#sine does stuff

[radiance1]

Hey ya'll back on my bullshit again!

So this time if this idea doesn't get outta control it'll mostly be focusing on Danny and Bruce!!!

Danny is gonna be younger here by the by, maybe like 10.

So after being accidently hit by on of his parents inventions, big ol' Danny-o sometimes gets these dreams about some random ass old man. He doesn't know who he is, nor why this is happening, but he mostly just goes along with it.

Most of the time they just spend the time there in silence, not really doing anything and just existing around each other until one day Danny let slip that he fights people on the regular.

Most of them being other people in a dream, who he assumes are ghosts. He manages to hold his own decently well, even without powers of his own.

Plus, he can even take his parents stuff into the dreams!

Sure he sometimes loses, but that's really not the point here.

but the man does not like it.

Danny doesn't get it, considering he can kick ass, take names, and it is just a dream after all.

So imagine his surprise when that old man, who he's known for a while and dare he say can perhaps even be called a friend, takes a fighting stance and tells him to come at him.

He asked if the guy was sure, the guy nodded, he told him not to regret anything when he gets his ass handed to him, the guy said nothing and motioned for him to attack and Danny went for it.

Not even a few moments later and he's insanely embarrassed he got his ass handed to him. Like, it was over before he even began and Danny didn't even know what happened.

So of course, being who he is and knowing this guy for a while. He very obviously asks the guy to teach him his ways and he must be insanely charming because the guy didn't even hesitate to say yes!

It was like, a few more dreams in that he finally asked for the guy's name. He said his name was Bruce, and that he was traveling the world and learning every martial art currently still existing.

Danny instantly grew to like him more after that. Sure, his mom's a blackbelt, and sure she taught him to kick major ass before she got dragged into her inventions, and sure she doesn't train with him or spend time with him anymore because of that-

Wait he's rambling.

Anyways.

So the guy asked him if he was taught martial arts, since he does have a pretty solid foundation. Danny said yes and then talked about his mom, because anytime to gush about how much of a badass she is, is one he's gonna take.

Somewhere along that rant it turned into a rant about his parents, and then their inventions, and then it turned into his sister and then it turned towards the ghosts he fights and how he beats them up really well and how his parents inventions really helps and then it turned towards that one time he got hit by one of his parents inventions which is why all these people appear in these dreams-

Bruce motions for him to stop, and then asks what Danny means by being hit by one of his parents inventions.

Danny stops, then gets real sheepish about it. Because really, it was kinda technically his fault that he got hit since he did sneak into his parents lab while they were out and accidently messed with something unfinished.

Bruce asked how Danny got into their lab. To which Danny said pretty easily since he already cracked the passcode for their 'secret' lab, and yea sure they didn't know that and sure he shouldn't really be in there in the first place without them knowing, but it's not like they know where he is most of the time.

Then Danny gets frustrated and say that they changed the passcode, so now he has to crack it again and he can't ask Jazz for help since she's too busy with school, but it's not like he really needs her help because he's plenty smart on his own but it would be nice-

Bruce doesn't say anything while Danny takes the conversation to an entirely different place than it started. His face only growing dark, as he quietly listened to Danny now going on about how to not fight a living jelly because they are vicious.

Which is another cause for concern, frankly.

Bruce has noticed that Danny has a tendency to just. Ramble about random things for hours if he isn't stopped, and is extremely surprised when Bruce actually listened whenever he stopped to take a breath.

He does wonder who exactly this boy's parents are however.

So then this keeps going on for a while, with Danny and Bruce either training martial arts or just talking (more so Danny rambling on about his day or anything really and Bruce just listening and commenting here or there.) and existing.

Then when Danny turned 11 he tells Bruce about how his parents got this huuuuuge mysterious donation that let them buy parts to make this super-mega-awesome invention of theirs that's supposed to be some kind of portal or something.

Which Danny is a bit jealous over because his parents are spending less and less time out of their lab, but that's besides the point.

Sometimes he also shows Bruce blueprints on things his parents worked on and then left unfinished because they lost interest in it or just don't see how they can work it out.

And Bruce, being the super-mega-awesome-nice friend he is, looked them over and then tweaked them a bit here and there and then they just worked!

(Also yes, he did indeed crack his parents code again and stole some of their parts to make said inventions but hey what they don't know won't hurt them and plus he can take it into his dreams.)

Some very, very rare times, Danny showed Bruce some of his own blueprints that he tried to make. Because if he showed an interest in inventions then maybe, just, maybe he'll be able to spend more time with his parents.

But anyways.

He showed them to Bruce, and they kinda just sat there figuring out how to make Danny's dreams become a reality. Then over time Danny just, sorta stopped showing his parents blueprints and more of his own.

They still trained of course, but it was really cool to just, tell someone his ideas and for them to actually listen.

And sure, he could tell his mom and dad but they have the attention span of a goldfish when it isn't anything ghost related (no hate indented but it's just facts.) and Jazz is really busy with her own life too and also a bit... smothery.

And he didn't really have any other friends since no one really wants to take to the child of the resident ghost hunters. There is those two friends he knows online, but he doesn't wanna ruin anything by just showing blueprints.

So telling Bruce was something he took readily too after he reacted well the first time he showed him his first blueprint. Hell, it didn't even need to be a blueprint for a weapon, it could be anything and Bruce would still find a way to help him.

Eventually it shifted from Blueprints of weapons and household items, to ones of spaceships and stuff meant to mimic the stars. Then conversation shifted from everyday stuff to space and it's many wonders and how cool it is.

Danny talked, and Bruce listened.

Bruce trained him, and so Danny fought.

Danny trusted an adult for once in his life, and Bruce gave him every reason to trust him.

Bruce helped Danny with his ideas, and in turn Danny gave him a distraction from most of the pain and worry of what's happening in Gotham until he can go back and help.

Danny found a place he can just let go in, and Bruce allowed him that space.

Which made it oh so terrible whenever he lost everything.

Well, not everything. But it sure felt that way to Danny.

It was when he turned 12, telling his friends online about how his parents completed this craaaaazy new invention that apparently should open a portal to, somewhere he isn't sure.

One of his friends told him he should totally go check it out and tell them if it works or not. It didn't really take much convincing since he also wanted to check it out too.

The pain was overwhelming.

Feeling his body be defiled by electricity and then slowly disintegrate while he could still feel everything and then not feeling anything from his limbs after and yet still being alive and then suddenly feeling again after he couldn't was so overwhelming and the pain was still there and-

Nobody was in the house at the time, his parents out for the day and Jazz hanging out with her friends. So no one could hear him scream.

Then there he was, in the air trying to remember how to breathe only to realize he wasn't breathing-

Then he dropped to the ground and found he could breathe as air forced itself into his lungs until he started feeling light headed and passed out.

Later when woke up he told his friends that it never worked, and stayed away from it for awhile.

Later when he was asleep he didn't see Bruce anywhere, nor any of those ghosts he fights at all.

He didn't think much of it, maybe Bruce just wasn't sleeping.

He thought the same when a few days past by and still no signs of Bruce.

He distracted himself with fighting the ghosts from his dreams that came from his parents portal that he forces back to the zone.

A single day multiplied as it turned to a week, and then that week turned into weeks and then a month and then that month turned into months-

-And he hasn't seen Bruce in so long that he just doesn't get why he couldn't find him. He searched his dreams, not seeing hide nor hair of Bruce and spent his days awake fighting ghosts since his parents homeschool him even though they spend most of their time in their lab and it's him who homeschools himself and sometimes he has to run from his parents because they also attack and hunt him-

But it doesn't matter.

He kept searching for Bruce until he couldn't. He kept searching past when he couldn't.

Sometimes he couldn't help those few thoughts that creep into his brain whenever he stares up at the ceiling and can't sleep.

That maybe Bruce finally got tired of him and that he doesn't care about him anymore and stopped wishing to meet him and abandoned him for another child who isn't like him and can actually be normal and isn't a freak who can't do anything right.

Sometimes Danny lets himself stew in those thoughts.

Danny doesn't like thinking about them that much.

