#rather than everything being US or UK based

[frekless]

Watching the Artful Dodger and I honestly don’t know why it amuses me so much that some of the exterior shots of the hospital are actually the outside and grounds of Sydney Observatory

[daisyblog]

Surrounded By Love

Too Young Masterlist Summary: YN, Arthur and the Tomlinsons at Victorious Festival.

Based on this request.

YN was days away from being 37 weeks pregnant, and she could confidently say she was eager and counting down the days they got to meet their new little bundle.

It had been a busy few weeks for them all, especially with joining Louis on his festival tour. YN was glad to be back in England, now that Louis was playing his first UK festival.

Whilst Louis ran through a few checks backstage and made sure everything was prepared for his performance, YN and Arthur enjoy a little bit of calm time before the show begins.

“Mum…look it’s Auntie Phee and Olive”. Arthur pointed behind her as they sat on a blanket enjoying some sunshine. Phoebe, Jack and Olive were walking towards them. Arthur’s little legs ran over to the three.

“Hello trouble!”. Phoebe opened her arms wide to give her nephew a cuddle. “Where’s your Dad?”.

Arthur gave Jack a fist bump, something they do whenever they see each other. “Uhh…he somewhere backstage…Mum’s over there”.

YN waved from her place on the blanket. They all greeted eachother as Phoebe and Jack joined YN on the grass. “How are you feeling?”.

“I’m hoping I give birth earlier rather than later…I’m so exhausted and uncomfortable”. YN ran her hand over her tummy. “Do you want to meet your new little cousin soon?”. YN tickled Olive who gave her a big grin.

“Oioi!”. Louis voice snapped them out of their conversation as he walked towards them, Lottie, Daisy and Lucky on his heel and Lewis and Ryan chatting behind them. “We can go backstage now!”.

“You’ll have to leave me here…I can’t get up now”. YN held her hands up in surrender as she had found a comfortable spot.

Louis held his hand out for YN to reach. “C’mon love…I’ll get ya a chair if I can find one”. With a little difficulty, YN managed to raise to her feet.

Arthur ran ahead as he chased Lucky. Louis wrapped his arm around YN’s shoulder as they walked behind them all towards the backstage area. “I’m so proud of you”.

“I’m proud of us!”. Louis smiled down at his fiancée. “Couldn’t have done this without you by my side”. He placed a sweet peck to her lips.

The Tomlinsons all mingled waiting for Louis to perform and one of the crew stated that he would be on in five, which meant Arthur and Louis shared the special handshake and a big hug before he grabbed his mic and in ears. “Go smash it Dad!”.

“Good luck babe!”. YN wrapped her arms around his neck. “We love you”.

“I love you all more”. Louis found his lips on YN’s, his sisters teasing them as they broke apart. But making the moment even sweeter, Louis leaned down to her tummy and placed a long peck as he rubbed his hand over the bump.

---

With Lucky and Olive being young, the Tomlinsons decided it would be better for them to watch Louis perform from the side of the stage, behind a barricade.

“Tell you I'm on my way…Nothing can make me late…Said I had a plan for us…Time had came and changed it all…We had to disappear…'Cause nothing gets through here…Through that circle 'round my heart…Where the best of me should start”.

Despite seeing Louis perform regularly, YN still loved seeing Arthur’s face light up as Louis sang. His eyes would be glued to his father as he moved around the stage, doing what he loved.

“Together we're the greatest…We'll never be that cold again…No fallin' all to pieces…We're the greatest…It's you and me until the end…Life for us is never over”.

---

“You're a nightmare on the dance floor…And you hate me, and I want more…You're a total distraction…While I'm waiting for your reaction…Why, ah, ah, ah”.

Arthur sang the lyrics out loud, as he tried to dance with Lucky, who was also enjoying himself as he watched his Uncle on stage.

“You kill my mind…Raise my body back to life…And I don't know what I'd do without you now…You kill my mind…Raise my body back to life…And I don't know what I'd do without you now”.

YN had a little dance herself, well she moved as much as her growing bump would allow her.

---

“When somebody told me I would change…I used to hide behind a smile…When somebody told me I would change…I was afraid, I don't know why…'Cause so does the world outside, I realized”.

YN watched as Louis moved around the stage, singing as he looked out to the sea of fans that were always a big support to him.

“I didn't read the signs…Walking different lines…I know I took a left…Tryna make it right…All of these voices, all of these choices…I don't hear them anymore…Hear them anymore”.

But as she looked at her future husband, he hadn’t really changed at all. He was still that young man she had fallen in love with, the one that caught her eye way before she cared to admit.

“And it's bigger than me…It's bigger than me…I've woken up from my sleep…It's bigger than me…It's bigger than me”.

---

Despite it being almost 10 years since the band went on hiatus, whenever one of the boys sing a song from the albums, it always held a glimmer of hope of a reunion one day. Including for their families.

“I've got fire for a heart…I'm not scared of the dark…You've never seen it look so easy…I got a river for a soul…And baby, you're a boat…Baby, you're my only reason”.

Louis’ family sang along to Drag Me Down, a tad of nostalgia for them as they remember being at the One Direction tour.

“I love this one Mum!”. Arthur jumped up and down as he held onto the barricade in front of them.

“Me too…it’s one of my favourites”. YN spoke as she moved her hips to the beat, her hand rubbing over the moving baby in her tummy.

“All my life, you stood by me…When no one else was ever behind me…All these lights, they can't blind me…With your love, nobody can drag me down…All my life, you stood by me…When no one else was ever behind me…All these lights, they can't blind me…With your love, nobody can drag me down”.

“Nobody nobody” Arthur sang mindlessly, causing the others to laugh at how much he was enjoying himself.

---

“Hey, babe…It's written all over your face, say it…A hurricane behind the door, oh-oh…So I've come ready for a war, oh-oh”.

Without any thought, Arthur turned around to his Mum. “Hey Mum…Dad told me that this song is about you being grumpy”.

The words tumbling out of Arthur mouth, caused Lottie to hold onto her own little baby bump as she laughed hysterically at her nephew.

“Louis’ will be in trouble now”. Daisy joked, as she held Olive in her arms.

“It’s written all over my face”. YN sang as she smiled at the teasing.

“But I hear that thunder in the distance…I know it's getting close…You're giving me the silent treatment…Don't know what it's achieving…When we're finished saying nothing…Can we please get back to loving?…When it's good, it's really something…Can we please get back to us now?”.

---

“I know you say you know me, know me well…But these days I don't even know myself, no…I always thought I'd be with someone else…I thought I would own the way I felt, yeah”.

Arthur had somehow convinced Ryan to let him sit on his shoulders, “So he could have a better view”. YN used this opportunity to have a cuddle with Olive who was the happiest of babies, smiling as she took everything in her stride.

“Whoa, you stress me out, you kill me…You drag me down, you fuck me up…We're on the ground, we're screaming…I don't know how to make it stop…I love it, I hate it, and I can't take it…But I keep on coming back to you”.

From his place on his uncles shoulders, Arthur continued to make everyone laugh. “Mum…Dad said a bad word…he said fu-“. Before YN had chance to shush her son due to Lucky’s young ears listening, Lewis reached over to place his hand gently over Arthur’s mouth to stop the word spilling out.

---

This One Direction song always reminded YN of Harry, and as much as they spoke everyday she still missed him.

“Counted all my mistakes and there’s only one…Standing out from the list of the things I’ve done…All the rest of my crimes don’t come close…To the look on your face when I let you go”.

YN had felt their little baby move since Louis began to sing, but the little peanut had started doing somersaults now. She couldn’t help but think that maybe she was carrying a baby directioner.

“Now I’m searching every lonely place…Every corner calling out your name…Tryna find ya but I just don’t know…Where do broken hearts go…Where do broken hearts go”.

---

“Gettin' high on the amber wave…Going deep for the ones who do the same…Air Max's and silver tongues…Settle in for another heavy one…You said love was a pretty lie…And I choked when your smoke got in my eye…Bad logic and empty cans”.

Silver Tongues always will hold a special place in YN’s heart. It held small moments that only she and Louis knew about. Memories that seem like a distant past now but luckily will live on thanks to this song.

