#twisty parallel universe

[dramadramallama]

not really analyzing much, just making a few notes of the things that stood out to me in the first 4 eps of light shop. i haven't read the webtoon so it's more like i'm blindly pointing at things like a child hahaha

NAMES

All (?) the names called out when the teacher does attendance in the first episode have a (direct) translation (to something positive.) I noticed because 1. some of them are really unusual, and 2. they ALL are words, like no one's just named Ji-soo or something in this class lol:

Ip-sae (입새) - entrance/beginning

Nu-ri (누리) - (old fashioned) world/universe

Ha-neul (하늘) - sky/heaven

Gi-ppeum (기쁨) - joy

Eu-tteum (으뜸) - fundamental/basic (possibly: "the first")

Ga-eul (가을) - fall/autumn

Chuk-bok (축복) - wishing happiness/blessed

Bo-bae (보배) - treasure/priceless

Mi-rae (미래) - future

Do-dam (도담) - (possibly from 도담하다) be bold/stand out/accomplished (?)

Haet-sal (햇살) - sunlight

Now you're gonna say, well Hyun-ju (who keeps going to the light shop as an errand for her mom) is also in that class! She's seemingly the only one with a "normal" sounding name. Out of curiosity I did search hers, and interestingly, I found a few meanings too: 1. address of residence, 2. water used in ancestral rites (!) 3. stay in the present, live life (!!)

Side note: Haet-sal is also the name of the Detective's (unborn?) child. He chooses the name himself out of the ones his wife wrote down. It could be a coincidence, except most of the first names she pre-selected are the exact names of the students in that class.

I can't read all of them, but there are a few I recognize: Gi-ppeum, Ha-neul, Chuk-bok, Eu-tteum, Bo-bae... (there's also Sa-rang "love", or Haeng-bok "happiness" in the list)

HYUN-JU AND HER MOM

We're not shown Hyun-ju unconscious in the hospital, like all the other main players who are trying/failing to find a way out (the will to live/the will to move on)... But she clearly also is at the threshold between life and death. Maybe she is living, but able to unknowingly go between worlds?

The light shop seems to be the doorway to "home" or maybe "heaven" (as evidenced by Mr Twisty Legs, who keeps trying to "reach" the shop, and when he does get there, he doesn't cross the threshold and loops back to his solitary karaoke session in the dark rainy alleyway.

Dead or alive, Hyun-ju is basically invisible. She hangs out with her friends but she is not interacted with. It's really fun, if you go back and watch the scenes, no one directly talks to her, looks at her, or touches her. When she speaks, she's not acknowledged by the three friends. It's really clever: something's off, but it can be attributed to the girls being chaotic, not purposefully ignoring her. Eu-tteum is the only one who, barely awake, at the frontier between dream and reality, finally "sees" her. It's directly after that event that she sees the other ghost/spirit, whose body is missing (and whom the Detective is still looking for)

Hyun-ju's mom is revealed to be the body being embalmed. Her spirit (soul?) has a conversation with the Funeral Director and when she asks, "am I alone?" she surprisingly sounds relieved when he replies that she is. Is she relieved her daughter is not with her (meaning not dead yet?) She also cries and is worried about being left in the dark, which parallels painfully with the fact that she keeps seeking light, apparently asking her daughter to get her light bulbs over and over. The Funeral Director reassures her that she'll go to a place where it's very bright (=the Light Shop being very allegorical here)

Hyun-ju and her mom also live on the 8th floor of that apartment building, while the Intensive Care Unit is also on the 8th floor at the hospital. Bus Stop Guy also lives on the 8th floor of Hyun-ju's apartment building.

BUT... maybe Hyun-ju is the one keeping her mom from passing on, stubbornly buying her light bulbs that bring no light, and inevitably end up in the trash. Or is she helping...? Has she been dead ever since she was little (she still has that necklace she had as a kid, with her info on it in case she gets lost) and has been waiting for her mom all this time? The Shop Keeper even emphasizes that he sees her as a small child, unwrapping the candy for her.

When offered, Hyun-ju always picks the yellow (=light/sun) candies. The whole show feels like a giant allegory about Light and Dark, Life and Death.

SYMBOLISM/FOLKLORE

I don't know much, but I do remember that a common horror trope in Asian legends/stories is that ghosts can be recognized because they "clap with the back of their hands". I immediately thought of that when they show the Lady in White's weird hands (the inside of her hands is actually the back of it. The nails are all wrong, I FLINCHED) She's strangely interested in whether people are "alone" or "together", and who "knows" each other. She also needs to be invited inside explicitly to step into Bus Stop Guy's house, like creatures in a lot of folk tales.

The Shop Keeper never welcomes his customers inside... but greets them by asking a question: "how did you get there/what brings you here/how can I help?" The lights in his shop are not to be touched.

The Detective has a defective lamp on his desk, and cannot seem to light up his lighter anymore. He also sees people/things he shouldn't. The Nurse says "if you see people who are on the border of life and death, doesn't that mean you are too?" which obviously, he is now, since we see him in a hospital bed in the ICU. Maybe his wife and child are waiting for him to wake up...?

Lots of imagery with mirrors, which are common symbols for doorways, a limit between two worlds.

I know it's not, but New Tenant's outfit is also very reminiscent of a hospital gown (first image). When she settles in the new house, she puts away her shoes and does not seem to notice the bright red heels (the same ones the Very Tall Extremely Scary Woman wears, indicating she is inside the house with her).

The song my guy Mr Twisted Legs sings (badly) to give himself courage is the same one the Nurse makes her patients listen to (and the same one she was listening to when she was in a coma herself, "wandering aimlessly," "almost giving up" before she found her way back to the living). The characters on life support can all interact with each other in the alleyway, but are also completely isolated from each other: New Tenant does not hear Twisted Legs' cries over her own, and vice versa, even when they cry out for the same thing, "to get out of there."

They all share the same space in the ICU, but are locked in their own world. Do their collective consciousness populate that "other" world, mixing up elements of their life and memories?

Clearly, the theme of the deceased, unable pass on peacefully, who remain behind (due to something unresolved?) is prevalent. Does it create--not ghosts exactly--but an energy, an entity embodying the "regret," the "mourning [of] something they lost"?

Now, what I find interesting is: what does "I want to leave, I want to go home" mean for each of them? To peacefully pass on, accept death, move on, and forget? Or does it mean to fight, to find the will to live, thanks to those who wish us well? Is the Light (shop) the way back to life, or the way to the after-life? Or both?

[clementine-kesh]

Just watched TNG's Parallels, and with all of the twisty reality stuff and identity shifting it feels very Voyager. With this in mind, and considering how half of the fun of the episode is that Worf specifically is going through this awful dogshit quantum leap experience, in the Voyager version of Parallels who do you think is the ideal candidate for being the main character?

b’elanna imo would be the most interesting and have the most potential for variation between parallel universes. what if janeway hadn’t made her chief of engineering? what if the maquis had taken charge on voyager? what if one of her eleventh hour fixes had failed and she had to live with the consequences? that sorta thing. you could make the same argument for chakotay being the main character but he got his reality twisty, dimension-hopping moment already in shattered

[basicallyaturtle]

never been part of a tag game, sounds really fun! tagged by dear Lanvender, @khan-crete

Do you make your bed? A freshly decrumbed, stuffed animal arranged and dirty clothes removed bed feels great. How often do I do this? We mustn't ask (like once or twice a month) that's all making the bed entails for me, I just have a fitted then normal sheet and blankets

Favorite Number? 4 4 4 4 4! I've loved four my entire life she is like a goddess to me. 2+2 2*2 2^2, divides into halves twice. can only compete with sixteen, whose status and 2^4 and 4^2 is nice, but not as symmetric. 37 and 73 have a place in my heart as the 12th and 21st primes, but not a large place compared to 4

What's your job? What do I get paid for? undergrad lab TA, what do I do? grad research in low energy nuclear physics

If you could go back to school, would you? In school technically still. Would I rewind time to experience school again? highschool no college yes. would I go back for another college degree? I could be convinced if it would be cheap and unobtrusive to my current schooling. Was always torn between physics and linguistics. I made the right choice but I always wonder what if.

Can you Parallel Park? I have done it, on the driving test, like four or five years ago. I think I could do it again, but not too confident

Do you think Aliens are real? Eh, probably in a 'the observable universe 9.3e+9 ly across, it must have happened more than once' kinda way, but not in a 'they've been feeding us tech for thousands of years or are visiting us' kinda way.

Can you drive a manual car? Never tried, hubris tell me yes, anxiety with even normal cars tells me I'd probably fuck up the transmission while trying to leave the driveway. gonna say yeag

Guilty Pleasure? I think like cheesy childhood disney live action movies?, generally I'm pretty full chested about the things I enjoy

Favorite Type of Music? yeah, hard, a lot of vocaloid, which isn't reallly a genre, a lot of edm genres from like old school monstercat, a lot of jrock by way of anime OP's of show's I've never watched then finding other songs by those artists. some rock music though that genre is also extremely expansive and I'm not sure how I'd categorize a lot of it. Generally my music consumption consists of a group of maybe five songs completely unrelated on repeat for months at a time and genre is not a huge factor in that

Do you like puzzles? twisty puzzles like rubik's cube type puzzles are really fun working, towards doing a 3x3 blindfolded but challenging, I used to do jigsaw's with my mom but over the course of a very long time because we'd get frustrated. crosswords, but I'm no good at them

Favorite Childhood Sport? Soccerrrr. Wish I'd stayed with it, but there were only a couple more years before there wasn't a league for my age group anyway, been trying to get back into it recreationally

Do you talk to yourself? I do, but as if I'm talking to someone else. I prefer not to do it because I'm not content with my voice atm, but I find myself doing it a lot especially when getting stuck on research stuff trying to talk it out or I will say a comment to someone I disagree with outloud rather than typing it and posting it. A lot of this is to my reflection which is probably part of the reason it feels like someone else lol

Tea or Coffee? tea all the way. drank iced sweet black tea my entire childhood and started drinking it hot with milk in college. I was the kind of person that disliking coffee was a sort of pillar of my tastes, but then a few years ago made it with like half milk and a lot of sugar and like it, lotta people wouldn't call that coffee, but eh.

