#classic ED 2001

[bobbie-robron]

What’d you doing in the hospital today? Wheelchair races? (Gifs)

28-Dec-2001

[k-i-l-l-e-r-b-e-e-6-9]

Death - Spiritual Healing (1990)

[rabbitcruiser]

“The first of its kind on any of the nation’s state house grounds,” the African-American History Monument was sculptured by Ed Dwight of Colorado and was dedicated on March 29, 2001.  

[hunkahulkaaburningfudge]

Black Widow, Winter Soldier, and WinterWidow reading list

I made this list for another post, but I thought I'd put it here too.

Black Widow (1999) by Devin Grayson - Natasha's first solo. It's only three issues, and it's the start of modern Black Widow. It introduces important aspects of her character, like the Red Room. Yelena is introduced for the first time.

Black Widow (2001) by Devin Grayson - Another three-issue comic, which I thought was a fun read. It's a Natasha, Yelena, and Matt team-up comic. It's a part of Marvel Knights, which told more mature and darker stories so I have a soft spot for the 1999 and 2001 runs for this reason.

Black Widow: Pale Little Spider (2002) by Greg Rucka - Another three-issue comic. While not focused on Natasha, it's a Yelena solo. It's part of the Max comics line, which was an attempt to tell adult-only stories, and it definitely shows because Yelena visits a bondage sex club. A very important comic for Yelena.

Black Widow: Homecoming (2004) by Richard K. Morgan - I think this comic was extremely influential for modern Black Widow. A lot of her mythos originated from this comic. The movie took a lot of inspiration from this comic as well, like the pheremones thing.

Black Widow: The Things They Say About Her (2005) by Richard K. Morgan - This one is decent. It's not entirely important, but I think it's worth a read. A classic Black Widow story where Natasha is on the run and doesn't know who to trust. While it's overdone at this point, I think this was the first comic to portray it. Yelena and Matt show up in this one too.

Captain America (2005) by Ed Brubaker - VERY IMPORTANT. Bucky is reintroduced as the Winter Soldier and shows up in #1. While it's long, every issue is worth it. Natasha doesn't show up until #27, but #27-#50 is peak buckynat. This run is one of my fav comics of all time.

New Avengers #48-64, Annual #3, Finale (2005) by Brian Michael Bendis - Natasha isn't super important in this, and she barely shows up, but Bucky shows up frequently. I wouldn't say it's entirely important, but it's during Bucky's time as Captain America, and when he interacts with the Avengers, so I recommend it just for that. Also, I'm a little biased because New Avengers (2005) is probably my favorite comic ever.

Black Widow (2010) by Marjorie Liu - The best Black Widow story ever written. I don't think anyone has disliked it. 10/10, I always love to reread it.

Black Widow: Deadly Origin (2010) by Paul Cornell - A miniseries about Natasha's origin. Not entirely important, but it's a solid Black Widow story. Appearances from Bucky and Wolverine.

Captain America #600-619 by Ed Brubaker - Again, it's very important for both Bucky and Natasha. It's a continuation of Captain America (2005).

Captain America & Bucky #620-624 (2011) by Ed Brubaker - Pretty important. It's a retelling of Bucky's life. #624 is all about buckynat and how they met. A lot of iconic buckynat content that the fandom gushes over is in it.

Widowmaker (2011) - Not super important and Bucky isn't in it. A fun team-up story about Clint and Natasha with Bobbi. I enjoyed reading it.

Winter Soldier (2012) by Ed Brubaker - I cannot tell you how much I love this comic. It's the best Bucky's ever been written and I don't think anyone will disagree when I say that no one has ever understood Bucky like Ed Brubaker. Extremely important for buckynat.

Winter Soldier: The Bitter March (2014) by Rick Remender - I'm not going to lie; I don't really remember much from this comic, but I know people like it.

Black Widow (2014) by Phil Noto & Nathan Edmondson - Another popular comic for Natasha. It's probably my second favorite Black Widow comic after Liu's. Another Black Widow is on the run story, but Liho is introduced in this! Bucky is in #8, 15, 17-18. A must read.

Bucky Barnes: The Winter Soldier (2014) by Ales Kot - This isn't my favorite, but the art is absolutely beautiful. I don't think it's essential. Natasha is not in this.

Black Widow (2016) by Mark Waid - I enjoyed reading this comic. I'd rank it third after Liu and Noto. Bucky is in #9-10. Essential Black Widow comic.

Tales of Suspense #100-104 by Matthew Rosenberg - A Winter Soldier and Hawkeye team-up where they look for Natasha after she was killed by Hydra Cap in Secret Empire (no need to read it; SE is trash). A fandom favorite, and I absolutely love it. Winterhawk exploded in popularity after this run.

Winter Soldier (2018) by Kyle Higgins - Natasha does not show up in this, but it's very important for Bucky. It's a short five-issue miniseries, and it's probably the best Bucky has been written since Brubaker.

Black Widow (2019) by Jen and Sylvia Soska - It's a miniseries, and it's a fairly dark one. Natasha is back from the dead, and she's PISSED. Bucky doesn't show up in this one, but Steve does, and it's after her murder at Hydra Cap's hands.

Web of Black Widow (2019) by Jody Houser - Another Natasha miniseries where she's on the run and her friends are worried about her. Bucky shows up in #2 and #5.

Falcon and Winter Soldier (2020) by Derek Landy - A fun team-up comic with Sam and Bucky. Natasha doesn't show up. Not essential.

Black Widow (2020) by Kelly Thompson - It's...not great. Many people have already talked about what they didn't like, so I won't go over it, but it has some fantastic buckynat moments. However, I will say that I really love Natasha, Yelena, Clint, and Bucky teaming up in this comic. That group together is highly entertaining. It doesn't seem like anything from this comic will be paid attention to in the future, but I would still read it.

Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty (2022) by Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly - Really trash. I didn’t like this at all. Bucky isn't written well, and I think Natasha shows up like twice. Skip.

Captain America: Cold War (2023) by Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly - Another trash event. Skip.

