sometimes feeling like a mess >> desire for drastic change >> the urge to make big plans and trackers for each of them in my bujo that i will once again ignore bc on second thought they don't actually line up with what i really want

reminder to myself that instead of giving into that urge, sometimes you just gotta sit on it

Good Omens Season 3: Heaven and Hell dividing humanity; humanity as Leviathan; and Aziraphale locking the doors of Heaven and throwing away the key [A Meta]

(This meta is long, but I swear there's some good stuff in here. It took me 2 months to get it together for these two longsuffering Anons. Thank you so much for asking me these very important questions.)

In preparation for answering two Asks above (and to aid my own predictions of Good Omens 3), I read and reviewed the Book of Revelation, W.B. Yeat’s iconic poem “The Second Coming,” Terry Pratchett’s Small Gods, Neil Gaiman’s deleted scene from American Gods (Shadow meeting Jesus in America), and Doctor Who showrunner Russell T Davies’ 2003 miniseries The Second Coming (starring Christopher Eccleston!). The first two are definitely going to be referenced in season 3, Davies’ show is one of the few stories dealing head-on with the coming of Christ, and Terry and Neil’s bibliographies are probably the biggest resources for how Season 3 will shake out thematically.

🕊 How Aziraphale Will Change Heaven

I think GO s3 is the season we see Aziraphale really come into his own, when we see him implement the moral vision he’s taken this long to coalesce, when all the pieces he and Crowley have put together are finally put on stage in a terrifying, beautiful display (all that righteous anger and conviction, merged with his kindness and empathy is going to be Something Else).

There’s an angel in the Book of Revelation who stands between the Earth and the Sea. This angel wears a rainbow halo and speaks with the voice of seven thunders, and yet John (the writer of Revelation) is told not to write down what this angel speaks. (Sounds like someone has hit on the Ineffable Plan?) If Neil and Terry were going to pick up an image from Revelation for Aziraphale, I really like this one, because it feels like an intermediary role (between two Sides), one that god dare not make public because it speaks an uncomfortable truth. And it’s about speaking and revealing knowledge, instead of fighting or destroying something.

Because even though we know Azi and Crowley will fight to stop the second End Times, fighting itself is not a theme Neil Gaiman or Terry Pratchett really champion. Instead of war, Aziraphale will oppose Heaven in all the little ways he and Crowley opposed it before: By enjoying human comforts (Azi will definitely bring food and trinkets to Heaven and send scrivener angels and seraphim alike to tour earth). By asking questions (Heaven’s new suggestion box). By telling stories about humanity and why it’s important to know who these humans are before anyone kills anybody (Azi was, after all, brought on board because of his human expertise).

Aziraphale will become what Crowley wanted to be before the Fall, but Azi’s got the benefit of thousands of years of knowledge, cunning, and intelligence about how both Heaven and humanity work. He knows Heaven’s weaknesses, he knows humanity’s strengths, he knows his own capabilities, and he knows where Heaven will turn a blind eye. He’s going to be such a bastard the likes of which we’ve never seen. And he’s going to drop truth bombs like there’s no tomorrow.

Season 2 brought back the book banter about “the lower you start, the more opportunities you have.”

Season 3 will bring back Aziraphale’s most badass book moment. This scene takes place after Azi possesses an American televangelist talking about the fire and brimstone of the End Times and the Rapture (the mass teleporting of all worthy believers to Heaven). Says Aziraphale,

Aziraphale is fed up with Heaven’s hypocrisy and he's scathing in his condemnation of both Heaven and Hell. Everyone will die and become collateral damage, no matter which side is doing the killing.

Sound familiar?

That's the arc Aziraphale is heading towards: that blazing conviction of Crowley's, spoken out loud and fearless and in spite of his eons of trauma. And Season 3 will see Aziraphale get to that place, where he gets to tell off Heaven, but not just in the privacy of the bookshop or the bandstand, but to their faces in Heaven's hallowed halls.

The demons and angels in Season 2 were much less icky and ethereal (respectively) from their appearances in Season 1. Because it's working towards a further humanization of both sides in Season 3. Because one of the biggest themes in s3 will be Aziraphale humanizing Heaven in all the little quaint ways he loves humanity. All in preparation for the endgame of Heaven and Hell not existing at all.

(Season 3 deep dive continues under the cut...)

Because angels and demons won’t be fought, but changed. Maybe not by much, but just enough to break the loyalty they have to a Great Plan no one understands. This is how both Neil’s American Gods and Terry’s Small Gods conclude, with the build-up to an incredible battle, and then for the human hero to step in and talk down the gods and armies into seeing sense and reason.

I don’t think Aziraphale himself will be that person. It might be a very human Jesus. Or (more likely) a random human being caught up in this craziness (maybe someone in Tadfield, per the working title of the second GO book: 668: The Neighbor of the Beast). But Aziraphale will be fundamental in changing the atmosphere of Heaven in the little ways Earth changed him.

🗝 Season 3 Themes: Morality and God

In the Job minisode, Aziraphale casually but boldly assumed that god didn’t want the goats and children to be killed. Because Aziraphale has a firm and dogged idea about what god should be. It’s his own personal morality, but he calls it god’s because he doesn’t want to imagine the symbol of ultimate goodness being anything other than what he Aziraphale himself feels to be true.

And I don’t think that’s a theme that Good Omens will deny for Aziraphale. Because it’s not really about how evil or good god is. It doesn’t matter what god thinks or is. god doesn’t answer questions, doesn’t deliver messages we can understand, doesn’t show up when needed. god is inscrutable, shifty, absent, “a Dealer who won’t tell you the rules, and who smiles all the time.”

What’s important is what humanity has done with god, what humanity has said about god, what they do in god’s name, what they interpret god to be. That’s the real danger.

And Aziraphale, in his profound goodness, will become the person he wants god to be. Because that’s the injunction we all have. To live up to the ideal we have made for ourselves: In many ways, that’s what god is.

Aziraphale is now in a privileged place that allows him to affect basically the entirety of Creation with that driving idealism. He will level the playing field in Heaven. I firmly believe Aziraphale will be the one to close the doors to the pearly gates and throw away the key.

So, like you asked Anon, will Aziraphale try to make Heaven better or stop the Second Coming? I think those are the same goal. Changing Heaven will fundamentally change how the Second Coming happens, because just like the End Times in Season 1, Heaven and Hell’s scheme will be turned on its head because the Chosen One refuses to follow the script.

The Second Coming will end, not with a bang, but a whimper, because everyone decides to turn in their guns and forget the whole thing.

⚔️ Heaven and Hell v. Humanity

But before that ending happens, I think there will be another threat the world has to face: the individuals who are so sure of their own righteousness that no amount of sense could stop them from destroying anyone who thinks differently. This is an important theme in both Neil and Terry’s works (see Vorbis, the Exquisitor in Small Gods, who tortured unbelievers for the Church), and I believe it will show up in the new season.

There's never been a true war that wasn't fought between two sets of people who were certain they were in the right. The really dangerous people believe they are doing whatever they are doing solely and only because it is without question the right thing to do. And that is what makes them dangerous. –Neil Gaiman, American Gods

Because it’s humanity who takes Faith and shapes it into Religion. We are the ones who created the Heaven we see in GO: cold, unfeeling, strict, judgmental. And I think Season 3 is going to address this fundamental belief of both Neil and Terry: that humans are just so damnably human (fundamentally innocent and stupid and wonderful) and yet there’s a few of us who will take things too far and think that Someone wants them to destroy everything in the Name of God. And in these changing contemporary political times (the passage of an old generation, still clinging to their old ways and growing more extreme by the minute *cough*Trump*cough*), the dangerous people become even more vocal and violent, like the frightening, monstrous creature in WB Yeats’ poem “The Second Coming,” a devastating scourge on the world born in the name of God:

Surely some revelation is at hand; Surely the Second Coming is at hand. […] A shape with lion body and the head of a man, A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun, […] And what rough beast, its hour come round at last, Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born? –WB Yeats, "The Second Coming"

That’s who I think the Metatron will team up with in the end, someone like Vorbis. Because we’ve already seen how petty and small Heaven and Hell is, especially in Season 2. Only the Metatron really carries some heft and foreboding. I believe he’ll team up with some extremist faction of humanity who wants to see the End of Days and divide the world into Yours and Mine, with Heaven taking a portion and Hell taking a third and calling it a day. Not a War, but a divvying out of souls. With no consent or permission on the part of humanity.

That’s what I think the zombie reference is all about. Like Gabriel said in 2x03:

Yes, we’re going to get zombies. And it’s going to be insane and funny and horrifying (and I think we’ll get to know one or two historical figures who pop back up to earth). But the thematic and fundamental metaphor of zombies is how they have no free will. They’re not alive, they have no souls, they have no choices. That’s what Heaven and Hell want humanity to be: To do away with the dance of choice and free will and divide humanity once and for all between both sides. That’s how Heaven and Hell team up against the human race.