“You said grass was a dirty drug…You like to preach with a vodka in your mug…I love all the things you know…But I'm king on a fifty-metre road…We stand up tall and beat our chests…We shout some things that we'll regret…Sit down with a master plan”.

YN smiles to herself as she hears the words preach with a vodka in your mug, the memory of her and Louis standing in her uni kitchen and him teasing her about her drinking the alcohol out of a mug rather than a glass.

“You and me until the end…Wakin' up to start again…You and me until the end…Wakin' up to start again…There's nowhere else that I would rather be”.

Louis turned to the side of the stage as he sang the verse, pointing towards YN as she sang back to him. Both mirroring each others bright smiles as they enjoyed the moment before they were about to become a family of four. He was right, there is nowhere else he would rather be than surrounded by his family, and that meant surrounded by love.

Taglist :@jillsvalentinex @itsmytimetoodream @peterholland04 @youcan-nolonger-run @chronicallybubbly @macy-tpwk @wh0s-nadii @lillisummers

[youryurigoddess]

Case study and analysis of the 1992 Good Omens movie screenplay (“the shitscript”) in light of the ongoing WGA strike

As one could suspect, the topic of the 1992 Good Omens movie screenplay and its infamy has recently emerged from the depths of the fandom. In light of the ongoing WGA strike it’d be good to properly address this issue, starting with Neil Gaiman’s own recollection written in 2004:

It’s basically the same old story — of brilliant creative workers struggling under the pressure of detached studio executives and being legally forced to mutilate their work again and again for no artistic or economic reason — we’ve heard before in many different contexts.

If you’re reading this and somehow still wondering why writers are fighting for their rights at the moment, their job security hasn’t changed much since then. Please follow the WGA, SAG-AFTRA, and other unions’ official channels for detailed information and ways to help the cause.

Anyway, it took over a decade and an enormous effort to print the screenplay in a limited edition of 552 copies. It can’t be distributed otherwise due to IP law, but some fans shared its fragments online and heavily criticized them, dubbing the 1992 source material #shitscript

There’s been obviously a lot of controversies over the changes in the plot and the relationship between the main characters. And rightfully so — the number of iterations has created something very different from the beloved book and the award-winning show we can all enjoy today.

It’s… objectively not good. Wouldn’t be considered a hit back then and certainly not by today’s standards. I don’t think I would watch it in any other way than through channel surfing. However, it’s not a monstrosity some people believe it to be and not a case of low effort.

Let’s start with the world building: the setting wasn’t changed to the US. It’s still very much based in the UK, mostly London and Tadfield, although the latter lies now by the sea and seems much more ominous. Interestingly, the British Museum becomes a prominent location as well.

The main character and the designated hero is not surprisingly Crowley, this time in his 90s anti-hero glory. If you haven’t watched many movies of this era, esp. dark fantasy, this trope involves middle-age disenchantment, cynicism, as well as hefty doses of sarcasm and brooding.

90s anti-heroes are a dark, grim, and unnecessarily violent embodiment of power fantasy, matching the destructive ideology of that time. Combined with uber-masculinity and performative strength over weaker characters, nowadays they naturally evoke more cringe or worry than awe.

1992 iteration of Crowley is basically in his Furfur era. Deeply unhappy and stuck in a dead end job, all he talks about is how he hates Earth and his assignment here, considering a transfer to Alpha Centauri as his one and only possibility of career advancement. Or life, really.

The talking part is important here, because he clearly compensates by insulting everything and everyone. He hates on the whole planet at length only to confess that he’d rather stay here with Aziraphale due to “no good restaurants”, “no decent bottle of wine” in Alpha Centauri.

Yes, he’s verbally abusive in his automatic response to stress. But doesn’t hate Aziraphale. In one particular scene he calls Azi stupid twice only to assure him that they are friends and to offer to solve the problem when he sees that his words were taken seriously and hurt him.

Crowley refers to him as “my angel” and “my dear Aziraphale”, agrees to Aziraphale’s suggestion of sharing a room, praises the angel as a “miracle worker around the home”, drinks the tea he makes for him, and generally proves to be much softer towards him than he wants to admit.

Aziraphale, on the contrary, wears his heart on his sleeve. He’s the one engineering ways to spend more time together, following Crowley around, checking up on him (including miracling himself into his apartment and office when no one answers the door), offering help right away.

He’s successfully calming Crowley down through his anxiety attacks, overcomes his dislike of heights (!) for Crowley, directly challenges him and even breaks rules only to make Crowley stay with him. Crowley seems to be his main motivation in this movie, not the saving the world.

1992 Aziraphale also has the most badass scene in the whole Good Omens multiverse to date, taking a 180 degree turn from the typical guardian angel we all know and love to the real angel of wrath protecting Crowley from harm in his true form.

But there’s no Their Side in this universe. The only semblance of that concept appears in the context of Anathema not representing either of their respective bosses, but humanity. “That’s the trouble with the humans. They’re on their own side.”

This Crowley appears not as much on Hell’s side as under Satan’s heel. He’s scared of him and subservient, and needs Aziraphale to prevent his escape as a pretext to do what is right. He lets the angel stop him by pretending that he doesn’t even see him cheating during their duel.

By finally standing up to his toxic boss (Satan is like Gabriel during the body-swapped trial, suave and cruel) and leaving Hell’s side to do good, Crowley takes an emancipated and employee-focused stance instead of fighting for his relationship with Aziraphale like shown in S1.

Which is a shame, but matches the overall tone of the screenplay and the times it was written in. The concept of free will, while simplified in a true Hollywood-style to issues like mind control and fear, is still crucial to this interpretation of the Good Omens original plot.

Especially the character of Anathema is seen fighting both of these things. There’s no Agnes Nutter with her prophecies here, only a 21-year-old witch and her will to thwart the ultimate evil versus her fear of doing it at a cost of one boy’s life, versus Satan’s brainwashing.

Madame Tracy appears slightly redesigned as a new character as well, but isn’t 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 for the most part. She’s been enjoying her youth way too much to see how fast it was fleeting, and this sudden realization left her in shock from which she denies to come back.

Unfortunately she’s also the one who took in baby Adam and now stays under his care. The level of his parentification is unnerving, much like his bullying and loneliness. He struggles to be loved and ask for love, which becomes his main quest beyond, y’know, the apocalypse thing.

Don’t worry, despite everything all ends well just like in the book. The family of two gets a chance to start again on much healthier terms and Anathema to live for herself for the first time in years. Our heroes get back in their car, Crowley tempting Aziraphale with an apple.

All in all, this whole post is a very long reminder for Amazon Prime to #PayYourWriters, #PayYourActors, and #RenewGoodOmens! The strike is still ongoing and crucial for any new content for this and many other fandoms #GiveMeS3orGiveMeDeath

[ghost-in-the-corner]

I just finished the Magnus Archives for the first time, and I'm just gonna get my thoughts out

When I started the podcast back in June, I was beginning a solo art installation based on botanical studies. When I say beginning, I mean I had just received the funding for it.

I'm a photographer first and foremost, but I also dabble in painting and creative nonfiction. What I did for the exhibition was take photos of plants in a region that had never been studied from a floral perspective before. I also gathered water from local sources to paint the landscapes, and wrote small prose pieces to go along with it.

The areas I went to for this project were very deep within the mountains. So remote, in fact, that the only person I'd see for days on end was the botanist I was working with.

As I write, that exhibition is being taken down. The finished pieces are being placed into storage by my funder after being shown for the past 2 months. I only found out about its ending last night, as I now live in the UK.

I'm writing all this because of the strange coincidence that my exhibition was ended prematurely right as I finish the podcast that got me through it. It's emotional, thinking about how I listened to Angler Fish as I was beginning my preliminary sketches, but I just finished Last Words editing a photo for a completely different project.

The Magnus Archives is, frankly, a lot to chew on. A good bit of food, mind you, but a lot. As someone studying to work in film theory (yes, I do too much, no, I don't sleep, no, I will not stop) it's rare to find any piece of media that is so deeply complex, yet is far more original than most other things today.

I could go on about so many different parts of the podcast. The moral implications of the actions and beliefs of the Archivist. The utilization of experiential creativity to draft a powerful, distinct narrative. The use of the medium to utilize the audience's imagination and force them to project their own experiences onto this concept. The debate over who may have truly had a choice and who had everything determined for them. I'll probably write more about this stuff in the future, and I haven't even begun to think about all the goofy stuff I could say.

