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mariacallous · 5 months

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It’s telling that both Dave Chappelle and Ricky Gervais decided to end 2023 by releasing specials in which their comedy pivots to poking fun at the disabled. Could they be more obvious about finding new ways to punch down than targeting people physically unable to fight back?

In a false promise near the opening of his brand-new special and seventh for Netflix, The Dreamer, Chappelle boasts: “Tonight, I’m doing all handicapped jokes,” because “well, they’re not as organized as the gays, and I love punching down.”

Similarly, Gervais decides to have a bit of fun at how we’ve decided as a society to say “disabled” instead of “handicapped” and what that says about us, and suggests further in his special Armageddon, released on Christmas Day, that he’d mock Make-A-Wish kids if given the chance to make videos for them.

And, of course, both men take yet more cracks at the trans community.

Early in The Dreamer, Chappelle tells the audience trans people make him feel like he has to go along with them pretending, as if they’re method acting like Jim Carrey as Andy Kaufman: “If you came here to this show tonight thinking that I’m gonna make fun of those people again, you’ve come to the wrong show,” only to keep going back on his word.

He says he hoped to “repair” his relationship with the LGTBQ+ community – by writing a play for them in which a black trans woman only identifies as the N-word to trip up liberals. He also jokes that if he went to jail in California, he’d identify as a woman so he could tell the other inmates to “suck my lady dick.”

But it’s all just jokes, right? Can’t we just take a joke? Have we lost our sense of humor? Or have they?

Earlier this month, we lost two pillars not just of the comedy community but of our American community writ, as Norman Lear and Tommy Smothers stood taller than most anyone and everyone else in television, standing up to the establishment and protesting the powers that be for the sake of civil rights and humanity.

Now we’re left with Chappelle and Gervais—two titans in terms of Netflix ratings and paychecks—who are fighting for… the right to utter slurs onstage and tell already marginalized people that their existence is a joke for reasons that are nearly impossible to divine. Especially when there’s so much in the world to talk about right now, that they’ve chosen anti-trans rights as their comedy cause célèbre is dispiriting. As Mae Martin said in their 2023 Netflix special, Sap: “Big multimillionaire comedians in their stand-up specials are, like, taking shots and punching down at a time when trans rights are so tenuous and slipping backwards.”

Lear and Smothers used their clout on TV to speak truth to power about America’s involvement in Vietnam and Southeast Asia, the hypocrisy of religion, racism, abortion, homosexuality and civil rights. While great trans comedians such as River Butcher and Jaye McBride resorted to releasing their stand-up specials straight to YouTube this year, which famous straight comedians can you recall sticking up for the rights of trans people in America?

It feels so frustrating to sit and watch comedians with the stature of Chappelle and Gervais devote so much of their time and energy to bullying the LGBTQ+ community when they could be doing anything else on stage. And then they have the temerity to question us, the audience, for not laughing with them.

For his part, Gervais willingly misdefines and misuses “woke” by suggesting, “if woke now means being a puritanical, authoritarian bully who gets people fired for an honest opinion or even a fact, then no, I’m not woke. Fuck that.” Is Nazism or transphobia an honest opinion that shouldn’t get you fired? He then claims in his closing bit that “all laughter’s good,” a concept that would be news to 2005-era Chappelle when he cut ties with Comedy Central precisely because he could hear racism in the laughs during a taping of Chappelle’s Show.

In his Grammy-nominated lecture to students at his alma mater, Duke Ellington School of the Arts, What’s In A Name?, Chappelle claimed: “The more you say I can’t say something, the more urgent it is for me to say it. It has nothing to do with what you’re saying I can’t say. It has everything to do with my right and my freedom of artistic expression.”

But that’s not comedy, either—much like Gervais’ admission in his special that as a university student, his idea of a joke was calling his mother and pranking her by saying he was hospitalized and potentially blind. Gervais said her mom could’ve had a heart attack, but in his mind, he remembers it now as “they could take a fucking joke, right?”

At least Sam Jay, in her 2023 HBO special Salute Me Or Shoot Me, wrestles with her conscience and moral compass over the use of certain words in her act and concludes that having empathy for others is key. “How do the rest of us get here? I don’t know… I’m not going to pretend that I have the answers,” Jay says, adding: “So we’re doing things like we’re policing words, but we’re not policing behavior.”

Anthony Jeselnik, who has built his comedy career on brandishing himself as an offensive caricature of a comedian, told fellow comedian and podcaster Theo Von earlier this year that too many stand-ups would rather get into trouble by saying the wrong thing instead of focusing on their job and saying funny things.

“People think — oh, as a comic your job is to get in trouble. But they don’t want to get yelled at. It’s like, it’s OK to make people mad, but they don’t want any push back. And I think that’s wrong,” Jeselnik said. “As a comedian, you want to make people laugh. This is a quote attributed to Andy Warhol that I love: ‘Art is getting away with it.’ You know, if you put out a special and everyone’s pissed, like, you didn’t get away with it. You know. You need to make everyone laugh that they’re like, ‘Yeah, he talked about some fucked up stuff, but we’re all happy.’ That’s art. Otherwise, you’re just a troll.”

Kliph Nesteroff, a comedy historian whose newest book is Outrageous: A History of Showbiz and the Culture Wars, similarly told me last month that some while comedians see themselves sometimes as “philosophers” he believes they are “betraying their job description because you’re supposed to make people laugh, and philosophers are supposed to philosophize.”

Comedians may claim they can’t joke about anything anymore, but they joke about more now than ever before. The real problem with stand-up today is that too many comedians would rather kick people when they’re down, then lecture us on how we’re too sensitive for not laughing about it.

When Chappelle, Gervais or their acolytes have to incessantly explain that their jokes are just jokes, then they cease to be great comedians—or even comedians at all.

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matttgirlies · 14 days

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Matt & Me🎀

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

a story heavily based on Priscilla Presley’s Book “Elvis & Me” based in the 1950’s - 1970’s.

fem! reader x singer! matt

disclaimer!! - in no way am i saying matt would ever support or do these kind of things, for the sake of the book certain unethical things do happen at times.

y/nn = your nickname for any confusion🩷

Chapter 10

It was the era of the Polaroid and the beginning of videotape. He was the director and I his star acting out fantasies. We dressed up and undressed, played and wrestled, told stories, acted out our fantasies, and invented scenes. Whether it was dressing up in my school uniform and playing at being a sweet, innocent schoolgirl, or a secretary coming home from work and relaxing in the privacy of her own bedroom, or a teacher seducing her student, we were always inventing new stories, and eventually, I learned what stimulated Matt the most.

Almost every night I made quick trips to the local drugstore to buy considerable amounts of Polaroid film. Some of the cashiers knew me, and I wondered if they suspected what we were doing.

I put on dark glasses to “disguise” myself, but ended up looking even more conspicuous as I’d sweetly request twelve packs of Polaroid film while making excuses like, “Gee, the others must have been defective. I just can’t seem to get them to come out right,” or “You’re not going to believe this, but someone stole my film.”

Making it in and out of Graceland was no easy feat, either. I’d pass Mr. Stall at the gate at odd hours of the night, smiling and waving hello, returning shortly with the same smile and the same wave. I was sure he harbored some suspicious thoughts about what I was doing.

Matt laughed when I told him. “It’s all in your mind. He’s no more thinking anything than a dog sleeping.”

“Well, what if he starts spreading rumors, like I go out at night?”

“It might create some excitement around here. This town’s dead. Boston needs a little gossip!”

Matt and I both loved creating these sexual fantasies and it seemed to bring us closer together. I had no previous sexual experience to compare with his inventive sexuality and I was ready to indulge him any way I could. Being in the fast lane, he was exposed to every pleasure available in life. Ordinary thrills sometimes were not enough, especially when he was under the influence of powerful drugs.

At first I was totally open to Matt and many of his ideas. I lived for those moments we were alone. I was careful to say little that might jeopardize my bond with him. I fulfilled his needs, and his beliefs became mine. Under no circumstances were his ideas or playfulness perverted or in any way harmful.

A few days after he came home, he led me to his long black limousine and we sped off to one of Boston’s most exclusive boutiques on Union Street for some after-hours shopping, just as we’d done in Las Vegas. While the boys milled around the shop and the store’s sales staff tried to look nonchalant, Matt got a big kick out of having me model dozens of stunning dresses and suits and coats that were so stylish I was doubtful I could wear them. I was still an insecure teenager.

“Matt,” I said, wearing a sexy gold lamé gown that clung to my every curve, “these clothes are too sophisticated for me.”

“Sophisticated?” he said, regarding me admiringly. “What’s sophisticated? You could go around wearing a feather and that would be sophisticated.”

“Well, bring me a feather then.”

We spent four hours at that shop and during that time, I had a personalized lesson in the Matt Sturniolo Fashion Course.

As I tried on dress after dress, Matt delivered a running commentary on color. He liked me in red, blue, turquoise, emerald green, and black and white—the same colors he himself wore. He liked solids only, declaring that large prints took away from my looks. “Too distracting,” he said. He hated browns and dark green, colors inextricably associated in his mind with the Army.

Exhausted and a little confused about my new look, I walked out of the shop dressed in a sleek black linen suit with four-inch highheeled shoes to match. With Matt sitting proudly beside me, the guys loaded the trunk of the limo with armfuls of packages, and I felt very special.