Thunderbolts (2023) by Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly - Buckynat FINALLY get back together after they broke up in Winter Soldier (2012). A boring comic otherwise.

[livwritesstuff]

I need to know how you chose the names for steddies kids bc they are 👌 perf

hello can I just say that I've been dying to be asked about this bc literally it was borderline detective work on my part istg and I'd love to share the thought process.

Moe's name was the easiest for me to decide. I was already using Maureen as Eddie's mom's name (and believe it or not I really wasn't planning on this series turning into a kid-fic but here we are). A bit later I learned that my younger cousin has a friend named Maureen who goes by Moe and I just thought there was something very Steddie about that. I felt like Steve would adore the name Lucy the second he heard it, and Lucy Maureen flows well so I went with it.

Like with Moe, I already had the middle names for the younger two (Robin and James) picked out early on. Their first names were way harder bc I had to get analytical about what names Steve/Eddie would be likely to like and choose given that they liked and chose Lucy.

(Major thanks to the social security baby name records because you can narrow the stats down by state woop woop)

According to my research, Lucy ranked #306 in MA the year she was born (2001), seeing its previous peak in the late 1800s before slowly falling off – so a relatively unpopular name that they would have jumped on right before a rapid gain in popularity (it was #48 in 2022 – 2023 list hasn't been released yet). As was discussed in ch. 1 of plant a seed, Lucy is also somewhat of a compromise between Eddie's suggestion of Luciana (very Shakespearean) and Steve's desire for their kids to have "normal" names.

SO – whether Steve and Eddie know it or not, their tastes combine into:

old, uncommon names that are about to see a resurgence and are also vague diminutives of names seen in classic lit

From here, my search began.

Amelia's name was absolutely the most difficult for me to figure out by a landslide. She was originally Eleanor, which I liked but didn't love. Then she spent the entire first draft of Plant a Seed as Madeline, but I really didn't like the flow of Madeline Robin (and I see Steve as someone who absolutely full-names his kids when they're acting out so that was definitely something I considered). From there I landed on Amelia.

Amelia ranked #111 in 2003, so it was a little more mainstream than Lucy (which is part of why I didn't just go with it from the start tbh but that's just me being nit-picky). It has links to Evangeline, which Ed would have adored and Steve would have thought was too dramatic. Amelia would have been a solid compromise, and I think Amelia Robin flows really nicely.

As for Hazel, it just seems to me like a name Steve and Eddie would hear and immediately both like, especially paired with James. Hazel was ranked #467 in 2006 and over the next decade, its popularity increased exponentially. It's now regularly within the top 50 names in the US.

And then, after all that work, they go by nicknames 🙃

[randomvarious]

Today's compilation:

Now That's What I Call Music! 9 2002 Pop / Hip Hop / R&B / Teen Pop / Alternative Rock / Latin Pop / Southern Rap

Alright, folks, it's time for another fun trip down memory lane, and today we're going back to 2001 and 2002, with the help of the 9th volume from the most pervasive contemporary pop compilation series that's ever existed in US history: the one and only Now That's What I Call Music!

But first, before we..."Dig In"...let's get a dose of some of that good nostalgia with the ad for this release, shall we? Did you know that if you ordered it over the phone by credit or check/debit, you'd also get a free multi-purpose picture frame-mousepad too?! Wow, so cool! 😎

Anyway, being that these sets more or less serve as documentations of what the pop music landscape was like during a pretty specific time period, what this CD seems to demonstrate, in retrospect, is that the teen pop that had really dominated the late 90s was on a bit of a downturn in '01 and '02, and its status as the most prominent type of pop music was being usurped by hip hop and R&B.

But that's also not to say that all of the teen pop on here is of a low quality either, because *NSYNC's "Gone," which was the first track of theirs to ever be fully led from start to finish by Justin Timberlake, is really one of the greatest boy band tunes that's ever been made. Minimal, but emotional, and its bridge, specifically, is spectacular 😍.

Outside of that bit of brilliance, though, the R&B and hip hop tunes are just a lot better. And to me, the song that really stands out among the rest within this whole collection is Ginuwine's "Differences," a terrific slow jam that featured some incredibly shimmering and ringing keys. Normally, I don't go for slow R&B ballads, but this one in particular was really something special.

And there's also some bangers on here that you might've just flat out forgot ever existed too. Like, remember that New Jersey co-ed R&B/hip group, City High, that gave us "What Would You Do?" back in 2001? Well, do you remember their follow-up hit that featured Eve on it, "Caramel"? Its remix, by prolific New York duo Trackmasters, seems to be on that vague South Asian fad that so much mainstream hip hop and R&B was on at around that time, and it received a considerable amount of radio play. But looking back on it, I think it's actually been pretty memory-holed!

Also, we gotta give it up for Petey Pablo's ode to his home state of North Carolina too, with "Raise Up," because the Egyptian-sampled beat on that thing was absolutely bananas. And I can't say that I'm all that fond of much southern rap, in general, but Petey's debut hit was an absolute monster. Rather than him having to sacrifice any of his rawness in order to reach a pop audience, he was able to bring his rawness to a pop audience instead. And clearly, it resonated with a whole lot of folks.

And lastly, I think we all know that Ja Rule wasn't the greatest rapper out there, but his contributions to the turn-of-the-millennium pop landscape were pretty important. He got clowned on harshly by the likes of 50 Cent and Eminem, et al, and, as a result, his career was pretty much eviscerated, but songs like his Stevie Wonder-sampled "Livin' It Up" were straight-up party jams that really deserve more love and respect.

So, another highly enjoyable rush of radio and music television memories here. A bunch of commercial classics and a smattering of jams that are a bit more forgotten too. It's pretty much all you can ever ask for out of one of these Now CDs 😊.

P.S.: I'll provide a link to it, but for the love of god, under no circumstances should you ever subject yourself to the first track on this album, which is a remix of P!nk's "Get the Party Started" that features Redman and tries to mesh itself with "Sweet Dreams," by The Eurythmics. Apparently P!nk thought that her hair gave her enough power to also possess the essence of Annie Lennox or something, but good lord, was that calculus completely wrong 🥴. Such an excruciatingly bad song! Don't click on it!