Bruce will be back. He just has to wait. Friends wait for their friends and besides he already has two other friends and yea he can't meet up with them in person but still.

It was when he encountered this one ghost while going past the boundaries of his own dream in search of his Friend that he was told that Bruce wasn't ever going to come to his dream, that he can't come back to his dream anymore.

Now, Danny is smart. Maybe not as smart as his parents or Jazz, but he has something in his brain and he knows that what this ghost is saying is probably true and that he should just accept but-

He just can't.

He doesn't want to.

Bruce couldn't have abandoned him. He's probably still looking for him right now in his own dream and Danny would be such a bad friend if he didn't continue looking.

But then he was told that Bruce wasn't looking for him, because this Bruce person never existed in the first place.

Danny didn't want to believe it. He couldn't.

Bruce wasn't a figment of his imagination.

He just couldn't be.

Bruce was his friend. He's his friend and he was real.

So obviously this ghost is lying.

Until he found out that he wasn't because this ghost knows the dreams of every person on the planet and the Bruce that he knows was never one of them and Danny.

Danny couldn't take that.

This ghost was lying. he just had to be. Bruce is his friend and he's real and he's been with him for so long and he couldn't help him if he wasn't real and everything they've done together was real.

Bruce was real.

Bruce was realBruce was realBruce was realBruce was realBruce was realBruce was realBruce was realBruce was realBruce was realBruce was realBruce was realBruce was realBruce was realBruce was realBruce was realBruce was realBruce was realBruce was realBruce was realBruce was realBruce was realBruce was realBruce was realBruce was realBruce was realBruce was realBruce was realBruce was realBruce was realBruce was realBruce was realBruce was realBruce was realBruce was realBruce was realBruce was realBruce was realBruce was real

He woke up.

He didn't move. Didn't do anything. He just stared up at the ceiling of his room while light shined from beyond his curtains and he should be getting up but he just can't and then it got dark and little stars and planets and blackholes and supernova's played across his ceiling and it was the first thing he and Bruce made together and-

He started crying. He couldn't even sob. He just laid there, watching his pride and joy dance across the ceiling of his room for minutes and then hours.

When the first ray of sunrise tried to peek throw his window was when he finally managed to drag himself out of bed. He took the invention and one of his parent's bat, went to the back of the house and hit it again and again until he felt better.

He didn't feel better.

He did the same to everything else he and Bruce made.

Nothing ever made him feel better.

So instead, he threw himself into fighting all the ghosts that came through the portal. Every fight marked victory, and victory meant injuries because that's just how things worked.

Victories used to give him joy. Because he could go back to Bruce and tell him everything about it and get praised for it.

Now he can't.

He can't tell his parents. He can't tell his sister. He can't tell anyone.

Nobody cares about him anymore, and that's just sometime he has to accept now.

[thydungeongal]

Are you familiar with Godbound at all? I've read through the free version a few times but never played or run; somehow ended up stealing / taking heavy inspiration from a few design concepts in it

I've read the full version and I think it's really good! It does a lot of great stuff with the toolset that Kevin Crawford has developed for OSR type games and turns it towards demigod scale play. If I was looking for a game of mythic heroes and specifically wanted something crunchy but not too much so Godbound would probably be my first stop.

And yeah I think there's a lot of great ideas there for stealing! The way Sine Nomine games handle scaling is often easily borrowed into other games and can be great if you need to switch from small scale brawls to mass combat with minimal friction.

[mysteriousbp]

Seeing that little reunion, was Frisk wondering where Clover was? How long did it take until Chara spilled the beans? Also how does Frisk feel about being siblings with Lila, considering they only ever heard stories about her? How does Lila feel about Frisk l, considering they were still a baby/toddler when she last saw them and now they're older than her?

Yes, Frisk did wonder about Clover. But Chara didn't spill any beans.

It was Clover's choice to do what he did. So it's up to him to explain when he thinks the time is right.

And how Frisk feels about Lila being their sibling?

Well, it was a little weird being siblings with someone you only hear about growing up with at the beginning. But with all the monster ambassador stuff and political stuff, they kind of had a lot of other things to think about. Frisk and Lila would spend their time when they returned home from the political meetings discussing things that happened there. After everything was settled and they could go back to being actual children, the awkwardness of being siblings with someone they only heard about wasn't there because they bonded so much because of the political stuff that when they were able to have a normal life, they already got used to each other.

It also helped a lot that Lila was in the same boat as Frisk. Since she disappeared when Frisk was so young, she would only know what type of person Frisk grew up to be from Hope, Sunny, and Clover when they appeared in the limbo void. So Lila also only knew most things about older Frisk from the stories she heard.

And the thing about Lisa dealing with the reality that Frisk is now older than her.

It was a little weird, but she already had to experience this with Clover. (Lila was born one year before Clover. But when they reunited in the limbo void after UTY, Clover was 3 years older than Lila) so it didn't hit Lila that hard.

Sine we are talking about ages. Here was the order from oldest to youngest before Lila disappeared:

Tom - Melody - Hope - Sunny -Lila - Clover - Frisk.

And here's after the barrier broke:

Tom - Hope - Sunny - Melody - Clover - Frisk - Lila

[1moremilgram-enjoyer]

Alright, question. Does anyone know what these graphs that show up throughout Double are? They're driving me insane because the only thing I can think of them being is brainwaves, which has Implications (aka Trikoto coping). It doesn't look perfectly like it, but I think it's the best match.

Like, here's the thing. First, they look like functions, except both sides of the "y" axis are positive??? Which makes no sense, obviously. That makes it hard to figure out what they're supposed to be, since I don't know any graphs which are Like That. My only guess is that it means the value displayed is always positive or doesn't matter, meaning the plus signs are there only to indicate it's a graph, but it's not fantastic. Again, if someone has better ideas, let me know (and it's probably a good idea to check the notes of this post in case I'm being stupid btw).

But let's look. There's two distinct type of "functions" which appear; sine-like functions (wavy) and "spiky" functions. Here's the issue with that. Sine functions appear fucking everywhere in nature, so it's not like that really helps narrow down what we're dealing with here. And spiky functions like that just- they're nowhere to be found. I literally did a reverse image search on a Paint reconstruction to see if anything in the internet looked like that, but I was only finding electrical systems (icons, not graphs) and stuff that Does Not Look Related. So what are they?

Again, I'm not sure, but take a look at one of the contexts in which they appear.

(I apologize for the youtube scroll bar there, I can't be bothered to get these screenshots without going frame by frame)

On the left, Mikoto is sleeping with a sine wave next to him. On the right, John is awake with a spiky graph. The imagery of sleeping and dreaming is very prevalent in Double, as a lot of times (including the scene I'm referencing right now) switches between Mikoto and John are indicated by "Oyasumi" ('good night') for Mikoto and "Ohayo" ('good morning') for John (mostly, depends on exact theories). Not to mention all the times the word "dream" shows up, etc. Just look at the MV, it's filled with this type of imagery.

Which is what got me thinking these graphs could be approxiamates of brainwave graphs.

Notice how Gamma and Beta waves, associated with wakefulness, are pretty spiky. Not as sharp as whatever the fuck John's got going on, but pretty spiky nonetheless. Meanwhile, Theta waves, which some sources claim is associated to light sleep, looks vaguely like a sine function if you look at it with one eye closed.

Honestly, while the comparison is not perfect by any means, the fact it relates to so many of Double's themes like sleep and exploration of the mind makes me think this is the most likely thing. I reiterate, I am not completely confident on this, if you have better ideas let me know.

And this interpretation does work with most of it's appearances without much issue. We've already seen the "John is awake" thing:

(Note: For this post I am only taking into account things between the plus signs. Other scribbles can be interpreted as just that, scribbles to indicate a chaotic mental state, and will thus be disregarded)

It shows up alongside (presumably) John again in the "that'd be good" image flash.

And there's also this? Which I'm not sure qualifies. The plus signs are over the entire scene, while the spiky function is only on part of the scene.

Which makes me think it wouldn't quite count, but I can't be sure.

