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books · 2 years

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Writer Spotlight: Tamsyn Muir

Tamsyn Muir probably doesn’t need a lot of introduction here on Tumblr, but for those who aren’t yet familiar with her work: Tamsyn Muir is the bestselling author of the Locked Tomb Series. Her fiction has won the Locus and Crawford awards. It has been nominated for the Hugo Award, the Nebula Award, the Shirley Jackson Award, the World Fantasy Award, the Dragon Award, and the Eugie Foster Memorial Award. A Kiwi, she has spent most of her life in Howick, New Zealand, with time living in Waiuku and central Wellington. She currently lives and works in Oxford, in the United Kingdom.

We asked Tamsyn some questions about Nona the Ninth, the next installment of the Locked Tomb series, which comes out on September 13. (Mild spoilers ahead. You have been warned!)

Can you tell us about Nona the Ninth? How would you contextualize it alongside the previous Gideon the Ninth and Harrow the Ninth?

The Locked Tomb has always followed a concrete set of rules about whose point of view we’re in—there’s a priority list and a hard if-and-else-if set of codes about who is telling the tale. The priority character is always Gideon Nav herself, but after Gideon the Ninth, in many ways, she gets knocked out of the ring.

Nona is the next rule on the priority list—the next storyteller. Except there are also a bunch of other storytellers popping up in the priority list as she lets her guard down. That’s kind of one curtain I wanted to pull back on The Locked Tomb as a whole. Who’s telling this story? What is the truth as someone else understands it? Which is why, where the last two books have been told very much from the perspectives of the Nine Houses, we’re finally in a setting where the Houses have pulled back, and the truth told is completely different.

You have a knack for approaching the next part of the story from a completely different vantage point, which is deliciously frustrating for the reader. Why do you think this works so well (when really, it sort of shouldn’t)?

Oh, but it does, and it’s been proved to work—just play an RPG! One thing I passionately loved in Final Fantasy IX, my very favourite Final Fantasy at the end of the day, is that one moment you’re with the thief-turned-thespian Zidane and a wonderfully dashing attempt to kidnap a princess in the middle of a theater performance—then you’re with…some very bizarre kid called Vivi…who has lost his ticket and is getting negged by a horrifying rat child. You’re given a completely different lens on a completely different situation in what’s basically a completely different genre. In the same game! There’s a risk of getting too comfortable in someone’s truth—you might want to settle down in a character whom you have learned to understand. But then you have to practice a very radical empathy in settling down in Nona, who just absolutely does not give a shit about swords or empire and, at her worst, can be quite an irritating, materialistic babe in the woods who is WAY too into dogs. Of course it’s alienating. If the experience of being in Gideon’s head was the same as being in Harrow’s as being in Nona’s, there wouldn’t be any point. If different vantage points didn’t work, A Song of Ice and Fire would never have gotten off the ground. Hell, neither would The Iliad. I just sit longer with my vantage point.

After writing foul-mouthed and horny Gideon and acerbic, memory-challenged, and also horny Harrow, how did you approach writing Nona’s character, and what did you enjoy most about the process?

Harrow would hate that you described her as horny. Gideon would be fine with being described as horny. Nona would love to sit you down and talk about all the things that make her horny, at the end of which you are 50% worried that she doesn’t honestly understand ‘horny,’ and 50% worried that she DOES understand ‘horny.’

Nona is my character who doesn’t give a fuck. Gideon and Harrow both give too many. It was fun to write a character who sincerely seeks out love as she understands it, who has a large collection of friends and interests, and has no ambition. And yet what I really enjoyed is that Nona is easily also the most terrifying POV character of the series.

We meet some old friends in a new place in Nona. What aspect of the familiar characters meeting the unfamiliar world was the most fun to write?

Honestly, the fact that they’re in such a different milieu was fun enough. One is a woman completely out of time, trying to find something to live for; two are dyed-in-the-wool Housers forced to re-examine values they’ve always taken for granted and what the next part of life after death is going to look like for them. All three are fish out of water. And then there’s actually the reader meeting the familiar after two long books about the unfamiliar, and all the ways I hope that’s entirely weird and recontextualizing. And then, for Nona, what’s familiar to us is entirely unfamiliar to her. Writing Nona was like one long experiment with jamais vu.

When Lyctorhood goes south or gets experimented with, we get someone’s mind in someone else’s body. What is it that drew you to writing this Cartesian mechanism into the universe of the Nine Houses?

Oh my God, please do not spring words like Cartesian on me, I have not had lunch yet.

My understanding is that Descartes thought mind and matter were two completely different things and then got stuck trying to explain why they don’t feel like two completely different things. So if someone kicks you in the goolies and your mind forms the thought ‘yowch, my goolies,’ how is that mind-matter gulf being bridged? Minds in The Locked Tomb lose to matter nine times out of ten. (This is linked, not coincidentally, to my experience of psychosis.) Gideon’s mind is constantly in danger of being sucked away into the storm drain of Harrow’s matter. Revenants are minds that have temporarily anchored themselves to foreign matter, but over time the matter exerts itself, and the mind starts to fall apart. So when you get a mind that’s big enough not only to resist the matter it’s attached to but actually to start burning that matter up…well, what kind of mind could possibly be so powerful?? (Significant looks at camera.)

You’ve previously headcanoned the often affectionately named “Jod” as Taika Waititi (which offers up the potential for some delightful space-god-gay-pirate crossover fic, thank you). Do you have any casting headcanons for the other characters?

I have recently admitted to loving Erana James as Harrow, except I don’t think Harrowhark is quite that good-looking.

By the way, I wish I had come up with Jod. Whoever did, well done you.

We know you’re not allowed to read fanfic for legal reasons, but who would you find intriguing as a ship proposition and why?

I find all ships intriguing. I’ve spent too long in these mines. No ship is too problematic or cracky for me. My only hope is to out-fandom fandom by presenting them with ships more problematic and crack-filled than they do (I will not; fandom always wins). In these tiresome days where ship wars have been taking on airs, as is my understanding, of virtue versus sin (I don’t even know what Bakudeku is and yet I feel sorry for anyone who ships it; I didn’t ship Reylo because it wasn’t messed-up enough and feel the same), I hope the Locked Tomb fandom is just accepting that all shipping is batshit and every ship is just as bad as the next. Gideon x Harrow is just as bad as Teacher x Crux is as bad as Hot Sauce x Cytherea the First is as bad as Camilla x Juno Zeta is as bad as Silas x Every Asht Brother (actually, I wrote the Asht brothers in an unrelated piece that’ll never see the light of day and imo they’ve suffered enough, but).

I was in the Kingdom Hearts fandom briefly. We shipped people with Goofy. Actually, let’s go with that. Naberius Tern x Goofy. On second thought, please don’t go with that. Goofy had a happy marriage and would know better.

This question has sparked some debate among the editorial team here because we absolutely can’t agree on one. Do you have a favorite character?

Yes. As of twenty seconds ago, it’s Naberius because I can’t enthuse enough over how he and Goofy’s relationship would break down because Babs spends so much money on silk pillowcases to avoid hair frizz. He only needs two, max, but has twenty. I hope Goofy goes on longer and longer adventures with Sora and Donald to try to ignore how his love life is breaking down over Naberius leaving the wedding they were just attending because he saw some other dude wearing the same shirt. Leave him, Goofy!!!

If Nona had a Tumblr, what would it be called, and what would she post?

It would just be a single text post with ‘hi,’ and she didn’t even write it. She dictated to Camilla, then ran out of ideas. Her profile just says ‘nona,’ and it’s a default layout. Nona just wouldn’t see the point of Tumblr, even if you told her there were pictures of dogs: why would you want to see a picture of a dog when you could be near a dog in real life? (I told you Nona was scary.)

Which house would you belong to, and do you see yourself more as an adept or cavalier?

I belong to No House. I’ve never been able to belong to a House. I’ve never been able to sort myself into anything really; I’ve tried, and nothing sticks. I can’t be an adept or a cavalier either, I’m just sitting in the corner glumly eating hot dogs. I guess I’m Hot Dog House.

The Locked Tomb fanart is strong here on Tumblr. Do you have a favorite piece you’ve seen recently?

Every piece I have seen recently is my most favorite piece! I was just in Spain for the Celsius convention, and the most intensely wonderful thing was that I came away with fan art that the fans have done. I don’t know what they’re feeding them there in Spain, but pretty much every fan was just nonchalantly like, ‘I drew this,’ and presented me with the goddamn Sistine Chapel. Someone had, while they were waiting in a queue, just filled a sketchbook with the most incredible work on the fly. Special shout-out to a marvelous flipbook I got where Harrow and Gideon are ducks.

The plan was for Alecto the Ninth to be the third and last book. Here we are with Nona the Ninth and Alecto still set to appear (we are not complaining). How has that process been?

AWFUL!!!!

It took me a long time to let go of the fact that it wasn’t going to be a trilogy; it was four books. I want the story to be done now! For one thing, because I’m really excited about the ending, and for another thing, the longer this goes on, the more of a terrible gremlin I become. The Locked Tomb is very special to me, but also I have five million other stories to write and only so long in a lifetime. I’ve been with this world since 2018, and I am wildly excited to get to all the other places. My editor and I will, I think, shed a sentimental tear on the final page, but also, you haven’t even met Teresa Santos yet, who has kept every gun she has ever loved.

What kind of writer are you? A plotter? A pantser? Do you have any morning rituals that set you up for a day of writing?