Back at Graceland he had me model all my new clothes again for Grandma, who patiently sat through a long two hours of changes. I was Matt’s doll, his own living doll, to fashion as he pleased.

It was the early sixties, when clothes and makeup veered to extremes. Women’s eyeliner was heavier, their hair more teased, and their skirts shorter than ever before. All the rules I’d learned about dressing and applying makeup (less is more, the simpler the better) were being broken, and men seemed to love it. Matt certainly did. If I went a little light with the mascara or black eyeliner, he’d send me back upstairs to apply it more heavily.

Matt liked long hair. When I’d cut mine without asking his permission, he was shocked.

“How could you cut your goddamn hair? You know I like long hair. Men love long hair.”

He wanted it long and jet black, dyed to match his because, as he said, “You have pretty eyes, baby. Black hair will make your eyes stand out more.” He made a lot of sense to me and soon my hair was dyed jet black, like his.

The more we were together the more I came to resemble him in every way. His tastes, his insecurities, his hang-ups—all became mine.

For instance, high collars were his trademark, not because he especially liked them, but because he felt his neck looked too long. He never felt comfortable unless he was in a customized high-collared shirt, though in a pinch he’d turn the collar up on a regular shirt as he had when he was in school.

When he told me that the collar I was wearing on a particular blouse was too small for my “long, skinny neck,” I too began wearing high-collared shirts. Why not? My sole ambition was to please him, to be rewarded with his approval and affection. When he criticized me, I fell to pieces.

The Pygmalion nature of our relationship was a mixed blessing. The most fundamental thing at this stage in our life together was that Matt was my mentor, someone who studied my every gesture, listened critically to my every utterance, and was generous, to a fault, with advice.

When I did something that wasn’t to his liking, I was corrected. It is extremely difficult to relax under such scrutiny. Little escaped him. Little except the most salient fact of allthat I was a volcano about to erupt.

There were evenings when he’d send me back upstairs to change clothes because my choice was “dull,” “unflattering,” or “not dressy enough” for him. Even the way I walked came under review; he told me to move more slowly, and for a short while, he had me walking around the house with a book on my head.

I appreciated his interest, but I hated having to hear him remind me of my shortcomings so many times, and each time having to promise him that he’d never have to tell me again.

Would I ever be able to live up to his vision of how his ideal woman should behave and appear? She had to be sensitive, loving, and extremely understanding, meeting unusual demands any average woman might reject. This included being left behind when he made spur-of-the-moment, questionable “business” trips.

She had to be pretty and she had to possess an offbeat sense of humor to survive all the joking at Graceland. Often I’d walk into Sunday afternoon football gatherings and hear inside jokes about the cute all-American cheerleaders. Eventually I found myself thinking like one of the guys. “Nice tits and ass,” I’d say to myself. “A little heavy in the thighs, but the face makes up for it.”

Matt had a strong aversion to wearing jeans. As a poor boy, he had no choice but to wear them and he never wanted to lay eyes on another pair. That applied to everyone in the group.

His firm ideas on my wardrobe didn’t make it easy for me to go out and buy clothes for myself. One day I came home proud of a dress I’d just bought and couldn’t wait to put on. I knew he didn’t like prints, but this was a blackand-white flowered silk that I thought very special.

The first words out of his mouth when he saw me were: “That dress doesn’t suit you. Does nothing for you. Takes away from your face, your eyes. All you see’s the dress.”

As he tore me apart I started to cry. “Are you quite finished?” I inquired. I didn’t give him a chance to answer, bolting for my bathroom and slamming the door.

A few minutes later I heard his voice from the other side of the door: “You gotta keep away from those large prints. You’re a small girl, Sattnin.”

I opened the bathroom door and snapped, “Okay, I’ll return the fuckin’ dress.”

Matt fell to the floor laughing; eventually I joined in, unable to stop myself. Once again I’d compromised my own taste.

He ignored no aspect of my appearance, including my teeth. He took me to his dentist, told him to clean my teeth and give me a thorough examination. He was to look for probable cavities only and should I need any fillings, they were to be made of white porcelain. To him a mouth loaded with gold or silver was an eyesore.

He was equally fanatical about posture. If I slumped, he’d straighten my back. When I’d look up at him and wrinkle my forehead, he’d smooth it out—or tap it—telling me not to get in that habit. I didn’t like him rapping me, so I learned that one fast.

When we came home from the movies one night, I was getting ready for bed and he was in his office playing the piano. I came in to listen, propping my foot on the bench where he was sitting. He looked down at a small chip in my nail polish and I immediately withdrew my foot from the bench and started making up excuses about why it wasn’t fixed. “I’m going to have my pedicure tomorrow,” I promised.

“Good,” he said, “cause that doesn’t look like my Little Girl’s. You should always keep them looking nice.”

I was leading a double life—a schoolgirl by day, a femme fatale by night. Our evening appearance downstairs usually resembled a grand entrance. Even when our only intention was to have dinner, we always dressed for the occasion. Matt might wear a three-piece suit with a brocade vest and a Stetson hat. Under his coat he always carried a gun. He’d given me a small pearl-handled derringer and I carried it in my bra or tucked it into a holster around my waist. We were a modern-day Bonnie and Clyde.

Matt loved films, and we went to the Memphian almost every night. He was still renting the whole house after regular hours since he couldn’t attend a movie without being mobbed. One of the guys always lined up several films in case Matt didn’t like one of them or decided to see as many as three or four in a row. We usually arrived around midnight, our limousine pulling around to the back of the Memphian. From there we’d proceed into the side door like a royal couple leading their court.

Already seated in the theater were the usual crowd of thirty to fifty local friends and fans. Matt always sat in the same seat—with Nate Doe to his right, me to his left.

Before calling “Roll ’em!” he looked around the theater to make sure everyone was seated. He was an acutely aware person and could immediately spot any unwanted or unfamiliar faces. If any new faces were sitting too close to him, Matt suggested they move elsewhere. He was more lenient with the girls. He might not demand they move but he certainly wanted to know who they were, and should they object to being asked for this information or smart off in any way, he would not hesitate to have one of the boys escort them out, telling them never to come back.

There were times Matt rented the entire Boston Fairgrounds after closing and we all spent hours on our favorite rides. We tried such daredevil feats on the roller-coaster as seeing who could stand the longest with both arms outstretched as it whipped and twisted around the track again and again.

Matt loved the bumper cars and would team up with the entourage against some locals. They’d spend the night seemingly trying to kill each other, laughing and bruising themselves like tough little boys while we girls watched and cheered them on. After several hours my own enthusiasm waned.

Excerpt from: "Elvis and Me" by Priscilla Beaulieu Presley. Scribd.

This material may be protected by copyright.

a/n - hope u enjoyed this chapter!!🎀

#chris sturniolo #christopher sturniolo #matt sturniolo #sturniolo edit #sturniolo fanfic #sturniolo imagine #sturniolo smut #sturniolo triplets #sturniolo x reader #nick sturniolo #matt stuniolo fanfic #matthew sturn #matthew sturniolo #Spotify

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bengiyo · 1 year

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The Eighth Sense Eps 9 & 10 (Finale) Stray Thoughts

So we’ve come to the end of the road with this show. I’m sure, like I Told Sunset About You and I Promised You The Moon, this one will stick with me. It’s been a fun ride, and I’ve enjoyed meeting new people because of it.

Last time, we processed the aftermath of Ji Hyun’s near-death experience on the ill-advised surfing trip. The seniors from the surfing club were absolutely horrible about it, and were completely insensitive. Jae Won has retreated completely within himself and is barely interacting with anyone, except to beat Tae-hyung’s ass for talking shit about Ji Hyun.

Meanwhile, Ji Hyun is absolutely radiant after recovering and is in his confident era. He’s handing out L’s left and right. No one is safe! Jae Won has been avoiding Ji Hyun, but Ji Hyun came through for him in the disciplinary hearing and handed Tae-hyung yet another petty defeat. Ji Hyun then forced Jae Won to talk to him, only for Jae Won to disappoint all of us for trying to shove Ji Hyun away.

Episode 9

I am glad this therapist is being direct with Jae Won. I don’t know if that’s proper or not, but he needs to have his head yanked out of his ass on this.

I’m glad Ji Hyun has friends to talk with. They’re also forcing him to see beyond himself and interrogate why Jae Won is being so weird. They even came up with a plan of action!

For Yoon Won’s sake, I hope they manage to save the surf club.

Jae Won’s tired eyes are making me feel exhausted too. I love Ji Hyun’s determination to comfort, even if Jae Won instinctively pulls back at first.

I get Yoon Won trying to save the surfing club as something she can accomplish. Unfortunately, Ji Hyun and Jae Won are not going to out themselves to the university. Still, I’m glad Jae Won isn’t so out of it that he can’t comfort this friend.

Eun Ji declared war on Ji Hyun and came to win. Making out with Jae Won in front of Ji Hyun is a bold strategy. Let’s see how it pays off for her.

I’m deeming Eun Ji only partially successful. She may have driven a wedge further between our leads, but she did not succeed at getting Jae Won in bed. Jae Won sent her home so he could yearn outside of the bar Ji Hyun works at. A victory for the homos.

