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yuyuswrld · 5 months

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O Captain, My Captain

Series Intro

characters: various aot boys x reader

genre: SMAU with writing, romance, smut, angst

for my marco fans, there’s a little sneak peak at him at the end :)

notes: this series will be 18+ even though this introduction does not have any smut in it. please do not interact with me if you are under 18. all characters in this series are over the age 18.

You learned that Eren Yeager was a stone wall incredibly quickly. It was a shock to you, considering how popular he was despite being unable to converse with someone he didn’t know well. You’d have steered away from him forever if it had been up to you. However, knowing your luck, you had to see him every day after all your classes were over.

It was a slip of judgment to allow yourself to be recruited as the next manager of the volleyball team. Sure, you had watched a couple of games here and there for school spirit, not to mention copious amounts of alcohol at the after-parties. But when one of your professors approached you on your way out of class, describing a great way to amp up your resume and get all-expenses-paid vacations, becoming a sports team manager was the last thing you expected.

“It’s kind of funny, actually,” Connie starts to explain after you walk into the gym, noting the tasks you'll be in charge of before you commit to the offer. “Our old manager, Hanna, got pregnant with one of my homies. Now she’s off giving birth and whatnot, so we’ve been down a manager.”

“So what does a manager typically do?” You question, shifting the conversation slightly to get to the point. The more you look at the different stereotypical characters running across the courts and the loud smacks that echoed throughout the gym, the more your desire to take the opportunity dwindles. Sure, cute boys and another achievement on your resume are great or whatever, but you really try to avoid getting committed to sports – especially after crashing and burning last time. You shudder as a chill runs down your spine at the thought before Connie starts talking again.

“Oh, um. I won't lie, I honestly have no idea what she did, either.” You stare at Connie in silence, cocking an eyebrow in disbelief.

“Uh, is there someone who does?” You ask. It's getting difficult to ignore your doubts about your decision to come here.

“Yeah, I think so. Let me go grab ‘im.” Connie jogs further down the court, interrupting someone as they finish their current spike. But as your eyes focus in on who was walking closer, you knew you we’re going to have the displeasure of meeting Eren Yeager.

Connie runs over to drag his brown-haired teammate over, who takes his sweet time walking over after sparing you only a glance. He is good looking, sure – but you aren't fooled by appearances, and you've heard far too much about him to even remotely consider him attractive from listening to Petra gossiping about him. She had a big mouth and somehow knew everything about everyone, the good and the bad, but it came in handy when it came to staying in the loop at school. Eren had a nasty habit of cursing out any girl who made an advance on him, citing his career and how a ‘bitch’ would only get in the way of it.

You think back to the memory of Petra sipping her drink, watching Eren walk out of school and head towards his Hellcat in the parking lot. You two had been sitting at the school’s cafe as you enjoyed your “study” date, which had inevitably just turned into a gossip session.

“You see that guy? That’s Eren Yeager. He’s on our volleyball team and he’s a fucking psycho.” She'd rolled her eyes as she recounted the gossip she had gotten from her friend. “Apparently Mina – y’know the one from our bio class? They hooked up at a party and afterwards he accused her of trying to sabotage his volleyball career. He even called her a psycho. That’s not even the only time he’s done it apparently. I know he’s cute, but stay away unless you want to end up on a true crime podcast.”

You brace yourself for the upcoming conversation as he nears.

“You’re going to be the new manager?” Eren says in a monotone voice, as if being forced by his mother to make small talk with a distant aunt. The displeasure of being interrupted is written all over his face.

“No – well –” You start before Eren cuts you off without hesitation.

“Usually Hanna prepares the towels, fills the bottles with water, and mops the gym after practice. Coach Levi's pretty anal about the gym being clean, so pay attention to that. You’ll want to learn about formations and strategies, too; Hanna fucking sucked when it came to game sense. You’ll work with the sports director Erwin to set up practice matches and travel plans. There’s probably more, but that’s your job, not mine.” He jogs back over to do spiking drills without another word. Your jaw slackens, scoffing at the attitude. What a little shit. Connie shrugs at you in an I’m pretty sure that’s right way. You smile at him, politely dismissing yourself before trudging your way back to your professor’s office.

“Absolutely not,” you say, dramatically sighing to emphasize the sheer disappointment you feel from the experience. “I only talked to Connie and Eren, which was already too much. You’d have better luck with a dog trainer or circus clown to manage them.” Your shoulders drop, but you prepare to defend yourself as to why.

“Please,” Professor Hange begs, their eyes beading with desperation. “I was the one who introduced the previous manager to the guy that got her pregnant. On accident, of course, but they’re totally on my tail about getting a new manager to fill the spot!” They spin around haphazardly before collapsing on their standing desk in an unconvincing sadness. “I’ll even see if they’ll pay you as if you were working a normal student job.”

You internally cringe, but are now forced to consider the prospects. Chewing on your lip, you respond. You know if you look back on this moment at any point, you’d want to go back in time and slap yourself.

“If you can make it a paid position, I’ll do it.”

Unsurprisingly, Professor Hange got their way in the end.

next: part 1, reiner x reader

#aot #aot x reader #eren yeager #eren jaeger #eren x reader #eren smut #attack on titan #aot fanfiction #attack on titan fanfiction #anime smut #marco bott #marco bott x reader #smau #aot smau

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mcskullmun · 1 month

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What's red valley about

*takes you gently by the shoulder and looks deep into your eyes somewhere vaguely near your face*

Buddy I am so glad you asked.

In the hopes of this essay answer convincing you to listen to Red valley it will be relatively spoiler free and ambiguous. Full disclosure I am incredibly bias towards this show because it currently has a death-grip on my brain, mind and soul.

Broadly, Red Valley is a fiction podcast, similar to tma, spanning two and a third seasons plus three fun little mini series. I say "a third" because season three is split into three parts, and we currently only have the first. The second is due to be released later this year I believe.

The premise behind Red Valley, in a sentence is, "In all the sci-fi shows you see, where people can go into pods and wake up 10,000 years later just fine, how did we get there?" It's about the messy stage of theoretical science being applied in unethical ways, in the hopes of changing the world. Its about the early development (and testing) of cryonic preservation tech.

It follows two main protagonists, Warren Godby and Gordon Porlock (who are widely shipped throughout the fandom, though nothing is canon yet) as they investigate, and eventually endure the Red Valley seed vault. Although, as it becomes rapidly apparent, "There aren't a lot of seeds in the Red Valley Seed Vault". The show deals with themes of isolation, memory loss, distrust and mental deterioration. But also friendship, endurance, and uh... weird cruises.

It's characters include:

Karen Godby. Ngl I hate this bitch. She is Warren's controlling, abusive wife and she deserves everything that's coming to her. She uses concern as a way to guilt Warren, and seems generally dismissive of his concerns and feelings.

Aubrey Wood. Initially presented solely through tapes, she fits the "mad scientist" archetype. After something goes horribly wrong with her work, we get to see more sides of her. By the end of season three part one, she is an incredibly well fleshed out character with uh... quite the name for herself. She's also in a canon lesbian relationship, which admittedly does not get enough love here on tumblr.

Bryony Halbech. Cunt/aff. She is the mad scientist. She is the driving force behind the Red Valley project and truly the antagonist of the podcast. In so far as this podcast has one, at least. One brilliant thing about her, is that while she presents as your typical, "heartless, mind over emotions, complete control villain" this is a front that she wears, to hide how excited she is about what she does. How much she cares about her work. She is a "truly evil" villain who still maintains layers and depth.

Clive Schill. Now, if your asking me about Red Valley it's more than likely because you've seen the truly embarrassing affect Mr. Schill has had on me. If you want an in depth character analysis feel free to scroll back on my blog or look for asks I have sent to other fans, there's a LOT. In short, he is an irritating embodiment of capitalism with a flair for creative insults. He's like if Elias Bouchard was a fortnight adult/pos. But his character has so much more to it than that! He loves his family, he is deathly afraid of being forgotten, ect. ect. I'll spare you the essay. He's a morally fucked, incredibly likeable man. He's also responsible for the piece of official Redval merch named "Piss Mug" and Red Valley's sugar daddy.

And for the main events,

Warren Godby: He's just a Guy. Real wet cat of a man. Bitter about his place in the world with no idea how he got there. Of course that's not uh entirely true but just... just listen to the podcast.

Gordon Porlock: Fucking insane/pos. I mean not insane insane, but he is a conspiracy theory, nerdy redditor who canonically has no friends. He's also gay for Warren. He is a very interesting character in that he is Obsessed with cryonic preservation, and seems entirely unfazed by the more gory aspects. He is on the "good team", but isn't vastly different to the Redval scientists.

The podcast itself mostly takes place within Red Valley, a remote and seemingly abandoned research facility in The Middle Of Nowhere, Scotland. This is where some of season 1 and almost all of season 2 takes place, and where isolation is a heavy theme. I personally love it, its got great Vibes and possesses the perfect spooky atmosphere.

Season three is all over the place and follows (Soft, slightly irritated sigh) Clive Schill. It's a wonderful dive into his character, and the attitudes of the common man and the rich towards cryonic preservation. 10/10, no notes. The frogs are great.

Overall the voice acting and writing is amazing. At no point did I feel it dragged, and while I was initially confused when Warren and Gordon were talking (similar accents) they got easier to distinguish real fast. It's funny and sad, perfect combo. There's also some... gnarly sound affects.

Pay Attention To The Content Warnings. For The Love Of Schill Pay Attention To The Content Warnings. Please. There are some pretty heavy moments that took me completely off guard, big mistake.

Final notes, you will see me shipping Clive Schill and Warren Godby a lot. THIS WILL NOT MAKE SENSE WHEN (if) YOU LISTEN TO RED VALLEY. They are, at first glance, the two least shippable characters. I don't mean like Lonelyeyes crackship where it kinda makes sense, I mean AWFUL. TRULY DISGUSTING. My fic, "And I think we're all glad it wasn't me" explains everything, but contains just so many major spoilers for season 1. Just trust me, I'm not mad. The fic explains everything. I promise.

Anyway uh feel free to ask more or talk about it if you decide to listen. I uh. am normal about this podcast. As you can probably tell.

