#joss-ed

[theoryandahalf]

The lumen commercial section thingy in the new GT is giving 90s sitcom. and now I want to abandon my nonexistent Fnaf au and write that instead.

A sitcom about ghosts haunting animatronics that live in the average American couple's home would fit perfectly in the 80-90s era tv. Every week all American dad Matthew Patrick tries to hide his haunted mental monstrosities from his suspicious neighbor, Jason Parker, while doing a dead end job that wouldn't even pay min wage in today's economy, to support his stay at home wife and three teenage children, Sam, Josiah and Ash. Ollie is the baby they introduce mid series run when the ratings are starting to drop.

Or just embrace the horror aspect. I can see MatPat as the Rubert Guiles to Ash's Buffy, with Sam as Xander. Just pretend the rest of the Scooby gang is dead and you got yourself a 90's cult classic minus the creepy sexually harassing creator.

[donaruz]

Passata alla storia come “regina del soul”

"Canto per i realisti, le persone che si accettano come sono."

– Aretha Franklin (born March 25, 1942 Memphis ( Stati Uniti) )

ARETHA FRANKLIN 🖤

Soprannominata The Queen Of Soul ( la Regina del soul) o Lady Soul..Forza spirituale e vocale, punto di riferimento della cultura popolare americana, portavoce dei temi più incandescenti degli anni 60 e 70 . Un prodigio del gospel, una delle icone della musica soul e R&B...una battagliera sostenitrice dei diritti civili, considerata la più grande cantante degli ultimi cinquant'anni a livello mondiale, ruolo riconosciuto anche da innumerevoli premi...Senza saper leggere la musica, imparo' da sola a suonare il pianoforte e a 12 anni inizio 'a registrare canzoni cantando nei tour gospel con suo padre...fino a firmare , nel 1956 , il suo primo contratto discografico.. Da allora, la sua vasta produzione di musica soul, gospel e R&B ma anche blues, jazz e Rock & Roll, si è aggiudicata ben ventuno premi Grammy (otto dei quali vinti consecutivamente nella stessa categoria dal 1968 al 1975.

È riconosciuta come una delle più influenti interpreti della storia della musica: numerosi artisti, tra cui Anastacia, Alicia Keys, Beyoncé, Mary J. Blige, Fantasia, Joss Stone, Jennifer Hudson, Usher, Giuni Russo, Giorgia, Chadia Rodriguez ed Elisa hanno citato Aretha nelle loro principali ispirazioni e hanno eseguito cover dei suoi brani più famosi.

Atlantide

[atopvisenyashill]

I know the ep just aired but as a fellow Saera stan, do you have any headcanons on her relationship with Hugh? We got breadcrumbs from his lines about how he was told he was “just as good as her brother’s boys” but I’m always interested to see how other fans interpret these breadcrumbs

YES. I fully expect some of this to get Joss-ed it's fine.

Okay first of all, I have always loved the idea that Saera named all her kids after her, and so I have now added the headcanon that Hugh changed his name when he immigrated to Westeros for like Saergar to Hugh. We know I like funny stuff, but I suppose I’ve also always felt like Saera just loses it once she’s in Essos. She spent a year being subjected to some sort of religious abuse, after being forced to watch her father murder her boyfriend for having pre marital sex with her, and then becomes a sex worker herself (and that's not even getting into the sexual abuse she definitely experienced at Jaehaerys hands). For comparison, I kind of imagine the Sailor’s Wife, who is clearly working through some shit with her ritual, but crueler and sharper. She’s using her job as a sex worker to work through her own sexual trauma, and I bet some of it is not healthy or healing at all, it’s just retraumatizing herself. I think probably she became slightly more balanced when moved to Volantis and owned her own brothel, or at least, I hope she became slightly more balanced. I’ve always imagined that she very much parentifies every single one of her children, acting more like a crazy party loving sister than a mother, but most of them don’t mind that she does this because they have picked up on the fact she went through something god awful back home. Also, because she makes a lot of money for herself, I do imagine the fact that their mom is just a crazy rich lady is easier to swallow (being comfortable money wise always makes these things easier to swallow).

I like the idea that Hugh left because he wanted an identity that wasn't tied to the Targaryens and specifically to his mother's clearly insane mental state. He’s one of the handful of Saerlings that was born in Lys, so things were still shaky, they didn’t have their own place, they were living in the brothel, they would play in the tavern area while she took clients, and it bothered him that this was how they lived. So he sheds the name she gave him for one more Andal sounding, he comes to King’s Landing with a bit of money, an apprenticeship lined up, and a story about how his parents were simple Lyseni merchants who died before he could make any lasting memories of them.

I think he always felt very different from the rest of the his siblings. I like to imagine he is one of the oldest, at least the oldest boy, and very much felt a fatherly sort of responsibility towards his mother. I think he resented the fact that not only did none of his siblings share his worry over her increasingly deranged mental state, they seemed to think that owning her own brothel would work better for her, would help her. He thought she should completely leave sex work and retire somewhere simple, give up what he feels is a ~life of sin. It's not that he thinks his mother is sinful, it's that he thinks she's sick and being preyed upon by others. While everyone else was fascinated with her drunken rants about Westeros, Hugh was always horrified. Horrified at the stories she told of parents who did not take care of her, of daughters sold off to husbands at too young an age, of wars fought atop terrifying beasts in the sky. He wanted to save her, his fallen Madonna of a Mother, from the ghosts that haunted her.

When she moved the family to Volantis, he finally left. He couldn't take watching her self destruct anymore. It's not until his own little girl is sick and starving to death that he remembers how much being wealthy is a boon in times of strife. And suddenly his mother's stories of dragons aren't so terrifying...what if he's strong enough to protect Kat on his own? If he goes in with his eyes wide open to the kinds of people the Targaryens are...what if he can beat the demons that consumed his mother?

