feel next month.  I do hope you’ll come back to read it, though!

If you’ve read this far—both in this series and in this note—thank you so very much!  You certainly didn’t need to know all the information in this note, but I needed to share it, if you get what I mean.

Thank you so, so, so very much for reading and for your kind kudos, comments, follows, faves, and reviews.  Supportive comments/reviews always, always, always make my day.  Your support for this series of stories is truly what has allowed me to get even this far in posting these stories, and I appreciate it all more than I can tell you. 💛💛💛

[talltoontales]

~ Friggin Friday ~

[Story 32]

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Prompt: You've been transported to a 2000's live-action Disney movie & your only key to getting is by making the MC's dreams unobtainable through any means necessary. Prompt By: r/wingman66 (Reddit) Started Writing: 07/09/2024

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Word of advice: never buy a TV from a witch's garage sale.

Because I've been in this Chinese restaurant since eleven in the morning, downing fortune cookies like cheap shots, looking like an absolute maniac! But the only way outta this C-tier movie is to keep Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan for swapping bodies, and the quickest way to do that is to make sure this place doesn't have any more terrible-tasting mystic fortunes to give…I'm gonna be sick!

|| || || || ||

Ok, so fun fact: if you eat your weight in fortune cookies you will vomit until you pass out. But enough about my ongoing hatred for fortune cookies. Time for plan B! Jamie Lee Curtis, who is now in Lindsay Lohan's body, should be meeting with this world's version of the mean girl trio.

Which doesn't really hit, now that I think about it. Because I know Mean Girls came out in 2004, and Freaky Friday, I think, came out the year before, but whatever!

Regina- I mean…who am I kidding? Her actual name doesn't matter. Regina's about to trick Jamie Lee Lohan into getting gift-wrapped, causing her to stumble over a nearby bike rack and eat grass. However, if my math is right, I should have set in motion a Final Destination-style series of unfortunate events where, instead of landing on soft-ish dirt, Jamie'll get knocked out for hopefully the rest of the movie's run time…

-Pulls Out Phone-

Wow, '09 and '04 again! How do I even know that this movie exists? Wait, that's riiiiiight, Parent Trap and the School Sleepover. Man, those were better days. Why couldn't I get trapped in Parent Trap? Could've been done by now.

-Jamie Lee Lohan screams as she topples over the bike rack onto dirt-

What the-where's the duffle bag of football helmets? Where's the horde of test frogs? What happened to the-

-The school shakes as a muffled explosion goes off, followed by fire alarms-

Oh yeah, forgot about the toilet bombs. Oh, man, I should probably make sure that janitor's okay. Alright, first, help the janitor, and then we slash pretty boy's motorcycle tires.

…probably should have done that first.

|| || || || ||

Ok, so that did not work at all, but on the bright side, Jamie Lee Curtis' character is a pretty good therapist, so I got that going for me.

Anyway, no more, Mr. Subtle. It's the big concert, and I gotta show stopper, and by that, I mean over a thousand dollars in professional-grade fireworks at the heart of the city's electrical grid. Can't rock with no power!

-Laughs maniacally while lighting the fuse-

…wait a minute…these are rockets…rockets explo-

|| || || || ||

-Jerks awake on the couch as the credits for Freaky Friday roll down the TV screen-

Oh, thank God that worked! Not to self, next, get trapped in something fun like Lilo & Stitch or one of the Rugrats movies or…

-Jumps off the couch over to the DVD rack, frantically searching through the stacks until finding "Speed Racer 2008."-

I take it all back, this was the best purchase I've ever made!

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. . . . . . . . . .

Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed the story. If you have any comments, critiques, or criticisms, please don't be afraid to let me hear 'em (as long as they're constructive (or comical)). Also, if you have some spare time, check out my blog for more stories like the one above. Stay safe, drink plenty of water, and be kind to yourself and others. ToonMan, AWAY!

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[Last Story] || [Next Story]

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[duxbelisarius]

The Dance of the Dragons: A Military Analysis (Pt. 4)

Before we begin, a huge thank you to those readers who have continued following these posts (in particular @notbloodraven, @branwendaughterofllyr and @lemonhemlock). If this is your first post you’ve seen, parts 1, 2 and 3 are all linked here.

Before analyzing the campaigns and battles of the Dance, we must first determine the army size of the Blacks and the Greens; doing so allows us to determine the military strength of the factions relative to each other, and by extension their capacity for waging war in pursuit of their goals. The numbers provided in the text unfortunately veer between straight forward and indeterminable, based on their convenience to George’s narrative.