First thing you wanted to be when you grew up? The actual first thing was everything. I would amalgamate like all the stereotypes of things kids want to be into one so a firefighter-astronaut-whatever else. When I got a better sense of my interests, inventor, so I guess like product designer, but what that meant to me was I got to sit around and think of neat gadgets and items then figure out how to make them like freeze ray, time machine, clone gun, that kind of thing lol. the first practical idea of a job I wanted was theoretical physicist in like middle school, which I kinda am now so success I guess

What Movies do you Adore? not much of a movie person, but like to watch movies other people are interested in with them, love castle in the sky, LOTR, howl's moving castle, your name, probably others in those categories I don't know about yet or have forgotten and I have a strong soft spot for childhood halloween movies like twitches and halloweentown

I'm curious what @arc-archernar and @charyou-tree have got to say if they'd like to, and anyone else that wants to participate!

[coutureonly]

Check out this listing I just added to my Poshmark closet: New Twisty Parallel Universe Unisex Women Pullover Navy White Hoodie US Small.

[atamascolily]

Some more stuff about the Bug King that I forgot to mention earlier:

It's not obvious in the screenshot in my initial post, but Locust's eyes are different colors! One is blue, the other is red-yellow.

His hair is also two different colors--mostly white, but with a prominent black streak in it. Combined with his heterochromia, this concept of "union of opposites" is baked into his character design; he not only demonstrates this in a metaphorical sense, he embodies it.

(The only other character I can think of with two different colors in their hair is Shang, but his white hairs are more subtle and more evenly distributed instead of in a streak, so it's not as obvious. Also, Locust's headpiece is weirdly reminiscent of Lin's spiky ice-crown, but in reverse. I do not know how much of this is intentional, though.)

Secondly, Locust's isolation is almost certainly linked to his incredibly strong powers, as this is a running theme throughout all of Urobuchi's works. In Madoka Magica and Kamen Rider Gaim, the cost of attaining ultimate power is one's humanity and one's place in ordinary human life. This can be seen in Thunderbolt Fantasy as well, with Shang keeping his distance from others to safeguard the Sorcerous Sword Index, and Lin Xue Ya holding himself aloof and apart except as needed for his schemes. The same appears to be true for Locust; no one in the Order of the Divine Swarm knows his true identity, and his daughter Chao Feng appears completely unaware of her daddy's dual life. In both roles, he exists primarily as a voice behind a screen--which makes the fact that he came after Shang in person especially striking. A twisted sort of honor, one might say.

What's interesting to me about that scene is that Locust does not hide himself in that scene; what we see appears to be his "true" self. Did he walk into that confrontation expecting there would be no surviving witnesses, or was he confident enough that no one would ever be able to put two and two together and make that connection? (If so, he was right--the only people in-universe who know the truth are Jun Po and Lin and Jun Po died immediately afterward, so it's just Lin, and even that hasn't been officially confirmed yet.) We the omniscient viewing audience know because we are witness to everything on-screen, but no one else does.

Which, of course, parallels Lin's character poem:

Subterfuge is not always about lurking in the darkness. Some shadows remain hidden in the light. A hair's breadth separates truth from lies. And none will gaze beyond the illusion to see my true face.

This is another reason why I'm so excited to see Lin and Locust square off--two twisty bastards scheming against each other will be so much fun to watch. Both of them are masters at telling the truth in a way that is completely misleading. (This may or may not be why they share a color scheme, but it's something I wonder about.) But it makes the fact that Locust went after the Index himself instead of through proxies even more odd to me; Lin only fought Mie Tian Hai directly because that was the only way to get what he wanted.

Jun Po says of the Emperor You, "He's been cloistered away ever since his enthronement because of an oracle that was received early on." It's not clear to me yet if this prophecy is real or fake, but either way, I hope we learn more about it, as it's likely tied to Locust's statement that he can only be defeated by a blade beyond reality. Was his isolation from the people a convenient excuse to avoid his duties and devote himself to heretical sorceries, or is there something else going on? I don't know, but I can't wait to find out.

Also, what happened to Locust's wife/Chao Feng's mother?? I don't know, but it really sucks to be a mom in the TBF universe and the Xi You royal family is cursed by Zhao Jun Lin's influence, so it probably wasn't good. Did her death tip him over the edge into villainy, or did he sacrifice her as part of his schemes? I don't know, but her absence from the narrative is striking, and I wonder if we'll learn her fate when Locust's backstory is revealed.

All Hail the Bug King

Today I want to talk about the Big Bad of Thunderbolt Fantasy, Huò Shì Míng Huáng (aka Kasei Meikō, Locust, and/or the Bug King, depending on what language you're using and how irreverent you're feeling at the moment) and what his deal is.

First of all, his name is written as 禍世螟蝗, which is usually translated as "Plague of Moths and Locusts". This is fine, but there are a couple nuances to appreciate here (caveat: not a native speaker, just an interested person with a dictionary):

禍 is the character for calamity, misfortune and disaster.

世 is the character for "world".

螟 does in fact mean "moth", but more specifically pyralid moths, which are very small and have notably large "snouts". I think they're cute, but this family includes numerous agricultural pests like wax moths, rice moths, flour moths, and various borer moths, and that's the sense in which it is being used here.

蝗 is the character for "locust", which is a generic term for any kind of grasshopper with a swarming phase. Under certain environmental conditions, normally solitary grasshoppers will form impressively large groups and devour everything in their path.

"Plague of Moths and Locusts" doesn't really get at the scale of this guy's ambitions, imo, but it's accurate and concise while still inculcating some existential dread and establishing the bug theme. However, I wanted to lead with the breakdown of his name because it's actually a very clever way of establishing his other theme, which is unleashing global calamity... or something, anyway.

Our first glimpse of the Bug King is in this weird liminal space where he conducts meetings with the members of the Order of the Divine Swarm ("Divine Locust Alliance"). It's basically a giant 3-D Zoom meeting where participants can either talk with their cameras off or pop in directly.

Each member of the group has their own distinct sigil; Locust's is a grasshopper with what appears to be an eye on its back, which is fitting given that he's just used his surveillance orb to spy on Shang Bu Huan from a distance.

In the beginning, we know two things about Locust: he wants the Sorcerous Sword Index, and he's powerful enough to make Shang Bu Huan start running. But it isn't until halfway through Season 3 that we finally see the man in the flesh, in a terrifying flashback where he kicks our heroes' asses.

(In classic Thunderbolt Fantasy tradition, cue the "oh, shit, he's hot!" moment.)

This scene is a lot to take in on first watch because there's so much going on, but became clearer to me after repeated viewings:

First of all, Locust's line, "Only a blade whose existence defies reality can hope to destroy me" screams of foreshadowing, and I fully expect him to meet his comeuppance through exactly this method, even though I don't know how or why it happens. It also reminds me of Lin smugly remarking that words are enough to take down foes that are immune to blades in S2, which I suspect is also relevant here--and I'd be very surprised if Lin is not at least partly responsible for Locust's ultimate downfall through some clever rules lawyering, just like he engineered Zhao Jun Lin's defeat in S3.

Two, Mu Tian Ming is specifically targeted because she tells Shang that the whole thing is a trap to make him use the Index. "[He] is a master of heretical magics! He's bound to be up to something!" Locust blinds her not just to bait Shang into reacting, but because she sees too much. The Index is the one weapon that Shang cannot use under any circumstances, because somehow Locust will turn it against him; somehow, it is the key to Locust's plans or else he wouldn't be making such of an effort to acquire it in the first place.

In the end, Locust's gambit backfires: maiming Tian Ming causes an infuriated Lang Wu Yao to gain an unexpected power-up and wallop the Bug King with a lightning bolt. It doesn't kill him, but it does cause him to retreat, allowing Shang to ultimately take Tian Ming's advice and flees the country.

In Season 3, we learn more about Locust's ultimate goal: although his agents believe they are fighting for the future of Xi You, he doesn't want to usurp the throne of Xi You at all. Using a scale as a metaphor, he tells Yi Piaomiao (actually Lin Xue Ya in disguise) that his ambition is not to choose between one side or the other, but to become the scale itself. In other words, all roads lead to the same end; all choice is an illusion, just like the ones the Bug King surrounds himself with, obscuring their true nature.

And in a final episode twist that made me scream obscenities at the screen, all of this is proven even more true with the reveal that Locust is also the Emperor of Xi You, who has been in seclusion since his ascension as part of a prophecy. In the end, there's no difference between the Order of the Divine Swarm and the Imperial army; for all of Wan Jun Po's agonizing over his perceived treachery, he served the same master the entire time without knowing it, right up to the moment of his death at said master's hands. Absolutely masterful writing there on so many levels.