I am back to being a Joon Pyo fan. He’s been working overtime to keep Ji Hyun’s life intact and is still out here locating secret Instagram accounts.

I liked the time passage montage of Jae Won at school, though I don’t know why he’s showing more signs of life.

The camera gift along with the sketch was so touching.

Eun Ji is a liar who lies, and I’m proud of Jae Won for crushing her.

I love the Boss. Jae Won needs a firm kick to get out of his own head sometimes, and I love her straightforward nature.

I’m so glad a radio song request gets to play a role in this story. Hilariously, they chose Conan Gray’s “The Story,” which, I am too polite on Tumblr to elaborate on further.

This isn’t a Japanese BL, so Jae Won isn’t going to run across the city, but we know where he’s going.

Okay! They just went for it with that kiss! Love the enthusiasm, boys!

Episode 10 (Finale)

I always lose it a little bit for yin and yang imagery with the boys. So glad these two finally spent a comfortable night together.

Of course Jae Won left without a message and has his phone off.

Oh good, he was just with Joon Pyo. We should definitely take Joon Pyo out clubbing. He’s done enough for us at this point.

Oh, the classic tropes! Love when the older boy puts his jacket on the love interest.

I’m happy, too! This is the final episode and we’ve been in angst for three previous ones! We are going to make it clear! We are dating! This is new!

Great, the phone is ringing. Time to spoil the moment.

Whew, never mind. Yoon Won might be getting a job and the surfing club is active again.

I love gay people. “Admit you joined the surf club for me.” “Oh yeah? Admit you had a lighter the whole time.”

Ae Ri. She gets a plate.

Whyy are Eun Ji and Tae Hyung at this party??

Male friendships are so embarrassing sometimes. Petty threats into stilted apologies into something strangely earnest. Men were definitely involved in the writing of this project.

I’m glad Ae Ri will keep teasing Ji Hyun.

Bit Na handed Tae Hyung one more loss before the end. Good.

That’s right Yoon Won. Jae Won needs to know his true friends support his love life.

We chatted a bit about the forgiveness in the clown server, and I will say that I don’t mind Jae Won forgiving Tae Hyung and Eun Ji. It provides closure for all of them, and he can focus on the people that matter in his life now. Besides, celebrations are a chance to let go of things.

GOOD FOR YOON WON AND JOON PYO! GET. IT. IN.

I do like them having the question about who knows and who is allowed to know.

TIME FOR JI HYUN TO GLOAT TO EUN JI!

Look at Eun Ji also trying to be a proper senior for once. I still think she should apologize to Ae Ri, but we can’t get everything.

“Don’t just treat me as cute. You don’t know what’s coming.” YES INDEED, BABY BOY!!

Final Verdict: 9.5, Highly Recommended. This was a fantastic collaboration between a German director and Korean director. I think everyone gives incredibly accessible performances that convey the complex ideas within the story. Much is allowed to be shown rather than said, and conversations unfold naturally. I also think this show captured the experience gap between graduating seniors and freshmen really well. This show brought out a lot of familiar feelings for me in a gentle way. I think it’s one of the best things I’ve seen this year.

#The Eighth Sense #korean bl #bl series #lgbt tv #Ben watches

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centralcitylibrary · 30 days

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A World Without Sonic the Hedgehog

This document talks about the following entries:

Sonic the Hedgehog (1991)

Sonic the Hedgehog 2

SegaSonic the Hedgehog

Sonic the Hedgehog CD

Knuckles' Chaotix

Sonic Adventure

Sonic Adventure 2

Sonic Heroes

Shadow the Hedgehog

Sonic Prime

The beginning of a videogame is important.

You need to make a good impression so as to encourage those just trying the game (or just trying it at an associate’s place) to commit to a purchase.

But you also need to teach those same players how to play the game, a hurdle that’s extra tough when accounting for those who have never picked up a controller before.

Older games usually had to dedicate their entire first levels into being subtle tutorials, teaching everything important without halting the flow of the game (it helps that back then it was normalised to print the game’s control scheme in a small booklet that came with the game).

Sonic the Hedgehog 1 was no different, if you passed the game to someone who had never played videogames before ever, you’re most likely going to see one thing first of all.

The player learns how to move left or right, and then walks straight into the first robot (a Motobug) and die.

That’s fine, obviously, that’s why the Motobug is even there in the first place, with rings just prior, so the player learns how to jump before they can continue with the game and see what it has to offer for them.

But I can’t help but wonder…

What if that was Sonic’s fate?

We may never truly know, but here's what I think would happen, in...

A World Without Sonic the Hedgehog

Era 0: the… Where’s the Timeline?

Wait, what?

Ah, right. With no Sonic, Shadow and Silver would never travel back in time to stop Mephiles and Iblis from escaping, creating the fiery post-apocalypse followed by the complete erasure of time itself as Solaris forms and destroys all.

But then Sonic never would’ve died against the Motobug to begin with, since that future never even comes to be, so how would we be able to say this happens for sure when the cause and effect are only possible due to a stable time loop of unknown origin?

Let’s… for simplicity’s sake, let’s assume this is in a timeline where 06 was already undone, shall we? We want to actually have a timeline, afterall.

Era 1: Classic Games

Our inciting incident, Sonic learns what’s happening on South Island, the animals being trapped and turned into robots by his long-time nemesis, Eggman, and runs off to help… directly into that first Motobug.

Eggman’s bounty system, which he had in place long enough that civilian trains he secretly made before this time period were using them, would mean that motobug would get any one “wish” it desired granted, within Dr. Eggman’s realistic capabilities. Likely nothing would come of this, but it is possible that it requests to, like, become Eggman’s strongest robot or something.

Eggman gets his hands on the 6 Chaos Emeralds hiding out amongst the island (given he achieves this even when Sonic stops him, as evidenced by the bad ending of Sonic 1), and from there gains the power needed to take over the world.

As for the supporting cast:

Mighty and Ray probably still get captured, and may or may not escape from Eggman Island. Presumably they do, given the game can be beaten solo or with a team of two as-is. They’re likely Eggman’s biggest obstacles going forward, just by virtue of Eggman’s rapid expansion.

With Eggman in charge, the fate of the world would likely have a resemblance to the Bad Futures of Sonic CD, the world in Sonic Forces, and New Yoke City in Sonic Prime.

But what about the 7th Chaos Emerald? We see at the end of Sonic Origin’s Sonic 1 that the 7th joined up with the other 6 when flying to South Island, but with them never making the trip where was it in the first place? Would it fly off somewhere? And if not to Westside Island, then to where?

It’s not a stretch to say Eggman will eventually be able to find it, especially since Tails is able to make an emerald radar by the time 3&K come around, and Eggman develops his own emerald radar by Sonic Adventure 2.

Amy Rose, whether due to some unconfirmed burgeoning clairvoyance or just fortune telling being an accurate method of telling the future in this continuity, would not get the same warning of a hero saving her on Little Planet, and as such would have no reason to go. Now, would Eggman grab the Time Stones?

Maybe.

But also maybe not. If he thinks the Chaos Emeralds are that much better he might just decide there’s no point, like when he left the Master Emerald behind because he was so impressed with the Phantom Ruby.

Given the Chaos Emeralds are also capable of time travel, it’s really a moot point in the grand scheme of things.

Tails, without Sonic to save him from bullies, would likely go on to develop vaguely similar to Nine from Sonic Prime (given that his mindset was born as a direct result of never being saved from bullies). Now that's not to say that he'll wind up exactly the same, the whole point of the Shatterverse is that they're different versions of the same cast, afterall.

Knuckles… would remain on his floating island, defending the Master Emerald from Eggman. At least until Newtrogic High Zone appears out of the ocean suddenly, then he’ll investigate that. Knuckles’ Chaotix is most likely the game that’s closest to playing out how it’s presented, with the only difference being that there’s no Metal Sonic and Eggman had plenty of time to prepare an emerald powered army, but conversely caught off-guard by so many people able to fight him all at once.

But beyond that, there's not much involvement Knuckles would have - afterall, Eggman's main benefit is the Chaos Emeralds, but the Master Emerald is capable of neutralising the Chaos Emeralds, and it's unlikely Eggman wants to push his luck unless he finds a good enough opening.

Say...

You remember that big dragon in Sonic Superstars, right? The one that just gets freed from no discernible cause? Yeah that probably still happens, causes problems too. But like, I don’t even know what it’s doing in the main timeline, there’s no way I can predict what it’ll do in this timeline. Just going to ignore it, pretend Eggman captures it somehow (like he planned to).

Era 2: the Adventure Games

Sonic Adventure… just wouldn’t happen. There’s no reason for it when Eggman’s already taking over the world with minimal resistance. As a result, Chaos and Tikal never get freed from the Master Emerald.

Big, given that he lives in a jungle, likely wouldn’t be bothered by Eggman’s takeover until it starts tearing apart his home. Gamma, if he exists, would never find reason to question his existence (and those birds will likely stay trapped).

Sonic Shuffle… might happen? It’s hard to say, but it’s within the realm of possibility. Nothing about Amy or Knuckles are fundamentally different that would lead them to decline, Big would probably still show up (if Gamma’s presence is given an in-universe explanation then it’s likely Big’s presence is within the realm of canon too).