Plotter. I envy pantsers and gardeners. This is why Nona being unexpected got to me so much. I don’t actually have any rituals or exercises or anything—it’s important for me to have a specific writing space and a good breakfast. But every book is different. Like, what helped with Harrow was breaking every so often to die in Donkey Kong Country.

Do you have any writing or publishing or life advice for any budding queer sci-fi writers reading this?

I see so many writers—and this may also have something to do with being a queer writer—giving themselves SUCH a goddamned hard time. If I could give any advice to them, it would be to stop beating themselves up so much. I’m really dubious at how there’s this perceived glamorous youthquake to writing— like, that if you haven’t been published by 25 and don’t have BookTok at your feet, you’re a failure—it is so much more important to live your life. I’m so grateful I lived in an era where I could write fanfiction, for instance, and not have the sense that it ought to be my side hustle. You don’t have to have published the world’s most important and meaningful queer SFF story by the time you are 29. You don’t need to have done jack shit.

I do have one piece of practical life advice because if I have any regrets, it is that for a large portion of my early twenties, I used to consume like six cans of Mountain Dew a day. I don’t think this sparked queer joy. I think it stripped away all my tooth enamel. You will LOVE having tooth enamel in your old age, so stop.

The Locked Tomb is seriously good and gloriously queer, and its continued success will hopefully encourage more publishers to publish more queer sci-fi, all of the time. Do you have any queer sci-fi reading recs to tide us over while we await Alecto?

Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh is coming soon. It should really be called Problematic Gays I Have Loved (this is why they don’t let me title things).

Thank you so much to Tamsyn for taking the time to answer our questions! We’re so excited to see everyone’s reactions to Nona the Ninth when she arrives on September 13!! In the meantime, head over to the #the locked tomb tag for fan theories, fics, and art (remember to filter for spoilers)!

#writer spotlight #tamsyn muir #nona the ninth #harrow the ninth #gideon the ninth #you can't spell necromantic without romantic #the locked tomb #writers on tumblr #tlt #lgbtqia+ lit #lgbtqia+ reading recs

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vulgar-mary-p-ppins · 5 months

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A glorious and stunning movie, well worth going to see. Miyazaki has not shied away from talking about the war before: The Wind Rises, albeit at it’s core a love story is still about the problem of creating the kamikaze planes and how life continues even in war time. As Miyazaki’s work has matured and his son has taken over more and more of the production, I find that his stories have become darker and his story-lines more complex. As such, I am delighted to see him make something so unsettling and mature as a (extremely loose) Dante’s Inferno. This is a far, far, FAR cry from something like Kiki and Totoro.

The details in which the shadow of the ongoing Pacific War color this film lend to Miyazaki’s style of talking about calamity in the softest way possible. Barring the opening sequence in which the main character witnesses the firebombing in Tokyo, there is no other “war violence”. However, at one point, his father stores something his factory is making in their house: the cockpits of the kamikaze planes. A character in the other world mentions off hand “soon, your world will be enveloped in fire”, which is clearly in reference to the bomb. Background details show wartime propaganda posters, nationalistic symbols, and children and adults performing the volunteer work usual for late stage war time. Much like Nausicaä, these are all details of the setting and are almost never overtly mentioned or pointed out.

This is a story about grief, just as Dante’s Inferno is, but also about the processing of war time trauma by a country besieged. Mihito, the main character, means “sincere one” and, when looking at this piece through the understanding that many Japanese perceive themselves as victims of World War II, he is a symbol of the victim mind-set of Japanese war time. He takes things as they come, never having a strong reaction either way. He isn’t bitter or angry, neither is he sad or grieving. He is numb. He goes through the motions of politeness, the motions of nationalistic fervor, the motions of life; but he is numb. It is only when the promise of retrieving his mother from death comes to him that he begins to break through his numbness, but it is the retrieval of his aunt that makes him a little boy again — a symbol of processing the loss of his old way of life, pre-war Japan, by embracing the new, post-war Japan.

I need to do more research into the symbolism of particular birds, because the usage feels too specific for me, but frankly, I haven’t yet. I loved the movie. I can’t wait to watch it again. Its a movie about sitting with your emotions, however, so, much like Miyazaki’s other more mature works, it is almost painfully slow. But that is what makes him a master storyteller; as an artist he reminds us to sit down and wait. The world is too fast now, and he has stated in interviews that his works is supposed to instill nostalgia for a time when we were younger and the world wasn’t so fast nor demanding. He wants us to sit: with the whimsical, with the painful, with the romantic, and in this case with the unsettling. And he does it again.

youtube

#long post #the boy and the heron #hayao miyazaki #miyazaki films #studio ghibli #tw war mention #Youtube

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izzysillyhandsy · 6 months

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A cool death - Ed's theatrical, performative suicide

"You know, I thought I'd have a cooler death than this. Something like being eaten, eaten by a tiger, or massaged to death by mermaids, or… belly-flopping into a volcano."

It seems I'm not done analysing The Scene from S2E2. It is a wonderful scene, perfect for rewatching - the music, the lighting, the double meaning of the things being said and the things unsaid, and the way it almost feels unreal, artificial and staged.

This is Ed's arranged suicide and he is playing by his rules, expecting Izzy to go along with it (as per usual). And at first, Izzy responds to it.

It is obvious to everyone that Ed is a highly dramatic person who loves the fantastical, symbolism and storytelling; he has a rich imagination and loves to perform. With Izzy, this is more hidden (especially in S1) but in S2 it becomes clearer and clearer that, in that regard, he is not that different from Ed. Both of them creating Blackbeard (their greatest fuckery) is only one example. The Kraken and the Shark is another.

For almost their whole lives, Ed and Izzy have been performing, creating theatrical illusions of their preferred realities to keep them safe, in charge and help maintain a certain lifestyle. But these illusions also helped in covering up their weaknesses (Ed can't kill, Ed can be unstable, Izzy loves Ed far too much, they're incapable of letting the other go, etc).

So is it any wonder that Ed, at his lowest point and just wanting everything to be over with, views his own suicide as a form of fuckery? He needs someone to kill him (the no killing rule extends even to himself) and so he arranges reality in a way to make that happen.

And for Blackbeard, it can never be an ordinary, boring, basic death. His death has to be cool and pretty intense.

Luckily, he has just the right person for the job - the master of real, sincere intensity: Izzy, who would do anything for him, who'd play along and follow him right into the fantasy, who has been with him for so long that he'd just get it.

And Ed makes it completely clear from the start - "I had a dream about you last night. I dreamt that you killed me." - this is about Ed and how Ed wants to die, dreamt up to the last detail. He holds Izzy's gaze. "It was good for me." - please do this last thing for me. He softly touches Izzy's (ungloved) right hand while standing up and getting into position - "I was standing. Just like this."

Izzy, probably half delirious from bloodloss and pain, follows Ed's every move with rapt attention.

So, how does Ed arrange his death? How does he imagine his last ever fuckery, his last shared fantasy with Izzy?

The execution of a mythical creature

Ed positions himself very carefully, at a good distance to Izzy and between Izzy and the stairs leading up to the door, with rays of sunlight coming from above.

From Izzy's POV, Ed must look like an angel ascending to heaven. Ed's posture and especially the way he holds his arms - almost a crucifixion pose - add to the impression. The sunlight frames him like a halo.

Contrary to the beginning of the scene, Ed turns his back to his executioner and calmly closes his eyes. He stands tall, proud and beautiful, accepting his fate with grace.

Perfect, beautiful and untouchable

Ed might be at his most beautiful and sublime in this scene. He is calm, dignified and regal. Izzy isn't granted the same status.

While Ed is a statue of perfection, Izzy lies on a filthy bed below him, drenched in his blood and god knows what else.

He's sweaty, his hair sticks to his face and his clothes are rumpled (and Izzy is normally so well groomed). His leather vest and even his omnipresent right glove are missing, as well as half a leg. He's so weak, he probably wouldn't even be able to sit up properly.

Also, in stark contrast to Ed, Izzy is almost hysterical. He's laughing maniacally, his face is contorted, and he's wildly emotional.

Ed is above it all, tragically beautiful and serene.

Surrendering to his fate

Ed almost projects the image of a hero or a revolutionary being executed by an evil henchman. He's Ed here - not the Kraken or even Blackbeard. His fate is decided by Izzy, Blackbeard's first mate. I think in Ed's mind, it is fitting that the man who "egged Ed on" to stay in his Blackbeard persona finally kills him when he can't do it anymore.

When Stede left him, Ed returned to Izzy without any plan what to do next. When Izzy kind of decided for him (at least that what Ed tells himself I think) Ed realized that he couldn't be what Izzy wanted him to be any more. He escalated the Blackbeard fuckery to become essentially Izzy's worst fear and nightmare.

Now, at the end of it all, he's back to being Edward, Edward who just wanted to be himself. And the man who had controlled him for decades gets to execute him. One last time, Ed is at the mercy of Izzy.

It is a compelling fantasy.

And Izzy finally, finally decides to stop playing.

At the beginning, Izzy seems entranced, a little hopeful, nostalgic and maybe even elated (even if everythings fucked to hell, at least this Ed wants to share with him). But as soon as Ed gets into position and expects Izzy to act executioner to his theatrical, arranged suicide - he just can't do it anymore.

Izzy could never kill Ed in any circumstances, but this must have been like a slap in the face (or, to be as dramatic as Ed, a dagger through the heart).