[doomerpatrol]

2024 Comic Log with Overall Ratings

Dungeon Meshi by Ryoko Kui [5/5]: incredibly funny, charming, full of interesting worldbuilding and compelling characters, some strong themes of entropy and consumption/desire and connection/ecology

Doom Patrol by Grant Morrison [5/5]: a darkly creative challenge to the Ubermensch masculinism that dominates comics

The Flash by Mark Waid [4/5]: breezily readable exploration of a character that I think has ebbs and flows, but generally features atypically fun time-travel plots and a great cast

The Flash by Grant Morrison & Mark Millar [4/5]: a solid continuation of Waid's themes and priorities that pushes Flash to his absolute limits

Astonishing X-Men by Joss Whedon [2/5]: tries to be mutant assimilationist, but can't even do that fucking correctly

X-23 by Craig Kyle & Chris Yost [3/5]: perfectly fine, a little hacky in its treatment of motherhood, but a nice and heartfelt contemporary take on the Wolverine: Weapon X story

JLA by Grant Morrison [5/5]: incredible, maybe Morrison's best ongoing achievement

Seven Soldiers by Grant Morrison [3/5]: very cool idea that doesn't really stick the landing but has a lot of bright spots and fabulous art

Batman: No Man's Land by Greg Rucka (and others) [3/5]: a crossover that features some of the best Batman stories and characterization, and also some of the worst; very much carried by the strength of its premise, best realized by Greg Rucka's stories

Animal Man by Grant Morrison [4/5]: features some of the best single issues I've ever read

All-Star Superman by Grant Morrison [5/5]: needs to be read. beautiful.

Grant Morrison's Batman Epic (includes: Batman, Final Crisis, Batman and Robin, Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne, Batman Incorporated) [5/5]: despite having some questionable character decisions and being dense in a way that can be tiring, I love how it redeems Bruce from one of his worst periods and pulls together his values and history cohesively while injecting some great new ideas and consistent motifs - the idea of a hole at the center of everything, the constant imagery of spirals and recurrence, really stuck with me over time.

Action Comics by Grant Morrison [2/5]: frenetic, but very obviously shows Morrison straining against The New 52 reboot, and doesn't live up to its initial promise of a young Superman of the people, and ends on a sour note that seems to reflect Morrison's justified disillusionment with the industry

Detective Comics by Greg Rucka [3/5]: carried by the lovely monochromatic artwork, sets up some interesting ideas like Bruce's bodyguard but ultimately gets cannibalized by crossovers (coincidentally when the best art disappears)

Wolverine by Greg Rucka [4/5]: features Logan in lone wanderer mode, with some awkward threads that don't really go anywhere but also don't trip up the rest of the story too badly

Catwoman by Ed Brubaker [4/5]: peters out in the last third, but the first two are holistically great noir fiction, and have amazing illustrations

Hawkeye by Matt Fraction [5/5]: beautiful artwork by David Aja and Matt Hollingsworth paired with a compelling, clinically criss-cross structure both in paneling and serialization. astonishing that this book works as well as it does considering its protagonist is 1) typically boring and 2) a huge fuck-up

Punisher / Franken-Castle by Rick Remender [2/5]: fails to live up to its premise because Brian Michael Bendis had dibs on all the important characters, so it just throws everything out the window and does some random shit for a bit

Batman: Hush by Jeph Loeb [3/5]: perfectly fine blockbuster action-mystery with an eyeroll main antagonist

Detective Comics by Scott Snyder [3/5]: starts out strong, finishes super weak. I am pretty uninterested in hackneyed evil-since-childhood villains (see also: Hush), and I find the cynicism which runs through all its plots really poorly executed

Venom by Rick Remender [2/5]: fails to live up to its premise by trying to be a Peter Parker book (and also, briefly and inexplicably, a Ghost Rider book)

Black Widow by Marjorie Liu [4/5]: really gorgeous artwork from Daniel Acuna. I think the plot is a little convoluted and underbaked, but its spy-thriller antics were still quite enjoyable to read, and it has some surprisingly strong emotional beats for a character I'm not super-invested in

Birds of Prey by Gail Simone [4/5]: good cheesy fun with great character writing, though a rushed (and largely unnecessary) final act

Batman: Face the Face by James Robinson [3/5]: a "One Year Later" storyline that has some nice Bruce/Tim moments, but its main Two-Face plot is empty calories

Jonathan Hickman's Fantastic Four Epic (includes Dark Reign: Fantastic Four, Fantastic Four, FF [Future Foundation]) [5/5]: another series where, even though I can find it overwhelmingly dense or breakneck in pacing, its thematic payoff is so triumphant that I admire it a lot anyway; probably my second favorite FF run, full of fun sci-fi concepts, moving character beats, and creative changes to the team's structure like the Future Foundation

Superman: Up, Up, and Away by Kurt Busiek and Geoff Johns [5/5]: compared to Face to Face - the other big "One Year Later" return - it's literally no contest; incredibly charming, great art, thematic cohesion

[winepresswrath]

it's so funny to dip a toe (sorry) into ofmd fic and find stuff that's like "yeah jim lowkey wants to kill izzy" it's not at all an unreasonable extrapolation but even so i'm sitting here like "jim would never! that's their dick! their unicorn! their little guy. they saved him as an act of hope and defiance and it was very brave" otoh the stede-izzy interactions tend towards the prescient and the ed-izzy stuff is just. uh. well my current feelings will be jossed in two weeks time also.