🐳 Leviathan (Job 41:19) as Humanity

And that’s how I believe the Leviathan fits in, who is the subject of the quote from Muriel’s matchbox:

The Leviathan is a magnificent creature, and this passage goes on and on about how fearsome this being is:

Who can penetrate its double coat of armor? Who dares open the doors of its mouth, ringed about with fearsome teeth?… Nothing on earth is its equal—a creature without fear. It looks down on all that are haughty; it is king over all that are proud –Job 41:13b, 33-34

And yet why does god want to explain how amazing the Leviathan is? To show how god has control of it. God says,

Can you pull in Leviathan with a fishhook… Can you make a pet of it like a bird or put it on a leash for the young women in your house?… Can you fill its hide with harpoons… No one is fierce enough to rouse it. Who then is able to stand against me? –Job 41:1, 5, 7, 10

The reasoning is that because god created this dangerous and terrifying being, then god must be even more dangerous and terrifying. And if god can so easily abuse and humiliate this beautiful monster, then god must be worshipped and respected. (Yes, it’s as messed-up as it sounds.)

I can’t help but think of this Leviathan as a metaphor for humanity. A beautiful, ferocious being whose ownership and control is the focus of god’s attention and qualification for worship? Of the Leviathan, Job says: “Will traders barter for it? Will they divide it up among the merchants?” (Job 41:6). That’s how humanity is going to be treated in Season 3.

Because both God and Satan want to control humanity. They want to put their thumb on human souls and claim them for each side. But humanity doesn’t have to be so easily fooled, because we are more powerful than we realize. Our hearts and imaginations can forge a path of purpose and goodness without the entrapment of organized religion and fundamentalism. We, like Leviathan, are ferocious and angry and fed up with being treated like this. We can and will fight back.

🌟 Becoming Gods

Ultimately, we will shuffle off the need for Heaven and Hell (symbolized by the shutting down of both at the end of Season 3). We will lose the need to unquestionably defer to a Being who plays dice with our lives. I’m reminded of the opening passage to Terry’s Small Gods:

The lowly tortoise will learn to be the eagle; humanity will learn to be like god. Because we are as powerful as god, since we created god. Adam Young pointed out that having a god figure to solve all our problems doesn’t make humanity any more responsible for the evil things we’ve done. We need to learn that we are all we’ve got, and we have to answer for the shit we’ve done to each other and to the world.

I like how Russell T Davies put it in his show The Second Coming, where Jesus comes down again in the body of ordinary human Steven Baxter and tells humanity:

You are becoming gods. There's a new master of creation, and it's you! Unraveled DNA, and at the same time you're cultivating bacteria strong enough to kill every living thing! Do you think you are ready for that much power? You lot? You lot? Cheeky bastards. You're running around science like kids with guns, creating a new world, while the world you've got is stinking…. If you want the position of god then take the responsibility. –Russell T Davies, The Second Coming

I legitimately think that’s how Jesus in Good Omens 3 will come down. In the body of a regular 30-something off-the-streets guy, who thinks the pomp and circumstance made about him is insane. And Aziraphale will be his minder, trying to tell him how the whole scheme is supposed to play out and giving him wise asides on how warped Heaven’s standards are and trying to tell him how to go about changing things for the better. (Jesus will be terribly confused, meanwhile; he just wants to go out for a pint and get on with his human life, none of this god business.)

🐍 Crowley’s Growth

There will be some big things at play in Season 3. I think Aziraphale will change how Heaven operates and close Heaven for good. I think Aziraphale will initially try to get Jesus on board with Azi’s own private mission of Goodness. I actually think Crowley will end up becoming Aziraphale’s “back channels” to Earth, and they’d exchange trite, bantering messages about the state of affairs from secret rendezvous points in America. (There was a whole thing about Jesus getting lost in Times Square, according to Neil Gaiman.)

I think Crowley will learn how to trust Aziraphale and learn that doing the right thing means being brave and selfless. He’ll realize that humanity is worth saving, even if it means dying. In fact, his depression at the start of Season 2 will probably only get worse after the loss of Aziraphale, and his altruism might get colored by the taint of suicidal recklessness, because he might as well go out for what he believes in, if what he wanted most in the world chose being selfless over being with him. (If Crowley’s character takes a suicidal turn like the Tenth Doctor after losing Rose, I’m gonna scream.)

This is how Aziraphale helps Crowley be brave in the finale of the Good Omens book. That’s what I think will happen in Good Omens 3:

Aziraphale here displays a gentleness and kindness that comes from a place of grounded knowledge and responsibility. He knows how much he and Crowley have in their own ways fucked up humanity too, and he knows that no matter what their own personal feelings, they each need to do something to defend the human species they've come to love so much.

Crowley is scared of risking everything to help save humanity, but with Aziraphale's encouragement and wisdom, he realizes that doing the right thing is the only option he can choose, no matter the risk to his own happiness and safety.

So I believe Crowley will learn to understand why Aziraphale chose to return to Heaven and fight in the trenches. Crowley will see it as a choice made to save, not just each other, but the world they love so much.

Ultimately, I think Crowley on earth will take on Aziraphale’s strongest qualities: being selfless and bold to protect humanity at costs, and connecting to humanity on a personal, individual level.

While Aziraphale in Heaven will become like Crowley: asking questions, sabotaging the System, and condemning Heaven with all the uncomfortable truths they need to hear.

I wrote a book — and it’s gay, cozy, & romantic! 

After many years of writing about Anne and Gilbert, I’ve finally graduated to books about my own characters. I’m so, so happy to announce Kit & Basie. 

Kit & Basie follows Basie Yeats, an immortal man who is ready to leave his hometown for good after the death of his mother. When a quiet outsider moves into the Yeats family house, Basie finds maybe he has a reason to stay, after all. It’s a short, cozy novel about love, belonging, and home. 

The book is set to release this year. Copies on my personal Etsy are planned to come will all sorts of cottage-y, bookish goodies, but the book will also be available as an ebook (and Kindle Unlimited!)

I wanted to tell my AWAE family first so that you all would have first dibs on ARC copies when they became available. If you’ve enjoyed my fics over the years, please consider supporting my writing journey by joining the newsletter and reblogging! Because I’m self-publishing, I’ll be relying on your kindness! 💛👒

Join the newsletter to stay up to date about ARCs, release dates, cover reveals, preorders, & other (very occasional) news!

Honestly if one of the first things everyone knew about me was that I spent 35 years pining for one woman, and later said woman and her daughter because she married a long time ago, then forget the fact that she inspired a lot of my poetry, I would simply burn it all and bury myself from the burning embarrassment of being such a loser.

But such was the life of William Butler Yeats.

Every one of them had a Life eh? TS Eliot too— fascinating fear of decay and mortality. You see it in his work etc etc, but he also left his wife when she fell mentally ill, for a younger hot thing— some 20 y/o when he was in like his 40s or 60s. We see you running away from facing the inevitability, man, a profound line about death doesn’t change that.

So it’s fascinating to read their works with this background context available to you, it’s such an insight into the human psyche. You know I’ve talked about this a little before, on how we sort of look to our poets and songwriters for answers, to help make sense of all the madness, and without fail, they happen to be some of the most flawed human beings in history. Or in less intense cases, they don’t have the answers we seek from them. It reminds me again of that interview with Grian Chatten from Fontaines D.C., in the NME back in 2022. He’s a poet for the modern day, I’ll grant him that easily. He convinced me recently that lyrics can work quite well standing alone as poetry and not come off as naff or aloof, or can still feel quite prescient and not pretentious or removed from the live setting in which they will be performed, making eye contact with you in a sweaty theatre (slowly getting larger, pleased to see, with the U.K. and Dublin arena shows planned). They can still connect with the loud guitars and drums pounding behind them.

He said to the NME, in light of Dogrel and his painting of a Dublin life, presenting you with the characters, the contradictions, the scenarios lived in his Dublin, his portrayal led to people turning to him for answers, when I think what you and him would both know deep down is that you’re really looking to him for a depiction of your world in the words that hit the soul, in a way that romanticises the moments you want to remember, and can beautifully frame the injustices of the bad ones. Not answers. Just a painting.

He said, people are looking to me for answers. What the fuck do I know?

Same as it had always been, hasn’t it? He doesn’t have answers. Yeats didn’t have answers. TS Eliot didn’t have answers— despite his vivid depictions of loss and decay, he still couldn’t deal with the thought of it himself. But all it does do, is let you read a work through the lens of your own life, and then look at it again through the eyes of a complex human being, the poet. It’s an option that is available to you. Some people do subscribe to ‘death of the author’, but if you’d like to explore the mind of someone who isn’t you, if you aren’t afraid to feel uncomfortable, different, or in the skin of a very different person, it’ll open you up to new thoughts, which don’t have to be yours.

I guess what I’m trying to say here is, don’t be afraid to read something you don’t agree with. Bad thoughts aren’t contagious. You can approach someone else’s work knowing it’s a complex read, and that can be an intriguing and insightful read. However, I am absolutely not going to be putting this post in any poetry tags, because I don’t think most people on the poetry canon side of the internet will appreciate me calling one of the crown princes of 20th century Irish poetry and literature a loser. Lmao.

HELLO welcome to WAWF WEDNESDAY your monthly WAWF update [1st Wednesday of each month]

Considering it is now the mad month of March check out some of the new things WAWF has been up to and more

Read below to find out what else WAWF has been up to this month

WAWF NEWS: WAWF MADNESS

This March WAWF has been growing and expanding madly

Call it WAWF-Madness?