Izzy destroys the fantasy by essentially treating Ed like a little kid - "Ooh, you scared, Eddie?" and "Clean up your own fuckin' mess". He's not playing the part Ed chose for him, this is not who he is.

Izzy is not Ed's executioner. He is not a maniacal puppetmaster. He's not a higher power and Ed's not at his mercy. Ed is not a perfect, untouchable mystical creature and Izzy is not a hysterical wretch.

When Ed leaves (slightly disappointed, but not surprised, maybe even grudgingly approving), Izzy kills himself. Without any fuckery, theatricality and without an audience.

With his trusted scene partner gone, Ed immediately abandons his dignified hero fantasy. He throws himself into his next fuckery - the deranged killer. I'm quite sure that one wasn't as meticulously planned.

But when Izzy inexplicably comes back, the tables have turned. Izzy, who has finally taken control over his part in their shared destiny, appears on deck in the midst of lightning strikes and thunder. Now it's Izzy who is calm, dignified and untouchable - a mythical creature himself. Back from the dead, indestructible, disarming Ed with an impossible shot.

And Ed? Ed is visibly impressed. God I love those two. For the last time, Izzy is giving Ed what he wants, but on his own terms.

Finally, the crew kill Ed in the most dramatic way possible, in the middle of a fucking storm, on a ship doomed to sink with every soul on board.

Ed and Izzy can be proud - this was the most impressive fuckery of their lives.

#ofmd #ofmd s2 spoilers #edward teach #izzy hands #ofmd meta #why are they even being pirates #Ed and Iz should have gone into acting #every interaction is a ritual or follows some weird rules #I love them so much

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templetogavage · 4 months

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Monthly Measurement: December 2023

To celebrate December 2023, here’s a roundup of 31 posts from last month that I quite enjoyed.

December 10th 22:35: https://www.tumblr.com/peanutbuttergainer/736379009300086785

This excellent photoset depicting a funnel feeding and its aftermath shows off @peanutbuttergainer in some excellent positions. Click through for some more photos.

2. December 12th 16:57: https://www.tumblr.com/exxjockk/736538917387550720/do-you-have-any-clothing-which-you-just-cant-fit

@exxjockk shows off in an outgrown shirt. Check out the rest of the tumblr for a record of his impressive gain.

3. December 13th 10:31: https://www.tumblr.com/mortiskiller/736605222096551936

Denial roleplay is always good- who doesn’t want to watch a fat guy get fatter while pretending he’s getting thinner any day now? @mortiskiller has a great sense for storytelling, and his voice is an excellent instrument- I haven’t watched the video in full, but I don’t need to in order to sincerely recommend it.

4. December 15th 1:38: https://www.tumblr.com/lovingbarbariancomputer/736752892123414528

While the associated story isn’t to my taste, the picture and the writing were sufficient for this one to make the cut. In general, @lovingbarbarbariancomputer tends to tie American values, culture, and aesthetics to fattening men in a way I personally quite enjoy- I’d recommend a quick sampling to see if you like any posts yourself. 5. December 15th 18:03: https://www.tumblr.com/gentlerubz/736814869056274432/something-ex-vegan-idk

Todd Ingram’s poutine habit practically demands this treatment. @gentlerubz delivers, showing the ex-vegan character after he’s completely ditched his old diet. Excellent art as always. I recommend skimming the blog for characters you’d like to see fattened up.

6. December 19th 11:24: https://www.tumblr.com/beauxned-blog/737152167138508800

Deeply embarrassing to find a man with so little body fat as attractive as I do, but sometimes football players just have something special. Much thanks to @beauxned-blog for sharing this picture of James Ferentz. 7. December 19th 17:40: https://www.tumblr.com/chasing-gayns/737175782238076928

At this time of year, anything Santa-themed tends to draw my focus. Cute guy in red chugging milk with the caption “Santa in training”? I’m easy to please. @chasing-gayns has made a pretty compelling advertisement for his Patreon here, if I’m honest, so I’m rewarding it by spreading it.

8. December 20th 7:58: https://www.tumblr.com/thetumarchive/737229785122668544

@thetumarchive is providing an important service here, supplying feedist Christmas prompts. A bit late to be sharing them on my part, perhaps, but there’s always next December.

9. December 20th 18:31: https://www.tumblr.com/overfed-meathead/737269629996695552

From the beginning, @overfed-meathead has had a unique look, due to the commitment to building muscle and fat, but this picture really shows off just how hard he’s gone on it. The only thing that could improve this photo would be him snacking with the other hand.

10. December 21st 9:31: https://www.tumblr.com/13uckaroo/737326241807482880

@13uckaroo mostly posts furry art, which is not usually my thing, so I had to share this piece, which is definitely my thing. I love the art style, and I love watching a gorgeous man turn into a Santa.

11. December 22nd 10:39: https://www.tumblr.com/overfed-n-overweight/737421120372932608

Thanks to @overfed-n-overweight for sharing this gem. Here’s a cute fat guy performing some athletic feats. Look at how proud of himself he is!

12. December 22nd 17:04: https://www.tumblr.com/fat-male-celebrities/737445350859784192

It’s not the largest change, but something about this progression posted by @fat-male-celebrities strikes me as particularly hot. Partially the beard, partially the grey, and partially that Mauricio Pochettino is a former player turned manager.

13. December 23rd 11:05: https://www.tumblr.com/thegainingdesk/737513343630344192

@thegainingdesk has done something I never would have expected- posted a gaining-related statement fic for The Magnus Archives. If you don’t know what that means, you may enjoy it less than I did, but it’s a short horror-themed piece about a man being fattened up by his landlord, so give it a shot even if you don’t have the fannish context. If you like this style, check out https://www.tumblr.com/thegainingdesk/737185437925457920/the-grommr-profile-of-dorian-grey.

14. December 24th 13:35: https://www.tumblr.com/pettyheft/737613389259538432

@pettyheft plays the part of a fat Santa chugging his milk. No cookies in sight, unfortunately- but perhaps they’ve already been eaten.

15. December 24th 16:43: https://www.tumblr.com/sandwichfella/737625208927748096/2-month-before-and-after-im-going-way-faster

@sandwichfella ended the year with a 2 month before and after. Not bad, though of course I’m looking forward to the 1 year before and after…I’ll keep an eye out.

16. December 24th 17:26: https://www.tumblr.com/largeluke24/737627917164658688/get-more-from-largeluke-on-patreon

A fat boy in a Christmas sweater shaking his belly like a bowlful of jelly. A very festive present from @largeluke24 this year.

17. December 24th 22:53: https://www.tumblr.com/thebeautyofbigger/737648509966254080

@thebeautyofbigger decided to dress up as Santa getting lightly buzzed before his big sleigh ride- I question whether this is ideal for someone about to make a trip around the world, but I approve of the extra calories.

18. December 25th 2:24: https://www.tumblr.com/boneyardbellybabe/737661769138536448

I actually have this same outfit, albeit in two parts rather than as a onesie. @boneyardbellybabe wears it better.

19. December 25th 10:52: https://www.tumblr.com/sometimesgaining/737693743745007616

What an excellent present! And I’m glad we dispensed with the need for wrapping paper, better to see what we’re going to get. @sometimesgaining looks incredible here- the bow is a nice touch, but the camera quality also does wonders for the already gorgeous belly on display.

20. December 25th 10:59: https://www.tumblr.com/ntls-24722/737694166033760256

The rare post from outside our little containment zone that I will include, here’s a post about how annoying it is when sexy Santa takes are muscular and not fat. Fat Santas are way sexier.

21. December 25th 18:31: https://www.tumblr.com/pigjolt/737722622306140160

I’ve already included a few along these lines, but @pigjolt looks so good in this festive sweatshirt chugging milk that I couldn’t resist. Merry Christmas indeed.

22. December 25th 23:33: https://www.tumblr.com/snackkattackk/737741579277713408

I love how little @snackkattackk is trying with this costume to be anything other than a sexy Santa. I mean, of course, you have the accoutrements, but that shirt is leaving little to the imagination.

23. December 26th 10:02: https://www.tumblr.com/fat-male-celebrities/737781147804778496

A fun selection of photos from @fat-male-celebrities showing a chubby footballer, Kevin Pannewitz. I don’t know the context for the last two photos, but I appreciate the belly peeking through.

24. December 26th 22:28: https://www.tumblr.com/roundnfuzzy/737828117777874944/onlyfans

Santa jiggling his bowlful of jelly. Transfixing preview from @roundnfuzzy.

25. December 27th 12:19: https://www.tumblr.com/devilmaychub/737880382974869504/every-day-ive-been-eating-so-much-cheesecake-late

A sweet little description of being a gainer with a sweet tooth. @devilmaychub may be straight, but his description here applies just as well for those of us on the other team. Grab a dessert while you read it.

26. December 27th 12:54: https://www.tumblr.com/anorthsidecub/737882576848666624

Sometimes a simple GIF is all you need. All it’s missing are some milk and cookies, which I will choose to imagine @anorthsidecub has just off-screen.

27. December 27th 15:04: https://www.tumblr.com/dangercocktail/737890742552395777

A beefcake showing off his belly. Enough said. @dangercocktail might be more known for fiction, but I might also check out the rest of this Tumblr now.

28. December 27th 16:04: https://www.tumblr.com/dilfcontent/737894555383447552

While his brother may have achieved fame outside of football circles recently, @dilfcontent has correctly identified which Kelce I’d like to see more of.