~ Peter

#red valley #long post #cult imma be honest you do not want to know how excited i was when i saw this ask #answered asks

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mcl38 · 1 year

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i know im late to the party but here are some personal highlights from the tom daley podcast lando was on last week:

lando says out of the four siblings the two girls are the 'brains' of the family (rip oli), he mentions cisca (jr) specifically as 'clever'

the reason he quit horseriding is because he's scared of heights and horseback was too high up off the ground for him as a kid

his dad has apparently had a passion for motorsport since childhood, and at the beginning lando and oli doing karting was a method to engage with their dad's passion

he likes that there are a lot of factors to control in f1, which means perfection is very difficult to achieve but always the aim

he talks at length about the chicken and pineapple wrap he always has before races, mostly because tom seems really confused by the pineapple (lando immediately dispels any rumours of him enjoying pineapple on pizza) (join the dark side lando)

tom: "and what happens if the chef's not there and you don't get the wrap?" / lando, without hesitation: "i don't race"

he compares the machinery he uses for his neck workouts to 'something out of 50 shades of grey' (which earns a laugh out of tom, who tries to build on the joke, but it fizzles out immediately because lando clearly has not seen the movies)

he hates not being in control (eg, being a passenger in the car)

he failed his theory driving test (i knew this but i'm still writing it down bc it IS funny). he once again reiterates that he wasn't brainy enough

he gets scared of driving on the road, because cars go in both directions and also because most people 'shouldn't have a licence' (says mr i failed my theory norris)

he characterises himself as a team player and says he wants to win for the team

he thinks of himself as having a good reputation in terms of getting along with his teammate

he says f1 has pushed him to be 'selfish' - ie to be clear about what he wants and needs out of the people around him, something he's not naturally good at

lando feels particularly bad thinking about his mum reading clickbait articles that frame quotes he's said in a really bad light

"her name is cisca... i just call her mum" [tom laughing]

tom gives lando a knitting kit with a pattern for a hat. lando says "damn... i'm gonna be fully kitted out.... knitted out"

all in all its a very pleasant interview and i really recommend it. tom is a great host and he really manages to keep lando comfortable, which means throughout you can really tell they're having fun talking to each other

#lando norris #f1 #formula one #tom daley #i just wanted to have this on my blog ngl. ive also not rly seen ppl talking abt it outside of the giving thanks thing #like the bit he dedicated to his mum #anyways. have this folks #lando #mine #100

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macabresymphonies · 3 months

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Who are the major players in The Magnus Protocol?

The more we delve into the season, the more it, becomes apparent that alchemy is a big theme this season. If you haven't already, read more on my theory how The Magnus Protocol is about a race between alchemists if you want more context on what I will be talking about in the post.

It's all speculation, but cross referencing the Klaus sheet from the ARG, which is an excel sheet containing other incidents we don't know much about (it's also all in german, so that's fun), there seems to be three major "named" players in the sheet Lady M., Mr M. and Mr B.

They are only attributed few incidents, but combining historical data and few times location is mentioned we can speculate on their identity assuming they are all supposed to be famous alchemists.

I will also mention, the idea that alchemists gainied immortality and are living up to today is not new, Nicolas Flamel and John Dee are both told to have gained immortality and hiding among us today.

Lady M.

There isn't many female achemists throughout history (because if men play with chemicals it's called "alchemical pursuit" while if a woman does so it's suddenly "witchcraft" am I right?), but one of the most prominent ones is also one of the oldest ones out there: Mary the Prophetess.

She's basically the grandmother of all alchemy. Ancient, as even in the oldest sources of alchemy from the 4th century she's described as have been living in the past. Her being involved in an incident in London is not as weird considering that her home is probably long gone anyway. She's also only one where date of incident was mentioned and it's only few months before the events of the podcast begun.

Mr M.

Involved in an incident in Berlin he's to be assumed of German origin and crossreferencing famous alchemists I think I've got an absolutely perfect fit: Albertus Magnus.

Literally named "Doctor universalis" for being a German scholar knowledgable about and cataloguing basically everything. Many people think Magnus Institue is related to Jonah Magnus, but let's remember this universe is much more similar to ours. Maybe Magnus Institute and Magnus Protocol aren't about Jonah Magnus, but relate to Albertus Magnus instead. Category number in the incident is 2, which by my previous theory would mean it involved the matters of The Mind.

Mr B.

Based on Somerset and the fact this person deals with The Soul (1) and to less of a degree The Mind (2) I think the pick is pretty apparent: Roger Bacon

Named Doctor Mirabilis, "the wonderful teacher", born near Ilchester, Somerset, outside of being one the great English alchemists he's well known for two things - he has placed considerable emphasis on the study of nature through empiricism (and many experiments) and that he was involved in creation of the brazen head, a necromantic device that would answear questions, supposedly through an entraped human soul. Both of these align well and to me, him being born in Somerset basically confirms it.

It's worth mentioning, Mr B. was the only person mentioned to have created a project with a rank S, meaing he's probably in posession of the most powerful item in The Magnus Protocol universe.

#the magnus protocol #tmagp #magnus pod #tmagp theory #tmagp arg #tmagp spoilers

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holdharmonysacred · 1 year

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So, you wanna prep for Lostbelt 6 by reading a bunch of fairy lore for background information. Luckily for you, I’m a turbo nerd when it comes to this particular brand of folklore. In this post I’ll be compiling links to assorted text and audio sources of information and entertainment related to all the real-world fairy lore that pops up throughout the chapter. I’m gonna try to avoid just wikipedia links as much as possible, so some of the text sources are gonna be a little dense, but that’s ye olde texts for you. This will be semi-ongoing as things pop up, so you can keep an eye out if you want!

Note: I’ll try to keep the spoilers to a minimum, but there will be possible spoilers as to what’s in the chapter ahead, so watch out!

Without further ado, here’s the list under the cut:

HUGE MASSIVE CONTENT WARNING: Many of these texts are going to have adult themes and triggering content, particularly sexual assault, rape, and general non-consent in romantic or sexual relationships. I’m going to start including individual warnings for texts where I know it comes up, but even if I don’t note it, please proceed with caution and take care!

A Dictionary of Fairies: Hobgoblins, Brownies, Bogies, and Other Supernatural Creatures by Katharine Mary Briggs - Exactly what it sounds like on the tin. Here’s where you can read about all the different fairies and creatures that tend to be more in short folktales, from baobhan sith to barghests to Ainsel and beyond, all in alphabetical order. If you find a fairy name you want to look up, it’s probably going to be in here somewhere.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare - I mean c’mon man. C’mon. There could always be a first for someone though, so if you are that someone - this is the most famous work featuring Oberon the fairy king, and the big one that F/GO and basically all other post-Billy Shakes media works pulls from. If you’d rather watch a staging of the play instead of read a script, here are some performances by Rice University and the Palm Beach Shakespeare Festival, and if those two in particular aren’t your jam I guarantee you there’s going to be a staging somewhere you can watch. As a bonus, here’s an absolutely lovely musical arrangement of “Philomel, With Melody” (AKA the lullaby Titania’s fairy servants sing to her) by the band Caprice. It’s not the most relevant, I just want to share it because it’s nice. WARNING: The crux of the play revolves around a love potion plot, so there will be themes of manipulation, non-consent, and potential sexual assault played for laughs and romance. It’s arguably mild compared to some of the other texts on here, but I would still be careful!

Translations of Melusina (Melusine) stories by D. L. Ashliman - D. L. Ashliman’s got a massive online treasure trove of folktales and folktexts, it’s always a fun time to go on a rabbit hole through his(their?) site. If you want stuff specifically relevant to Melusine though, here’s the page for her.

Versions of the Tam Lin ballad compiled at Tam Lin Balladry - this one’s going to be relevant because of the extremely high likelihood that NA will follow the JP merch labels and localize the “Fairy Knight” title as Tam Lin. Because it’s a ballad, there’s plenty of audio versions put to song, the most textually accurate one I can currently find being by Bob Hay & The Jolly Beggars. Besides that however, there are also versions by Steeleye Span, Fairport Convention, Tricky Pixie, and my personal favorite, the one by Anaïs Mitchell of Hadestown fame and Jefferson Hamer. If you want a more standard audio adaptation, the Tales of Britain and Ireland podcast will have you covered. WARNING: The start of the ballad is explicitly about sexual assault, with Tam Lin having been a rapist prior to meeting Janet. Janet’s own encounter is usually portrayed as consensual, she’s apparently a weirdo who heard the warnings and went “So that means FREE SEX?”, but some later versions do change her encounter into rape as a bizarre way of censoring her having sex out of wedlock. In addition, the ballad deals with themes of abortion. Basically, if any of this stuff is a trigger for you, I would proceed with extreme caution if you choose to listen or read.

Habetrot and Scantlie Mab - an archived version of a fairy tale about Habetrot. For similar stories, search for stuff under the Aarne-Thompson-Uther index type 501, “The Three Spinning Old Women”.

Historia Regum Britanniae (The History of the Kings of Britain) by Geoffrey of Monmouth - Now this one may not seem immediately obvious in its relevance outside of “hey look, Arthuriana!”, but trust me, This Is A Surprise Tool That Will Help Us Later. The relevant parts are going to start at Book 6, with Vortigern’s shenanigans. There’s also a podcast audio adaptation by Myths & Legends, split into part A, part B, and part C, if you would prefer that.

Official website for Knocknarea, or Cnoc na Riabh - Knocknarea is a big ol’ hill in Ireland with a bunch of Neolithic cairns on it, the most famous of which is claimed to be Queen Medb’s tomb. For anything else related to Medb, go read the Tain.

The Wikipedia page for Cernunnos - this is the point where I have to give up on not linking wikipedia, alas, as the sources here are little too tiny and scattered. Cernunnos is a Celtic god from Gaul, he’s got horns, we’ve got his name and some archaeological depictions of him, and that’s basically it, because unfortunately no stories about him survived. If I can find a better source about him to link, I’ll drop it here.

Le Morte d’Arthur by Sir Thomas Mallory, Volume I and Volume II - Not including this initially was a huge oversight on my part, but this is pretty much The text for general Arthuriana and one of the really big ones that Fate takes influence from. You can read this for stuff about Morgause and Morgan, but it’s also just good to have on hand for anything with the Round Table in general.

I’ve also got a bunch of podcast episodes that don’t really fit in with any of the above that I’ll list here if anyone wants more dank audio content:

Robin Goodfellow: His Mad Pranks and Merry Jests by Tales of Britain and Ireland - Relevant if you want some alternative tales of Puck and Oberon. WARNING: The episode itself covers its warnings pretty good, but before you click - there’s a lot of adult content in this one, including the thumbnail image. Most of the stories adapted are going to get pretty bawdy even at best, and there’s one that explicitly involves an attempted rape that the titular character thwarts. Proceed with caution, and also maybe don’t listen in public.

Black Dogs and Englishmen: Black Shuck in English Folklore and The Barguest: Demon Dog, Silly Sprite or Spectral Hound?, both by Fabulous Folklore with Icy - Listen to these two if you want more info on barghests.

Scottish Halloween & Vampire Fairy Witches by Stories of Scotland - Listen to this if you want a retelling of a story involving the baobhan sith along with other Scottish traditions!

And that’s all I’ve got for right now! If I find any more relevant sources, or if someone directs me to said sources, I’ll be sure to add links to this post. Until then, happy reading and listening, and I hope everyone has fun with LB6!