Excluding the Iron Islands, which fought no major battles on land, the text gives us straightforward army sizes for the North, Vale, Westerlands and Stormlands. According to The Dying of the Dragons - Rhaenyra Triumphant, Roderick Dustin led a force of 2000 Northmen into the Riverlands to support the Blacks (the so-called “Winter Wolves”). Cregan Stark subsequently led his own host south after the return of Aegon II, which Septon Eustace and Maester Munkun place at 20000 and 8000 respectively. Gyldan places it at twice the size of the Lads’ Riverlands army or c.12000, giving the North a total force of 14000 troops. The Vale reportedly assembles 1500 knights and 8000 men-at-arms at the same time as Cregan’s march, eventually sending out 10000 men under Leowyn Corbray. Finally, Borros Baratheon assembles near 6000 men upon calling his banners per Rhaenyra Triumphant, but The Short, Sad Reign of Aegon II tells us that Borros had only 600 knights and 4000 foot soldiers with him when he marched on King’s Landing.

As for the Westerlands, Jason Lannister leads a host of 1000 armoured knights and 7000 archers and men-at-arms against the Riverlands; the destruction of this host at the so-called “fish feed” is said to have slain or scattered the greater part of the west’s chivalry, suggesting that 8000 was the ceiling for the Westerland’s army size. This figure conflicts with other numbers provided by TWOIAF and F&B, with the former stating that 1000 Lannister knights and 10000 men-at-arms fought in the War of the Ninepenny Kings; the latter states that the Lannister-Gardener host at the Field of Fire numbered 55000, of which the Gardener’s brought half again as many as the Lannisters, suggesting a split of between 20 to 22000 Westermen and 33 to 35000 from the Reach. 

The task of determining the army size of the Crownlands is a far more difficult one, as George never provides us with solid numbers within the text. The Crownlands houses that we know fought in battles during the Dance are as follows: Rosby, Stokeworth, Darklyn, Staunton, Crabb, Brune, Celtigar and Hayford. We’re told that 100 men of House Staunton were killed when Criston Cole sacked Rook’s rest, while the 800 men killed in the battle would have included men from House Stokeworth, Rosby and Darklyn that had switched sides to Aegon II. Aemond and Criston Cole attacked Harraenhal with an army of 4000 men, which almost certainly included Crownlanders given that Aemond called his banners before hand. We also know that Cole led 100 knights and 500 men-at-arms from the royal household against Duskendale and Rook’s Rest along with 1800 sellswords, so the 4000 men cannot only be from the Crownlands. 

Those from the ‘Green’ side of the HOTD fandom are likely well aware of the notoriety of the Riverlands army, the size of which seems to fluctuate based on the needs of the plot. The best figure to go off of from Fire & Blood is that of Aegon’s army at the Field of Fire, which numbered 11000 men primarily from the Riverlands. House Tully’s forces can be estimated by comparing the forces of Addam Velaryon at Second Tumbleton and the Lads army that fought at the Kingsroad. The World of Ice and Fire and F&B both suggest that Elmo Tully led forces at Second Tumbleton, but neither Elmo nor the Tully forces are mentioned in the actual accounts of the battle in F&B or the original Princess and the Queen. Addam’s force was about 4000 strong and comprised of troops from house Frey, Blackwood, Piper, Darry, Vance (presumably Wayfarer’s Rest), Smallwood, Vypren and Deddings. We know that the Lads’ army contained Tully troops and was nearly 6000 strong, comprised of troops from house Frey, Blackwood, Darry, Mallister, Vance and Bracken. Given that the Riverlords suffered only 100 casualties at Second Tumbleton, we can assume that there was crossover between those who fought there and who later marched with the Lads; assuming that the Brackens could substitute for the forces of house Smallwood, Vypren and Deddings, this would place House Tully’s forces at about 2000 men. 

In The Hour of the Wolf, Gyldan states that the Tullys possessed less land and a smaller army that the Blackwoods, Brackens, Vances and Freys, while we know from Catelyn’s second chapter in A Storm of Swords that Walder Frey supplied 1000 knights and 3000 infantry to Robb Stark. Between 2500 to 4000 men seems a reasonable estimate for these houses, given the Riverlands a potential army of between 12 and 18000 men including the Tullys and no other houses, or c. 8000 to 12000 excluding the Brackens and the Vances of Atranta, This is without including any of the other houses that fought in the Dance (Mooton, Piper, Roote, Darry, Mallister, Smallwood, Wode, Bigglestone, Chambers, Perryn, Grey, Charlton, Vypren, Deddings), nor does it consider all the figures provided by George. 