But you may have noticed I'm sort of ignoring the elephant in the room. Look at the graphs which appear alongside Mikoto:

There's usually two overlapping functions (if you ignore another two-function graph appearing at the very end of the "Mikoto is sleeping" scene). Which I imagine doesn't quite make sense even with DID (I mean, by definition a function cannot have two f(x) values assigned to the same 'x' value), but this is a symbolic function, it doesn't have to literally work. And if they are brainwaves, they would likely represent... co-fronting, presumably? Which sorta doesn't work unless Trikoto is real, as we never hear of John co-fronting ever. Doesn't help that the final image flash, as you can see, a few frames later gives a third function in a separate graph, so 2 + 1 imagery.

And it actually works pretty well. The first scene where this happens has two sine functions, one of which has higher frequency at the start, but slowly loses frequency until it fully overlaps. And in that moment, Mikoto wakes up and there's a switch to John. The deeper the sleep, the lower the frequency (<- massive oversimplification). So, Mikoto, who is already asleep at the start, probably has that sine function which doesn't change, and a second alter goes to sleep, going dormant.

Which fits, because later, when Mikoto is awake and panting, one of the functions is spiky (awake) while the other is sine-y (asleep). So there's a dormant alter here. But we then see a graph for presumably the alter right after, which is spiky and awake. Thus, the alter that's dormant is neither Mikoto nor the alter on the ceiling, therefore Trikoto.

That covers all the times these graphs appear in the MV (I checked. I have issues). So, again, not certain of any conclusions, but brainwaves is sorta the best I can come up with at the moment. Anyways, thanks for reading and take care!

[thehomophobe]

When they get hurt 🤕 (Part 2 of 6)

🐔 Chica 🐔: Work got you really distracted today that you had to eat lunch late. What made it worse was that you forgot to pack lunch. (It’s not your day today. 😔) You had money to buy yourself something, so you headed to the food court. Maybe you’ll have a lunch date with Chica. Lunch dates were always nice when the two of you had a break. Gossip, secrets and kisses would be exchanged in the corners like drugs from two addicts. 

Food in hand you head to your usual spot, waiting for your cute girlfriend to arrive and chat. 

…

She didn’t come.

Probably in her room shredding on her guitar. Yeah she’s a robot and she’s programmed to know advanced guitar skills, but it’s always so cool to watch her play. Maybe you’ll stop by there. You head to the trash bin, throwing away the excess food. Then you headed to the green room…actually, maybe a little treat for you and Chica wouldn’t hurt. 

You snuck into the pizza kitchen, trying to find any extra slices for the two of you. Until you hear the sound of screeching. What the hell was that? You did hear that the garbage disposal was broken down for some reason. Could be that, but you want to make sure. 

Trying to the get down to the garbage disposal was hard. Luckily, Moon’s known to wander around when on patrol, so secret passages and hidden compartments are nothing new for you when it comes to finding them. You were almost at the main dumpster when you found the reason behind it. 

Chica’s body was blocking it.

And she was trying to get out.

It looked horrific, you thought it was an actual corpse. A screech emitted from Chica, the jaw mechanism was moving as if she was talking. A literally cry for help. Both eyes were rolled to the back of her crushed head. Her mouth was completely gone, the jaw was filled with gunk and garbage. Her once soft hands expose the sharp endoskeleton underneath.

Your chickpea was in pain.

You dragged her out the garbage disposal and Parts & Services. Her legs were broken and disconnected from the main wiring so could stand up. Garbled static replied a thank you for your help. “You really need to stop dumpster diving.” You lectured. You hate it when she does this. A small distortion mewled an apology as you place her down. There was more gunk over her torso as her leotard was shredded along with the skin underneath. Her legs were dislocated and covered in more dried sludge. 

“Alright lovebird, I’m going to power you off and clean all this stuff up.” She garbled one more time before you shut her off. You started by stripping her naked and wetting a rag, wiping off the grime from her body. (You’re used to that.) Legs, thighs, privates, torso, breasts, arms and face. Once she was cleaned off, you threw out the destroyed voice box and reconnected it to her throat. After shaping the wiring to the endoskeleton, you remove the excess skin and replace it with new skin. Then replace the teeth and mouth sine her jaw functions still work. Finally you rolled her eyes back and strapped her leotard on. 

You booted her up. She stirred as if you woke her from a nap. “Wow that was quick. I’m all good as new!” She hugged you. “How’d you find me anyway?”

“The deal with the garbage disposal. It's been broken for a couple of hours." You answered. "You know, I thought you were in your green room so I was going to grab you some pizza as a treat."

"YOU WERE?!?!" 

"Well not anymore after today." You crossed your arms.

"What?! Come on gumdrop. I promise I won't eat any more garbage." Chica pleas. 

"Alright. I'm holding you to that."

[non-bee-knees]

Alright Sinners,

My ranking of every Hazbin Season 1 Song, (purely based on how much I like them for whatever reason)

Starting With:

16. Welcome To Heaven:

St. Peter pisses me off. Idk if it's his voice or whatever, but he's annoying and unnerving and I hate it. :((((

15. It Starts With Sorry:

This was originally bottom of the list, before i remembered tht Welcome to Heaven exists. I think it's a cute song, sure, but it's just...meh. It's kinda lost when its surrounded by other bangers, and especially when it's preceeded by Stayed Gone - it had no chance. I love Pen, but this isn't it for me

14. Whatever It Takes:

If I had a nickel for every time a musical series had and wasted JAMES MONROE IGLEHART, I'd have two nickles. Which isn't a lot but it's weird that it happened twice (the other time is Tangled the Series)

Seriously though, when it's just Carmilla singing, this song is great, it's powerful and passionate. Then Vaggie starts singing. And don't get me wrong, I think Stephanie is a great voice actress and singer, but from the start I just didn't like her as the voice of Vaggie. It seems off to me, and it feels even worse here. Great song, but I think this is a person preference sort of thing bringing it down :(

13. Happy Day In Hell:

Opening song, pretty good. I was planning on using this as a sort of middle ground for the rest of the songs, but once you get into it, it's clear that while it's good, so many other songs are better, sadly. It is such a fun song, and I love the background voices, they're fun. Plus the little tempo change is cute halfway through, I like it a lot. It just doesn't hold up in comparison to the rest of the soundtrack

12. More Than Anything Reprise

Cute little thing right before the end, it's sweet and I'm glad that Charlie and Vaggie are good again. It suffers the same issue as Happy Day in that while it's good, there are other greats. It wins over it because I like the vocals here, and the change in the music from the original More Than Anything is neat.

11. Hell Is Forever:

My friend is very very bummed that I put this one this low. I like this song, but again, there are others I like so much more. Adam is a dick, Alex does a fantastic job voice acting, and I do like the way he emphasises bits like 'pearly gates' its neato. Plus the whole 'guitar solo' bit is fun :))

10. Out for Love:

The first listen, I thought it was meh. As I relistened, it just got better and better. Idk who voices Carmilla but she is FANTASTIC, the mix of the guitar and the heavy beat, and her sining/speaking on beat is good. As well as the bit where the music stops for a second before the second chorus. Fabulous stuff honestly, if being an Overlord doesn't work out for Carmillia she could become a singer instead like holy shit.

Also this is the second Carmilla/Vaggie song... the whole Carmilla was from Heaven theories are looking stronger by the minute

9. Poison:

Shit. Banging song. Blake does such an AMAZING JOB>?!?!?!?! Like holy fuck what a banger. I like this song, the way it's used in the show is brilliant, the ENDING?????? OMG. The bits around "Anyway you want me baby thats the way you got me baby" Are my faves, like those longer notes are so good ffrrrrrrr. I very like this song.