The ending of my exhibition itself was rather unsatisfying for a number of reasons. But the ending of the Magnus Archives was anything but. That podcast was a masterfully crafted, uniquely original, and deeply thought-provoking narrative. I, frankly, don't have many words at the moment, and I believe it would be a disservice to my experience of the podcast to try and force anything beyond this out.

So, yeah. The Magnus Archives was phenomenal. This is not the last rant you'll be hearing from me about it.

[elodieunderglass]

Hi!

I have enjoyed your posts about salsify and would very much like to inflict salsify seeds on my nearest and dearest for them to grow. Do you have any recommended suppliers of seeds? I am in the UK.

Thank you!

In reference to this post about there being food plants you rarely find in shops, because they don’t meet the needs of supermarket supply chains, like white salsify, a plant that bleeds red sticky latex when bruised.

Seed buying season usually starts around December, unless you’re planning a bulk order as part of a collective, so many of these places won’t have their final 2023 collections up. Here are the companies I like best and why.

MoreVeg: https://moreveg.co.uk/epages/bd0b9b93-06b9-4b49-9efb-f179fdacfbdd.mobile/?ObjectPath=/Shops/bd0b9b93-06b9-4b49-9efb-f179fdacfbdd SALSIFY: SOMETIMES, CHECK BACK IF IT ISN’T THERE.

What I like about MoreVeg is that she

1. Only sells a small amount for a cheaper price, I.e. 3 pumpkin seeds, because let’s be real, you aren’t really growing more than 3 pumpkins of the same type at the same time: you want lots of different ones. So, like, while other people sell you an absurd amount of runner bean seeds, like 324 or something wild, she puts 20 in a packet, because that’s what a normal person would want.

2. She writes a little handwritten note in the packet and it makes me feel like she really remembers me every year 🥹

3. She carries some lines I like, like she GETS having weird decorative pumpkins in a way that most British people don’t.

4. She does cheaper collections of useful things, like green manure collections, pollinator-friendly bloom collections, meadow flowers for cutting collections, “carrots of all colors,” all nicely portioned and cheaper.

5. I personally don’t care hugely about everything being heirloom, so it’s nice that she has a mixture.

RealSeeds: https://www.realseeds.co.uk SALSIFY: check back if not there!

The real MVPs. You guys know how I love and value graunchy 1990s websites, right? I love and value the RealSeeds website. From their Art Nouveau paper packets (plastic free!) to the way that they throttled orders during the COVID seed rush to keep staff safe, everything they do is extremely thoughtful and ethical. (Lots of people see the title and think they’re associated with RareSeeds, the USA-based Mennonite heirloom seed people, but they’re not: this is a UK-based band of unproblematic heirloom seed fanatics.) They’re in the business of supplying, preserving, testing and promoting rare heirloom seeds, and do not carry ANY hybrids.

1. Probably the best and funniest part of their business model is how they constantly try to convince you to stop buying seeds from them, because you should really save and grow your own seeds, instead of buying them. I love businesses that try to talk you out of participating in capitalism.

2. This is where I got my Glass Gem popping corn from (and I did indeed save my own seeds to plant the following year!) As nowhere else in the UK carries them.

3. As you may have gathered, I’m a big fan of using The Best Plant For The Job (Rather Than Killing Myself Having All My Plants Be Unproblematic.) so I am not HUGELY concerned about using hybrids for some of my favourite reliable plants - like for example the Summer Ball F1 hybrid courgette, which meets all of my needs so perfectly that I’m just NOT going to wrestle with trying to get all those properties I like in an heirloom that will make my life harder. I’m just not. I already have a day job in saving the world, not everything has to be perfect. However, I really support RealSeeds, so I do my best to buy as much as possible from them - while also putting them out of business, by saving my own seed where it makes sense.

4. All of their listings are so brilliantly and awesomely written and formatted in EXACTLY the style I like, like, please read these: https://www.realseeds.co.uk/otherbeans.html

5. They do a lot of interesting work trying to source heirlooms from around the world and select strains that can produce in the UK’s environment. Glass Gem, for example, is one of the only “Indian corns” you can grow in the UK, and RealSeeds selected the other! They also carry things like edamame, rainbow quinoa, and a particularly productive strain of amaranth - food plants from around the world that don’t mind settling in the UK. I also love how whenever the staff eat something like “a particularly tasty squash they’ve never seen before” in their travels abroad, they find the grower and ask respectfully to trade seeds.

Victoriana Nursery wouldn’t normally stand out in this crowd on seeds, they just don’t have the selection, I see their big strength as being in fruit trees and fruit bushes: but have a great collection of offbeat herbs for natural remedies: https://www.victoriananursery.co.uk SALSIFY: YES

Raid their catalogue for things like dyer’s chamomile (which makes a yellow dye) bergamot (for making your own Earl Grey?) and the original Marsh Mallowroot (a distinctive herb whose flavor is obvious if you think about it!)

King’s Seeds UK in association with Suffolk Herbs: https://www.kingsseeds.com SALSIFY: YES

Our allotment community goes in on a yearly seed order: bulk seed orders that meet a minimum order threshold can get up to 50% discount on seeds. The committee are very keen on pressing the paper catalogues into your hands, with bulk order forms already tucked inside. I got the 50% bulk discount this year, which worked out okay.

1. Their selection is very no-nonsense and the varieties are all the kind of very productive, market-garden old reliables - not very bold or sexy. Honestly? If you mean to be serious about growing food, that’s what the bulk of your land should prioritise. It’s fun to mess around the edges with black tomatoes and purple carrots and experiments in growing heirloom quinoa, and you should DEFINITELY do all of that!!! but if you mean to be serious and have enough vegetables to make chutneys or preserves, open up a catalogue like this one and look for high reliability and disease resistance.

[freeuselandonorris]

Hi there. This is quite a dull question (relative to your usual delightfully spicy asks) but how did you get into subtitling and what does it entail? I’m looking for work that’ll help me steer clear of conventional office environments and tedious work place politics; this strikes me as something I’d be good at. Thanks😘

hello!!

popped this under a cut for length ☺️

i got into subtitling because a relative worked for the company, which is a pretty common story - it's not the kind of industry a lot of people know about!

hopefully you're UK-based as that's all i can speak to, but i'm sure it's similar in other countries. there are two main types of subtitling for broadcast: live (where you're subtitling live TV as it happens (e.g. news, sport, live chat shows) and offline/pre-recorded (pre-filmed stuff ranging from the kardashians to movies and everything in between).

live subtitling is my main area. you need to be able to work well under pressure, be decent with computers, and be able to multitask well as it generally involves speaking, listening and typing all at the same time. you're essentially repeating what's being said, editing it on the fly for coherency and adding spoken punctuation commands, and editing it as it goes out. it's a skill!

pre-recorded, you need to be meticulous, have excellent spelling and grammar abilities, and work well to tight deadlines. as you have far more time to do a pre-rec show, you type the captions out, format them and assign timecodes.

whichever you're interested in, in the UK the main providers are usually the in-house TV channels (BBC through Red Bee, ITV, Sky) but the contracts do change hands a fair bit. a lot of the pre-rec contracts are freelance, and most of them (live and pre-rec) are home-working rather than office-based. the interviews generally comprise questions, spelling and grammar tests, plus sometimes a test of the voice recognition equipment if you're doing live subs.

for me, the pros: exciting and varied workday, get paid to watch TV, great when you're covering stuff you like (i used to get to subtitle Sky F1!), my colleagues have always been nice, there's always work to pick up as a freelancer once you've got the skills.

cons: long/antisocial shift patterns for live subs, lack of job security (even in the permanent roles, there's always a threat of redundancy if a contract goes, plus the ever-looming threat of AI), forced to watch stuff you dislike (personally i found watching constant news coverage really took a toll on my mental health in the end), a lot of people end up with RSI issues from the repetitive keystrokes involved.

re: your last point - i will say that it's a lot less glamorous than it sounds and is largely a convential office-based job (or home-office based) in many respects!

hope this is useful, let me know if i can give any more info :)

[icouldntfindquiet]

My interpretation of Showtime

I’m not a lyrics person but thought I’d try to pick apart the song based on feels and observations. I don’t analyze every line though. Please don’t take this as the truth!

