#queens of the stone age analysis

[shrubdaddy]

elucidative | l.greenleaf

↳ 𝐬𝐲𝐧𝐨𝐩𝐬𝐢𝐬: elucidative |. /ih-loo-si-deyt/ | verb | to make lucid especially by explanation or analysis | y/n is only a little dumb

⇢ 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠: legolas x reader

⇢ 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: fluff

⇢ 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬: none

⇢ 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭: 2.1k

a/n: Hiii - Sorry I've been MIA - work has been a bit more hectic and I've been having a hard time finding time to write! I could not stop thinking about the Bridgerton scene with Charlotte and George. Lightly inspired by @reality-warp 'Rávamë’s Bane Trilogy', quite literally one of my all-time fave fics and authors in this fandom and is a literal queen in world and character building so check out her fics if you haven't already!

copyright © | please do not repost my work.

“Manwë’s breath, how much higher can this wall get?”

Reaching for yet another tendril of the vines climbing up the wall, you attempt to climb higher up the stone wall.

It was a precarious situation — one in which you did not expect to be but were not entirely surprised to find yourself in.

You scaled the stone walls attempting to reach the top of the wall to escape yet another suitor. With flowing sleeves laced with snagged threads and leaves woven into your hair, you don’t quite know how long you’ve been attempting your half-scattered escape plan. At this moment, all you knew was that you’d been in this dreaded courtyard for over an hour and you would not be waiting another minute to be trapped and shackled for the next “prince” to come around.

As a ward of Lord Glorfindel, you were of course expected to adhere to the life of a lady in every way possible. You’ve studied every subject, attended every lesson from etiquette and mannerisms to reading and writing in Khuzdul, and attended each and every dreadful social event your father has encouraged.

Feeling your grip falter yet again, you stumble backward and glare at the very metaphoric yet also a very real wall in front of you.

You have always strived to be the perfect daughter in every way possible. However, in regard to love and courtship, you refuse to follow the ancient, decrepit tradition. Between the many years of dodging conversations and offers of marriage, you’ve reached way past the age of courtship, spending many years avoiding each and every suitor thrown your way.

Rather than bubbling with excitement, you felt the fear of the unknown settle in. Having so much to live for and not enough time to experience, you think of your time spent with the twins and the Rangers of the North — time spent traveling, exploring, and living.

You remember joining the twins and meeting Aragorn… meeting Legolas. He was an elven ranger you befriended through Aragorn. He was strong and sturdy, and for a moment you thought you were in love. The camp up North was a place where not many talked of their past but where they all focused on the present. It was a simple life but it was the life you were able to create for yourself.

Lost in the thoughts of the slow spiral of your sanity, you didn’t hear the footsteps coming up behind you as you reached yet again for the closest, protruding stone on the wall —

“What in the world are you doing?”

Without turning to even see who it is, you let go of one hand waving your intruding guest away.

“Please mind your own business, sir. You can escort yourself out — possibly, somewhere that is anywhere but here.”

You continue your ascent without a second thought but slipped down the wall as stone slowly tore up your hands. Stepping back, you place your hands on your hips and take a look at the growing annoyance in front of you. This stupid wall.

You hear an exasperated sigh behind you and felt someone lightly, grab your shoulder, pulling you from behind.

“Excuse me, sir. But you will unhand or you risk losing your… Legolas?”

Turning around, you were shocked by the familiar face of someone you were completely and utterly infatuated with over the past couple of years. Paralyzed and flustered, you couldn’t help but notice how clean and ethereal — you have never seen him this clean before; his muddied boots were somehow clean and the ragged pants you were so used to was exchanged for a less holey look. Somehow these fit even better. You feel your eyes gaze up but froze — you were staring too long.

“Lose my what?” he asked with a little smug grin.

“Nothing! Absolutely nothing. On the contrary, you can keep everything… It was nothing…” you rambled as you quickly turned around.

You hear him step a bit closer, coming behind you on your side to examine the wall you were so desperately climbing less than a second ago.

“What in Arda are you doing here, Y/n?” he said with his curious, blue eyes. Though a few feet away, just his presence causes your mind to go in a scramble.

“Me? What are you doing here?” you exasperated. Fiddling with your hands, you begin pacing back and forth, pretending to examine every bit of the wall, looking anywhere but him.

Look anywhere but his eyes, Y/n. That is how we’ll survive his cursed beauty.

“You are climbing a wall. If anyone should be questioned, it is you,” he bit back.

You quickly move your shoulder to release his grip and turn around.

“First of all, I live here. Second of all, please do mind your business, Legolas. I am quite a bit … oof … I’m quite a bit busy here. and I’m running out of time.”

Stepping towards the wall, you begin to attempt to climb yet again. If anything, it was to break free from his distracting grip on your body. Ignoring the growing warmth on your cheeks, you couldn’t help but notice how large and warm his hand was and how one touch made you feel like hot honey dripping down your body.

Shaking off the startling moment, you were determined to leave. And even he could not stop you.

“What in the world are you doing?”

“Nothing.”

“You’re doing something.”

“I am not”

“Yes… you quite obviously are are.”

“I am n o t.”