Aside from the armies raised by Addam Velaryon and the Lads, the only other host whose size we are given is that which fought at the Lake Shore (the “Fish Feed”) and the Butcher’s Ball. Aside from the 2000 ‘Winter Wolves,’ Forrest Frey commanded 200 knights and 600 foot at the Lakeshore, alongside 300 archers led by Robb Rivers of Raventree. These were joined by survivors from earlier battles alongside Lords Bigglestone, Chambers and Perryn, with Garibald Grey, Jon Charlton and Benjicot Blackwood arriving later. When this host appears again at the “Butcher’s Ball,” it consists of 300 mounted knights, 300 longbowmen, 3000 archers and 3000 Riverlands infantry, and all that remained of the Winterwolves (less than a third of their original strength). This would give the Riverlords over 7000 men if we factored in casualties from the Lakeshore, resulting in a grand total of 13000 men between the Lakeshore host and that of the Lads. Factoring in losses from the other battles fought in the Riverlands, it seems likely that the Blacks could have raised 15 to 17000 men.

Determining the size of the Reach’s armies is somewhat easier thanks to George offering some numbers for the armies raised, though considerable guesswork is involved. Although the Hightowers did not send troops to the Field of Fire, the size of the Gardener host at the battle gives us a number to work back from. The Gardener host probably numbered 33 to 35000 men as referenced earlier, while Maester Munkun places the size of Ormund Hightower’s army prior to 1st Tumbleton at over 20000, of which 10% were mounted knights. Ormund’s original force comprised 1000 knights, 1000 archers and 3000 men-at-arms, accompanied by ‘uncounted thousands” of sellswords, freeriders, camp followers and ‘rabble.’ If we assume the number of freeriders and sellswords was similar to the sellswords that fought beside Criston Cole at Rook’s Rest, Ormund would have an additional c.2000 men. If we assume that non-combatants (ie the camp followers and ‘rabble’) accounted for c.3000, then Ormund’s host would be 10000; House Rowan and the other Blacks of the Reach would likewise have 10000 troops, based on Gyldan’s comment that the Rowans descended on the Mander with a host of equal size. The other 13 to 15000 can be accounted for between the forces of House Tarly, Beesbury and Costayne and those houses that later surrendered to Ormund and Daeron. Of course this method does not account for House Tyrell and those houses not mentioned in the Dance, but it allows us to work with what little numbers George gives, however crude the calculations might be. 

I’ve decided to forgo a discussion of population estimates for Westeros, so I’ll link Atlas of Ice and Fire’s blogpost on the subject and a video by TWOIAF editor Elio Garcia which address this subject. Suffice it to say that the army sizes arrived at above are well below what Westerosi population estimates suggest they would be, and this can be chalked up to discrepancies between George’s writing in the main books and his side works. The total army sizes using our figures above come out to c. 40000 on either side, though not all of these forces were active at the same time during the Dance. 

Thank you for following along if you’ve made it this far; I promise it gets FAR most interesting from this point onwards, as we’ll begin analyzing the ground battles of the Dance. Stay tuned for Part 5, and as always, the replies and my inbox are wide open if you have questions/want to chat!

[cellarspider]

Oh boy I am poked

For those in need of context: I mentioned my desire to fight Noam Chomsky behind a Dennys, after reading The Atoms of Language: The Mind’s Hidden Rules of Grammar by Mark C. Baker (2001).

What follows is a 2000 word essay on why. Holy heck this took all night.

Top-level disclaimer: I am not a trained linguist. I am an enthusiastic amateur at best, thanks to my hobby of constructed language-making. If anybody would like to correct something or discuss the topic, feel free!

Because l have loud feelings about The Atoms of Language. I think the way it conceives of the world has a lot of parallels in how people view science in general. So despite its age, it’s worth giving it a bit of a kicking. Both for its specific claims, and the big picture.

To summarize: the shape of our languages aren’t hard-coded into our brain by genetics. Languages don’t fall into immutable, hard-edged categories based off of binary choices. The author presents only one alternative: random chance, unconstrained by any environmental factors, that each child must learn without pattern recognition. This is a false dichotomy, and one that cuts off far more reasonable means by which languages can evolve and be learned. Science is not a fight between absolute order and absolute chaos.