But this brings me to my next point, which is What exactly does Locust want? He already has plenty of worldly power at his disposal and he's a master of heretical arts. What exactly does he need the Sorcerous Sword Index for, given what he's already capable of? (Okay, so technically at least one of the swords belonged to the Xi You royal family, but somehow I don't think that's what this is about.)

Here's my guess: Locust wants the Index not as an end in itself, but as the means to a larger end. His ambitions are cosmic in scope, and somehow the Index is key to unlocking or unleashing whatever it is he has in mind. Maybe, like Mie Tian Hai, he's fine with letting the demons destroy the world so he can be recognized as a savior, but I think Locust's plan is so much bigger than that.

There are so many dualities in Thunderbolt Fantasy--Dong Li and Xi You, Imperial government and the Order of the Divine Swarm, human and demon worlds, etc, etc. I think Locust wants to move beyond them all, to become a god--the "Divinity" in "Divine Swarm" is more than merely poetic.

When Locust says he wants to become the scale, I don't think it's a metaphor. I think he literally wants to fuse with the world somehow, so that he becomes the arbiter of fate itself, so that choice and free will either no longer exist or they become co-opted, to the point where they are merely illusions, and nothing happens that Locust himself does not personally will or desire. Rebellion would be impossible, especially since most people won't even notice what has happened in the first place!

(Oh, and if you want further proof, the name of his weapon is 諸業俱毀, "All Karmas Destroyed Together", which is, er, a little on the nose, don't you think?)

Fate is a key theme in Thunderbolt Fantasy, so it's not surprising to me that Locust's plan would center around becoming it. Shang makes no secret how important choice is to him--how even villains can actively choose to be better--and his refusal to let fate define him. Meanwhile, Lin Xue Ya is out there actively manipulating fate for his own ends--see the dolls he crafts specifically to take advantage of his connection with Shang.

The relationship between these three is going to be incredibly important going forward, but I want to specifically to talk about Lin vs. Locust, because that's the least examined and has some interesting points.

Both Lin and Locust are masters of illusion who manipulate others. For the first time, Lin is going up against someone with a similar skillset--someone who is almost certainly more powerful than he is. That doesn't mean Lin can't win, merely that Locust represents a different kind of challenge in scale and scope than his previous targets.

Both Lin and Locust are hiding things from each other. If Lin hasn't already figured out the implications of the scale speech, he will soon, thus knowing a secret Locust takes pain to keep hidden. What will he do with that knowledge? The real question for me is is, how long will it take Locust to figure out "Piaomiao" isn't who he seems--and what will he do with it? The stakes are incredibly high and neither side has a definite advantage at this point. How many twists and turns will this game of cat and mouse get to before the end?

Finally, those of you who are familiar with Puella Magi Madoka Magica (also written by Urobuchi) have probably noticed the parallels between Locust and Walpurgisnacht, the Witch of Calamities, a collective of fallen magical girls who appears as a storm and brings destruction in her wake. Walpurgisnacht is the Stage-Producing Witch, for whom the whole world is a stage, who manipulates the real world as if it is her labyrinth (as it may well be!) and for whom everyone is a character playing out their assigned parts. Walpurgisnacht's nature and true identity has yet to be revealed, but it's highly likely that as with Locust, she will be intimately connected to someone we already know, or think we know.

It's not that that Madoka Magica and Thunderbolt Fantasy are the same story--far from it--but they share the same author, and so it's only natural that their themes and motifs echo each other, turning up in different forms and different ways. Ultimately, in each case, the antagonist is a collective directed by a single intelligence that hides behind illusion, brings complete and total destruction in their wake, and represents fate itself--and who is challenged by heroes who believing in defying that fate to create a world where human choice still matters. In a way, it's weirdly fitting that the next installments in each of these two series will likely come out at around the same time, juxtaposing them even further.

[yesreacoessignosbrasil]

24k by hosana-317 featuring a velvet top

[brianna-yesss]

Untitled #589 by seems99 featuring black wine glasses ❤ liked on Polyvore

Crop top, $110 / TWISTY PARALLEL UNIVERSE skater skirt / Platform pumps / L K Bennett man bag, $80 / Black wine glasses, $25

[thethirdromana]

I feel like there are a handful of sci-fi/fantasy TV shows that I recommend to people all the time. So here they are as a post.

The Expanse (2015-2022)

[Image ID: a promo image in which the characters of the Expanse, are arranged in a ring, with rockets, stars and planets around them.]

The most scientifically accurate sci-fi show ever meets possibly my favourite found family of all time. There's fascinating politics, sophisticated examination of imperialism, a diverse cast (especially in later seasons) and some great space battles too. It takes a little while for all the threads to come together but when they do, it soars.

The Almighty Johnsons (2011-2013)

[Image ID: a promo image in which five members of the Johnson family look to camera.]

In which a family of brothers from New Zealand are the reincarnations of Norse gods, only now that they've been in human form for generations, their powers have become... well, a bit crap. Not a huge amount of budget but so, so much heart and the ending is perfect. When this came to an end, not having any more Almighty Johnsons to watch felt a bit like not getting to hang out with my friends.

Blake's 7 (1978-1981)

[Image ID: six main characters from Blake's 7, two women and four men, stand in a line in their starship.]

Robin Hood in space! All four seasons of Blake's 7 were filmed for the budget of approximately two minutes of something like Rings of Power, and it shows, so this shows the future looking suspiciously like a Home Counties quarry. But if you can get over that, the 70s pacing and the 70s social attitudes (in particular the sexism), then what's left is some very sharp dialogue and unforgettable characters. Blake/Avon is one of the first great slash pairings after Kirk/Spock in fandom history. Avoid spoilers for the ending at all costs.

Killjoys (2015-2019)

[Image ID: John, Dutch and D'avin on their spaceship. They have severe expressions and the men are carrying huge guns.]

The first handful of episodes of this are a fun romp where we follow bounty hunters around a setting that feels quite a lot like the Firefly universe (though consensus is it does a much better job with race than Firefly) as they right wrongs and kick ass. And then it stays a fun romp but also grows a twisty plot.

Counterpart (2017-2019)

[Image ID: a promo image with JK Simmons' character and Berlin architecture in the background.]

It's a Cold War spy thriller in Berlin, except it's set in the modern day and the sides spying on one another are two parallel worlds. It was cancelled on a cliffhanger after two seasons but it's still worth watching. IIRC it takes a few episodes before it passes the Bechdel Test but has some fantastic female characters when it gets there.

And a bonus:

The Man from Earth (2007)

[Image ID: the main character from The Man from Earth, a white man wearing a brown jacket, stands in front of a truck.]

OK this is a film rather than a TV show, but I'm going to mention it anyway because I feel like more people should hear about it. The story is that a professor who's just quit his job explains to his colleagues that he's actually thousands of years old. It's 90 minutes of mostly people sitting and talking in a single room, and it's gripping.

[lutelyre]

Three absolutely gorgeous men all together? I must know

all the wrong places

ahh thank you so much for the ask @neutronstarchild!! Sorry it's taken me so long to respond! I'm excited about this one; it has all the twisty, porny dynamics I adore playing with. It's mostly bullet points rn, but ultimately it will be an dark not-quite-love triangle, set in a gritty 'crimes and criminals' modern AU (incidentally, one of my fave types of AU, haha). Basically: SessMir is in a strained relationship, Miroku also fucks/works cons for Bankotsu's underworld crime ring. He gets into some ~~trouble with Bank and things go a bittt too far. Sess finds out, and from there we get predictably messy asf.

My fave way to write Miroku is a little bit fucked up and a lot masochistic, and this leans way into that, bc with Bankotsu around things are going to get dicey quickly imo. I wanted to take some of the feelings behind my existing SessMir and see how they play out in a darker setting. I like to think this fic could theoretically work in a similar/same or parallel universe, and/or in the universe of my other fistfight KaguKik wip! We'll see if it actually works out that way, haha. Thanks again. <3

Here's a snip, with a Kagura-as-side-character cameo for ya:

“I don’t know why you still hook up with that fucker.” Kagura’s voice is hoarse from smoking too much, and vaguely annoyed. “He rips you apart.”

“Good thing I like to be ripped into pieces sometimes, darling.” Miroku smiles innocently, adjusts the icepack on his neck and blows a stream of cigarette smoke from the side of his mouth dismissively. “Did you forget?” 

“Not like you’d let me,” Kagura snorts. She slaps a folded clip of money bills into Miroku’s outstretched other hand. “Here’s your cut from the Edo job.” 

Counting it, Miroku winces. “Naraku’s shortchanged me again, hasn’t he, love.” The cigarette in his mouth trembles, ever so slightly. “There’s three hundred less than last time here.” 

“Maybe he thinks you’re getting some extra on the side,” Kagura leans in conspiratorially, loose coat blowing in the wind sneaking like a secret down the back alley they’re in, heavy black combat boots and unwashed hair; she always looks tired, these days. “Being a slut has occasional drawbacks, you know."