29. December 27th 16:33: https://www.tumblr.com/babelnimrod/737896386296692737

Just a big fat guy, looking fat. @babelnimrod always shocks me, somehow, whenever I see photos. I don’t know what it is, but that belly always looks fatter than I remember. Well done.

30. December 28th 22:23: https://www.tumblr.com/tytoalbion/738009007160213504

I Can’t Believe It’s Not Gainer Content. Either way, a cute guy with a belly belongs on my blog. Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good bulk.

31. December 30th 18:16: https://www.tumblr.com/urges-to-gain/738174632959655936/aftermath-of-a-pizza-stuffing-do-i-look-bigger

What can I say? A fat man eating and rubbing his jiggly belly is exactly what I like to see. Thanks to @urges-to-gain for giving us a nice note to end on.

I hope everyone enjoyed their holidays (or, at least, were grateful for the excuse to pig out). Here's to December, and to 2023, even if it's a bit late.

#monthly measurement #gayning and encouraging #male weight gain #content type: roundup

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gerogerigaogaigar · 8 months

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Oh snap it is top ten time! These are the ten greatest albums of all time according to Rolling Stone magazine. Are they right about these choices or are they complete fuckups? Thank God I'm here to tell you all about this shit.

#10

Lauryn Hill - The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill

Where to start? Miss Lauryn Hill deserves more. She was the star of the Fugees and her solo debut, this album, is one of the highest achievements in the genre of hip hop and soul but oh how suddenly halting your career will get people to stop talking about you. The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill is more than just a strong debut it is the perfect blending of hip hop and neo soul. It is what Hill started on The Fugees album The Score and makes it into something all her own. She switches between rapping and singing so fluidly that you don't even always notice it, but at the same time they don't sound anything alike. Hill is so beautiful with her rich contralto voice but when she switches to rapping she hits with an incredible staccato that usually contain copious Jamaican patois. But her style isn't what's new here, you heard her rap and sing on The Score after all. When given the freedom of an album all to herself Lauryn Hill gets deep into the politics of love, career, and family. And she comes at it from the distinct angle of a woman struggling to be successful in a male world. She talks about her pregnancy, the collapse of Fugees, past heartbreaks, she criticizes the hip hop industry, and she does it all without adopting the masculine kayfabe that most other female rappers of the 90s did. Lauryn Hill never once compromises her personal vision for her life and her music. And that's why she never followed this one up. She chose her family and raising a child over fame and if you listen to the lyrics on this album its obvious that she was gonna do that. I have to respect someone who has music as a passion and didn't want to fit that passion into a commercial box. Miseducation was always gonna be best as a one off thing and it is as good of a hip hop album as we are ever gonna get.

Bob Dylan - Blood On The Tracks

1975, a decade after Dylan shook his fanbase by going electric. Bob Dylan had put out a couple good but not super successful albums with The Band but his career was realistically sundowning at this point. I suspect that this is a major factor in how Blood On The Tracks has been received over time. Receiving middling reviews upon release and then skyrocketing to the top of many best album lists in later decades. How uncool must it have been to admit that Bob Dylan released one of his best albums in 1975? Blood On The Tracks retains some of the production cleanness of his electric era, but the instrumentation is much more akin to his first few albums. Another thing that I think people may like about this album is that it is less lyrically obtuse than most other Dylan albums. That isn't to say that it's crystal clear straight forward storytelling but it isn't as cryptic as say A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall. Now here's the thing. I think Blood On The Tracks is a little overrated. It is a great album by a great artist, but it doesn't carry the sincerity or creativity of his earlier work. This isn't a new frontier anymore and while Dylan has matured as a musician it doesn't really change the fact that he's writing a bunch of songs about his marital troubles just like every other 70s rocker. Dylan just does it with a much better vocabulary and without talking about his penis. Still I would be a huge jackass to suggest that this is a bad album and if you, like myself, are horny for Bob Dylan's extremely long numbers then the song Lily, Rosemary, And The Jack Of Hearts is one of my favorites of his.

Prince And The Revolution - Purple Rain

Oh yes. Fuck yeah! I couldn't agree more with this choice. Purple Rain is a completely transcendent album. Prince is always an immaculate performer but in Purple Rain he is just so much more extra. Every drum beat is more intense, every lyric more wild and sexual, the funk more unfettered. Prince screams in sensual agony constantly. His vocals dynamics more pronounced than on any other pop album ever recorded. And then there's the guitar. Did you know that Prince was one of the most skilled guitarists ever? He rips solos regularly in this album that put most metal guitar virtuosos sound like amateurs. Prince's career had done nothing but catapult from the very beginning and it all seems to have been building up to this moment. The bombast of the music, the flamboyant persona, the movie tie in to this fucking album. Prince had it all.

Fleetwood Mac - Rumours

Can you even fucking imagine? You are in one of the greatest bands of the 70s, you are in the middle of a divorce and you're in the studio doing backup vocals on a song your ex wrote about how done she is with your shit. Being in Fleetwood Mac must have been wild. The two separate divorces that were happening while this album was being written really made for some of the best music of all time. It's not just breakup music either it's "I've moved past this" music, it's "I genuinely wish you well and hope we can still be friends" music, it's "you broke a sacred promise when you broke my heart and now I'm feral" music. All done in an intensely calm until it isn't calm anymore country/folk rock style. And it's all extremely catchy and memorable. From the eerily detached Dreams, to the jaunty Never Going Back Again, or the intense American gothic of The Chain and Gold Dust Woman. These songs are going to get stuck in your head. Fleetwood Mac were nothing if not accomplished songwriters and if that meant playing bass on a song about your ex's new boyfriend then godammit you better lay down a hell of a bass line!

Nirvana - Nevermind

By all rights nothing should have propelled a band like Nirvana into the mainstream. They existed in a niche genre tucked inside of a niche genre. But something about Nevermind hit just the right chord with gen x. The music industry changed overnight with record labels rushing to sign and promote alternative artists and so the very notion of indie music went up in smoke for decades. If you think I'm being overdramatic or mythologizing too hard understand that this no name band of punk rockers knocked Michael Jackson off the top of the charts. The music industry of the early 90s was a very different place, major labels had the whole thing on lockdown, and this should have been an all but impossible move.

So what is this music that turned the industry upside down overnight? What is grunge? It really is just punk but with an anti-macho sensitivity and some influence from alt rock bands like R.E.M. and Pixies. It's lyrically witty and evokes both a fear of the mundane and a disinterest in the interesting. Cobain roasts mainstream audiences that have latched to alternative music (In Bloom), he paints a surreal portrait of middle class banality (Breed), and sings about the disenfranchisement of his generation (Smells Like Teen Spirit). What Cobain does that is interesting is always write from the point of view of who or whatever he is criticizing. Polly disturbingly portrays sexual assault from the point of view of the assaulter, Lithium has its main character be a Christian convert to show how religion can be a vice.

Musically Nirvana's brand of grunge is very punk, but there is a quiet loud dynamic that suggests, possibly coincidentally, emo as well. The distortion is heavier than almost any other alternative band and influence from recent tour mates Sonic Youth is probably partially responsible. Especially with the high wetness levels that the guitars frequently hit. There is also an undeniable hint of country twang that kind of permeates grunge music in this unstated way. You can certainly hear it on Polly and Come As You Are, but it's like an unseen specter surrounding all of Nirvana's music. I have a near infinite number of thoughts on the grunge movement and I may have let a few too many leak into what is supposed to be a review of a single album, but oh well, whatever, Nevermind.

The Beatles - Abbey Road

With the impending breakup of the band looming over them The Beatles felt freer than ever before. The resulting album is in turn one of their happiest, their most unfettered, and probably their most unhinged. While there are a couple of relatively normal tracks in there, the love ballad Something, the dramatic Oh! Darling, or the sweet and hopeful Here Comes The Sun, a lot of the album is populated by weird shit. The jaunty murder ballad Maxwell's Silver Hammer truly feels like there was no point other than to go "hey wouldn't this be fucked up or what?" The nearly eight minute I Want You (She's So Heavy) is way too close to being stoner metal than anything by The Beatles should be and is my absolute favorite Beatles song. And then there are the surreal Because and Sun King the former of which is a psychedelic nightmare and the latter being much the same but with nonsense lyrics at least partially in Spanish for some reason. The musical diversity is very high with most of the songs on the first half of the record not sounding anything like each other. The second half contains a trilogy of medleys and is the more interesting half of the album in my opinion. You Never Give Me Your Money is split into three movements, which is such a McCartney move, and it transitions smoothly into Sun King. Then the rock n roll medley of Mean Mr. Mustard, Polythene Pam, and She Came In Through The Bathroom Window which all flow together so cleanly that they are essentially one song. I gotta respect the titular Mr. Mustard for shouting obscenities at the queen. What a legend. The final trilogy of songs that are also mixed together make up a sort of farewell for the band. They are clearly meant tow be the last song on the last Beatles album (Let It Be came out after but Abbey Road was the last recorded). So it's very funny that the album ends on an incomplete ditty that was accidentally tacked onto the record due to a clerical error.

Stevie Wonder - Songs In The Key Of Life

The sessions for this album produced so many tracks that they couldn't even fit it all on a double album so it came with an extra 7" disc containing the last four songs. You'd definitely think an album that long would get tiring but no. Absolutely not. From the very first notes to the end, an hour and forty five minutes later, it is a masterpiece of 70s funk/soul. And even though the album runs longer than the average feature film when it ends you will be disappointed there wasn't more.