Check out our Instagram @whataweirdfeeling or our curators @vyngak for more new WAWF creations Find out how you can join in as well from our #WAWFsmaking section below

WAWF’s CRANKING

Recent: Where’s My Utopia? [Album] - Yard Act

Bars ~ Vultures [Album] - Ye, 2093 [Album] - Yeat, BLUE LIPS [Album] - ScHoolboy Q

Alt ~ Dark Rainbow [Album] - Frank Carter & the rattlesnakes Focus on Nature [Album] - The Bevis Frond, Saviors [Album] - Green Day

Smooth ~ Two Star & The Dream Police [Album] - Mk.gee, Still [Album] - Erika de Casier, Voice Notes [Album] Yazmin Lacey

Lowkey: Fly or Die Fly or Die Fly or Die ((world war))

Bars ~ Flex Musix FLXTRA [Album] - Osamason, Hits 3 [Album] Southsidesilhouette, Str8 Like Dat [Single] - Lil Shine

Alt ~ I Got Heaven [Album] Mannequin Pussy, Prelude to Ecstasy [Album] - The Last Dinner Party, ekkstacy [Album] - Ekkstacy

Smooth ~ STRUGGLER [Album] - Genesis Owusu, GLOW [Album] - Wesley Joseph, Messy [Album] - Olivia Dean

Still in Rotation: I Know NIGO! [Album] - Nigo

Bars ~ 4eva N a Day [Album] - Big K.R.I.T., Acid Rap [Album] - Chance The Rapper, Doris [Album] - Earl Sweatshirt

Alt ~ 10,000 Gecs [Album] - 100 gecs, Parachutes [Album] - Frank lero & The Patience, Science Fiction [Album] - Brand New

Smooth ~ Overgrown [Album] James Blake, Cut 4 Me [Album] - Kelela, The 20/20 Experience [Album] Justin Timberlake

Throwback: Lifeforms [Album] - The Future Sound Of London

Bars ~ 93 Til Infinity [Album] - Souls Of Mischief, And Now The Legacy Begins [Album] - Dream Warriors, O. G. Original Gangster [Album] - Ice T

Alt ~ The Moon & Antarctica [Album] - Modest House, You Forgot It In People [Album] - Broken Social Scene, Is This It [Album] - The Strokes

Smooth ~ Waterfalls [Album] - TLC, Total [Album] - Total, Bills Bills Bills [Album] - Destiny’s Child

WAWF’s MAKING

Welcome to #WAWFsmaking where you can check out new @whataweirdfeeling creations or join in on the fun

Above we have our newest official WAWF digital 3D character 'Wawfie' - Checkout our Fraud Issue 013 article on WAWFIE and what that entails for @whataweirdfeeling as a whole

Also check out the link below for our 'What A Weird Sticker' form and submit your own design to be placed on it’s own WAWF sticker and be purchased through our WAWFshop by the community

WAWF’s Wearing

Julia, Maya, Pato & Jaks as 'The WAWF-tastic 4' for Fraud Issue 012 #WAWFswearing

We hope you all enjoyed the #lastmonthofWAWFswinter but we are just getting started

WAWF Magazine pushes art fashion culture and much more Stay tuned for all of the exciting new things we have planned for the future

Words/ Curated by @vyngak

Dance WWE Dance

"Hey , you okay?" It was Jey he came to see what was going on. " Watha hell happened here. Oh..." He clearly didn't need any explanation... "It was..." before I finished, he said " Rhea , right?"

His brown eyes just looked deep into mine as he smirked. Our eyes locked for about a minute. If I remember (hee hee). "Yeah Yeah , it was ... it was Rhea" I said in a very disappointed tone. So I just looked down but I could feel his eyes staring at me.

"Come on Uce, you can't let her pick on you like that. You need to learn to stand up for yourself... aight ?" I sighed and looked at him. " I try to man , but the thing is , we in the middle of a war. I don't wanna start no trouble. It's just I'm to soft and innocent in your understanding"

Jey looked at me with a smirk. " Yeah , you the sweetest little cherry I've ever seen. Umm look I have something to tell you". He pulled up my chin ,Gazing into his eyes again. " What is it" I asked.

Suddenly someone had to rudely interrupt. Seth FREAKIN Rollins. " Oh ... Sorry to interrupt but umm , I have some unfinished business with Tenaya or should I say the 'Sweet Little Cherreeeeey' hahaha"

I had to go , Seth and I had to go sort out group orders who were dancing first second then last. I looked back at Jey he looked disappointed, he usually doesn't make that face. " I gonna get back to you , yeat?" He looked at me and just responded "Yeat" I'd call him when I'd get home.

**********************************************

" Seth , what is Soo important I need to get home and rest ... Ugh" he rolled his eyes and we just continued walking... "Alrighty I have something to show you, the new Smack Down manager is planning something big. I don't know what it is but it's big and bad"

I looked at the video footage and was shocked...

**********************************************

I was exhausted. I got home and threw my bag on the carpet. Jocelyn , my tabby cat came to snuggle next to me. She gave me a meeeooow... " Yeah , Yeah , Yeah I'm gonna take a shower.

So when I got to the bathroom I looked at myself in the mirror , tiered. I pulled down my shorts and my lace panties. I then kicked them stepped out of them. Then I took off my hoodie , slowly pulled of my T-shirt and then as I was taking off my bra Jey's face appeared in my mind.

"Nah , man" I told myself , he's just a friend. So I got in the shower and turned the nob "Holy sh*t" It was blazing hot. So I turned it to a much better temperature. As I was showering I could see Jey in my thoughts...

"Mmmm" I moaned to myself , as I touched my nipples while bitting my lower lip. "Jey!" I moaned louder as I could imagine him teasing me... I don't know what I was thinking , so I slid my right hand downwards. To my stomach then lower to my count.

I just rubbed it , teasing it as I imagined Jey licking my neck. I remember his gaze, his lovely brown eyes , his dark , beautiful Samoan hair , his lovely tattooed mascular arms and biceps and OOO his rock hard abs.

I could imagine him working out. How sweaty he'd be. " Oh yes , Jey!!!" I moaned louder as I gave my pussy a second finger. I slid it in and started moving it in a circular motion as my thumb was on my cunt.

I REALLY NEED TO SQUIRT ... You know a release (right girls 😉). All of those thoughts were running through my head. I could start to see... Colours? Looked something like ugly artwork made buy a British mime.

Then ... I squirted. My chest felt heavy and the breaths I inhaled were heavier. I could hear my phone ringing from my room. I cleaned up rapped my towel and got out of the bathroom...

It was Jey calling

"Hi Jey"

"Yo wassup , Uce "

"Nothing much , big dawg. Just came from taking a shower. You?"

"Just watching some 22:00pm Telenovela , yuck."

I giggled quietly to myself.

" Wait , you said you came from taking a shower right???"

"Yeah , why?"

"mmmm , I wish I could join you"

I bit my lower lip and smiled

" So there was something you wanted to tell me ?"

"Uh yeah , yes yes yes.."

How'd y'all like that one ...

What was your favorite part?

Wanna know more , don't worry we're getting closer..🥴😼

EPISODE 15 - 2022 WRAP-UP (OR, WE HAVE AT LEAST THREE LISTENERS)

We are one day late (apologies, work has been insane), but here is our latest episode! YAY!

This week, Jo (@pebblysand) and Lani (@copper-dust) do a 2022 fanfiction wrap-up. They look back on the year they’ve just had, talk about their feelings about fanfiction and fandom in general, and answer some of your questions (asked by @evesaintyves and @tofutti-rice-dreamsicle) about their personal favourites. Lani tells us about the impact the pandemic had on her writing and Jo gets fairly emotional answering one of the questions we received. We also talk about our plans for 2023, both with fanfic and the podcast, and give you all a few, end-of-year recommendations to take away. 

From the bottom of our hearts, we’d like to thank all of you for listening and engaging with this crazy project of ours, and we look forward to what the new year has in stock. Particularly, we would also like to extend our thanks to the amazing writers and creators we’ve been lucky enough to have on this first season: @venom0usbarbie, @tessiete, @crazybutgood, @newsom and @ala-baguette

Just a quick word of warning, in this episode, I read out one of the comments I got this year, which mentions the topic of sexual assault. If you want to skip that, it’s around the 39 minute mark, and lasts about 6 minutes. 

This week, we mention: 

castles, vicious as roman rule, the fault in faulty manufacturing and the wolf’s just puppy (and the door's double-locked) by @pebblysand 

Storge, The Seam Between, Check the Spindle and Merry Men by @copper-dust

Dancing With The Lion by Jeanne Reames (@jeannereames)

Jo’s tumblr post about controversial writing, the reasons behind chapter 8, and the ask. 

HP favourites: seven simple machines by fluorescentgrey (@yeats-infection) and thirty-five owls by letterblade

Non-HP favourites: Rous'd His Drowsy Blood by lanyon (The Iliad), A Matter of Apples by  Apollo_Xandos and Clean Dresses, Brass Tits, and the Importance of a Good Hatpin by voodoochild (@shes-a-voodoo-child) (podfic by originally) (Peaky Blinders)

castles playlist

Your recommendations for this week are:

Trying to set a low and achievable daily wordcount goal 

Patronising your local library

Having a good holiday season

You can find us online at:

The Fanfic Writer’s Craft: tumblr ; spotify

Lani (@copper-dust): tumblr ; AO3

Jo (@pebblysand): tumblr ; AO3

Thanks again to everyone for listening and engaging with us this year! We're looking forward to coming back after our break, on the 20th of January 2023!