[mogulinteriororlando]

Shein Apricot Tie Sleeve Top Contest

Shein Apricot Tie Sleeve Top Contest by rainheartcreations featuring a wide leg trousers ❤ liked on Polyvore

[milkcrates]

tagged by @jingyismom to share 10 things about myself! it was so lovely to read your post to get to know you better!! can't guarantee my answers will be nearly as interesting but I Already Know I'm gonna ramble (sorry in advance) so for everyone's sake I'll continue under the cut~

1. When I was around 8 yrs old, we had this old broom that looked like the one from kiki’s delivery service and I was convinced it was magical, so I used to run around my backyard with it and try to fly. It was kinda sad though bc every time it didn’t work I’d be like “IT’S BECAUSE YOU’RE NOT BELIEVING HARD ENOUGH” and then I’d try again, thinking ‘this time for sure’, and it. wouldn’t work again. so I’d try Extra Hard and then it still wouldn’t work and eventually I stopped believing in magic LMAO poor cloud :’) but I don’t think I’ve fully grown out of it bc every time I see a broom I’m like... but what if 👀

2. I make playlists for fucking EVERYTHING and most of them are soundtracks to whatever escapist daydream I’m indulging in at the moment, like “songs I’d listen to if I had my own sci-fi spaceship” or “songs for getting stuck in haunted parallel worlds”. And yup, you guessed it, “songs for flying around on a magic broom”. (plus fanfic-writing playlists bc I’m That Person)

3. I love the idea of solo-travelling around the world and meeting new people that way, but really I’m too much of an introvert to be able to do it. I’d probably end up wandering around alone everywhere I go- which actually sounds kinda nice, but I think after a while I’d be too lonely eating all my meals by myself. (Also, having the money? and time? couldn’t be me lmao) But I like to imagine that one day I’ll be able to travel the world with some friends or something! Unrealistic maybe but I can dream 🤧

4. My grandparents live on a farm in rural Romania and I used to go every summer to visit! Cue nostalgic montage of playing with the chickens and stealing apples from the neighbours (sorry neighbours, I was small and hadn’t fully developed a moral compass yet) and swimming in the creek. I don’t go as often anymore because, again. Time and money. Wish I could though, bc I can feel myself starting to lose the language ahh sorry grandma 🥺

5. Speaking of Romania, one time I was hiking in the mountains and it started thunderstorming when we were at the top of the mountain, which was equal parts terrifying and fun bc there weren’t any trees that high to give us any cover. So we were trying to navigate the trail in the rain and then I heard? whistling?? and before you say it was the wind, it Wasn’t The Wind this was like someone whistling a full-on song. But every time I looked around there was no one there and it all felt very surreal and mega creepy. I don’t believe in ghosts but if their existence is ever proven this would be the first thing I’d think of. because wtf.

6. Most of my dreams exist in the same... universe? general area? idk but I keep having dreams that take place in this very large and very confusing university, half of which is in a huge greenhouse, and the other half is all twisty underground tunnels. Not sure how I know it’s a university bc I’ve never dreamed of taking classes there, but idk it just has vibes.

7. Gonna steal a personality trait from @jingyismom and say that I too am very into music, but unfortunately I don't really have any talent for one specific instrument. It's more like, I'm kinda okay at a couple of different instruments– mainly guitar, piano, and alto sax. (and a tiny bit of flute?? but like. I'm Not Good) I was pretty serious about sax for a while when I was doing jazz band!! and I still know how to play all the notes but... I'd probably sound like a goose if I picked it up again now :')

8. I love love love making things with my hands! I made one (1) spoon in a metal-working class a while ago and since then I've been itching to do something similar again, but I don't have any of the equipment for it (especially in, y'know, quarantine). Semi-recently discovered diy how-to-forge-your-own-sword videos and boy oh boy do they make me Yearn!!! imagine! making your own sword! oof

9. oh god these are all so long so I'll try to make these last ones short dskjhds I love How To Train Your Dragon and I have the entire OST memorized cause it's just That Good

10. um. umm ummmmm omg idk anything else. I used to eat play-dough as a kid? lmao

I think I've seen this game go around a bit so I'm sorry if you've already been tagged but- @sheeptopus, @milkoolongtee, @aurltas, @fantasiavii bc I'd like to get to know y'all better 🥺 BUT absolutely no pressure!! also no pressure to write as much as I did I just don't know how to shut up

and to anyone else that wants to do this, pls consider yourself tagged (if you think I'm not talking about you, I'm Talking About You) don't be shy!! 💖💖💖

[princess-of-the-worlds]

creator appreciation tag

tagged by the incredible @someawkwardprose. cucumber jenkins, you really deserve to be appreciated. also tagged by @violetmessages, my desi half to this fandom. i’ve never had a desi other half in fandom. i love it and them. (and you too, cj.)

RULES: It’s time to love yourselves! choose your 5 (ish) favorite works you created in the past year (fics, art, edits, etc.) and link them below to reflect on the amazing things you brought into the world in 2020. Tag as many writers/artists/etc. as you want (fan or original) so we can spread the love and link each other to awesome works.

this year! i wrote and published! the most fic i ever had. i published roughly 304K on ao3 this year, and all but maybe 10K of it was Torchwood or a Torchwood crossover dksaksdkssks. Soooooo, uhhhhhhh. picking 5 fics, you say? dajjakkasskj

fool me once, fool me twice (torchwood | janto | complete | 52K | E)

my most popular and longest fic ever, my pride and joy, my masterpiece, the only fic that maybe gives me writing rights besides my novel. This fic started from a somewhat cracky prompt by @heathridgemanor (aka the lovely ains) but blossomed into a somewhat beautiful journey about jack and ianto’s reunion 3000 years in the future. not only that, but it spawned several, several sequels and spinoffs (and many more to go) and this whole big beautiful universe and cemented the lives of captain jack as my favorite big finish audios. plus, so many of my friends love it, and that makes me feel validated.

sing me like a choir (torchwood | janto | wip | 20K+ | E)

ah, smlc, my one actual wip rn. older torchwood director ianto jones meets younger time agent javic thane, eventually to tie into month 25. this truly is one of my favorite fics rn. i just think some of my writing here peaked. plus, it might end up being my longest fic, and the idea itself is older than fool me once, even if only by a month. i’ve written roughly half of the fic right now, with 12 more chapters to go. i’m so excited. plus, i just think that the ending is brilliant if sad and will blow your mind. @violetmessages and @flamingbluepanda and kai agree!

the world is at my feet (i am standing on the ceiling) (torchwood | janto | complete | 21K | T)

i can’t say much about this fic without it being a total spoiler, but let’s just say that it follows a mid-s2 ianto discovering just how much he and his memory suffered at tw1 at the hands of yvonne hartman and going on a little angsty journey of self-discovery. this one is not truly a happy ending and is kinda twisty and philosophical, and i lowkey wished more people would read it. i think this one is brilliant and shocked me when i came up with it. plus, it just amuses me how so many people miscontrued the open ending to be happier than it actually was meant to be. 

never seen a mouth i would kill to kiss (torchwood | janto | complete | 12K | E)

would you believe that this fic was actually a birthday fic for myself? it was a balance between the older weirdly angsty livejournal janto fics from a decade ago that i got really into reading at a point and a more reasonable character analysis of jack and ianto. plus, i wanted no gwen bashing whatsoever. janto relationship angst? yeah, but no, gwen will not be a cause, because she never was. still this is like super angsty, but i like it. it’s a testament to me writing different kinds of fic and not just the same genre over and over again. plus, it’s me writing canonical fic. or fic that could fit into canon.

Mutually Assured Uncooperation (torchwood and agents of shield | complete | 31K | T)

the comfort show you’ve watched since you were thirteen is ending in 2020 and plus aligns closely with this show you’ve gotten really into for the last few months? write a crossover. this was an idea i’d had brewing for a while since october 2019 (when i watched torchwood) because of the parallels between both shows, but i finally started writing it in feburary 2020. i wrote some scenes in class. little did i know, roughly a few weeks later, i would be leaving my campus and not returning since. ouch. but anyways, this was sort of my tribute to agents of shield, which means so much to me. and although i have written so much torchwood fic since then and my writing and characterization has improved, this fic is still special to me.

honorable mention:

like hope, love abides (torchwood | janto | 3.3K | Gen)

the shortest fic on this list and also my first actual torchwood fic. this was all written in the spur of a moment on a day in march. never stopped writing fic since. i like this fic, even if i don’t get why everyone loves it. not a bad fic but still important to be acknowledged, i guess?

tagging: @jaune-chat, @ultraviolet-eucatastrophe, @thirteeninafez, @flamingbluepanda, @shejustcalledmeafish, and anyone else who wants to do this!

[voodoochili]

My 75 Favorite Albums of 2020

Every year produces excellent music and 2020 was no exception. The exceptional thing about this year, though, is the loss of livelihood so many musicians suffered as a result of the pandemic. To better celebrate all I’ve listened to and loved this year, I’ve expanded my albums list from 50 to 75 albums and included a highlight track from each in the Spotify playlist below. If you like what you hear, why not throw the artist a few dollars on Bandcamp?

Check the Spotify playlist HERE.

Without further ado, my favorite albums of 2020. Happy New Year, and happy listening!

10. Playboi Carti - Whole Lotta Red: Carti’s long-awaited opus has only been out for a week, which is probably not a long enough time to give an album as sprawling and surprising as this one a full critical evaluation. But I do know when I’m hearing something that’s unlike anything I’ve ever heard: this album rearranges hip-hop at the molecular level. 

Whole Lotta Red is overstuffed with invention, the glitchy, expansive production giving Carti ample opportunity to glom onto the contours of the beat and experiment with his voice. That voice is the album’s main attraction: it squeaks, it squeals, it roars, it spits, it shudders, and organizes itself into irresistibly ignorant mantras (my current favorite is “Lamborghini parked outside, it’s purple like lean”). 