And since the power of dreams can bring people back within Maginaryworld, and Sonic is already a world famous celebrity, it’s entirely plausible that he’d be present to help out, though I doubt he could just go back to Earth (given Gamma never went back either). Uh… Eggman ironically wouldn’t be present, not because he wouldn’t want to get the Precioustone, but because he wouldn’t be able to follow Sonic due to his death (not that I really understand how he managed to achieve that in the first place...). Tails is the only real outlier here, and likely wouldn’t end up in Maginaryworld.

Sonic Adventure 2 doesn’t happen… except for Knuckles and Rouge clashing. Unlike before, their fight over the Master Emerald would likely happen right away, given Eggman would not happen to be in the area.

Cream and Vanilla would get kidnapped for unspecified reasons, and then after that… Heroes wouldn’t happen, as there’s no Metal Sonic.

And already things aren’t looking great, are they? Eggman’s taken over the world, Tails has become a cynical, self-centered hermit, most of the cast are either fighting against Eggman’s emerald-boosted forces or just trying to protect themselves, and the nature and beauty of the planet is slowly getting torn apart.

Yeah, well, now the Black Arms arrive. Strong enough to overpower both GUN and the Eggman Empire, in a timeline where only one of those exist now, and who have the motivation to awaken Shadow – someone who wants revenge on humanity – and is as powerful as SA2 Sonic would’ve been, without a Sonic to necessitate Eggman making bigger and stronger robots, they'll be more than a match for Eggman.

And Eggman has all 7 Chaos Emeralds gathered together. This is the fate of humanity without Sonic, kept aboard the Black Comet as food for the rest of their lives. Even if Shadow tried to stop Black Doom (due to wanting to outright destroy the planet), he’ll just end up getting mind controlled due to his genetic relation with Black Doom.

Some miscellaneous events that would not be effect by this:

Blaze’s universe would be rather peaceful, with no Eggman Nega from the future to cause problems. But also Blaze would forever be in the mindset of being cursed to be alone and needing to do things by herself.

Erazor Djinn would not be able to find the 7 World Rings without someone not native to his world to collect them (assuming his book world doesn't get destroyed upon the physical book's destruction).

Merlina’s spell to summon “a hero from another world” either wouldn’t work or would bring in… someone else. So she’d either die from King Arthur or there would be too many unknown variables to even try and predict what will happen (again assuming the world's existence isn't reliant on the physical book).

The Wisps never get captured en masse? Yay?

Time Eater chilling in the void.

Dodon Pa will have to find his racers elsewhere.

All in all, it’s quite a good thing that the future of Sonic’s world wasn’t dependent on the very first time you played a Sonic the Hedgehog game, because that first run would have almost certainly ended in an apocalypse.

#Sonic the Hedgehog #Central City Library #Sonic What If #Doctor Eggman #Black Arms #Sonic Prime

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decepti-thots · 1 year

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Hi! I hope your day/night has been grand.

I’ve been a fan of Transformers for a long while but I was wondering if you had any recommendations on where to start with Transformers comics?

Hi anon! Sorry for the slightly late response- busy weekend.

This depends on a few things really. TF comics vary a lot in terms of tone, genre, take on TFs and what they're interested in when it comes to the franchise... so it kind of depends on what you're after.

Still, if you're looking to dive in, there's two big options here: IDW1 and IDW2. IDW1 refers to the comics published in a single major continuity between 2005 and 2018, with various distinct 'eras', while IDW2 refers to the shorter-lived new continuity that ran 2018 through to 2022.

Since you're already up to speed on TF as a whole by the sounds of it, that does mean I feel a bit less like I have to find you something that requires no prior knowledge, so for IDW1 there are a few good possible jumping on points I'd recommend, which are: start at Robots in Disguise #1, start at More than Meets the Eye #1, or start with Last Stand of the Wreckers. All of these start someone between a third and halfway into the run of the comics, but they either juuust precede or jumpstart a kind of 'soft reboot' that produced IDW1's main powerhouse comics they came to be widely regarded for, and they're a lot easier to recommend as jumping on points.

Start with RiD #1 if: you like large ensemble casts and a rotating list of plotlines in an ongoing comic with a large scope, you are interested in Cybertronians-on-Cybertron and worldbuilding relating to that, you are more in the mood for a comic that takes its setting and premise moderately seriously, and you want something that ties together into a big overarching plot. Well, plots, really. RiD is a little bit less newbie friendly than our next two picks, but it doesn't really require you specifically know IDW1 lore or backstory, just that you can pick out well-known TF characters and know a bit about the franchise's core assumptions. It's famous for including a lot of intricate continuity in its overall story, but it mostly (re)establishes that continuity internally, so it's fine to start here. It has political intrigue and lots of Schemes and some really great characters- Barber writes most issues from a certain characters' implicit perspective, so you see a lot of different points of view on what's going on. The short version: RiD picks up when the Autobot-Decepticon war has just ended under uneasy circumstances, and neutral Cybertronians have started coming back to the planet en-masse. It's got a cast of Autobots, Decepticons and neutrals trying to work out how to run the planet in the wake of that.

Start with MTMTE #1 if: also if you like large ensemble casts but more in the sense of character-focused plotlines with an interest in interpersonal dynamics driving the storytelling, you want something that falls more into space sitcom/dramedy tone wise, you are interested in a comic that looks at the franchise through a very different lens than most other incarnations, you enjoy high-concept story ideas. This one is even more newbie-friendly than RiD, because it mostly features characters who either have not appeared in previous IDW1 stories, or have only appeared a few times. The short version: MTMTE picks up when Rodimus, upon the end of the war, decides he doesn't want to stay on Cybertron and watch people bicker over who's in charge and manages to persuade around 200 other people to go on a wild goose chase around the galaxy looking for the mythical "Knights of Cybertron" to fix things instead. This has pretty much gone off the rails by issue two because he gets the ship stranded in a kind of Star Trek Voyager style initial setup, and also everyone on board turns out to have about a million personal issues that makes everyone being stuck together probably not a great idea. Ultimate road trip from hell. Sidenote: this is The Comic What Has Some Romance Plotlines in it, if you like that, you'll wanna check this one out- but contrary to popular belief they are subplots, and there's plenty here if it's not your bag, haha.

Start with Last Stand of the Wreckers if: you do not want to read 50+ issues of a massive ongoing comic, haha. LSotW is a standalone miniseries that is only five issues long and tells a complete story that requires basically no prior IDW1 knowledge to just jump into, and it finishes that story in those five issues. It has a smaller, tighter cast and knows where it's heading, so if you want something you can just pick up and read, try it. This one is an action story with some serious horror crossover elements and is notable for being significantly darker than the vast majority of TF media, and specifically at parts for being very violent (think, oh, homages to slasher or grindhouse horror, I guess). It's all still cartoon robots of course, but do be aware. The short version: three years before the series, the Autobots lost one of their wartime prisons to the Decepticons and it went radio silent. The series follows the black ops Wreckers team, newly assembled after things went tits up for them on Earth, who now have to go in and try to fix things. Anything more about the reasons for sending them in would be a spoiler, but since the entire point of the Wreckers team is to do suicide missions in which most of them wind up dead, it obviously doesn't go super well. Sidenote: LSotW does have two sequels (Sins of the Wreckers and Requiem of the Wreckers), but was written to be standalone.

These are by no means the only IDW1 comics you could try, but they're the easiest ones to just hand to someone like, 'here are some comics that are readable and fun and cover most bases, and you will not have to prep by reading 37254 articles first'. So. They are my go-tos.

Now if none of the above sounds a hundred percent what you're looking for, there's also IDW2! This one is nice and simple by nature of being a shorter-lived project: start at Transformers #1. It was a hard reboot into its own new continuity and can be read 100% without any other comics knowledge. IDW2 might be a place to start if you enjoy worldbuilding-heavy storytelling at a slower pace, unique takes on pre-existing TF lore, heavily interconnected plotlines that gradually come together, and pre-war intrigue as opposed to mid-war action or post-war clashes of personality. It ran for a little over forty issues plus some side-miniseries, which the wiki lists for you. (My advice: try most of the Galaxies stuff if you want. Definitely read Escape. Then War's End is the actual end of the series.) Unfortunately they lost the license, and so IDW2 wrapped up wayyy ahead of what was intended, but they did have time to wrap things up with an ending.

...which brings us to how to read the comics. Long story short: you can no longer legally buy them, at least in English! IDW lost the license in 2022, and as of yet the new licensee has not even been announced. It is looking increasingly likely these are gonna stay out of print for a while. Theoretically the new owners might choose to reprint them, but god knows if that will actually happen. Also, the physical trades are getting quite expensive, so frankly, you're gonna be pirating them.

Given this, here. (They're all in English.) These are issue-by-issue and not the collected versions, which sometimes have corrections in them or additional content. They're also in .cbr/.cbz format, which requires a comic reader app. So if a anyone needs anything else or wants the trade versions (which often have minor amendments/corrections in them) let me know, I have the whole lot DRM free for IDW1 at least, in formats including .pdf if you can't read .cbr/.cbz, and can always upload them.

#reference #idw #idw2

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jackieswift · 7 months

Text

Surprise songs for Stockholm

Hey Taylor!