Wonder explores his main two sides, political activism and emotional maturity, to their fullest extent. The political side most ardently on Black Man, a song that argues for racial equality by listing the accomplishments of American men and women of all races and stating that we have all contributed to our society so we should all be treated equally. And on the emotional end Isn't She Lovely is the most beautiful and heartfelt love song ever written. Wonder wrote the song about his newborn daughter and her giggles can be heard in the recording. It is the sweetest thing I have ever heard.

Joni Mitchell - Blue

Joni Mitchell's talent as a Singer cannot be overstated. She can jump octaves with apparent ease and move between smooth melodic phrases to cheeky staccato recitative in a heartbeat. She uses these beautiful vocal skills to lead us through ten confessional songs about heartbreak and breakups. As cliche as that sounds she has a beautifully poetic sense to her lyrics that help display a complex breadth of emotions.

Mitchell didn't just get more personal for Blue she also picked up some new musical tricks. She plays with open tunings on several songs l and makes notable use of the Appalachian dulcimer on Carey, California, and A Case Of You. Mitchell isn't quite in her jazz experimentation era yet, but a tendency for blues chords and improvised vocal flourishes show that it was always a part of her. Perhaps that buried sense of bluesiness trying to escape is reflected in the songs about trying to move on and escape.

The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds

It's probably easy to look at Pet Sounds, see nothing more than some 60s pop rock and not think twice about it. What is it that has Pet Sounds always placing at or near the top.of these lists? Is it just some old men's nostalgia? Well, probably to some degree sure. But this is more than just an album with a disproportionate number of catchy hits on it. Brian Wilson was an eccentric perfectionist who constantly saw himself as being at war with The Beatles. The Beach Boys always had to be topping whatever The Beatles put out and they had recently released Rubber Soul, their first album that felt fully cohesive as an album. Brian Wilson stepped it up a notch adopting the theory of "the studio as an instrument". Every track on Pet Sounds is meticulously crafted from the writing to the performing to the mastering, and it manages to achieve a level of precision and perfection in every one of those fields that it cannot realistically be argued that it isn't a perfect album.

The albums arrangements feature some very interesting instrumentation, bike horns, and coke cans amongst the more traditional but still interesting tack piano, harmonium, and french horn. The album also features orchestral arrangements, but they are rendered in a more rock oriented style creating something in between doo wop and chamber pop. In terms of composition the tonality of most of the songs is vague. Few have a particular key and instead float around a tonal center. This contributes heavily to the albums dreamlike, hazy sound. The songs are so tight and focused though that the tonal vagueness just reinforces the emotional uncertainty of the lyrics. Meanwhile the drums, and instrument that you usually associate with, y'know keeping time, is used here to create texture rather than rhythm. The fills are used very tonally, almost like how Joe Morello approaches drum solos on Time Out.

Bringing it into the studio Wilson himself lead most of the production and was inspired by Phil Spector's wall of sound. What Wilson does that is not revolutionary by modern standard was make sure every song on the album was mastered in a way that made them sound like they all came from the same album. Compared to other albums from the era it made Pet Sounds seem more like a classical song cycle than a rock album. Nearly every artist followed suit which makes it impossible for us to really hear how unique Pet Sounds was at the time.

The only surprise about Beach Boys being at this place on the list is that it wasn't at number one.

Marvin Gaye - What's Going On

"Mother, mother there's too many of you crying / brother, brother, brother there's far too many of you dying"

The opening line of this album is clearly as relevant today as it was in 1971. The whole album is writhing with fear and confusion over the state of the nation, Vietnam, the civil rights movement and the violent intersection between the two that saw US citizens shot dead in the street by their own government. Perhaps the fine line toed by What's Going On is best summed up by this quote from Four Tops singer and title track cowriter Obie Benson "My partners told me it was a protest song. I said 'no man, it's a love song, about love and understanding. I'm not protesting. I want to know what's going on.'"

The number one thing that What's Going On understands is that protest has to be an act of love. It doesn't spend as much time on the acts of police brutality as it does on the people actually affected. It talks about environmentalism because we need a planet for future generations to live on. Marvin Gaye sees everything that is going wrong and says 'we can get over this, it will be okay if we can work together to fix this'. Affected by the trauma his brother experienced in Vietnam Gaye made his protest album a concept album about a Vietnam veteran coming home only to find suffering and hardship.

Musically Gaye uses a lot of repeating motifs and lyrical phrases, especially the titular question of what's going on?, to link all the songs thematically. The songs all running together in a gospel soul song cycle.

#500 album gauntlet #lauryn hill #bob dylan #prince #fleetwood mac #nirvana #the beatles #stevie wonder #joni mitchell #the beach boys #marvin gaye #im finally free of the witches curse

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invisibleraven · 1 year

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That bingo card is just so full of good tropes, "who would want to date you?" Reggie/anyone?

Carrie grimaced as she adjusted her ponytail, hating the pressure it put on her head. But it was game day, and all the Bobcat cheerleaders were expecting to have their hair in the signature style, along with their uniform on all day.

Carrie really hated game days.

She loved being a cheerleader though. Coming up with the routines, the songs, doing all the flips and flies in the air. It was the one time she was free, letting go of everything but the feel of the wind in her hair and how right it felt to be performing. Plus being Cheer Captain meant that the student populous left her alone. She was untouchable.

It also meant that she had left her old friends behind. She glanced over to where Julie and Flynn looked to be having an amazing time, laughing at whatever Luke and Alex were arguing about. She turned her eyes away quickly though, she couldn't be caught staring at them, people would ask questions.

But she chanced one more look, and then wondered... where was Reggie?

Reggie was usually never far from the gang, usually going on about the latest episode of whatever Star Wars show he had watched or his latest D & D campaign. Carrie missed those, even though she would never admit that, even when she was friends with them. Loved being the sneaky rogue or whimsical bard to Reggie's elf ranger or dwarf barbarian. She's give anything to spend her Fridays trying to figure out how to add up the dice rather than nursing degusting vodka while the lacrosse players made sloppy moves on her.

That's when she spotted Reggie, shyly approaching the table, his DM guidebook in his hands. Carrie bit back a sigh, because he was the real reason she enjoyed the game. His skill at storytelling, his patience explaining all the rules, and it didn't hurt that he was really easy on the eyes. Before she joined the squad, they had a mild flirtation going, but of course, it stopped immediately after she dropped them all for the call of popularity.

Carrie tried hard not to think about how much that must have stung, because she knew she was still feeling the hurt from doing it.

"Hey Carrie," Reggie said, ignoring the dirty looks the rest of the girls were sending him way. "I was cleaning out my notes from the last campaign, and found these." He offered her a pile of papers, and saw her character sheets. Copious notes in both their handwriting filling the pages. "Figured you might want them back."

Carrie folded the notes over quickly, as she could see McKenna trying to spy what was on them. "Thanks," Carrie replied, trying to convey her sincerity with her eyes, if not through her words.

"You're always welcome to join us again if you want," Reggie offered. "We're about to start a new quest, find the Spear of Selene. Maybe get something to eat after?"

"Ew," Janicka spat. "Of course Carrie doesn't want to do that. I mean, really? Who would want to date you?"

Reggie's face fell, and Carrie looked at the girls beside her who were snickering, like they were too good for anyone, let alone Reggie. Carrie hated it, hated the mean girl mentality. Hate the price she had to pay to keep herself reigning supreme at this stupid school. So she made a choice.

"I would," she said, loud and bold. "I'd love to play with you Reggie. Milkshakes after, my treat?"

"I'll pay for the pizza then," he said, his face lighting up with a smile. "See you then?"

Carrie looked at the gobsmacked and disgusted faces surrounding her, and figured she was in this deep already, why not go even further? "Actually, do you think it would be okay if I sat with you guys at lunch? Maybe we could make me a new character?"

Reggie nodded so hard she was afraid his head would fly off, but he offered her his arm, and then gallantly took her tray. Carrie didn't look back at the cheer squad, and was grateful that no one at Reggie's table kicked up a stink about her coming back. Julie even offered her some chips with a smile.

But the best part was Friday night, after a successful campaign, and a delicious meal, when Reggie pulled the ponytail from her hair and massaged her scalp, making Carrie sigh in relief before pulling him down for a truly delicious kiss.

Hey, her character rolled a nat 20 for charisma, might as well put it to use!

#filled prompts #ficlet #jatp sweet tarts #julie and the phantoms

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onewomancitadel · 2 years

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Ok whilst I'm breaking my silence I never understood the L/oki and S/ylvie romance. It being literal selfcest is not the problem and actually obfuscated the deeper problem which is that the implication that L/oki is a narcissist (characterisation they pulled out of nowhere with the first A/vengers film) is very damning to me.

First of all the first T/hor film literally spells out how troubled and damaged and sincere he is and how he wants the throne insofar as Thor is unfit for it and there's actually layered complexity to him (and maybe entitlement! A sense of unfairness! Longing! in a film where T/hor himself is very troubled) and then they made him a 'diva' who wants attention ignoring his whole parental wound and making a mockery of it, is a narcissist, and wants everybody to bow to him? He, a trickster god? Famously about breaking boundaries?