Highlights:

Mary J. Blige - "Family Affair" Jennifer Lopez - "Ain't It Funny" Ja Rule feat. Case - "Livin' It Up" Ludacris - "Rollout (My Business)" Mr. Cheeks - "Lights, Camera, Action" Petey Pablo - "Raise Up (All Cities Remix)" City High - "Caramel (Trackmasters Remix)" Nelly Furtado - "Turn off the Light" *NSYNC - "Gone" Ginuwine - "Differences" Lenny Kravitz - "Dig In" Incubus - "Wish You Were Here"

[overgrown-ruins]

Book Sale

I’ll be moving shorty and will need to find homes for the following list of books (under the cut).

If you are interested in any of these titles, or anything else I am planning to rehome (board games, dvds, stationary, home goods, etc.), either reply to this post or send me a message.

All items will be shipped from the UK.

Name your price! Minimum is the cost of shipping. Payment can be made via paypal.

Fiction, Classics

Une Vie - Guy de Maupassant [text in French; 1988, J’ai Lu ed.]

The Mabinogion – trans. by Gwyn Jones & Thomas Jones [1974, Everyman’s Library ed.]

The Mysterious Affair at Styles - Agatha Christie [2001, Agatha Christie Signature ed.]

The Fountainhead - Ayn Rand [Penguin Modern Classics ed.; NEW]

Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte [2009, Oxford World’s Classics; annotated]

Gothic Tales – Arthur Conan Doyle [2018, Oxford World’s Classics]

Fiction, Modern

The Vampire Lestat (1986 paperback) Anne Rice

The Lady in the Tower (2003 paperback) Jean Plaidy

The Fallen Blade (2011 paperback) Jon Courtenay Grimwood

The North Water (2016 paperback) Ian McGuire

Now We Shall Be Entirely Free (2019 paperback) Andrew Miller [NEW]

The Midnight Library (2020 hardback) Matt Haig

Science

Chemistry3 2nd ed.  (2013) Burrows et al. [annotated]

The Periodic Table (2017) Tom Jackson

What’s that Bird? (2016) Rob Hume [UK bird pocket id guide]

Philosophy

The Problem of Knowledge (1988 reprint) A.J. Ayer

Language, Truth and Logic (1990 reprint) A.J. Ayer

New Age

Horoscopes: Your Daily Fate and Fortune (1987)

The Witch’s Shield (2010) Christopher Penczak [NEW; with CD]

The Essential Guide to Practical Astrology (2011) April Elliott Kent

The Kitchen Witch (2011) Soraya

Making Magic (2019) Briana Saussy [NEW]

Paganism in Depth (2019) John Beckett [NEW]

And breathe… (2020) Sarah Rudell Beach [NEW]

Misc. Non-Fiction

A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations (2007) Kate L. Turabian

Mug Cakes (2014) Mima Sinclair [NEW]

Learn to knit block by block (2018) Che Lam [NEW]

Find out What Your Cat is Really Thinking (2018) Trevor Warner [NEW]

Speak Welsh (2019 reprint) John Jones [NEW]

[princesssarisa]

The Top 40 Most Popular Operas, Part 4 (#31 through #40)

A quick guide for newcomers to the genre, with links to online video recordings of complete performances, with English subtitles whenever possible.

Donizetti's Don Pasquale

Another comedy of manners with a melodic bel canto score.

Teatro Lirico di Cagliari, 2003 (Alessandro Corbelli, Eva Mei, Antonino Siragusa, Roberto de Candia; conducted by Gérard Korsrten)

Verdi's Macbeth

The first of Verdi's great Shakespearean operas.

Zürich Opera, 2001 (Thomas Hampson, Paoletta Marrocu, Roberto Scandiuzzi, Luis Lima; conducted by Franz Welser-Möst)

Beethoven's Fidelio

Beethoven's only opera, a drama of love, courage, and idealism in the face of political corruption.

Vienna State Opera, 1979 (Gundula Janowitz, René Kollo, Hans Sotin, Manfred Jungwirth, Lucia Popp; conducted by Leonard Bernstein)

Gounod's Faust

One of the most wildly popular operas in the 19th and early 20th centuries: a melodic French interpretation of the Faust legend.

Vienna State Opera, 1985 (Francisco Araiza, Gabriela Benacková, Ruggero Raimondi; conducted by Erich Binder)

Richard Strauss's Salome

Strauss's one-act operatic translation Oscar Wilde's erotic and powerful Biblically-inspired play.

Teatro Comunale di Bologna, 2010 (Erika Sunnegårdh, Mark S. Doss, Robert Brubaker, Dalia Schaechter, Mark Milhofer; conducted by Nicola Luisotti)

Puccini's Gianni Schicchi

Puccini's only comic opera, a rollicking one-act farce inspired by a passage from Dante's Divine Comedy.

Teatro alla Scala, 2008 (Leo Nucci, Nino Machiadze, Vittorio Grigolo, Cinzia De Mola; conducted by Riccardo Chailly)

Verdi's Don Carlo

A grand, tragic historical drama of politics, love vs. duty, intergenerational conflict, friendship (of the vaguely homoerotic variety), and abuse of power.

Metropolitan Opera, 1983 (Plácido Domingo, Mirella Freni, Nicolai Ghiaurov, Louis Quilico, Grace Bumbry, Ferruccio Furlanetto; conducted by James Levine)

Bellini's Norma

A great bel canto soprano vehicle, depicting a tragic love triangle amid the Roman conquest of Gaul.

Sydney Opera House, 1978 (Joan Sutherland, Margareta Elkins, Ron Stevens, Clifford Grant; conducted by Richard Bonynge)

Richard Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos

A unique "opera within an opera" that explores the themes of comedy vs. drama and "low art" vs. "high art."