#fate grand order #note: from what i've seen i'm like 90% sure katharine briggs is a perfectly respectable scholar of fairy lore #but if it turns out there's something wild i don't know then at the very least she's probably nasu's source #everything else is as legit as I can get right now #briggs is the most comprehensive of the bunch so if you only have time for one i'd recommend her book #but there's nothing wrong with dipping into a bunch of the others i've provided

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maningning · 2 years

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In a recent episode of the podcast Busty Asian Beauties, me and Crystal finally got to discuss asian fetishization in supernatural. We went into a pretty long discussion on how asian fetishization came to be, and why it is bad and why Supernatural pushing it for as long as they did is actively harmful to many asian people both inside and outside the US. At first, I honestly had apprehensions on whether this discussion was even necessary because I was under the assumption that everyone was just aware of these things, but apparently not!

If you are one of those people still wondering why asian fetishization is actively harmful, the portion of the episode linked above where we discuss it goes from 54:08 - 1:15:09. I have included a transcript of this conversation under the cut.

Note that we are not academics on this matter, and most of what we say are from our own readings and personal observations. Still, I would appreciate if you use this discussion as a starting point to your own awareness into why asian fetishization in supernatural is bad, and why you should work on making the fandom a more inclusive space for us asian people, as well as other people of color.

Here are some further readings that we included in the episode description as well.

White Sexual Imperialism: A Theory of Asian Feminist Jurisprudence by Sunny Woan

Converging Stereotypes in Racialized Sexual Harassment by Sumi K. Cho

"My Body Was Not Mine, but the U.S. Military’s" Inside the disturbing sex industry thriving around America’s bases by David Vin

G: We're here.

C: So Sam opens his laptop. And he goes like, "Were you on my computer? Because, like, it's frozen now. On bustyasianbeauties.com!" [laughs] Okay. So-

G: Yeah.

C: This is like- this is a pretty like, fleeting mention, but it definitely- it starts a trend throughout the show, so we are gonna like, talk about it in depth here.

G: I would say Busty Asian Beauties is the longest and biggest running gag in the show.

C: Yeah.

G: So yeah. This is gonna be quite long. Well, I mean who cares. Strap in, though. [laughs] We're gonna have a discussion about Asian fetishization.

C: Yeah. Oh god, how do we start? We have our Google Doc, but I don't know who's starting. [laughs]

G: You can start.

C: Okay, so, Asian fetishization is a pretty common thing in the West. And generally, like, most of the literature out there and most of the anecdotal evidence out there is more about East Asian and Southeast Asian women, so generally, when people talk about Asian fetishes or "yellow fever," like, it's about that. There are like, different issues that other like, Asian groups face. But yeah, so generally, white people have fetishes for Asian women where, like, the traits that they generally think are common to all Asian women or find attractive in Asian women are like, ideas that they're docile or submissive, but like, really good at sex.

G: Yeah.

C: There's like, stereotypes about like, Asian women having like, really tight vaginas or something? And then, like, the physical traits that they often hone in on are like, daintyness or pale skin, and like, things that sort of verge on like, hairlessness and things that are more common with like, prepubescent women. So yeah, that's like, generally, what the fetish is.

G: Yeah. I would say that leans more on the East Asian side. In the Southeast Asian side, like, it leans more on exoticism, right? Like, "Oh, this is an exotic woman who can do exotic things." Yeah.

So let's do a little view on the history of why this is. Like, why is Asian fetishism a thing? It all comes back down to imperialism, you guys. [both laugh] This is where it all comes back to. And, I'm using like, broad terms here. Like, "the West," "the East," but basically, like, I'm talking like, white European and, later on, like, white American and American people view like, Asian people as like, a conquest, right? Like, there's a lot of instances of military attacks and conquest in the Asian geographical area. And with war, there usually comes a lot of like, violence against women, specifically. Because women are seen as spoils of war, and women are seen as like, the reward, in a way, for like, men who go and conquer places. So the idea of, you know, violence against women and rape and imperialism all go hand-in-hand. And this is further exacerbated by a lot of colonialism being based on the idea that, like, the white man is helping uncivilized people. So it comes off from that idea to like, "we're actually doing these people a favor by doing these things to them."

C: Yeah.

And yeah, a lot of this- like, basically a lot of like, American and like, Western anxieties about military power in Japan and other parts of East Asia. Like, as a reaction to that, there was like, this feminization of the East where, like, in order to feel like they could conquer it more easily, they like, emasculated Asian men- which actually like, led to like, a new wave of homophobia in China, like because they were like, "We have to show that we're not sissies!" But anyway, like, back to the general thing- yeah, so emasculation of Asian men and then like, oversexualization of Asian women, because, as you mentioned, like, women are considered spoils of war. Like, dominating a woman, like in Asia, through rape or through like, some kind of consensual sexual intercourse is considered like, domination of like, the men who like, own her or whatever. I mean, you see this concept in like, the "I'm gonna fuck your wife" jokes too, right? Like, that's the way you show your dominance over like, an enemy force.

G: Yeah, you use their women.

C: Yeah. There are a lot of examples of this throughout history. For example in World War II, I feel like we've all heard about like, Japanese comfort women, which was when the Japanese army would either like, deceive women and girls into like, joining brothels or like, literally kidnap them from their homes. And these were like- they could be like, like, 13-year-olds, you know? And like, force them to provide sexual services to Japanese soldiers. What isn't mentioned as much as that is US soldiers in the area also like, used these stations, like, they would pay to rape these women as well. And like, there's like, in general- there has been like, a lot of like, thriving sex industries with like, people who are like, coerced into being there that are like, still near military bases today. And, I mean, yeah, so like, a lot of that shaped- like, that shaped like, Western perceptions of Asian women as like, always being willing, and it also- people were also more willing to do those things because of previous conceptions of Asian women that were formed through like, literature.

G: Yeah. For example, in, I guess the United States, one of the most prominent portrayals of geisha culture in Japan is the book Memoirs of a Geisha, which is a book that was written by a white man. And the research that he did on the book was he interviewed this woman who worked as a geisha in Japan. And she actually sued him.

C: Yeah, she sued him for breach of contract and defamation of character.

G: Even in media portrayal, like, for example, in movies or television, there's a lot of portrayal of Asian women being, like, submissive or such. A very specific thing that's happening is, for example, portrayal of robots as like, specifically Asian, like Asian women. At the top of my head, like, Ex Machina does this, where an Asian woman is a robot and she is basically like, she has no lines, and she's used for sex and for services. Meanwhile, like, another robot that is a white woman actually has agency and shit. You know, s tuff like that.

C: Yeah. And also back to your point about like, white people viewing themselves as civilized and viewing themselves, like, going after Asian women as like, civilizing the uncivilized, I think we see this in, like, Madama Butterfly and like, Miss Saigon, which is based off of that. Where it's like, "Oh, this poor languishing Asian woman who wants- like, she's in such a bad situation, and then this white soldier, like, comes over and like saves her for a little bit, and then he abandons her and she kills herself." [laughs] Like- it's- what a narrative. [G laughs]

And, okay, yeah, so Miss Saigon is set during the Vietnam War, during which there were like, a lot of relations between American soldiers stationed there and Vietnamese women. And, you know, like I'm sure some of it was consensual, but you know, the power dynamic of you being like, a white soldier stationed in this country where like, you know you could like, do anything you want to these people and, like-

G: Yes.

C: - the courts are not gonna go after you for it is just- it's not good. Yeah, I think this is where I'm gonna recommend When Heaven and Earth Changed Places, which is a memoir written by a woman who was like, around during the Vietnam War, and there's a movie called Heaven and Earth that's based off of it, which I watched in class, and I thought was like, pretty good. It's just about her experience. It's like, a semi-autobiographical thing about her experience during the Vietnam War, where she does end up like, marrying an American military contractor, and it doesn't deal directly with Asian fetishes, but I think it gives you a good idea of sort of the environment that these women were in during the time and the ways that even a relationship that seems like it's good and is like, "saving" you from this war-torn country can like, be very bad for you as well.

I mean, so like, all of this has had lasting effects. Also, going back to sort of before all this wartime stuff, something that people don't know about very much in US history is that before The Chinese Exclusion Act, there was the Page Act of 1875, which was a reaction to Chinese immigration into the US, but specifically like, immigration of Chinese women. I think the text of the act itself was just like, "Don't let, like, undesirable immigrants in," and that's defined as- the only part of that definition that got enforced was like, East Asian women who they suspect were coming over to do sex work. And, I mean, this was sort of just based off of the idea that, like, the Chinese women coming over were immoral, they were going to like, lead white men into sin. There was also, like, people saying that they carried like, different germs and diseases that like, could infect the American population. And the whole process of like, inspecting a woman to make sure she wasn't coming over to work as a sex worker was like, extremely invasive, and they didn't- they basically didn't let anyone in. And I think this shows both, like, the already existing concepts that like, these exotic Asian women, were super sexual and were like, just here for you to do whatever you want with them-

G: Yeah, it shows you that the way Asian women are treated is bad, both for outside of the US and inside of the US, which is a trend that is still present to this day.

C: A few examples of this, like, continuing into the modern day that you can see is, for example, I know there have been studies that have shown that like, one-third of like, porn in the "torture" category features, like, a white man torturing an Asian woman. And like, there's like, a really big sex tourism industry in some Asian countries, such as Thailand, so like, there are like, white men from the West going there to have sex with like, people who might have been coerced into being there, might be underage, etc. And like, yeah, generally, like, the idea that Asian women are submissive, you can do anything to them, and like, that's why they're attractive has also shown up in like, some studies done on dating apps that show that, like, basically, every race of man besides Asian men, like, have like, a marked preference for swiping yes on Asian women. And then, obviously, I think the most recent, like, big thing about this was the shooting in Atlanta in 2021 of like, several people at Asian-owned massage parlors, specifically done by a man who said that he was doing it because he had like, a sex addiction that went against his religion, and this was his way of fucking coping with that, I guess? Like, I don't think that it's a coincidence that he was targeting like, Asian massage parlors, especially because he's mentioned that in the past, he's gone to massage parlors for like, sex when he was like, breaking his like, celibacy or whatever, and like, a lot of these massage parlors are operated by Asian people and, like, involve like, sexual favors.