—Kerry Howley, "Late Work"

If anybody wants to write in and Jorie-Graham-pill me, I'm as ready as I'll ever be after Howley's surpassingly designed and executed profile.

It's so well done I almost want to put my ideological questions on hold. If her father were the "art monster" who had hurled her across the room for defacing the canvas, would this primal scene prove so redemptive and generative in the profile's narrative? Or would we be treated to yet another recitation of Bishop reprimanding Lowell: "Art just isn't worth that much?"

(Aesthetics and ethics are separate, each absolute in its domain. Just as being an artist doesn't license abusing a child, the artist's having abused her child doesn't invalidate her art. Both are true.)

The only one of Graham's students whose voice we hear for more than a paragraph writes, we're told, about "Black pleasure," just in case we might be worried about what this privileged white lady teaches. What does she teach?

“There was a way of being in that classroom,” Schiff says, “where you never questioned: Is this endeavor important? Does this art form matter? These questions just were not posed.” Here was a professor, says poet John Beer, who taught poetry as a “site for the disclosure of truth,” not merely of self-expression or an investigation into the operations of language, with a conviction not even particularly prevalent in other poets. This was an ethic but also an inheritance.

No quarrel from me about spirit of the remark, though "site for the disclosure of the truth" is not English but Heideggerese. Who taught the poets to speak the abstract jargon of the philosophers? The rumination on how to achieve late work is moving: how not to get caged in your mature manner, how not to burn out.

In 1978, eight years after his suicide, she descended the Guggenheim’s spiral at a Rothko exposition; the paintings grew more recent as she went on. Once he hits Rothko, she thought, he does great Rothko. One could see Rothko becoming Rothko, and then … years of the same. At the beginning of the very Rothko Rothkos, it was as if a light exuded from the back and the sides, a bright window whose horizontal shapes occluded the light. But in the late-Rothko Rothkos, “there’s no light coming through anymore,” she says, “as if the blinds have been drawn. He knows he’s trapped spiritually. You can’t be trapped aesthetically and not also be trapped spiritually. If your work is your life, then if your life comes to a point where you’re trapped, you’re like any animal, if you can’t get out, you’re done. If you can’t move forward, you’ve been hunted into a corner, even if you’re the hunter.”

There were the poets who exceeded themselves when time ran short: Elizabeth Bishop, Keats (yes, Keats, at 24, knew the end was coming, the work grew late), and Yeats, especially Yeats, who “lifted off at the end.”

Graham's mother, though, planning even unto her last words her massive earth installation or whatever—I couldn't quite picture it—is the prime example. I will swallow my skepticism: "People had always misunderstood the nature of Jorie Graham’s privilege." I don't care about checking anybody's privilege, but the insiderness of this life may produce a poetics that could use some aeration, and not from the corporate-curated news feed her left-liberal guilt addicts her to.

I could say of my own inheritance in the class stratum below Graham's: my father was a commercial artist who worked for money, taught me to draw, and never beat me for interfering with his work. The moral of that story would be this: the kind of privilege that allows you never to question the importance of the endeavor is probably a dis-privilege: too much is taken for granted and too little in consequence risked. But where would this get us? Yeats was right: don't be personal.

I am too severe. This genre of writing doesn't get much better; even my ideological qualms pay tribute to its canniness. Yet Howley scarcely discusses Graham's poetry. I have a vision of the woman—walking barefoot in Iowa to feel the earth, dressed all in black, scolding the school board because they've dumbed down the multiplication table, helplessly transfixed by Ukraine and climate change and her mother's death on her phone—but not of the work. She wrote long lines and now, in her late phase, cancer-stricken, she writes short lines. This is what I come away knowing about her poetry.

I've read exactly one Graham poem closely, "Reading Plato," because it was in an anthology I was teaching from. I didn't like it, thought its self-serious un-musicality indistinguishable from any other poetry published in the New Yorker, thought its gently self-implicating inverted-Platonic critique of "men" for their mimetic separation from and aggression against nature predictable, safe. Rereading it now, I think, uncharitably: if you're going to write like this, you might as well have just kept your shoes on. This, as the article goes out of its way to tell us, is the heir to Dickinson and Bishop, is an admirer of Keats and Yeats. What am I missing? The question is not rhetorical; please Graham-splain.

Good God, We’ve Gotten to: Find the ‘G’ Word Tag Game

Thank you @mrsmungus for enabling these hijinks! It's now a highlight for the day 😂 We're almost a third in!

My Words: Gone, Gather, Grief/Grieve, Giant, Ghost

Words for You: Hope, Helpless, Healthy, Heavy, Heart

OPEN TAG -  Please join in on our absurdity! Always more room in the clown car. Its fun in here!

Gone

Going down the stairs, Glen found himself lagging behind. He had nothing to resolve; everything he needed to know he gathered from Stu and Hayden’s retelling. And with Fran sticking closer to him over Harold, he had a sense she shared this sentiment.

The smell was nauseating, almost unbearable the further they went down. Most doors had been closed to them, but they were able to access what looked to be a central hub. Unfortunately, the technology had gone out some time ago from the looks of things. Papers didn’t reveal anything further than what he had surmised. This was a man made creation, released by a man in the west, and it spiraled out of control.

A book was lying on the floor next to an official who had obviously punched his own ticket, and Glen picked it up. A collection of Yeats poems. Certainly not a book that belonged in this setting, so he held onto it. Maybe it was a symbol of something good to be found amongst the destruction. Maybe it was just a book. At least now he could say they didn’t leave empty handed.

Gather

“So what I’m hearing is, ‘Hey Max, can you clean up our mess?’ That about right?” The girl was not taking any of Bateman’s condescending requests passively, and the smirk that formed on Harold's face could not be contained. If he had popcorn and a chair, he would be fully ready to enjoy the show. And not to disappoint, Max continued on as Glen just looked over at her with his usual blasé but amused expression. “You damn well know that we have no idea where anything’s at here, so we’re obviously not running on your track and gather mission. And you’ve already got Harold on transport… So why not just ask? ‘Hey Max, can you clean up our mess?’”

For the amount of sass thrown at Glen, it was again Hayden who pushed back. “Max; this isn’t ideal for any of us.”

“Hey Lloyd, you want to help me clean up the dead things in the basement?”

For coming from Vegas, Harold would have expected more attitude from him. More aggression. Just More. Instead, he was this sullen, panicky mess of a human. Even now, he seemed unnerved to be thrown in the midst of the argument.

“Uh, yeah. Yeah, I can do that.”

“See? It’s not hard to ask.” She flashed a smile at Bateman, and gave a mock salute as she headed towards the hallway.

Grief/Grieve

(For my source material, I'm kind of surprised this hasn't come up more. 5 times between both. And my other instances of this pretty large spoilers.)

"If they need the institute, then burning it to the ground solves everything. They can have the ashes."

"Oh, yes. Fantastic.” Frustration caused her hands to immediately fly in the air, as she began to pace the open space. “Why hadn't I thought of that? Oh, wait, you want to know why? Because it's fucking suicidal, and would never work without—"

"Without what? A foolproof plan. You're never going to have one, and we're out of time.”

Grief was certainly affecting her actions, but her logic was still sound. They had been at this for months now, and while they could get a small win here or there, there was nothing of true substance. No clear direction, no sure-fire way to execute a successful offensive.

Giant

Huh, striking out again. Guess I just need to write more 🤷‍♀️. (If only brains worked that way)

Ghost

(And again, I am shocked this is the only instance of ghost. I need to remove myself from the horror section; fail.)

"I can't believe he's gone."

Harold just stared at the ground as he muttered the words from the center couch, the loss affecting him a great deal. He assumed it was because not only was Teddy gone, but the new persona he made for Harold had gone with him.

From what little Harold did share with the group as a whole, Glen was sure ‘Hawk’ only existed because of Teddy. The nickname would not have been something he saw the prickly young adult making for himself. The Harold he knew from the road would never have wanted something like this, but it was obviously something he needed. An inclusion that was never requested. Teddy gave that to him. A friend, without question, offering easy acceptance with no strings for probably the first time in his life.

‘All of them.’

Nick added onto Harold’s comment and hung his head with a distinctly somber tone. There was no question to them that Harold’s comment was directed to Teddy, but he was not the only one lost in their trip. Larry had fallen as well. Ray. And even without an great understanding of sign, both Glen and Harold knew what was said.

Only small pieces of what happened back in that home could be heard, and vision was limited in the chaos, but Glen could still piece together what had happened. Nadine was there. Another ghost from their past that showing up in a time of crisis, one with a solid connection to Larry. While the reason was still unknown, the frequency of paranormal sightings was going to be another thing to discuss in the increasingly large list of things that would need to be addressed when they were all together again.

dahlia + dasha. she/her. a minor. ethan winters defender.