Across its 24 tracks (which feels like too many, sure, but only the 5-minute long Kid Cudi-infected droner “Metamorphosis” overstays its welcome), Carti plays with listener expectations, annihilating rap songwriting conventions (why do you need verse-chorus structure if every line is a hook) as he defiantly proclaims his desire to be unlike anybody else. Though it bears some resemblance in sound and subject matter to Future’s Monster (and much of the production owes a debt to the work of Lil Uzi Vert’s favored Working Of Dying collective), Whole Lotta Red firmly establishes Carti as a totemic figure connecting mainstream and underground sounds.

9. BbyMutha - Muthaland: BbyMutha is a natural born spitter, armed with a drawly stutter-stepping flow that routinely annihilates unconventional instrumentals. She glows with supreme confidence and comfort in her own skin, especially when she’s dripping with disdain with those who’d dare refuse her the respect she deserves. A 25-track opus that earns every minute of its runtime, Muthaland is an engrossing immersion into Mutha’s world, balancing a fascination with the occult (“Sorry I don’t fuck with n****s who don’t fuck with Satan”) with grounding interjections from close friends and her four children. Boasting rockstar fantasies like “Heavy Metal,” bad girl anthems like “Nice Guy,” and dancefloor-ready jams like “Cocaine Catwalk,” Muthaland is a tour-de-force by one of rap’s singular voices, and if she’s really finished with music as she’s claimed (rappers never really retire, but Mutha has indicated she wants to focus full time on her Apothecary), the game will greatly miss her incisive punchlines and crudely empowering perspective.

8. Westerman - Your Hero Is Not Dead: In 2020, Mid-’80s sophistipop grew into one of my favorite comfort foods. Westerman’s Your Hero Is Not Dead struck me directly in the sophistipop sweet spot, evoking the attention-to-detail and synth-heavy craftsmanship of that era and pairing it with harmonic complexity and a piercing emotionalism that recalls his idol Neil Young. On songs like “Blue Comanche” and “The Line,” Westerman constructs tales as twisty as his melodies, economically exploring how people relate to each other at the beginning and end of romantic relationships. Westerman complements his tasteful palette of synth sounds with intricate and lyrical guitar playing, most notably on the sighing, gorgeous instrumental “Float Over,” which softly segues into the title track to end the album on a gently-rising high note.

7. WizKid - Made In Lagos: The focal point of the sub-Saharan Afrobeats renaissance, Lagos is having one of the most exciting musical moments of any city since Kingston in the early ‘70s. WizKid is one of the scene’s biggest stars, with an ability to combine the sonic tapestry of his hometown with Caribbean-influenced beats and vocal styles. Made In Lagos is a masterwork of sound design, bringing creamy bass, chicken-scratch speckles of guitar, tasteful interjections of saxophone and brass, and an intoxicating mix of acoustic and electronic percussion, all offered in service to an immaculate vibe that matches the album cover’s shiny, monochromatic color scheme. Made with lockdown in mind, the album eschews uptempo dancefloor workouts in favor of stress-relief and romance. WizKid plays the perfect host, tamping down his melodic flights of fancy and embracing a song-serving smoothness. He’s a warm and inviting presence throughout, laying out the red carpet for a cross-continental cast of collaborators like H.E.R., Skepta, Burna Boy, and Damian Marley. The result is a truly global pop masterpiece, capable of brightening even the dourest day of a miserable year.

6. Ka - Descendants of Cain: Firefighter by day and rapper/producer by night, Ka is a master of allusion. He organizes his thoughts into themed collections of metaphor, illustrating the bleak realities of street life with gnomic symbolism. On Descendants Of Cain, Ka’s strongest work to date, the enigmatic rapper expresses himself through a litany of biblical references, drawing parallels between ancient parables (he goes far deeper than the Cain/’caine double entendre that rappers have been using for decades) and the stark code of morality with which he lives his life. The 48-year-old hermit produced the project himself, creating an immersive sonic realm, crafting expansive, noir-ish backing tracks populated by late-night saxophones, sparkling pianos, and the occasional shot of sweeping strings. Once again, Ka’s music comes almost entirely without drums (certainly without “beats” in the traditional hip-hop sense–every once in a while, he adds an open hi-hat or a subdued shaker), the artist preferring to let his music swirl around his half-whispered words of wisdom. The album ends on a tearful, sentimental note with “I Love (Mimi, Moms, Kev),” in which the artist ditches the biblical lyrical conceit and expresses his love for his wife, his mom, and his best friend atop light percussion and a warm soul sample.

5. SAULT - Untitled (Rise): Rise is the second part of a diptych that SAULT recorded in response to the movement that exploded in the wake of George Floyd’s death. Black Is, the first part, is a great album (you’ll find it in the lower reaches of my 2020 list), but the mysterious UK collective fulfilled their immense potential with Rise, a propulsive, powerful, and danceable album that doubles as a thought-provoking examination of the nature of freedom and liberation. The album tackles weighty topics–police violence, fake-woke “allies,” protest, cultural appropriation–but handles them with an inspiring effervescence and a propulsion meant to usher right-thinking people into the streets. The music itself is an intoxicating marvel, combining elements from every trendy musical movement from the early ‘80s (post-disco, post-punk, house, hip-hop, whatever the hell ESG was) into a percussive and surprisingly cohesive cocktail. The album immediately makes its greatness known with its first four songs, one of the strongest opening runs of any album in recent memory: the swaggering, funky, keep-your-head-up anthem “Strong,” which features a drum solo from SAULT architect Inflo, the soaring, club-ready vamp “Fearless,” concept-establishing, string-heavy interlude “Rise,” and especially “I Just Want to Dance,” the best song ESG never wrote. 

4. Fiona Apple - Fetch The Bolt Cutters: Fetch The Bolt Cutters arrived with the kind of universal acclaim that can make some people suspicious. The Pitchfork review got a lot of attention, not just for its perfect score but for its bold statement that “no music has ever sounded quite like it.” 

That statement might’ve been slightly hyperbolic. Fetch The Bolt Cutters has the kind of propulsive left-hand piano figures, chest-thumping percussion, and impassioned vocal performances that we haven’t heard since...the last Fiona Apple album. But the album deserves its experimental reputation.��These songs mess around with song structure and melody in ways that resemble avant-garde singers like Meredith Monk, use overlapping vocals that occasionally evoke the works of post-modern composers like Luciano Berio, and echoing modernist composers like Edgard Varese in the way she wrings pathos out of rhythmic elements.

Though Fetch might be a slight step down from The Idler Wheel, it’s an invigorating listen, packed with the soul-baring confessionals that only Fiona is capable of executing. Combining literary wordplay with plainspoken directness, Fiona forces the listener to confront her trauma and contemplate her diagnoses of patriarchal ills. The songs are uniformly excellent–especially opener “I Want You To Love Me,” the most “traditional” song on the record, and “Shameika,” a burrowing childhood rumination with a happy ending–but Fetch The Bolt Cutters stands out to me as a collection of amazing moments: when the jig-like “For Her” fades into an unforgettably painful cadence (“Good mornin’, good mornin’/You raped me in the same bed your daughter was born in”), Fiona’s ground-shaking vocal intensity at the end of “Newspaper,” her dogs howling over the outro of “Fetch The Bolt Cutters,” the winking repetition of the title phrase on “Ladies.” Her albums display more than enough ambition to forgive the long gestation periods, but hopefully we won’t have to wait another 8 years for Fiona to bare her soul once again.

3. Drakeo The Ruler - Thank You For Using GTL: Embroiled in a Kafkaesque legal saga that shines a light on the worst aspects of our horrendous justice system, Drakeo The Ruler spent more than three years wrongly incarcerated for a crime he not only did not commit, but for which he was acquitted (for more info on Drakeo’s ordeal, read Jeff Weiss). He’s now mercifully a free man, mostly due to the work of his lawyer, but at least partially because of publicity generated by Thank You For Using GTL. Recorded over the phone from prison during the height of the pandemic, it’s a miracle that an album created under such sub-optimal conditions sounds as excellent as it does, but credit producer JoogSzn–who not only supplied the creeping, head-nodding backing tracks but recorded Drakeo’s phoned-in vocals–and engineer MixedByNavin for the project’s astonishing fidelity. Drakeo and Joog spent hours on the phone to record the album, in the process paying thousands of dollars to GTL, the predatory telecom company of choice for the L.A. corrections system, whose mechanical interjections serve as a constant reminder of the injustice that made the album necessary. Of course, a good story is a good story, but that alone doesn’t get an album on 2020’s most prestigious Best Albums list (mine). It’s a classic rap album, perhaps the best ever released by an incarcerated rapper, and a thumb directly in the nose of the D.A. and the LAPD. The album is a lyrical marvel, packed with winding wordplay and outlandish flexes, as Mr. Mosley takes aim at 6ix9ine, cackles at sorry-ass Instagram haters, and sneers at American-made cars (“To be honest, a Hellcat isn’t a foreign”). Each song has a carefully considered concept, the rapper’s punchlines building upon one another to make an airtight case for his status as L.A.’s top dog. He contrasts his own whip-crashing lifestyle with flashy wannabes on “GTA VI” and “Backflip or Sumn,” mourns a favorite department store on “RIP Barneys,” and proves he still doesn’t rap beef on “Maestro’s Tension.” The album’s masterstroke comes with “Fictional,” the final track, in which Drakeo exposes the prosecution’s use of his lyrics as evidence in criminal proceedings as the farce it is: “It might sound real, but it’s fictional/I love that my imagination gets to you.” Drakeo’s story was a rare bright spot in 2020, and a rare one with a happy ending. Just last week, the rapper released Because Y’All Asked, a studio-recorded version of Thank You For Using GTL, giving the album’s songs the clarity they deserve. But I think I’ll mostly return to the original, which will live on as an excellent album and a vital document of post-George Floyd America.