G: To wrap this up, I want to talk about the- not as recent as 2021, but this was from 2014- it was a case in the Philippines where a US marine soldier murdered a Filipino trans woman who he was having sex with. And it's a very significant case because it was the first homicide case that was actually, you know, pushed through, and a guy was convicted for. I mean-

C: An American soldier-

G: A US soldier was convicted for after like, a visiting forces agreement was signed back in 1998. And the agreement, basically, is that, like, soldiers can come into the Philippines- American soldiers can come into the Philippines and do trust exercises with our soldiers from the Philippines, and all that, which, you know [laughs], is a sign of US imperialism that- Overall, the case was very significant for many reasons, including that, and also the fact that Jennifer Laude was a trans woman, and the guy used that fact to lower his sentence from murder to homicide and all that. But, basically, he was convicted, but last year, or was it 2020? But pandemic era, he was released by our government. And, of course, they don't say this explicitly, but everyone knows that he was released because it's a good bargaining chip. Because, you know, pandemic time is very difficult, we need those vaccines, I guess, let's let the American man out. And also, like, throughout this entire process of getting this guy convicted, the US did not want to give him up at all, and it was like, a real battle to get him convicted, so the fact that it was- like, he was just given up back to the United States- that's the reality of the situation. Like, imperialism, colonialism, neocolonialism, sexism, racism, these are all tied up together, and these are not things that we can extract from each other, and Asian fetishizism- is that a term?

C: [laughs] Sure.

G: Asian fetishism adds on to that, like, contributes to that, and is caused by that. So yeah. It's a complicated topic, and we've talked for a while, but we will still be linking some things in the description if you want to read more stuff about this.

C: Yeah.

G: It's just a conversation we wanted to have, especially with the title of our podcast, and-

C: [laughs] Yeah. I guess, just to to mention one more thing, if you guys are like, "How is- like, you've gone, like, way too far from the topic. How is this related to Dean's Asian fetish?" Remember when John Winchester volunteered to fight in the Vietnam War?

G: [laughing] Yeah!

C: 'Cause, like, when we're talking about like, these atrocities, and like, these stereotypes coming from like, US involvement- US military involvement in Asia, like, John Winchester in the world of Supernatural was part of that. He either did those things or was friends with people who did those things. And also like, Sam and Dean were both born pretty close to the Vietnam War era as well. So like, if you think that John wouldn't have passed those ideas down or that the general environment they grew up in wouldn't have passed those ideas down, like, you're wrong. Like, yeah, no [laughs], this is like, really directly related to like, Dean’s Asian fetish, actually.

G: Yeah. A couple episodes back, you- Crystal- you said, like, "I wonder, like, where did Dean get these ideas of Asian fetishization? I wonder what kind of magazines John had under his bed?"

#spn #supernatural

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vroom63 · 2 years

Text

Aperol Aftermath // M.A

Warnings: language, smut, nsfw, mature, alcohol

Summary: you and Marcus have both had enough

Word count: 1.9k

Author's note: So that new Screaming Meals pod did unspeakable things to me. Enjoy

You couldn’t take it anymore. The way he was sitting with his legs spread wide, head thrown back in laughter as James went on about how attractive he found Charles. It was driving you absolutely insane. Hot and bothered didn’t even begin to describe how you felt. It was no secret that you found Marcus attractive, but something about the carefree laughter as he waffled absolute shit with his friends somehow magnified the effect.

You had been best friends since you were kids, following him to Europe after high school and taking on the role as his social media manager after university. Life with Marcus was filled with joy and laughter and endless adventures. It was a life you never dreamed possible. The catch? Trying to keep a lid on your feelings. Trying to ignore the twinge of jealousy whenever he flirted with someone. Trying to convince yourself that you could be happy with someone else. And now you were standing behind the camera in some hotel in Budapest, imagining what it would be like to be straddling those powerful thighs, letting your thoughts run wild as he filmed another podcast episode.

“Peach?” his voice calling you roused you from your thoughts. You had no idea how long you had been staring, but your skin felt like it was on fire. Marcus had gotten up, now standing in front of you trying to catch your attention. “Kiwi?” you countered hoarsely, your throat and mouth feeling dry. “You ok?” he asked, studying your face. “I’m fine, all good then?” you deflect. “Yeah, ready to head out? Clem apparently knows this amazing club we can go to,” he says, gesturing to Clem, James and Correa heading towards the exit. “Let’s go!” you answer, mentally trying to prepare for the hazzard Marcus turns into when going out.

The club was packed. Barely-room-to-move packed, but luckily Clem had called ahead to reserve the VIP section for your group. Felipe, Juri, Liam, Lando, Lusia and Max were already waiting for you when you arrived. “Maxy!” you exclaim, “it’s so good to see you!”. Sitting down beside him, you gave him a sideways hug. You had known these people for years, but Max was the one you didn’t get to see too often. “Hey Peachy, good to see you too!” he answered while returning your hug. Marcus slipped into the seat beside you, arm slung across the back of your seat. His cologne mixed with something that was uniquely him hit you with the force of a bus, effectively wiping your mind clean. He would be the death of you, you were certain of that.

One thing you couldn’t help but notice throughout the night was that Marcus barely touched alcohol. With him limiting his intake, you decided to do the same. “I wanna dance,” you called to him over the deafening bass. Instead of answering, he grabbed your hand and pulled you to the packed dance floor. The sheer amount of people forced you to be closer than you would normally be. People bumped into you left, right and center, and Marcus pulled you closer so he wouldn’t lose you in the crowd.

His touch spread like wildfire. You had your back to his front, ass brushing lightly over his crotch every time you moved. You lost track of time as you danced with him. Someone bumped into him from behind, causing him to tighten his grip on you to stabilize himself. The action had pulled your ass flush against his crotch, and the groan he let out sent shivers down your spine. He was hard. Rock solid, probably about to burst. There was no way this was happening. You could not be the cause of this. No way. “Peach,” he groaned as you continued to move against him. Hands flexing on your hips, he grinds his cock against you. A soft moan slipped out of you as you threw your head back, leaning on his shoulder. “Stop dancing like that, or I’m gonna cum right here.” even with the noise level of the club his voice was crystal clear in your ear. Moving with more determination, you grabbed his arms from your hips and wrapped them around you, effectively wrapping him around your body. “Are you asking me to fuck you?” he continued, letting his hand rest right below your breast. “So what if I am?” you counter. “Let’s get out of here.”. He didn't wait for an answer, just grabbed your hand pulling you towards the exit.

The ride back to the hotel was quiet. Marcus held your hand and played with your fingers like he normally did. Nothing about his demeanor said he was about to bust in his trousers. He’d wanted this for years, never really finding the courage to make a move. He never wanted to lose you. Didn’t want to know what everyday life would be like without you. Needed your constant support and optimism when races go to hell. Needed the grounding you give him, the sense of calm he feels when he’s with you. He also needs to fuck you. Right fucking now.

As soon as the door to his hotel room had closed, he had you crowded up against it. Forehead pressed to yours, breaths mingled between you. His eyes were blazing, setting fire not only to your body, but your soul as well. Was it worth risking everything for this?

Kissing Marcus felt like coming home. Like a breath of fresh air after being underwater for a long time. His lips were soft against yours, maybe even a little hesitant. Grabbing onto his neck, you pulled him closer to you. Taking that as a “go ahead”, Marcus kissed you with a passion you had never felt before. You knew it was wrong, being pressed up against the door and making out with your best friend like your life depended on it. You couldn’t find it in you to care though. Every filthy thing you had ever imagined about him flashed through your mind, encouraging you to kiss him back with the same passion.

“This dress..” he began, hands roaming over your body, feeling you up in the most delicious way, “should be illegal”. He pulled back to look at you. “If we start this, I won’t be able to stop” he said, “I’ve been wanting this for too long”. “Then don’t stop,” you said, pulling him to another searing kiss. He gripped one of your thighs, lifting it and pulled your core flush against his cock. The moan that left you was boarderline pornographic. The friction his jeans created was glorious, causing you to dig your nails into his back which in return made Marcus let out a deep groan.

“Sofa,” you let out, trying to focus your mind. “What?” he asked, distracted by the feeling of your wetness seeping through his jeans. “Sit on the sofa,” you said. Following your direction, he sat down, looking up at you expectantly. You took a moment to admire him. His legs were spread, just like they had been earlier. His shirt had a couple buttons undone, leaving you a sneak peak of his chest. His hair was a mess, lips red and plump from kissing. He was a sight to behold.

“We’re crossing a line, doing this.” you stated, eyes still lingering on the exposed part of his chest. “I know.” he answered, reaching out a hand to you, pulling you towards him. “You’ve ruined me for anyone else,” you said, looking into his eyes. You could see the emotions swirling there, probably wondering the same thing you were. “Yeah?” he asked, making you straddle him. “Yeah.”. “Good, I don’t want anyone to touch you. Only I get to touch you like this,” his thumb gently stroking under your breast as he was talking. “As long as I’m the only one that gets to touch you like this,” you counter, slowly unbuttoning his shirt all the way. This man was truly beautiful. “Always.”.

Deciding that you’d had enough, you kissed him again, letting your hands wander his body before ending up in his hair. A delicious groan left him as you tightened your grip at the same time as you rolled your hips. He grabbed the hem of your dress, slowly peeling it off your body. Pulling away to get it over your head, his eyes landed on your naked chest as the dress did not allow for a bra. “Fuck.”. Without further ado, he pulled you closer, burying his head in your boobs. It didn’t take him long to find your nipple, sucking it greedily into his mouth. The action made you roll your hips faster against him, hands finding purchase in his hair again.

“Marcus,” you moan, pulling his head up so you can kiss him again. Making quick work of his clothes and your underwear, you found yourself hovering over his length. “You are so beautiful,” he said, hands palming your ass. You took hold of his dick, slowly spreading your wetness around with the tip. Groaning, his head tipped back, leaving his neck exposed. You gasped as you slid down on his cock. When you were fully seated on his cock, he lifted his head, looking straight into your eyes. “I saw the way you were looking at me when we were filming the podcast,” he said, “I could practically see all the filthy things flashing through your mind.”. “You looked so good.” you moaned, slowly rolling your hips. “Tell me what you were thinking,” he demanded. “I was thinking I wanted to ride you, just like this, your dick reaching so deep inside me I’ll be able to feel it for days.” you had no issue admitting where your thoughts had been.

Your words made Marcus spring into action. Holding you above him, he started moving faster, thoroughly fucking you, reaching deeper than anyone had ever done. The heavy drag of his cock against your walls had you hurtling towards the edge in no time. With every thrust he hit that sweet, sweet spot within you, making you clench around him. “Fuck, you are so tight,” he moaned, throwing his head back again. Leaning your head against his shoulder, you peppered small kisses along his collarbone, occasionally sucking on his skin, leaving small marks.

“Marcus, I’m gonna cum,” you moaned, pulling your head up to kiss him. “Yeah? You gonna cum on my cock like a good girl?” the words left his mouth before he could think about it. The effect however, was nothing he could have imagined. Your walls clamped down on him, holding him like a vice, fluttering as you came. With a groan of your name, he followed you over the edge.