8. Respectless:

GIRLLLLLLL????? VELVETTE?????!!!??!?! OMG BABY GET IT. Vox is my fav V but shit Velvette is such that Bitch fr. This song is so fun, she's so right, and Unpopular Opinion- I think her voice is absolutely perfect for her charcter. Couldn't imagine her without her shitty little british accent. Also Velvette changes clothes every Ep; such a fun detail

7. More Than Anything:

Screaming, kicking my legs, giggling JEREMY JORDAN SBF HIBDBB:VHIBDHF I LOVE HIM HE PUTS HIS WHOLE SOUL INTO EVERYTHING HE DOES AND THIS IS NO DIFFERENT

such a sweet, genuine song, i love hearing them realise that they really love each other and learn about each other, I love the duet at the end, I love charlies solo bit, the fucking "Apple doesn't fall far" sbdfbhhb'bvofvj ADOREEEEEEE Such a cute song FR kisses

6. Finale:

So many elements here that are just *chefs kiss* JEREMY JORDAN I WANT TO KISS YOU. The gang all singing together is just so fucking cute, Vox and Val are Gay and Canon and theyre so cute thinking they're gonna rule Hell T-T - I need to see how Vox reacted to Al not being dead. AND SPEAKING OF: AL's VERSE???? SIRRRR?? ARE YOU OKAY??? mans was loosing it frrr (i also wanna kiss him on the forehead and put him to bed) (Some one pointed out that he doesn't have his staff in the last moments of the song) (also it's cute that he headed back to his radio shack to breakdown, babe really said 'safe space')

5. You Didn't Know:

We all knew this was gonna be this high up, WHAT A BANGER?????? I adore Sera's voice, it's so good, and Lute singing?? get it girl. And we all know the 'Hell is Forever' Reprise is absolute PEAK soooooooooooooooooooooooooo fucking good. ANd the end??? ADAM YOURE A CUNT but also Drama ✨✨✨

4. Stayed Gone:

NFBHBH{B@OUFE@OF Alastor and Vox are two of my fav fiction men Types: Suave sassy cunts with way too much power (with fun voice effects for extra Style)

Seriously this song really outlines them so well??? Like Vox is desperate for control, hence the fucking new's cast, and he's erratic and insane, trying his best to make absolutely sure that his viewers stay his viewers, instead of pivoting to Radio. In contrast, Al is still and calm, staying in one place while Vox flicks all over the place through his screens. AND DON'T GET ME STARTED ON THE END PART He really went Sicko Mode to bully a man after 7 years of ignoring him, FUck i love Alastor

3. Loser, Baby:

Need more be said? It's Loser, Baby, it has it all. Smooth vocals, fun jazz, cute choreography, a dancable beat, a wonderfully approachable message (my bf got worred that i liked it so much because he thought it was concerning at first, but it's so comforting to be told, 'hey we're all fucked, let's be fucked together 😊'

Blank and Keith work so beautifully together vocally that if we don't get another duet in S.2 imma riot I swear.

also "They're fucking singing???" GOLD

This song put Husk right into my top 3, only for Ep 5 to push him righ to Number 1(*)

2. Hell's Greatest Dad:

JEREMYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

JORDANNNNNNNNNN

IS A FUCKING MASTERPIECE

'from the big boss of hell himself' FUCK ME (/hj)

Seriously tho, an electrojazz duet between Al and Lucifer was such a gorgeous idea whoever made this song needs a fucking RAISE the differences in their music while they're soloing, only for it to 'clash' when Lucifer brings out the fiddle (yes its a fiddle, not a violin)

(also violin and piano are complimentary intruments, so while its not a violin, it's still neat to know that they still work 'together' as they hate each other)

The end with Mimzy?? Funny, I liked it. I hate mimzy, she's annoying and she's bound to return, but yeah, I liked her interuption as her intro, it's fitting. Also Lucifer's little 'who' at the end makes me giggle.

Ready for This:

D ;bvb'obvrgo#rjhprb#o#RPGNR

I quite like this song. In case you couldn't tell by the way it's No.1. Its a mix of the vocals being FUCKING GORGEOUS, the changes in style as the song goes on 'come on boys hop in the saddle' IMMA KISS ERIKA. Also the way the Cannibals get on board so fast is so funny, their verse is so fun

And don't get me started on ROSIEjf bhfb'au#bf'h[bfb#ru "That's enthusiasm darling" I LOVE HERRRRRRRRR

Her and Al are so sweet, thier little verse at the end is lovely. I think in trying to convince Rosie to trust Charlie, Al accidentally realised how much he cares about her 🤭

You can tell how much I like each song as I slowly loose my sanity as the list goes down 😅

(*) My fave is Husk, the Rosie, then Al, then Vox, then Angel 😊

This is all just my opinons; Please let me know what you agree with, what you disagree with, where you would put each song and why - id love to hear it xxxx

[miss--river]

💕 self-love time! talk about which ones of YOUR creations (edits, artworks, fanfics) you like the most then send to other creators to do the same 💕

thank you so much!❤️ sorry this took me so long to answer 😅

i'll start with jori since she's the first one i created! i know it may not seem like it lately but she's the main baby of the other 2 main babies i have! ive projected so much of myself and interests onto her that i became attached quickly lmao! she's also the one who i insert into every piece of media that im consuming and like enough. like, if im playing dead space i totally imagine her in the place of isaac. or if im playing a backrooms game she's the one running around and trying to escape from the monsters lmfao! her story has taken different shapes and changes since i actually brought her over from red dead online. her twin brother, mika, doesnt exist in red dead online and was solely create for cyberpunk purposes. i love the pic on the left because i just think she looks really badass lmao! and i like the one on the right because im not usually patient enough to set up sets and backgrounds but this time i stuck it out and i loved it! it's simple compared to what others can do but im still proud of it!

next is the love of her life, driss! back when i first started getting into modding my game i actually shipped her with river. i was trying to get a cute shot of her and river looking out at the sunset over the ocean, but sine i was so new to modding i didnt know bigger characters like river had a different locomotion type so i couldnt get any poses to work. as a test i replaced an NPC couple with jori and driss and that was when i fell into a hole lmfao! i thought they looked so much better together so i kept them going! their ship name is Broken and Beautiful because both of them have past traumas that still effect them but they found comfort and understanding in each other. i love how soft both of these pics are! especially the fire behind them in the one on the right!

lottie is my second of the main 3! she also started out as a red dead online OC! i usually try to make her come off as a flowery, cottage core, disney princess aesthetic type. she's the softest and shyest of my OCs but she can be fierce too! she smiles at strangers in the street and will lend a hand if they look like they need it but she does it with caution because... its night city lmao! i chose these pictures in particular because i just thought they were the coolest ones. i do have some pics that showcase her as soft and flowery but i just couldnt resist showing these ones instead! the one on the left was made to be a tarot card called The World. the pic on the right was me trying out a greaser AU on her! i really love how they both came out!

the last of the main 3 is phoenix! i made her fully expecting to just leave her to collect dust, just like certain other OCs, (and i feel so bad for them 😔) but i became attached to her very quickly too. i based a chunk of her personality off of vash the stampede from the 1998 anime trigun. after a short while of that i actually ended up shipping her with him lmfao! currently she doesnt have a backstory because nothing has really inspired me yet but at least i know some things about her current life! i think these pics are perfect for show casing her as she currently is. she lives in clutter but not, like, dirty clutter if that makes sense? she just likes having stuff and buying things that interest her. i mean doesnt everyone? haha! she doesnt really save her money for anything other than rent and bills, everything else is purely impulse. her favorite treat is donuts and when she's willing to share one with you thats how you know she likes you! her favorite thing is to make people smile!

onto stuff that i made for other people! i really loves these pics that i took of mishka and claire for @thelonestrider! mishka looks SO GOOD in purple! and claire is chef's kiss! i had a lot of fun taking pics of her! i got such freeing vibes from her so i had to have her enjoying the sun's rays!

i took these ones for @holofishes and i totally consider wren to be one of jori's besties! i think they'd have so much to talk about and i get such warm vibes when i see them together! jori is usually very sweet and kind but when it comes to her friends she'd kick anyone's ass 😉 the sunflowers and butterflies in the first pic took so long to place! but it was totally worth it! they're both rays of sunshine!

[katealpha]

Comm from OCsDA

I’m sure the more nostalgic among you fondly remember the nurturing and down to earth cow from Barnyard (2006). She certainly did things to me when I saw this movie as a kid. I’d be lying if I didn’t say she didn’t somewhat influence my eventual interest in preg.