I know you probably don't remember me (and that's totally fine because you're meeting so many fans and I really adore that with you), but I'm Jacqueline! You invited me to the reputation secret session in London and I was the girl that flew home from my school trip in India to be there and meet you.

Anyways, as a Swedish swiftie I died when I found out that you will take The Eras Tour to the city I grew up in. I know you've done so much for me already, but I would very kindly like to ask you to consider maybe playing one of the songs on this list when you are in Stockholm. Because that would mean the world to me!

Better Man - The song that helped me survive my toxic relationship. He destroyed me just a few days after this song first came out, and ever since, this song has meant SO much to me. I was really happy that you decided to record it and put it on Red (TV). And hearing it in the city where I met him, the city he still lives in but the city I left, it would be the most special thing!!!

Mean - The song that helped me through the long and horrible school days in Stockholm when I was bullied. I used to lock myself in the bathroom and listen to this song during our breaks. So you playing it in Stockholm would be the best message to my bullies! Also, as a kid I used to joke that "one day Taylor Swift will come and play this song in Stockholm for me" so maybe teenage me could have her dream come true?

Tim McGraw - I don't have an emotional story to this song. I just really love it. This is one of the songs that inspired me to start writing my own music. I just think it's beautiful and since I'm one of the people that love debut, I would love hearing a song from the album as a surprise song.

Last Kiss - My all time favorite song...but you already know that. I know you will play it on july 9th in Switzerland, but maybe just maybe you could play it in Sweden too?? Just because one of your biggest fans in Sweden was born on july 9th (and she had her last kiss on december 13th). And the song is really gorgeous. So pretty pretty please at least consider it? (Love youuuu)

You're On Your Own, Kid - Wonderful song!! It's really special and as a memeber of the Swedish class of 2020 (which means I graduated this june and spent 2/3 of my uni time online because of the pandemic) your speech makes the song even more special too. And the girl next to me at the theater for The Eras Tour film has this as her favorite song. We therefore died when we got it as a surprise song in the film, but getting it in real life would be even cooler.

I Did Something Bad - I love the setlist for The Eras Tour so much but THIS SONG, what happened? Because you know screaming THOSE words during the reputation stadium tour was just the greatest thing ever. So please let us relive that moment!

New Year's Day - I cried my eyes out to this song on your livingroom floor so getting to relive that but in a stadium full of people that all love you would be great. I understand that it would be painful for you and you shouldn't do it if you're not comfortable with it!!! But the whole "hold on to the memories , they will hold on to you" always brings me back to that night, October 13th 2017!

You're Losing Me - Same with this song, if it's too painful, just don't do it. I want you to have a great time. But God I love this song so I needed to add it to the list! To me, this song reminds me of friendships that I've had, but that have ended. All of the people that have left me or that have just stopped keeping in touch. The people that I loved so much, but that didn't care the same for me. Me fighting to keep them in my life but them not caring. And it ending with me thinking "of course they don't want to have me in their lives, why would they? I'm worthless."

Teardrops on My Guitar - You know I'm THE BIGGEST FAN of this song. It doesn't matter that I'm 24 now and not 12 (that I was when I first fell in love with the song). I still love and adore this song. I had totally given up on ever getting to hear this song live, but when we found out we would get two surprise songs every night I kind of got my hope up. And this is another one of the songs that totally inspired me to start to write songs.

@taylorswift @taylornation

Thank you so much for reading through this list. Maybe you got an idea or maybe you didn't. No matter what, I love you so much and I can't wait to see you again next year! Until then, I'll go to the theater and see The Eras Tour movie again and keep dreaming about the days I'll get to see you next year.

Lots of love,

Jacqueline

#surprise song #surprise song Stockholm #The Eras Tour #Taylor Swift #taylurking #taylornation

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mysilentnightshipping · 3 months

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Ooh how about 1-6 for the general section?? 😈 - @isabelinlove

wooooo thank you bestieeee !! i was hoping you’d ask me a bunch of questions 😈 i’m very happy to deliver <3333 @isabelinlove

1. Who initiated the relationship, and how did it go?

> tom did! after finally breaking up, he just showed up at my office at the end of the day, said he’s all done with shiv and that he wants us to be together. like grown ups should be, no sneaking around to find empty conference rooms or ”late nights at work” as an excuse to spend time together at my place. he wanted a real relationship with me.

i was taken aback and very surprised. i knew how much he valued his position and the power that came from being the partner of a roy so him breaking up felt almost like a love confession, so i felt very honored and a little bit terrified. but i was very happy, too; i’d been very casual about us so far and didn’t want to make it seem like that big of a deal if he’d decided to never separate, but at that point i couldn’t hide my excitement. and i didn’t need to, he needed my overjoyed reaction to affirm that the choice he made was the right one.

as for who initiated the affair that started it all… i think it was him, he thinks it was me 😝

2. Did they have an official first date? If so, what was it like?

> we did go on dates in our affair era, took some sneaky overnight trips together and went to expensive dinner dates but once we started to date for real i took him to my favourite bookstore and we picked out books for each other :3 super cliche but we were both feeling kind of sappy and we knew enough about one another that a basic dinner date felt kind of redundant. and it was nice to be out in public without having to worry getting caught.

3. What was their first kiss like?

> the very first one happened after a meeting of some sort, the tension between us had been building for a while and there'd been a few almost kisses but we'd always been interrupted. in a bold move i asked him to come to my office and we walked there in total silence, both of us knowing exactly what would happen next. once the door closed... we POUNCED. very intense and thrilling.

second first kiss was right after the Break Up Confession, initiated by me. i just got up from my desk, walked over to him and went for it. just as intense as the first one but full of relief and excitement instead!!

4. Were they each other’s first anything (kiss, relationship, etc.)?

> does tom’s healthiest relationship count?? we really weren’t each other’s first anything, but i like to think i’d bring him back down to earth a little bit and remind him of what it’s like to be a normal person in a balanced reciprocal relationship lmaoo. getting him away from the waystar and roy family drama…

5. What’s their height difference? Age difference?

> had to look up his height for this… he’s 6'3" and i’m 5’5”.... a VERY NICE height difference if you ask me, PHEW. and as for the ages, my s/is in mid thirties to make my position (HR executive) in the firm more realistic soooo i’d say around 12 years? he is 46 i think?

6. What’s their relationship with each other’s families?

> since he’s an only child (i assume???) his parents would be glad to have someone else to dote on too. they’d also be very happy he’s with me now instead of being connected to the roy family, they did not like the BAD INFLUENCE they were being on his BABY BOY. so we’d visit them pretty often for the holidays etc. meanwhile my folks are in finland so i doubt they’d meet much. but they’d like him well enough for the few times they met since he’s weird but rich and we have a good time together. (and because of the finnish heritage i've headcanoned him to have lol)

i’m gonna count the roys into this because waystar IS ONE BIG FAMILY and because i want to!!!! i truly despise logan (it’s mutual), don’t know how to feel about kendall, vibe with roman and shiv is pretty cold and hostile towards me (understandably lol, i don’t like her either). none of them would like me that much, but i think roman would grow to like me the most over time (because of the double dates we'd go on LMAO). greg’s also a buddy of mine but i’m not sure if i can trust him so i’m very guarded with him. connor and i would also get along well later down the line i think.

#ask #love and management #isabelinlove #thanks again bestie!!! i looooved writing these!!!#also guess who just learned his name is thomas. tom is just a nickname... WHAT????? EXCUSE ME??????? I DIDN'T SIGN UP FOR A THOMAS.#was it even mentioned in the show?? it totally was LOL i just legitimately don't remember

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denimbex1986 · 9 months

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'Legendary pop star David Bowie was a man of eclectic pop culture tastes. The artist formerly known as Ziggy Stardust and The Thin White Duke was famous for his mysterious, otherworldly personas, but he wasn't actually all mystery all the time. Bowie passed away in 2016, but fans can still excavate lists of his personal favorites and influences online, like this one from Far Out Magazine that notes that he counted "Trainspotting," "Un Chien Andalou," and "Moon" (directed by his son, Duncan Jones) among his favorite movies.

Bowie may not have always been very public about his pop cultural interests, but we know about at least one television show that he loved prior to his passing: "Peaky Blinders." The BBC series turned Netflix original ended its TV run in 2022 (a film is still to come), but series creator Steven Knight revealed back in 2016 that Bowie was apparently a massive fan of the show. "We've had an amazing response from famous people for some reason," Knight told Radio Times (via The Independent), mentioning Bowie alongside other major celebrities like Steven Spielberg, Snoop Dogg, and Tom Cruise.

Bowie wanted a song from Blackstar to appear in the show

Bowie's love for "Peaky Blinders" isn't just an apocryphal story from after his death. According to Knight, he actually sent a sign of his adoration for the show directly to star Cillian Murphy. "He sent a photo of himself with razor blades in his cap to Cillian about a year ago," Knight shared in 2016, ahead of the show's third season. "I got in touch with his people who came back straight away and said he was a big, big fan." Knight even says a Sony representative visited him a week ahead of the release of Bowie's album "Blackstar," which was released just two days before the musician's death. As he put it, "It seems that his people were keen to establish that we could use it before he died."