This line makes me feel that even though he resides in the UK, his real home is somewhere else. We all know he has a strong connection to Australia with him being conceived there and his first memory of music being there. Another part of me thinks about LA where the music industry is and how he must enjoy the sun and laid back vibes.

The first line seems directed at Bondy, Bob, and Benji. I still think about how they all resigned in March 2021 where their ideals probably didn’t line up with Van’s. I can imagine Van wanting to remove himself from the situation if he’s not wanted.

As for analyzing the lies, I feel like Van reads the stuff said about him online. How it was his fault the band broke up, how he’s a difficult person to work with, how he’s addicted to drugs, etc. and this is his way of dismissing them as they don’t know anything. Some people think it’s in response to Bondy’s statement and I’m not gonna lie but I still think about this comment on his statement that later got deleted. (She used to be friends with Benji’s fiancé but I think they had a fallout because they don’t follow each other anymore but I’m sure his fiancé told her stuff. 🫣)

Now I don’t want to think Bondy’s statement is all lies as I’m sure there’s more truth to it than lies but there are always two sides to a coin. They might’ve viewed things differently from how Bondy viewed them. The line seems generalized/directed at everything as a whole rather than at a particular person.

I honestly think the three of them leaving had a huge impact on Van. There was probably a time he thought about giving up on music but he still got through.

This slowed down part makes me think he’s reflecting on the day the three of them solidified their decision to leave. Van already doesn’t sleep much so him staying up for days really worries me. 😢 He has an active mind and worries a lot so he was probably in rough shape mentally and physically. He was probably reflecting on the situation, what he said or didn’t say, and what he did or didn’t do.

He mentions trying to find some space and I think this is reflective of how he deals with problems. He’s not the type to discuss things with people. He isolates himself and tries to figure things out on his own.

Despite these things I’ve picked out, I do think that Showtime is a positive song about overcoming hardship. But for him, it’s probably a personal song and a turning point in his life. I honestly think this is the only explanation we’ll get of what happened.

[alto-tenure]

actually, this is going in a separate post and is not just being left in a few discussions on Discord and vaguely referenced just now: Beasly and Subject 3 cannot talk to anyone besides Luke. (And possibly Puzzlette, in Beasly's case.)

In Beasly's case, this is fairly obvious: during the section of the game where Luke is no longer with the party, you can visit Beasly as long as you didn't visit Puzzlette's shack in Chinatown, and while you're there Beasly only makes buzzing noises. Dialogue from the UK version:

Flora: Say, have you seen Luke around here? Beasly: Bzzzz bzzzzzzz bzzzzz. Bzz bzzzzzz bzzzz bzzzzzz. Bzz bzz bzzzzzzzzzz. Layton: It doesn't look as though Luke is here. Let's search elsewhere, shall we? Flora: All right, Professor. Beasly: Luke? He's over by the statue in the brick courtyard! Hey! HEY! Are they even listening? They can't understand a word I'm saying, can they? And now they've buzzed off. Bah! Honey-grabbers!

(In the US and JP versions, they use ellipses instead of inserting buzzing in, though while the US version does imply Beasly could have replied to them if he wanted to, the JP version comes across similarly to the UK version, where they cannot understand rather than him being unwilling to speak.)

As for Subject 3, that one's more by implication. Here's some dialogue (again, UK version):

Layton: Have you two worked everything out? Luke: Did you hear Subject 3's terrible story? Apparently, he was forced to be a test subject in all these weird science experiments. Layton: Our friend here carries a heavy burden on his shoulders.

US version is mostly the same, only with minor alterations. Recall that Subject 3 just poured his heart out to us about his tragic backstory, and none of the others react to what he says at any point, just Luke. When Luke's speaking with an animal, according to Eternal Diva, he speaks in the animal's language, rather than speaking in English back to them, so no one outside of their conversation would be able to understand it. Hence Layton's vague question about whether they've worked everything out or not -- he doesn't know what they actually said, and can only judge the conversation based on their body language. I do think if he was privy to the contents of the conversation and the specifics of Subject 3's treatment he would have said something more.

So: Subject 3 and Beasly aren't actually talking animals. But why can we understand them as the player if they're not speaking English? It's simple: most of the time, our window into Professor Layton is through Luke. His perspective is the one we receive in the original trilogy, and since he can understand them, we can too. (With some exceptions, as with the Beasly scene discussed earlier.)

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: Chloe Cole

Published: May 18, 2023

Yesterday, New York Times reporter Maggie Astor published a hit piece about me in an attempt to undermine my story and the testimonies of other detransitioners. Now that I’ve had some time to process everything more completely, I’d like to address some of the inaccuracies and falsehoods that Astor wrote about me—beginning with the disingenuous title, “How a Few Stories of Regret Fuel the Push to Restrict Gender Transition Care.” 

I take issue with Astor’s flagrant use of the word “regret,” which implies a benign mistake like a bad tattoo—something I wasn’t even allowed to get until I turned 18 last year. No, I was a child when I was misinformed and misled by adults, who convinced me to permanently alter my body. 

I learned through social media when I was 11 about boys and girls being trapped in the “wrong body”—an impossibility that should never have been “affirmed” by doctors. I was told by health professionals whom I trusted that I had a medical condition that required medical treatment. Not only that, but my parents were emotionally manipulated by being presented with a false dilemma—“would you rather have a dead daughter or a living son?”—despite the fact that suicidality is routinely overexaggerated in trans-identified youth.

Astor relies on the euphemism “transition care” when she means “chemical and surgical sex change services.” This is neither medically necessary nor lifesaving, but rather elective, cosmetic, and experimental.

Astor also flippantly refers to my detransition as “changing course,” implying I merely took a wrong turn instead of having doctors affirm my confusion with experimental medicine. She says I “returned to my female identity,” but being female is not an identity. It is a biological reality that describes half the human population. It is something I never stopped being despite the fact that when I was 13-15, doctors prescribed me puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and surgically removed my breasts to try to mold me into something that superficially resembled a boy.

Astor neglects to mention the vocal European detransitioners and how European medical societies have backed off of “gender-affirming care” after conducting systematic reviews of evidence and finding that the risks outweigh any purported benefits. She also referred to outdated statistics on detransition which include studies on adults rather than the cohort I belong to—adolescents under the “gender-affirming” model of care. These studies also had serious methodological flaws and a high loss to follow up rate.

Another statistic she likely referenced was from a study about detransitioners that specifically excluded detransitioners. Participation in the study was limited only to those who had detransitioned in the past but still identified as trans–in other words, not people like me.

If Astor had researched the topic properly, she would have discovered a recent US-based comprehensive review of medical records that found 30 percent of teens and young adults had discontinued “gender-affirming” hormones after 4 years. Another US study from this year that challenges the notion that detransition is rare found that 29 percent of youth changed their requests for hormone treatment, surgery, or both. And yet another study from a UK primary care practice found that 12.2 percent of those who had started hormonal treatments either detransitioned or documented regret, while the total of 20 percent stopped the treatments for a wider range of reasons. The authors of this study observed that the detransition rate in emerging research brings forth crucial concerns regarding the possibility of “overdiagnosis, overtreatment, or iatrogenic harm,” similar to issues encountered in other areas of medicine. 

A 2021 study found that three-quarters of detransitioners did not report their detransition to their providers, thus potentially creating a false impression that they were satisfied with the “care” they received. Norway’s health authorities confirm that detransitioners updating their providers is “not a given.”

It is not true that there are only a few vocal detransitioners in the US. Many have spoken out online, but only a few have the time to travel and testify. It’s not easy to open yourself up to an onslaught of criticism, blame, and hit pieces from the New York Times. It’s not easy to go public with details of your private life.

There have been many instances of detransitioners getting overwhelmed from the response to their story and deactivating their social media accounts. Hundreds more reside in support groups and remain anonymous, not wanting the stigma and negative attention.

Lawmakers shouldn’t have to restrict sex changes to adults, but US-based medical organizations are not doing their job at following the science. If they would conduct systematic reviews of the evidence, they would likely come to the same conclusions as European countries, which have heavily restricted medical interventions for minors and specific psychotherapy as the “first line of treatment” for teens in distress over their bodies. 