Despite Otis and Betsy imploring her to take it easy, Daisy wants to make herself useful in her new home on the farm. While the Farmer owns the place, Daisy turned to Ben, the real leader of the animals. Ben was never one to turn down a helping hand, and he can see that Daisy is made of stern stuff despite her condition. He knew that she could at the very least bring food to the chickens without any trouble. Before Daisy departed with a bucket of feed, Ben did ask her to do one thing when she was done.

“When you get sine time later on, I think you should introduce yourself to Otis. Boy’s your age, but he’s always off doing…whatever it is he does with his friends. See if you can’t keep his hooves and head on earth. I think you’ll like him regardless.”

[maxverstepponme]

100% with you on what you said about Alexandra, she's done nothing wrong as of yet that even justifies the slimest of hate, the only thing they base their hate on is messages from years ago when she was in fucking middle school between her and the Sines sisters like bffr, oh and also lies being spread by haters that she's "rude" when she just stays in her lane when people ask for pics with her or with Charles when she's around.

And they're all like "well she's not so private if she hides her face but posts herself on tiktok," etc...like there's a fuckin difference between YOUR OWN DAMN SELF posting stuff about yourself on social media and STRANGERS doing so, especially when you can't control what you look like, it's an insecurity for a lot of people, at least when you choose to post, you get to know what comes out and how it does, and it's a safer feeling that being thrown on the internet without your choice.

And all of them being here "weel she covers her face cause she filters her stuff so she doesn't look like that irl" implying she's ugly, but babes ! we've seen pics and video of her from outside sources, in the paddock and elsewhere and she literally is beautiful ? Like if that is their definition of ugly then jeez...and it's funny cause in the same breath they're gonna say Charlotte is the most beautiful girl while calling Alexa cha2.0 and saying they look so alike and I'm like ???? what's the truth then hum ? If they are so identical then that means if you think Alex is ugly then Cha is too no ? and if you think Cha is pretty then Alex too like ? Be logical with you stupidity ffs (+ personnal opinion but I think Alex is prettier that Cha, not saying Cha is not pretty, but there's something more coming out of Alex, she got charisma)

And they are SO mad that she doesn't let them in on her love life it's so funny, I'm pretty sure it's the main reason they hate tbh, because she doesn't let them invade her relationship and therefore they can't live their fantasies through her like they did with Charlotte

I've seen people say she was apparently rude this week-end in the car while Charles was taking pics with fans and like please lie better folks cause we have fucking videos of that and she's just there like ? she's just doing nothing and letting people take pics and minding her own business

Anyways sorry for the long ask but it just drives me crazy how they can hate on someone for nothing, and it goes for the other wags too not just Alexandra, it's just that Alex has been getting such a wave of hate compared to what it was/is for the others I'm fucking baffled, like I've seen someone comment "look at her playing the arsty girl" under her post on her art account ??? she's a fucking history of art student my god bffr and not to talk too much but the studies shaming I've seen some people do, such elitist mentalities it's concerning to think like that in 2023

People saying “she isn’t private because we can see her on TikTok” pisses me off so much! You can have a public TikTok account but still be private 💀 istg some of them turn dumb on purpose.

[masterqwertster]

🏴‍☠️ What is the daily life in the ship like? And what would happen if they ever met a certain Captain Tusktooth and his crew (fucking Marius)

🏴‍☠️Hmmm... I mean, it's basically a lot of travel days. There's keeping the ship running, and then everyone has their little side projects they like to work on when they aren't hands on deck. Plus whatever interpersonal stuff is going on at the time.

Chetney still carves toys and stuff. And if he runs his personal stash of woodblocks out, he'll start doing embellishment on the ship. Or embellish because he's bored and feels like doing detail work without having to carve a basic shape.

Besides Zeph'aeratam practice (gotta stay sharp!), Orym likes working on the Green Cabin. Just a little druidcraft to encourage the growth, and experiment with different plants and growing fruit. Maybe a little woodcarving practice sine he knows the basics.

Ashton does decorative patch embroidery in their free time. And elemental meditations that sometimes fall into dunamis meditations just to try to figure out his powers more, but he's not too good at meditating.

Prism is usually working on one research project or another, and having the time of her life getting to test anything that comes to mind (as long as it doesn't threaten to sink/damage the ship)

Deanna stich and bitches with whoever sits down with her

Laudna works on whatever crafting project has caught her fancy

Imogen likes to sit with Laudna and a good book or meditate. She's also not great at meditating

FCG bakes or tries to give therapy

FRIDA works on their drawings in their free time

Fearne is unpredictable chaos

🏴‍☠️Chaos, plain and simple.

You've put Fearne and Jester within orbit of each other. Ashton and Chet (and Prism?) are there to egg them on. Deanna is willing to participate while only offering a slight Voice of Reason. Depending on his mood, Orym is there with Deanna. FRIDA is generally up for anything. Laudna is probably adding macabre twists to Jester and Fearne's ideas. FCG is trying to talk the crazy down, probably unsuccessfully. And Imogen and Fjord are watching, resigned to their friend/girlfriend's brand of crazy.

[thydungeongal]

Do you have any recommendations for systems that focus on interactions between Factions?

So, there's Legacy: Life Among the Ruins, a PbtA game of navigating the post-apocalypse where the game focuses on two different scales: the faction scale and the personal scale. All players control both a single faction and a unique player character who is a member of said faction. Besides Legacy there's a whole family of Worlds of Legacy games that take the core concepts of the game and spin them off into other genres, like a generation ship whose passengers have woken up from sleep way too early, gods and avatars, and families of supernaturally enhanced people being caught in a generational struggle against a great evil.

Blades in the Dark kinda fits the bill! Players basically get their own faction to control (their gang) and in addition to it the game focuses a lot on the power struggles of the various factions of the city! Mostly it's a game about going on heists and stealing stuff, but it does have a lot of faction play going on in the background.

For an OSR example, a lot of Kevin Crawford's (Sine Nomine Publishing) games have faction play as a supplementary part of the game, where the GM is provided with essentially a solo faction minigame to play between game sessions to keep the sandbox alive. I know Stars Without Number at least includes one, I don't remember for sure which of the other ones also do off the top of my head.

[thislovintime]

Peter Tork and Pamela Grapes (attending the Rockers On Broadway event in 2014). Photo courtesy of Broadway World.

“I think I’m probably past the point in my life where finding the one and falling in love and agreeing to try to create something together is possible. On the other hand, it would certainly — you know, I would certainly love to have a companion that I thought knew me and understood me and with whom I could partner.” - Peter Tork, WDBB, February 12, 2006

“From: Maggie M. Hi Peter do you believe in love at first sight?” “hey, maggie, yes, I most certainly do! that does not mean that that’s the only start to true love. in fact, it might not be the better way; it might deceive you into thinking that there is no more (or not much more) work to be done. I fell in love with one woman once the second I saw her. we had a lovely time together, but were obliged to part ways after some years. then I met a woman whom I gradually — as opposed to suddenly — came to appreciate and love, and with whom I do believe (and hope) that I’m in my last relationship now. xo, peter“ - Facebook, 2014

Q: “And what’s your touring schedule like? How many shows a year do you do these days?” Peter Tork: “Well, the first part of this year has been very slow – I think because of the sudden… because of The Monkees touring, people thought it was going to go on. But the weekend of the Sellersville show includes a solo show for a private event the night before Sellersville and a show the night after and a show in the same club the afternoon after that. So I have like four performances in a row at that point. And that’s going to be a bit of a grind – we’ll see how that works out. Other than that, there are some more dates down the road. In this case, what’s going to have to happen – I’m going to have to take a train down to D.C. to do the gig. I’m going to have to – I’m actually getting a lift to Sellersville, where the band will meet me, and then we will go together to Club 66 in Edgewood, Maryland. And then back home after that. And like that – usually just the four of us and maybe my partner, Pam, comes with us and helps with the driving and to goad us all, just to keep us on our toes. If she can – she’s got some obligations that come up on a regular basis that prohibit. But if she’s free, she comes. And we go down and set up and play and knock down and go to the hotel and go home. You know, [fellow Monkee] Micky [Dolenz] always says, ‘I perform for free. You pay me to commute.’” - LeHigh Valley Live, June 2012

In the Good Times! liner notes thank you’s section, one of Peter’s thank you’s is, “to Pam, my sine qua non.”