“Fuck,” he panted, letting his arms circle your waist, holding you to him. “You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do this,” he said, fingers tracing random patterns on your back. “Probably not longer than I’ve wanted this,” you countered, feeling a blush making its way onto your cheeks. One of his hands found its way to your chin, tipping your head up so he could look at you. “This is not a one time thing. I am all in. I am all yours.” he said, trying to convey how he felt with his eyes. “I am all yours Marcus, always have been.” you said, placing a lingering kiss to his lips. Hiding your face in the crook of his neck, you felt ridiculously content.

#f2 #formula 2 #f2 fic #marcus armstrong #marcus armstrong smut #marcus armstrong fic #f1 smut #marcus armstrong x reader #this is filth #sorry not sorry #f2 smut

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theroseandthebeast · 5 months

Text

Yuletide 2023 Recs, Batch One

the most wonderful time of the year is here again!

16 recs for 11th CE RPF/Crusader Kings 3, The Addams Family, Ancient Egyptian RPF, Aquaman, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Barbie the Movie, The Bear, Beyond Evil, Black Books, and The Black Tapes

Matilda di Canossa Presents: Succession Planning for Dummies, Gen, Matilde di Canossa | Matilda of Tuscany

It’s always, “dear God in heaven, Matilda, how could you have eaten the pope?” and never “how was eating the pope; did the pope taste good?”

So Nice, Gen, Pubert Addams

Pubert was a different kind of Addams. OR What happens when the golden-haired angelic baby never reverted back to his little moustachioed self.

Beloved of Aten, Amenhotep IV | Akhenaten/Nefertiti of Egypt + Meritaten of Egypt/Smenkhkare of Egypt

Meriaten is beloved. By her parents. By the Aten. All is secure and as is it should be. Her father has revealed the truth of the world. The sun disk that can clearly be seen in the sky is no secret. She is beloved. She speaks the truth of Aten.

daughter of Xebel, Gen, Nereus & Mera

Y'Mera Xebella Challa is a daughter of Xebel before she is anything else.

Happiness is a Warm Gun, Lucy Gray Baird/Coriolanus Snow

"I'm looking out for you, too. I'll find a way," he promises. Coriolanus teaches Lucy Gray to shoot a gun.

saint sebastian, filled with arrows, Lucy Gray Baird/Coriolanus Snow

Coriolanus stares at it. Then he stares at her. She can see his imprecision again, the flicker of something untrustworthy beneath all the gold hair and famous lineage. “What should I do with it?” he asks, pliant, one last bid for direction. Lucy Gray kisses him again. “Come back to me,” she orders. “Do whatever you have to do to come back to me, Coriolanus Snow.” - (Coriolanus Snow wins the 10th annual Hunger Games with the help of his mentor, Lucy Gray Baird.)

Like My Head Against A Board, Allan/Ryan Gosling's Ken

Allan lends a helping hand.

to let the next life off the hook, Margot Robbie's Barbie/Gloria

Barbie’s not the only one who has a past life. When Gloria faces hers, everything changes - for both of them.

to recreate us, Luca/Marcus

After he left Copenhagen, Marcus never thought he'd see Luca again.

maillard reaction, Sydney Adamu/Richard "Richie" Jerimovich

There’s no more restaurant to manage, no more food to cook, and Syd doesn’t really know what to do with her body, except fuck Richie, apparently.

in every heart there is a room, Sydney Adamu/Carmen "Carmy" Berzatto

“Chef,” Carmy says softly, “it’s just for a few hours.” “A few hours?! A single minute of catering brunch is going to make me a suicide risk, Chef!” “I’ll be there with you. Chef.” Sydney doesn’t look like she forgives him, exactly, but her dire expression loosens up, just a little bit. In which Cicero calls in a favor, hollandaise is made, and Sydney makes a promise.

acquired taste, Carmen "Carmy" Berzatto/Luca

Before Copenhagen, there was Chicago.

Heaven Ain't Close in a Place Like This, Han Joo Won/Lee Dong Sik

Chained to a radiator in a warehouse, his lips cracking like tissue paper from lack of water, Han Juwon can admit that he might have fucked up.

Steal Your Breath Away, Han Joo Won/Lee Dong Sik

Han Juwon calls in a veritable litany of favors until he gets what he’s after: Lee Dongsik in handcuffs, alone in an interrogation room.

Three Sheets to the Wind, Manny Bianco/Bernard Black/Fran Katzenjammer

A customer mistakes Fran, Manny, and Bernard for a throuple. They start to wonder if it's true.

Unheard, Unsought For, Or Unseen, Alex Reagan/Richard Strand

Richard Strand has been in love before, of course. He’s not sure he’s ever felt like this. Three moments, throughout the course of working with Miss Alex Reagan on The Black Tapes Podcast, when Richard Strand learns that he is utterly wrong about something he thought he knew.

#yuletide #yuletide 2023 #fic recs #crusader kings 3 #the addams family #ancient egyptian rpf #aquaman #the ballad of songbirds and snakes #barbie the movie #the bear #beyond evil #black books #the black tapes #fic rec

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acsredstringbrigade · 4 months

Text

Now that everyone, not just Backers and Patrons have had a chance to listen to the first episode, here are my thoughts. Note, spoilers ahead for all of TMA and the the first episode.

First, I do adore our main cast. Sam and Alice are both very entertaining, and Colin is easily going to be a fan favorite. Im unsure about the tension between Lena and Gwen, but we will see where that goes.

Second, FR3-D1 is apparently an old computer program, and clearly related to some facet of the Eye, given its abilities to snoop through the entirety of the internet and get personal information that definitely violates GDPR. Though the fact that the computers are this old, perhaps they are still analog, allowing them to get around the digital issues that were encountered in the previous podcast. Though there is some irony in an Eye based program searching through the World Wide Web for information.

Next, the added voices. The first two of the three are obviously Martin and Jon, aka Norris and Chester. The third voice, Augustus ... the only person I can think of who would have been pulled into an eye based program with them had to be Jonah. I almost wish it would have been Anabelle, and I do hope to see her later on, but with the masculine name, and a name that sounds as old-fashioned as Augustus, really couldnt be anyone else.

Then, that first incident (yes, I am calling them incidents, not statements, as they are ... distinct in important ways) was fascinating. Obviously, elements of the Corruption are laced throughout, but what fascinates me is how many other facets could be identified there. Stranger, End, Dark, and maybe Spiral. That, plus the fact that the computer can only take one code for each incident ... something is going on there, and it is something that may cause problems for our protagonists later on.

The interview between Lena and Gwen was interesting. (I will come back to this in a later post. There's a lot to unpack, but it is being overshadowed by the next point)

And finally, the incident involving RedCanary. The Canary puns are easily made, though canary in the coal mine seems to be the one they were going for, given the "Canaries dont belong underground" comment. Also, it seems as though the institute itself served as the Panopticon did in the first universe, the offices serving as the cells, and the top floor almost certainly the panopticon itself. That and the ritual down in the archives themselves was likely the place where Magnus died.

The blood stains, the symbols on the floor matching those on a carved box. And we don't know what the picture itself was of, since the moderator removed the image. But based on the reactions of those in the thread, it was some sort of gore, and something involving eyes.

I see two major possibilities. Either something like what happened to Albrect Von Closen, and the man died of internal eyes, and whatever had stalked him posted the picture of his dead body. Or, RedCanary was trying to post a picture of the box for a while before, and it finally posted after he opened it, revealing a set of eyes inside. If the latter is true, those are most certainly Magnus' eyes aka Raymond Fielding from Hilltop Road and the spider box. Either way has implications, and I am fascinated to see which theory holds more water.

Odd that The Magnus Institute had been put on the list of buildings that had already been cleared. Theoretically, that is a list that only a few people use. Then again, I am not a spelunker, so I dont know how tight-knit the community is. I wonder who put it on that list.

Similarly, who or what removed all the paper? Not even pulpy traces of ash? Where are all of the records of the archive?

And for that matter, who burnt down the Institute?

#tmagp #the magnus protocol #tma

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saintmeghanmarkle · 15 days

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Nigeria’s Role in Invictus Games

Time to review some facts as Harold & M book another private jet to another continent. Hopefully some publications will engage in some research on this.

So how many African nations have attended the Invictus Games (IGs) prior to 2023? ZERO.

In 2022 Meghan Markle unexpectedly announced to the world that she was 43% Nigerian. Ibble Dibble does an excellent job debunking this btw here https://youtube.com/watch?v=0CYNcie-PAs&si=AJ5IF8qLod4KGyda

Setting aside that Meghan’s claim was false, Meghan still announced this on her Archetype podcast episode on “Angry Black Women” featuring Ziwe Fumudoh who is the daughter of two Nigerian immigrants. The highly profane comedienne also attended Northwestern, although it’s unlikely she was in Meghan’s white sorority. Ziwe was, predictably giddy, and the two instantly bonded. Not sure where her jelly post is.

Nigeria “mysteriously” applied to join the Invictus Games also in 2022, but wasn’t eligible to participate until last year’s IGs in Dusseldorf. They brought ten participants. The question is, which is the chicken vs egg? Based on her family’s ancestry records we know she can’t be 43% Nigerian, so did Harry tell M about Nigeria wanting to join the IGs and M thought “great!” I can be Nigerian, realizing no other African countries participate? Or did M make up the Nigerian DNA story and Nigeria latched on to gain more legitimacy and access some stale royal stardust? Or are we supposed to believe her fake story about being Nigerian in 2022 was purely coincidental to Nigeria applying to the IGs in 2022, when zero other African countries have shown any interest?

In January 2024 Harry & Meghan flew to Whistler, BC to attend some IG ski vacation boondoggle that cost IG tens of thousands of dollars for just H&M’s private jets and very luxurious accommodations, to say nothing of the staggering funds spent on this mini vacation holiday for the entire IG staff, Archewell staff & a very small group of competitors, which included a high society dinner with Michael Bublé serenading a large banquet hall of VIPs, including the Nigerian Chief of Staff who invited H&M to swan about Nigeria. Apparently the vets weren’t invited to that dinner, but they enjoyed all the other perks. That Chief of Staff brought some Nigerian participants with him, none of whom seemingly had any experience competing in winter sports, so it seems shockingly wasteful to squander so much money for a “pre-IG trip just so the Chief of Staff can say he met Michael Bublé.

Harry describes this May 2024 Nigerian trip thusly:

”His visit to Nigeria will include cultural activities and will “consolidate Nigeria’s stronghold at the games and the possibility of hosting the event in later years,” Gusau said.

Nigeria has NO stronghold at the games. They only fielded ten participants and have only attended ONE IG. One. That is not a stronghold. So what is the real purpose of this trip? To bribe Harry for a future hosting gig for the IGs? Bribery involving government officials is the most common form of corruption in Nigeria, according to Nigeria. And we all know how big their scam and bots industry is. That means bribery, although technically illegal in Nigeria, is also very commonplace. Wasting money seems like no big deal for them either.