!! i'm a minor. i'm a february aquarius. i like reading, the gym, journaling, story video games, looksmaxxing, traveling, writing and rn i'm really into rdr2/twilight ! i'm from europe. i mainly listen to yeat, carti, ken carson, lil peep, cas and pastel ghost

comfort ; ethan winters, simon ‘ghost’ riley, cal kestis, sebastian castellanos, lara croft, joel miller, arthur morgan, john marston + many more !

i use a lot of pet names (i mean them in a platonic way!!) such as 'angel, love, bae' so lmk if you're not comfortable w any or don't want to be called w any. i'm alright with being called anything u want just as long as it's platonically

my inbox is always open and i would love to interact with you !! tell me about your day, what do you like to do, request for any fics, etc. don't dm me unless we're moots or i dm you first please && don't ask to be mutuals, i follow back selectively !! i'm always open to new friends ,, u can ask for a tag if you plan on visiting my inbox frequently

watching ... the walking dead (s8)

reading ... midnight sun

listening ... how u feel?;destroy lonely

playing ... 2nd playthrough of rdr2

A St. Patrick's Day parade-goer in New York is festooned with many a shamrock but nary a four-leaf clover. Photograph By Ruth Fremson/The New York Times/Redux

​Is the shamrock a Myth? The Truth Behind 5 St. Patrick’s Day Symbols

From rivers dyed green to steaming plates of corned beef and cabbage, each of the symbols we associate with St. Paddy’s Day has an origin story worth reading.

— By Erin Blakemore | March 15, 2023

Shamrocks, green beer, and leprechauns are part and parcel of any self-respecting St. Patrick’s Day celebration. But how did the traditions we associate with the March 17 holiday become associated with the feast day of a fifth-century missionary? More often than not, the story is one of cultural appropriation sprinkled with a bit of American ingenuity.

Here’s the truth behind five St. Paddy’s Day symbols.

1. Leprechauns

The leprechaun's look has changed through the years—but its image can still be found throughout Ireland like on this leprechaun crossing sign. Photograph By Bo Zaunders, Getty Images

Do you think of a diminutive green sprite with a pot of gold when you think of Ireland? You’re not alone—the leprechaun is one of the most enduring symbols associated with the nation.

But the modern idea of a leprechaun is a far cry from its origins in Irish folklore along with other tales of fictitious fairies and sprites. These supernatural beings were thought to bring good luck to humans and protect them—or tamper with their plans. The oldest written reference to the creature can be found in a medieval story about three sprites who drag the King of Ulster into the ocean.

References to the luchorpán could be found in generations of folk tales, but it took a generation of 19th-century folklorists and poets like William Butler Yeats to popularize the figure outside of Ireland. Even then, the 19th-century leprechaun was a grouchy goblin shoemaker who lived alone, wore red, and jealously guarded treasure—a far cry from the modern leprechaun who wears green, is cheerful, and lives at the end of a rainbow, where he doles out pots of gold and good luck.

This shift is largely thanks to Walt Disney, whose visit to Ireland inspired the 1960s film Darby O’Gill and the Little People, which featured a leprechaun trickster dressed in the more familiar outfit of green pants and coat, yellow waistcoat, and buckled shoes. This and other midcentury representations of leprechauns, like breakfast cereal Lucky Charms’ mascot, Lucky, promulgated Americans’ love of the small figures.

2. Shamrocks

A display entitled "Orchestra of Light" features a swarm of 500 drones animated in the night sky above the Samuel Beckett Bridge on the River Liffey for St. Patrick's Day in Dublin, Ireland. Photograph By Clodagh Kilcoyne/Reuters/Redux

Shamrocks—a three-leafed clover long associated with Ireland—are indelibly associated with St. Paddy’s day. There’s just one problem: they don’t exist in real life. “The ‘shamrock’ is a mythical plant, a symbol, something that exists as an idea, shape and color rather than a scientific species,” Smithsonian’s Bess Lovejoy explains.

Though a plant called a scoth-shemrach can be found in Irish myths, the name wasn’t linked with clover until the 16th century. Modern legend has it that St. Patrick used the three-leafed plant to explain the Holy Trinity while preaching, but despite attempts to link the real-life figure to the practice, historians agree it’s a fable.

In the 18th century, the mythical plant was taken up as a symbol of Ireland’s push for independence from Britain alongside the color green. Catholic Irish republicans’ uniforms were a green reminiscent of the isle’s grass. Their Protestant enemies adopted orange to express their identification with William of Orange, who overthrew the Catholic king during the so-called “Glorious Revolution” of 1688.

Today, Ireland’s flag contains both colors, but the shamrock in particular has come to represent the nation as a whole—and also appears on the United Kingdom’s royal coat of arms, which includes a rose for England, a thistle for Scotland, and a shamrock for Northern Ireland.

3. Green Beer and Rivers

A boat dyes the Chicago River green in celebration of St. Patrick's Day in Chicago. The process for dying the river takes two crews in two boats: One to dump dye into the river and a chaser boat to mix it all together. Photograph By Reuters/John Gress/Tedux

On St. Patrick’s Day, Ireland’s association with green extends even to beer. Like so many other St. Paddy’s Day traditions, green beer is an American invention. It is thought to have been originated by New York toastmaster and coroner’s physician Thomas H. Curtin, who in March 1914 hosted a St. Patrick’s Day bash that included green decorations and green beer.

Curtin used bluing, a laundry product imbued with blue dye that’s used to brighten up whites, to concoct the drink. These days, people make their own green beer with the help of home food coloring or beer companies who add it to kegs of brew.

Beer isn’t the only thing that turns green on St. Patrick’s Day, though. In 1961, the city of Savannah, Georgia, tried to dye its river green for the holiday. That attempt flopped, but the next year, Chicago succeeded thanks to a plumber’s discovery that a substance used to detect leaks into the Chicago River tinted it a gorgeous Irish green. It’s been turning green for the holiday ever since, thanks to 40-plus pounds of dye that lasts for about five hours.

4. Harps

Ireland's love for the harp dates back to at least the 8th century. Beyond a symbol of St. Patrick's Day, it's also the logo of the Irish government. Photograph By Karol Majek/Getty Images

When Norman chronicler Gerald of Wales traveled to Ireland in the 1180s with members of England’s royal family, he was disgusted by what he called the “barbarous” Irish. But when regaled with music by Irish harpists, he almost changed his mind.

“The only thing to which I find that this people apply a commendable industry is playing upon musical instruments, in which they are more incomparably skilful than any other nation I have ever seen,” he wrote, marveling at the “deep and unspeakable mental delight” of the Irish harp.

By then, the harp was deeply embedded in Irish culture. Stone sculptures in Ireland show harps all the way back to the 8th century, though scholars debate how much they resembled modern instruments.

“The harper was extremely well revered in Gaelic society,” said Irish musicologist Mary Louise O’Donnell in a 2015 talk and recital at the Dublin Central Library. Harpists were part of chieftains’ entourages, creating music to accompany poems about their masters’ greatness.

Over time, the harp became a symbol of national pride. Ireland’s coat of arms includes the instrument, which was also adopted by multiple nationalist and rebel movements throughout the nation’s long history. In 1862, Irish brewing juggernaut Guinness adopted it as part of the company’s logo—and when Ireland became self-governing in 1922, it had to flip the orientation of the harp on its official government logo to avoid running afoul of the brewer’s trademark.

5. Corned Beef and Cabbage

Corned beef and cabbage has become a traditional meal on St. Patrick's Day—but this custom originated in the United States with the arrival of Irish immigrants in the mid-19th century. Photograph By Grandriver, Getty Images

Hungry? You may well eat a big plate of corned beef and cabbage on March 17. But that tradition, too, is American. Beef was actually uncommon in early Ireland, where people preferred pork and beef was only accessible to the richest residents. But over time, Ireland began producing and exporting beef to wealthier England, whose elite preferred cows’ meat.

By the 1600s, beef was Ireland’s biggest export. In 1666, however, English landowners demanded a stop to imports of Irish beef, claiming it competed with their business interests. A series of laws followed, banning Ireland from exporting live cattle to its neighbor. This pushed down the price of Irish beef, so Ireland transformed its beef export industry into a beef preservation industry, using cheaply available salt to create corned beef—so named because of the corn-sized grains of salt used to make it.

Though most of the Irish could not afford their own product, eating potatoes instead of meat, the nation became known for its corned beef. When Irish immigrants flooded into the U.S. in the mid 19th century, they became more prosperous than their predecessors—and they used their newfound money to purchase salted beef brisket from Jewish butchers and deli owners. The “boiled dinner” of corned beef and cheap cabbage has been associated with Irish Americans’ celebration of their heritage ever since.

Every album I listened to in 2022: Ranked!