2. Pa Salieu - Send Them to Coventry: Hailing from the middle of nowhere–or, more accurately city in the English Midlands only known in the states for its middling Premier League team–Gambian-British artist Pa Salieu served up the most distinctive, visceral, and daring rap debut of the year. His style fuses elements of grime, drill, afro-trap, dancehall, and the darker edges of U.S. hip-hop into a percussive slurry, injected with the urgency of his struggle to survive. The magic of the album comes from the way Pa’s fluid flows interact with the shimmering and foreboding production (Felix Joseph and Aod lead the cast of the project’s sound architects), which is perfectly suited for cold city nights. He slips effortlessly into the pocket, toe-tagging the beats with a combination of aggression and trance-like meditation and uttering casually powerful pronouncements (“I'd make a killa riddim offa any riddim/The grind can never stop 'til I'm wrapped in linen”) that make you believe he’s Britain’s next great rapper. Pa keeps the vibe consistent throughout, but the moments that stand out are the moments when he locks into an unbreakable groove over no-frills production, like on singles “Block Boy,” “Betty,” and “B***K.” The artist’s wry sense of humor and brash confidence keeps the album from feeling bleak, but Send Them To Coventry wisely ends on “Energy,” a warm and bright ode to keeping your creative spark safe from the prying forces of fame and fortune.

1. Kassa Overall - I Think I’m Good: “I think I’m good”–a phrase that’s ran through my head throughout this shitstorm of a year. Sure, I postponed a wedding, cancelled trips, and saw my friends and family much less often than I would like, but I count myself among the lucky ones. Still breathing, still sane. Though it was recorded and released before the pandemic started, Kassa Overall’s I Think I’m Good became a lodestar of sorts for me. It’s a brilliantly introspective and deeply personal album about existing in enclosed spaces–whether a jail cell, an NYC subway car, or the inescapable prison of your own body.

Kassa Overall made his name as a jazz drummer, touring with icons like Geri Allen, but his solo music incorporates elements of hip-hop, classical, and trap to create a wholly original milieu. The album features contributions from over 30 accomplished voices, ranging from luminary Vijay Iyer, to Kassa’s saxophonist brother Carlos Overall, to virtuosic pianist Sullivan Fortner, to venerated activist Angela Davis. But all the disparate elements come together in service of Kassa’s deeply personal and engrossing vision.

Taking partial inspiration from Kassa’s struggle with manic depression, the music fluctuates between meditative calm and unbearable tension, mimicking the patter of an unquiet mind. Album opener “Visible Walls,” is a mesmerizing prayer for salvation soundtracked by fluttering harps, piercing woodwinds, and heartbeat percussion. “Find Me” buries a plea for help within a cacophony of sampled voices and rattling piano notes. Fortner’s piano guides us through the hauntingly devastating “Halfway House” and the Chopin-indebted “Darkness In Mind,” each highlighting a different stage of grief (despair and acceptance, respectively). The arc of I Think I’m Good concludes with the hopeful “Got Me A Plan” and “Was She Happy (For Geri Allen),” a Vijay Iyer-assisted tribute to his late friend and mentor. 

It’s ironic that an album that so deeply explores the feeling of isolation vibrates with such a collaborative spirit. I Think I’m Good feels like an answered prayer–a community coming together to check on a beloved friend who’s gone through a tough time: “You good, man?” “I think so.”

Here’s the rest of my list.

11. Yves Tumor - Heaven To A Tortured Mind 12. Shackleton & Waclaw Zimpel - Primal Forms 13. Bob Dylan - Rough & Rowdy Ways 14. Duval Timothy - Help 15. Lil Uzi Vert - Eternal Atake 16. Moodymann - Taken Away 17. Secret Drum Band - Chuva 18. J Hus - Big Conspiracy 19. Headie One & Fred Again - GANG 20. Tiwa Savage - Celia 21. Andras - Joyful 22. Bill Callahan - Gold Record 23. King Von - Welcome To O’Block 24. Flo Milli - Ho, Why Is You Here? 25. Chubby & The Gang - Speed Kills 26. Madeline Kenney - Sucker’s Lunch 27. Empty Country - Empty Country 28. Smino - She Already Decided 29. Destroyer - Have We Met 30. Yves Jarvis - Sundry Rock Song Stock 31. Ela Minus - Acts Of Rebellion 32. Creeper - Sex, Death & The Infinite Void 33. Alabaster DePlume - To Cy & Lee: Instrumentals, Vol. 1 34. Good Sad Happy Bad - Shades 35. The 1975 - Notes On a Conditional Form 36. Kate NV - Room For The Moon 37. $ilkmoney - Attack of the Future Shocked, Flesh Covered, Meatbags of the 85 38. Eddie Chacon - Pleasure, Joy and Happiness 39. Kenny Segal & Serengeti - Ajai 40. Bad Bunny - YHLQMDLG 41. Kahlil Blu - DOG 42. Califone - Echo Mine 43. Boldy James - The Price of Tea in China/Manger On McNichols/The Versace Tape 44. Bufiman - Albumsi 45. Moses Boyd - Dark Matter 46. Thanya Iyer - KIND 47. Jyoti - Mama You Can Bet! 48. Obongjayar - Which Way Is Forward? 49. Rio Da Yung OG - City On My Back 50. Young Jesus - Welcome To Conceptual Beach 51. Owen Pallett - Island 52. Oceanator - Things I Never Said 53. Shootergang Kony - Red Paint Reverend 54. Shabason, Krgovich & Harris - Philadelphia 55. Six Organs of Admittance - Companion Rises 56. Lido Pimienta - Miss Colombia 57. Kelly Lee Owens - Inner Song 58. Polo G - The GOAT 59. Actress - Karma & Desire 60. Phoebe Bridgers - Punisher 61. Porridge Radio - Every Bad 62. Yg Teck - Eyes Won’t Close 63. Mozzy - Beyond Bulletproof 64. Ratboys - Printer’s Devil 65. R.A.P. Ferreira - Purple Moonlight Pages 66. Ulver - Flowers of Evil 67. Rina Sawayama - SAWAYAMA 68. SAULT - Untitled (Black Is) 69. Ezra Feinberg - Recumbent Speech 70. Davido - A Better Time 71. Hailu Mergia - Yene Mircha 72. HAIM - Women In Music Pt. III 73. Half Waif - The Caretaker 74. Key Glock - Yellow Tape 75. KeiyAa - Forever Your Girl

[mystarsandmyocean]

Yuletide letter 2020

yuletide letter 2020

Dear, dear author,

Thank you for the gift of a wonderful story! I am so, so looking forward to this year’s Yuletide. It’s been a year, to say the least, so I’m looking forward to the comfort of old friends and familiar faces from my favorite fandoms.

Regarding my letter, please feel free to view the following requests as more guidelines than demands (with the exception of my DNWs!). The best wishes are the ones for which you don’t even ask, so I am guaranteed to love whatever you write!

Likes:

Ladies! All the lady love. Female characters, female friendship, complicated female relationships, I love them all. I know my requested fandoms are more romance heavy, so I wanted to make clear that as much as I love the lovin’; the lady loves gotta come first.

Found Family! A common theme in my fandoms is the belief that family is based on bonds, not blood, and any exploration of such relationships would absolutely thrill me! I am a big believer in making one’s own family, and I have a near and dear spot in my heart for seeing that philosophy play out amongst my favorite fandoms and characters.

Pining! More specifically, pining by the more privileged party. Few tropes give me greater joy than the person in power waxing anguish over their loves. Give me ALL the pining pine trees is what I am saying.

Romance Tropes j'adore: Fake Dating! Marriages of Convenience! UST! Mistaken and/or Secret Identities (a la You’ve Got Mail and Cyrano de Bergerac)! Bets and Wagers (a la She’s All That & 10 Things I Hate About You)! Childhood Friends Reunited! Berserk Buttons in high danger situations! H/C brought on by high danger or hallucinations/nightmares situations! Groveling!

Smut Tropes j'adore: Sex pollen, love potions, and all other inhibition releasers—provided the pairing is a consenting one! Light, consensual bondage! Consensual pain play! 69ing and oral sex! Voyeurism! Overall however, while I do enjoy smut, PWP is not my preferred cup of tea. Please don’t feel pressured to write smut if it’s not your own preferred cup of comfort!

Plot Tropes j'adore: Heists! Spies and thieves and con artists! Fairytale Retellings (especially of the unusual kind a la Tam Lin, Anastasia, Swan Lake/Swan Princess, etc.)! Shakespeare & classic literature callbacks! Behind the Scenes shenanigans of TV/Reality TV! Magic-infused reality! Epistolary writing (both letters/emails and social media usage)! Time Travel! Paradoxes! Multiverse theory and Parallel Universes!

AUs! Including Alternate Reality, What Ifs, and Transplanted Characters/Fusions! I am a HUGE lover of the alternate universe lifestyle. My AU tastes lean towards alternative reality or transplanted character/fusion AUs, but I’m also partial to well-done What If AUs (some favorites have included regency AUs, spy AUs, living in NYC AUs, and transplanted character AUs of any of my old or new fandoms). Most important for me will always be the integration of the original canon into the world of the AU, taking into consideration how different choices, different lives, different plotlines would need to be adjusted for a different fandom’s characters’. My only request is no crossover fic (If you feel any of the below canons would work EXCEPTIONALLY WELL in a crossover, feel free to ask). In this case, my own fics and bookmarked fics on A03 would really be the best place to see my favorite takes on AUs.