However, the thought of Nigeria hosting the IGs is laughable. Nigeria has travel warnings throughout Nigeria due to widespread terrorism, kidnappings, armed gangs and general crime. The participating countries are advising against travel to Nigeria https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/traveladvisories/nigeria-travel-advisory.html

Aside from putting other nations in extreme danger, it would cost Nigeria over $40M to host this week long party. Nigeria’s entire military budget of $3.1B is .003 of our (US’s) military budget. Basically a rounding error. Yet spending over $40M on a week long party for 500 vets from 22 non-US countries is still hefty enough that it merits a lot of lobbying here, since basic vet needs are not fully met. Yet Nigeria wants to cough this much money up so that 98% of the non-Nigerian prticipants can party in Nigeria? Why? Are all there other veteran needs being fully met? What else is in it for them? This can’t be what this trip is really all about

For Harry & Meghan this is all a win-win. They get to have another faux royal International trip where they cosplay still being royals with royal authority & privileges, which they no longer possess. They will be treated as VIPs, staying at the finest Nigerian hotels and riding in armed motorcades, which is apparently the thing Harry misses most about his former life as an actual senior royal. Meghan gets to rub more heavy bronzer on her race card while working to cement her presence as. co-host for all the future Invictus Games with Harry, who is only a patron, btw, and has zero official corporate authority for the IGs. She will be their Lolo waving her Nigerian flag. Harry seeks to throw his weight around proving that he can bring in nations that will pony up the giant hosting fees

There are rumors that the IG Foundation is considering replacing Harry as their patron. Harry believed his big Netflix Heart of Invictus series would stave that off, but that series didn‘t do that well. Perhaps he believes he can bring in all of Africa. I doubt that will work out well. I think this stunt smells like overwhelming desperation.

The Invictus Games Foundation needs to stop this out of control train wreck. Harry & Meghan going rogue on these projects only brings on more intense scrutiny. Will this charity survive if the amount of money spent on H&M is ever made public? If the US hosts the 2026 IGs I can assure you FOIAs will go out to the DOD. If Birmingham gets it I assume the UK will also FOIA the snot out of the records. The truly big waste isn’t in the IGF’s paltry budget it’s in the $30M to $40M plus sponsorships that goes completely unreported on. MSM, please do your duty!

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author: AM_Rike

submitted: April 29, 2024 at 03:32PM via SaintMeghanMarkle on Reddit

disclaimer: all views + opinions expressed by the author of this post, as well as any comments and reblogs, are solely the author's own; they do not necessarily reflect the views of the administrator of this Tumblr blog. For entertainment only.

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picklepie888 · 2 years

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My Personal Ranking of Every Dracula Adaptation I've Watched/Listened To Since Dracula Daily

(Warning: spoilers under the cut)

So since I've started reading Dracula for the first time via Dracula Daily, I have over the past few months watched three movies and two podcast/audio plays of Dracula. The three films I've watched are the 1931 film starring Bela Logosi, the 1958 film starring Christopher Lee, and the 1979 film. The audio versions were the Mercury Theatre radio play starring Orson Welles, and the podcast Murray Mysteries by Knöve's Storytelling. These five Dracula adaptations had varying degrees of quality, and now having completely finished reading the original story I can now make a definite ranking of them based on book accuracy. Without further ado, let's sink our teeth into the content.

5. Dracula (1979)

Differences from the book

Jonathan's saga at Drac's castle is completely skipped over and the film begins with the Demeter crashing

Lucy and Mina's names are swapped in this film. So the girl who Dracula drains to death is named Mina and Lucy is Jonathan's fiancee. I looked it up later and apparently the director just thought that 'Lucy' was a better name for a leading lady. Really stupid reason if you ask me, but whatever.

This is a very heavy Dracmina adaptation (or Draclucy in this case? IDK the girl he falls for is definetly meant to be Mina but with Lucy's name)

Both Quincey and Arthur are absent in this version

Renfield is sane at the beginning of the film and is shown interacting with the other characters before he descends into madness and ends up at Seward's asylum later

Dracula is a prominent character throughout and the characters interact with him regularly. Obviously Lucy (actually Mina) interacts with him the most (ugh)

Van Helsing and Seward are Mina and Lucy's fathers. And Seward is about the same age as Van Helsing, which I've noticed is pretty common in these adaptations

We never actually see Transylvania in this film

Lucy (Mina) becomes a full vampire at the film's climax

Van Helsing dies in the final confrontation, and Jonathan kills Drac via exposure to sunlight.

What I Liked

Starting with the things I liked about this movie, because there's not many. I like that Van Helsing and Jack Seward are friends in this version. The other two films I've seen didn't have the bond between these two characters which was a core part of the original story. I liked that they shared a good portion of their scenes together and they do act like two men who have known each other for a long time. I'll give this movie credit for getting this one thing right.

The cinematography is exquisite. The muted colors, the way the inside of Dracula's residence at Carfax is framed on camera, the eerie gothic aesthetic throughout the film is masterfully done. But pretty visuals don't make up for poor characterization.

Mr. Swales is in this version. He's only in two scenes, but I was still pleasently surprised to see him in an adaptation.

They did the Lizard Fashion™ scene.

What I Disliked

They absolutely massacred Mina's character. She was so unbearably hateable throughout the film. The narrative made it clear that she didn't give a crap about Jonathan, and she practically threw herself on Dracula the minute she saw him. There was also the scene where she tells all the men (yes including Jonathan) that she hated them for coming between her and Dracula. Can you imagine book!Mina ever saying such a thing to her beloved husband who was willing to damn himself for her?!?! And DO NOT get me started on the Baptism of Blood scene! The part of the story that's supposed to be a horrifying metaphor for rape is instead played out as an act of passion between two lovers. There's also no ambiguity here, Dracula and Mina just straight up have sex. And Mina loved every minute of it. Imagine someone made a film about a rape victim and framed their traumatic experience as a passionate love scene! I almost went into a fit of rage at this scene, it disgusted me to my core!

Jonathan is really bland in this film. The writers clearly decided to set his characterization aside so they could focus more on the spooky vampire vibes and the affair his fiancee has with the vampire. They didn't make him a bad guy, but I didn't feel anything but pity for him in this film. The only scene where he shows any other emotion aside from 'concerned husband' was when he got understandably jealous when Mina was flirting with Dracula and he called her out on it. Other than that, he doesn't show anywhere near as much passion for Mina as he does in the book.

There's a scene where Drac lizard crawls into Lucy's window, and when she sees him, she smiles and shows her neck to him. I didn't like this, because it implied she was giving consent for him to drink her, which again frames the victim on having some blame on what happens to her.

Dracula still brutally kills Renfield like in the book, but I didn't really understand why? I might of missed something when watching, but Renfield doesn't do anything to try to protect Mina in this version. Drac just teleports into the asylum, snaps Renfield like a twig, refused to eleborate, then kidnaps Mina.

Did not like this movie. Terrible adaptation and so many characters, especially the women, got screwed over in favor of framing a stupid 'forbidden love' narrative.

Rating: 0/5

4. Dracula (1931)

Differences from the book

Still no Arthur or Quincey

Lucy is in the film, but she only has maybe two minutes of screen time, and her arc never got a conclusion, she just stays a vampire forever I guess. They could've left her out of the film completely and it wouldn't change anything.

Seward is yet again an old man in this film, and he's Mina's father. He also doesn't have much of a relationship with Van Helsing, they act more like business partners than friends.

Renfield takes Jonathan's place in the beginning of the film as the solicitor who goes to Dracula's castle. The narrative frames his encounter as the reason he went insane.

Mina has nothing to do in this movie but be a passive damsel in distress. About 70% of her dialogue is her screaming her husband's name.

Jonathan is simply called 'John' in this version. Seward is never adressed by his first name, so there's no confusion.

Like in the 1979 movie, the characters regularly interact with Dracula throughout the film, and frame Van Helsing as the one guy who knows he's a vampire and has to prove it to everyone else.

Renfield also has way more scenes in this film than he did in the book.

The final confrontation takes place at Carfax, Drac kidnaps Mina, and he's killed by Van Helsing and Jonathan.

This version is more based off the play from the 20's rather than the actual novel. And you can kinda tell by the way the story is paced, and how the characters come into the sets.

What I Liked

Bela Logosi as Dracula and Dwight Frye as Renfield are both by far the most entertaining aspects of this film. Even though I think they both got more screen time than they should, I have to say they both pulled off their characters spectacularly. Especually Frye as Renfield; the way he was able to portray a mild-mannered solicitor and then a madman is incredible.

There's no musical score through out the film, which really adds to the creepy atmosphere. Especially for the scenes at the begining at Dracula's castle where there isn't much dialogue.

The sets are really cool! Dracula's castle in Transylvania looks enormous and all kinds of creepy, just as it was described in the novel.

There's no Dracmina in this version, and Jonathan and Mina actually care about each other!

What I Disliked

The pacing was really wonky. As I mentioned before, Lucy's whole story arc was just glossed over, she was dead almost as soon as she was introduced. And then they brought up that a woman that looks like her is going around kidnapping children, and then that issue's just...never brought up again for the rest of the film. So is she still a vampire? Did she die after Drac was killed? And her death had very little impact on the main characters, even Mina who is supposed to be her friend. The whole ordeal with Renfield at the castle and the Demeter was also over with within the first five minutes of the movie. I get that they could only fit so much of the story in an hour and a half film, but come on!

All of Mina's intelligence and agency she had in the novel is completely thrown out the window, and she's replaced by a sexist archetype that was shown in every horror movie in the thirties. She spends the majority of the movie screaming and crying and being under Drac's control. This version of Mina is still better than the 1979 on though. At least this one loves Jonathan.

Jonathan is still pretty bland. His whole personality is just 'concerned husband', and that's about the extent of it. We don't get to see his arc from a gentle Englishman to vengeful gremlin on the name of his wife like the og story. All of his feminine aspects is taken away too, and he basically just acts like the generic male hero with no moments of self doubt. I do appreciate that they kept the dedication to his wife though.

Van Helsing and Seward don't act like friends. In fact most of their interactions involve Van Helsing proposing an idea that vampires could exist and then Seward tells him he's full of crap. This goes back and forth until Mina starts to turn.

Several of the plot points happen offscreen and then is brought up later through dialogue by the characters. Namely Dracula's assualt on Mina.

Renfield died like a bitch in this version. He was crying and begging Dracula to spare his life, unlike in the novel, when he grabbed Dracula in his mist form and wrecked him in order to protect Mina. He still helps the heroes in this version, but it doesn't feel as genuine when he chickens out the minute Dracula threatens him.