[miguelsolano]

o rock in rio virou um festival multicultural?

eu, como apaixonado por música desde que me entendo por gente, fiquei decepcionado com muitas das atrações do rock in rio deste ano. porém, o repúdio generalizado das pessoas pela inclusão de bandas de pagode, axé, trap e outros estilos, diferentes do que o nome do festival propõe, pode nos ensinar uma lição importante: não basta ser bom apenas no que faz, é preciso excelência em tudo!

muita gente reclamou que teve ivete sangalo, isa, jão, gloria groove, luísa sonza, ferrugem etc. mas, apesar de eu também concordar que não é um evento propício a tais estilos, não se pode negar que os espetáculos apresentados por todos esses artistas condenados pelos fãs do rock foram surreais! palcos lindos, trocas de roupa e de cenários, nada de playback, interação total com a galera… ou seja, apresentações realmente dignas de um festival com o porte do rock in rio. os palcos de ferrugem e gloria groove, por exemplo, foram uma obra prima! coisa de cinema! e, honestamente, eu nunca sequer tinha ouvido uma música de ambos até a transmissão pelo canal multishow. me dei a chance de conhecer e, apesar de continuar sem apreciar os estilos, fiquei embasbacado com o nível da produção. até onde eu vi, nenhum artista internacional superou a produção dos brasileiros. quem chegou mais próximo foi katy perry, porém, pecando em diversos aspectos (sobretudo na afinação e no uso excessivo de playback e backing track).

outro ponto a se destacar é a soberba da maioria das atrações principais. a impressão que dá é que esses artistas de palco mundo se acham especiais o bastante pra se preocuparem com cenário, interação, iluminação, figurino etc. como se apenas a presença física deles já fosse suficiente pra justificar o cachê, desprezando a necessidade de uma produção primorosa pra agradar o público em todos os sentidos. essa arrogância não se vê em nenhuma atração nacional, muito pelo contrário, é uma alegria gigantesca estar em contato com o público, mesmo com um cachê infinitamente menor.

na boa, eu fiquei muito mais impressionado com os palcos de ferrugem, ivete sangalo, iza e gloria groove do que com os de joss stone, charlie puth e ed sheeran. iza, inclusive, fez o show sob sérios riscos de dar à luz em pleno palco, tudo pra não deixar de fazer parte de um momento histórico. enquanto os brasileiros capricharam em efeitos especiais e entretenimento, as atrações principais só colocavam luzes e fogos meia-boca. o palco de cindy lauper foi lamentável: um power point atrás com o nome dela estampado e só, coisa que qualquer banda de casa noturna faz. o palco de charlie puth, também, outro exemplo terrível. o show pareceu uma longa passagem de som. enfim, não é sem motivo que os artistas brasileiros estão "roubando" o protagonismo do rock. estão assumindo a dianteira porque eles colocam a alma no palco, diferentemente dos gringos que se acham seres superiores aos meros mortais brasileiros. o artista brasileiro gosta de palco, de gente, de muvuca, de festa. qualquer oportunidade que tiver de fazer uma bela algazarra, ele fará. e todo produtor de evento quer o melhor pro seu festival, obviamente.

apesar de ed sheeran ter feito uma baita apresentação dentro das condições que propôs, achei de um menosprezo enorme fazer voz e violão num festival gigante e imponente como o rock in rio. pra mim, essa decisão só deveria ser aceita caso a filosofia da banda já fosse essa, pois o dono do festival contrataria sabendo se tratar de uma atração acústica. não sendo isso, nada justifica não trazer uma banda de apoio pra pra incrementar o show. ah, mas os fãs adoraram o show de ed sheeran! fãs nunca foram nem serão parâmetro em debates críticos. a idolatria os fazem achar tudo sempre lindo.

por isso que o sertanejo e o pagode têm crescido tanto no brasil. porque esses estilos não entregam apenas músicas, mas um espetáculo teatral completo! o mercado da música mudou completamente, modificando sobretudo os fãs e a forma de consumo. os artistas precisam entender que não podem mais somente comparecer e executar; precisam construir algo realmente grandioso (taylor swift é um exemplo disso) ou serão deixados pra trás aos poucos, sem motivo aparente.

o público de antigamente se contentava com qualquer coisa (e eu me incluo nessa parcela). já os consumidores de música de hoje precisa de um baita motivo pra sair de casa e prestigiar seu artista preferido ao vivo, visto que muitos shows estão disponíveis na internet, em qualidade absurda. atualmente, muita gente prefere ficar assistindo ao show em casa, no conforto do seu sofá, com som e imagem perfeitos, vários ângulos de câmera e nada de empurra-empurra do que se esforçar pra ir num show e apenas ver o artista de longe, do tamanho de um grão de areia. feliz ou infelizmente, é assim que muita gente raciocina hoje em dia e os festivais, como sempre, vão acompanhar as tendências.

que saudade eu sinto dos shows do iron maiden, com o gigante eddie passeando pelo palco; dos shows de michael jackson e madonna, artistas completos que sempre viram a música como entretenimento para os ouvidos e também para os olhos. percebe-se que a coisa está realmente complicada quando um apaixonado por rock escreve uma opinião a respeito de um dos maiores festivais de rock do mundo elogiando os shows das bandas de pagode. que fase…

[tellthemeerkatsitsfine]

I've had a terrible day full of significantly elevated anxiety for no discernible reason (aside from, it's too fucking hot and this always happens when it's too fucking hot, also a number of other things but the level of anxiety is disproportionate to any of those real situations, probably because it's too fucking hot). I looked around my room to see some things I like to cheer myself up. I have don't quite a good job of making my bedroom into an over-decorated museum of things I like, which is convenient on a day when I want to just look around and quickly see something nice. Anyway, here are some pictures of my comedy-related collections.

On the wall - the old Josie Long poster that I got her to sign when I saw her in Montreal, and then I got Grace Petrie to sign it when I saw her live a couple of months later, even though I was so anxious about approaching either of them at all, much less giving Josie Long the weird request to have her sign a poster from ten years ago, or giving Grace Petrie the much weirder request to have sign Josie Long's poster from ten years ago, but I explained to her how it's because I already have Josie's signature and I'd love the idea of both their autographs on one thing, and I did also buy Grace Petrie's CD and have her sign that too, even though I already owned that album off Bandcamp, I just felt obligated to buy it rather than only say "Hi could you sign something that isn't even yours?", and to pay her money for the CD as a bribe to briefly talk to me. Anyway, as nerve-wracking as it was to get, I love that I get to look at it every day now. I have it on my wall next to the lovely quote from The Bugle episode 66 that @nyomkitten made in fancy fonts, and that I jokingly said I want on my wall, and then realized I actually do so I went and had it printed on cardstock.