US-based guidelines ignored an entire body of research that found the majority of children who do not socially or medically transition will no longer experience gender-related distress in adulthood. Instead, most of them grow up to be gay or lesbian adults.

Pioneers of the evidence-based medicine (EBM) movement said the current guidelines for managing gender dysphoria in adolescents in the US are “untrustworthy” and not evidence-based.

Astor took a shot at me for the detransition rally I helped organize in March, but our event was exactly how I planned. My heart hurts every time I see a new detransitioner come out, but soon our numbers will be too large for the New York Times to dismiss as a “few stories of regret.”

Support Chloe Cole by donating here.

[cicaklah]

Being an economist on main again, soz...

So my last post got reblogged by people but I wanted, in true economist fashion, to really, truly, highlight why the current UK bullshit is so upsetting as a very normie, mainstream, working economist.

Economics is broadly split into two disciplines, microeconomics, which is basically the way the economy and individuals interact, and macroeconomics, which is how the economy as a whole-ass beast works. The main problem between these two disciplines is that a lot of rules of micro don't 'hold' when you get to the macro level, and vice versa. You might remember how economists always say that treating debt at country level the way we think about individual credit card or mortgage debt is wrong, that is a prime example of how micro and macro rules don't hold. Things, generally, are so much more complicated at macro level.

Because of this, most economists specialise in one or the other. I am a microeconomist, specifically a health economist, and while there is some macro stuff, generally we treat health spending as a micro level problem, i.e. we're fairly sure that if we make decisions at an individual level, the macro will look after itself (the pennies will look after the pounds).

(Now, this is a simplification because you can rightly say, cicak, my friend, the NHS is falling apart, to which I will say: you is right, but it is because of 'externalities' rather than the conceptual decision making process inherent to microeconomics, to wit: over a decade of deliberate underfunding, a global pandemic, and Brexit have all led to NHS problems. The solution to all of these problems can be understood in micro terms: more money, applied where it is most needed, as part of a plan, with measurable goals and targets. Ultimately: politics.)

Anyway, tangents aside, microeconomics is pretty ideologically stable. Most mainstream economics is based around social welfare theory, which is that people do things for reasons that bring them the most benefit, and they broadly, mostly, in aggregate, do that to an acceptable level of efficiency. If you would like to argue about this: please proceed to your nearest economics masters course, you'll fit right in.

The main difference between the schools of macro is: do individual changes make differences at the macro level? Or do only governments really make a difference at macro?

This used to be a BIG ARGUMENT back in the 20th century, mostly around what should be done with the Great Depression in 1929. Basically, should you just let the economy burn to the ground, and see what comes out of it? Or should governments stop the economy from collapsing? The Austrian school thought burn it down, Keynes thought: government. Keynes, broadly, won. There was a 2nd world war, and Keynesianism was refined. Then, it went out of fashion. Then it came back into fashion. A lot of this depends on the concept of 'full employment', the 1980s, economic stability, boom and bust, but these days, most macro policy is described as Neo-Keynesian and is considered broadly settled on government finding a balance between price, inflation, employment, growth and stability. This is done through monetary policy and fiscal policy, stuff government does.

But then you've got your Austrians, your Hayekians, your Mises. They think that government should butt out of the market, and that individuals are far more important. Individuals, especially rich individuals, should be allowed to do what they want with their money, and everything will be better if government just stops taking their money and lets the free market solve it. This is why the first thing Truss & friends did was cut the top rate of tax. Less money for government (bad with money) but more money for the people that they believe are already good with money, because they have a lot of it, see?

Modern Austrians believe that individuals are the only thing that matter at macro level. There are no groups of people, only individuals. Credit is bad and the real cause of business failure. Stability can be gained by pegging currencies to gold reserves. Oh and as we can't model all 67 million people in the UK, theres no point even trying. It'd just be chaos. Even model nerds say 'all models are wrong'. So no point. Just do it and be a legend. It'll all work out in the end. Just trust us. OBR? Have a beer. The numbers don't real.

Instead, everyone fucking PANICKED. Because as I said, 99% of economists are in the business of predicting the future. The future suddenly got unpredictable. No one saw the top rate of tax being cut coming. There's no economic justification for it, no 'dont worry, it'll be funded by XYZ'. Just Austrian bullshit of 'here comes freedom lads.' No one is talking to each other. A man credited with keeping all the fiscal, monetary and political systems moving has been fired because it turns out the chancellor didn't like that he worked from South America. The Bank of England are furious. The markets are in peril, but Kwarteng's bezzie mates at his cocktail party bet that the pound would crash, and are rolling in it. Everyone loves a run on the pound, it seems.

So yeah there's some more of why the uks economy kind of exploded this week.

[obi-mom-kenobi]

Saw you were wondering about the Pokémon regions, sooooo here's aboutttt what they're like:

Kanto: Big, populous, and highly developed in canon, but as it was the first region it's also rather simplistic and quaint in-game. It has a bit of everything. Based on the Kanto region in Japan.

Johto: Old-fashioned with a lot of traditional Japanese architecture, music, landscaping, very naturalistic and forested. The Pokémon are all very cutesy. Based on the Kansai region in Japan.

Hoenn: A land that sits firmly between the extremes of volcanism and the ocean. Much warmer and lusher than the previous two. This was the first to lean into the solarpunk utopia themes of the world. The music has a lot of bells and trumpets. Based on the Kyushu region in Japan.

Sinnoh: Cold, mountainous, and often rugged. There's a lot of lore here (in the sense of oral history, stories, old religions), and a sense that humanity never triumphed over the vastness of nature. The music has a lot of piano. Based on the Hokkaido region in Japan.

Unova: Very modern and dense. In many ways, the spiritually successor to the Kanto region. Music is chic and pop-like. Based on New York City in the US.

Kalos: Extremely picturesque. This region is seriously one gorgeous locale or landmark after the other, looks like the whole thing could be a painting. The vibes are like, "mystical and magical" and the whole region is pretty harmonious. Based on France.

Alola: A group of cheerful tropical islands, small-scale and diverse in cultural background. There's obviously a fair bit of tourism, but it's generally chill and pleasant. Based on Hawaii in the US.

Galar: A culture focused on ascension and competition, with one side being a humble rural countryside and the other a tremendous city, with a gradual transition between. Classic European architecture, often looks like it came out of a fairy tale. Based on the UK.

Paldea: Hot, sunny and arid for the most part, and vaguely mediterranean. Lots of bright warm colors feature in the architecture, stucco, and claywork like terracotta and ceramic tiling. Based on Spain.

Oooooo thank you! I'm very new to pokemon and don't have a way to play most of the games, but I wanted to learn more about it all!

[skippyv20]

Skip, I couldn’t change a word in what Sandiedog3 said today about BRF during beginning of the state visit by South Korea President. Catherine looked downcast today, just not happy within herself. I can only imagine the pressure that poor woman is under with the hits coming from all sides and especially from US based brother in law and his wife. Plus I see HW has roped in the missing Marcus and Mio to up the dirty games anty.

The dress Catherine wore during the day was absolutely beautiful and she dressed in bright red while the Queen was in navy to represent South Korea flag. Red and navy being the central circle with black stripes on a white as the rest of the flag. I am sure Catherine and Camilla coordinated colours so I really doubt one was trying to outshine the other. Camilla looks great in navy.

It’s a job I would not want to do day in, day out as it’s so demanding particularly when you are a hands on mother/father and while dressing up in fun for most of us I can’t imagine the stress of making small talk to people at this type of setting twice in a day.

Catherine had no spark today and wearing no stockings during the day on this important day seems to me an act of necessity rather than intention as she is usually a stickler for protocol. Maybe her downcast mood started from there or perhaps she simply doesn’t feel well. We’ve all been there.

I love reading Sandiedog3 take on everything UK related. I was in UK in August and did a bus tour across 4 countries. Have done this a few times over the years and absolutely love UK people young and old. The oldies ( like me) are honest, forthright, can laugh at their own expense and are sociable . Oh and some of them tell the best jokes. Always ready for a good natter. Oh how I love that.