132. Yeat- Lyfe  (1/5)          (Terrible) 131. Yung Lean- Stardust (1/5) 130. NLE Choppa- Me vs Me (1.5/5)       (Awful) 129. Swedish House Mafia- Paradise Again (1.5/5) 128. Pi'erre Bourne- Good Movie (1.5/5) 127. Jack Harlow- Come Home, The Kids Miss You   (1.5/5) 126. Avril Lavigne- Love Sux  (2/5)     (Bad/Not Good) 125. RZA Presents: Bobby Digital and the Pit of Snakes (2/5) 124. Skylar Grey- Skylar Grey   (2/5) 123. Nickelback- Get Rollin   (2/5) 122. Arcade Fire- We    (2/5) 121. Jack White- Entering Heaven Alive    (2/5) 120. Panic! At the Disco- Viva Las Vengeance   (2/5) 119. 070 Shake- You can't Kill Me   (2/5) 118. Chris Brown- Breezy    (2/5) 117. Kelly Clarkson- Kellyoke   (2/5) 116. Skillet- Dominion    (2/5) 115. Jack White- Fear of the Dawn  (2/5) 114. Diplo- Diplo   (2/5) 113. Red Hot Chili Peppers- Unlimited Love   (2/5) 112. Snoop Dogg- From Tha Streets 2 Tha Suites   (2/5) 111. Weezer- SZNZ: Spring   (2/5) 110. Three Days Grace- Explosions   (2/5) 109. King Von- What it means to be a king   (2/5) 108. John Legend- LEGEND      (2.5/5)   (Fine) 107. Train- AM Gold        (2.5/5) 106. Death Cab for Cutie- Asphalt Meadows   (2.5/5) 105. Lil Baby- It's Only Me    (2.5/5) 104. Bbno$- Bag or Die   (2.5/5) 103. DJ Khaled- God Did   (2.5/5) 102. Calvin Harris- Funk Wav Bounces Vol. 2  (2.5/5) 101. Drake- Honestly, Nevermind     (2.5/5) 100. Future- I NEVER LIKED YOU  (2.5/5) 99. Youngboy- The Last Slimeto   (2.5/5) 98. The Game- Drillmatic   (2.5/5) 97. Lil Durk- 7220    2.5/5) 96. Dead South- Easy Listening for Jerks pt. 2  (2.5/5) 95. Allison Wonderland- Loner   (3/5)   (Okay) 94. Yeah Yeah Yeahs- Cool it Down   (3/5) 93. Steve Aoki- Hiroquest: Genesis   (3/5) 92. Roddy Ricch- Feed Tha Streets 3  (3/5) 91. 5 Seconds of Summer- 5SOSS5  (3/5) 90. Tove Lo- Dirt Femme   (3/5) 89. Simple Plan- Harder Than it Looks   (3/5) 88. BROCKHAMPTON- The Family  (3/5) 87. Sean Paul- Scorcha   (3/5) 86. Taylor Swift- Midnight  (3/5) 85. SZA- SOS   (3/5) 84. Mitski- Laurel Hell   (3/5) 83. Arctic Monkeys- The Car   (3/5) 82. Lumineers- Brightside   (3/5) 81. Burna Boy- Love, Damini   (3/5) 80. IDK- Simple  (3/5) 79. Quavo & Takeoff- Only Built for Infinity Links  (3/5) 78. Joji- Smithereens   (3/5) 77. 2 Chainz- Dope Don't Sell Itself  (3/5) 76. A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie- Me vs Myself  (3/5) 75. Ne-yo- Self Explanatory   (3/5) 74. Ozzy Osbourne- Patient Number 9 73. Red Hot Chili Peppers- Return of the Dream Canteen (3/5) 72. Yungblud- Yungblud    (3/5) 71. Blackbear- In Loving Memory  (3/5) 70. Michael Buble- Higher  (3/5) 69. The Weeknd- Dawn FM   (3/5) 68. Ari Lennox- age-sex/location  ( 3/5) 67. RuPaul- Mamru  (3.5/5)     (Good) 66. Snoop Dogg- BODR   (3.5/5) 65. Weezer- Van Weezer  (3.5/5) 64. Shinedown- Planet Zero   (3.5/5) 63. Goo Goo Dolls- Chaos in Bloom   (3.5/5) 62. Kehlani- Blue Water Road  (3.5/5) 61. Christina Perri- A Lighter Shade of Blue  (3.5/5) 60. Rex Orange County- Who Cares?   (3.5/5) 59. The 1975- Being Funny in a Foreign Language  (3.5/5) 58. K-Solo- Tell The World My Name   (3.5/5) 57. Maggie Rogers- Surrender  (3.5/5) 56. Carly Rae Jepsen- The Loneliest Time (3.5/5) 55. Palaye Royale- Fever Dream  (3.5/5) 54. Muse- Will of the People   (3.5/5) 53. Metro Boomin- Heroes & Villains  (3.5/5) 52. Harry Styles- Harry's House  (3.5/5) 51. Brent Faiyaz- Wasteland   (3.5/5) 50. Yung Gravy- Marvelous   (3.5/5) 49. Demi Lovato- HOLY FVCK  (3.5/5) 48. Billy Idol- The Cage   (3.5/5) 47. G Herbo- Survivor's Remorse  (3.5/5) 46. Beyonce- Renaissance   (3.5/5) 45. Ella Mai- Heart on My Sleeve  (3.5/5) 44. Willow- <COPINGMECHANISM>  (3.5/5) 43. Nas- King's Disease 3  (3.5/5) 42. Westside Gunn- Peace Fly God  (3.5/5) 41. Vince Staples- RAMONA PARK BROKE MY HEART  (3.5/5) 40. Korn- Requiem  (3.5/5) 39. Camilia Cabello- Familia  (3.5/5) 38. AWOLNATION- My Echo, My Shadow, My Covers, & Me  (3.5/5) 37. BROCKHAMPTON- Roadrunner: New Light, New Machine (3.5/5) 36. Marian Hill- Why can't we just pretend?  (3.5/5) 35. Sasha Alex Sloan- I Blame The World  (3.5/5) 34. Scorpions- Rock Believer  (3.5/5) 33. T.I.- Dime Trap  (3.5/5) 32. Mary J. Blige- Good Morning Gorgeous  (3.5/5) 31. Fivio Foreign- B.I.B.L.E  (3.5/5) 30. Bastille- Give Me The Future  (4/5)   (Great) 29. Logic- Vinyl Days  (4/5) 28. Charli XCX- Crash  (4/5) 27. Weezer- SZNZ: Summer  (4/5) 26. Lizzo- Special  (4/5) 25. Drake & 21 Savage- Her Loss  (4/5) 24. Lady of Rage- Necessary Roughness (4/5) 23. Florence and The Machine- Dance Fever   (4/5) 22. Westside Gunn- 10  (4/5) 21. Marina- Ancient Dreams in a Modern Land  (4/5) 20. Wiz Khalifa, Big KRIT, & Girl Talk- Full Court Press  (4/5) 19. Phife Dawg- Forever  (4/5) 18. Conway The Machine- God Don't Make Mistakes  (4/5) 17. Cordae- From a Bird's Eye View  (4/5) 16. Alter Bridge- Pawn & Kings  (4/5) 15. Halestorm- Back From The Dead  (4/5) 14. Joey Badass- 2000  (4/5) 13. Pusha T- It's Almost Dry  (4/5) 12. Conway The Machine- Greetings Earthlings  (4/5) 11. Lil Wayne- Sorry 4 The Wait  (4/5) 10. Killer Mike- R.A.P Music  (4/5) 9. Naughty By Nature- Naughty By Nature  (4/5) 8. J.I.D.- The Forever Story  (4.5/5)   (Amazing) 7. Sabaton- The War to End All Wars  (4.5/5) 6. Black Thought- Cheat Codes  (4.5/5) 5. Lupe Fiasco- Drill Music in Zion  (4.5/5) 4. Benny The Butcher- Tana Talk 4  (4.5/5) 3. Kendrick Lamar- Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers  (4.5/5) 2. Dead South- Easy Listening for Jerks pt. 1  (5/5)  (Perfect) 1. Czarface & MF DOOM- Super What?  (5/5)