Books on my shelf. Most of my Britcom books are in ebook or audiobook form, but some are on a shelf.

CDs and DVDs. The top one is Grace Petrie's Connectivity, which I bought to bribe her to talk to me long enough so I could get her to sign Josie Long's poster. There's also Kitson's Shenaniganagain CD, and the Lucksmiths CD that I bought on eBay because Kitson wrote the liner notes on it. Then we have John Oliver's stand-up special, Flight of the Conchords, Thick of It and In the Loop DVDs that I picked up at a Celtic music festival once, couple of Monty Python movies, a hard move away from comedy in the BBC House of Cards, some DVDs purchased back when Joss Whedon was still cool, and I did used to be a big hockey fan and follow the Edmonton Oilers really closely. Haven't cared in years; they made the Stanley Cup finals this year and I didn't give a fuck. But I used to.

Stickers on the side of my book shelf. The Taskmaster seal and Nish Kumar with a coconut on his head, both gifts from my then-girlfriend, attached to a Christmas card she gave me a couple of years ago. Now a somewhat painfully tainted memory, but I still like the stickers. A couple of other stickers that I took off the packaging from Daniel Kitson's CD, the official seal of Higgldy Piggldy Enterprises, which is how he incorporated himself. And a couple of playing cards that Ed Gamble threw into the crowd last year during the Max & Ivan pretend wrestling event, as his thing was "Ed The Gambler Gamble" so he had a bunch of cards. Cards that audience members could just pick up if they wanted to, and one of the people who did that happens to be a friend of mine who sent a few of them to me, which is fucking cool.

And finally, this weekend I moved some stuff around from my old hard drives to have more things in one place, on the big comedy folder that's on my 5TB hard drive. I've actually bought two 5TB hard drives this year, which might not be the best use of my limited funds, but I don't want to risk losing all that. So I have the one hard drive that lives in a pocket on the back of my laptop and is always connected to it as a working drive with this massive comedy folder on it, and another with a second copy of that folder. Part of why I bought the second one was I think I'm going to take the first one with me when I got to the UK so I can put stuff on it there, but if I don't have a backup at home, I'll be too worried about losing it.

(Note: I do not endorse the views or work of every comedian who has a folder on my hard drive. Most of it is there because I like them, but please do not assume I am a fan of all things expressed by, to pick 2 examples just in the As, Alfie Brown or post-2019 Alun Cochrane. Technically there are three people in the As whose views I do not share, because Alan Partridge has some ideas about immigration policy that just wouldn't be feasible. Oh and I don't like how Adam Hills got an MBE a couple of years ago and suddenly started expressing monarchist sentiments a lot. Only one letter in and I'm already disagreeing with plenty. On the other hand, I'm almost sure that Alice Fraser has never said anything wrong in her entire life.)

Of course, the hard drive lives on the back of my laptop next to my other Nish Kumar sticker, which I got because of the laptop that Nish had in season 4 of The Mash Report, which got filmed in his home due to lockdown:

I've definitely posted all of this before, but collecting those things again put me in a slightly better mood, which was the goal. Hope everyone's having a nice week and they solve climate change soon.

[danglovely]

Kim Possible Episode Tiers: The B-Tier

Don't overthink it. These are all pretty good episodes.

Pain King vs. Cleopatra: The introduction of Monique! I have a weird affection for this episode because I can distinctly remember watching it when it was released (and then playing the stupid flash game associated with it). One-off villain and meh plot makes it okay.

Number One: It's funny to know that Will was introduced as Ron's romantic rival. Obviously the show is much better for them not pursuing that storyline. This episode successfully introduces Duff and has one of my favorite lines of the series.

The Truth Hurts: The half-episodes are about laughs. I don't think this one does amazing at it (apart from the initial Drakken/Shego confrontation), but it's sort of a fun high concept episode that probably would have benefitted from a full length expansion.

The Big Job: The Jr. and Shego relationship is actually pretty fun and could have used a few more episodes. This one is highlighted by how good the fight while trying to park in San Francisco is.

Ron the Man: The introduction of the Pandimensional Vortex Inducer and Dementor is a bit of a drag, mostly because I'm not sure how poigniant this episode is anymore by analyzing Ron's masculinity. It may be dated, but there's a lot of good here (including Shego asking Drakken how many men he can handle in a fight).

Mentor of Our Discontent: I have previously expressed my love for Lucre, but this episode detracts from that. I want to describe it as "diluted" because there's too much stuff going on.

Downhill: I think this is a really solid episode and maybe the only one where the high school plotline outshines the spy plotline. I don't have any particular fondness for DNAmy as a villain, but the theme of recognizing your parents as actual people does hit true for me.

Sink or Swim: Good episode and the first instance of "Ron is actually valuable." MORE RON AND TARA.

Naked Genius: I think this marks the point where Shego's respect for Drakken begins to deteriorate. It's a good high concept episode and I love that Ron is successful at making some fashion of doomsday device.

October 31st: It's a solid episode, almost in spite of the "Kim lies to everyone" plot.

Job Unfair: Honestly, this might deserve to be higher. All of Shego and Drakken's weather machine manual talk is brilliant and Janitor Joe is a really likeable character. It's a real success at merging the A and B plots.

The Golden Years: Kim's nanna successfully completes the dance of going from annoying to awesome. It's also refreshing to see Drakken be such a proponent for the aged community. I also like the hint at his business sense from running the ice cream truck.

Motor Ed: Successful introduction of two good characters. It's a legitimately compelling problem that Kim doesn't know how to speak to someone that's paralyzed!

Showdown at the Crooked D: I enjoy that Shego takes interest in Drakken's high school bitterness. I could listen to Ron and Joss forever . . . it would be nicer if Joss liked Ron better.

Triple S: It's a very fun expansion of Senior's backstory.