I have to begin with a two paragraph digression to set the scene.

The sciences are home to a perennial nerd squabble about whose field is the best and most pure, usually in a "physicists and chemists versus everyone else" divide. This is timewasting nonsense, but it's worth acknowledging that physics and chemistry allow for experiments where one can test universal truths to a ludicrously high degree of certainty. This cannot be done in other fields, because there are too many complicating factors. My chosen field of genetics deals with systems that have so many moving parts, they're impossible to fully predict. Social sciences study behavior, which is even harder to make generalized statements about.

Now, this does not mean physicists and chemists can explain everything about genetics or social sciences. Their tools are not suited to the problems tackled in these fields, and anybody who claims otherwise is a blowhard. But sometimes people can get jealous of the certainty of physical laws. They may try to legitimize their field or their pet theory by describing it in terms of physics and chemistry.

And so Mark Baker wrote The Atoms of Language.

You may be able to see where the problems start with this book.

So, what is this book trying to authoritatively explain? Well, a couple of big questions in linguistics are "how do babies learn languages when they are small and bad at everything?" and "why do so many unrelated languages share structures that function similarly to each other?"

Baker subscribes to Noam Chomsky’s theories on the subject, which can be summarized like this: The grammatical structures of all languages are formed from a limited and definable set of parameters, which are predefined by a “Language Acquisition Device” in the brain, found exclusively in humans, due to a single evolutionary event that no other organism has replicated.

In fact, Chomsky asserts that not only is this the root of all language, it’s also the only way that babies could ever learn a language. He posits that they don’t receive enough information to learn their language. Instead, they instinctively pick up on linguistic parameters that the Linguistic Acquisition Device is hard-coded to create, selecting those that are relevant to their first language and discarding the rest.

Using these parameters contained within the Language Acquisition Device, Baker posits a periodic table of language. One that could be used to describe and predict all possible grammatical constraints of language.

This is highly controversial on every level. I’m going to start with the Chomsky stuff and move on to what Baker does with these parameters.

The human exclusivity of syntactically complex language is currently up for debate, with Carolina chickadees and prairie dogs arguably being capable of the same feat in the wild.

Chomsky never tested this theory in a rigorous manner in humans either. However, its structure is similar to many experiments from the past few decades. There was a wave of neuropsychology studies that claimed “we found the brain region responsible for [behavior] via an FMRI study!”. These usually ended up being shaved down by later investigations into "actually that part of the brain does at least six things, and that particular behavior is split between at least fifteen different regions.”

To this date, no single region of the brain has been identified as the source of childhood language acquisition. While it’s hard to get a kid to sit still in an MRI machine, this is backed up by one of the oldest ways to study the brain: looking at what breaks when it’s injured. While there are many brain injuries that can affect one’s ability to speak or to comprehend language, none have been conclusively shown to abolish the ability to form grammatical sentences. Even ones you think really, really should: witness the man who had a key language center of the brain surgically removed, and somehow continued to speak pretty damn coherently all the same.

This is a problem, obviously, but one could argue that a circuit could form between multiple areas of the brain to create a Language Acquisition Module, right? Okay then. Let’s examine the parameters it supposedly contains. These are the fundamental categories that human languages are locked into, according to Chomsky and Baker. While Baker begins with the metaphor of the periodic table, what he actually describes is more of a flow chart: an increasingly specific pattern of choices that build up to form a unique language.

Baker admits he doesn’t have the complete periodic table of language. In fact, he backpedals in the last quarter of the book, and says well, we don't have a periodic table of linguistics yet, maybe we never will, but we could!

And he’s pretty sure of the chart that he does have. And he still considers it to demonstrate immutable categories of language. For example, he says there are two basic word orders: Subject Verb Object (“I eat apples”) and Subject Object Verb (“I apples eat”). He presents this as the most basic thing a child learns about their language’s structure. This is first, all else comes after.

…Except he then admits that actually, there are other word orders, but they’re really rare, so that proves him right anyway.  

This, as the astute in the audience may note, does not in fact prove him right. Language is not behaving like the perfect, hard-edged system he wants, it’s messy. And it doesn’t get any better from there. More and more exceptions pile up, perfectly reasonable in the context of their languages, but they’re problems to this model. Baker asserts that culture has no meaningful effect on the structure of language.