ラップ2022

1.Zahsosaa x Dsturdy - Shake That ▼ 2.EST Gee, 42 Dugg - Everybody Shooters Too▼ 3.Young Slo-Be - Track Stars▼ 4.Ice Spice - Munch (Feelin’ U)▼ 5.Bandmanrill - Bouncin▼ 6.OTM - Adios▼ 7.Zahsosaa - Stripper Anthem▼ 8.Fr33 - Come Outside Feat. Tmaac, Queeen, RatchetMan, Gabbi▼ 9.Latto - It's Givin▼ 10.Babyface Ray - Go Yard▼ 11.EST Gee, 42 Dugg - Thump Shit▼ 12.D4M $loan - Drive Who Crazy▼ 13.Sada Baby - Sada Wada▼ 14.Loe Shimmy - Bounty Feat. Kodak black▼ 15.Chief Keef - See Through▼ 16.Babyface Ray - Sincerely Face▼ 17.iayze - Stick w/ Me!▼ 18.Luh Tyler - Law & Order▼ 19.Young Nudy - Impala▼ 20.K8do - How do you want it▼ 21.DaBoii - Heater Close ▼ 22.Leeak x Javn2900 x Rico 2 Smoove - The Jungle▼ 23.SSRichh33 x Verde Babii x EBK Bckdoe - Angry Africans▼ 24.Lil wop - Body▼ 25.Bandmanrill - FLOYD▼ 26.CEO Trayle - Alter Ego 2▼ 27.Certified Trapper - Drop▼ 28.Leikeli47 - New Money▼ 29.G Perico & Gotdamnitdupri - 10 Digits▼ 30.Babyface Ray - 6 Mile Show feat. Icewear Vezzo▼ 31.D Sturdy - Remember Me▼ 32.DaBoii - Bananas▼ 33.Mudbaby Ru - Gun class▼ 34.Ice Spice - Bikini Bottom▼ 35.Band Gang Lonnie Bands & IamTK Peso - Up The Score▼ 36.Cash Cobain & TATA - Back It Up▼ 37.Doe Boy - OFF THE PORCH▼ 38.iayze - Luigi’s Mansion▼ 39.NBA Youngboy - PIMPINABITCH▼ 40.PHILLY GOATS - ME & THE GANG▼ 41.2Rare x Pgs Spence x Dsturdy - SRI LANKA▼ 42.DaBoii - The Deal Feat. Drakeo the Ruler▼ 43.Flo Milli - Hottie Feat. BabyFace Ray▼ 44.Peezy - 2 Million Up▼ 45.Quavo - Shooters Inside My Crib▼ 46.NBA Youngboy - Hard ft Shy Glizzy▼ 47.24Lik x 392 Lil Head - Johnny Dang feat. RealRichIzzo & FWC Big Key▼ 48.BNB BBYAPE - Bodies▼ 49.Doe Boy - LAMB TRUCKS▼ 50.Duwap Kaine - Smelly II▼ 51.Veeze - Close Friends▼ 52.iayze - Fly By▼ 53.Kenzo B - The Facts feat. Young Devyn▼ 54.OTM - Beat It▼ 55.EBK Young Joc - Get It Right▼ 56.Bear1Boss - Drunk in Love!▼ 57.Dsturdy & D4m $loan - BEAT IT UP LIKE▼ 58.Kenzo B - The Realest▼ 59.Kodak Black - Grinding All Season▼ 60.PDEDRE X GENNYSO4L - Pain Flow▼ 61.RealYungPhil - Everything We Need▼ 62.Bandmanrill - Close Friends▼ 63.Baree Swervo - June 1st▼ 64.CEO Trayle - Dramatic▼ 65.Chief Keef - Yes Sir▼ 66.EST Gee, 42 Dugg - Free The Shiners▼ 67.TiaCorine - Freaky T▼ 75.DaBoii - Bing Bong feat. K8do▼ 68.Zahsosaa - OneWay▼ 69.D Sturdy - Walk Em Like A Dog Feat. FakeBitchesHero▼ 70.Mavi - Baking Soda▼ 72.Sexyy Red - FYM▼ 80.P-Lo - Good feat. Larry June▼ 76.Jugg Harden - Turntest In The City Feat. Sada Baby▼ 77.Lil Uzi Vert - Flex Up▼ 78.Megan Thee Stallion - Plan B▼ 79.OTM - Joey Riggs▼ 83.Wiki & subjxcts - Peace 2 MC Shan▼ 84.Chief Keef - Chief So▼ 86.Papo2oo4 - Discuss It▼ 87.ShittyBoyz - Red Light, Green Light▼ 73.Big Sad 1900, Steelz & YS - Perfect Timing▼ 88.Babyface Ray - Wonderful Wayne & Jackie Boy Feat.Lil Durk▼ 89.CEO Trayle - Private Matter▼ 90.iayze - Bend▼ 91.Kankan - scammas from canada▼ 92.Lil Yachty - Poland▼ 93.Flo Milli - Bed Time▼ 96.EBK Bckdoe - Air Force Ones▼ 94.Money Reekk - Been Thumbin Feat. Keezah▼ 95.Tony Shhnow - Show U▼ 74.Candypaint - Evisu ▼ 85.DC2Trill & Lil Yachty - Set It Off Freestyle▼ 97.iayze - Not a Blood (no children) / HotBoy Flow▼ 98.Los and Nutty - Daisy Clan Talk feat. King Fooliano▼ 99.ShittyBoyz - Sly Cooper▼ 100.Veeze - Let It Fly▼ 101.DaeMoney - Congratulations▼ 71.MAVI - Doves▼ 81.Papo2oo4 - Nets vs 76ers▼ 102.iayze - I’m Him!▼ 104.Lay Bankz - Boyfriend N. 2▼ 105.Papo2oo4 , DJ Lucas , Subjxct 5 - 1080p▼ 106.Shyneboikash - No BackBoard Feat.10KDunkin & 2200MikeG▼ 107.TISAKOREAN - DSH▼ 108.Veeze - Legend In The D▼ 109.Yeat - Jump▼ 110.Young Slo-Be - Pony▼ 103.Kodak Black - Omega▼ 111.Big Sad 1900 & Chris O'Bannon - Break The Bank▼ 112.DB.Boutabag - Cheat Code▼ 113.E-40 - It’s Hard Not To Feat. Sada Baby▼ 114.EBK Bckdoe - This Christma▼ 115.MyCrazyRo - Who Dangerous▼ 116.Voochie P x Tisa Korean - Row Ya Boat▼ 117.WB Nutty - No Motion feat. Mafia Skeet▼ 118.Hitkidd, GloRilla - F.N.F. (Let's Go)▼ 119.Jugg Harden - Step▼ 120.Babyface Ray - Tunnel Vision▼ 121.Drego & Beno - You Hip▼ 122.Earl Sweatshirt - Titanic▼ 123.Hotboii - Blinded By Death▼ 124.Izaya Tiji - Deeply▼ 125.Larry June - Corte Madera, CA▼ 126.Rico 2 Smoove x Javn2900 - Bring This Shit Back▼ 127.YoDogg, Cardo - Flute▼ 128.Yung Kayo - Kandy▼ 82.TISAKOREAN - BAGGY▼ 129.24Lik - Shark 4 feat. Lil Eazzyy▼ 130.Glockboyz Teejaee, Onfully & Bandgang Biggs - Same Night▼ 131.Jugg Harden - Wrist Work▼ 132.Los and Nutty - Invested▼ 133.Los and Nutty - T Top Music feat. Rico▼ 134.Mula Mar - Striker▼ 135.Payroll Giovanni - My Bag▼ 136.S5 - 17 Year Old▼ 137.Sada Baby - Unkle Emanuel▼ 138.Shaudy Kash - You See Me▼ 139.Veeze - Never Seen Before▼ 140.wolfacejoeyy - RUN!(2067)▼ 141.YN Jay - Tip Off ft Louie Ray & Mozzy ▼ 142.Yung Kayo - LV 2 FLEX▼ 143.Duwap Kaine - Indian Giver▼ 144.Taj Faneto - New Revolution▼ 145.That Mexican OT & Peso Peso - Chingon▼ 146.Big Sad 1900 & Steelz - Perfect Timing ft YS▼ 147.Chief Keef - Shady▼ 148.Kodak Black - Freezing My Pinky▼ 149.Lakeyah Feat. Gloss Up - Real Bitch▼ 150.LitClaude & 40GlockCYou - Top Prospects▼ 151.MATT OX - CHOSEN▼ 152.Smino - Pro Freak with Doechii & Fatman Scoop▼ 153.10KDunkin - DJ DONT PLAY NO LOVE SONG▼ 154.Babyxsosa - Like Woah▼ 155.DaBoii - KickDoe▼ 156.Dulu - Bring It Back▼ 157.Duwap Kaine - Revolve Around Me▼ 158.OTM - Chop Suey▼ 159.RealYungPhil - Glo Ft BoofPaxkMookyD▼ 160.BoofPaxkMooky - Tan▼ 161.MoMoney Moo x RealRichIzzo x Fwc Big Key x 24Lik x 392 Lil Head - Top Of The City▼ 162.Yung Kayo - it’s a monday▼ 163.Z Money - Risk Feat. Valee▼ 164.Trapland Pat - Trap Dance ▼ 165.Babyface Ray & Digga D - Goofies▼ 166.Cap Drive Montana x Lil Rb x Big Pee x NavySeal Quan - Cookie Monster▼ 167.Jay Fizzle - 50 Freaky Bitches Feat. Lil Harold▼ 168.Kodak Black - Spin▼ 169.Peezy - Long Live Crums▼ 170.RealYungPhil - Opening Doors▼ 171.Rx Papi - Kiss The Ring▼ 172.T.Y. - Loyalty▼ 173.Tae Dawg - Thumbtac feat. Rudycash▼ 174.TLC Fazo x TLC Santana - Fairy Opps▼ 175.Yung Mal - Right Back Out▼ 176.2Rare - Q-Pid feat. Lil Durk▼ 177.30 Deep Grimeyy- Extra Slimeyy▼ 178.Baby Fifty - Recover▼ 179.Duke Deuce - JUST SAY THAT Feat. Glorilla ▼ 180.Ezale - Hotel Motel▼ 181.Jelly & Pi'erreBourne - Dead Presidents▼ 182.Mozzy - Lurkin Feat. EST Gee▼ 183.RXKNephew - I got 5 pair of Amiri jeans▼ 184.Shawny Binladen - Let me leave▼ 185.SleazyWorld Go - Creepers▼ 186.WB Nutty - Deal With It▼ 187.808SPEAKERZ - BOUND TOO▼ 188.Atl Smook - Lost In The Sauce▼ 189.Big Sad 1900 - Jackers & Robbers feat. Blueflag 1900▼ 190.Jugg Harden x Babyfxce E x YSR Gramz - Michigan Flow▼ 191.Kendrick Lamar - Silent Hill Feat. Kodak Black▼ 192.Lil Baby - U-Digg Feat. 42 Dugg & Veeze ▼ 193.Lil Double 0 - Who You Killed▼ 194.NBA Youngboy - All The Problems▼ 195.Rico Nasty - Gotsta Get Paid▼ 196.Valee - Pineapple▼ 197.Yo Gotti, EST Gee & CMG The Label - Moral Of Da Story▼ 198.454 - LILO & STITCH▼ 199.BandGang Lonnie Bands - No Pillow Talkin▼ 200.DJ LUCAS x PAPO2oo4 - RECOGNIZE▼

_ _ _ _

CFN Malik - KICKIN HARD feat. Jellyyabashi▼ ゆるふわギャング - Package▼ Eric.B.Jr & REAL-T - YARIMAN▼ ZOT on the WAVE feat. YZERR & Candee - TEIHEN▼ Marin. - 脳みそ汁▼ FreekoyaBoiii & DNE - Lights On▼ T-STONE - 言U▼ Watson - DOROBO▼ Watson - 18K▼ SEBii - QUEUE³▼ brakence - venus fly trap▼ kmoe - it gets lonely▼ cheRomani+ - euphoria Feat. specxfic▼ delta - inferno▼ Skillibeng - Whap Whap ft F.S.▼ Skeng - Likkle Miss▼ SL - BERLIN▼ DJS 2K DO YOUTUBE & JC FAIXA PRETA - MTG JOGA ME PROVOCA X CARRO BIXO▼ MC GW - NA SENTADA QUE ELA▼

TASK 001 - Follow the Strange Trails - A Ben anak Bandi Playlist

As someone who appreciates poetry, it should be no surprise that Ben also enjoys music. He believes that music, much like cooking, benefits from a wide pallet, and he likes to sample all different genres and songs, particularly those with interesting lyrics. While he deeply enjoys the lyricism of it all, he also has a special fondness for classic rock music, grunge, and folk.