The show ultimately incorporated Bowie's song "Lazarus" into its third season, underscoring a sequence in which Tommy Shelby (Murphy) slowly and painfully recovers from a skull fracture, numbing his pain with drugs in the process. The scene fits the lyrics and title of "Lazarus" perfectly, as Tommy is resurrected from a trip to death's door, sipping from a prescription bottle while Bowie sings "I'm so high, it makes my brain whirl." Murphy has also spoken about Bowie's wish to see one of his songs featured in the show, telling Spin 1038 in 2017:

"He was into the show and he wanted his music to be used in the show and it was very humbling, you know? For someone who grew up listening to David Bowie, that was a massive honor and privilege that he was interested in the show and keen to be involved. So we were all very humbled that he was."

Bowie's influence continues in Murphy's career

It's heartbreaking to think that Bowie didn't get to see his music featured on the show he clearly loved, or get to see how "Peaky Blinders" wrapped up in its final season. Still, crossovers between the actor and the show's cast continue today. A cover of his song "Lady Grinning Soul" by musician Anna Calvi appeared in the show's fifth season, playing during a scene in which Arthur (Paul Anderson) severely beats a man ahead of a Quaker meeting.

Murphy, meanwhile, has gained his own unexpected inspiration from Bowie as his career has continued. The actor revealed that Christopher Nolan actually used Thin White Duke era Bowie as a costume reference point for "Oppenheimer" protagonist J. Robert Oppenheimer. "In our story, he puts on the hat and picks up the pipe and it's him kind of creating this persona, kind of self-mythologizing," Murphy noted. The actor noted that it was important to him to get Oppenheimer's silhouette right, complete with a "very fragile" look to him. "Weirdly, Chris sent me a couple of shots of David Bowie" Murphy shared. According to the actor, the reference points were of the musician "around the 'Young Americans' time, with these massive trousers, and he was so emaciated but so f***ing cool."

"Peaky Blinders" is set for a film continuation sometime in the future; let's hope there's room for another Bowie tune on the soundtrack.'

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unrealwasteland · 2 years

Text

Now with a theme: Time Travel Shenanigans!

This one is a bit shorter than my previous rec list, and includes mostly Mav/Roos/Mav with a side of Mav/Mav. This territory comes with some big age gaps, and while that shouldn't be an issue for Roosmav shippers, I still want to mention it here. Also, none of these fics include underage sex (or other archive warnings), but a couple of them feature a teenage character. And as always, you should take a look at the full tags and info on AO3 before reading.

Take These Broken Wings by pohjanneito 11k, E, no archive warnings apply young Maverick/canon era Rooster, emotional hurt/comfort

Bradley leaned against his cue stick, his eyes glued to Mav’s baby-smooth face. It was uncanny, like an old home movie bleeding out of the TV screen. Mav's voice was soft and pitched a little higher, but he carried himself like he did thirty years in the future, with the bravado and ego of a man twice his size. Or: Rooster travels back in time to 1986 and meets young Maverick.

I know this one was also on my previous post, but I'm reccing it again because it's just that good and I love how the time travel is handled in it.

Three is the Magic Number by liabilitea 7.5k, G, no archive warnings apply Mav/Roos/Mav, road trips, fluff and angst

Three different stories from the perspectives of Maverick, Rooster, and Pete respectively on their road trip to participate in the Halloween Air Show.

This fic is very beautifully written. Soft and sweet with a touch of Mav's self worth issues, so this was like catnip to me.

Hot blood running through our veins by violation_of_faith_and_devotion 7.5k, E, no archive warnings apply Mav/Roos/Mav, dirty talk, verbal humiliation, breeding kink

“So? Is that…?” “Is that me? I don’t know. Where did you find him?” “I told you already, he just knocked on my door and said he was lost. At first, I thought it was your kid, but then he introduced himself, and…” Bradley trails away. There’s a slight glimmer of hope in Maverick’s eyes. “So, there is a chance this could be just my son?” Bradley sighs. “No, Mav, I told you. I made him show me some documents and he gave me his library card. The stamp said nineteen eighty-fuckin’-one. And he sure acts like he came from the eighties, he saw me use my phone and asked me if I stole it from NASA.” Or, the one in which eighteen-year-old Pete Mitchell meets thirty-eight-year-old Bradley and fifty-eight-year-old Maverick.

Bradley just wants to take care of young Pete, somehow they all end up fucking, I love to see it. This fic was just delightful.

in which a teen Pete appears out of nowhere (series) by Lake 4k, E, no archive warnings apply Mav/Mav, a little bit of Mav/Roos/Mav

The Darkstar accident caused a rift in time, and brought an eighteen year-old Pete into the current day.

There are currently 2 fics in this series. Featuring super cute young Pete, delicious sexual tension, first time 69 - I love pretty much everything by this author and this series is no exception.

living your life between your legs by finistra 3.5k, E, no archive warnings apply Mav/Mav, pwp

Young Maverick is feeling a little narcissistic and a lot horny when he meets a stranger in a bar after a time travel experiment...

This is super hot, and somehow also a lovely character study at the same time. With a dash of identity porn. Obviously I was going to love it.

Bonus: These two amazing comics by @godwithwethands :

Mav&Roos&Mav

young Mav/canon era Rooster

The first is pre-slash, 2nd includes kissing. Both have ADORABLE young Pete. This AU means the world to me.

#top gun maverick #roosmav #mavroosmav #fic rec #rsmv recs

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allylikethecat · 9 months

Note

hi ally!

as a fellow needy girl, can you do 9, 21, 26 and 59 for the know your writer

(as someone who is v whiny, i once again need to say how much i appreciate your whiny matty. hoping for sth w contemporary matty & g soon, kisses set in the current era plus the eye and ear infection fics were my fave)

(also if i ever get brave enough to come off anon - are you up for chatting 👉👈)

Yay! Needy Girls unite! 💪🏻 Thank you so much for sending this in! Also I am always down for chatting! I don't know if I ever have anything interesting to say but my ask box and DMs are always open 😊

I have a few more (new!) Kiss Prompts in my inbox (and am always open to more!) and I'm sure I will be writing more pathetic whining Fictional! Matty in the future - I really enjoy making Fictional!Matty suffer. I'm so glad to hear that you enjoyed the Eye and Ear Infection fics and hope you enjoy the next installment in The Infection Fic Verse with the A&E Fic!

Get to know your fic writer!

9. Do you comment on stories you read?

I always try to! I know how discouraging it can be when you write something and don't get any comments, and also how absolutely exciting it is to get comments, so I always try and make sure I leave a comment when reading a fic - I always leave Kudos as at least a minimum though!

21. Would you ever collaborate with another writer for a story?

I would absolutely love to! I haven't had the opportunity to yet, but if it was the right idea and the right author I would love to have the experience. I just know I can be difficult to work with - I bounce around from idea to idea very quickly which I know can be annoying!

26. Which of your fics would you call your wildest ride?

Probably one of my older Hockey RPF fics - I was in college and extremely unhinged and the fics reflect that 🤣 Though I do have one I am still actively working on (Hurricane) that I came back to after a year and a half / two year hiatus. Everything Will Be Okay (which is one of my Top Gun fics) has also turned into a major trip - I will finish it eventually, but it got a lot of really lovely feedback from the fandom and ended up on a few rec lists and as a result I completely psyched myself out with it and haven't been in the right mental state to finish it (I will eventually though I promise!)

59. Does anyone in your personal life know you write fic? if not, would you tell anyone?

Lol yes. I met my Bestie my freshman year of college and our love of fic and fandom (even though we were in different ones!) was something we really bonded over and here we are nearly ten years later (which is SCARY) living on opposite sides of the country still talking 24/7 and obsessing over our fics (I am very excited I am going to visit her and we are going to see The 1975 in October - she also came out to visit me in March to go to the Eras tour!). I also make a lot of jokes about it to my other IRL friends - however they aren't really in fandom spaces (which is absolutely crazy) and I always joke that they are "outside people" who aren't really online and therefore, they don't really understand what it means or entails. They don't know what I write, where I post it or my username or anything, just that writing is something I enjoy and that I do in fact post it on the internet.

Thank you so much again for sending this in! If anyone else wants to send more of them that would be super cool and I would be so very happy. Thank you!

❤️Ally

#allylikethecat #ask ally #anon ask #fanfiction #fanfic #questions #answers #get to know your fic writer #thank you so much for indulging me #keep it kind

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jerzwriter · 1 year

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Hi I have two questions

What was your favorite part of the Eras concert?

What Taylor Swift song do you most relate to?

Thank you

Hey Nonny! Thanks for the ask.

First, the concert was FUCKING FANTABULOUS! It exceeded my expectations, and my expectations were sky-high. I want to go again SO BADLY. I don't know if it's possible, but I'm not above a road trip to make it happen. lol

My favorite part... that's hard to say, but these are among my favorite:

The 10 min version of All Too Well - especially the bridge. I mean, it moves me when I hear it in the car or on my phone... so live... when it was done I looked at my daughter and said, "I am forever changed." Also, the fact that she goes from that into "The One"... violence. An act of violence. (But I loved it so much!)

Nothing New w/ Phoebe Bridgers - I really love this song, and getting to see it performed live by these two women was magical.