To Baker, these parameters cannot have evolved independently based on cultural trends. This must be set in stone, or everything would be chaos. He argues that two languages coming up with similar structures independently by means of culturally-influenced linguistic evolution would be like two people flipping a coin a hundred times and getting the same sequence of heads and tails.

How languages end up the way they do is still a topic of study and debate. But Baker is pulling out an argument often used by creationists, so we’re in my wheelhouse here. I will briefly use biological evolution as a metaphor to explain why he’s wrong.

Biological evolution keeps coming up with similar structures and adaptations across wildly different species. Birds and scallops have eyes, even though their last common ancestor didn’t. Bees and bats can both fly. How is this possible, if evolution is a random process and isn’t directed according to some plan? Because all organisms are dealing with similar environmental pressures. Why are snakes and ferrets and eels all long, thin, slinky tubes? Because hunting and hiding in small burrows is easier that way. Snails and turtles and beetles have hard shells because being chewed on is bad. The environment creates restrictions on what sorts of bodies can feasibly exist, and that results in convergent evolution.

Language is working within a more restricted environment: You have a vocal tract.* You are a social animal. It benefits you and your kin group to be able to communicate things about yourself and the world around you. What does that mean? Telling people about the location of things. The qualities of things. Describing actions that have a cause and effect. You need some way to say "There is food here" or "I hit it with a stick, and then bees came out."

These desirable qualities mean that languages are subject to massive environmental pressures to maintain a minimum level of ability to communicate specific kinds of information, regardless of how they change over time. And you're presenting the information through a linear medium, one word at a time. These physical and behavioral traits limit the possible things a language can do.

So while I do not have the technical knowledge to propose a detailed model of linguistic evolution, I do not find it unlikely that human languages could experience convergent evolution, producing highly analogous structures completely independently of each other. Are there components of human cognition that lead humans to prefer some forms more than others? Almost certainly. But again, they’ll be messy! And they will be very, very hard to tease apart from the social context of language.

So, why did I just spend 1500 words ranting about this? Because despite the fact that this book was published not long before most linguists rejected these premises, it still plays into a lot of misapprehensions people have about science. Can we come up with absolute, iron-clad laws for everything? No. Many systems are so complicated that with our imperfect knowledge, they resist the language of certainty.

Does that mean that science is useless in those cases? No!! You can still figure out restrictions on what can and can’t happen, what is and isn’t reasonable to expect. This is the language of probability. The more we rigorously study a subject, the more precise we can be. That’s what we do in science.** We describe the world as precisely and carefully as we can, using the resources we have. It’s not always elegant, but not everything will be.

And I think that’s a good excuse for me to end this without a neat little closing thought.

---

*and hands, but I am not qualified to discuss sign languages.

**The desire to be achingly comprehensive is strong. You have no many times I had to delete tangents in this thing. They would have made my points more precise. I could have talked about synaptic pruning in the developing brain. I could talk about multiple testing correction while calculating probabilities. I wrote a footnote ramble about Japanese serial verb constructions, but I deleted it! Go me!!!

[fundieshaderoom]

This is just a suggestion and feel free to ignore! Something I think would be helpful would be to include at the top of your "Fundies and Adjacent I Follow" type posts a summary of what makes them fundie or adjacent. I haven't heard of the majority of them, so I can't tell if it's a friend of the Duggars, someone with a blog that spouts hate in the name of Christianity, a vlogging family, or just a random family that just so happens to have a bunch of kids. Maybe for the lesser known follow up pregnancy or engagement announcements where most fundie followers would go "who is this...?" linking back to the main post? Thanks for all you do!

Fundies and Adjacent I Follow: Why are they notable (Last Names A-C)

Great Idea! I will be doing all the families I have posted by last names. I am going to start here with A-D. You can see links to all families here.

Alexander Family:

The Alexander Family of California is headed by father Ken Alexander and mother Lori Falk. They have been married since 1980 and share 4 children, 4 children-in-law, and 16 grandchildren as of 11/20/2023.

Lori Alexander runs a blog and Youtube channel called "The Transformed Wife" where she discusses biblical womanhood, marriage, and motherhood.

Anderson Family:

The Anderson Family of Arizona is headed by father Steven Anderson and mother Zsuzsanna Toth. They have been married since 2000 and share 12 children as of 11/20/2023.