Ben's playlist is separated into chapters, with a prologue, two chapters, and an epilogue at the end. Each chapter is themed, with the first being representative of his love of rock and the second representing more moody tracks with a heavy focus on lyricism. These are not just songs that Ben would listen to but also music that I believe suit his personality. To quote Shakespeare, "If music be the food of love, play on..."

Listen here. Songs detailed below the cut.

Prologue

Time by Pink Floyd | Every year is getting shorter / Never seem to find the time / Plans that either come to naught / Or half a page of scribbled lines / Hanging on in quiet desperation / Is the English way

Chapter One

Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy by Queen | Ooh, love, ooh, lover boy / What're you doing tonight? Hey, boy / Write my letter, feel much better / And use my fancy patter on the telephone

Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls | And I'd give up forever to touch you / 'Cause I know that you feel me somehow / You're the closest to heaven that I'll ever be / And I don't wanna go home right now

Live and Let Die by Guns 'N Roses | But if this ever changin' world / In which we live in / Makes you give in and cry / Say live and let die / Live and let die

Cemetery Gates by The Smiths | A dreaded sunny day / So I meet you at the cemetry gates / Keats and Yeats are on your side / While Wilde is on mine

Brain Stew by Green Day | My mind is set on overdrive / The clock is laughing in my face / A crooked spine, my senses dulled / Past the point of delirium

Smooth Criminal by Alien Ant Farm | So they came into the outway / It was Sunday / What a black day / I could made a salutation / Sounding heartbeats / Intimidations

Chapter Two

Sunlight by Hozier | Each day, you'd rise with me / Know that I would gladly be / The Icarus to your certainty / Oh, my sunlight, sunlight, sunlight

Mykonos by Fleet Foxes | And you will go to Mykonos / With a vision of a gentle coast / And a sun to maybe dissipate / Shadows of the mess you made

Far From Home (The Raven) by Sam Tinnesz | 'Cause out here in the darkness / And out of the light / If you get to me too late / Just know that I tried / Oh, I'm so far from home

Myth by Beach House | Found yourself in a new direction / Arrows falling from the sun / Canyon calling, would they come to greet you? / Let you know you're not the only one

Way Out There by Lord Huron | Find me way out there / There's no road that will lead us back / When you follow the strange trails / They will take you who knows where

Achilles Come Down by Gang of Youths | Today, of all days, see / How the most dangerous thing is to love / How you will heal and you'll rise above / Crowned by an overture bold and beyond / Ah, it's more courageous to overcome

Epilogue

Evergreen by Richy Mitch & The Coal Miners | What am I waiting for? / Feet planted beneath / My compass my transport

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Secrets of a Scottish Isle (A Jane Wunderly Mystery) by Erica Ruth Neubauer #Review / #Giveaway @KensingtonBooks

Secrets of a Scottish Isle (A Jane Wunderly Mystery) Historical Mystery/Women Sleuths 5th in Series Setting - Isle of Iona Publisher ‏ : ‎ Kensington (March 26, 2024) Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 272 pages ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1496741188 ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1496741189 Kindle ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0C9W6FT7C The latest installment in the new Jane Wunderly Mystery series featuring an American widow turned private investigator in 1920s Europe. Isle of Iona, 1927: Cast away on a remote locale, Jane’s latest assignment depends on concealing her identity and blending in at an occult gathering. Not even her fiancé, Redvers, can be too close as she uncovers the truth about Robert Nightingale, enigmatic leader of the Order of the Golden Dawn—a group made up of supernatural ceremonies, influential people, and an undefinable darkness. When a woman tries to escape to the mainland only to be found murdered in the moors, the shocking scene reveals it’s easier to join the Golden Dawn than it is to leave. Jane, set on solving the crime and catching the next ferry with Redvers, realizes she may be among the few still grasping reality. One high-ranking member searches for the killer by attempting to access otherworldly planes of existence, while others become immersed in a strange solstice ritual. Then there’s Nightingale and the rivals who discarded him to start a new temple. As a second death brings fresh clues into focus, Jane needs to navigate a frightening dilemma—playing along won’t help her crack the mystery, but revealing too much could be a fatal mistake . . . Dollycas's Thoughts Jane Wunderly has been sent to the Isle of Iona to investigate the enigmatic leader of the Order of the Golden Dawn, Robert Nightingale. His group which includes influential people gathers for supernatural ceremonies on the isle where the veil is said to be thin. Jane has to conceal her identity and become just a woman from the States interested in the occult and Nightingale's group.  Her fiancé, Redvers, is also there but their relationship must remain a secret. When she finds a woman who was contemplating leaving the group murdered in the moors, Jane understands leaving the group alive can be quite difficult. She would like to get justice for the woman but the people around her are in their own worlds, or on different planes of existence.  Another death gives Jane some clues she needs be very careful or she could be the next victim. ___ Secrets of a Scottish Isle has a different feel than other books in this series. The tables seemed to have turned. Jane is a fearless woman taking on the bulk of this investigation and all it entails while Redvers works behind the scenes. She also put on the miles traveling the island searching for clues and meeting up with Redvers to report what she had learned. Redvers does pop up in surprising places but I really missed their banter when they work side by side, order drinks, and talk about people, places, and the case they are on. And while Jane enjoyed her break from Aunt Millie, I missed her and Lord Hughes. Ms. Neubauer does introduce an eclectic array of new characters in this story. Jane and Redvers come into contact with several residents of the island and those who have come for the solstice rituals. Each is unique and memorable but some are pretty shady. Interestingly, with only two hotels on the island, the residents open their houses to visitors. Jane's naturally inquisitive nature had her landlady opening up easily. I did enjoy the way their relationship grew and the good that came from it. I also liked that a real-life character, poet W.B Yeats was part of the story and for more than a cameo, it was a pivotable role. Jane's assignment was to investigate Robert Nightingale and discover as much as possible about him. Two murders were not planned for but Jane jumped in with both feet and I enjoyed tagging along with her from my recliner, wishing the virtual hiking I did around the island actually burned calories. The author does a wonderful job describing the island. I had a vivid image of every place Jane traveled and shivered at times right along with her.  As for the mystery, I was a bit baffled the entire way. There were some delightful twists and turns that built up to a crazy reveal and showdown. Ms. Neubauer adds an Author's Note at the end of the book sharing her inspiration for this story and that there are some facts within her wonderful fictional tale. I had never heard of the  Isle of Iona or Order of the Golden Dawn prior to reading this book but learning that the people and happenings are loosely based in real life made me appreciate the book even more. I am sure researching this story was fascinating, especially for someone interested in the occult.  Secrets of a Scottish Isle is a very intriguing mystery set in an interesting setting with a variety of quirky characters. I learned some things and was totally entertained along the way. Oh, and I loved the final chapter. Your Escape Into A Good Book Travel Agent About Erica Ruth Neubauer Erica Ruth Neubauer spent eleven years in the military, nearly two as a Maryland police officer and one as a high school English teacher before finding her way as a writer. She has been a reviewer of mysteries and crime fiction for Publishers Weekly and Mystery Scene Magazine for several years and is a member of Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime. When she’s not writing, Erica Ruth enjoys traveling, yoga, and craft beer. She lives in Milwaukee, WI. Website - Twitter - Instagram - Newsletter  Available Now! Click on covers for more information or to order from Amazon. I am giving away 1 Advanced Review Copy of Secrets of a Scottish Isle! The contest is open to anyone over 18 years old. Duplicate entries will be deleted. Void where prohibited. You do not have to be a follower to enter but I hope you will find something you like here and become a follower. Followers Will Receive 2 Bonus Entries For Each Way They Follow. Plus 2 Bonus Entries For Following My Facebook Fan Page. Add this book to your WANT TO READ shelf on GoodReads for 3 Bonus Entries. Follow Kensington Books on Twitter for 2 Bonus Entries! Follow Kensington Publishing on Facebook for 2 Bonus Entries Pin this giveaway to Pinterest for 3 Bonus Entries. If you share the giveaway on Twitter or Facebook or anywhere you will receive 5 Bonus Entries For Each Link. The contest Will End on April 11, 2024, at 11:59 PM CST The winner Will Be Chosen By Random.org The Winner Will Be Notified By Email and Will Be Posted Here In The Sidebar. Click Here For The Entry Form Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of this book. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.” Read the full article