Big Bother: I really enjoy the seemingly main story about Monkey Fist taking place in the background. I'm less into Kim being jealous of Yori and Ron hating his little sister.

The Cupid Effect: I am ignoring the real world implications of the existence of a "love ray." It's a fun Senior plot and I liked Ron giving Wade romantic advice (like, the dude landed Kim . . . he's doing something right).

Ill-Suited: I have nothing to say outside of Dementor attempting to convince Kim and Ron by wearing a house dress.

Grudge Match: There's a lot going on here with Zita, Larry, etc. It's just a decent episode.

Gorilla Fist: I think this is the first episode meant to make you realize that Kim is actually in on Ron. If I talked about it more, I could probably get sentimental enough to bump it up a few tiers (also the Monkey Fist/DNAmy plot line is hilarious).

All the News: Ron makes Kim suffer in high school and AdrenaLynn isn't the best villain. Should I have had this lower?

[glitterarygetsit]

Foot thing?

The foot thing! Okay, I'm not sure if I'll ever finish this, because s2 thoroughly jossed both the concept and characterisation (Ed atoning for the toe thing through foot worship in a steddyhands setup) but I'm kind of sad because I love the devotion aspect of it, and the dynamics here--Ed desperate to find a way of showing he's sorry, Izzy thoroughly uncomfortable but submitting to it because he knows it'll do them some good, Stede supporting them both--are delicious to me. Most of what I've got that's coherent below the cut:

“Ed, you don’t have to—” starts Izzy, panic rising in his chest.

“Shh, let him,” whispers Stede, hugging Izzy closer. “He needs this.”

Edward’s crying. “Izzy, I’m so sorry. I’m so, so sorry.”

Stede grips Izzy’s hand. 

“It’s okay, boss. Look, it’s all healed. Doesn’t even hurt.” 

That’s a lie, and both Izzy and Stede know it. Edward doesn’t, though. It’s not so much the wounded joint itself as the sharp cramps that shoot through the arch of Izzy’s foot after a long day; Stede had walked in on him once, stupid entitled fucker who never bloody knocks, rubbing some liniment into it and swearing under his breath. They’d locked eyes and it had passed between them, unspoken: Edward can’t know. God knows he’s done worse to others in the past, but everything around Stede’s abandonment and the weeks that followed is a sore spot, apt to make him reach for a bottle and retreat into self-hatred if nothing distracts him.

But it’s been nearly a year now since Stede returned, over six months since they figured out how… this could work, and Edward’s started gingerly approaching the topic himself, on occasion. He’s been talking to Jim about it, who despite their general air of fuck off has turned out to be a surprisingly able therapist—probably because they barely say anything and then casually present a concise summary of precisely what the problem is, as though they’ve used their knife to skilfully shear the fat and gristle from the meat of the problem. And then Ed will do something like ask Pete for some advice on raid tactics and find a way to make his mad ideas actually work, or find an interesting new instrument to shove at Frenchie while mumbling a barely audible apology.

Edward’s fingers trace from Izzy’s arch down to his four remaining toes, gentle as the prince in that story of Stede’s about the girl with the glass shoe.

His shoulders are shaking, and he looks—he looks wrecked, but transported. Like Izzy’s something magical.

“I can’t believe you let me touch you,” he says, voice full of wonder, and Izzy’s heart cracks just a bit more.

[departmentq]

From a conversation with my adult son, about Captain Shaw:

“...Shaw was literally Joss Whedon-ed...”

[thesmilingfish]

I have a memory stick that I use for listening to music to in the car. The songs play alphabetically and recently I noticed that it took a REALLY long time to get through songs starting with the word "don't". Like to work and back. More than once.

I don't know, it amused me.

I've listed them under the cut so you can laugh at me if you like.

(Don’t Fear) The Reaper - The Mutton Birds

(Don’t Go Back to) Rockville - REM

Don’t - Elvis Presley

Don’t - Ed Sheeran

Don’t - Bryson Tiller

Don’t Be Cruel - Elvis Presley

Don’t Be Shy - Cat Stevens

Don’t Be Taken In - The Dave Clark Five

Don’t Blame Me - Peggy Lee

Don’t Bother Me - The Beatles

Don’t Bring Me Down - ELO

Don’t Call Me Baby - Voice of the Beehive

Don’t Call on Me - The Monkees

Don’t Cha Wanna Ride - Joss Stone

Don’t Change - INXS

Don’t Come Around Here No More - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

Don’t Come the Cowboy With Me Sonny Jim! - Kirsty MacColl

Don’t Crash the Car Tonight - Mary’s Danish

Don’t Cry for Me Argentina - Me First and the Gimme Gimmes

Don’t Cry, Baby - Etta James

Don’t Cry - Asia

Don’t Deceive Me (Please Don’t Go) - James Newton Howard (Primal Fear soundtrack)

Don’t Do Me Like That - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

Don’t Dream it’s Over - Crowded House

Don’t Dream of Anybody But Me - Bobby Darin

Don’t Eat Yellow Snow - Frank Zappa

Don’t Ever Change - The Beatles

Don’t Forget Me - Red Hot Chili Peppers

Don’t Forget to Dance - The Kinks

Don’t Get Around Much Anymore - Tony Bennett (featuring Michael Buble)

Don’t Get Me Wrong - The Pretenders

Don’t Give Up - Peter Gabriel (featuring Kate Bush)

Don’t Give Up on Us - David Soul

Don’t Go Away - Oasis

Don’t Go Breaking My Heart - Elton John (featuring Kiki Dee)

Don’t Go Home - Kirsty MacColl

Don’t Go - Yaz

Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue - Crystal Gayle

Don’t Keep it a Secret - Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys

Don’t Know How - Joss Stone

Don’t Know Why - Norah Jones

Don’t Leave Me That Way - Thelma Houston

Don’t Let Go of the Coat - The Who

Don’t Let Him Go - REM Speedwagon

Don’t Let Me Be Lonely Tonight - James Taylor

Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood - The Animals

Don’t Let Me Down, Gently - The Wonder Stuff

Don’t Let Me Down (Naked) - The Beatles

Don’t Let the Sun Catch You Crying - Gerry and the Pacemakers

Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me - George Michael and Elton John