Steven is the New IFB movement and pastors the Faithful Word Baptist Church.

Zsuzsanna runs a blog called "Are They All Yours?"

Andregg Family:

The Andregg family of Arkansas is headed by father Dwayne Andregg and mother Melanie McPherson. They have been married since 1999 and share 6 children, 1 son-in-law, and 2 grandchildren as of 11/20/23.

They are connected to the Wikstrom family as their daughter Lauren married the Wikstrom's son Devin.

The Andreggs have also been notable friends with the Duggar family for years and are members of the IBLP. They were featured on the Duggar's TLC shows.

Dwayne is the former campaign manager for Jim Holt.

Baird Family:

The Baird family of Texas is headed by father Michael Baird and mother Heidi Mick. They have been married since 1982 and share 8 living children, 6 children-in-law, and 9 grandchildren as of 11/20/2023.

Daughters Bethany Beal and Kristen Clark run Girl Defined Ministries.

Balka Family:

The Balka Family of Tennessee is headed by father Mike Balka and late mother Kristy Dotson. They were married in 1993 and share 6 children, 3 children-in-law, and 4 grandchildren as of 11/20/2023.

Son Kelton is married to Josie Bates.

Ballinger Family:

The Ballinger family of Arkansas is headed by father Bob Ballinger and mother Jessica Thomas. They have been married since 1998 and share 7 children, 1 daughter-in-law, and 4 grandchildren as of 11/20/23.

Their son Bobby married Austin Forsyth's sister Meagan.

Bob Ballinger served in the Arkansas General Assembly from 2013 to 2023. Jed and Joy Duggar served as interns for him.

Barrett Family:

The Barrett family is headed by mother Gabby Barrett and father Cade Foehner. They have been married since 2019 and share 3 children as of 11/20/23.

Gabby Barrett is an accomplished country music singer who originally gained fame on American Idol.

The couple was good friends with Jeremy and Jinger Vuolo while living in LA. Jeremy officiated their wedding.

Bates Family:

The Bates Family of Tennessee is headed by father Gil Bates and mother Kelly Jo Callaham. They have been married since 1987 and share 19 children, 11 children-in-law, and 29 grandchildren as of 11/20/2023.

The Bates family rose to prominence via their friendship with the Duggar Family. They have since gone on to have their own shows with TLC and UPTV.

They are long-time members of the IBLP and Gil Bates is on the board.

Many of the children have popular social media presences.

Bontrager Family:

The Bontrager family of Iowa is headed by father Marlin Bontrager and mother Becky. They have been married since 1989 and share 10 children, 7 children-in-law, and 14 grandchildren as of 11/20/2023.

The Bontragers are friends of the Duggars and sons Carson and Joshua are married to Bowers girls.

The unmarried Bontrager children are in a band with their parents.

Bowers Family:

The Bowers Family of Alabama is headed by father Curtis Bowers and mother Lauren McAlvany. They have been married since 1989 and share 9 children, 2 sons-in-law, and 6 grandchildren as of 11/20/2023.

The family is friends of the Duggar Family. Daughters Carolina and Cassidy are married to Bontrager boys.

Bure Family:

The Bure family is headed by father Valeri Bure and mother Candace Cameron. They have been married since 1996 and share 3 children as of 11/20/2023

Candace was a main cast member of Full House and is now an outspoken Christian actress and sister of Kirk Cameron.

Burnett Family:

The Burnett family of Oklahoma is headed by father John Burnett and mother Cheryl Clay. They have been married since 1981 and share 8 children, 8 children-in-law, and 19 grandchildren as of 11/20/2023.

They daughter Abbie married John Duggar in 2018. They were at one point members or running in the circles of the IBLP, but I am unsure of the Burnett family affiliation now.

Caldwell Family:

The Caldwell family of Arkansas is headed by father Paul Caldwell and mother Christina Hamrick. They have been married since 1998 and share 9 children, 1 son-in-law, and 4 grandchildren as of 11/20/2023.

Paul Caldwell is the former pastor of the Duggar family church. Their daughter Kendra married Joseph Duggar in 2017. The family was at one point in the IBLP. I am unsure of their current affiliation.

Cameron Family:

The Cameron Family of California is headed by father Kirk Cameron and mother Chelsea Noble. They have been married since 1991 and share 6 children and 2 children-in-law as of 11/20/2023.

