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thevapingsufi · 5 months

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Scottish people really hate the 23andme diaspora, and I'm guilty of this too. A lot of hatred comes from these people having a disconnect from modern Scottish culture, and making a parody out of what they think it is i.e. kilts, mixing up Gealic, Gaelic and Scots, weird worship of generic ancestory. All of it seems at odds with actual Scottish culture.

The make up of Modern Scottish culture is defined by two major events one good and one bad. The good is the spread of civic nationalism, the modern idea of Scottishness is mostly based on are you born here, or did you spend a long time here? Then you're Scottish. My mum spent a long enough time here to culturally integrate, but never lost her accent and she was accepted as Scottish. Anywhere else I would only be considered half Scottish but I have been told firmly by people that I would have otherwise expected to be anti immigrant that I am most definitely Scottish, whether they or I like it. It's simply a fact.

The second is the Highland Clearances, a genocide on highland Scots but lowland Scots which has left the central belt the cultural heart of Scotland, and nearly wiped out most of the cultural and historical traditions people in the diaspora associate with Scotland, the clans, the kilts, the celtic poems.

Many of those people who are claiming Scottishness through blood are probably descendents of people ethnicly cleansed off their lands. Is it fair to deny them their ancestoral identity, an identity stripped off their ancestors, because the idea of Scottishness itself has moved on into something far more active, and tied to the land of the country itself.

Is it fair? I don't really know. Can we dismiss what might be a branch of a culture cruelly excised from its home because it's current examples are annoying Americans? Is it fair?

The story itself is also a lot more complex since another part of the Scottish Diaspora aren't victims but perpetrators. Time was the idea of Scottishness wasn't tied to civility and an open culture but cruelty. "Cruel as Scots" used to be a popular turn of phrase, and one our ancestors earned in spades. Where ever the British had a plantation, from India, to Ireland, to the Americas and the Caribbean a Scotsman was happy to hold the whip. Even the Scottish culture hero Rabby Burns once accepted a role as an oversear in Jamaica, before one of his poems became the talk of the town in Edinburgh. If that burst of fame had never came, or even came two weeks too late the great ideal of Scottish working class liberalism, a man who celebrated the American revolution and wrote poems humanising the victims of Slavery wouldn't has missed his boat and instead have been out there defending Empire and keeping enslaved people in chains.

This part of the Scottish Diaspora would go on to largely run the Confederacy and even before that formed the base of that Southern American pseudo-aristocracy. There's a reason the Confederacy flew the cross of Saint Andrew when going into battle.

Maybe these annoying Americans aren't the victims of ethnic strife, but the perpetrators? Does that mean it's easier to dismiss them?

A further kink in the story is the on going conflict between Scottish and British identity. In modern times this is largely tied to loyalty to the UK or desire for an independent Scotland, but religion and ethnicity also comes into this to add their own unique flavours. Can people with no ties to the land, having never once set foot in it identify as Scottish? Can people born and raised here deny their Scottishness? Can we really seperate out British and Scottish identity into two seperate things cleanly? Scotland struggles to do this now, define what is Scottish and what is British.

Glasgow is definitely seen as the Scottish City, while Edinburgh is the British, some times referred to as an English city by people on the West Coast (not as a compliment) but if you were to look into the history of either of these cities you would be puzzled as to why. Glasgow was once the second largest city in the British Empire, the second city of empire, it's shipyards growing to accommodate the empire's needs, it's geography defined by the wealth flowing into merchant square. Edinburgh on the otherhand had been the seat of power for Scottish kings, the cultural heart of the lowlands, and Scotland as a whole.

Scotland is also the birth place of the Enlightenment. Sounds silly but largely due to a mix of education access provided by the Church of Scotland, and wealth and opportunities provided by the British Empire Scotland emerged as the first major place in the world to support a middle class. Class, culture and identity all being interlinked this further divorced the diaspora from Scotland, and helped create a second great wave of Scottish emigrates, ready to administer the empire, with at varying times around 2/3 of employees of both the British Raj and East India Company being made up of Scots.

This also created a well educated but low income class of Scots who suddenly had the chance and ability to find employment abroad, something that developed into a tradition kept up to this day, and largely why I exist. Maybe these 23andMe Scots aren't the result of ethnic cleansing, or the remnants of the evils of empire but simply people that left their homes to find work, who found new homes away from Scotland.

I don't really have a nice conclusion to this rant, culture isn't a dead thing drowned in formaldehyde that can be studied and examined in stillness. I don't really know, and these are all very big questions to be brought out because I saw a very annoying American tourist.

#scotland #history #culture

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qqueenofhades · 1 year

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I hope this doesn’t sound too ignorant, but as a non-American (South African here!), everyone is saying that this election is very incredible and different than others? Something about how the democrats have managed to hang on to power and it’s very close? What makes that so unique, and why is it so surprising that the democrats still (likely) have the senate? Shouldn’t you have a democratic congress because you have a democratic president? Here we do have a bunch of different parties, we don’t really have to main ones that always win, except the same corrupt party keeps getting elected again and again because it’s a very unfair system. While I do personally view Nelson Mandela as a hero to our country, his party has fallen so far from his beliefs and everyone is still so obsessed with him, and that seems to be much the case with America and the founding fathers, if I’m not mistaken?

I’m really sorry and I hope this doesn’t come across as sarcastic or dumb, I just don’t fully understand American politics and am a bit confused about your elections, and are they genuinely as bad and messed up as ours? Thank you so much!

Oh Jesus. Asking for a beginner-level crash course on American politics is a bit like asking for a beginner-level crash course on nuclear physics, but I'll do my best. Short answer: yes, American elections are fucked up to such a cosmic degree that it's truly astonishing that they still work at all, and yes, as many of my recent posts have discussed, it's shocking that the midterms went as well for the Democrats as they did. Because:

There are 50 states. Every single state has a considerable degree of autonomy over their own voting laws, voter eligibility, whether voters can register online, vote absentee, etc etc. Thus, the states run by Republicans have been rushing to enact as many restrictive voting laws as possible, meaning that this impacts who is able to actually cast a ballot (and indeed, have that ballot counted).

Each state is also very often "gerrymandered," aka divided into districts where one party has a better chance of winning than the other. Republicans, because they suck, also draw districts that erase or severely reduce Black voting power. For example, if you have District 1 that is 80% Black and therefore something like 80% Democratic, you cut little bits off the edges and put those in red districts, so you turn one safe-Democratic seat into multiple swing or Republican-leaning seats. It sucks.

The Supreme Court, after Trump got three picks with lifetime appointments, has 6 conservatives and 3 liberals, which means that if the conservatives vote as a bloc (as they often do), they can overrule pretty much anything they please (as long as it is a pending case before them). This has been especially notable with voting-rights cases this cycle, and was also the reason that Roe vs. Wade (the right to an abortion in all 50 states) was overturned this summer, capping 50 years of Republican efforts to do just that.

Every election, with the big exception of one, is won the old-fashioned way (whoever gets the most votes wins). The exception is the presidential election. There, it doesn't matter if you win the popular vote, as long as you win the Electoral College. Because of racism, each state in America has a certain number of electoral votes that reflect its population. California, with 40 million people, has 55 electoral votes; Wyoming, with 300,000, has 3. (And yet, they both also get two senators! This seems fair). Therefore, winning the popular vote in blue California is more important than winning the popular vote in red Wyoming.

This is also where we get the term "swing states." These states don't consistently vote Republican or Democratic, so whoever can win those has a better chance of winning the presidency. For example, Pennsylvania voted for Trump (red) in 2016 and for Biden (blue) in 2020, by relatively small margins each time. Yes, the Electoral College is a horrible system and we all know it. It's why Trump became president in 2016 despite losing the nationwide popular vote; he eked out just enough votes in key states to win the Electoral College (you need 270 electoral college votes to win; there are 538 up for grabs overall).

Likewise, the midterm elections are, almost without exception since 1934, used to punish the incumbent president's party for the perceived fuckups of the last two years. So if the president is Republican, the midterms lean Democratic; if the president is Democratic, the midterms lean Republican. The reason that everyone is so surprised at the Democrats doing well is because of 80+ years of historical precedent dictating that they would take a beating. But because Republicans have gotten so crazy, people shied away from voting for them. The Republicans were projected to win up to 5 Senate seats and up to 40+ House seats. As of this writing, they have won... zero and 8, or thereabouts, and it's still not clear who will secure 218 of the 435 seats in the House, which is the amount needed for a majority. Some of those House wins are also offset by the Democrats winning Republican seats back from them, hence why overall control is still up in the air.

So in other words, Congress is LESS likely to be Democratic when the president is Democratic, rather than the same party.

Trump's big thing after he lost in 2020 was to yell to the high heavens about imagined "voter fraud," which was clearly the only reason he could possibly have lost. This is why he tried to launch a coup and sent the January 6 mob to attack the Capitol during Congress's certification of the 2020 election results.

There are probably a ton of other factors I am forgetting, but yes, once again: I cannot possibly emphasize enough what a shitshow it is, and the fact that despite all of the above, the Democrats are guaranteed to keep the Senate and are still in the running for House control. Even if the Republicans do win the House, it will be by such a tiny margin that they will have trouble doing anything except wasting everyone's time with pointless revenge investigations. Democrats will still control the Senate and the Presidency until 2024, and thus can block House GOP nonsense and continue to confirm judges, which is very important after the number of unqualified right-wing hacks that Trump stuffed onto the bench with lifetime appointments.

#anonymous #ask #politics for ts #america: 50 small countries in a trenchcoat etc

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sunflowervoltwentyeight · 5 months

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Hi! This is a fic rec of my favorite reality show au's organized by word count from longest to shortest. You can view my other fic recs here. Enjoy!

As You Are by Zarah5 (139k)

AU. Five years after The X Factor launched his career as a radio host and songwriter, Louis Tomlinson returns as a judge. Falling for a contestant is the last thing he needs. It's also against his contract.