Salzburg Festival, 1965 (Hildegard Hillebrecht, Sena Jurinac, Reri Grist, Jess Thomas; conducted by Karl Böhm)

Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice (Orpheus and Eurydice)

A groundbreaking early Classical interpretation of the Orpheus myth, replacing the pageantry of Baroque opera with "noble simplicity."

Feature film, 2014 (Bejun Mehta, Eva Liebau, Regula Mühlemann; conducted by Vaclav Luks) (no subtitles; read the libretto in English translation here)

[somerandomwizard]

Some Of My Favorite Shows Pt. 1

Gravity Falls (2012-2016)

Over The Garden Wall (2014)

Adventure Time (2010-2018)

Steven Universe (2013-2019)

Regular Show (2009-2017)

Chowder (2007-2010)

Ed, Edd 'n Eddy (1999-2009)

Total Drama Island (2007-2014)

Invader Zim (2001-2006)

Star Vs. The Forces Of Evil (2015-2019)

Phineas and Ferb (2007-2015)

The Amazing World Of Gumball (2011-2019)

The Powerpuff Girls (classic) (1998-2005)

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012) (2012-2017)

Wander Over Yonder (2013-2016)

The Angry Beavers (1997-2001)

Josie and the Pussycats (1970-1972)

Spongebob Squarepants (1999-Present)

Camp Camp (2016-2019)

Wild Kratts (2010-Present)

Johnny Bravo (1995-2004)

Dexter's Laboratory (1996-2003)

Courage The Cowardly Dog (1996-2002)

The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy (2001-2007)

The Misadventures of Flapjack (2008-2010)

Codename: Kids Next Door (2002-2008)

Fish Hooks (2010-2014)

Catdog (1998-2005)

Tom and Jerry (classic) (1940-1968)

Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir (2015-Present)

[mask131]

Seasonal theme: Magical summer (ending)

This summer will be a season of wonders and enchantments, of spells and wizards - a magical summer! 

Here is a list of beings, entities, objects and concepts you can check out if you want to add some magic to your summer:

In fiction (but isn’t fiction a myth-to-be?)

Shakespeare’s work greatly influenced the world’s vision of witches and wizards, be it through the Weird Sisters/Three Witches in Macbeth, or Prospero in The Tempest.

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice is one of the most famous pieces of “wizard fiction”. Starting out as a German poem by Goethe, adapted from a world-wide folktale, it then became a French “symphonic poem” in the hands of Paul Dukas. Disney then adapted this symphonic poem into a world-famous animated short in their movie Fantasia 2000, before re-adapting the poem into a completely unrelate teenage-urban fantasy movie in 2010. A urban fantasy movie not to be confused with another kid-friendly fantasy movie inspired by the poem of Goethe and sharing the same name (as well as plot elements, such as Arthurian sorcerers finding themselves in the present-day world). This time it is a British “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice”, released in 2001.

The depiction of Merlin in The Sword in the Stone, both the Disney movie of the 60s and the novel by T. H. White that inspired it, also had a great impact on the vision of the character in popular culture. Both works also contain a famous fictional witch in the person of Madame Mim. A warning, however: Madame Mim only appears in the first editions/first version of the novel, on which the Disney movie was based. In the 50s White rewrote his novel, and excluded the chapter of Madame Mim. Madame Mim in the novel is also very different from the character Disney made her out to be. 

A last creation of Disney for this list: Flora, Fauna and Merryweather, the three good fairies (and actual heroes) of Disney’s Sleeping Beauty.

The Wicked Witch of the West is one of the most famous depictions of a “wicked witch” in the mediatic landscape - and in fact, many witch depictions today are still inspired by her (most notably the green skin or the fact of being melted by water). I am of course here referring to the Wicked Witch as she appears in the MGM movie The Wizard of Oz - this Witch being a very different character from the Wicked Witch of the West appearing in the original novel by L. Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Not that Baum did not create quite a lot of very famous witches: I can mention Mombi, the antagonist of the second Oz book, The Marvelous Land of Oz, or the Good Witch of the North and her counterpart Glinda the Good, the Sorceress of the South. These two are quite notorious as being the first “good witches” to ever appear in American literature. 

In Tolkien’s Legendarium (The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, the Silmarillion): Gandalf the Grey, Saruman the White and the Rings of Power - especially the One Ring. All became archetypes of the fantasy literature and unchallenged character-types (or artefact-types) in all future high fantasy/epic fantasy sagas. Plus - I almost forgot - the palantiri, the “seeing-stones”, Tolkien’s own spin on the classical “crystal ball”.

Other wizards of fantasy classics would include Belgarath the sorcerer and his daughter Polgara, from David Eddings’ (and his wife) The Belgariad, a duo purposefully designed to play fully while subverting in many ways the “Gandalf-type of character” ; as well as Ningauble of the Seven Eyes and Sheelba of the Eyeless Face, the alien and otherwordly patron-warlocks of Fritz Leiber’s iconic heroic duo, Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. 

The magic-users of sir Terry Pratchett’s Discworld deserve an entire section of their own. Each one of them is a careful parody or caricature of the wizard or the witch as envisioned and imagined by fantasy literature, witch-hunters or New Age hippies, as well as a reconstruction of these same stereotypes and cliches, based on philosophical, humanist and scientific principles, making them as much realistic takes as bloody hilarious incarnation of the “witch” and “wizard” character types. For the wizards you have Rincewind (with the Luggage, of course), Mustrum Ridcully, Ponder Stibbons or the Unseen University (a wizard school long before Harry Potter existed). For the witches you have Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg, Magrat Garlick or Tiffany Aching. And let’s not forget the gender-challenging Eskarina... 

Speaking of Harry Potter - despite the controversies surrounding its creator, the Harry Potter book series, and the movie series that followed, is a franchise that cannot be ignored when considering the image and perception of witches, wizards and magic in fantasy. The titular character of Harry Potter deeply marked the minds - as much as his two friends/co-protagonists, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, his nemesis Draco Malfoy, his mentor/school headmaster Albus Dumbledore, the magic school of Hogswart itself, or the magical sport known as Quidditch. 