Kirk is a former main cast member of Growing Pains and was an actor in the Christian film FireProof. He was featured on several episodes of 19 Kids and Counting.

Clark Family:

The Clark family of New Jersey is headed by father Charles Clark Jr. and mother Aprile. They share 3 children, 2 children-in-law, 9 granchildren, 6 grandchildren-in-law, and 7 great-grandchildren as of 11/20/2023.

The family runs a church called Solid Rock Baptist Church. They also have a band called Clark Family Band.

Grandson Travis is married to Katie Bates.

Collingsworth Family:

The Collingsworth family of Ohio is headed by father Phillip Collingsworth Sr. and Kimberly Keaton. They have been married since 1986 and share 4 children, 4 children-in-law, and 9 grandchildren as of 11/20/2023.

The family makes up the Collingsworth Family musical group. Daughter Olivia has made music with Lawson Bates. The family also rubs shoulders with the Duggar family.

The Collins Family:

The Collins family of Texas is headed by father Mandrae Collins and mother Karissa Goering. They have been married since 2007 and share 10 children as of 11/20/2023.

Karissa's online presence has garnered the family a lot of negative attention. She promotes giving family size up to God.

Coverett Family:

The Coverett Family of Pennsylvania is headed by father Jeremy Coverett and Ellen Vincent. They have been married since 2001 and share 6 children and 1 son-in-law as of 11/20/2023.

Ellen has been in the downline of Jill Rodrigues for many years. Ellen is the sister of the matriarch of the Hill family and introduced Kaylee Rodrigues and Jonathan Hill. Heidi Coverett is now engaged to Timothy Rodrigues.

Crane Family:

The Crane Family of Arkansas is headed by father Josh Crane and mother Melodie. They share 7 children, 2 children-in-law, and 3 grandchildren as of 11/20/2023.

Daughter Madi and her husband work for PragerU along with Lemuel Reber.

The Crane Family is friends of the Duggars and former IBLP members. It is speculated that some leaked information about the Duggar family has come from friends of the Cranes.

[sanctummilitis]

While I’m decompressing from... everything that happened — with the conclusion of LB7, Saber’s FGO canon point will be advancing to keep up to date. While that still doesn’t mean much ordinarily, her situation in Isola changes things drastically.

The plan had always been to implement Extella and Extella Link’s inclusion into her canon history at this point, but a lot more came to light than was expected, thus she’ll be gaining a lot more on top of her memories of those games.

To lay things out in a somehow coherent manner, the full extent of what Saber knows from the Fate entries she’s connected to are clarified beneath the cut. It wouldn’t be her if a standard concept wasn’t turned on its head and become... well, this.

FATE/STAY NIGHT

FATE/ZERO — The entire story as she would be expected to know it.

FATE ROUTE — Full route.   ( VIA MISTIFIED )

UNLIMITED BLADE WORKS — Full route.

HEAVEN’S FEEL — Up until her death. As Salter, she has two flickers of memory : standing with Shirou, Illya and Rin after the fight with Berserker when her identity was confirmed for them, and her final moments after the clash with Shirou and Medusa, including her death.   ( VIA MISTIFIED )

FATE/EXTELLA

FATE/EXTELLA — Her sidestory; though as they can fit with that experience, I’ll also be porting over her appearances in Nameless and Gawain’s.

Purely because of Gil’s blackened hand, I’d love to do the same to that encounter, but their clash ends differently depending on whose story you’re playing, so for now, she’s limited to her version with the two-on-one against him and Iskandar

FATE/EXTELLA LINK — Route B, as the only time she appears in the game, though Route C is the true ending which sets Charlie up for his appearance in Grand Order.

FATE/GRAND ORDER

Though I thoroughly suspect Saber canonically hasn’t been summoned, that conclusion was reached after establishing her as a Chaldean in Isola, and those conflicting images play a significant part in her story here. As a result of her absolute absence from the story, I like to headcanon she reads into the reports Ritsuka submits from their missions and that’s the best image she has of the main story.

As the only event she appears in is the original Summer event (plus a cameo in the fourth / the Saber in Accel Zero is from that world), there isn’t much in way of actual content for her to personally remember. If she actually gets a chance to appear, she’ll be updated accordingly — I’m so dehydrated after over 7 years of begging to see her.

That said, that isn’t the full extent of her FGO knowledge — not by a long shot — thanks to a particular event, with approval from the muses’ respective muns.