The only reason Harry auditions for The X Factor is because his best mate signed the two of them up as some kind of joke. Harry doesn't get the big deal—not until he's faced with this season's judges and realises that one of them used to be his desperate, impossible teenage crush.

For the Right Reasons by juliusschmidt / @juliusschmidt (105k)

Harry doesn’t agree to be the Bachelor expecting to find love. He’s just hoping for an exciting jaunt around the world, half a dozen new friends, and, if he’s lucky, an amazing hj or two.

Louis may have signed up to be a contestant on the Bachelor, but he’s not interested a ring or a proposal, not from Harry, not from anyone. He wouldn’t turn down a few more Instagram followers, though.

Somewhere In Between Lightning by jassy117 nauticalleeds shiningdistractionwrites / @nauticalleeds @shiningdistraction (99k)

As Louis took another bite, he thought back to how he had once believed that the hardest thing about being on Love Island would be Liam handling his social media. He had been wrong. It was Harry Styles, peeking over at Louis as he forked a pancake into his mouth, and gauging his reaction. It was having to quench the swelling of his heart, which felt simultaneously like hope and the breaking of a thousand pieces.

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A summer gone wrong (or very right) when, under Liam’s persuasion, Louis finds himself drunkenly applying for Love Island, and getting accepted. Oh, well. A summer spent on an island paradise couldn’t be all that bad, right?

Imagine his surprise when Louis arrives in sunny Majorca to find that his first love and ex-boyfriend, Harry, is another contestant, about to capture the hearts of everyone in the villa. Most normal people don’t have to face their ex on an otherwise straight TV show. Most normal people don’t fall for their ex again in front of the whole nation, either. Too bad this whole situation isn’t normal.

The Stars Are Guiding Me Back by coffeelouis / @coffeelouis (80k)

Directing the first ever season of The Bachelor with a bisexual star is a huge career move for Louis. After throwing himself into his career, he finally has the opportunity to prove himself as a director with a unique vision.

For Harry, being cast as the first ever Bi Bachelor means finally putting his ex-boyfriend behind him and starting anew. He's taking a chance on finding love and determined to do it right this time.

They didn't exactly think this through.

[or, the BACHELOR AU where Louis directs his ex-boyfriend Harry in his season as America's first bi bachelor.]

The Wicked Game by cherrystreet / @cherrystreet (70k)

An AU in which The Bachelor is gay, Louis is a contestant, Harry is the bachelor, everyone drinks a lot of champagne, the entire world gets to watch them fall in love, and no one plays by the rules.

Outwit, Outplay, Outlast by dancesongsoul, lookatyourchoices (60k)

“Tommo and Harry are gonna do it. I don’t know when, but they’re gonna do it. They’ve got the mattress, the pillows, everything’s in place, and they’re gonna do it. I really wish those two the best of luck.” –Taylor Swift, "Chapera"

Or a Survivor All-Stars AU in which Harry and Louis are just in this game to win the million dollars, but they end up with something better.

Featuring Harry's yellow swim shorts, Louis in snapbacks, and OT5 shenanigans.

Becoming Us by sweariwouldnt (59k)

Married at First Sight is a television show in which hopefuls looking for The One are matched by experts deeming them to be the perfect match. The twist? They meet each other for the first time at the altar. When they exchange their ‘I do’s’. And get married for real.

One Harry and Louis find each other at the altar. They have five weeks to make or break the set-up marriage.

Playing To Win by jacaranda_bloom / @jacaranda-bloom (36k)

Big Brother UK alumni Louis Tomlinson and Harry Styles are selected for the UK vs Australia All Stars series with a massive one million dollar prize in the offing. They’re both fit and smart and would make a great alliance... if only they can stop their feelings from getting in the way.

OR the one where Louis really doesn’t want to like Harry, Harry is struggling to quell his growing fondness for Louis, but sometimes, no matter how hard you try, you just can’t fight fate.

#reality tv fic rec #fic rec #reality tv au #larry fic rec #category fic rec #read #hlcreators

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nicklloydnow · 7 months

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“For the generation of Americans who came of age in the shadow of the September 11 attacks, the world America had made came with a question mark. Their formative experiences were the ones in which American power had been used for ill, in Iraq and Afghanistan. In the Middle East more broadly, and for much longer, the United States had built a security architecture around some of the world’s most repressive regimes. For those on the left, this was nothing new, and it was all too obvious. I spent my college years reading Noam Chomsky and other leftist critics of U.S. foreign policy, and they weren’t entirely wrong. On balance, the U.S. may have been a force for good, but in particular regions and at particular times, it had been anything but.

Blaming America first became all too easy. After September 11, U.S. power was as overwhelming as it was uncontested. That it was squandered on two endless wars made it convenient to focus on America’s sins, while underplaying Russia’s and China’s growing ambitions.

(…)

Russia’s unprovoked attack on a sovereign nation, in Europe no less, has put matters back in their proper framing. The question of whether the United States is a uniquely malevolent force in global politics has been resolved. In the span of a few days, skeptics of American power have gotten a taste of what a world where America grows weak and Russia grows strong looks like. Of course, there are still holdouts who insist on seeing the United States as the provocateur. In its only public statement on Ukraine, the Democratic Socialists of America condemned Russia’s invasion but also called for “the U.S. to withdraw from NATO and to end the imperialist expansionism that set the stage for this conflict.” This is an odd statement considering that Russia, rather than the United States, has been the world’s most unabashedly imperialist force for the past three decades. But many on the anti-imperialist left aren’t really anti-imperialist; they just have an instinctive aversion to American power.

America’s low opinion of its own capacity for good — and the resulting desire to retreat or disengage — hasn’t just been a preoccupation of the far left. The crisis of confidence has been pervasive, spreading to the halls of power and even President Barack Obama, whose memorable mantra was “Don’t do stupid sh*t.” Instead of thinking about what we could do, or what we could do better, Obama was more interested in a self-limiting principle. For their part, European powers — content to bask under their U.S. security umbrella — could afford to believe in fantasies of perpetual peace. Europe’s gentleness and lethargy — coaxing Germany to commit even 2% of its GDP to defense seemed impossible — became something of a joke. One popular Twitter account, @ISEUConcerned, devoted itself to mocking the European Union’s propensity to express “concern,” but do little else, whenever something bad happened.

(…)

The coming weeks, months, and years are likely to be as fascinating as they are terrifying. In a sense, we knew that a great confrontation was coming, even if we hadn’t quite envisioned its precise contours. At the start of his presidency, Joe Biden declared that the battle between democracies and autocracies would be the defining struggle of our time. This was grandiose rhetoric, but was it more than that? What does it actually mean to fight such a battle?

In any number of ways, Russia’s aggression has underscored why Biden was right and why authoritarians — and the authoritarian idea itself — are such a threat to peace and stability. Russia invaded Ukraine, a democracy, because of the recklessness and domination of one man, Vladimir Putin. The countries that have rallied most enthusiastically behind Ukraine have almost uniformly been democracies, chief among them the United States. America is lousy, disappointing, and maddeningly hypocritical in its conduct abroad, but the notion of any moral equivalence between the United States and Putin’s Russia has been rendered laughable. And if there is such a thing as a better world, then anti-imperialists may find themselves in the odd position of hoping and praying for the health and longevity of not just the West but of Western power.”

“The “rules-based world order” is a system of norms and values that describe how the world ought to work, not how it actually works. This aspirational order is rooted in the idealistic aftermath of the Second World War, when it was transcribed into a series of documents: the United Nations Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the UN Genocide Convention, and the Geneva Conventions on the laws of war, among others. In the more than seven decades since they were written, these documents have frequently been ignored. The UN Genocide Convention did not prevent genocide in Rwanda. The Geneva Conventions did not stop the Vietnamese from torturing American prisoners of war, did not prevent Americans at Abu Ghraib from torturing Iraqi prisoners of war, and do not prevent Russians from torturing Ukrainian prisoners of war today. Signatories of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights include known violators of human rights, among them China, Cuba, Iran, and Venezuela. The UN Commission on Human Rights deteriorated into parody long ago.

Nevertheless, these documents have influenced real behavior in the real world. Soviet dissidents used to embarrass their government by pointing to human-rights language in treaties the Kremlin had signed and did not respect. Even when fighting brutal or colonial wars, countries that had signed treaties on the laws of war either tried to abide by them—avoiding civilian casualties, for example—or at least felt remorseful when they failed to do so. Americans who mistreated Iraqi prisoners of war were court-martialed, convicted, and sentenced to time in military prisons. The British still agonize over the past behavior of their soldiers in Northern Ireland, and the French over theirs in Algeria.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine and Hamas’s surprise attack on Israeli civilians are both blatant rejections of that rules-based world order, and they herald something new. Both aggressors have deployed a sophisticated, militarized, modern form of terrorism, and they do not feel apologetic or embarrassed about this at all. Terrorists, by definition, are not fighting conventional wars and do not obey the laws of war. Instead, they deliberately create fear and chaos among civilian populations. Although terrorist tactics are usually associated with small revolutionary movements or clandestine groups, terrorism is now simply part of the way Russia fights wars. Although a sovereign state and a permanent member of the UN Security Council, Russia first began deliberately hitting civilian targets in Syria in 2015, including power stations, water plants, and above all hospitals and medical facilities, 25 of which were hit in a single month in 2019. These attacks were unquestionably war crimes, and those who chose the targets knew they were war crimes. Some of the hospitals had shared their coordinates with the UN to avoid being hit. Instead, Russian and Syrian government forces may have used that information to find them.

(…)

The Hamas terrorists paid no attention to any modern laws of war, or any norms of any kind: Like the Russians, Hamas and its Iranian backers (who are also Russian allies) run nihilistic regimes whose goal is to undo whatever remains of the rules-based world order, and to put anarchy in its place. They did not hide their war crimes. Instead, they filmed them and circulated the videos online. Their goal was not to gain territory or engage an army, but rather to create misery and anger. Which they have—and not only in Israel. Hamas had to have anticipated a massive retaliation in Gaza, and indeed that retaliation has begun. As a result, hundreds if not thousands of Palestinian civilians will now be victims too.