Don’t Look Away - The Who

Don’t Look Back in Anger - Oasis

Don���t Lose Your Temper - XTC

Don’t Make Me Wait - Locksley

Don’t Make Promises - Paul Weller

Don’t Mind - Kent Jones

Don’t Pass Me By - The Beatles

Don’t Pay the Ferryman - Chris DeBurgh

Don’t Pull Your Love Out - Hamilton, Joe Frank and Reynolds

Don’t Put Me Down - Jimmy Liggins and His Drops of Joy

Don’t Put Your Daughter on the Stage Mrs. Worthington - Vic Reeves

Don’t Rain On My Parade - Bobby Darin

Don’t Sleep in the Subway - Petula Clark

Don’t Speak - No Doubt

Don’t Stand So Close to Me - The Police

Don’t Start Now - Dua Lipa

Don’t Stop ’Til You Get Enough - Michael Jackson

Don’t Stop Believin’ - Journey

Don’t Stop Me Now - Queen

Don’t Stop the Music - Yarbrough and Peoples

Don’t Stop - Fleetwood Mac

Don’t Take Your Guns to Town - Johnny Cash

Don’t Tell Me - Ruel

Don’t Think of Me - Dido

Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright - Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons

Don’t Turn Around - Aswad

Don’t Wanna Be Like That - Joe Jackson

Don’t Wanna Know - Maroon 5 (featuring Kendrick Lemar)

Don’t Worry ‘Bout Me/I’m in the Mood For Love - Louie Prima

Don’t Worry ‘Bout Me - Django Reinhardt

Don’t Worry Baby - The Beach Boys

Don’t Worry Be Happy - Bobby McFerrin

Don’t Worry - Marty Robbins

Don’t You (Forget About Me) - Simple Minds

Don’t You Know Who I Think I Am - Fall Out Boy

Don’t You Want Me - Human League

[sohkrates]

The Abyss Stares Back: My Work in Progress List

So @msmcnevertweet tagged me to share my work in progress list (wip) and I warn you I have the distinct good fortune to do this full time after decades of awful customer service work so I've been playing catch up these past few years:

ACTIVE DEVELOPMENT

There are games that I am working on, more or less, right now.

Nostalgia & Dragons 4th Edition. This is a game I'm making for a friend's bachelor party. It's a one-pager that seeks to replicate the experience of 4th ed. D&D with minimal rules and failing forward resolution.

RIG. Mecha souls-like solo game. Based on the Rune system. This is uh... gonna come out sooner than later.

Big Damn Heroes. Classic D&D shit with an irreverent take on western fantasy tropes. Inspired by Blades in the Dark and Slugblaster. (someone please suggest a better name for this I don't want it to be a fucking Joss Whedon quote but it's so perfect I can't think of anything)

Fealty. A collaboration with the incredible Galen Pejeau. Commoners in a monarch's court try desperately to steer the nation. Inspired by the novel Wolf Hall.

The 55. This is my #dungeon23 project. A cyberpunk megatower full of unique locations, corpo suits, and more.

Neon Black version 8.0. The next reincarnation of my cyberpunk forged in the dark game. I have a fairly comprehensive notes document that summarizes all the new changes. I pick at it every day. My goal is to have something that can be tested this fall.

INACTIVE DEVELOPMENT

These are games that have had a significant amount of work done. Some are playable prototypes, some are incomplete but are more than just notes, or at least have a lot more notes than other projects. Not being worked on right now due to time, lack of personal interest, etc.

Stiletto. Single player game set in the city of Doskvol. You play as people trying to survive by themselves trying to make money, dodge the Bluecoats, and their shady pasts. First playbook is playable, but it ballooned way out of scope and I got burnt out.

Kassandra King: Devil's Dice. Single player urban fantasy noir game. Set in the world of External Containment Bureau, and using the same system. This game has had several iterations and is mostly ready for testing. Play as a hardboiled paranormal private investigator trying to figure out why you made a deal with the devil.

Blade Wings. This one is just Band of Blades but in space. You have pilots and ships as distinct playbooks. Options for different campaign types (robots, zerg like aliens, etc.)

Working Stiffs. A redacted materials game about being corporate contractors in space. Inspired by cassette futurism, Alien, Deadspace, etc. Progress determined by how much money you make, light PVP elements.

Untitled PbtA Card Game. Another collaboration with Galen. This one is a year or two old but it still lives rent free in my head. I really wanna get back to it one day.

Glocknights. Over the top epic fantasy. Players wield cursed weapons, IRON, in order to defend the mortal realm from the tyrannical angels that seek to enforce their divine mandate. Started as a collaboration with some other designers but I don't think any of us have touched it in a while.

Die-Atonic. Every see an assassin pursuing their target through an upscale nightclub and thought it was kinda hot? Anyway start the music, take turns asking and answering questions that illustrate the scene, history, and pursuit of two people through a location. When the music ends, the climax begins. Do you die, kiss, or both?

Blood & Tears. Vampire forged in the dark game all about living long and being sad about it. 4 playbooks based on classic humours.

DEEP IDEATION

These are games that exist as just a few notes, one solid idea I like, or maybe a cover page if I got wild with it.

Where We Dropping? A battle royale RPG inspired by the Lumen system.

Alone RPG System. A rough idea for a game SRD that lets you have an interesting and unpredictable solo experience.

Extraordinary Renditions. Y'know how in Horizon Zero Dawn there's that awesome moment in the history of the game where the government is black-bagging people from all over the world in order to get the expertise necessary to save it? What if that was a 2 player RPG?

Prisoners of Light and Matter. Matrix style RPG using the redacted materials system.

Untitled Wargame. I got back into 40k and hated all the rules so I tried to make something simpler. Just enough to maybe test but it's pretty rough right now.