In conclusion, I am generally drawn to stories driven by the characters, rather than the plot (though I would also ADORE a well-executed and well-developed twisty-turny sort of plot-driven mystery or heist). I really love stories that delve deep into characterization, whether as a behind/missing scene or more plot/trope-focused fic. I love watching a relationship/feelings develop, both in romance and friendship, and I am a huge shipper when it comes to the couples I love. At the end of the day, it’s the characters that are important to me. So long as they read true, I will undoubtedly be happy!

Dislikes/Do Not Wants:

Noncon, dubcon, rape threats, attempted sexual assault, etc. I will be triggered by this content and ask that it not be included at all.

Pandemic. For stories set in our present-day, please do not include reference to the pandemic or use quarantining as a plot device, etc. Please also no ‘killer virus must be stopped’ related plots.

Not Like the Other Girls! The inverse of my love for ladies. Sometimes, by writing or position or profession, female characters are inevitably a “woman in a man’s field” or friendships-wise “just one of the guys.” I’m fine if you leave out ladies you don’t love/don’t feel comfortable writing, but I do ask for no misogyny/hate between them (adding in or creating non-canonical friendships between women is always a plus!).

Romance Tropes je déteste: Beautiful All Along (a la Pygmalion and Taming of the Shrew)! Sex with the Love Interest is Like Being Touched for the Very First Time! Unrequited Pining! Being “Saved” by the Purity of Love! Nice Guys TM! Basically, any story that centers around one person fighting to show the other that they “deserve” them & that involves a grossly unequal power difference. There are also very few circumstances in which I enjoy the person with less privilege loving the other first/from afar/unrequited, so this trope is one to avoid for me.

Plot Tropes je déteste: Misogyny! Racism! Anti-semitism! Homophobia! If a villain canonically does these things, I’m okay with minimal inclusion. I also really detest historical handwaving re: well-known facts, stories set in suburbia, and inaccurate city details (particularly NYC, since I live here).

Excessive character bashing and situations of extreme embarrassment/mortification. If there is a character I love (or even simply ask to see!) that you cannot stand, please just find an organic way to exclude them from the story. I also absolutely cannot stand anything that will give me extreme secondhand embarrassment, no matter my feelings on the character.

Christmas-themed stories. On the flip side, as a practicing Jew, if there is canonical Judaism in any of these stories, I would love for it to be included—but please only do so if it’s a topic you’re familiar with and/or comfortable researching. Thank you!

Major character deaths. Injury and angst are fine, but please stick to canon re: deaths of any core characters. The only exception would be a parallel universe/time loop situation, where revised timelines would “fix” the death. Please feel free to ask the mods or anonymously via Tumblr if you need clarification

For further insight into my tastes, my A03 page has all of written fic to date (x). And I am always happy to clarify via mods or anonymous Tumblr asks!

***

FANDOM #1: THE AMERICANS (TV 2013)

Characters: Philip Jennings | Clark Westerfeld, Elizabeth Jennings, Oleg Burov, Nina Krilova

**Eithor/Or Request: So long as EITHER Phillip Jennings | Clark Westerfeld & Elizabeth Jennings OR Oleg Burov & Nina Krilova are included, I shall be happy.**

Possible Prompts: Missing Scenes! What If!

I started watching this series during the pandemic and unexpectedly fell in love. It’s been a treat to watch the progression between Philip and Elizabeth from reluctant allies to tentative lovers to true partners. On the flipside, it was an absolute heady whirlwind to go from hating Oleg alongside Nina to being devastated alongside him when she was murdered.

Re: Phillip and Elizabeth, I’d love to see more of those quiet/missing moments between the two of them, either before or during the series. Moments where their feelings began changing, moments of them comforting each other after missions gone wrong (I *love* how protective they are of each other!), moments of them worrying over the other.

Re: Oleg and Nina, I’d of course love to see missing moments of theirs as well—their romance was so sudden, we didn’t see enough of their emotions shifting! I’d also love to see more of their thoughts as the stakes became higher for Nina and her mission with Stan.

And for both couples, I’d love to see what if scenarios! Both larger what ifs, such as what if Philip and Elizabeth met while working at the Rezidentura? What if Oleg and Nina were a Directorate S couple? Or smaller what ifs, like if Oleg had been able to save Nina? If Philip and Elizabeth fell for each other at a different time?

FANDOM #2: A GATHERING OF DRAGONS — MILLA VANE

Characters: Yvenne, Maddek 

Possible Prompts: Missing Scenes! What if’s! AU it!

Well-written fantasy romance is hard to find, but oh, did this hit the spot! Badass princesses, epic adventures, world-ending stakes, pining (so much pining)—all of my favorite things!

My first request would be to see more missing/quiet moments between Yvenne and Maddek, especially as their feelings for each other change from hate to respect to more. I’d love to see Yvenne come to terms with her feelings for Maddek being the man she now knows vs the man she’s learned about from his loved ones. Likewise, I’d love more insight into Maddek as he grapples with Yvenne’s lessons and what it means to be a good king—and a good husband.

Of course, this series is also rife with what if potential! I’d love to see any various scenarios, such as what if Maddek’s parents had been able to send him a message about Yvenne before dying? Or what if Yvenne and her mother had only been confined once Yvenne was older? What if Yvenne and Maddek has met as children?

I also think Yvenne and Maddek would make a great AU setup—regency era or modern celebrities, for example. If any ideas strike your fancy, I would love to see where that goes!

FANDOM #3: PSY CHANGELING — NALINI SINGH

Characters: Tazia Nerif, Stefan Berg, Brenna Kincaid, Judd Lauren

**Eithor/Or Request: So long as EITHER Tazia Nerif & Stefan Berg OR Brenna Kincaid & Judd Lauren are included, I shall be happy.**

Possible Prompts: Missing or Pre-Novella Scenes! Post-Novella Fallout of the Series’ Events! The Arrow Guide to Sex & Its Origin! AU it!

You might spot a pattern by now re: what I look for in fandom—fantastic romance, intriguing world building, opportunities for more quiet/falling in love moments! I adore both of these couples, but since we have much less material re: Tazia and Stefan, my asks for them are a bit more broad. I’d really love to see their missing moments from before, during, after their novella. For example, what was Tazi’s first impression of Stefan and the ship, in her first few months away from home? What was Stefan’s experience like as Tazi’s presence caused his Silence to fall apart? How and where did his feelings develop? I’d also love more moments of Stefan awkwardly being drawn to Tazi—and frustrated by his inability to communicate!

Since their relationship began pre-Fall, I’d also love to see them developing as a couple, relying and learning about each other in a pre- and post-Fall world. When and how, for example, do they reveal their marriage to their teammates? Does Stefan play in the Arrow rebellion against Ming LeBon? How does discovering their relationship’s influence on the Honeycomb affect them?

Re: Brenna and Judd, I’d love specifically pre or during Caressed by Ice missing moments. Specifically, when did they realize their feelings for each other? Was there something even before the attack?

Re: either couple, I think this series makes for a great AU! Crime fighting, Regency, government assassins, or spies were some thoughts I had.

Last but not least, my wildcard request would be for you to explore Stefan and Judd’s research into telekinetic sex. I would love all the shennanigans of the Arrows collecting information and perhaps creating some unofficial Arrow Guide to Sex? Alternatively, I think an AU take would be great fun: A group of female psychology grads are conducting a study on adult virgins—and in walks some prime male specimens.

FANDOM #4: SERPENT & DOVE SERIES — SHELBY MAHURIN

Characters: Reid Diggory, Louise Le Blanc

Possible Prompts: Missing Scenes! What’s Next! AU It!

This pairing—and series—had more than a few of my favorite things: star crossed romance, mystery & intrigue, gorgeous & magical settings. And of course, Reid and Louise.

There’s a wealth of missing moments between the two as they overcame their prejudices and fell in love—I’d love to see any and all of those quiet moments where Reid and Louise began looking at each other in a new light (I’d also love canon scenes in the POV we didn’t see!). Of course, both books one and two also ended on such intense cliffhangers—I’d also love to see speculation as to what’s next for book three (or in the case of book two, if you haven’t read, alternate scenarios for what could have happened!).

Last but not least, I think Lou and Reid’s story works in so many different universes! I’m particularly interested in a fairytale AU, given how many Snow White and Swan Lake references there are throughout the book. I also think a regency era or Harry Potter AU would be such fun—but I’m interested in any AU, really!

***

In conclusion, I hope my letter proved helpful rather than overwhelming, and I apologize for the verbosity! If there’s anything I missed or that you’d like clarification on, please don’t hesitate to ask, either via the mods or Tumblr!

Thank you so, so, so much for taking the time to write for me, my dearest author, and happiest of Yuletides to you! I look forward to reveal day!