To explain why one permanent member of the UN Security Council and one quasi-state have adopted this kind of behavior, it is best to start with the nature of their own totalitarian regimes. But there is plenty more blame to go around, because the rules-based order, always pretty tenuous, has actually been dying for a long time. Autocracies, led by China, have been seeking to undermine or remove language about human rights and the rule of law from international forums for years, replacing it with the language of “sovereignty.” Not that this is just a matter of language: The Chinese have carried out atrocities against their Uyghur minority for years, so far with impunity, and openly conducted a successful assault on the rights of the population of Hong Kong. They, and others, have also indulged in deliberately provocative behavior, designed to mock the rule of law outside their own borders. Belarus got away with forcing an Irish-owned airplane to land in Minsk and then kidnapping one of its citizens who was onboard. Russia has organized murders of its citizens in London, Washington, and Berlin.

(…)

During its lifetime, the aspirational rules-based world order and the international community that supported it were frequently mocked, and rightly so. The crocodile tears of the statesmen who expressed “profound concern” when their unenforced rules were broken were often unbearable. Their hypocrisy, as they opined on distant conflicts, was intolerable. On Saturday, Russia’s deputy defense minister parodied this kind of talk when he called for “peace” between Israel and Hamas based on “recognized agreements,” as if Russia accepted any “recognized agreements” as a basis for “peace” in Ukraine.

But like the equally outdated Pax Americana that accompanied the rules-based world order—the expectation that the U.S. plays some role in the resolution of every conflict—we might miss the Geneva Conventions when they are gone. Open brutality has again become celebrated in international conflicts, and a long time may pass before anything else replaces it.”

“The history of Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh was ended in the old manner of conflict resolution: siege, conquest, expulsion. After a 10-month blockade, Azerbaijan launched an attack on Sept. 19, claiming the enclave in a day and causing nearly the entire ethnic Armenian population to flee. Give war a chance, as the saying goes.

For Armenians, a classic relic ethnic minority whose Christianity and peculiar alphabet date to the epic struggles between the Romans and the Parthians, it was another genocide. For the Azerbaijanis, Turkic in language and historically Shia Muslim, a great triumph. Yet despite appearances, the conflict is not a Samuel Huntington-style clash of civilizations. Instead, in its emboldening of traditional regional powers like Turkey, scrambling for geopolitical spoils after the retreat of superpowers, it’s a harbinger of the coming world disorder.

(…)

In the chaotic aftermath of Soviet collapse, the Armenians undertook to defend Nagorno-Karabakh by force. Instead of poetic intellectuals, the wartime generation of Armenian leaders became militia commanders. They proved earthier and, soon, brazenly corrupt. Defending the country became their sole means of legitimacy, ruling out the concessions that peace would require. By 1994 the Armenians, mobilizing around the traumatic memories of genocide, succeeded in expelling scores of Azeris from the enclave. Last month, Azerbaijan got more than even.

In that project, it had a powerful backer: Turkey. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a master of vertiginous visions, has already tried Islamic liberalism, joining Europe, leading the Arab revolts, challenging Israel and negotiating peace in Ukraine. He now has another dream: opening a geopolitical corridor from Europe through Central Asia, all the way to China. This is the “Zangezur corridor,” a 25-mile-long strip of land to be carved through Armenia as part of a peace deal imposed at gunpoint.

Iran is not happy with Azerbaijan’s victory. As openly as the Iranians ever do, they’ve threatened to use force against any changes to the borders of Armenia. Iran, a millenniums-old civilization central to a whole continent, cannot tolerate being walled off behind a chain of Turkish dependencies. India, similarly, is on Armenia’s side and has been sending a regular supply of weapons. One spur for such support, no doubt, is Pakistan’s joining the Azeri-Turkish alliance. In the jargon of American lawyers, this opens a whole new can of worms.

Then there’s Russia, whose absence from the denouement in Nagorno-Karabakh was striking. Even after the 1990s, Moscow still remained by far the biggest supplier of weapons to both Armenia and Azerbaijan. Their economies and societies, above all the elites and their corruption networks, were until very recently molded together. What we are seeing now, as both nations slip out of Russia’s orbit, might be the second round of Soviet collapse.

(…)

That brought nearly all the perimeter of the former Soviet Union into Russia’s sphere of influence. Rebellious Belarus, its dictator dependent on Russian support, was in hand; so too the war-torn Caucasus. The large and oil-rich Kazakhstan itself requested Russian peacekeepers during a bewildering bout of street violence in January 2022. Strangely, the elite Russian troops soon departed from Kazakhstan. A month later, the whole world realized that they had been dispatched to Ukraine, the last sizable piece of Mr. Putin’s post-Soviet gambit. And there his plan broke down.

History has a habit of serving the same lessons with changed variables. In 1988, it was the dreamer Gorbachev stumbling over Nagorno-Karabakh that unwittingly shattered the world order. Today, Mr. Putin could become the second, much darker incarnation of the Kremlin aggrandizer going awry on all fronts. The consequences — from emboldening international aggression to reanimating the West under the banner of NATO — will be profound. As events in Nagorno-Karabakh show, the fragile post-Cold War order is giving way to something else entirely.

The Caucasus might seem strange and distant. Yet it might prove the wedge that turns the fortunes of world order. Trieste, Smyrna, Sarajevo, Danzig and Crimea were all such places. Let us not have to relearn history at the cost of yet another ethnic cleansing.”

#russia #ukraine #israel #gaza #hamas #nagorno karabakh #armenia #azerbaijan #geopolitics #world order #pax americana #war #wwiii #anne applebaum #shadi hamid #war crimes #genocide

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my-johnlockficrecs · 2 years

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because of course, the end of june is the best time for a may wrap up 🥴 LMAO i absolutely lost track of time and procrastinated my may reading list a whole entire month. ahem. however! i seem to have read an awful lot during may, so there will be two parts to the list. hopefully that makes up for the tardiness. i hope y’all had a fun, relaxing may. times are weird and stressful and scary as of right now, especially for our friends in america. i’m thinking of all of you who are having a tough time, america and beyond 💖 all i can offer you is an open inbox and an empathetic ear. and, of course, fic recs. it’s not much, but maybe something on here could provide an escape, even if for a moment.

key: blue: reread • 💌 majorly or in part epistolary • 📚 unilock

spotlight rec

✰ Let's Make a Bed Out in the Rain by Anonymous (17k, M)

John is devastated after his long-term girlfriend leaves him. Sherlock helps him through it.

this fic takes an approach to the john/mary relationship and how it came about in a way that was absolutely novel to me. instead of the dramatics of canon, this fic boils the john-mary-sherlock situation down to its basics. john enters a long term relationship with mary while sherlock pines in silence. Let’s Make a Bed starts out with john and mary’s breakup, and tells us the heartwarming, utterly sweet story of how sherlock takes care of john in the aftermath of it all. one of the things that i sincerely appreciated about this fic is how sherlock’s care towards john was never wholly motivated by his own romantic attachment to john, but also because of the friendship they shared. sherlock loves john here immensely, but he’s also his best friend. there are some moments of hilarity that will make you laugh in delight (the way sherlock got his back on mary!😂) and heart-touching moments of tenderness too. the moment of realisation is just the sweetest thing ever and absolutely made me melt. the angst and pining here is the kind that makes your heart ache, but not in an entirely bad way.

✰ Mathematical Proof series by Bitenomnom (108k, 50 works, complete)

i’m also going to spotlight Bitenomnom’s delightfully diverse series, Mathematical Proof. (haven’t added a link here because i can’t add more links to this post and i absolutely refuse to reformat the whole thing. Bitenomnom has been linked in the list below, right next to the fics i’ve read from the Mathematical Proof series). it mostly consists of one-shots, although some are connected to each other, and every story is based on some mathematical principle or the other that the author found intriguing at the time. i just thought that the idea of applying mathematical theories to johnlock was (a) incredibly inventive and unique and (b) very impressive. also, just generally, it’s clear from the stories and the author’s notes that the author has a genuine passion for math and i love to see how they use johnlock as an interpretive medium. for anyone who (like me) is not a mathematician of any order; worry not! you don’t actually need to have a thorough understanding of advanced math to enjoy these fics. and for those who are curious to learn more, the author explains the mathematical principle being used in great detail before the start of every fic.

bite sized (5k and less)

nobody, not even the rain, has such small hands by miss_frankenstein (3k, teen)

“Will you need fresh socks?”

Sherlock’s voice immediately brings John back to the present. “What?”

Sherlock gestures irritably to the wet socks clutched in John’s hand. “Socks,” he says again sharply because he hates repeating himself, “Will you need fresh socks?”

A post-S3 piece in which John and Sherlock finally confront their feelings for each other - as only they would do - in the pouring rain.

softly, softly by threadoflife (1k, G)

They were back to grinning at each other, embarrassingly enough: a whole five seconds of terrifying delight. John wanted to reach out and smooth his thumb over the screen, behind which Sherlock’s face was locked. It was a bit pixelled, now, the connection likely slowing down. Christ, John wanted to be there with him; or he wanted Sherlock here; it didn’t really matter. He just wanted Sherlock, location be damned.

Fuck. Fuck, he had it bad.

Don’t Cry Sweet Honeybee by Musings_o (4k, unrated)

Sherlock Holmes and John Watson go through years of love, separation, and heartache.

Though the pain is worth it, worth being reunited once more.

EMERGENCY CONTACT: Sherlock Holmes, RELATIONSHIP: n/a by @blueink3 (5k,M)

The first time John Watson’s emergency contact is called is the first time Sherlock Holmes finds out that he has the job.

and as the seasons change, i love you more by teatrolley (3k, unrated)

“I love you,” John murmurs when he pulls back, panting and with pink cheeks.

“Mm,” Sherlock says, because after four years of being together they can joke about it. “Why?”