Overall, not a great adaptation, but a decent movie on its own. It would have worked better if it had been a series of films, so that way they could have all the story arcs with more proper pacing. They still did Lucy and Mina dirty, and there's no justice for Arthur and Quincey.

Rating: 2/5

3. Dracula (AKA Horror of Dracula) (1958)

Differences from the book

Still no Quincey! Seriously, what does Hollywood have against the cowboy?? No Renfield either.

Jonathan dies at the beginning at Dracula's castle.

There's only one vampire bride, and Jonathan kills her at the start.

Arthur and Lucy are siblings in this version.

Mina and Lucy have also swapped fiancee's, but unlike in the 1979 version, they still have the same roles they had in the book. So Mina is married to Arthur, but Lucy still gets drained/turned into a vampire.

Both Jonathan and Seward are minor characters in this movie. Jonathan dies at the castle at the beginning, and Seward only appears in the scenes where Lucy is ill. For the most part, Arthur fills in the roles of all four men who aren't Van Helsing. So if you thought Arthur didn't have enough to do in the og story, he does literally everything in this version. Except one thing, which I'll get to in a moment.

Two new characters were made for this movie. Arthur and Mina's maid, who basically takes the role of Mrs. Westenra from the book, and the maid's daughter who becomes a victim of vampire Lucy.

Van Helsing is the one to kill vampire Lucy rather than Arthur.

Arthur kills Dracula in a physical showdown.

What I Liked

This was the first movie adaptation I saw with Arthur in it, and I liked that he has more of a role here, even more so than he had in the book. I just wish we didn't have to sacrifice the other male characters sans Van Helsing for it.

The scene where Bloofer Lady Lucy lures the maid's daughter away to the graveyard was legitametly disturbing. The way she talked to the girl reminded me of how adult predators tend to talk to children to get them to follow them. Really scary stuff.

Dracula himself shows up sparingly in this movie! Finally a film adaptation that understood that a part of the horror of Dracula is that he only shows himself when he wants to.

The Baptism of Blood scene is actually portrayed as a traumatic moment for Mina. She's terrified and clearly doesn't want what the Count does to her.

Christopher Lee made a pretty awesome Dracula, with the few scenes he's in. He nailed the mystery and creep vibes the Count had in the og story.

What I Disliked

This movie had Van Helsing stake vampire!Lucy while Arthur stood there and covered his eyes. I didn't like the direction they took with this scene, because Arthur killing Lucy was a pivotal part of his character arc in the book. At the very least, movie!Arthur makes up for it a bit when he kills Dracula in the ending.

I think making Arthur and Lucy siblings was a weird choice. Especially since they kept the scene from the book where vampire!Lucy tries to seduce Arthur with a kiss before Van Helsing stops them!! So there's some icky incenst undertones there because of that. I really don't get why so many Dracula films insist on making the characters related when none of them were in the book.

The main cast felt pretty empty without Jonathan, Jack, and Quincey. Again, since Arthur fills up all the other men's roles it felt like the cast was lacking, with the focus mostly being on just the two men (Art and Van Helsing).

Mina didn't have much to do in this film, although I did appreciate her devotion to both Arthur and Lucy. It was clear that she cares about them both. And there's no Dracmina thank God! Aside from that, she just kinda played the role of 'emotional support.'

There's a scene where after Van Helsing places the garlic flowers all over Lucy's room, she throws a fit and smashes one of the vases. She then has Arthur's maid get rid of all the flowers and open her windows, the very things Van Helsing instructed not to do. I get that this was probably because Drac hypnotized her, but again the narrative is kinda blaming Lucy for what happens to her. Plus the maid was kinda an idiot to listen to her and not the doctor who instructed her to keep the flowers there.

They made the final confrontation with Drac a big showdown, unlike how it was in the book. On the one hand, its much more dramatic, but Arthur was the only one who was really involved, as in the book where all the main characters had to defeat the Count via teamwork.

This was one of the better Dracula films I've seen so far. This one was more focused on the human characters (even though they got rid of half the cast), and they allowed Drac to be a mysterious monster rather than a typical villain. Again, I really liked Christopher Lee's take on the Count. I just wish they had at least kept Jonathan for the rest of the film.

Rating: 3/5

2. Mercury Theatre's Dracula (1938)

Differences from the book

No Quincey (again!)

Arthur and Jack are combined into one character (literally named Arthur Seward).

It's implied that Seward is the one who put all the journal entries together rather than Mina.

Mina and Lucy don't interact in this version, and Mina isn't introduced until after Lucy's death.

No Renfield or vampire brides.

There is minimal Dracmina, but it's all on Drac's side, and Mina doesn't reciprocate at all (thank God!)

Mina kills Dracula in the end!

What I Liked

Orson Welles might just be my favorite Dracula so far! He has such an incredible voice that is both mesmerizing and spinechilling. His take on Dracula will keep you awake for several nights.

Despite being the shortest adaptation I've seen so far (it's under an hour long), they somehow managed to get all the important plot points of the story, and it doesn't feel rushed or poorly paced.

The main focus is on the human characters, and the found family aspects from the original story are still there! Seward is still hopelessly devoted to his old professor, and Jonathan and Mina are in love and bound to each other.

There was no victim blaming for the female characters!

Mina got to kill the Count! After all these terrible film versions where she's been reduced to a screaming damsel or a promiscuous bitch, Mina finally got the justice she deserves!! I'm so glad Welles and his team understood that Mina's role in defeating the Count was just as important as the men's! I just wish later adaptations knew this!

What I Disliked

Mina and Lucy's friendship was left out of the narrative. I know this was probably to cut time to fit the hour-long timeslot, but their friendship was so important to the story.

It felt too short?! Again, I know they only had an hour to broadcast the story, but I felt like it could've gone on another thirty minutes at least. It was really good though, so that hour went by too fast for me.

As good as this version was, it still really could've used some vampire-hunting cowboy action.

This radio play came out in 1938, and somehow it understood the female characters better than most modern Dracula adaptations. The voice acting is great, the sound design is great, and Orson Welles nailed it as Dracula!

Rating: 4/5

1. Knöve's Storytelling's Murray Mysteries (2021)

Differences from the book

The characters have canon queer identities.

Jonathan is ace.

Mina is bi.

Lucy is pan.

Seward is a lesbian.

Art is nonbinary.

Van Helsing is implied to be aroace.

Seward and Van Helsing have both been genderswapped, and their first names have been changed to Jane and Abigail respectfully.

Arthur strictly goes by 'Art' and uses they/them pronouns.

Renfield is only refered by the initial 'R.'

The story takes place in the modern day, and the characters use modern technology and slang. Most of the characters use audio recordings rather than written diary entries.

Drac vapes and owns a cat.

The story starts with Mina and Lucy at Whitby, and we the audience don't get to know about Jonathan's encounter in Transylvania until Mina does, when she listens to Jonathan's audio diary.

Holmward becomes canon by the end.

Jonathan and Mina's roles are swapped in the final act, so Jonathan is the one Drac violates and is slowly turning into a vampire, and Mina is the one who goes feral for her hubby.

Jonathan and Mina have a dog in the epilogue rather than a son.

Quincey gets to live!!!

What I Liked

This is the most faithful adaptation I've seen by far! All the important story beats are there, as are the character dynamics! This is the first adaptation I've seen that has all the main cast, and they work wonderfully together!

This one has Quincey!!! And he has the best lines in the whole show! Seriously, they took his himboness from the book and dialed it up to 11! It's magnificent! And they included the iconic bat shooting scene!

The idea to have Dracula as a podcast spread out through multiple episodes was a brilliant idea! They were able to pace the story the way it should, we get to spend time with every character and really get to know each of them, and the whole 'found footage' aspect this podcast has was a stroke of genius!

All the voice actors have amazing chemistry together. If you watch any of the BTS videos, you'll see that almost all of them are friends IRL, which adds to their performance here. I especially love Mina and Lucy's interactions, they really do feel like they've been best friends forever.

The team makes the decision to leave Jonathan out of the vampire hunt due to his trauma, unlike the og story where they left out Mina because she was a woman. This makes more sense considering the changed time period, and it's less misogyny BS we have to deal with. It also gave us unhinged vengeful Mina, which I greatly appreciate.

The scene where Jonathan tries to get Mina to promise she'll kill him if he turns is so heartwrenching! I swear, the VAs got me screaming crying and throwing up at how regretful, angry, desperate, and terrified they both sounded at the same time! God all the emotions were on point!

Dracula himself only appears for about three episodes in this series, which was all we really needed of him. Almost all the focus was on the human characters, which was as it should be.

What I Disliked

Dracula and Van Helsing don't have accents. I know this is supposed to be a more serious adaptation, and the VAs attempting to do accents that aren't natural to them may come off as unintentionally goofy, but still it didn't feel quite as authentic to the characters. Van Helsing was already pretty goofy enough as a character, it wouldn't have felt out of place if they had kept her Dutchness. Dracula also sounds like Just Some Guy, which is actually kinda hilarious after all these adaptations that try so hard to be over the top villains with foreign accents.

There are some areas in the story where I thought they were a little *too* faithful to the book. Namely the relationship between Seward and Renfield. Granted, it's not quite as bad as it was in the book, but it's still not great either.

This was definetly the best Dracula adaptation, and I don't know how anything else could top it! Maybe if we get a fully fledged TV series some day that's faithful to the book, but for now this podcast is just the best! Great writing! Great voice acting! The whole series is on YouTube, please go listen to it!

Rating: 5/5

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empress-of-snark · 3 months

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Estate Sale Haul!

tagging my book buddies @televinita @simplyshelbs16xoxo and @loubuttons

the woman who owned the house was apparently a bit of a hoarder, but the people running the sale said that a lot of stuff had already been sold, so what I saw was no more cluttered than most estate sales. but this woman’s book collection was insane! books in every room of the house (though granted, it wasn’t a huge house).

most prominent genres were mystery, true crime, history, and cats. this is what I went home with:

1. Unsolved Mysteries of American History (Paul Aron)

2. The Cases That Haunt Us (John Douglas and Mark Olshaker)

3. History Decoded: The 10 Greatest Conspiracies of All Time (Brad Meltzer)

4. The Crimes of Charlotte Brontë (James Tully) - this one is apparently written by a criminologist and is a fictionalized account of the ~mysteries~ surrounding the Brontë sisters. extremely mixed reviews on Goodreads, but I’m willing to give it a shot!