Like if there's one good thing to ever come out of the M/CU it's this:

The performance, the drama, the lighting, the everything of it all, wounded and pained realising he's his peoples' great enemy. What does it mean to be that? What does it mean that T/hor is unfit for the throne and L/oki feels someone more responsible should guard the realm when he is a monster?

Then that new aberrant characterisation with zero conflict and zero tragedy and zero complexity to him just became the canon (because fluid complicated characters work against the medium, that's why you can't write a true redemption arc for L/oki or even appreciate anything that makes him L/oki), I guess he likes his brother sometimes and sometimes doesn't! Who cares! And then I'm supposed to believe it's magically romantic that he's in love with a version of himself. It doesn't matter how much you twist it, it just sounds wrong, even in saying like, oh well you'll only ever be able to understand yourself (damning about the human condition) or L/oki is a latent narcissist (LOL!) or like, true love against the odds? What odds? Because they want to write a version of L/oki out of the universe? They literally already did that. T/hor (2011) is knocking on the door.

I'm writing this out because I should like S/ylvie and L/oki together and I should especially like it if people with a similar taste to me like it and trying to identify why I dislike it is interesting to me. But I do really feel that this is another instance where corporate serial storytelling is working against the narrative (brand identity! Serialisation!) and I just can't accept it. I don't think there was ever any way to make a L/oki TV show work in the first place but that's just the nature of M/arvel.

Do I hate pop culture? No. I love the idea of shared works that everybody responds to and understands. I celebrate that idea. What I don't celebrate is this kind of commercialised bullshit that's being sold to me as transformational and beautiful.

I apologise to anybody offended by this, I honestly think that if you ship it that's more than fine. Just... the whole thing is broken to me and I'm not personally a fixer in terms of transformative fandom.

Maybe there's context that saves it but honestly the fact that L/oki hasn't been 'L/oki' since he first appeared undercuts my point; really the point here is that I don't like the romance and I think it being sold as a great love story was squicky to me because it comes with an inherent sense of tragedy and loss, not hope.

#anti sylvie #<- to be safe #hope people have that tagged and hope it doesn't come up in the search

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enterenews · 1 year

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Top wives who took off mysticism

mysticism? What is it?

Some actresses in the past often hid their private lives and took the mystic route. In particular, many of those who became wives of top stars were like that. But now it's different. Instead of the title of ‘top star’s wife’, actresses are building their careers more solidly, and more and more people are boldly revealing their private lives that have been shrouded in veils.

Lee Min-jung

Lee Min-jung, who started dating actor Lee Byung-hun in 2012, got married on August 10, 2013, after about a year. The couple of the century was born. Two years later, in 2015, she had her first son in her arms and had a happy family. By this year, her son is already 8 years old.

But these days, Lee Min-jung's talk is frightening. Having communicated with fans through SNS with his easy-going and hot personality, he returned to Chungmuro after 11 years with the movie "Switch" and captivates fans with his great talk. The point of his conversation is, of course, his husband, Lee Byung-hun.

Lee Min-jung, who appeared on SBS Power FM's 'Cultwo Show' on the 2nd, mentioned Oh Jung-se's line in the play, "Lee Byung-hun is cheaper than me," and said, "Everyone liked that scene at the premiere. I wonder if all men want (Lee Byung-hun) to be cheap," he said, drawing laughter.

In an interview, he said, “Many people see me as a miser, but I’m not. I like to be funny, but I'm an actor, so I hide it.

Han Ga-in

Han Ga-in has recently become more familiar with viewers through her active entertainment activities. Last year, after warming up with SBS' 'Circle House', she is emitting an entertainment force comparable to her husband Yeon Jung-hoon's with 'Sing for Gold', MBN's 'Greek and Roman Myths-The Private Lives of the Gods', and JTBC's 'Handless Day'.

This is thanks to the candid way of speaking and 200% sympathy for the storyteller. She met the victim of the can charter scam in person, fully sympathized with the client's story, shed tears together, and attracted viewers with her easy-going charm of mentioning tteokbokki as the food she wanted to eat the most when she was pregnant.

In particular, in April of last year, her husband, Yeon Jung-hoon, appeared as a guest on KBS 2TV’s ‘1 Night 2 Days’, a regular appearance, and was recognized for his hot entertainment sense. In each game, he gave unexpected fun with his dazzling performance and extraordinary fighting spirit, and even completed a mukbang that made his mouth water just by looking at it, making Yeon Jung-hoon happy.

Son Ye-jin

Son Ye-jin, who became Hyun Bin's wife, is actively revealing her daily life to her fans through SNS. After marriage, she said that she cooks often, which she did not normally do. She posted a picture of gimbap and showed off a house-cooked table prepared with stew and various side dishes.

She gave birth to her first son in November last year, and since then, she has posted a picture of her son's feet on Instagram, which has generated a heated reaction. At this time, Son Ye-jin said, “A precious life was born to our couple. She desperately realizes that many people need sincere affection and help for a life to be born, and she wants to convey her heart to those she is grateful for.”

He continued, “All babies in this world are light in their existence, and when I met someone I loved more than myself, I felt helpless and strong enough to do anything at the same time. I am also grateful to you who are transforming into a hedgehog day by day through this whole process,” she said, expressing her gratitude to her fans and her husband Hyun Bin.

#먹튀

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ear-worthy · 2 years

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Host Evan Stern Of “Vanishing Postcards” On His New Route 66 Season

Vanishing Postcards is billed as a “podcast for backroad wanderers.” In the podcast’s first season, which began in April 2022 and ended in October, creator and host Evan Stern traveled the backroads of Texas, his home state.

Season two on the famous Route 66 just launched on June 9.

Host Evan Stern recently gave us his insights into the second season of Vanishing Postcards.

“ It’s been said that if you want to get your finger on the pulse of the nation, take a cruise down America’s Main Street. Last fall, I grabbed a microphone, borrowed my Dad’s car and did just that by driving Route 66 from Oklahoma to the Pacific Coast. End to end, that’s a distance of roughly 1,500 miles, but ended up logging 6,845 and spoke with over 100 people along the way. More than a grand adventure, theses travels resulted in the new season of my podcast Vanishing Postcards which I’m honored to launch today. “Why Route 66? Thanks to songs, books, movies, tv shows and even advertising campaigns, the name has become enveloped in a kind of magic that for some immediately calls to mind images of muscle cars, neon and mid century exceptionalism. But how did this legend come to be, and what can be encountered along this most famous of byways in 2022? “From the streets of Tulsa’s Greenwood district, to a Texas sized eating contest and a morning on the Santa Monica Pier, we’ll explore these questions while discovering how its past, present and future are revealed through the people and places found driving it today. “Having embarked on this journey as a solo traveler, I’m now excited to invite you to ride along with me, and hope you’ll join in this journey by following Vanishing Postcards on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.”

The creator of Vanishing Postcards and its host Evan Stern is one of a proud few who can claim Austin as his legitimate hometown. Having caught the performing bug early on, he first gained attention at age 11 with a second-place finish in Austin’s famed O. Henry Pun Off, and has since appeared on the stages of New York’s Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center.

A graduate of Sarah Lawrence College and the British American Drama Academy, whether acting Shakespeare, or charming audiences with the turn of a Cole Porter phrase, Evan Stern is first and foremost a storyteller, with a sincere love and appreciation for history, travel and the art of raconteurship.

Vanishing Postcards offers listeners the benefit of hearing what the backroads sounds like. It’s a special listening experience.

So don’t just listen to any travel podcast, listen to Vanishing Postcards. You will not be sorry. It’s a documentary travelogue that invites listeners on a road trip exploring the hidden dives and histories found by exiting the interstates.

Season two episodes launched on June 9.

As writer John Steinbeck once said of Route 66, “People don’t take trips.Trips take people.”

#podcast #travel

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yegarts · 2 years

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“I Am YEG Arts” Series: Tatiana Zagorac, a.k.a., Talltale

Her bio will tell you she’s a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who creates electronic/pop music with sincere, clever lyricism. But all it really needs to say is “rising star.” As overused an expression as that often is, there’s truly no better way to describe Tatiana Zagorac. And we’re not the only ones who think so. Nominated for Electronic/Dance Artist of the Year at the 2019 & 2021 Western Canadian Music Awards, Zagorac, known professionally as Talltale, is turning heads across the globe. Her one-two punch? Well, in addition to being formally trained, she’s simply all the things that can’t be learned: compellingly relatable, effortlessly funny, and a natural storyteller with an impeccable sense of timing—just don’t ask her to play tennis! This week’s “I Am YEG Arts” story belongs to Talltale.

Tell us about your connection to Edmonton.

Born and raised here! My parents both immigrated here from Serbia, and whenever winter rolls around we (half) joke about why they chose this city of all places. But I feel like I grew up with this city in a way, it’s changed so much in the time I’ve been alive. I travel a lot for music, and coming back to Edmonton always feels like home.

Was music always a natural fit for you? What was it about the arts that made you feel like it could be your community?

It was always what I wanted to do, but by no means was it a natural fit. Most artists have a story where they talk about being gifted from a young age, and I have no problem saying that absolutely wasn’t the case for me. I think it’s important to share stories like that! One of my best friends recently reminded me that while he got “Best Band Student” in Grade 8, I got “Most Improved,” and that’s the kind of attitude that’s helped me get as far as I have, I think.

In regards to community, I think it’s possible to find it anywhere, but I feel incredibly fortunate that I found a lot of my community while attending the MacEwan music program. It felt like one big family to me, and many of those people I’m still gratefully in community with to this day.