“Don’t fish for compliments,” John says, but he kisses Sherlock again, softly this time.

Later, when Sherlock goes to the bathroom, he finds a sticky note on the mirror saying “Because you make my chest feel like it’s on fire, but in the good way.”

_________________

A year in the lives of John and Sherlock, essentially

Let Go by thisisforyou (2k, G)

In the end, separating John's things from Sherlock's in the chaos of their sitting room is like pulling a limpet from a wet rock. Especially when the rock is clinging on for dear life, because Sherlock doesn't want to let go. Short, fluffy h/c Johnlock oneshot.

Improbable Remains by tamed_untranslatable (3k, teen)

“So we, um.” His left hand clenched at his side underneath the table. "We probably shouldn’t bring this back to London, then."

"No, quite right.” Sherlock nodded.

“I mean, I don’t want to ruin…” The uncertainty had returned to John’s eyes as he looked back at Sherlock.

“No, absolutely not,” Sherlock agreed, and now he was beginning to feel some of that relief, too. Wherever he may have imagined this would lead, he knew that he couldn’t bear to lose John’s friendship. “It can just be something for Dartmoor, then."

"Right, yeah. Just a Dartmoor thing.” John nodded.

Two Words by stopthat (1k, teen)

I reach out and let my palm fall to his shoulder. I think, finally, the time for this has come.

Of Velvet and Silk, Cotton and Cashmere by cwb (2k, E)

Vignettes of Sherlock at different ages, what he loved, what he lost, and how John gave it back.

Still, With Hearts Beating by @finamour (2k, E)

John already knows the sound of Sherlock’s heartbeat. He’s become familiar with his breathing patterns, the way they grow quicker and more shallow as the two of them run through the streets of London. He has, in a passing manner, come to know Sherlock’s scent; the colour of his skin in the dim light of the alleyway; the way his hair grows matted and sweaty against the nape of his neck on a warm July night.

But he has never been pressed up against Sherlock like this, the rise and fall of his breath pushing into his own body through their thin summer clothes. Until now, he has never been fully immersed in his scent, felt his hair softly brushing his face, the thrumming of Sherlock’s heart against his own chest.

Too Much by belovedmuerto (567, teen)

Sometimes, it's too much for John.

Tangential by Bitenomnom (2k, unrated)

“You know, for being married, you and your Work seem to have a pretty on-again, off-again relationship."

"Yes. I’d say it’s grounds for divorce, wouldn’t you?”

“If it’d mean less collateral damage to the flat, I’m all for it.” He pulled up the newspaper and had a glance over it. “But you do strike me as a bit of a kept man. Hope you’ve got a secret lover ready to snatch you up and take care of you.”

Sherlock could have said, “I might, if you’d like to keep me.” But instead, he asked, “Do you have any opinions on bees?”

...In which John stitches up Sherlock's head (but not really), Sherlock comes into John's room at night to take his laptop (but not really), Sherlock is married to his Work (but not really), and John is more than proficient at keeping Sherlock (really, definitely).

Latent Variable by Bitenomnom (3k, unrated)

“John,” he pulled himself into a sitting position to face John. “How many times have you seen me eat outside this flat?”

John leaned back thoughtfully. “Well, I…” He tilted his head. “Huh.” John scooted forward in his chair, leaning over his knees to look Sherlock in the eye. “Why?”

“It’s more comfortable.”

“Is that it? You starved yourself of a nice hot dinner at Angelo’s so that you could sit on the sofa while you eat?”

“That’s not it.”

Sherlock never eats at restaurants when he and John go out -- not even when he's not on a case.

Nested Dichotomy by Bitenomnom (2k, unrated)

Water dripped from the ceiling.

Water dripped from the ceiling insofar as that water dripped from the ceiling tiles, which were located in pieces on the floor.

Sherlock stood, brushing dust from himself, brushing the ceiling from himself, and looked beneath him and saw his own unconscious—no, dead—body, on the ceiling.

Rewind.

The ceiling gathered back together, coagulated thirty feet above him, spat water back out into the pool as it gathered up tendrils of itself back into the depths.

John supposed this wasn’t a surprising night for Sherlock’s mind to conjure up something horrific. John hadn’t gone to sleep, for similar reasons—had just laid in bed, reading, until Sherlock barged in.

Remodeling by Bitenomnom (2k, unrated)

“There’s no way you tapped my arm.” “Why wouldn’t there be?” “Because you’ve never touched me.” Sherlock studied him for a moment more before gasping in an, “Oh.” “What?” “While you were deleting some contents of your brain, you were also deleting any sensory input associated with the process.” “Meaning…” “Meaning that according to your brain, we have never made physical contact.”

Paired Comparison Experiment Notes, Trials 1-24 by Bitenomnom (1k, unrated)

Trial 4: Subject extremely confused by sudden commencement of dirty talk after innocent game of footsie at breakfast, splashes tea on experimenter, refuses to specify preference.

Trial 14: Subject prefers handshake to pinching of arse, does not applaud experimenter’s creativity in utilizing organic situations to their fullest potential by coordinating handshaking procedure for magazine photograph with opportunity to test against buttocks-pinching variable. Quote, “Stop pinching my arse, Sherlock!” followed by, quote, “Please don’t print that in the interview.”

The Paired Comparison Model by Bitenomnom (2k, unrated)

Today, a mysterious chart appeared on the refrigerator of 221B. John is reasonably certain that Sherlock is not planning on calling for volunteers to come knocking at 221B for some variety of sexual experimentation, although that is very much what the chart on the refrigerator seems to suggest. He is also reasonably certain, however, that whatever it is, it must not involve Sherlock, because the chart on the refrigerator lists quite a few things that John doesn’t imagine Sherlock would ever do of his own free will. The real question, then—which John poses to Sherlock after several moments’ silence—is, “When’s the orgy?”

Successive Over-Relaxation by Bitenomnom (1k, unrated)

“Oh, give them here, you git,” is what John says to Sherlock as Sherlock rubs at his feet in the most histrionic fashion possible. Sherlock quirks an eyebrow at John. “Yes, right, you heard me, put your feet up here and let me rub them; you’re doing a bloody awful job of it.”

Visual Verification by Bitenomnom (2k, E)

John pulled Sherlock’s face down and leaned heavier against him to whisper in his ear. “I said scientific rigor,” John told him. “I meant a demonstration, not a discussion over whether bloody Scotland Yard was going to figure out the meaning of your convoluted description.”

The Postal Problem by Bitenomnom (2k, unrated) 💌

On Sherlock's nineteenth consecutive day of temporarily being a postman, John finally sends his letter to his girlfriend. Well, not quite the letter he originally intended to send.

The Cost of Decreased Variance by Bitenomnom (2k, unrated)

Sherlock had awoken wondering whose things were in 221B; clearly, they were John Watson’s. Clearly, John Watson was his flatmate. And clearly, for some reason, every single night, Sherlock deleted him.

The Genetic Algorithm by Bitenomnom (3k, unrated)

Some problems defy the usage of cold, clean-cut linear logic. It is impossible to devise a way to take steps that ultimately lead exactly to an optimal answer. Sherlock believes John Watson is one of those problems.

Fuzzy Measures by Bitenomnom (2k, unrated)

“Honestly, John? ‘The Navel Treatment'?” “You can call it whatever you want on your blog,” John glanced up from his laptop to Sherlock, who was watching him type about the case over his shoulder. “I didn’t think you were really going to give it that title.” “You knew I was going to, Sherlock. You know how I run my blog.” “Yes: stupidly.” “And,” John pointedly ignored this comment, “it’s not my fault you found the crucial evidence in the victim’s belly button. It was lint, Sherlock. I don’t exactly have a lot to work with.” “You could try not titling your entries with terrible puns.”

The Transposable Choquet Integral by Bitenomnom (1k, unrated)

“Oh,” Sherlock said, tracing his fingers over John’s stomach. “Nothing at all like the data I had been testing.” John rolled his eyes. “You know, Sherlock, I seriously doubt my body hair is terribly different from any other bloke’s.” “Wouldn’t know,” Sherlock said.

Fixed Points by Bitenomnom (532, unrated)

The Fixed Point Method of estimating roots involves employing an algorithm until the input is roughly equal to the output. Sherlock and John's arguments work in much the same way.

A Penalty for Profusion by Bitenomnom (1k, unrated)

"Did you really think I was born knowing how to identify a zoologist by her fingernails and cutlery?" "No, of course not." John considered turning away for the imminent lecture. "I practiced," Sherlock reiterated instead. "Of course I didn’t always immediately know what to look for."

Variance by Bitenomnom (797, unrated)

“It’s actually two point nine.” “What?” “Meters. That you stay from me, all the time. Well—since you punched me, anyway.” “Oh. I hadn’t really put that much thought into it.” “How very homoscedastic of you.”

Type III by Bitenomnom (1k, unrated)

It had been, by Sherlock’s estimate (he could not tell precisely—shades drawn, so amount of light outside and therefore time of day unknown, extended amounts of sleep disorienting) sixteen days since John had returned. Seventeen was also a distinct possibility. His mobile was nowhere to be found. John was asleep beside him: that was exactly where John was supposed to be. John had returned and everything was right again.

Parallel by Bitenomnom (3k, unrated)

While John and Sherlock were apart (apart for years, this time, years and years and years even with both in London, apart but for the occasional visits, ever less personal) they were not so different. Sherlock still solved crimes. He pretended to shoot holes in the wall. It was better this way. \\ John pretended to shoot holes in the wall. Things hadn’t changed so much. He still solved cases with Sherlock, sometimes. He pretended to shoot holes in the wall. It was better this way.

Interaction by Bitenomnom (4k, unrated)

The last time he had seen Sherlock was three years ago—completely by accident. Sherlock hadn’t come to Mary’s funeral, but that was no surprise; John had seen him a few days afterward, but not since then, not until this time. John, fourteen years after leaving Baker Street, looks back on his relationship with Sherlock, on his marriage, and on his unshakable loneliness. Goes with Touching.