Illicit Affairs - Hear me out - there was something about the way she was on the floor belting out, "Don't call me kid! Don't call me baby!" that was primal. I wish I had recorded it because I could watch it over and over again.

Really, all of Folklore and Evermore because those two albums hold such a place in my heart, and she delivered - the staging was unbelievable... esp for Willow and Tolerate It.

Biggest surprise - I am shocked - the Reputation set. I am not a huge fan of Reputation. In fact, I had scheduled that time as my bathroom or merch run break. But I decided to stay put, and I'm so glad I did - it plays so differently live - and now I have a greater appreciation for the album. I am blown away by this.

Karma - I love the song, it's such a perfect song to end with, it was just fire... and we had Ice Spice at our performance which made it even more amazing.

But look, I'm a mom.... and I have to say my "kids" (they're in college) reaction when Holy Ground was revealed to be the surprise song will forever live in my heart.

Now songs... Jesus, there are so many, but I'm going to go with the ones that come to mind the quickest. I'll likely revisit this. But here goes:

All Too Well - I mean, I inadvertently cry during some parts just about every time I hear it... and I'm not getting over anything (therapy is good), but it still gets me. That says something.

Better Man - OK - the Little Big Town version of this helped get me through my divorce, but I like Taylor's version even more. I was so bummed she sang it in Gilette, and I knew it wouldn't be my surprise song, but prob just as well. No one needed to see the emotional basket case I would have become seeing it live. lol

This is Me Trying - This one hits hard. This may be the one I relate to most of all.

Mean - It's a great song to remind me where I came from and where I am, and it's SO much better now.

Never Grow Up and The Best Day - I'm a mom - these can gut me if hear them on some days.

Nothing New - I'm beyond the new age of my life, but I remember these feelings so well. Also, there is someone very dear to me who struggles with these issues - it's as if the song were written for them. So every time I hear it, I think of this person, and it really hits hard.

Honorable mention goes to Exile and Evermore too.

Wow - that got long. lol Thanks again, Nonny!

#taylor swift #taylor stuff #asks answered #disclaimer: I love taylor but it's making me feel dirty right now #trying to divorce music from the person #it's not going too well

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ausetkmt · 1 year

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Allah supreme: how Pharoah Sanders found freedom and rebellion in Islam | Pharoah Sanders | The Guardian

The day the music died was 24 September 2022. On that Saturday, the legendary tenor saxophonist Pharoah Sanders, a man who blew his horn “as if he was a dragon breathing fire”, passed on, at age 81. With his death came the end of a majestic era, a time of saxophone spirituality and musical mysticism that will probably never be surpassed or even replicated. Sanders, like so many of his generation, channeled spirit into song, drawing inspiration from a panoply of sacred sources.

For a while, younger hip-hop generations also found words and meaning in a similar kind of search, and the music –along with the quest – continued.

But jazz has changed and hip-hop has changed.

Never mind that only some of these artists adopted the faith itself. It was their notes and their tones that counted. Plaintive, modal, quarter-toned and chromatic, these aural landscapes of east and west and everything in between stretched the imaginations of both players and audiences. Inside the music, new alliances were forged between people and with all that was holy.

To some people, though, the music just seemed cacophonous and angry. White critics often didn’t understand. Even as astute a thinker as the English Marxist historian Eric Hobsbawm wrote, in 1959, that jazz’s “flight into Mohammedanism or some other non-white culture” was a way to “sidestep” a rising avant-garde jazz that was seeking white acceptance. Describing the era, Hobsbawm explained that “the marvelous political awakening of all the oppressed and underprivileged in Roosevelt’s America put a new tone into the jazz musician’s instrument: open resentment”.

If all you heard during the long civil rights era was an endless blow of rage, you were missing out since you weren’t listening. The love was everywhere and all over the music. The piano player Ahmad Jamal told an interviewer: “I get my approach to life from the Holy Qur’an. I belong to the Ahmadiyya movement in Islam. Our motto is, ‘Love for all; hatred for none.’” (Many of the jazz musicians of that era came to Islam through the Ahmadiyya movement, a religious revivalist movement that began in late 19th-century India. It was led by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, a charismatic reformer who believed he had received divine revelations that required him to promote the unity of all religions as manifest through Islam. Ahmadis came to the USA in the 1920s and found receptive audiences in African American communities.)

And it was a love supreme. I’ve argued elsewhere that Coltrane’s most famous song, A Love Supreme, has its own Islamic echoes (the chant “a love supreme” starts to sound a bit like “Allah supreme” after a while). Pharoah Sanders, who played with ’Trane starting in 1965, extended Coltrane’s legacy after his death in 1967.

Meanwhile, Sanders continued to build his own spiritually inflected, religious ecumenical style. His 1969 hypnotic track Hum-Allah-Hum-Allah-Hum-Allah meditates on the words “Prince of peace / Won’t you hear our pleas / And ring your bells of peace / Let loving never cease” for an enveloping and achingly beautiful 15 minutes. His classic The Creator Has a Master Plan had its own second coming when it was re-released in a trip-hop remix in the mid-90s. The Trance of Seven Colors, Pharoah’s work with the master Gnawa musician of Morocco Mahmoud Guinia is simply transcendent on an interstellar plane.

And it was a way of connecting to Africa. “The Christianity of the slave represented a movement away from Africa,” Amiri Baraka wrote in this classic text Blues People. “It was the beginning of Africa as ‘a foreign place’.” For the jazz musicians of this long and spiritual era, to reconnect with Africa was more than idle curiosity. It was a way of suturing back an essential part of you that had been forcibly torn from your collective body generations ago. By the mid-1950s and 1960s, African-themed events at nightclubs and restaurants in Brooklyn and Harlem abounded, with UN diplomats from newly independent African countries frequently dropping in. The jazz pianist and composer Randy Weston described the era: “Many of the African countries were just getting their independence. And the wonderful thing about being in New York, the United Nations is there. So I had an opportunity to meet many African diplomats. Many people from Kenya, from Nigeria, from Ghana, from Egypt, many parts of Africa. And I would always talk to them to try to understand a little more about the continent.”

Weston eventually relocated to Morocco for about five years and traveled throughout the African continent before returning to the USA in 1972. “I went on a spiritual trip back home,” he told DownBeat magazine in 1998, referring to Africa. “I wanted to hear where I came from, why I play like I play, why we play music like we do. We went to about 18 countries, and wherever we went we asked to experience the traditional music of the people. Hearing the traditional music was like hearing jazz and blues and the Black church all at the same time.”

Weston also joined forces with master Gnawa musicians in Morocco. (He was playing with them and learning from them before Sanders did the same.) Others, such as Alice Coltrane, were moving in more eastern directions while still others, like Sun Ra, lived in intergalactic space and called us all to move in with him.

The spiritual jazz movement continued, but it didn’t take long for it to be eclipsed by other trends, everything from commercially accessible fusion, launched by the likes of Miles Davis, to the less accessible avant-garde innovations of Cecil Taylor or Albert Ayler. By the 1990s, jazz was also firmly ensconced in the ivory tower, featuring at prestigious arts institutions such as Lincoln Center and the Kennedy Center.

Still, the Islamic influence in American popular music never went away, though it did change addresses. Shifting from sound to word, Muslim references could now be found more in the new hip-hop than in the new jazz, even if hip-hop Islam was a yet more heterodox creed than the one found within the Ahmadiyya community. Foundational hip-hop artists including Rakim, Big Daddy Kane, and the Wu-Tang Clan were invoking the words and numbers of the Nation of Gods and Earths, an offshoot of the Nation of Islam.

Five Percenter language has permeated the pop cultural lexicon. For example, the “G” in “wassup, G?”is not “gangsta”, as many might think, but “God”. In this creed, Five Percenter men are considered Gods, and Five Percenter women are known as Earths. “Dropping science” is a term from the Five Percenters, as is the emphatic term “word”, a short form of “word is my bond”.

Scholars have written on the important influence of Five Percenters on early hip-hop. But there are also other, more mainline Muslim influences on the American scene. Five Percenter doctrine was foundational in hip-hop, but it operated as an esoteric language among the educated and enlightened. The way the language and numerology (with an emphasis on the number 7) operated was to signify kinship and belonging, which was particularly important in the early hip-hop years. But other Muslim rappers, often associated with Sunni Islam, performed their deen, their faith, more in line with the jazz tradition that preceded it, as a search for self.

Mos Def is hardly the only one who invokes this devotional search. A Tribe Called Quest’s Q-Tip (Kamaal Fareed) is another. “Praise the Lord of the worlds that’s unseen / Respect me for that and let me do my thing,” we hear in the song Get a Hold. More recently, the Five Percenters, the Nation of Islam, and Sunni Islam (and more) tentatively unite to find a home in the lyrical power of Jay Electronica. “All I have in this world is my flag and my sword / I’m on the battlefield with the flag of my Lord,” rhymes Electronica in Fruit of the Spirit. “My shahada is my cantada / My heart chakra light up when I make sajda at fajr.”

While spiritual quests such as Jay Electronica’s aren’t as common in today’s hip-hop, the search hasn’t disappeared entirely. After all, the history of Black music shows us time and again how the journey seeking the divine produces such a profound musical experience.