Q: “Is there a comedy that left an indelible impression on you as a youngster?” Peter Tork: “The Court Jester [1956], a musical comedy starring Danny Kaye, was one I loved as a kid. It certainly stands up today. It’s just one of the greatest film comedies. My wife Pam saw that and said, “Ah, I see where you get all your stuff” [laughs]. She thinks all my comedic, goofy characters are all contained in that movie.” - Medium, 2017

“He wasn't The Clown, but he loved to clown around. Loved, and I mean LOVED the blues. Great smile. Just real. […] Loved his woman and did not mind PDA. That dude showered Pam Grapes with so much affection. They could be like teenagers. It was sweet. Loved his kids. Treated his step children like his own. That of course spoke volumes to me, made him even more of a good man.” - John Billings, Facebook, 2019

[dustedmagazine]

Dusted Mid-Year 2023, Part Two

Yo La Tengo

And we’re back with the second half of the alphabet—from Kookei to Yves Tumor.  If you missed it, check out part one here.  We’ll have the writers’ lists tomorrow.  

Kookei — The Incredible Hulk (H$G Studios)

Who picked it? Ray Garraty

Did we review it? No

Tim Clarke’s take:

Detroit rapper Kookei has a truly bizarre rapping style. He delivers almost everything in a hushed whisper, as if he’s right there inside your earbuds, sibilance sizzling, braggadocio booming. Though Kookei rarely wavers from this vocal approach, the production across The Incredible Hulk varies wildly in consistency and quality. Trap beats, synth stabs and rudimentary piano loops dominate the backing tracks, with cuts such as “Jackie Chan” sounding much more rich and polished, while others such as “Cousin Skeeter” and “Headshot Gang 2” bleed into the red, making for some wince-worthy distortion. Admittedly this stuff is no doubt supposed to be heard loud while high as a kite, so I can’t say I’ve been able to fully appreciate its intended effect.

Kali Malone — Does Spring Hide its Joy (Ideologic Organ)

Does Spring Hide Its Joy by Kali Malone (featuring Stephen O’Malley & Lucy Railton)

Who nominated it? Jason Bivins

Did we review it? No

Andrew Forell’s take:

At three hours in duration, Swedish composer Kali Malone’s latest long form composition seems a daunting proposition. Based on Malone’s tuned sine wave generators, Stephen O’Malley’s guitar and Lucy Railton’s cello, Does Spring Hide Its Joy is an extraordinarily rewarding experience. Within the elemental drones, Malone conjures tectonic movement both sweeping and incremental. Microtonal changes feel enormous, the glacial pace focuses the ear on every imperceptible progression, every movement of bow across string and the shimmering harmonic interaction between the instruments. Recorded in early 2020, Does Spring Hide Its Joy reflects those early days of the pandemic when time seemed at a standstill and lethargy, dread and inertia slithered their way in. Three years on, this music resonates with the ongoing effects of those upheavals. All the terrible beauty is here and if you have the time to concentrate, Kali Malone and her collaborators provide a cavernous space in which to process. Very highly recommended and thank you to Jason for the impetus to listen. 

Natural Information Society — Since Time is Gravity (Eremite)

Who Picked it? Bill Meyer

Did we review it? Yes, Christian Carey said, “Whether the new collaborators will remain, or other players will join Abrams, Since Time is Gravity demonstrates that Natural Information Society is a durable creative enterprise.”

Bryon Hayes’ take:

Most of us at Dusted love Natural Information Society, and with good reason: Joshua Abrams and his ever-evolving ensemble know how to concoct a hypnotic brew. As such, it’s no surprise that this record made it to the top of someone’s list this year. If you were lucky enough to catch the latest incarnation of the group – swollen in ranks and named Natural Information Society Community Ensemble with Ari Brown – play live in 2022, you’d have an idea of what’s in store for you on Since Time is Gravity. Even though they might not have been playing this particular material, the large ensemble interplay featured here was definitely on display in the live setting, as was Ari Brown’s crafty soloing. It’s prudent to note that the songs are shorter in comparison to the marathon that was Descension (Out of Our Constrictions), but this is great because as a listener you get to follow the group along a variety of pathways. It will be interesting to see where Abrams takes Natural Information Society next, but you can be sure of one thing: we at Dusted will love it.   

Pile — All Fiction (Exploding in Sound)

All Fiction by Pile

Who picked it? Patrick Masterson

Did we review it? Yes, Patrick said, “All Fiction furthers that thinking, another reason this feels less like a leap and more like a carefully considered step toward further Piledom — the band’s flowing, peripatetic nature makes writing about individual songs less important than considering the whole.”

Ray Garraty’s take:

All Fiction is anemic enough to ask yourself: do they eat enough? Rick Maguire’s voice here sounds like he could use more nutrients and proteins in his diet. He kind of wakes up on some tracks, like “Poisons,” yet core of the album is that sad, melancholic material disillusioned middle-aged men write. It’s Radiohead-ish, it’s rock-ish and it’s… just flat? If it’s really what fiction is these days, I better stick with nonfiction. 

The Reds, Pinks and Purples — The Town That Cursed Your Name (Slumberland Records)

The Town That Cursed Your Name by The Reds, Pinks & Purples

Who recommended it? Christian Carey

Did we review it? Yes; Jennifer Kelly wrote, “Glenn Donaldson puts a louder, fuzzier attack behind his gossamer-wistful songs this time, amping up the volume for a set of darker, more desolate tunes.”

Jonathan Shaw’s take: 

It seems to me that Pitchfork gets something right about the Reds, Pinks and Purples: Jude Noel’s review of The Town That Cursed Your Name notes, amid a breathlessly positive assessment, that the band’s records “simply pick up where the last left off, like a series of Moleskines filled end to end.” That may be so, and the consistency of Glenn Donaldson’s songcraft likely provides a good deal of the band’s appeal—but do you really want to spend time reading a batch of someone else’s Moleskines? The Whole Foods grocery lists and the snatches of wood-shopped poetry and the paragraphs of winsome repining? If so, check out “Almost Changed,” the ninth track on The Town That Cursed Your Name, which doesn’t quite brood and doesn’t quite whine and doesn’t really seem interested in making anything change in the first place. To be fair, it’s very, very hard to find fault with this record’s compositions, the rhymes and the musicianship, which are like a May breeze, a Monet pastel or a warm cup of ginger tea—or all three at once, in someone’s comfy suburban sunroom. If that’s your situation, maybe you don’t want (or need) much of anything to change. Must be nice. Here and there, The Town That Cursed Your Name stirs from its state of cloudless repose to threaten some fuss. “What Is a Friend?” picks up the pace and thrums and hums with something like urgency. Then Donaldson sings: “Dodged your call from the jail / No birthday card in the mail, I always fail / Maybe you lost the plot / You could have offered an opening slot, it’s food for thought.” The inside-baseball, indie-rock vernacular and the literate metaphors dominate the record’s lyrical register. They are always clever and inevitably build an emotional tone best described as precious mopery. The music of the Reds, Pinks and Purples is pretty and precise, and it winces when the world gets ugly. Unfortunately, it’s an ugly world.

Cécile McLorin Salvant—Melusine (Nonesuch)

Mélusine by Cecile McLorin Salvant

Who nominated it? Jason Bivins

Did we review it? No

Bill Meyer’s take:

Cécile McLorin Salvant isn’t exactly beyond my ken. If, like me, you spend time reading and writing for jazz publications, her name and striking taste in eyewear are inescapable. However, having caught her some years back at the Chicago Jazz Festival, I was under the impression that she was a skilled but hardly innovative jazz singer, so I haven’t been trying to keep up. On a formal level, Melusine wipes the floor with that misconception. The material, which consists of original songs sung mostly in French and much older ones sourced from Francophone-adjacent cultures, is certainly not standard. Subtle production touches situate this recording in the 21st century without lapsing into pop pandering. And her singing, which is both technically unassailable and emotionally communicative, transcends any linguistic barriers. There’s a lot to appreciate here; thanks for the tip, Jason.