Touching by Bitenomnom (3k, unrated)

He and John fell in love eighteen years ago. It fell apart quickly. It fell apart suddenly. It fell apart sixteen years ago. But they were still flatmates, and they still solved crimes, and nothing changed. Nothing changed sixteen years ago, just the details, just the important little details. Sherlock was no longer allowed to sleep in bed with John, or run his fingers through John’s hair or breathe on his collarbone or nip at his nose or sleep with his face buried in a discarded jumper or lay his head in John’s lap while they watched John’s action and sci-fi movies. Everything changed fourteen years ago, though. Everything.

Fifteen Years by Bitenomnom (1k, unrated)

A lot changes in fifteen years -- and a lot doesn't. Fifteen years before Baskerville, John wanted a dog. Fifteen years before Sherlock was in court, Sherlock was in court. Fifteen years before John met Sherlock, John wasn't interested in the violin. Fifteen years before he met Irene Adler, someone asked Sherlock out for dinner. Fifteen years before Sherlock kissed John, Sherlock kissed John.

Five Times Sherlock gave John a Pebble and One Time John Returned the Gesture by grimmfairy (1k, unrated)

Written for a prompt by navydream on tumblr: So penguins bring rocks to their mates and Sherlock somehow fond out about this… and suddenly, John starts finding all sorts of pebbles, starting from the ordinary to a rare moon stone. Sherlock isn't good with words, so he decides to tell John his feelings the way penguins do, by bringing him pebbles with different meanings. John catches on.

God's Own Country by halloa_what_is_this (4k, teen)

Road trip through nowhere, everywhere, anywhere.

Bitter Nights Turned Sweet by Hyliare (4k, teen)

“Christ, Sherlock, what’s happened?” The detective’s eyes are red-rimmed, blown wide to combat the urge to squint (a measure to preserve Sherlock’s dignity, John is certain—at least what dignity is left). His hair is more than messy, it’s littered with tiny knots all along the lines of his temples. He’s clean, at least, so he must have showered, but the hem on the bottom of his vest is partially unravelled. “Sherlock—” “Nothing’s happened. I’m just tired.” Sherlock has always had trouble sleeping; he hasn't always had someone in his life willing to help.

Two To Tango (The Cold Hands, Warm Heart Remix) by igrockspock (1k, teen)

When John is wounded while pursuing a suspect, Sherlock refuses to leave his side.

When Your Belly's in the Trench by Morgan_Stuart (4k, teen)

The next time that door opens, John Watson will kill the person on the other side.

short fics (5k-15k)

holding steady by @watsonshoneybee (12k, E)

Sitting on a thick wool blanket at the end of a rickety dock side-by-side, legs dangling over the edge, a styrofoam container of wet, dark dirt between them, they’re fishing.

John knows what this is about. This is about finally figuring it out.

EMERGENCY CONTACT: John Watson, RELATIONSHIP: Saint by @blueink3 (6k, M)

The first time Sherlock Holmes realizes he needs an emergency contact is the first time he mentally appoints John Watson with the job.

John, of course, does not know this and neither does the local hospital.

Their Great Reward by @the-pen-pot (10k, teen)

Boxing day, in John's opinions, is the worst day of the year. Christmas is over, the tree is wilting and stripped of gifts, and there's a week of dead-time until the clean slate of the new year. However the combination of a blizzard, a power-cut and Sherlock might just make it a day to remember. (John and Sherlock pre-slash to slash fluff)

The Newlywed Game: Johnlock Edition by patternofdefiance (9k, E)

What it says on the tin: John and Sherlock pretend to be married in order to be contestants in a Newlywed Game.

Of course it's for a case.

Of course it doesn't stay that way.

The Fundamental Things Apply by @raina-at (6k, M)

"Kisses that are easily obtained are easily forgotten." - Proverb

Nestled between head and heart by @blogstandbygo (8k, teen)

A series of vignettes about Sherlock Holmes's lifelong relationship with his violin.

Strong at the Broken Places by @blueink3 (10k, M)

They dated for ten months during Sherlock's first year of uni and John's last before the latter went off to fight someone else's war. When they meet again two-and-a-half years later, John's gained a scar in his shoulder and a limp he can't seem to shake. Sherlock's gained a new boyfriend and bruises he can't seem to explain away.

I Need You To See Me by Mssmithlove (12k, E)

After going back to war, John is yet again invalided home, this time with a broken ankle and a chunk of his memory missing, unable to recall the last five years he's spent being Sherlock Holmes' partner and husband.

The Deepest Secret Nobody Knows by @raina-at (7k, E)

Sherlock is back from the dead. Now all he has to do is get back his Blogger.

A Bump in the Road by BakerTumblings (10k, teen)

Now and again, something will happen that rocks their collective world. Sometimes it concerns about healthy living, a wise behaviour choice, their London community, body parts in the fridge, a career path, an event in the life of one of their friends.

And sometimes it's more personal, and the bump in the road can be not only a surprise, but possibly serious.

I'm Pretty Sure This Changes Shit by cwb (7k, E)

Back at the flat Sherlock threw himself down on the couch, limbs akimbo, throat bared, one wrist placed strategically over his furrowed brow. He moaned, but not too loudly, just under the threshold of noticeably dramatic. He unbuttoned the top three buttons of his shirt with his other hand, making sure that John had plenty of chest to explore. Exploration was good. Exploration was highly encouraged.

mid length (16k-50k)

The Way to a Man’s Heart by @swissmissing (21k, teen)

When Greg asks Sherlock to be his best man, the past returns in an unexpected way, confronting Sherlock and John with the need to define what they are to each other. Set about a year after series 3.

Letters From Sussex by @sussexbound (32k, E) 💌

In the wake of the Mary/Moriarty affair, John and Sherlock have fallen out, and are living apart. But Sherlock isn't content with this state of affairs--not one bit. He's tired of dancing around the obvious. The wooing of John Watson starts now!

Hitting the Water at Sixty Miles an Hour by what_alchemy (30k, E)

“You love your mother, Sherlock?”

John watched the muscles in Sherlock’s jaw jump. He nodded in one sharp jerk.

“Then we’re going to her party and making her happy.” John let out a resigned sigh. “As a ruddy couple, you bastard.”

The Wisteria Tree by @silentauroriamthereal (29k, E)

Sherlock wakes up from a month-long coma only to discover that he has no memory of the previous six years to his own shock as well as John's...

Just a Touch of Lips by Salambo06 (21k, E) 📚

Two weeks ago, Sherlock kissed a blindfolded John Watson, captain of the Rugby Team, during an university event and left before he could see his face. Neither have been able to think about anything else since. When Mike mentions a certain student in his Chemistry class who could help John find his mysterious kisser, they both find themselves in a situation they hadn't expected.

Maintaining A Personal Life by Gingerhermit (24k, E)

Sherlock and John discover some interesting revelations about each other’s sexuality, which lead them both to question the assumptions they've made about one another for years. In the midst of their mutual discoveries, a dangerous psychopath looms on the side-lines who threatens to destroy their new beginning. ---- Sherlock’s head snapped to the right, where he fixed his gaze upon the rather unexpected development that was a man standing in their kitchen wearing nothing but his pants and a t-shirt. …Unexpected…was this unexpected? Shortly after meeting him, Sherlock had easily deduced that John was not uninterested in men sexually. This was something that John was at least mildly conflicted about and overcompensated for constantly. It was likely that he’d experimented with this interest at least once in the not too distant past, although this was one point on which Sherlock was chronically uncertain. And Sherlock hated being uncertain.

long fics (50k and above)

The Thing Is by TSylvestris (56k, E)

The problem with living with Sherlock, John thought, was that you never, never, ever knew the significance of anything. Like your flatmate's nose buried in your hair. Whilst you're in bed.

#whew #faced many technical difficulties AGAIN #it’s like the more i do this the more technical difficulties arise #shouldn’t it be the other way around??#tumblr smh #anyway #my johnlock fic recs #johnlock #johnlock fics #johnlock fic recs #my johnlock fic recs: may 2022 part 1

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ordinaryschmuck · 4 months

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Something that makes me call bullshit on the idea that Marvel movies are less popular because they "Aren't serious enough" is the fact that....most "serious" Marvel stuff is probably the least popular of it all. Most early Marvel movies like the first Captain America movie, the first two Thor movies, the Iron Man sequels, where all some of the lowest rated stuff in the MCU. Like, 've seen so many people complain about Thor's personality and want him to go back to being a serious character, but the truth is, he got more popular when he and his movies GOT less serious. That's why Ragnarok was so well liked. No one cared about Marvel back when it was "serious". But they did when it became jokier because that gave it a unique feel to the universe.

Yeah, that's what people liked about Marvel. It gave the good fun times that we all enjoyed, while occasionally throwing in a show like Daredevil into the mix, saying, "Hey, we can do serious stuff too. But also, here's a joke about Matt and Foggy calling themselves 'avocados' because they're drunk and doing goofy stuff." Having fun isn't a crime. Even the early comics were all about having goofy fun.

The problem lies when you go too far into one or the other direction. Be too goofy like Thor: Love and Thunder or Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, people will be sick of it. I think it's why people are being more forgiving nowadays towards a film like Batman V. Superman because, hell, it's a bad movie, but at least it took itself seriously. But that also leaves the problem that if you take yourself too seriously, people will tend to role your eyes. These are characters named Batman and Superman, yet so much color, life, and personality are drained out of both of them for the sake of a dark, gritty re-imagining of these characters that made them different from Marvel's but in the worst way. Yeah, Civil War told more jokes, but those jokes made the characters stand strong and be memorable. People laughed AT Batman screaming "Why did you say that name?!" Meanwhile, they laughed WITH Ant-Man when he screamed "Something flew in me!"