And that’s what Pharoah Sanders leaves behind. His was an unyielding search for a way to transcend the secular ugliness of this world, and with his passing Sanders may have finally achieved that goal. Yet music – like all that is holy – never dies. And Pharoah’s saxophone will honk and shriek and envelop all our senses, reverberating to heaven and back, and maybe even beyond.

#Islam #Pharoah Sanders #how Pharoah Sanders found freedom and rebellion in Islam #Nation of Islam #5% Nation of Islam #Sunni Islam #Five Percenters #jay electronica #mos def #rakim big daddy kane #John Coltrane #St John Coltrane #Alice Coltrane

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roammania2023 · 1 year

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I woke up at 1pm. Housekeeping were banging on my door and I’d lost the morning. If I were to be professional I would say that I had jet lag. If I were to be honest, I had too many strawberry juices in the Old Town last night.

I walked the streets to find the closest thing to breakfast at 2pm and found a Starbucks. Making up for lost time I made my way to the Museum of National Art. Just outside the Old Town I stopped to admire a church. I decided to enter and was kindly welcomed in. I completed a questionnaire about trying to increase church tourism in Romania and explored the Orthodox Church for a while before striking up conversation with a lady volunteering and asked a few questions. She was more than happy to answer my questions and enlightened me on the history of religion in Romania. It turns out that most Christians in Romania are Greek Orthodox. Thinking about it, Greece isn’t that far away. The conversation was interesting but went on for an hour. An elderly lady who had come to pray was not happy about us speaking so loudly and said that she prayed for us or something of the like. Speaking quieter, I was educated on the history of the saints. Particularly focus was put on St Nicholas. Then the topic of music came up. At this point we left the church and stood on the steps, where she played me a hymn sung in Romanian on her phone and translated every line. The song lasted for 4 minutes and 44 seconds…We said our goodbyes and I made my way to the National Museum of Art. I learnt a lot about religion in Romania from our conversation and also discovered that most of the tourist attractions are located on one long road called Calea Victoriei.

Walking up Calea Victoriei, I discovered grand buildings from Bucharests golden era built in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It felt like Budapest or Paris. Well, it turns out that many of the buildings in Bucharest are designed by a French architects or at the very least inspired by them. This is why it is referred to as Little Paris.

I made it to the National Museum of Art which was located in one of the grand buildings. There were two sections to it, Romanian Art and European Art. The exhibits were impressive and I enjoyed my visit but I am mainly interested in 20th Century art. The art on display was predominantly from the 16th and 17th centuries.

A short walk up the road I found the Romanian Athenaeum, a Neoclassical concert hall built in 1888. The interior was one of the most beautiful things that I have ever seen. I took my seat and enjoyed watching and listening to a youth orchestra rehearsing. The acoustics were amazing!

I made my way back to my hotel to freshen up for the evening and stopped off at Carrefour on my way. Placing most of my purchases in my small brown bag, I ended up setting the alarm off and being stopped by the security guard. How would I convince someone who didn’t speak English that I hadn’t been shoplifting. Thankfully I had a receipt. After a unnecessary momentarily panic the guard waved me on my way. I made my way back to my hotel where I freshened up for the evening.

The Old Town on a Friday and Saturday night is absolute carnage. Like many Eastern European cities, it is somewhat spoilt by the vast amount of stag parties who dominate the city at weekends. Nevertheless it is a fun night out. Most people were in large groups making it hard to break into, so it’s not the best location for a solo traveller, but it was fun.

In the early hours I strolled back to my hotel. As soon as you get outside the Old Town you realise that everyone is poorly maintained and falling apart. Newly bricked roads suddenly turn into quick sand whilst the gradient of the pavements ascends and descends with the elevation of Everest. A few steps from my hotel I tripped over an unstable paving block and fell straight down. The situation wasn’t helped by the lack of lighting. I lay on the floor for a while waiting for the ref to signal foal play, but justice didn’t arrive. My only comfort came from a lady further down the street who called to me “are you ok”. I was ok, but I had experienced the greatest fall in Bucharest since the fall of communism.

#Bucharest #romania #travel #solo travel #eastern europe #travel 2023 #spring 2023 #citiesofeurope

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callistawolf · 1 year

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Thoughts for a New Year

Personally, 2022 wasn’t that bad. Not that great, of course, but really... not that bad. I listened to a lot of Taylor Swift. A lot. I watched a lot of tv, a lot of movies. Not a lot of reality tv because I got tired of it. We went on a family vacation. We planned another for 2023. I went on a girl’s trip with my favorite ladies to Lake Tahoe and had the time of my life. So yeah. Pretty good.

I also spent a lot of time scrolling TikTok. I probably spend more time there than I do on any social media platform. But I don’t like to make videos because... well, I have issues with videos and photos of myself. It’s the same reason I’ve never spent a lot of time on Instagram.

I pulled away from Twitter little by little all year long but in November, I more or less pulled the plug. And yes, for the same reason everyone else who left did it. It wasn’t a big loss for me at the time though, so maybe that’s just a sign it was past time. I put my account on private and deleted the app on my phone. I will still pop in to check on DMs from time to time or to search up specific news but scrolling my timeline the way I used to? Nah. Nothing really there for me anymore.

No judgement to anyone who has stuck around there, of course. We all doing different things and that’s makes us all so diverse and interesting.

I have started spending more time here on Tumblr though. That’s been a lot like coming home. Tumblr has always felt a bit like a warm hug. My dash looks a lot different from how it was years ago but there’s a lot of things that are very familiar too. I love the change. I embrace it.

About 24 hours (more or less) separated the top picture and this one here. Shortly after the top picture it started raining and then it didn’t stop until about 9 am this morning when it turned to snow. And now it hasn’t stopped doing THAT since. So that’s on late December/early January in Northern Nevada.

This is as much snow as we’ve seen since we moved to this house. At our old house this would be downright normal but that was because we lived at the junction of all the weird and/or crappy weather in the area. Now? We live in a dell. Or at least that’s what we call it. A little fertile crescent tucked into the eastern side of the valley and protected from a lot of the more severe weather while collecting all the runoff and growing the best trees. It’s not a bad trade off.

Today, however. SNOW.

I’m not mad about it. Anyhow. Where was I? Ah yes. So 2022 is ending and 2023 is about to darken our doors. What will the new year bring? For starters, a new refrigerator. Which I’m unreasonably excited about. We’re also going to need to buy a new patio cover because the rickety old one that came with the house when we bought it COLLAPSED today under the weight of snow. I’d also like us to get a new fireplace because, shock of all shocks, we didn’t replace the old one when it busted early last spring and winter without a fireplace is a little less wonderful, I’m finding.

2023 is also going to bring me MORE Taylor Swift. Yes, I got Eras tickets. I’m going, y’all. And I can’t think about it too much or else I start getting really excited. I got some really good tickets. You’ll see. I’m over the MOON.

Most of all, what I want from 2023 is peace. I would love a largely quiet year where not much anything happens. Wouldn’t that be a nice change of pace? I think we deserve it after the last few years. Fingers crossed, right?

Happy New Year, everyone. Much love.

#it's me hi i wrote this post its me #2022 #2023 #Happy New Year

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kozyndan · 1 year

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kozyndan Secret Lair drops for Magic the Gathering!

Magic the Gathering has released two sets of cards designed by us as Secret lair drops that are only available to order for one month - December 5th 2022-January 6th 2023.

Get them HERE!

The art director at Wizards of the Coast first emailed us about doing some cards for Magic:the Gathering @mtgsecretlair way back May 2020. We were in limbo at the time having come to Japan the before the first lockdown in Los Angeles to finish work on our house here in Yamanashi, but coming to the realization that maybe we would be in Japan for a long time.

We didn’t really get to work right away - at the time we thought maybe we should learn how to grow our own food in case shit got worse! So we spent most of our days outside and away from our sketchbooks. But eventually toward the end of summer, I finally sat down and really had a look at the cards that had been settled on and just started sketching. This first sketch came out pretty fast and by the time

We fleshed out this first illustration, 8 months into what was supposed to be a 2.5 month long trip to Japan, the overall theme for the whole set of cards started to take root as we settled into actually living in the Japanese countryside, here where kozy was born and raised. We’d make an homage to our immediate surroundings, to Kozy’s home prefecture Yamanashi, and to the traditions of Japanese ukiyo-e art that have always informed our work together. Planting the world of historic Japan into the world of Magic:the Gathering (or is it vice versa?) to make “Another Story”.

Instead of the traditional Western-style swords and sorcery theme, we opted for vibes more reminiscent of Edo era and for the most part tried to limit ourselves more or less to coloring that could have been achieved by master of ukiyo-e printmaking techniques of the time. The connections vary from small details to quite specific overall scenes. The overcoat of the main Llanowar Elf bears the same dove and bamboo crest as the one on our kura (home storage building), and is set in a bamboo forest much like the massive grove that runs along the creek in our backyard. The Mountain card depicts a view from above the village of Hirabayashi, Yamanashi, where kozy has gone to fire her ceramic sculptures in traditional. Wood-firing kilns for the last 3 years.

If you are a Magic player or a kozyndan fan (or both!), consider pre-ordering a set!

#magicthegathering #magicsecretlair #magiccardart #mtgsecretlair #kozyndan #landscard #illustration #ukiyo-e #Japan

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