Thank you Julie!  Great post🙂❤️

[astrognossienne]

on andrew tate

Sagittarius men are...interesting to say the least. They are also excellent candidates for the cautionary tales that fascinate me so much; more often than not they are disasters of human beings. It is in this spirit that I dive into the chart of Andrew Tate, the "self-help" personality who revels in almost medieval misogyny. Starting out as a kickboxer, Tate had his first dalliance with a public spotlight through the 2016 season of the UK's Big Brother reality show. It lasted six days. Tate was kicked off the show after a video appearing to show Tate beating a woman with a belt, threatening her with violence if she "texts him again." Tate has more recently become famous as an online personality promising to show boys and men how to "escape the matrix" -- shorthand for becoming more wealthy and successful with women. Before being banned from social media platforms for his rather extreme views, he had over 4.5 million Instagram followers, as well as 600,000 subscribers on his "Tate Speech" YouTube account. Videos carrying his hashtag on TikTok have been viewed over 14 billion times. On November 19, Twitter CEO Elon Musk reinstated deleted accounts for the likes of Donald Trump as well as Tate, where he has continued espousing his views...until his views caught up with him in a real way. Let's look at his chart:

Sometimes or a lot of times Sagittarius men are, strangely enough, like earth sign men in the sense that they feel like if they make a lot of money and/or help a woman financially they can treat women any way they want. Not surprised at his sun sign or placements, especially the Pisces placements, yeah sounds about right. Pisces are so emotional and petty when it comes to everything women. Not shocked by this chart at all. No Cancer in his chart, which is why he's such an uncivilized and unconscionable demon; he suffers from traditional devolved Jupiter energy, which can manifest itself in cult leader-like behaviour or “self righteous” prophets.

That Mars in Pisces is why he’s bitchmade and uses basic red pill points to mask his own deficiency; he’s overcompensating for his lack of real masculinity. If you search pictures of him before he shaved his head (because he was prematurely balding) you can see how he was never really a masculine or “alpha” type of man. Sun conjunct Moon is why he’s so stubborn when it comes to other people’s opinions; his ego and emotions are in lockstep so he is simple single minded about his views. He's the type that does not understand why it's so hard for others to get their mind and emotions on the same page, even if a wrong one.

Venus conjunct Pluto in Scorpio with his Venus in the 5° (the erotic degree), which means in time, he will be freed from his physical preoccupation with sex, and he will be more able to enjoy all kinds of human contacts. It also means that he attracts people despite him being dumb as fuck. They may be interested in his dramatic sense or his artistic leanings, or they may be fascinated by his fearless involvement in deep and sometimes dangerous alliances. He arouses deep responses in people, even those he contacts casually. His nature stimulates both positive and negative reactions. Although he's a Sag, he’s extremely Scorpio just based off of that conjunction and placement.

Sun conjunct moon in Sag in the 9th—he really thinks highly of himself. Too highly of himself. Like all fire signs do. Under the influence of certain religious, moral and doctrinal teachings, the assumption of certitude can be made, especially as there can be an underlying pattern of desiring to be authoritative, and to assert or impose personal views as being the only correct ones. Ultimately, taking such a stance proves to be restrictive and self-limiting, closing perceptions and options down to only those which are 'allowable', and thus distorting individual understanding and perspective. Taking moralistic attitudes often corresponds with assuming critical and judgemental positions, which only fuels the separation of people within society rather than connecting them more strongly. His BIG ego and BIG emotions are in sync (Sag is Jupiter ruled, remember)—so that explains his larger than life ego. In spite of his seeming self-assurance, he's not too successful in relating to people except at the social level.

As a Sagittarius with a Mercury in Scorpio—he feels like what he says is deep and profound (when it really isn't). Nonetheless, having Mercury in Scorpio forces him into a more singular determined direction. He has the talent of hypnotizing others into something he wants them to do against their total acceptance. He shows how he feels or what he thinks by facial expressions, mannerisms and an enthusiastic sparkle to his eyes, which is shown through his videos.

His chart is mostly Sag, Scorpio & Pisces—that’s one Jupiter ruled sign, one Jupiter/Neptune ruled sign, and one Mars/Pluto ruled. I can definitely see all three because Pluto makes its mark through his thought process and Jupiter is known for expansion (of his fanbase of misogynists). Also Pisces is the sign of delusions; in case it's delusions of grandeur. With that last part being said, he looks really soft and probably was a sensitive man before he was scorned seeing actual real men get the respect from women he wishes he had without force/disrespect.

His need for control/domination over women stems from not only his Scorpio/Pluto dominance, but also his Lilith in Gemini opposite his Sag sun means that women are dangerous; they scare him and threaten his ego, so he needs to get them under his thumb with his tongue/the weapon of mass communication. As a Pisces dominant, he's a beta male, so the fact that he knows he isn’t the type of man to naturally evoke respect/admiration from women so he went so far to the extreme end of manosphere in order to fake it till he makes it. He thinks being red pill means being an alpha, but he’s so wrong, he looks even more bitchmade then before he started to spout this bullshit. Like men with Cancer Mars, some men with Mars in Pisces don’t have a healthy relationship with aggression/sex/relations with the other sex because they’re naturally prone to be sensitive or “weak” but they hate that because they refuse to be under control from women, or are ashamed of the fact they’re so soft/sensitive so they veer to the extreme end to overcompensate or throw other people off the scent of their sensitivity (a typical Scorpio and Pisces trait).

He has a Scorpio Venus, Pluto and Mercury as well as a Pisces Mars which conjunct his Jupiter (from a wider orb but its to be considered nonetheless); so with all that outward-turning water energy, he’s definitely loud and wrong and he’s quite proud about it. Scorpio likes to investigate and get to the bottom of things, and they also hold grudges harder than everyone likes to say Cancers do, so that's also why he’s not letting his grudge towards women go. Saturn especially adds a restricting influence to what it touches. He might be repressed and instead of taking that and internalizing (if Saturn would be retrograde), he externalizes by asking others to also repress someone (namely women).

His chart is mostly a Minor Triangle, which is one trine and two sextiles. Trine planets are energies that are integrated in his personality and easily expressed, and a sextile is dynamic which requires some sort of effort. Him being a professional fighter both physically (Mars dominance) and verbally as well as always seeking opportunities to spread his message represents that. Until his arrest, it was working well for him because these energies were working together easily and positively, although what he is actually saying is upsetting to people.

If he had more lowkey planets he’d be an obscure guru with a big following but his Sag sun and fire dominance, specifically his Sagittarius stellium (3 or more planets in the same sign) adds this focus of speaking out bluntly to anyone that challenges him, even privately, which is entertaining and lights a fire of rebellion in others.

The motherfucker was on a roll until he played himself late last year by coming for Capricorn environmentalist Greta Thunberg.

She may not have Cancer in her chart either, but despite this, she’s still a human being anyway. At least the only water sign represented, Scorpio, gives her the courage of her convictions and a fierce yet evident humaneness about her as does her earth and air dominance. Uranus dominance means that she is a conduit for change. Saturn dominance, she is very serious about her mission. She cares deeply and is willing to fight fiercely for what she loves (as is evidenced in her Venus and Mars in Scorpio)--her ideals (Aquarius dominance) and she is fixed and focused in her goal (Capriocrn, earth and fixed dominance).

On December 27, 2022, Tate addressed Thunberg in a tweet extolling his carbon-emitting automobiles and asked for her email address to give her more information. The following day, Thunberg (who's also a Capricorn moon and Mercury) replied with the fake email address "smalldickenergy@getalife.com".

The exchange received substantial attention on Twitter and became one of the most-liked tweets ever. Almost immediately after this exchange, he filmed a video in which pizza boxes were visible that eagle-eyed viewers noted gave away his place of residence. On December 29, 2022, Tate and his brother, Tristan, were arrested in Romania along with two women; all four are charged with human trafficking and forming an organized crime group.

These are the transits for his arrest. His sun squared Uranus in Taurus and Neptune in Pisces on December 29, 2022, which is a somewhat disruptive transit, during which people were subject to sudden upsets or to behaviour that is upsetting to others (Tate's extreme viewpoints and unnecessary trolling of Thunberg). The main point is that he could expect the unexpected that day becasue of his actions. Which he did. He was obviously not clear-headed enough to pull off a convincing deception of his greatness (hence the pizza boxes detailing his location in the video). His moon squared Moon and Neptune in Pisces that day, which meant that there were moments of difficulty and irritation. Old points of view, habits picked up in childhood, prejudices — all misled him under this influence. His relations with women were not very smooth at this time. His emotions were discordant, and he was more inclined to get into disagreements with others (Thunberg), which had the greatest effect in his most personal life and domestic situation (his arrest).