But sticking with Civil War, the reason why it's one of Marvel's better films is because it told a serious story about heroes fighting each other and added jokes when it was (mostly) appropriate. Sure, it was jokes galore when The Avengers were fighting each other in the airport, but that was treated as a good fun time where you watch your favorite superheroes smash around like they're action figures. But note how there's not a single joke in the entire climax of the film, where Tony's out for blood due to Bucky killing his parents and Steve and Bucky fending him off out of self-defense. It's heartbreaking and you don't like seeing Steve and Tony slap each other around, and the best part being that none of them throw out the usual quips. The closest we get is Tony saying "Screw it, I'm eye-balling it" before blasting an escape tunnel for Bucky close. They hold it off for that whole fight, but bring it back with Stan Lee mistaking Tony's last name, almost as if Marvel's telling the audience "It's okay. You can laugh again." Marvel WAS great at being fun but still offering some good, serious stories.

The problem is that they tried TOO HARD to be fun again, giving us stuff like She-Hulk: Attorney At Law or Thor: Love and Thunder. I should be laughing at these goofy antics, and I do SOMETIMES, but people are getting a little sick of fun for fun's sake. They want to feel like Marvel takes themselves SERIOUSLY.

#marvel cinematic universe #mcu #asks #ask me anything #send asks if you want

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randomvarious · 4 months

Text

Today's compilation:

Cajun Spice 1989 Cajun / Folk / Zydeco

Well, folks, it looks like our first comp of this new year is taking us on a trip down to southern Louisiana, aka Acadiana, where Cajun music, in some form or fashion, has been a fixture of the region's culture since the latter part of the 1700s. And if you've ever wondered why Cajun people are called Cajuns in the first place, it's because they originally hailed from Acadia—what are now parts of maritime Canada, Québec, and northern Maine—and if you chop off the front 'A' from 'Acadian' and then say the remainder of the word quickly enough, what you'll inevitably end up saying is 'Cajun.' Simple as!

But why the Acadians didn't end up staying in Acadia was because of a terrible war, namely the Seven Years' one, whose resolution saw the French-speaking territory left in the hands of the British. The British then forced the Acadians into exile and a lot of them ended up migrating all the way down south to lower Louisiana, where, despite France having ceded the land to Spain by that point, they were still welcomed anyway.

So the reason why Louisiana has the most French speakers out of any other state in the Union, rather than the states that border the French-speaking provinces of Canada itself, is pretty much because of that period of Acadian migration. Pretty interesting, no?

But now we forge on to more modern times:

Although Cajun music predates Louisiana's admission into the Union, it didn't really gain much in the way of a national traction until the middish-1980s, which was a time that had also seen America writ large develop a fixation with Cajun food as well. And if you're going to really try to enjoy the cuisine, what better ambiance to pair it with than that same culture's music, right?

Which brings us to this little late 80s comp from roots and world music label Rounder Records here, who, in the earlier part of the decade, had really started to develop their own Cajun stable of artists. Rounder had released a few comps that consisted purely of both Cajun music and its sister genre of zydeco before this one, but all of those releases had originated from the 70s, and almost all of them also consisted of only two or three acts each. This 1989 release, on the other hand, Cajun Spice, was the first one from Rounder to be issued since Cajun music had really started to draw interest in the US outside of Louisiana, and the list of musicians on it was far lengthier too.

But now here's the bad news: it took until getting a few songs deep into this comp for me to finally realize, that out of every instrument that I've ever heard in my life, the one that I might have a most visceral dislike for is the accordion. And that might make my German ancestors furiously turn over in their own graves, but there is just something about the type of sound that emanates out of those strange contraptions that feels so extremely lame and corny to me. And I know that I'm probably not alone in feeling this way, but guess what the lead instrument in Cajun music happens to be. Yep, that's right. The accordion! 😩

Now, I'm sure it's one thing to actually go down to Acadiana and immerse yourself in the culture for a night of good fun, which would include getting down to this unique form of folk-dance music that's found a way to keep on existing, but outside of a setting like that, I don't think I wanna hear much in the way of accordion-led music ever again. At the very least, I've definitely had my fill of it for this year alone 😅.

But with all of that said, and despite my personal distaste for this stuff in general, I can still tell that the tunes on this album are very well-made. The musicians are clearly gifted and what they're playing is definitely infectious...if you can find a way to stand it, which I really can't. But if you're way more tolerant of a prominent accordion than I am, or if you already like Cajun music, or if you're just interested in hearing it for the first time, then I definitely recommend this album. AllMusic gave it four and a half out of five stars and I can definitely see why, because all of it is clearly quality stuff.

No highlights.

#cajun #cajun music #folk #folk music #zydeco #louisiana #music #70s #70s music #70's #70's music #80s #80s music #80's #80's music

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stevetonyweekly · 2 years

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SteveTony Weekly - May 22nd

Happy Sunday!! Here’s what I’ve been reading this week. As always, leave your fic authors some love if you read and enjoy their stories!

**Indicates my recent favs

~*~

The Enemy of My Enemy by Captain_Panda

Nothing like a bad toothache to put everything back into perspective for Tony.

Unfortunately for his demons, he's not reliving this nightmare alone.

One Last Christmas by Captain_Panda

You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch.

The year is 2012. Cuddly-as-a-cactus Tony Stark is throwing a Christmas party for his fellow Avengers.

It's all going really well--except for Tony, who is quietly succumbing to his own demons.

To The End Of Love by laireshi

Steve's been married to Tony for years when the Stamford disaster happens and the Superhero Registration Act tears the superhero community apart. When Tony disagrees with Steve, Steve still expects Iron Man to follow him: he's his best friend, for one, and he's chosen to keep his identity a secret from everyone. But Iron Man also fights against him.

And then Steve smashes his faceplate open.

Don't run around being blue by BladeoftheNebula, gottalovev

Steve figures he has nothing to lose searching for Dum-E, the lost black cat on the posters all over Manhattan. In fact, he has a $5,000 reward to gain, which he desperately needs right now to pay rent.

Close Shave by Amuly

Steve and Tony are stuck in a hotel room waiting on an AIM arms deal. Tony makes fun of Steve's straightedge razor, Steve thinks Tony's LASER hair remover couldn't possibly do as good as a job. Steve offers to show Tony exactly how close a shave his razor has to offer. Obviously this leads to sex.

with you by laireshi

Sometimes Steve gets overwhelmed by how much he loves Tony.

So Far Away From Me by Sineala

Captain America has a new hotline, and Tony is a frequent caller -- but for a very unusual reason.

Second Chances by izazov

Tony Stark is in love with Steve Rogers. Also, he is dying. There is no direct correlation between those two facts. But there is also the matter of Steve Rogers having no idea about Tony’s feelings.

Thursdays Are Like That by nightwalker

Sex Pollen, fake werewolves and Pennsylvania. Thursdays are weird for the Avengers, but this one is weirder than most.

time slows down by meidui

It's strange how well and how fully Tony fits in Steve's arms, and Tony is in awe of him, always, this small, gentle man who's a giant in his eyes, who seems to have room for everything about Tony. His bad habits, his childhood, his whole entire gleaming future, and every single one of his fears, big and little.

M - Marriage, am I right? by Kaaaaath

“Two years ago, I married my best friend”

“Aww…”

“My wife was not happy about it, but Tony and I had a good laugh.”

In their defense, no one should allowed to wed with THAT much alcohol in their blood streams. This is all Nevada’s vault.

You're A Dream, Steven Rogers... And I Don't Want To Wake Up by ZaraMelMercury

Tony's had bad relationships in the past, but it all comes to an end after a certain proposal is made.

As we go down, slowly by fundamentalBlue

“Good work out there today, Stark.” Steve’s hand came down heavily on Tony’s shoulder, and warmth flushed through him.

He would do anything to make sure he didn’t screw this up. Up to and including keeping his creepy little crush on Steve to himself.

Couples Counselling in the Nine Realms by arysteia

Sometimes elves, orcs, ogres, goblins, a dragon, the Nine Realms converging, and an epic battle are what it takes to reconcile following a Civil War. Oh, and a little bit of honesty.

that old t-shirt (that I love) by hollyandvice (hiasobi_writes)

Steve likes wearing Tony’s shirts while he's away. It makes him feel sexy and big and it smells like Tony. Little does he know just how much this turns Tony on too.

Luminous Glimmers on Ocean Waves by iam93percentstardust

Steve hasn't seen Prince Tony Stark since the day he and his parents left the palace. Twenty-five years later, Steve is the owner of a unique theme park, and Tony is waltzing back into his life in a way that Steve could have never expected.

Two's a Crowd by rainproof

If Steve were any deeper in the closet his ass would be in Narnia.

#stony #stevetony #stevetony weekly #fanfic #fanfic rec #stony fic rec #rec list #steve rogers #tony stark #iron man #captain america

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denimbex1986 · 9 months

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'Both Barbie and Oppenheimer benefit from the Barbenheimer phenomenon driving audiences to theaters. However, the primary beneficiary is likely Christopher Nolan's three-hour historical epic, attracting viewers who might not have otherwise seen it in theaters. Yet, on social media, some movie fans are lamenting the increased attendance. It seems Oppenheimer started a real-life war between people who use their phones in movie theaters and those who don't.

As Barbie continues its journey to the billion-dollar box office milestone, Oppenheimer closes in on half of that gross worldwide. How diametrically opposed the films are only adds to the fun of Barbenheimer. One is a bright, all-ages story about growing up, while the other is a melancholy examination of monumental discovery and the toll it exacts on the world. This organic, earned media campaign may have saved the summer box office after a series of underwhelming releases. Of course, there's also the literal cost of inflation, too. Four tickets to two movies can cost anywhere from $45 to $60 or the amount of three to six streaming services. With the shortened theatrical windows in recent years, audiences want to watch movies at home. This could explain why inconsiderate audience members have taken to using their phones during movies like Oppenheimer, especially if they find the movie "boring."