What led you to focus on drums and composing music?

Drums was a bit of a happy accident—I was assigned to clarinet in Grade 7 band and found that it wasn’t for me. Halfway through the year they held auditions for percussion, and I saw that as my only way out of clarinet, while still getting to take a music class. I never would’ve guessed that I would’ve stuck with it and that it would be my instrument of study in university years later!

Songwriting I started doing at a very young age, though originally just writing lyrics and only hearing the melodies and production in my head until I picked up guitar later (and then production in university). As I’ve gotten older, I feel more at home with songwriting, composition, and production as opposed to live performance, probably because I’ve done it more, but also because I really enjoy being able to present something exactly the way it was intended, without anything being left to chance.

You’re both self-taught and formally educated. What would you say have been the biggest pros and cons of each?

I think a big con of formal education is discouragement that is fostered through feeling a sense of “right and wrong” while creating your art, and also through your “ears” (in the case of music) getting better faster than your ability. A pro, at least for me, is that, as someone with ADHD, having deadlines and a formal learning environment was incredibly conducive to the quality and speed of my development. I also have a hard time learning concepts when there’s no one for me to ask questions of, so having instructors and peers to draw upon was crucial for me.

Tell us about someone who’s been a mentor to you.

One of my biggest mentors was the choir and theatre musical director at Strathcona High School, Stephen Delano. Looking back at 16-year-old me, I was honestly insufferable—I was shoehorning myself into extracurriculars that I didn’t make the cut for, I was prideful and stubborn, and I gave artistic advice to peers with an unearned sense of authority on the subject. But Stephen found ways for me to learn and participate and grow, giving me responsibilities with running rehearsals or teaching the cast their harmonies once I had earned the opportunity. He even helped me decide between a drum or a guitar instrument major for university! He saw the potential in me, and I became a better musician and person for it.

Who’s someone inspiring you right now?

I’m endlessly inspired by the other female artists in Edmonton pursuing music, in particular, Laur Elle and Margo. I’ve been fortunate enough to work on both of their projects in a few different capacities, and watching them grow so rapidly is incredible. While their musical success is certainly noteworthy, I’m most inspired by their confidence and sense of self. And on top of that, they’re truly two of the kindest people I’ve ever met! I don’t know how they do it all.

Tell us a bit about Talltale and how that journey began.

I always knew I wanted to be a musical artist (though I think the vision of what that looks like changes as you get older, and you get a clearer picture of your options). In my last year of university, I felt ready to try and record an EP. I knew I wanted to come out the gate with something that sounded professional, and at the time, the only pop producer in Edmonton I knew was Ari Rhodes. I did my first EP with him, graduated school, won HOT107’s Hot Factor competition half a year later, signed a publishing deal right after, and have been continuing to learn the business and refine my skills as an artist since! From about 2018 onwards, I began working with local producer Robbie Townsend (professionally known as Father Bobby Townsend), and that was when I started creating music that I felt sounded like me. Since then I’ve been selected for a number of national development programs, received several grants and awards, and travelled internationally to write for artists in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and LA. It was not at all what younger me pictured, but in many ways it’s much cooler.

What excites you most about the YEG arts scene right now?

I very recently started collaborating with local writer/musician/owner of Glass Bookshop, Jason Purcell, on some of their projects, and it’s opened my eyes to how much of the arts community here I wasn’t acquainted with, despite growing up here. The music community is quite small in a way, so I felt like I was familiar with the arts scene, but I’m really realizing how many folks are doing work in fields like the literary and visual arts that I’ve never met. I’ve seen Jason pull these communities together through collaboration, and it’s very exciting. I think the arts scene in Edmonton is uniquely supportive and uncompetitive but still incredibly high quality, so it’s exciting to think about how further collaboration between disciplines will impact that.

Tell us a bit about what you are currently working on or hoping to explore next?

I’m currently finishing up an album! I’m very excited about it. I wanted to push myself musically to incorporate more electronic and orchestral elements, and I took a much heavier role in producing this record. I’m also really looking forward to putting together a great live show for it! With all the knowledge I’ve acquired over the years, it’ll be really fun to combine aspects of DJing, drumming, singing, and programming lights/visuals.

What makes you hopeful these days?

I wish I could say this wasn’t a tough question. I spend a lot of time kind of burrito’d in blankets feeling anxious and depressed about a lot of things. I think a lot of musicians would say “music,” but I even have a tough time doing music without wondering if I should be doing something that feels like it has more utility to people’s wellbeing. But I do think the one thing that makes me feel truly hopeful is community. As an individual, it’s easy to feel hopeless when you’re looking at problems on such a massive scale. But finding community allows you to create meaningful and impactful change with a group of people that is tangible.

Want more YEG Arts Stories? We’ll be sharing them here all year and on social media using the hashtag #IamYegArts. Follow along! Click here to learn more about Talltale and to check out the video for her latest single, “Tennis Club.”

About Talltale

Amassing over 400,000 streams as an independent artist, Talltale is a singer, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist who creates electronic/pop music with sincere, clever lyricism. Her most recent single, “Tennis Club,” has received notable positive attention from outlets like Canadian Beats, Buzz Music, and VENTS Magazine, as well as a premiere for the self-directed and edited music video on Indie88. Her live show sets her apart from other artists in her genre, as she plays a standing electronic drum set while singing. Her previous work has earned accolades such as Best Electronic Song of 2018 in the Canadian Songwriting Competition, Artist to Watch at the EMAs, and two nominations as Electronic/Dance Artist of the Year at the Western Canadian Music Awards.

The lead single, “Tokyo,” off her previous album, A Japanese Fever Dream, was placed on curated playlists and played across CBC, Sirius XM, and college radio, while the music videos for “Tokyo” and “Shed My Skin” were on rotation on Stingray’s 4k. Upon the end of the album cycle, Talltale was invited to perform at the Canadian Embassy in Tokyo. She regularly writes for other artists internationally, and has participated in several CMPA international writing camps. Talltale was selected as an export-ready artist for the Canadian Passport Summit in 2022 and is currently working on her next release.

#yeg #yegarts #edmonton #IAmYegArts #ArtistFeature #yegmusic

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becausegoodbye · 2 years

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I'm in two minds about this piece. On the one hand, it's pretty unsparing about going over the ways in which Whedon's been abusive, and it lays out well all the contradictions that his prevarications are riddled with. But it's also fixated on him as the protagonist of the story, the subject, the site of the most important psychodrama. Which is totally natural in a profile like this, but also why I tend to think that long-form profiles of abusers aren't the best way to understand their abusiveness. Still, there's probably something valuable in documenting the contradictions, because even now – with all these dozens of people telling stories that speak to the exact same patterns of cruelty and abuse – Joss Whedon still sits there in his airy well-appointed mansion and says that they're wrong.

Sure, he'll be performatively self-loathing in the abstract (the identification with Richard III, etc), but it's all hollow, as whenever it comes to the specifics of what he did, he either has a denial ('no way, that doesn't sound like me'), an excuse ('I was powerless to not do it'), or some tortured alternative explanation that puts the blame on someone else for misunderstanding him. At the absolute most, you get an anodyne 'I could have handled that better.' That's as far as all of that extravagant self-loathing actually gets him. There's no making himself sincerely accountable, no actual teshuva. There's just a storyteller, insulated with wealth, telling himself a story in which he can't possibly be the bad guy.

The part about how he felt he "had" to sleep with young actresses in his employ (that he was "powerless" to resist doing so) is so damning. You can only so totally blend 'wanting to' with 'needing to' when you have the power to get away with it. To pretend that this predatory freedom constitutes powerlessness is some truly deep bullshit: some of the most craven mental gymnastics imaginable. And the part about him dating a 22-year-old when he was 48, then him deliberately setting her up to have private drinks with "a friend he wanted her to meet", only for her to turn out to be Whedon's other secret girlfriend ... God, it's just all the most grubby little power-plays.

People can have complex PTSD and not do this shit, which means that PTSD can't be invoked as the cause of it. It can influence the shape and form of the abuse, sure, but it isn't the explanatory silver bullet people sometimes want it to be. This is fundamentally a story of a man who, upon gaining power over people (and especially women), found that he thrilled at lording that power over them – found himself liking how he could use them to satisfy his crueller and more egoistic impulses – but protected himself from this self-realisation through a fundamentally fraudulent conception of himself as powerless.

I've learned never to underestimate the extent to which people will doggedly keep their sympathies with the abuser, so I'm sure there are people who'll be able to read it and think 'poor guy'. But it's all there for anyone who cares to see it for what it is.

#joss whedon #buffy #I still think about laureljupiter's analysis of the nerd trio arc ALL the time #nobody has ever been more entirely correct about anything

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onlydylanobrien · 3 years

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Dylan O'Brien - NME Magazine Interview

Dylan O’Brien: “I was in this transitional phase – close to a quarter-life crisis”

From YA heartthrob to legitimate leading man – how the 'Maze Runner' star hit his stride after a whirlwind decade

Definitely!” hoots Dylan O’Brien when NME asks if he still has to audition. “I’m not Tom fucking Hanks, bro.” He’s clearly amused by our question, but forgive us for thinking the 29-year-old actor gets cast on reputation alone. A decade into his career, and he’s making an impressive transition from teen TV star and YA franchise hero to charismatic leading man.