5. The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Mythology (Arthur Cotterell and Rachel Storm) - there were two different copies of this one, in different rooms

6. Murder at Hazelmoor (Agatha Christie) - there were actually a lot of Christies at the sale, but in an attempt at self-control (ha!), I limited myself to this one and the next:

7. Agatha Christie: An Autobiography - there were also two copies of this one

8. The Early History of Surgery (W.J. Bishop) - as a fan of the Sawbones podcast, I couldn’t pass this one up

9. A Clutch of Vampires (Raymond T. McNally) - a nonfiction account of vampire folklore throughout different cultures in history. unfortunately, the cover is pretty significantly torn, but I’m currently weighing it down with all the other books in an attempt to flatten it so I can tape it later

and finally…

10. The Ghouls (edited by Peter Haining) - published in 1974, this is a collection of horror stories by famous authors such as Edgar Allan Poe, Ray Bradbury, and Bram Stoker. but what really caught my eye was the fact that a) the introduction is by Vincent Price, b) the afterword is by Christopher Lee, and c) it is dedicated to Boris Karloff. as my brother said when I showed it to him, “the gang’s all here!”

all in all, great haul! I’m tempted to go back, but there’s also a library book sale coming up on a week, so I don’t wanna overdo it lol

total cost (including a sweater my mom picked out and a tiny Santa figurine): $15!

#personal #book haul

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consanguinitatum · 7 months

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David Tennant's Obscure Performances: His Involvement with Read Not Dead (pt 1) - Edward III

A lot of you are aware that for the better part of a decade I've done research on David's early Scottish theatre work (80s/90s). I've found a ton of info and am in slooooow development on a podcast aimed at sharing my discoveries. But not ALL my research lands squarely in those years. I've learned about plenty of DT's theatre projects which fall outside of the years my podcast covers. So it occurred to me - since I'm not planning to do a podcast about those years, why not share some interesting tidbits? Let's dive in! By January of 1999, David was living in London and beginning a two month run at the Almeida's Albery Theatre as Pavel in Vassa (a comic portrait of a powerful iron-willed matriarch who sees her family destroyed by the very values that she seeks to preserve.) So he was busy, yes? Not busy enough, apparently, because he agreed to join thirteen other actors to do a one-off staged reading of a play often attributed to Shakespeare as a co-writer - called Edward III.

David in rehearsal as Pavel in Vassa: Scenes From Family Life, 1999

Edward III was part of a series of performances the Education Department of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre had been doing since the early 1990s called Read Not Dead (heretofore referred to as RND). Their website has this to say about their mission: "Read Not Dead is a multi-decade project run by Shakespeare’s Globe, one in which we plan to perform every single ‘unknown’ play that has survived in print, from the accession of Queen Elizabeth I in 1558, to the closing of the theatres in 1642. Some plays from history deserve to be read, not dead." (By the by, RND is still active today! I encourage you to read more about their mission and the plays they've performed by going to the Read Not Dead website.) Performing in an RND play was a unique challenge for an actor. RND performances were staged readings, so actors didn't do the traditional rehearsals. Instead, they received scripts only a few days ahead of the performance. The project's website explains it like so: "The rules of the project have always been simple, experimental, and completely unique. Whilst approaching one individual play, the group does so within one single day. In the morning, the company meets for the first time and throughout the day they work with a Director and experiment with props and costume. Often music is also composed within the short time-frame, too. By the afternoon, the play is put up on its feet and presented as a script-in-hand performance to a live audience." Additionally, most RND plays were performed on Sundays (traditionally the only day off for most performing actors in the theatre circuit, this made the full day's preparation possible.) These challenges almost certainly appealed to David for a number of reasons: 1) it was a one-off performance with a tight schedule, 2) we all know how he feels about Shakespeare, and 3) the Globe! When an opportunity came for him to play a role in or around that great structure, certainly one imagines he sprung at the chance! So on 21 February 1999, David played the role of Edward, Prince of Wales (aka the Black Prince) at the Globe Theatre Education Centre/Inigo Jones Theatre. The performance was on a Sunday - that day, the group met at 10a for a run-through, and at 3p they went onstage. It was directed by Clive Brill (who - fun fact - has since worked with David on many things, including the radio dramas The Order of Release, The Island, Murder in Samarkand, The Purple Land, and the two part Afternoon Play series Stevenson in Love). Now for a treat. Want to see a page from the programme? Ask, and ye shall receive! (Thanks and credit to the Shakespeare's Globe Archive for the digitized programme, which you can see in further detail here.)

This performance was recorded, and I've actually listened to it! (sadly, the audio is only of the first two acts - for some reason, Acts 3 and 4 are missing.) I found it quite well done, especially considering the short amount of time the company of actors had to rehearse. You can listen to the recording of the performance and others from the series, as the recordings are archived in the Globe Archive and Library in London. Access to the archive is available by appointment only for professionals and academics affiliated with institutions of higher education.

Now.....some astute DT fans might be aware that while Edward III was the first time DT worked with the RND project, it wouldn't be his last. Very true! He was to go on and work with the project three more times. We'll explore those in more detail in future posts.

#DavidTennant #ObscureDavidTennantPerformances #ReadNotDead #DavidTennantEarlyTheatre #EdwardIII

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asherlockstudy · 8 months

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I didn't get a weird vibe from EB but it was odd how Rhett said they need to "feed the" shippers. Sure, Rhett. 👀

I don't think anyone had even speculated about their camping meetup. Haha

I am gonna explain both here because they go together.

Finally watched EB, just in time to get done with it before the new R&L video.

I didn’t see a weird vibe in EB either. Rhett indeed had COVID and in case he had been annoyed throughout his sickness with Link due to the reasons we discussed, it was over by the time of this recording. He didn’t however say a single thing about GME except that he felt horrible throughout. But no afterthoughts on the GME whatsoever. And since Link pointedly did not include Rhett among the people with positive views on it (himself and the crew) in his solo episode, it seems we will likely never have Rhett’s takeaway from GME3.

The one strange moment was when Rhett explained how he caught the virus after having sex with Jessie - again. Link was weird about Rhett’s sex with his wife. Water is wet. He didn’t say anything too much so you probably wouldn’t get it from the podcast format but it was visible in the video format. I had found it interesting last year how after so much time evading covid, Rhett and Link both caught it at the exact same time after vacationing together in a mountain town. But Rhett was adamant he caught it later from Jessie during the sex they were having and that Link must have caught it during his next vacation with his family. Now in this podcast, Link said that he had probably caught covid last year from Rhett and Rhett gave him a slight side look and said “no it cannot be because timing” and Link was like “yeah yeah you right”.

Of course this could have totally been the case (although Covid can make a lot of days to show the symptoms) but the funny thing here is… that you don’t have to have sex to get Covid lol That was one of the things that has driven the world crazy about it - that it is easy to catch! Rhett could have perfectly be in the same general area as Jessie and there would still be a high chance to get it especially since they had not figured out Jessie had Covid. Take me for example. I know how I caught it but how the person I caught it from caught it in the first place will remain the biggest mystery in the universe… But Rhett makes this almost seem like an std lol Again I am not saying he is not telling the truth but that it is funny how he overexplains getting Covid - like, he could also say “Jessie was sick and I got it too”. But the previous year he had also analysed how he was on top of her and their mouths were aligned and they were breathing into each other basically and, okay, Rhett you caught Covid. It happens a lot, trust me. We get it 😂

Now let’s go to what pissed me off both here and in GMM. I saw that the GMM thing was viewed positively or as a joke here on tumblr and I don’t know if I have got this the wrong way or something.

So in GMM Rhett chose to say in an irrelevant moment that they are trying to do certain things for the clicks, and apparently these things are taken seriously by certain fans who analyse them and they are so adamant about the conclusions that they draw regarding their lives that this certainty is so overwhelming that even they forget what the actual truth is or they end up agreeing or they are conditioned to agree. Link said ironically that this is very healthy. Rhett said all that with a smile.

I saw people here taking this as part joke-part semi-confirmation that some things in the theories are correct.

In EB he claimed Link made it sound like they had sex or fondled each other during their short encounter during camping. Fun fact: Link didn’t really sound like that, he said “we didn’t get into it that much” or something along those lines but well this can have a generic meaning, you have to be suspicious in advance or on edge to immediately consider that Link meant there was some light petting going on. I mean, Rhett eventually made it seem more suspicious than it was before.

But Rhett went on saying there are people living their lives wanting to believe that this was a romantic date. And much like in GMM he said they were mentioning things in such a way in order to cater to such fans and get the views. These are very similar statements in two different videos and it seems this is a thought taking a lot of space in Rhett’s brain lately.

Now here’s a few things:

The phrasing of this is exceptionally demeaning. While there are people believing or suspecting such things founded on a frankly strange behaviour from these two (including me lol), it is a wild leap to assume they are living their lives for it. Most people are able to make the connections or draw conclusions at real time while watching THEIR content. And then they can go on with their own lives. Given how fast they managed to lose some of their most dedicated shippers a few years ago, I would say that in fact most people don’t live their lives for it but some simply see it and some might find it cute? Appealing? Interesting? Idk. For me it’s intrigue more than anything else - I am curious how this thing will pan out. And a bit concerned since it’s been years I watch them - dunno how concerned I will keep being if Rhett keeps saying shit like that lol

The claim that they do it for the views - don’t make me laugh now. How will you get the views from it when all your content’s titles are about Doritos and sriracha?!?!?? The following they have gathered around them is in truth mostly foodies or generally people who like to consume various products and nowadays fewer viewers care about their friendship, their dynamic, their personal stories. They drove those successfully out. Whatever innuendos exist within the content (save for GME) are incidental, do not interest a great number of viewers and do not really attract a reliable and steady audience. You only have to check the views honestly. If this went in sync with how suspiciously homoromantic Rhett and Link act, there should be rises in the views, not drops! And their R&L videos would have been soaring, not struggling.

If Rhett says that they do things to attract shippers but then shippers get too serious and there is some sort of violation in their personal lives (that’s in fact what he implied, despite the smile and all), then the fault still lies with them. If he means they initially bait shippers this way, well since it gets out of hand and since as he claims it is all unfounded, well, here’s a solution: 🌺DON’T. BAIT. PEOPLE.🌼 If there’s no truth and it’s all strategically planned in those strange moments, then surely it will be very easy to stop. On the other hand, if despite all those concerns expressed, they still choose to perpetuate this for the “””””views”””””” and the money, well then I can’t feel sorry for them. It’s their choice. One of them really said “we are desperate”. Yeah I could tell that by the nipple suck. But if you are really getting desperate, maybe something doesn’t work right in the top of the Mythical Pyramid. And the problem is not the viewers, shippers or not. I was more understanding a few years ago but now I get the old shippers’ frustration more - you fuck up and then you say “oh it’s the fault of the one watching me that I fucked up but I need them to watch me so I am gonna keep fucking up” No thanks, if you ask me. Stop fucking up.

#Rhett and link #randl #R&L #negativity #ear biscuits #GME #gmm #good mythical morning #anon #ask #mythical #tw negativity

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