Cinemas Require People to Respect the Film and Each Other

The ubiquity and power of modern smartphones has fundamentally changed how society works. In the 1980s and 1990s, parents going out would leave the phone numbers of restaurants, movie theaters and so on with babysitters in case of an emergency. So, if someone's phone goes off or lights up during a movie screening, there may be a good reason for it. However, small considerations like silencing ringers and decreasing brightness can mitigate the annoyance. Also, if there is an emergency, a polite moviegoer would take that call while quickly exiting the theater. Yet, apparently, during screenings of Oppenheimer, people have gotten bored and started using their phones to scroll social media or even watch videos.

Disturbances in movie theaters aren't a new problem, including phone usage. Movie theaters remind audiences to turn off their phones, usually in between the ad for snacks and the "You wouldn't download a car" PSA. There are many components to the unique magic of cinema, and the theater experience is one of them. Even more than talking, heckling or other ways people choose to be bad audience members, scrolling through one's phone feels worse.

Boredom Is a Poor Excuse for Using a Phone in a Movie Theater

Compared to most summer blockbusters, Oppenheimer is a "slow" film. Perhaps Martin Scorsese was on to something when he described them as "theme park rides." His critique, aimed at the films themselves, may better apply to audiences' expectations and preferences. It's perfectly valid to think Christopher Nolan erred on the side of self-indulgence when it comes to Oppenheimer's pacing. Still, there is enough intentional imagery on the screen that no reasonable person could claim to be bored. The options are to walk out of the movie or endure the showing with the rest of the audience. If one is lucky, the audience's reactions to the film can help assuage the "boredom" by providing a pathway to emotional investment in the story.

Films in the Marvel Studios' heyday, like Captain America: Civil War or Avengers: Endgame, can be like raucous sporting events. Audiences laugh together, cheer together, and sometimes cry together. Oppenheimer is not that kind of movie, but there's still a communal energy to the experience. Sometimes, it's what the director hopes for, but other times, it's a fog of confusion or the pangs of second-hand embarrassment. From shared jump scares during horror films to clever heckling of "bad" movies, the cinema always has something to offer. It's the kind of experience no app or game can yet duplicate.

Smartphones and streaming make it so people can watch whatever they want, whenever they want. In an uncomfortable parallel to Oppenheimer, these devices are scientific miracles that loom an unknown, potentially devastating cost. It's also a miracle that with TVs, iPads and VR headsets, movie theaters still exist. For more than a century, people have congregated in dark rooms to watch something together. That's the real magic. Good or bad, the movie is just a bonus.'

#Oppenheimer #Barbie #Christopher Nolan #Barbenheimer #Captain America: Civil War #Avengers: Endgame

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realhankmccoy · 11 months

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What the Republic is looking for is more stable patterns of self-expression. The bourgeoisie has long been opposed to social instability, and 'unstable' is a bad thing to it. It likes stables, like pigs in a pen.

The Republic are the sort of people who would choose another man and concoct a lie about how you did something wrong -- this would fit the pattern of dad (chose my brother), Bruce (chose that Brazilian), Boi (chose some bourgeois product). Their lies are so easy to catch because the emotional maturity to construct a consistent narrative over time does not exist... they're used to spinning, fibbing, manipulating like a child who the teacher can easily suss out.

The Republic likes pretty truths, not ugly truths. Trump and Nancy Reagan long wonder why the left has to be so... ugly... to them.

The Republic is terrified by and angered by what it considers 'resentment of men'... as if there is a neurosis in normal people who aren't prejudiced against women and blacks, as the empire is. It's pure concealer and projection about what the true problem in American society is.

The Republic says that those on their own two feet are soft, But the Republic has never been on its own two feet and has a softer body and mind. Never forget this, kids, how much projection is actually going on about the Republic's inability to admit its own shortcomings and its halfhearted efforts to overcome them... efforts crippled by its bootlicking of the patriarchy, which tends to consume its energy.

The Republic suspects insincerity because it lies so much and has been caught in so many lies that it knows how deeply insincere itself is, and presumes others Must be worse.

The Republic wouldn't understand the selfless notion of criticising its own generation and isn't even bright enough to know that I am a "Millennial" -- being so selfish as to only perceive its own identity as so unique to its own generation that it doesn't realise it's a generation others are also in. I've noticed this with many Millennials, who have not learned that it's ridiculous to bleat on about one's own generation but even more ridiculous to act like oneself is the only individual born into the generation. The Republic wants to choke off my ability to think constructively and selflessly about why people shouldn't just automatically wet themselves for their own generation's problems and skillsets, as if such things mean anything in particular and the world began in 1944 when the teenager was invented. Perhaps 1944 was where it all went wrong -- if they hadn't invented the teenager, I wouldn't have to deal with people pushing forty or sixty or seventy who still act like teenagers. Stomping on about one's own generation, like it's a precious flag to be waved, is also the case with conservative and rightist Millennials, who stomp and scream that their generation is treated unfairly yet fail to see the fact that hey kid,

life's not all about you and your Lucky Charms generation. You're not magically delicious for being born Boomer, X, Mil or Z.

This problem is something all American generations suffer from... I call it generational narcissism, but it's a lesson most seem unwilling to be able to learn.

The Republic insists that science (citizen scientists / do your own research on Covid), journalists (citizen journalists, as Elon positions them), newspapers and novels are all Ossified Modes, even oppressive -- just these horrible things of the past that only embarrassing dinosaurs, sluggish and soon to be left behind, cling to in oblivion.

Why does the Republic preach this? Because the Republic was very, very spoiled and always got new toys. Out with the old, in with the new is what it's thinking. If you can call the New York Times old hat, Twitter's userbase will grow and so will capitalist profits and user counts for the cucks with blue checkmarks. Good ole-fashioned American ratracing and everything in America being disposable, in other words.

In other words, the real conservative of The American Way, in which everything is disposable, especially humans -- is The Republic, who constantly wants to sweep anything of lasting or historical value into the trash for the latest snake oil and Monsanto corn and the latest movie and the newest pile of crap. America has always been about 'throw it away' and America has always been about 'the wave of the future'. The Republic sees itself as a cutting edge Boi -- for it truly believes Trump is a revitalising, revivalist New Wave of sorts -- because The Republic truly has a much deeper faith in the American way of life than was ever warranted, just as Trump and his Minis all have a faith in it... for it is so easy to forget how life was in the Gilded Age in America, and so easy to forget how burning the 'ossified' conventions only aid and abet the capitalists bent on slicking everything up into cheaper, more poisonous, more nutrition-free nonsense for their own skyrocketing profits.

The Republic mistakes criticism of the Republic for 'ripping it off', for there is nothing there to rip off. The only person being ripped off is Trump, who has installed a mini in each and every one of the skulls of the Republic and for which it stands.

The Republic so stands for the status quo that it even fears cartoons might be seriously threatened by me, one individual who posts links to cartoons and comments on cartoons. This is how precious its toys and childhood and media consumption habit -- OVER HUMANS -- has always been. It's a childlike state that is inescapable for the Republic without growing outside itself into the 95% of human experience it has foresaken in its desire to be Good and Correct, which takes the form of product placement and product defense.

The Republic's notion of 'fixing' someone is only to install a mini-Trump within them and make them 'less female' 'less nice' 'less black' and all the things Trump wants to see less of.

The Republic only cares about others for how 'useful' they are and for what social utility they have to offer.

The Republic says it was weary of your neediness for connection and started distancing itself from you one day, and says you are to blame for pushing it away due to lack of utility the next. In other words, it again just lies and fabricates -- almost randomly, whatever it thinks sounds 'powerful' and will give it the upper hand -- in a method of manipulation known as what William Patrick Corgan calls 'Spin the Wheel' -- but only with shame, for the most part. 'Spin the Shame Wheel', I hereby do declare.

The Republic sees its Mini Trump as a necessary source of power but softboys as poison. This is due to its adherence to the status quo of American life, which insists that the contaminating agent is those fairies and weak undesirables of lesser races, women as weak, etc.

The Republic wants sex to be purified of 'reliving abuse'. It would not permit the gay man or the black man to relive its abuse even in the sex life, which must be scoured clean of one's own personal control of examining, bemoaning, or enjoying one's own abuse.

This is very key to understanding the Republic. It has the patience of a chid, and its patience is well into the red. The Republic wants you to get over it. It keeps the gifts. It keeps the land. It keeps the thanksgiving feast. It keeps it all, and it insists that all slavery or stolen land must be gotten over, it's settled, get over it, get over all the abuse and trauma now, I'm tired of you, let whitey win, let whitey have it all, serve me more I'm whitey -- SERVE ME I'M WHITE -- white is dom to be served, everyone else is bottom to provide and be tricked and manipulated and taken for their labour and productivity.

The Republic says GET OVER IT and they're very mad that those of minority backgrounds didn't get over it decades ago.

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The Republic says "you're mentally ill. seek help."

When they say that, every time, they mean three things:

1.) Zing, I just gave you a cartoon zinger right in the kisser, fuckface 2.) I cannot contemplate how it could be possible for it to ever be truly ok for your liberal brain existing in the world in the state it is in, we all should be happy and have a mini-Trump and just be all fine with everything bad in the world and enjoy like tv and the game and the vid games probably you know like normal people do aren't I normal isn't everyone normal can't we get more normal more happy more normal more happy more normal more happy Elon says get happy or get out Elon is trying to normalise a decaying civilisation bring normal back be happy you probably really need to see a psychologist to accomplish this 3.) I as the Republic am so competitively hostile to the world that I would rather try and induce actual craziness and sanity and mental illness in people rather than permit their window on the world and their way of life to continue, being that it is a direct threat to Donaldism. In other words, I as the Republic truly hope I make you mentally ill and get you to feel mentally ill, maybe even to the point in which you destroy yourself, in which case good riddance to bad rubbish -- as that would be good for we in the Republic if you were to be weak enough to do that, which hopefully you are -- and if you aren't strong enough to be called mentally ill, which we as non-psychologists see as a casually appropriate last resort for when we're losing an argument, well, then that's social Darwinism -- which is right good and proper and prob a good thing -- cuz I'm playing the long game for the Republic here, in which petty identity politics is not even relevant, and all those people really won't exist in the future, hopefully not making their whole personality out of things that are not components of straight white males, which is what a serious person makes their whole personality out of the components of, given that that's real source of strength and the fountainhead of it all, right -- and a world without buttfuckers and their gay ways is a healthier, stronger world, not some filthy, fudge-packing, disappointing softboy world.