Thunberg, ever the succinct earth and air dominated Capricorn, tweeted:

this is what happens when you don’t recycle your pizza boxes

More of an accurate analysis would be had provided there was a birth time for this individual, of course, but yeah. That's all I got.

[8iunie]

‘We’ve always been very divisive’: Måneskin on fighting fascists and breakfast with Chris Martin

First The X Factor, then victory at Eurovision, now a Grammy nod: the Italian glam rockers have taken the road less ordinary on their way to worldwide fame. So long as they can be themselves, they wouldn’t have it any other way (posted on 21.01.2023)

Damiano David is bent double over a large glass table, gleefully snorting an imaginary line of cocaine. His Måneskin bandmates – bassist Victoria De Angelis, guitarist Thomas Raggi and drummer Ethan Torchio – collapse in fits of laughter around their frontman, each one pretending to wipe the nonexistent powder off the table in their rented LA flat.

David is playfully reimagining the Italian rockers’ most infamous moment: hours after winning Eurovision 2021 with their pogoing glam-rock stomp Zitti e Buoni, in front of a global audience of 183 million, footage circulated of David appearing to snort something off a table in the green room. The images quickly went viral, with Emmanuel Macron reportedly calling for the band to be disqualified (France’s entry was in second place). In the end David offered to take a drug test, which cleared him of any wrongdoing; the results are still pinned proudly to his fridge at home.

“I think the view people have of us, and of me, it’s very off-target,” David says now, his usual rock star uniform – Gucci-styled 70s glam idol mixed with Rocky Horror Picture Show vamp – replaced by an oversized beige sweater and a violent cold. (Every band member is struck down with it, rendering a grey-looking Raggi almost mute.) “People think we behave like the Sex Pistols, or Mötley Crüe, but we’re nothing like that,” David continues. “We’ve got more educated on the risks of drugs and how they affect your body. I don’t even drink alcohol any more.”

“At the time we got so upset about it and now we don’t give a fuck,” smiles De Angelis, the band’s most outspoken member, sat looking resplendent in an Italians Do It Better T-shirt.

David, however, is having none of it: “No, I am still upset about it, actually. I think it’s dumb to tarnish the victory at Eurovision. I think we should go back and hand flowers around.”

Måneskin, despite their throwback vintage rock vibe, represent a very modern take on the rock’n’roll mythos. Prior to Eurovision – a DayGlo pop jamboree not renowned for its links to rock excess – the band gained notoriety via Italy’s version of karaoke conveyor belt The X Factor. Their origin story has led to some music purists taking umbrage at the band’s success, with their CV now including two UK Top 10 singles, more than 4bn streams, multiple world tours, a collaboration with Iggy Pop, plus a support slot with the Rolling Stones in Vegas.

“Some of the stupid comments we get are probably because of [having done The X Factor and Eurovision],” shrugs De Angelis. “People are so narrow-minded that they can’t see beyond the idea that if we went on Eurovision we must be shit. They can’t listen to our songs with an open mind and judge them based on what they really think.”

On their highly anticipated third album, Rush!, Måneskin’s first since becoming one of the few new rock acts to break through globally, the band can often be found grappling not only with the speed of their ascent (hence the title), but also a complicated relationship with what rock’n’roll means in 2023. “The whole concept of rock music is not conforming to what society would love you to be,” De Angelis says. “It’s ignoring those made-up rules and being yourself. We don’t think real rock music is about these stereotypes of the sex and drugs and rock’n’roll lifestyle,” she continues. “It’s about expression and creative freedom.”

Still, Rush!, which was mainly co-produced in LA by Swedish hitmaker Max Martin, is stuffed with songs about sex, drugs and, indeed, rock’n’roll, but often with a twist. While lead single Supermodel criticises, rather than valorises, LA’s vapid party scene (“Everything [in LA] is so huge and big and wants to impress you, it’s all showing off,” sniffs De Angelis), the band confess to having enjoyed at least one A-list schmooze with Coldplay’s Chris Martin, who invited them over to his and girlfriend Dakota Johnson’s house for breakfast.

“Dakota cooked us eggs, Chris didn’t cook,” remembers Torchio.

“He was enjoying the moment,” suggests David.

Supermodel also references the band’s apparent drug of choice, cocaine, as does the frenetic Bla Bla Bla, though it largely serves as a warning of sorts, as David sings: “I’m too drunk and I can’t get hard.” “It happens when you drink too much,” the 23-year-old shrugs, ignoring his bandmates’ giggles. “Even when you haven’t had a drink. [That song] is a mixture of honesty and putting on ‘crazy guy’ shoes. [That character] says some things I would never say.”

Perhaps the best example of stereotypical rock’n’roll swagger arrives on the ludicrous Kool Kids, a punky marauder that finds David aping the spit-flecked delivery of Slowthai. “That [was written] three days after Eurovision so our feeling was: ‘Fuck off, we won and everybody has to eat our shit,’” David says. “Before Eurovision we went through a very tough year; everybody was trying to stop us doing this kind of music and doing Eurovision. Nobody believed in us. So we had this feeling of being the underdogs that won.”

That feeling has helped cement Måneskin’s sibling-style bond. It’s been fostered since they formed at high school in Rome in 2016, with David, De Angelis and Raggi coming together after their various other bands didn’t work out (Torchio was later recruited via Facebook). “I remember when I started playing guitar at school, everyone was like: ‘Oh my God, you play electric guitar. Are you a lesbian?’” De Angelis says. “It’s all these stereotypes you know.” Suddenly her eyes dart around the room. “But then actually they were right,” she adds with a huge roar of laughter.

The band, named after the Danish word for moonlight (De Angelis is half-Danish), would quickly garner similar reactions across Rome for their style, which often involved every band member donning makeup. “I remember even when we were busking or playing at school parties everyone always looked at us like freaks,” says De Angelis. “This gave us even more of an attitude of wanting to tell them to shut up. Growing up and being inspired by a lot of the artists from the 70s, the glam, it showed us something we hadn’t seen.”

In 2017, the band appeared on The X Factor, eventually finishing second and landing a chart-topping album in Italy a year later. “When we went on The X Factor we were the first rock band to [appear], but we just played as if it was our own show,” De Angelis continues. “We didn’t have to change.”

While more success quickly followed in Italy, including five Top 10 singles in two years, the band say they felt a shift at home after Eurovision sent them interstellar. “We’ve always been very dividing,” David says. “There are a bunch of people that love us and are very proud of what we’re doing, and then there’s a whole other part made of conservatives and traditional rock’n’roll fans and fascists that hate us with everything they’ve got. Then there’s this conspiracy building up … ”

Everyone at the table looks bemused.

“What?” splutters Torchio.

“Yeah, guys you have to be informed,” snaps David. “It says that we’re getting famous because we’re being paid. That we’re working with the Italian government to share this gender-fluid culture!”

“A lot of people are really proud,” De Angelis says. “But Italy is a very conservative country and they’re intimidated by the fact that someone can wear makeup or high heels or appear half-naked or not be straight. But fuck them.”

This passion for nudity caused problems last August when the band performed at the MTV VMAs, where they won best alternative video for single I Wanna Be Your Slave. While David donned a dog collar, leather chaps and buttock-revealing thong, De Angelis covered one nipple with a silver star before her top slipped down revealing the other one to be unadorned. Cue lots of hastily edited aerial shots to save everyone’s blushes. “We’re too hot for US television,” smiles De Angelis. “It’s so stupid because they want to appear so open-minded and then they get scared about a pair of nipples. There is this difference between men’s and women’s bodies and how you’re perceived and sexualised all the time. Everyone has nipples.”

“It’s very clear the different standards people have because I was literally butt-naked,” adds David.

Perhaps it’s no surprise that a band whose success was forged in controversy are now under the microscope. For David and Raggi, the band’s straight contingent, there have been accusations of queer-baiting, thanks to their penchant for sporting makeup and experimenting with a more fluid style. “There are some cases where it happens, but sometimes [the accusations are] so extreme,” says De Angelis. “It’s stupid for queer people, who should fight these stereotypes, to label it as this and create more hate. The fact [Raggi and David] are straight doesn’t mean they can’t wear makeup. Or heels.”