However, while Harry Potter cannot be ignored, it also must not be forgotten that this franchise was the last of a long set of series depicting children trying to learn magic in a school for witches or wizards, such as Wizard’s Hall by Jane Yolen, The Circle of Magic by MacDonald and Doyle*, Anthony Horowitz’s Groosham Grange (plus its sequel “The Unholy Grail”), and of course Jill Murphy’s The Worst Witch. Special mention for Neil Gaiman’s The Books of Magic, which do not feature a magic school, but are about a young British boy looking a lot like Harry Potter and training to become the greatest wizard of his era - and that despite being a story released seven years before Harry Potter. [* Again, to avoid confusion, this series is not the same as Tamora Pierce’s Circle of Magic, which ALSO deals with young wizards learning to control their powers - but this time was released in parallel to the Harry Potter series].

In a similar way, Harry Potter himself is the last of a long “bloodline” (inkline? Since they’re literary character) of fantasy series-protagonist that start out as young teenagers or kids, become sorcerer apprentice or wizards in training, and grow to be famous and heroic figures of the world of magic. Before Harry there was Pug, of the Riftwar Saga (later expanded into the Riftwar Cycle), and before Pug there was Ged from the Earthsea series. 

While I do not usually include in those list too-recent works, because I brought up Harry Potter I am in the obligation to mention two big recent successes. On one side, the Japanese anime Mashle: Magic and Muscles, which is a very funny parody of the Harry Potter world, if it met the tropes and characters typical of recent seinen superhero mangas, such as One-Punch Man or My Hero Academia. On the other side, the American cartoon The Owl House, which gently mocks the problems inherent to the Harry Potter franchise, while offering its own alternate plotline about a teenager trying to learn magic in a world divided between “regular” humans and magical witches, only to be confronted with great evil powers beyond what she could imagine... 

Two very different dreaded witches: on one side, The Lady from The Black Company, wife and former co-ruler of the dreaded sorcerous overlord The Dominator, and absolute mistress of the Ten Who Were Taken, vile wizards including some terrifying folks such as Soulcatcher, Shapeshifter, The Limper, The Howler or the Hanged Man... On the other, the witch-queen of Neil Gaiman’s Stardust, one of the three Lilim sisters of a fairy-land beyond a certain Wall... She was reinvented as the witch Lamia in the movie adaptation of the novel. I will also throw in another dreaded female magical entity invented by Neil Gaiman: The Other Mother, from Coraline - who is, after all, at one point called a “beldam”... 

Not a book, not a movie, but a card game! The card game Magic: The Gathering deserves a mention, being one of the first and most famous collectable strategy card games, long before Japan overtook with the world with Yu-Gi-Oh, Duel Master and co. The original concept for the game was that each player embodied a wizard fighting another wizard, eac card being a different spell/magical artefact/summoned entity, and each deck was a grimoire/spellbook. The most notorious part of the game is its color system: the Five Colors, representing the various elements and energies of the multiverse, gathered in five different forms of magic forces/divine powers/philosophico-social ideologies. The White of light, peace, law and order. The Black of death, rot, sacrifice, greed and selfishness. The Red of chaos, fury, impulses, emotions, freedom and war. The Blue of intellect, knowledge, logic, deceit, trickery and illusions. The Green of life, nature, evolution and tradition. 

To continue on the topic of games. For tabletop roleplaying games - Warhammer, the most famous dark fantasy RPG, whose wizards are divided by the Winds of Magic, the different types of magic powers: Aqshy the Red Wind of Fire, Chamon the Yellow Wind of Metal, Hysh the White Wind of Light, Ulgu the Grey Wind of Shadow, Azyr the Blue Wind of Heavens, Ghur the Brown Wind of Beasts, Ghyran the Green Wind of Life, and Shyish the Purple Wind of Death. For online, virtual roleplaying game, World of Warcraft, the most famous fantasy MMORPG to this day, with its character class of the Mage (sometimes called Wizard), a spellcaster and conjurer who can specialize in three “types” of magic: Frost magic, Fire magic and Arcane magic. They are not to be confused with the other magic-using classes of the game, such as the Shamans (totemic mystics invoking the spirits of their ancestors and manipulating the four elements), the Warlocks (curse-wielding summoners and enslavers of demons), or the Druids (healers, spellcasters and shapeshifters taking their power from nature itself, and celestial bodies such as the sun and the moon). 

A few fantasy series centered around magic I heard about positively but haven’t had time to check out myself. Diana Wynne Jones’ Magids duology, with on one side Deep Secret, and on the other The Merlin Conspiracy. Angie Sage’s Septimus Heap series (especially the first book, Magyk, which I heard the most about). And Trudi Canavan’s Black Magician Trilogy. 

Being a huge Deltora Quest fan, I will mention as a magical artefact the Belt of Deltora and its seven magical gems. 

We have spent so much time talking about witches... But what about witch hunters? I will name two famous examples here. On one side, Solomon Kane, hunter and slaughterer of all things evils, eldritch and unholy, one of the two famous creations of Robert E. Howard alongside Conan the Barbarian, and whose adventures (just like those of Conan) are technically part of the Cthulhu mythos. On the other side, the Wardstone Chronicles, a brilliant little dark fantasy series for young adults, about the seventh son of a seventh son in a fictional version of Renaissance England learning to become a “Spook”, aka a hunter of ghosts, witches, goblins, demons and other evil gods. 

Of course, being French I have to sprinkle a few French references in this list. For the foolish, cartoonish-evil sorcerer of children fiction: the evil alchemist/sorcerer Gargamel, the recurring and iconic antagonist of the comic-book, then turned cartoon, then turned hybrid movies, The Smurfs. For an evil but glorious wicked lady of dark magic, Karaba the witch from Michel Ocelot’s most famous animated movie Kirikou and the Sorceress, inspired by a traditional folktale of West Africa. For your classic Gandalf-like fantasy wizard: Zétide, the elderly but powerful wizard who serves as one of the protagonist of the fantasy series La Malerune, initially created by Pierre Grimbert but completed by Michel Robert. For your young adult fantasy hero: Ewilan, from the teenage fantasy series The Quest of Ewilan, an ordinary young girl discovering herself to be the true daughter of powerful sorcerers of another world, another world she will need to save with her own hidden magical powers. And to add a final “French touch”, the witch of Malcombe and Eusaebius the mage, the two magic-users whose actions start the plot of one of France’s most famous comedies, Les Visiteurs. 