Tacoma Park — Tacoma Park (self released)

Tacoma Park by Tacoma Park

Who picked it? Ian Mathers

Did we review it? Yes, Ian wrote, “Tacoma Park manages the always-difficult feat of simultaneously reading as the heady product of multiple creative minds in deep conversation and yet fluid and confident enough in its own voice that the result still registers as singular.”

Tim Clarke’s take:

This self-titled duo recording by John Harrison and Ben Felton documents a fruitful pandemic collaboration, overflowing with possibility. With each track built around a handful of rhythmic and melodic ideas, the music is given plenty of air to breathe, plenty of time to evolve. Fingerpicked acoustic guitar and arpeggiated synths dominate the palette, then there’s some drums here and there, both live kit and electronic. At 68 minutes, Tacoma Park is a long record that meanders a fair bit, but it feels like it reaches an apex of sorts with “Circles As A Path As A Valley,” a nearly eight-minute exercise in cathartic layering. Beyond that point, drum-machine-driven tracks such as “We Lost Our Place, We Started Over” and “I Left My Wallet in the 90s” (great title) feel like starting points for another project entirely, or a postscript pointing towards recordings to come. 

Tørrfall — Tørrfall (Den Pene Inngang)

Tørrfall by Tørrfall

Who picked it? Ian Mathers

Did we review it? Yes. Ian wrote, “If there’s intoxication here, it’s the post-panic euphoria of a body running out of air; and if this is water music, it’s for currents deep enough they’ve forgotten what the waves are, if they ever knew.”

Patrick Masterson’s take:

In a way, I’m tor[r]n. Tørrfall’s “psychedelic water music” can at times feel languid and flowing as water is, so I see where both the band and Ian are coming from — but what I hear more over these four songs that all clock in between nine and 13 minutes is an alien drone, something elemental but not necessarily earthen. The key to that otherworldliness is Nils Erga’s synthesizer work and wordless vocals: Hovering like a UFO over the rubbery, at times counterintuitive basslines of Kristoffer Riis and Thore Warland’s rainshower percussion, Erga graces these tracks with an omnipresent ethereality that suggests terrain not entirely our own. The music can’t help but follow: Not quite jazz, not quite krautrock, not quite drone, not quite house or techno, Tørrfall skirts the fringes of each to make an entrancing, immersive sonic universe (calling it a mere world feels insufficient) all its own that, headphones or speakers, the louder you play it, the more unsettling it gets. I can’t imagine how these guys must translate live.

Wound Man — Human Outline (Iron Lung)

Human Outline by Wound Man

Who nominated it? Jonathan Shaw

Did we review it? Yes, Jonathan wrote, “The whole record is a barely contained bundle of nerves, electric, hardened, threatening to come completely undone. For those of us walking around in twenty-first-century cities full of anger, suffering and insanity, Human Outline feels infuriatingly apt, mad and full of madness. It’s a terrific record.”

Jennifer Kelly’s take:

In his review, Jon spends a fair amount of time considering which metal subgenre Wound Man belongs to, a subject that I can contribute exactly nothing to. I can say, however, that Wound Man grips and ravages, at slow speeds and fast ones. I like the blistered assaults of “Leashed,” mad forward surges of rabid energy that hurtle forward at mouth-foaming speed, then pull back abruptly, as if on a choke chain. “Punisher” does exactly what the title implies, disintegrating guitar tone into buzzing aggression with sheer force of speed and volume. These cuts are over before they get started—the title track, for instance, is 40 seconds long—but you’ll feel the impact in your gut and ear canal long afterwards.

Yo La Tengo — This Stupid World (Matador)

This Stupid World by Yo La Tengo

Who picked it? Bryon Hayes

Did we review it? Yes. Tim Clarke said of the closing track that it’s "a searingly emotional purge and soothing balm all rolled in one.”

Ian’s take:

These assignments really are actually selected randomly (there are slips of paper and everything!) but it so happens that not only was I already enjoying This Stupid World but that Bryon and I wound up representing Dusted’s Canadian wing at the Toronto stop of YLT’s tour for this record. We had tickets before I got selected to cover it here, even! As a moderate fan of the band (love some classic albums of theirs, have been sorta half-paying-attention to the new stuff for a while now), this is actually the first time I’ve really sat down and engaged with a new Yo La Tengo record in years. That means I can’t really compare it to the last couple, but it feels like I picked a good time to check back in. That closing track, “Miles Away,” might be my favorite song of theirs plus or minus a “Night Falls on Hoboken” (perhaps unsurprisingly, there’s some overlap in vibes there), but overall this is a packed and consistently great 48 minutes. The skronky ones go for it, the gentle ones do in fact soothe, and the deadpan yo-yo tricks on James McNew showcase “Tonight’s Episode” tickled me. To still make records as good as Painful, nearly 30 years after they made Painful? That’s a significant achievement.

Yves Tumor — Praise a Lord Who Chews But Which Does Not Consume; (Or Simply, Hot Between Worlds) (Warp)

Who nominated it? Patrick Masterton

Did we review it? No

Andrew Forell’s take:

Having been peripherally aware of Yves Tumor I was excited to hear Praise a Lord..., and when it hits it’s very good with Tumor coming on like a latter-day Prince. Their combination of alternative guitars, courtesy of producer Alan Moulder and swaggering RnB is compelling. “God is a Circle,” “Lovely Sewer” and “Operator” have a real edge and a sense of transgressive danger, but other tracks are weighed down by the everything-including-the-kitchen-sink operatics that plague Kevin Barnes’ most indulgent moments with of Montreal. Having said that, this is a really enjoyable, immaculate sounding record and you can’t help but be won over by Tumor’s charismatic performance and their willingness to take risks.

[funeralprocessor]

Morgan Rambles: My pet project

I don't think I've mentioned it before, but I've been working on a tabletop system for like, a while now. Working on is kind of doing a lot of heavy lifting as it's still just kind of a morass of mechanics and ideas, but I've been steadily chipping away at it for a while now. A big part of it has just been figuring out what I want it to be, because I didn't come at it from the outside trying to make a game that does X/Y/Z. It just sort of bubbled up organically from a lineage of horrible cobbled together pseudo-systems that existed only in full in my manic imagination and in like 20 google docs. Basically it's half "system that's geared towards stuff I personally like'' and half "mechanics/ideas orphanage" at this point, but It's slowly coming together into something kind of resembling a presentable thing. Not presentable for like, public use or anything, but like I could show this to potential players and I wouldn't look deranged. That may change and the whole mechanical core may collapse a few more times in the gestation process, but I think what I want it, tentatively called Ars Regia/ArRe, to be about/like/for is pretty well defined. Something I'm prepared to explain now that I've rambled for two paragraphs It's going to fundamentally going to be a game about power and how you use it, which sounds a bit generic I know but one of the core tenants of like the way I play and the way I run things is freedom and the many things that come from it. I like to run sandboxes with no "critical path" or main story, just a bunch of elements you can interact with as you see fit. This is a living world, or as close to one as I can simulate without losing my mind, and having characters interact with it, explore it, utilize it, or fall because they underestimated it is like one of my favorite parts of running a campaign. My job is to play the world, the players job is to decide how they want to live in it.