David agrees: “Everything me and Thomas do is always filtered by two people who are [queer]. Of course we don’t experience the same stuff, but we live every day very closely with people from the community.”

They are keen to also deflect their spotlight on to more immediately concerning issues, with Rush!’s throbbing Gasoline – performed at last September’s Global Citizen festival in New York – aimed at Putin (“How are you sleeping at night? How do you close both your eyes? Living with all of those lives on your hands?” run the lyrics.) The song, they say, is a message of support for their Ukrainian fans. Rather than shy away from politics, the band see it as entwined with who they are. “Everything you do as an individual is political,” says David.

For now, however, they are keen to get some sleep. There is a discussion around how much time they’ve had off since winning Eurovision in 2021, with the general consensus landing on about two weeks in total. With another tour booked for this year, including a sold-out show at London’s O2 Arena, and a Grammy award to fight for (they’re nominated for best new artist), their schedule seems unlikely to let up any time soon.

“Two weeks off in two years!” repeats a dazed David shaking his head. Rock’n’roll stops for no one.

Writer: Michael Cragg for The Guardian

[samflir]

A totally different kind of calculator

My latest purchase for The Collection, a Calculated Industries ConversionCalc Plus, was mainly to further diversify my collection, as I now want to get calculators from as many distinct manufacturers as possible. As the name suggests, it's a calculator that is entirely dedicated to the task of converting between different measurements.

I picked the conversion calculator because it is by far the least specialised of all of CI's calculators and just about the only one I could imagine being actually useful to me.

After getting it, it's one of my favourite calculators ever and it goes on my desk rather than on the drawers with most of the calculator collection. I use it whenever I have unit conversions to do because it's so much more convenient than opening a new tab and typing conversions into Google, especially because Google converts to feet with a decimal point by default, instead of feet and inches:

Look Google! It's how people expect feet measurements to be formatted!

Most unit conversions are two button presses away because there's no need to type out their names or dig through menus, everything's at the base or shifted layers of the keypad. I would never use my other calculators for this purpose because they don't prioritise it enough to be faster than Google. It's faster to type "1435 mm to ft" into Google than find the conversions menu in my fx-9750Gii and use submenus every time to slowly type out "[mm] -> [ft]":

After all that effort, it still won't present it in feet and inches!

It of course works as a normal calculator, but has some odd limitations, such as lacking cubes and cube roots. Squares and square roots are elegantly integrated into the unit conversion system. Squaring a metre value will turn it into square metres, and taking the square root of an area will show you the side length of a square with that area, automatically changing from square measurements to linear ones. But none of this can happen with the cubic measurements. Oh well.

Unfortunately, this calculator doesn't support the UK imperial system. All imperial units are the US versions. This is not a huge problem for me as the vast majority of the time I use this calculator will be for communication with Americans.

Converting between units never loses precision. If you convert a number into a new unit, all of the digits of the original unit are retained no matter how many conversions you do afterward. This even applies to entering fractional amounts of inches, which has a special "/" (that is, not the usual divide symbol) button on the calculator. Fractions automatically get converted into a fraction with a power of 2 denominator, but when shown as a decimal value, are clearly still their original value rather than rounded. This is really impressive.

Another great part of the calculator's interface is the unusual number of edge cases built in to display as many digits as possible at all times. If needed, the calculator repurposes its scientific notation/fraction digits into a bonus pair of digits after the decimal place:

I thought this was a bug when I first saw it!

It also has a fourteen-segment display to the left of the main seven-segment display, the first calculator in my collection to feature one. This is used for some of the measurements that don't have dedicated segments in the LCD. But it can also display the minus sign, so MILE ends up dropping the E in sufficiently long negative numbers:

Notice here that it's also using the uppermost segment of the last digit as a minus sign for the scientific notation digits. This seems to suggest that these are not intended to show scientific notation and were originally designed to display inches with fractions, and were then repurposed for scientific notation:

In general, the interface shows an incredibly creative approach to using the LCD panel that I've never seen on any other calculator. Looking through CI's range, some of their other calculators seem to feature a similar or possibly identical display, which suggests it's a standard one that they reuse for all of their calculators.

My collection is now at 19 calculators and I have every major type of calculator:

Standard

Financial

Programmer

Scientific

Graphing

I would consider this another category from all of those, the "unit converter" calculator type. Just as scientific calculators often include programmer functionality in their BASE-N modes, this is definitely not something that this calculator is uniquely capable of, but it is something it's uniquely capable in. It is to unit conversion what my DM16L is to BASE-N arithmetic and logic.

Having a totally new kind of calculator is rare and exciting with a collection my size, which is why I've found the CI converter calculator so much more interesting than my other recent additions, which have been scientific and graphing calculators.

It ticks boxes for my calculator collecting, is genuinely useful to me and has a very unusual set of capabilities and user interface. Love it when that happens!

Calculated Industries website

[denimbex1986]

'As the long-running UK science-fiction show about the eponymous Doctor, a Time Lord who travels through space and time, celebrates its 60th anniversary, writer Russell T Davies is back for another stint in charge. It is effectively the third new beginning for the show, following the original run, from 1963 to 1989, and the revival, which began in 2005. A huge fan of the original series, Davies was largely responsible for its Noughties return, presiding over the Christopher Eccleston and David Tennant eras. His comeback has been greeted with jubilation by those fans who felt that recent seasons had not been among the best.

The Power of the Doctor, the final episode of Chris Chibnall's stint as the most recent showrunner, pulled off something of a coup de théâtre at the very end of the episode by having the latest (and 13th) incarnation of the Doctor, played by Jodie Whittaker, regenerate as the 10th Doctor, played by David Tennant, rather than as the newly-announced Doctor Ncuti Gatwa (the Rwandan-Scottish actor who broke out with his role as Eric Effiong in Sex Education).

So now we have Tennant, one of the most popular incarnations of the Time Lord, back in the saddle for three 60th-anniversary specials before Gatwa gets the keys to the celebrated space-and-time machine, the Tardis.

The Star Beast, the first of those three specials, is loosely based on a comic strip that appeared in Doctor Who Weekly magazine in 1980.

In it, the Doctor is as much in the dark as we are as to why they're back to their old self (Tennant bowed out of the role in 2009). And Tennant is not the only returning veteran. One of the Doctor's companions, their "best friend" Donna Noble (Catherine Tate), is back too.

For complicated reasons, when they were last hanging out together 15 years ago, the Doctor had to wipe Donna's memory to save her life. If she ever remembers him, she will die.

The story that Donna has accepted is that she had a bit of a breakdown that caused her to forget everything. But she still has the vague sense that "something's missing", as she puts it. "Like I had something lovely and it’s gone… some nights I lie in bed thinking 'what have I lost?'" She is happily married, with a teenage daughter, Rose (Yasmin Finney) – but this domestic peace is now firmly disrupted…

The Doctor, soon after arriving in London, is distracted by a spaceship crashing, and races to the scene. One of the escapees is the Meep (voiced by Miriam Margolyes), a cute, furry, big-eyed alien. The Meep says it is being pursued by "monsters" who want to kill it… and plot-wise, that’s about all we're allowed to tell you.

A big change since the last season is the fact that Disney+ is now the distributor for Doctor Who internationally. A deal between Disney and the BBC was announced last year and it presumably means the show has a much bigger budget than in the past; Davies told GQ it was "more than I've ever had to work with". So can we see that money on the screen? Well, no, not really. Not yet. There might be a few more extras in the battle scenes but the special effects are unremarkable.

In fact, it's difficult to imagine even the most fervent fan being anything other than a little underwhelmed by this first special. If you can measure Who episodes on a scale that runs from "whimsical" to "terrifying", this is very much at the whimsical end of the range. There's a twist you can see coming from galaxies away, and the comedy consists mostly of Donna shouting "What the hell…".

If you love Doctor Who, you'll probably enjoy it. Tennant's Doctor is still a charismatic charmer and still makes liberal use of the firm-hold hair gel. As Rose (old companion Rose, not new character Rose) once remarked, he has "great hair... really great hair".'