The French television series Kaamelott deserves an entire section, with its hilarious cast caricaturing the Arthurian mythos from beginning to end - from an inept and incompetent Merlin, to an annoying Lady of the Lake whose ghostly apparitions make everyone believe Arthur is mad, passing by a Morgan le Fay who is tired of constantly having to drag heroes’ corpses back to Avalon. And let’s not forget Le Répurgateur, a cruel, fanatical and overzealous inquisitor and witch-hunter of the early Christian Rome, who however carries numerous modern-day values and norms against the Celtic traditions still honored at Camelot (such as polygamy or a very loose definition of “justice”).  

ADDENDUM:

I forgot to put in two items on the first part of this list, so I will add them here as a final conclusion. 

When talking about the fairytales of the brothers Grimm that popularized some witch archetypes (Little Snow-White, or Hansel and Gretel), I forgot to evoke The Frog King (wrongly remembered today as “The Frog Prince”), which was the fairytale from which derives the cliche/stereotype/trope of a witch or a fairy turning anyone that displeases them into a toad or a frog. 

And of course, I forgot to mention the most “real” of all the magics... The stage magic. The magic tricks of the magician with the top hat and black-and-white wand. The parlor tricks, and stage illusions, and children’s entertainment, and the great magicians that practiced this art: Isaac Fawkes, Robert-Houdin, John Henry Anderson, Herrmann the Great, Houdini, Harry Blackstone, Fred Kaps, and many many more... Pulling rabbits out of hats, changing the numbers and figures of card games, cutting ladies into two, pulling flowers or handkerchiefs out of thin air, and all these sorts of things... 

[caitylove]

EEEP! Thanks @cleverlycrusher for tagging me. I'm gonna try to do this now, otherwise my brain will 100% forget.

3 ships: Only 3? I am such a big shipper, its a huge part of my personality. Mulder/Scully and Bill Adama/Laura Roslin and probably SwanQueen are the ones I have shipped the hardest.

first ever ship: So the X-Files was my introduction to fandom when I was like 11 (which was like 2001...) so it would absolutely be Mulder/Scully. (I er... may have accidentally even gotten my sex ed from MSR fics... oops.)

last song: Blinding by Florence and the Machine

last movie: I honestly think it was Barbie.. Which was great. Go see it.

currently reading: I'm currently reading Foxglove by Adalyn Grace. Plus a million fanfictions. SO many fanfictions. The amount of fanfic I consume is probably dangerous. I AM rereading my all time favorite fanfic: (aka listening to the podfic of it) Parabiosis by Penumbra. Its literally a classic and just so so good. If you are an X-files fan and never read it, please do!

currently watching: Ashoka, Doing a Major Crimes watch, and a slow Battlestar Galactica and X-Files rewatch when I have time

currently consuming: ... Water.

currently craving: For my vacation to get here in a few days and chocolate.

9 people to tag: Shit. 9? Thats so many people... @holy-ships-x-red-lips, @divine-feminine-etc, @fracktastic, @ryuhoshi, @erablaise-blog, @scullys-scalpel, @telemiel, @smarchit, @kate04us. Definitely don't feel obligated. <3

[bobbie-robron]

I remember when we lived in the other house… with grandma and uncle Joe. (Gifs)

09-Jan-2002

[k-i-l-l-e-r-b-e-e-6-9]

[nordleuchten]

Please please please drop the letters where Washington misspelled Lafayette's name not once but twice...!

Dear @ouiouixmonami,

your wish is my command. :-) I have already quoted the letter a couple of times in the past, but I gladly do so again, because it simply is an absolute classic.

The letter was written by George Washington on August 19, 1777 to Benjamin Harrison, his friend and a member of the Continental Congress. The letter is a bit longer, so I am only going to insert the parts where Washington misspelled La Fayette’s name.

The first time was right at the beginning:

If I did not misunderstand what you, or some other Member of Congress said to me respecting the appointment of the Marquis de, le, Fiatte, he has misceived the design of his appointment, or Congress did not understand the extent of his views, for certain it is, If I understand him, that he does not conceive his Commission is merely honorary; but given with a view to command a division of this Army.

The second time:

I was going to address Congress for Instructions in the case of the Marquis de, Le, Fyatte, but upon second thought concluded to ask some direction of My conduct in this matter through a Member, and therefore have imposed this task upon you.

“From George Washington to Benjamin Harrison, 19 August 1777,” Founders Online, National Archives, [Original source: The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 11, 19 August 1777 – 25 October 1777, ed. Philander D. Chase and Edward G. Lengel. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 2001, pp. 4–5.] (02/08/2023)

To be fair, La Fayette’s name is a bit tricky and Washington did not knew him for too long. :-)

[delshorrorlist]

My Horror List

-Here is a list of my finished horror movies. The first portion is in an unknown order, and the second portion is when I started documenting the order-

1408 (2007)

#Alive (2020)

•REC (2007)

13 Ghosts (2001)

28 Days Later… (2002)

30 Days of Night (2007)

A Classic Horror Story (2021)

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

A Quiet Place (2018)

Anaconda (1997)

Annabelle (2014)

Army of the Dead (2021)

As Above, So Below (2014)

Banana Splits Movie (2019)

Before I Awake (2016)

Bird Box (2018)

Black Sheep (2006)

Blood Red Sky (2021)

Brainscan (1994)

Butchers (2020)

Cadaver (2020)

Cargo (2017)

Carrie (1976)

Carrie (2013)

Child’s Play (1988)

Child’s Play (2019)

Children of the Corn (1984)

Christine (1983)