#the eagles #get over it #trump #usa #maga #the republic #republicans #libertarians #freedom #freedom fighters #americans #typical americans #typical

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chicago-geniza · 2 years

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think a lot about assimilated & assimilating EE jewish families & the ways that paranoia bleeds into policing of other boundaries re: perceived non-normativity, whatever form it takes. soviet immigrant families, polish jewish families at the turn of the century. my mom made me retake my 4th grade school pictures because i "looked too retarded," & forbade me from having playdates with the kids she identified as Bad Influences, i.e., those i might imitate, who let me indulge my "natural" facial expressions & body language. after that she controlled my interactions very aggressively & only let me spend time with the popular girls from my soccer team, the girls whose dads worked in government, & wouldn't let me do any extracurricular activities with the kids from my special ed class OR my synagogue, unless they were like, socially Important. anyway i overidentify with stefania zahorska as the baby-baby of a family that decided she would be the one to fully assimilate & the one in whom they would invest all their resources & the only one to whom they would give an unmarked name so she wouldn't be quite so jewish, & would be able to leave kazimierz, as it were. also as the only one with recessive light coloring, whose family clearly drilled it into her that it would be her ticket out re: passing as Not Jewish. my book goes counter to the post-holocaust salvage ethnography strain because it's about people in eastern europe before the holocaust, & it is explicitly, explicitly about class, about assimilation & social mobility as two sides of the same coin, about how this was not unique to america but happened simultaneously. research is making me insane & i will never publish anything bc i know people will call me an antisemite lol (me, comma, raisa [real last name which is one of the most stereotypical jewish last names on earth]), but So It Goes. how do people spend this much time in the archives without going insane lol

#assimilation and its discontents #stefania tag

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madhattersez · 1 year

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K-POP BIAS CHALLENGE: JAN 2023

(PART 2 OF 2 BECAUSE I'M RIDICULOUS)

Again, I should start by saying that this is a two-parter because I'm a doofy Pan that can get attached to members of groups even if I just casually listen to them (Seriously, though - K-Pop is a wonderland for Pans because there are just SO many incredible personalities out there, UGH).

I made all the gifs below to show you the exact moment I knew they were for me. Enjoy!

Yunjin (Le Sserafim) Solar (Mamamoo)

Starting with my newest bias on the list - Miss Yunjin of the extremely talented new-ish group Le Sserafim.

She was in America for most of her life, and that has given her a large distinction - She's just as talented as her groupmates and syncs perfectly when it comes to dancing and singing, but it's obvious that she's completely unfazed by things that culture shock the others, and has made it her personal mission to challenge a lot of issues in the industry.

A prime example would be this solo music video that just came out a few days ago, which she also did the art for, about the fucked up things about pop fandoms:

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I was taken aback by this and have been sharing it like crazy since.

Other than pushing boundaries, a special talent she has is professional opera singing, which is pretty unique in the industry.

I was undecided on a bias until I saw the Studio Choom performance of "Antifragile" shown above, withher just lighting up the whole video with all of her facial expressions and the dopest denim outfit, haha. There's a lot of "good trouble" in those eyes.

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And now, the smollest (but eldest) member of Mamamoo - Solar!

For quite awhile, Hwasa was my bias in Mamamoo after a very short, initial trial with Wheein. :P

This was another one of those "switch flip" moments where I was suddenly like "Shit. Solar has been here THE WHOLE TIME. What was I thinking!?"

She is so good with her super-powerful voice, no matter the genre. In a group like Mamamoo (that are basically the best vocalists in the entire genre), standing out as the best is a hard thing to do. But, here she is, doing just that for me.

Her solo tracks are what started sparking me over to her side, but the clip from the above video is what came in like a wreckin' ball - When she spent a bunch of time learning the choreography for a song in a body-tracking arcade game called "Dance Evolution," even while being (playfully) dissed by her members, and then went into an arcade and just owned that shit. And look how happy she was to accomplish it!

Won me over, right at that moment.

Here's another example of her playful personality - A clip of her recording part of a Jazzy song about how much she wishes she had a big ass (because big asses are awesome):

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Taeyong (NCT-127) Taeyong (SuperM)

This shit cracks me up so bad.

While making a list of known biases for this post, and not a second before, I came to the realization that my (casual) biases for both of the groups mentioned above... is the same dude. Hahaha. Wow.

I know practically nothing about these groups except that SuperM was a combined group of other groups' idols (a lot like GOT the Beat is), and that their "Super One" album is nothing but bangers, but that's about it. And I've also picked up several NCT jams over the years.

Never did I expect that the guy that caught my eye in both groups was the same person, though. It's hilarious, and it makes a lot of sense. This is Taeyong, y'all.

Jesus, the swag on this guy. Look at him prance-glide sideways in that first clip. Look at him growling in that second one, which I definitely understand is a weakness of mine now.

Talented dude. Attractive as hell. That's all I know, but that's all I -have- to know right now, yeah?

Check out the first video I saw him in, a song from that no-skip "Super One" album:

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Rima (NiziU) Kyujin (NMIXX)

Okay, okay, I get it. This is a K-Pop bias list and NiziU is a J-Pop group. I understand that, but I'm also a hapless JYP fangirl and I just had to include them on the list because Rima is a bias to talk about regardless.

Am I about to say "swag" again? Sadly, yes. She's one of the rappers in the group and definitely has the highest swag level. This is somehow evened out by how adorable she is at the same time.

We've established that I gravitate towards rappers, but she's got it in her lineage - She is the daughter of the super-famous Japanese rapper Zeebra. That bit of story made her interesting from the get-go and I've dug her ever since.

It was the rap break from "Chopstick" pictured above that sparked everything for me for sure, though.

I'd like to include the video because it's super catchy and because I want to see if you find her sticking out throughout the video like I did:

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Next up? Yup, another rapper. It's Kyujin, who is also (surprisingly) the maknae of JYP's most recent group of ladies: NMIXX.

Her English, while adorably misplaced sometimes, is so confident and wonderful. Her singing is so pretty and her flows are so fresh. Don't worry, I Won't say "swaggy" this time. She has, I think, the most vibrant and unique personality of the whole group, and that's from a group that aimed to be quirky right out the gate.

She's incredibly talented, and only trained for about three years before recording the first songs for the group.

I'd like to showcase one of her pre-debut, live vocal videos where she was originally qualifying to be a part of the group. She's too rad:

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Seulgi (Red Velvet) Sieun (STAYC)

I first saw Red Velvet's music video for "Ice Cream Cake" in my earlier K-Pop adventures, but I'll never forget how much Seulgi stuck out to me.

She hit me with a combo attack - The radar-jamming, hard-to-read, slightly... angry(?) eyes, her polar opposite of a sweet voice, the bright colors she was wearing in the video, and the fact that she kicks off the whole song as the center. Yup, hooked right from the start.

And did you see her and Irene in their sinister lil' duo track "Monster?" Geezus:

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Seulgi was an easy choice. Except a flicker of nanosecond time when it was Joy. But that was just a flicker. HOLD!

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Holy shit, it's Park Sieun. Sieun (not Seeun, who is in the same group... yeah) is from STAYC. STAYC, I hear, is a real, reeeeal hard group to pick favorites from, much like Itzy - They're all immeasurably talented on equal levels.

Sieun's got the edge for me, though. She debuted as an actor originally, and that comes into play with the subtle emotions and fades in her singing. The performative lines and precise, but soft details in her movements. Her effortlessly natural facial expressions. She's absolutely flowing with personality and that all wraps into an ethereal combination of visuals to go along with her honestly angelic voice.

Positively dangerous. Troublesome, but not in a "good trouble" way. In a mischievous way.

And, oh my goodness, her (again, effortless) high notes:

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Felix (Stray Kids) Jooyeon (Xdinary Heroes)

Would you just peek at Felix. Lookin' like a mix between Link from Legend of Zelda and Alucard from Hellsing or some shit.

He hails from Stray Kids, which I consider to be the most talented group of dudes in K-Pop right now (Sorry, BTS stans, I know, I know - Remember, I'm all about that swaggy rap stuff, and BTS isn't that as much anymore).

Felix is one of the Australians in the group, so he's got that accent, which is always bizarre in juxtaposition when around his members. He can move like a basilisk. His voice goes hella deep and toasty. And, my god, he's got freckles.

Aside from all the seemingly thristy statements that just tumbled out of my keyboard, he just seems to be a genuine good guy that would sit down with you and hear you out, heart-to-heart for hours if you needed him too. A "do anything to make your life better" type of friend. The duality is incredible.

Here's a bunch of silly clips of him conversing in English with the other Stray Kids:

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Another casual bias - Hey, it's Jooyeon from JYP's rock group Xdinary Heroes. Don't make me pronounce that out loud, let's just focus on Jooyeon, damn it.

He's got such a pretty, haunting singing voice in the beginning, then you can listen to him hit American-Emo-band overdrive on his vocals at about 45 seconds into this video and during the chorus, and then you can hear yet another style tone at around 1:38. Versatile and awesome:

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I really dig his looks and that shadowy / shady / emotionless thing he's got going on.

Oh, and, uh, he plays bass too, huh? Yeah, I suppose so. Haha.

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So, did you dig this? Lawl, I'm acting like this is a trend that will catch on or something. Who knows? If even one person other than me does it, I'll be happy. Besides, I'm just here to have an excuse to gush about my favorites anyway! Everything past that is all plus. 😅

If you want to do this, too, you in no way have to go as HAM as I did creating this long-ass post. I just got super passionate about it and got carried away. As usual.

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