The Gild. What if the slick futuristic data collection and analysis system you see in the new Hitman games fell into the hands of a bunch of rabid socialists?

Fire in the Stars. Revolution and revolt in the alpha centauri system. Had a version that was kinda playable. Spent a lot of time on the fiction, less on the mechanics. If I did this again I might just use the Nasty Brutish and Long rules, that could be fun.

Modern Exiles Hack. You cannot go home again, Night in the Woods-ass RPG. A potential collab. with the incomparable Jex Thomas of Bump in the Dark fame.

Skyscrape/DNGNCRWL. Real basic dungeon crawler where you control a party of characters. Might be cyberpunk, might be fantasy. Don't know yet.

Realm & Write. A roll and write style RPG inspired by my time with Crusader Kings III.

Slugblaster Loot Tables. Literally thought of this yesterday, just a bunch of random loot tables for the Slugblaster RPG. Could be fun?

Ahem...

So yeah that's it.

I'm still settling in here and don't follow a whole lot of active folks in the TTRPG scene so I'm gonna tag @monsterfactoryfanfic cause I really wanna know what they are working on or what their lists look like, be it videos or games or whatever.

[buffysummers]

🔥+ Marti Noxon (as a BtVS writer/co-showrunner, not, like, as a person LMAO)

Whoa what a great question!

I think Marti Noxon is one of the best writers on Buffy. Actually, after Joss, I'd say she's the best. She's written some of my favorite episodes, and she has a very distinct style and voice. Not everything she's written is great, but even her weakest episodes are still decent and entertaining (with some exceptions....)

I think she was the right person to take over as showrunner. Like, if I were in Joss's position, I would have absolutely chosen her.

However, in retrospect, after knowing everything we know and viewing the show as a whole, I think she was in over her head. I think she needed help, and I'm not sure if she got it. I love the idea of having a woman take over as showrunner for such a feminist show (at the time), but Marti (and Jane Espenson, for that matter) are very toxic and have a lot of internalized misogyny they need(ed) to work through.

Season 6 really, really struggles with nuance. It loses its way in the middle, and although I think it has a satisfying ending, that middle slump just ruins the season for me. Marti had some great ideas, but she has very dark and twisted tendencies that needed to be reeled in a bit. No one seemed to do that. No one in the room stopped her from it. Or maybe they tried and she overruled them, but Joss isn't the type to say to her, "Hey, you're going too far. You're punishing Buffy too much."

I definitely understand what Marti and Joss were going for with season 6, but too much slipped between the cracks. I'd say like 7 or 8 of the episodes needed to be reworked completely. It almost felt rushed. Like, they suddenly stopped doing their due diligence in the writers' room.

It's really unfortunate because the intent and thesis statement for the season is so fascinating and daring and bold. But it's too bleak and overall, it's not entertaining. It's boring. And say what you will about Joss (he's the literal fucking worst lol) but he knows how to entertain people. Marti just.. got in her head I think. Things got lost in translation.

Having said that, Sharp Objects is EXCELLENT and she clearly honed her craft and learned a lot by being the showrunner for season 6.

Send Me a 🔥+ a Topic, and I’ll Tell You My Honest Opinion About It

[doomerpatrol]

Comic Log: The Year So Far

this does not include the assorted works of Grant Morrison which will get their own effortpost(s).

Astonishing X-Men by Joss Whedon: Truly rancid. Fundamentally does not work. I'm softer on the first and third arcs, while I think the fourth is a letdown and the second is abysmal. While Whedon's humor is characteristically hit or miss, and his characterization of just about everybody except Cyclops and Emma Frost is quite poor, what actually frustrates me is the way Astonishing squanders its opening ethos of reinvigorating the status of the X-Men as classic "traditional" superheroes (rather than the soap-operatic introspective subjects of Claremont or countercultural militants of Morrison). Despite this being the explicitly stated function of the ongoing series, it's only told and never shown. Instead we get a few different arcs themed around mutation and guilt, which is also fine, but again, those themes are barely fleshed out (the "mutant cure" that seems like it's going to be a really big deal and presents a lot of interesting thematic questions is summarily handwaved away).

Favorite arc/issue: "Torn" is a compelling exploration of Emma Frost's survivor's guilt, and the dynamic between her and Cyclops which extends into the final arc (which I otherwise loathe) is really great. Sad that it doesn't exactly get a real ending, just so the X-Men can go to space and endorse biological determinism, though!

Detective Comics by Greg Rucka: What could have been! This has some really brilliant creative decisions going on, particularly in the beautiful artwork which uses monochromatic color palettes based on the theme and tone of an issue, but ultimately gets taken out and shot by the event mandates of "Bruce Wayne: Murderer?/Fugitive." The central idea here is the fallout of the "No Man's Land" event, which shifts the social and political tensions in Gotham, and causes Bruce to get saddled with a new bodyguard, Sasha Bordeaux. Having a constant tail that he needs to be able to shake without exposing his dual identity is a fun idea, but I don't think it gets as much time as it deserves, and the treatment of Sasha as a character isn't my favorite either. She's basically turned into a disposable love interest by the events of Fugitive/Murderer and the way it all resolves left me really cold. Ultimately the best ideas here get picked up in Gotham Central.

Favorite arc/issue: "A Walk in the Park" which covers Poison Ivy's expulsion from Gotham City's park after the "No Man's Land" crossover, with some nice characterization for Bruce and Ivy (if you like a redeemed/sympathetic Ivy).

Wolverine by Greg Rucka: Inherits the Frank Miller treatment of a solo Logan as a sort of wandering ronin or cowboy. I have some complaints - I really do not like the characterization of fellow Weapon Plus victim "The Native," because it hews too close to gross racial stereotype, and the AFT agent that basically falls in love with Logan at first sight because she just loves a bad boy is CORNY. However! These three arcs have great action and tightly knit simplistic plots, which see Logan forced into morally and personally tight spots - a vengeance quest on a trafficking ring, a moral dilemma over how to deal with a pregnant cartel leader, Wolverine and Sabretooth begrudgingly teaming up against Weapon Plus as both of them look for the first opportunity to betray the other. It's not the most amazing set of stories ever, I don't think any of them would make a Top 10 Wolverine stories list, but it's very well-executed pulp fiction.