Color Out of Space (2019)

Cube (1997)

Dave Made a Maze (2017)

Dawn of the Dead (1978)

Dawn of the Dead (2004)

Day of the Dead (2008)

Death of Me (2020)

Devil (2010)

Doctor Sleep (2019)

Don’t Breathe (2016)

Eli (2019)

Escape Room (2019)

Escape Room: Tournament of Champions (2021)

Evil Ed (1995)

Fear Street: Part 1 - 1994 (2021)

Fear Street: Part 2 - 1978 (2021)

Fear Street: Part 3 - 1666 (2021)

Final Destination (2000)

Final Destination 2 (2003)

Final Destination 3 (2006)

The Final Destination (2009)

Final Destination 5 (2011)

Friday the 13th (2009)

From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)

Get Out (2017)

Grave Encounters (2011)

Grave Encounters 2 (2012)

Graveyard Shift (1990)

Gremlins (1984)

Halloween (1978)

Hellraiser (1987)

Hereditary (2018)

His House (2020)

Hostel (2005)

Housebound (2014)

Hush (2016)

Idle Hands (1999)

In the Tall Grass (2019)

Incantation (2022)

Insidious (2010)

Interview with the Vampire (1994)

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)

IT (2017)

IT: Chapter Two (2019)

Jaws (1975)

Jigsaw (2017)

Krampus (2015)

Lake Placid (1999)

Leatherface (2017)

Legion (2010)

Life (2017)

Lights Out (2016)

Little Evil (2017)

Ma (2019)

Mama (2013)

Maximum Overdrive (1986)

Midsommar (2019)

Monster House (2006)

My Bloody Valentine (1981)

No Escape Room (2018)

Nope (2022)

Oculus (2013)

Paranormal Activity (2007)

Peninsula (2020)

Pet Sematary (1989)

Pet Sematary (2019)

Poltergeist (1982)

Psycho (1960)

Purge (2013)

Purge II (2014)

Purge III (2016)

Purge IV (2018)

Purge V (2021)

Ready or Not (2019)

Saw (2004)

Saw II (2005)

Saw III (2006)

Saw IV (2007)

Saw V (2008)

Saw VI (2009)

Saw VII (2010)

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (2019)

Scream (1996)

Scream 2 (1997)

Shaun of the Dead (2004)

Silver Bullet (1985)

Sinister (2012)

Society (1989)

Spiral (2019)

Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021)

Splice (2009)

Summer of Fear (1978)

Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989)

Texas Chainsaw (2013)

Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022)

The Babadook (2014)

The Blair Witch Project (1999)

The Cabin in the Woods (2011)

The Conjuring (2013)

The Craft (1996)

The Crazies (2010)

The Darkness (2016)

The Descent (2005)

The Empty Man (2020)

The Endless (2017)

The Escape Room (2018)

The Evil Dead (1981)

The Final Girls (2015)

The Forest (2016)

The Hills Have Eyes (1977)

The Ice Cream Truck (2017)

The Lazarus Effect (2015)

The Lost Boys (1987)

The Mist (2007)

The Nun (2018)

The Platform (2019)

The Possession (2012)

The Resort (2021)

The Ring (2002)

The Ritual (2018)

The Ruins (2008)

The Shining (1980)

The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

The Sixth Sense (1999)

The Strangers (2008)

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)

The Thing (1982)

The Void (2016)

The Woman in Black (2012)

There’s Someone Inside Your House (2021)

Train to Busan (2016)

Tremors (1990)

Truth or Dare (2018)

Tucker & Dale vs. Evil (2010)

Tusk (2014)

Unfriended (2014)

Us (2019)

Uzumaki (2000)

Vivarium (2019)

Warm Bodies (2013)

What We Do in the Shadows (2014)

Willy’s Wonderland (2021)

Winchester (2018)

Wish Upon (2017)

Would You Rather? (2012)

Zombieland (2009)

Zombieland: Double Tap (2019)

Dated Movies

-From this point on I have the date and order I watched these movies, everything above I watched before everything below-