All my best,

mystarsandmyocean (otherwise known as Sam)

[rhowena]

Pile of stuff concerning what happened to Loki between Thor and The Avengers

Originally posted on r/FanTheories

https://inforapid.org/webapp/webapp.php?shareddb=IAxUFHnwkGJSYMj9OFbT8mRl5goHm9SC2qHbWw4knO1cng5qI5Wrg48nP1MdgbWlJmHj6UpwbN343IqnstQUwxIIO01M5Rvb

As it does not escape my notice that I’ve created a digital version of this meme, some navigation help for anyone who needs it:

Mouse over/tap an item or relation to view its description

For items with the yellow ‘Note’ label, select the node and then 'Notes on Item’ in the side menu to view an additional notes page

If an item has a globe icon it the top-left corner, click it to open a webpage

'Adjust View’ in the side menu has controls to zoom in/out, increase/decrease the distance between items, and filter items or relations by category

Relations (and items) are color-coded by type: solid green lines are for in-universe evidence (light green connects evidence to the theory it supports, while dark green connects pieces of evidence that should be looked at together), purple dotted lines denote parallels, and dark red lines mark cases of “one of these things is not like the other”

And an overview of the theories contained therein:

First, the central piece of tinfoil around which all other tinfoil is arrayed: remember how, at the end of the first Thor, Loki was pathologically obsessed with gaining his father’s approval? And how, when he next showed up after vanishing for an entire year, he’d gotten mixed up with a guy who keeps a menagerie of adopted children? And how, during his argument with Thor on the mountaintop, he said this?

Loki: Did you mourn? Thor: We all did. Our father– Loki: Your father. He did tell you my true parentage, did he not?

Loki: I’ve seen worlds you’ve never known about! I have grown, Odinson, in my exile. I have seen the true power of the Tesseract and when I wield it—

Tom Hiddleston: There’s a bit where Thor says, “We all mourned! Our father…” and Loki interrupts him and says, “YOUR father.” And it’s that sense of 'don’t include me in this anymore. I have no relation or connection to you.’ It’s his way of saying 'I’ve let go, I’m gone, I’m on the outside of the fence, I’m happy here, I don’t want to come back in.’

If I may take a minute to get out some of my extremely complicated feelings on this, while there’s a bunch more evidence in favor of Loki having been another of Thanos’s children that can be viewed on the mind map, I want to highlight this pair of quotes because it’s everything implied by the words “Your father” that makes it into a devastating punch in the stomach which draws on both halves of Loki’s Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds characterization: his genuine love for his family is his primary redeeming quality and that he forswore it like this puts the terrible moment when he first knelt before Thanos and pledged himself to the Mad Titan’s service firmly into archetypal Faustian sell-your-soul territory, but when you consider the straits he was in at the time and the implication that Thanos initially ensnared him not through promises of power but by preying on him emotionally, it’s a very human kind of tragic mistake.

The other mitigating factor is that based on everything we’ve heard from Thanos’s other children, it’s a safe bet that he did in fact do unspeakably horrible things to Loki too – indeed, noticing the resemblance between the existing theories about Loki having been tortured/brainwashed and Gamora’s “He took me, tortured me, turned me into a weapon” was what prompted the above realization in the first place. (It’s reminiscent of Theon’s storyline in ASOIAF/GOT: yeah, he betrayed his adoptive family and did some generally awful stuff, but no one deserves what happened to him.) It also bears emphasizing that accountability cuts both ways: one of the key takeaways from the previous bullet point is that the suffering Loki went through doesn’t absolve him of responsibility for his villainous actions, but the other side of the coin is that Loki’s partial complicity doesn’t absolve Thanos of responsibility for the choice he made to take a broken, desperate young man who’d just lost everything and turn him into the rabid animal we saw during The Avengers, and I dearly hope that exploring the rich font of psychological horror that is that time period will erase any remaining doubt that Thanos’s claims of acting For The Greater Good are nothing but empty, egotistical, self-righteous posturing and everyone in the audience who insists on taking them at face value is being duped just as Loki was.

Stephen: No. I mean, come on. Look at your face. Dormammu made you a murderer. Just how good can his kingdom be?

As for where this is all going, I believe there’s a good chance that the Loki Disney+ series will be where they finally address this as a. the split timeline Loki the series will be following is still fresh from his time with Thanos and it will therefore have to explain what happened if we’re to understand the kind of headspace that he’s in at that moment and b. Tom Hiddleston has revealed that the series will also clarify whether or not Loki really is dead in the main timeline, and everything I have so far indicates that understanding the nature of his original pact with Thanos is essential to understanding both Loki’s choice to die and Thanos’s choice to kill him (see the 'Pledge of fidelity’ and 'Limited use’ notes pages on the mind map). Character-wise, I think one of the points of emphasis will be that Loki’s death in Infinity War doesn’t wrap up his story as neatly as it may appear to on the surface; truly completing his redemption arc will require him to confront this part of his past in full, and with it his guilt over everything he’s done and his fear that he’s wrecked his life and relationship with his family so thoroughly that he can never, ever fix them.

Loki: Can you? Can you wipe out that much red? […] Your ledger is dripping, it’s gushing red, and you think saving a man no more virtuous than yourself will change anything? This is the basest sentimentality. This is a child at prayer… PATHETIC! You lie and kill in the service of liars and killers. You pretend to be separate, to have your own code. Something that makes up for the horrors. But they are a part of you, and they will *never* go away!

An additional giant red flag indicating we really should be asking more questions about that time gap is a group of lines in The Avengers which reveal that Thanos taught Loki how to use the Tesseract.

The Other: The Tesseract has awakened. It is on a little world. A human world. They would wield its power, but our ally knows its workings as they never will.

The Other: You question us? You question HIM? He, who put the Scepter in your hand? Who gave you ancient knowledge and new purpose when you were cast out, defeated?

Loki: I’ve seen worlds you’ve never known about! I have grown, Odinson, in my exile. I have seen the true power of the Tesseract and when I wield it— Thor: Who showed you this power? Who controls the would-be king?

Sharing that kind of knowledge and power with someone as volatile as Loki strikes me as an monumentally terrible idea (and as much as I don’t want to be the person who throws a tantrum because their fanfic didn’t come true, I’m kinda salty that Thanos was defeated without it coming back to bite him in the ass), which leaves me wondering what Thanos hoped to gain that he believed would be worth the risks. My thoughts on that particular sub-puzzle are still somewhat hazy, but my basic sense is that there’s something weird going on between Loki and the Tesseract and wanting to exploit that connection is one of the reasons Thanos went to all the trouble of breaking him into submission.

Loki: So I am no more than another stolen relic, locked up here until you might have use of me?

The other reason for Thanos’s interest in Loki ties back to all that emotional twistiness I talked about earlier: he planned to leverage Loki’s anger and resentment towards his family in a bid to destroy Odin and Asgard from the inside.

Zemo: An empire toppled by its enemies can rise again. But one which crumbles from within? That’s dead… forever.

As a prelude to this, during The Avengers Thanos had additionally tasked Loki with killing Thor as a way to prove his loyalty and destroy the last remaining shreds of his own humanity, a test Loki failed because he still loved his brother too much.

Coulson: You’re going to lose. It’s in your nature. […] You lack conviction.

What’s more, Thanos anticipated this, and the Scepter’s influence over Loki was aimed at forcing him to go through with it if he refused.

Loki: I won’t touch Barton, not until I make him kill you! Slowly, intimately, in every way he knows you fear! And then he’ll wake, just long enough to see his good work, and when he screams, I’ll split his skull!

Lastly, even with Infinity War having established that Thanos simply gets off on emotional torture, that he would go out of his way to fuck with Odin personally by turning his second son against him leads me to believe there was a special hatred there stemming from some as-yet unrevealed history between the two. I mean, when I picture the alternate universe where Thanos shows up to attack Asgard with a corrupted Loki in tow like “You screwed up so badly that he chose me as a father figure over you” …that isn’t something you say to a complete stranger.

GRRM on writing villain POVs: That’s a comic book kind of thing, where the Red Skull gets up in the morning [and asks] “What evil can I do today?” Real people don’t think that way. We all think we’re heroes, we all think we’re good guys. We have our rationalizations when we do bad things. “Well, I had no choice,” or “It’s the best of several bad alternatives,” or “No it was actually good because God told me so,” or “I had to do it for my family.” We all have rationalizations for why we do shitty things or selfish things or cruel things. So when I’m writing from the viewpoint of one of my characters who has done these things, I try to have that in my head.

[doctorbluesmanreturns]

Coming Soon: a trip down an alternate path in the timestream....

Everyone knows that time isn’t a straight line, it’s a twisty wibbly wobbly ball of....stuff. But more importantly time is very rarely fixed, and in fact in parallel universes anything can happen.

So. It’s 2018, not the same 2018 but not entirely different either. The Doctor is still falling from the sky, she just falls in a different place. Ryan and Yaz and Graham and Grace are all fine, they’re off living their normal lives and are happy. And the Stenza were one of the first planets to be destroyed in the Time War, their arrogance having led to them taking on both the Time Lords and the Daleks and expecting to come out the ultimate victors rather than having their entire planet first wiped of all life and then entirely erased from reality.

Moving on, meet Evan Richardson. He’s an aspiring author starting uni who’s terrified of what the future could hold, and poorly hiding a huge crush on the seemingly perfect in every way Polly Preston. When he’s not scared of the unknown Evan is basically a human golden retriever and, once he has met a strange woman who claims to have a time machine who saves his life, he’s ready to follow her right into a black hole if necessary.

For her part the Doctor instantly adopted Evan the moment she saw him, he’s her son now and that’s that no arguments.

But how do they meet? What does the Doctor have to face while still recovering from regenerating AND figuring out this new body? Which classic enemies from the last five decades will make triumphant returns? Is the Master a man or a woman now? And which other Time Lords like the Doctor managed to escape from the Time War?

All this and more will be revealed in....

Doctor Who: Another Path