New York-born O’Brien cut his teeth on MTV’s hit Teen Wolf series, before landing the lead in the Maze Runner film trilogy based on James Dashner’s hugely popular novels. Leading a band of bright young things that included ex-Skins tearaway Kaya Scodelario, Game Of Thrones’ Thomas Brodie-Sangster and Will Poulter, he honed his craft while racking up nearly a billion dollars at the box office. “My career is a constant acting class,” says O’Brien. “To be able to do the Maze Runner movies simultaneously with Teen Wolf was amazing in terms of getting in reps and working my [acting] muscle.”

Now for the sometimes tricky bit. Many actors struggle with the post-breakout period, but O’Brien is making it look easy so far. This year’s Netflix hit Love and Monsters proved he can carry an old-school family adventure, and new film Flashback (out next week) reveals an appetite for weirder, more cerebral work. He stars as Fred Fitzell, a young man reluctant to buckle down to life as a nine-to-fiver with a boring corporate job and a long-term girlfriend (Mindhunter‘s Hannah Gross). When he runs into a freaky-looking acquaintance from his teenage years, Fred becomes obsessed with finding an old high-school friend he used to drop a mind-bending experimental drug called Mercury with. It’s difficult to say any more without entering spoiler territory, but Flashback is a wild ride underpinned by the idea that we can exist in several realities at once. Even if you follow every plot twist, you might not fully understand the end. “Oh, it’s definitely a headfuck,” O’Brien agrees. “There’s not totally an answer to figure out. There’s a lot of different things that people can take from it.”

Speaking over Zoom from his LA home, O’Brien is bright, thoughtful and really good fun to talk to, especially when he relaxes into the interview, but he clearly knows where his line between public and private lies. When he first read the Flashback script, written by the film’s director Christopher MacBride, his “mind was blown” by just how much he related to Fred. “I felt like I was in this transitional phase of my life that was, you know, sort of close to a quarter-life crisis type thing,” he says. “For whatever reason, it was like me and this script were meant to be. I remember reading it and thinking: ‘I am this guy right now.'”

“There were a lot of things in my personal life that were neglected for a while”

When we ask why O’Brien felt as though he had reached a “transitional phase”, he gives an answer that’s vague but not exactly evasive. For understandable reasons, he doesn’t mention the incredibly traumatic motorcycle accident he sustained while shooting the final Maze Runner film in March 2016. O’Brien suffered severe trauma to the brain and said in 2017 that he underwent extensive facial reconstructive surgery after the accident “broke most of the right side of my face”. Tellingly, he’s never really revealed what happened on set or how it affected him.

Today, O’Brien dances around the details of the accident and other issues he was dealing with at the time, but doesn’t shy away from discussing his inner conflict. “You know, it was a lot of personal things combined with at-a-point-in-my-career things,” he says after a brief pause. He says he’d have been going through some of this stuff anyway, simply because of his age, but it sounds as though success intensified it all. “It was like this whole fucking storm of shit,” he continues. “I was simultaneously so fulfilled and happy about these, like, otherworldly and surreal things that I had experienced in terms of where my career had brought me. I had all this confidence and fulfilment and beautiful people [in my life] – such amazing things to experience at a young age. But at the same time, there were a lot of things in my personal life that were unchecked and sort of neglected for a while.”

O’Brien says that in time, he realised he had to “stop for a second” and “re-explore how I wanted my life to look going forward”. In fairness, you can see why he needed a breather: his career took off while he was still a teenager. After his family moved from New Jersey to Los Angeles County when he was 12, O’Brien contemplated a career as a sports broadcaster – his Twitter bio still bills him as a “no longer suffering Mets fan” – then began posting YouTube videos as moviekidd826. A funny, slickly edited skit titled ‘How to Prepare for the SAT in 45 seconds’, shared when he was just 17, shows he was a born performer and storyteller. YouTube success led to him getting a manager, but his breakthrough role in Teen Wolf still came out of the blue. At the time, he was treading water at a local community college and taking auditions on the side.

Still, he has since taken a rather fatalistic view of this career-making moment. “It’s totally weird because, when I think about it now, I don’t see how it could have happened any other way. I can’t picture myself doing anything else now,” he told Collider in 2011. “It was really sudden and a little random, and not provoked by anything. It was just out of nowhere. It wasn’t my intentional doing.” Today, O’Brien summarises his skyscraper career trajectory succinctly. “I guess I just graduated high school and started acting,” he says. “And then I felt like I was just flying by the seat of my pants and never got a chance to stop.” Thankfully, straight-out-the-blocks Hollywood success hasn’t taken away his sense of perspective. When I say how easy social media makes it to compare yourself unfavourably to others, O’Brien jumps in: “Yeah, that’s very true. I was watching the Billie Eilish doc the other day, and I was like, I’ve done nothing. I’m not an artist at all!”

“No one thought ‘Love and Monsters’ was going to be good!”

O’Brien is also self-deprecating when he talks about being cast in Flashback, suggesting it happened because he had such an intense connection with Fred. “I was honestly like, ‘Who is watching me right now?’ That is the best way I can describe how I was feeling when I came across this script,” he says. “Chris [MacBride, director] and I had this conversation that went so well in terms of [my] understanding this script that I think he’d sent around a lot and [that] very commonly wasn’t understood. I think Chris has even said that the night before shooting, he suddenly had this thought, like, ‘Wait, do I even think he’s a good actor?'”

Though O’Brien has firmly ring-fenced elements of his private life, he’s actually pretty frank about his acting vehicles. He readily admits he was expecting a snobbish response to Love and Monsters, a CGI-heavy hybrid of post-apocalyptic action and romcom that dropped on Netflix in April and topped the streamer’s daily most-watched list. “It means so much that Love and Monsters has gotten the response that it’s gotten,” O’Brien says. “No one thought this movie was going to be good.” His blunt honesty makes me laugh out loud. “No one did though!” he says in response. “And so, fuck that. You know, most of the people who say something to me about the movie, they’re like: ‘I watched Love and Monsters, and it was… good?’ And honestly, that just cracks me up.” For obvious reasons, we hastily decide not to share our response to the film – namely, that it was a whole lot better than expected.

In Love and Monsters, O’Brien plays Joel, a survivor of a so-called “monsterpocalypse” that has bumped humans to the bottom of the food chain. Though he’s known in his colony as a bit of a coward, Joel sets off on a treacherous 80-mile journey to find his high school sweetheart Aimee (Iron Fist‘s Jessica Henwick), which means evading the hungry clutches of various supersize grizzlies including a giant monster-frog hiding in a suburban pond. It’s a simple but pretty out-there premise that wouldn’t work if O’Brien’s performance was even slightly condescending. Instead, his unselfconscious sincerity really sells a film that has as much in common with the family-oriented Robin Williams movie Night at the Museum as darker fare like The Walking Dead.

His obvious affection for the project really comes across during our interview today. “When I read the script, I just thought it was so sweet and funny and smart and unique, but at the same time reminiscent of all these movies that don’t really get made any more,” he says. That’s a fair point: Love and Monsters is neither a fail-safe superhero movie nor a slice of classy Oscar bait. “And when they were talking about how to market this movie, it was so funny hearing all these conversations like, ‘How do we actually get people to watch it?'” he adds. “But that’s a big part of the reason I wanted to do this movie: because it felt like something I missed seeing.”

“I’m lucky to be surrounded by people who want to make something out of love”

So in a way, Love and Monsters was a risk for an actor seeking to establish himself outside of a bankable movie franchise and a hit TV show. O’Brien has only made four films since his final Maze Runner outing in 2018, and insists he hasn’t been tactical with his choices. “I don’t have anyone saying, ‘We need to get you in an Oscar vehicle’, or any of that kind of shit,” he says. “I’m really lucky to be surrounded by people who think like me: that you should do what you’re drawn to, and make something out of love.”

He’s recently finished shooting a mysterious crime thriller called The Outfit in London with Mark Rylance. Directed and co-written by Graham Moore, who won an Oscar for his screenplay to Alan Turing biopic The Imitation Game, O’Brien calls it “quite possibly one of the most special pieces of writing I’ve ever experienced”. He first read the script on a plane and says he “actually stood up and clapped” when he got to the end. Considering O’Brien probably wasn’t flying Ryanair, this reaction presumably attracted a few baffled glances.

Anyway, it must be pretty intimidating walking onto set with Rylance, a multi-award-winning actor revered by his peers – Al Pacino once said he “speaks Shakespeare as if it was written for him the night before” – but it sounds as though O’Brien took it all in stride. He says he’s confident in his abilities, but admits to having a slight wobble whenever he begins a new project. “I’m always sort of re-questioning everything – like, ‘Can I even act?'” he says. “But I think there’s something very natural about that. I think even Rylance could relate to that feeling. Acting is like starting a new year at school every single time.”

At this point in his career, O’Brien has made peace with the fact that some people will have preconceptions about him based on what he’s known for: Maze Runner and Teen Wolf. “People will put you in a box no matter what,” he says. “There was definitely a time when that would get to me, especially when it felt like somebody had a perspective on me that in my soul, I just felt wasn’t accurate.” Still, there’s no doubt he wants to show us what’s really in his soul with more films like Flashback. “If anything,” he adds bullishly, “it just makes me think: ‘Right, I’m really gonna show them now’.”

‘Flashback’ is out on digital platforms from June 4

#dylan o'brien #love and monsters press #flashback press #the outfit press

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