Drag Me to Hell (2009) - October 4th 2022, #176

The Privilege (2022) - October 12th 2022, #177

Halloween Ends (2022) - October 15th 2022, #178

The Witches of Eastwick (1987) - October 24th 2022, #179

The Perfection (2019) - October 25th 2022, #180

Barbarian (2021) - October 25th 2022, #181

The Faculty (1998) - October 30th 2022, #182

The Exorcist (1973) - October 31th 2022, #183

Smile (2022) - November 27th 2022, #184

The Menu (2022) - January 8th 2023, #185

Ghostwatch (1992) - January 28th 2023, #186

Skinamarink (2023) - February 2nd 2023, #187

The Collection (2012) - February 4th 2023, #188

The Innocents (2021) - February 7th 2023, #189

Deadstream (2022) - February 7th 2023, #190

The Dark and the Wicked (2020) - February 7th 2023, #191

Kolobos (1999) - February 8th 2023, #192

Scare Package (2019) - February 9th 2023, #193

Re-Animator (1985) - February 10th 2023, #194

The Boy (2016) - February 15th 2023, #197

The Invitation (2022) - February 18th 2023, #198

Grizzly (1976) - February 18th 2023, #199

C.O.R.N.: Field of Screams (2021) - March 2nd 2023, #200

Slumber Party Masscare II (1987) - March 2nd 2023, #201

The Slumber Party Massacre (1982) - March 3rd 2023, #202

The Silence (2019) - March 5th 2023, #203

Once Upon a Time at Christmas (2017) - March 5th 2023, #204

Evil Toons (1991) - March 15th 2023, #205

Sleepaway Camp (1983) - March 15th 2023, #206

Prom Night (1980) - March 15th 2023, #207

Cooties (2014) - March 19th 2023, #208

House (1985) - March 20th 2023, #209

House of Wax (2005) - March 25th 2023, #210

Prom Night (2008) - March 25th 2023, #211

Werewolf in a Girl's Dormitory (1961) - March 31st 2023, #212

Wolf Creek (2005) - April 2nd 2023, #213

Body Melt (1993) - April 2nd 2023, #214

Bodies Bodies Bodies (2022) - April 5th 2023, #215

Death Becomes Her (1992) - April 18th 2023, #216

Stigmata (1999) - April 19th 2023, #217

Dead Silence (2007) - April 19th 2023, #218

Elevator (2012) - April 20th 2023, #219

Bad Hair (2020) - April 22nd 2023, #220

We Need to Do Something (2021) - 25th 2023, #221

Good Boy (2020) - April 25th 2023, #222

Pilgrim (2019) - April 27th 2023, #223

Piggy (2022) - April 28th 2023, #224

They Come Knocking (2019) - April 28th 2023, #225

Death Spa (1989) - April 30th 2023, #226

The Naked Witch (1961) - April 30th 2023, #227

I'm Just Fucking With You (2019) - May 2nd 2023, #228

Critters (1986) - May 3rd 2023, #229

Chopping Mall (1986) - May 5th 2023, #230

The Farm (2018) - May 12th 2023, #231

Motel Hell (1980) - May 12th 2023, #232

Jeepers Creepers (2001) - May 14th 2023, #233

Mother's Day (1980) - May 15th 2023, #234

Slaxx (2020) - May 15th 2023, #235

Slaughterhouse (1987) - May 16th 2023, #236

One Missed Call (2008) - May 19th 2023, #237

Mayhem (2017) - May 19th 2023, #238

Boar (2017) - May 19th 2023, #239

Pieces (1983) - May 22nd 2023, #240

Pandamonium (2020) - May 24th 2023, #241

All Cheerleaders Die (2014) - May 27th 2023, #242

Waxwork (1985) - May 28th 2023, #243

They Look Like People (2015) - May 28th 2023, #244

Class of Nuke'em High (1986) - May 28th 2023, #245

Fear PHarm (2020) - May 29th 2023, #246

The Stuff (1985) - June 1st 2023, #247

Planet Terror (2007) - June 2nd 2023, #248

Fear PHarm 2 (2021) - June 5th 2023, #249

Mom and Dad (2018) - June 8th 2023, #250

Renfield (2023) - June 11th 2023, #251

After Dark: The Task (2011) - June 12th 2023, #252

Terrifier (2016) - June 19th 2023, #253

It Follows (2015) - June 20th 2023, #254

Choose Or Die (2022) - June 20th 2023, #255

31 (2016) - June 21st 2023, #256

The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016) - June 22nd 2023, #257

Apollo 18 (2011) - June 22nd 2023, #258

Triangle (2009) - June 23rd 2023, #259

Sorority House Massacre (1986) - June 23rd 2023, #260

Braid (2018) - June 24th 2023, #261

Await Further Instructions (2018) - June 26th 2023, #262

Ghost Ship (2002) - July 9th 2023, #263

Annihilation (2018) - July 11th 2023, #264

Antrum: The Deadliest Film Ever Made (2018) - July 13th 2023, #265

Scare BNB (2019) - July 19th 2023, #266

Sleepaway Camp II: Unhappy Campers (1988) - July 20th 2023, #267

Sleepaway Camp III: Teenage Wasteland (1989) - July 20th 2023, #268

The Bunnyman Massacre (2014) - July 26th 2023, #269

House (1977) - July 26th 2023, #270

Night of the Comet (1983) - August 3rd 2023, #271

Phantasm (1979) - August 8th 2023, #272

Evil Dead 2 (1987) - August 8th 2023, #273

Battle Royale (2000) - August 8th 2023, #274

Trucks (1998) - August 8th 2023, #275

247F (2011) - August 15th 2023, #276

2001 Maniacs (2005) - August 15th 2023, #277

The Video Dead (1987) - August 17th 2023, #278

Human Resources (2021) - August 17th 2023, #279

Parents (1989) - August 18th 2023, #280

Urban Legend (1998) - September 8th 2023, #281

You’re Next (2011) - November 21st 2023, #282

Frogs (1972) - November 21st 2023, #283

Jennifer’s Body (2009) - January 8th 2024, #284

The Hunt (2020) - January 8th 2024, #285

The Amusement Park (1975) - January 21st 202;, #286

Diary of the Dead (2007) - February 2nd 2024, #287

Corporate Animals (2019) - February 7th, 2024, #288

The Vampire Bat (1933) - February 7th 2024, #289

Blades (1989) - February 7th 2024, #290

Martyrs (2008) - February 7th 2024, #291

Game of Death (2017) - February 14th 2024, #292

Night Swim (2024) - February 16th 2024, #293

976-EVIL (1988) - February 18th 2024, #294

Microwave Massacre (1979) - February 18th 2024, #295

Street Trash (1987) - February 20th 2024, #296

Escape the Field (2022) - February 21st 2024, #297

Auntie Lee’s Meat Pies (1992) - March 3rd 2024, #298

Return to Horror High (1987) - March 23rd 2024, #299

The Beach House (2019) - April 14th 2024, #300

[eldritchboop]

11 Classic Numerology Books

The Lost Book Project charges $19 for this collection. If you found this roundup useful, please consider donating to the Internet Archive instead.

Other roundups here

Numerology The Complete Guide Vol 1 by Matthew Goodwin (1981)

Numerology The Complete Guide Vol 2 by Matthew Goodwin (1981)

Cheiro's Book of Numbers (1921)

Numerology The Romance In Your Name by Juno Jordan (1965) Ed note: this is a rental; book is still in print and copyright!

Number in Scripture: Its Supernatural Design and Spiritual Significance (1895)

Secret Science of Numerology: The Hidden Meaning of Numbers and Letters (2001)

The Numerology of the I Ching: A Sourcebook of Symbols, Structures, and Traditional Wisdom (2000)

The Kabala of Numbers Book by Sepharial (1911)

A Manual of Occultism by Sepharial (1911)

The Universe of Numbers by Ruth Phelps (1984)

The Language Crystal - The Complete Solution To Civilization's Oldest Puzzle (1988)