I also really like the collaborative storytelling and investment you get when players really dig into the world they inhabit and make parts of it theirs. That's why a big part of my design philosophy has been trying to come up with ways to empower the players to actually make big changes, and the "power level" I'm going for has kind of skewed higher as a result. Exalted and Godbound were big big influences on me (and Godbound's author Kevin Crawford/Sine Nomine Games is like one of my tabletop idols along with Jenna Moran and a few OSRsphere bloggers y'all should check out like GoblinPunch (The guy who made the false hydra! That's not a modern D&D thing that's an OSR beastie that escaped containment! All of his shit is good like that!), FalseMachine, Skerples/CoinsandScrolls, ThroneofSalt, and Against the Wicked City. Crawford's stuff is always really polished and even if you have 0 interest in running any of his games his GM tools are fucking immaculate and worth the price of admission on their own (especially since many of them have free versions)), but like mechanically/gamefeel wise aren't what I want. I'm also drawing a good bit from PbtA's enormous lineage, partially some BitD and Spire/Heart, but one of the major ones was Legacy: Life Among the Ruins. In addition to being one of my favorite games I can never convince anyone to play, Legacy does a *lot* different that I love. Your character isn't an individual, but a faction in a post apocalyptic world, with the nature of that world and that apocalypse really really shaped by the very act of character creation. If someone chooses the kaiju hunter faction, it kind of goes without saying that there are kaiju now, something that would not necessarily be the case had no one picked that playbook. That's really fascinating to me. It also has a neat system for kind of pseudo-troupe play. When you need to resolve a specific event in detail and actually RP it out, everyone creates a quick character relevant to the situation or picks one already established, which means you'll quickly get something of a cast of recurring characters for a particular faction, even if that character isn't always played by the same person. Also, because these characters aren't your "main" character it kind of lets you play a lot more fast and loose with them and take more risks. It's almost encouraged to angle for dramatactical deaths, b/c each class has a death move that can be pretty impactful and are all very resonant and fun. I'd been considering some kind of "lower decks" mechanic for ArRe since I imagine PCs will be involved with a lot of big/long term projects and this sort of thing seemed like *exactly* what I was looking for (alongside some domain management stuff). This turned out a lot less coherent than I'd hoped but w/e. Long story short is I'm basically trying to make a TTRPG all about getting players invested in and in control of the world, both by collaborating with them to create it and then giving them the tools and incentives to change it. It is kind of geared towards playing in my like established setting, but that's because I haven't actually had a chance to do any of the collab worldbuilding stuff yet. Amala is also just sort of a powderkeg and fun to throw demigods at so we're all good

[shiftingtomydrs]

finally gonna dump a bit more about my wag dr (more specifically the alexandra / me / charles lore) disclaimer beforehand this is in no way hate towards charles and alexandra or their relationship (a little bit maybe bcs i personally dont believe its real and i dont like her a lot)

alright so first of all background for those who havent seen the post about it on my blog:

basically charles and i get married in summer 2022 and decide to keep it secret (idk why we would at that point but yeah just we do) and then in 2023 (more specifically in may around miami gp) i get pregnant. we both want to keep the pregnancy as private as possible but bcs we all know charles doesnt really have privacy we decide to make me disappear for 9 months more or less

this is where alexandra comes in, she basically signs a contract agreeing to be charles fake gf to make fans not question why im not there since i usually go to a lot of races. so we both are there during the monaco gp (the contract was signed shortly before but technically she was supposed to appear after silverstone for the first time but she got an invite from apm that she didnt tell anyone from the team about) but people didnt know she was there until after silverstone bcs people started to get suspicious and did some digging partly also bcs someone shared some rumours about her and charles before when charles was in paris a lot and liked one of her pics that ended up being spread by alexandra herself

then in silverstone shes there again and im there too and charles and i go together to wimbledon (my last public appearance with charles until monaco 2024 although i am in monza but nobody sees me or knows i was there kinda like with pascale) then after she basically goes to all the races she goes in this reality to too

now since im the fave wag of everyone basically and alexandra in my dr is really a bitch kinda so rude to fans, entitled, elitist, racist (dont come for me shes kinda racist and elitist here too i didnt make this up) people do some digging and thats when the drama really starts

they find out that alex is kinda obsessed with me when they find her old ask.fm account and she talks about me a lot in other peoples asks and also her own answers

she starts copying me like clothes, instagram and tiktok content, places she visits stuff like that (clothes since shes not rich and im loaded af are like dupes of mine tho)

she starts to do ads and stuff but like sneaky and hidden and tries to subtly throw shade at me (she also does some sneaky modeling even tho she insists shes not like other wags and 'just a student'

she tries to get with charles and initiates pda and stuff but hes not interested obviously bcs he has me

she tries to recreate mine and kate b. friendship with kika which just ends up being awkward and fake

shes caught stalking my fanpages / style pages on instagram and also blocking all of the pages for mine and charles rs and simultaneously starts subtly sending her pages content / her friends do through letting them into their private insta and stuff

she has a fanpage of herself at the beginning after the monaco gp where she posts stuff about her and charles and shit

she drops out of uni to start her influencer career and people drag her for it (also its stupid bcs she has the contract for 6 months only and after people wont really want to keep up with her anymore i guess bcs cha and her 'break up'

she tried to get into my friendgroup pre contract quite often e.g. through valentine sine (im friends with charlotte) or my friends insta and ask.fm

long story short shes kinda obsessed with charles and wants to be me basically

she posts a video from her friends apartment (the friend lives in a building built by the same company as charless or even the same building) to try and make it seem like shes at charless apartment

also she doesnt share rooms with charles during race weekends obviously and after hungary there are rumours and the video in her room in mexico kinda confirms it for most people lol bcs they dig and find out its a one person room lmao

she also tries to hint to hard at their rs and how good everything is basically she is convinced charles will leave me for her before the contract is up

after the contract then ends she tries to cause drama by saying charles cheated on her with me and stuff but she signed an nda too about the whole thing so she cant say more and i also might sue her for idk spreading fake news and stuff

also charles never confirms their rs in my dr so basically people just assume theyre together but no one actually has proof (also he doesnt act like hes in a rs with her always only the bare minimum at events, ignoring her off camera stuff like that) so after we post the birth announcement in february 2024 and people find out they assume alex was a personal assistent or pr person or smth and obviously is just telling fake facts

again, i may add to this later idk but this is the most of it thanks for coming to my ted talk / random rant lmao <3

[imeverywoman420]

okkkkk so as a STEM girlie who's been a tutor on the side and TA I think/hope I can explain the issue with math. (this is @andsheoverthinks btw but that's my sideblog so i can't submit asks from there)

(1) math is one of those subjects where you have to understand everything along the way

(2) math requires more abstract thinking than every other subject. spatial intelligence is usually also important for stuff like trig and geometry and everything thereafter

i learned when i was tutoring second/third graders that getting people to think abstractly is difficult. if i asked kids to add say, 17+9 they would count on their fingers to get the answer. this would always yield the correct answer but it is inefficient for obvious reasons. i had to skip ahead to explain hundred's, ten's, and one's places to wean them off it.

(3) it is genuinely hard to help someone bad at math because of (1), you don't know how far back the confusion goes. it might be the first grade

(4) people will come up with an inefficient way of getting the answer, which is the Wrong (TM) way and it comes back to bite them in the ass with harder problems. a lot of times people develop weird/bad habits and refuse to change

i also tutored an eighth grader learning algebra. she was learning systems of equations. there are two ways to solve a system, geometric (which is just for illustration purposes and really shouldn't even be taught) or algebraic. this kid would always 'solve' systems the geometric way and always get the wrong answer because it's hard to draw lines straight. i tried to convince her to do it the algebraic way which is easier and doesn't hinge on drawing perfect lines freehand. it took a really long time because she would always go back to the geometric/drawing way even though it would always be wrong.

(5) it's genuinely frustrating to teach people bad at math because grade-school math is 'algorithmic' aka procedural. you just memorize how to do it and then do it.

for example you posted an example of SOH CAH TOA and i am genuinely confused why it's hard to understand (not trying to be a dick). if someone asked me to explain it i'd literally just read out what's on the picture because they're definitions. like. the sine of an angle is equal to the ratio between the length of the side opposite the angle and the length of the hypotenuse (side opposite the right angle). idk how else to explain it more clearly. it's not rocket science i promise.

Thank younforntjis responsee its really. Enlightening.

Ok my confusion with that last part would love tonhear back

what the hell is a sine of an angle? How can a sine of an angle be equal to the rationo whatever. What does that mean. Its just a triangle. Why would anyone need to know that.

like what is the purpose in a sine. What even is that.

And its just. So many letters and shit??? What do the colors mean. How can you understand this its so many colors and letters and things with no words its just hierogylpsh

like WHATT IS THISSSSS HUHHH. WHAT IS A SOH CA TOAH??? Like. Whatttt.