Favorite arc/issue: "Brotherhood," the first arc, which sees Logan hunting down a misogynist cult who sent assassins after one of its runaway victims, and its follow-up featuring Nightcrawler having a beer and shooting the shit about the soul. I love how squat Wolverine is drawn in this arc. That's not the deepest commentary but it is true.

Catwoman by Ed Brubaker: Pretty solid! Has some of my favorite creatives (Brubaker, Darwyn Cooke, Mike Allred) on board. This series brings Selina back into the DCU after some time away, trying to turn over a new leaf and reinventing herself as a kind of defender of the downtrodden in Gotham's East End. An excellent new costume, a new attitude, new supporting cast - it's such a step up from the 90s Catwoman book. To be honest, the art from Cooke and (terrible person) Cameron Stewart and the various colorists is the big draw here, turning this part of Gotham into something both vibrantly cartoonish and appropriately noir-inflected: alternatingly poppy and moody and sensual as the story necessitates. At issue #25 the art team turns over, and the tone of the comic shifts towards something more conventional and "realistic." This was pretty much my jumping off point - I think it loses a lot of its charm and heart at this point and then has the misfortune of intersecting with the "Batman: War Games" event (not to mention that the new art is, uh, quite bad). But up through #25, the stories are pretty solid with some fun heists and capers, with a strong supporting cast and central arc of Selina figuring out how she wants to exist in the world.

Favorite arc/issue: "Disguises" is a highlight, which sees Selina going up against crooked cops as she and Slam and Holly very actively get in harm's way in pursuit of the truth. I also like "Relentless" where Black Mask tries to very ruthlessly destroy Selina's life; it's exceedingly dark and definitely derivative of "Daredevil: Born Again" but I appreciated its bleak, expressionist qualities. And the road trip arc "Wild Ride" is also really fun and cute!

Hawkeye by Matt Fraction: A total treat. Interestingly bifurcated - the first half is slightly more episodic, putting a bunch of assorted pieces into play (our two leads Clint and Kate, the Tracksuit Mafia, Cherry the runaway mob wife, the Polish clown hitman, Lucky the dog, and the local community), with a domino effect from a particularly cruel death to our two Hawkeyes splitting from each other. From there, I do think the series spins its wheels just a squeak too long, as we alternate between Kate pounding the pavement trying to make some cash in LA and Clint steadily trying to figure out how to shoulder the burden of protecting his community, with some filler for good measure. But once Clint concludes he can't do it all on his own, and circumstances force the Hawkeyes back together - oh man! The last two issues are excellent, one of the most satisfying conclusions I've read in a comic in an age. I particularly enjoyed the communitarian theme. And the paneling and layouts and especially the artwork from David Aja and Annie Wu are all so delightfully creative and colorful and expressive. (The cover portrayed above is indicative of the kinds of spreads and layouts that we get throughout the book.)

Favorite arc/issue: definitely the two-part finale. Also loved the issue focused on the dog Lucky. The whole thing is immensely readable, it really works together holistically.

Punisher (and Franken-Castle) by Rick Remender: Starts strong with Frank trying to take a shot at the politically ascendant Norman Osborn, which is an inspired choice: it automatically makes Frank a touch more sympathetic because we know Osborn is a sadistic fascist, it gives him the motivation to really up the ante with a high-tech arsenal (so a little bit of a sci-fi twist), and it offers an opportunity to do some of that hack sociopolitical commentary on post-9/11 American society that Marvel loved at the time. But the series finishes super weak. Most notably, the Osborn plotline is unable to meaningfully advance because all the relevant players were under Brian Michael Bendis' purview, so the series quickly devolves into a dull supernatural slapfight with The Hood and throwaway villains, and then quite abruptly turns into the underwhelmingly odd "Franken-Castle." The action is solidly drawn but the plot wears thin because it hinges on shallow contrivances, and there's an odd refusal to commit to any big thematic ideas or strong emphases of characterization, like the main supporting character of Henry. Honestly, I don't think Garth Ennis' run is likely to be outdone, it really captured the only version of Punisher as a protagonist that I think is particularly tolerable to read.

Favorite arc/issue: honestly really didn't care for this one, but I'd say the first arc "Living in Darkness" is the strongest - it sees Frank brutalizing his way out of tight spots in some fun ways, and I really like Opena's artwork. But the ending (featuring the return of old Punisher supporting character Microchip) is just really lazy and uninspired.

JLA by Mark Waid: A rare Waid miss, unfortunately. I like the first arc, Tower of Babel, for its examination of how Batman's paranoia and isolation and obsessiveness can blowback without leaning into full-throated "Batjerk" characterization, but the "Ra's al Ghul destroys language" plot is a little underdeveloped for how high-concept it is. And the subsequent arcs, which emotionally center around Batman's reincorporation into the group, really didn't land for me, both because of the departure of Howard Porter as penciller and because the stories are just less interesting. I really did not like the "Queen of Fables" arc, which I found to be corny and overplayed (I feel like I've seen or read some version of this in cartoons and comics and speculative fiction media a million times), while the rest were just kind of middling. These later stories carry less thematic weight when compared to the parallel "communication breakdown" of Tower. It's not terrible, but just pales in comparison to the Morrison run that preceded it, despite trying to speak in a similar register. I hope that I will like Joe Kelly's run more!

Favorite arc/issue: Uh. Tower of Babel, if that wasn't clear.

[1d-trashcan]

what are the top 5 things you love most (doesnt have to be in order) (you dont have to reply if its personal)

I love my parents (which means my mum, my dad and my stepmum). I LOVE my best friends which are Josse, Thea, and Edwin. I love 1D, I love Ed Sheeran and I love music. x