MORGAN’S MEMORIES — The entirety of Tonelico’s story spanning three cycles of 2000 years including her resistance against both the world’s efforts to die and Chaldea’s appearance to prune the Lostbelt, up until her death at the end of Part 2.   ( VIA EMPATHEOREM )

GOETIA’S MEMORIES — The 3000 years of planning for and masterminding the Incineration of Humanity, followed by his occupation of Roman’s body through subsequent travels across the Lostbelts both solo and in Musashi’s company.

Due to when the event occurred, the direct memories themselves halt at Traum — however, the Clairvoyance which Goetia wielded gave him visions beyond that time, including the Seventh Lostbelt, such as Ritsuka’s death, ORT’s awakening, the truth and fate about Olga, the apostles totalling seven and Marisbury the universe’s enemy. ALTHOUGH until translations lay out more clearly the extent of what Goetia / Saber know, we’re going to hold off on specifics. The traitor reveal came within a reasonable timeframe to roughly excuse her not saying anything immediately, but the passage of time and gravity of the revelations means that isn’t a viable method.

Because Goetia knows vital details the story has taken its time to reveal, the way we’re going about it is Saber possesses a sense about them, but the information itself will only become accessible to her as it’s revealed in-game.   ( VIA EMPATHEOREM )

[morewyckedthanyou]

I was tagged by @lovelesscherub, thank you soooo much, I love to be tagged 💖 (even if I don't always answer these because I forget or don't feel motivated at the time ).

favourite colour(s): Green (especially emerald green but all shades, really) and also yellow and orange. 💚💛🧡

favourite flavour(s): I have a sweet tooth, so if it's something is sweet... yes please. But also, I like savoury things too, and things that are a bit spicy a well. And garlic in anything usually works great! 😋

favourite genre(s): Whether we're talking about movies, tv or literature, I mostly prefer horror, sci-fi and fantasy. Oh, and mysteries (whether it's crime or something supernatural).

favorite music: I lean towards metal more than anything, but I actually also like a lot of different types of rock (especially if it was made 'in the old days', so in like... 50's to 90's) and pop as well.

favourite movie(s): So damn many tbh! But I will try to list at least some favourites that come to mind immediately. Here we go: Alien, Brokeback Mountain, Pacific Rim, Titanic, Flatliners (1990), Back to the Future-trilogy, Star Wars episodes IV-VII (but especially The Empire Strikes Back and The Force Awakens - the latter had so much potential ok!), Mamma Mia!, The Blair Witch Project, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Jurassic Park, Crimson Peak, IT 1990 (which is technically a miniseries but I think of it as a movie so), The Faculty, Thelma and Louise, Girl Interrupted, Stardust, Pitkä Kuuma Kesä, Spirited Away, Young Guns 1 & 2, Monty Python's Life of Brian, The LotR-trilogy, Hot Fuzz, Sinister, Maurice, The Breakfast Club, Kingsman 1 & 2...

favourite series: I don't watch a lot of tv (other than true crime "docuseries" sometimes) because I can't concentrate on following a plot that goes on and on most of the time but here are some favourites I've enjoyed in the past: Twin Peaks, The X-Files (seasons 1-7), Mash, Black Books, Doctor Who (the new series seasons 1-4), Spaced, Good Omens... Also I guess I should say Cobra Kai, not because I think it's particular good but because I just love the karate dads so much.

last song: GOSSIP by Måneskin

last series: Probably some true crime murder-series, I honestly can't remember, haven't even opened my tv in like a week or so

last movie: Can't remember if I've watched anything else in full since I watched Big Eden (2000) a few weeks ago.

currently reading: I wish I was reading an actual book because that's what I want to do more this year... But nah, I have started some but none could hold my interest more than a couple pages. 😩 I am however rereading a very good Cobra Kai fanfic feat. Daniel/Johnny/Amanda written by my very talented tumblr mutual and once I've finished reading I will leave a loooong comment because it looks like last time I was dumb and didn't comment at all and I am disappointed in myself.

currently working on: Writing letters to my penpals. Also trying to work on having a proper rhythm in my days even now that I'm unemployed and have nowhere to be during days. It's going alright I think. I should also try to work on my anxiety which has been quite bad lately.

I will tag: @catzy88 @disdaidal @icanhasnaow @leyley09 @an-sceal @ashyyboyy @dull-c @valastaja @marley-manson and @vonderbarr But if you have already done this recently or just don't feel like answering then no pressure! ❤️