“Yes… you are,” he said firmly.

Relenting — you turn back around to face him. Beautiful face and all. You notice how his head is turned slightly down, his eyebrows furrowing just the slightest beginnings of a small smirk staring down at you.

“Fine,” you relented. “If you must know, I am trying to figure out the best way to climb over this disgustingly high wall and escape this dreaded meeting with this so-called ‘prince.’”

“You’re trying to what? With who? Whatever for?”

“Well, the first thing — hmph …” you grunt as you turn back around to attempt to climb for the fifth time in a row. “The first thing is that my dearest father has been parading me around to different suitors, a Lord here, a Duke there — and now, um, it’s apparently another ‘prince’.”

You take a step back because rather than focusing on climbing, you feel a sense of frustration overcome you. The situation of late has finally dug its claws into you... feeling a greater weight on your shoulder than you have originally led yourself to believe. You feel him standing behind you — the burning intensity of his stare on your back.

“No one has spoken of him… no one has spoken of this so-called Prince of Mirkwood?” You continued, “What if he has the personality of a gremlin and the looks of a troll? The Valar knows the little patience I have for men.”

“Gremlins and trolls aside — does what he looks he really matters to you? ” he asked.

“No… Of course not. It’s the not knowing and the fact that I do not know him or his heart that I do not like.

You take a step back to take a look once more at the wall in front of you. Glaring with all of your might, in hopes that your internal rage can burst a whole through these dreaded walls.

“Y/n —you must know... “ Legolas began.

Your eyes run through all the nooks and cranny’s vine-covered stone beast, ignoring Legolas’s words for only a second. There it is. A protruding stone just two feet away from the top. You found one last way you have yet to try.

“Thank the Valar! I think I found a way.”

You walk towards the wall once again, mapping out the new path of vines and protruding stones.

“I think if I can just reach this stone I can lift myself up! If you lift me just a little, I believe I can reach that vine and use these stones to climb up,” you said excitedly.”

“You want me to lift you up… so that you may… escape?”

“Yes, obviously. Did you not hear of threatening the gremlin-troll prince? Please, Legolas.”

“Your father will know that you are missing? The twins have just arrived as well?”

“Those are tomorrow’s problems, Legolas. The prince will be coming today,” you whined.

As you begin your ascent, you feel your foot slipping from the stone. Despite this, you stretched your hand above your head to grab the vine. As you reached, you feel the stone beneath your foot crumble and in a matter of seconds you find yourself falling.

“Lego—”

“Y/n,” he cuts you off. “I have no intention of helping you escape.”

Standing a little too close, you can feel the warmth emanating from his body. As you gaze up to his face, you see he’s wearing an emerald green tunic, soft and silky — something far nicer than the typical garb you always see him in.

“And why not? There is little time to —.”

Your finally glance up to look him in the eyes and —

“You’re wearing a crown,” you blankly stated.

Confused, you oh-so-slowly begin to piece the puzzle together.

“Yes, I am wearing crown,” a small grin appearing on his smugged face.

“Where in the world did you get a crown?”

“It was given to me,” he said as he looked around feigning boredom.

“By who?!” you retort.

“My father.”

“Your father? What does— is he like a king?”

“He is a king,” he said frankly.

“Which makes you a — “ you slowly piece the information together.

“A prince? Yes, a gremlin-troll prince to be exact,” he retorts with now a full grin and staring down at you.

“And you said nothing?” You frantically exclaimed.

“I figured you’d realize at some point,” he chuckled.

You stood there reflecting on all your life decisions at once. Every conversation, every hidden glance. He was a prince.

“I thought it was common knowledge and that you knew of my title,” he said quietly. “I apologize for not disclaiming it sooner.”

“So if what you’re saying is true…” you teased. “You just assume everyone thinks of you as royalty? That’s quite the assumption”

“Y/n, you know I did not mean it like that,” he groaned.

With a little giggle, you stepped away from him and asked “Should I call you, sir?”

“…Y/n, what?”

“Oh my, I’ve never bowed.” Your voice shifts into worry, “Is this grounds for beheading?”

“Y/n, no.”

“I should bow.”

“No— you should not.”

“I’ll bow.”

“Y/n — stop.”

“Please sir, I am merely a lowly peasant. Have mercy, your highness,” you exclaimed as you lower your head and drop into the deepest curtsy.

As he attempts to stop you, he reaches for your arm hoping to put an end to your jester.

As you back away and dodge, you look at him, batting your eyelashes, and cry “My liege, spare me from this punishment I only wish to live.”

Ears turning red with a desperate voice, he begs “Y/n, please.”

As you step back once more, he’s quicker this time and grabs your arm, pulling you close. your chest crushed against his, he drops one of his hands to your waist and the other to your back. You were so close you felt his breath caress your face. As you look up, you find him staring intently at you.

As you stare at each other, you couldn’t help but break into giggles over the preposterous situation. As you begin to giggle, he looks away trying to hold in his laughter, only to also laugh at the situation.

It felt nice — to feel free and silly, if only for a moment.

As both your laughter calms down, he looks back down at you asked, ”So what do you think of the gremlin-troll prince?”

“Nothing too horrid, he’s actually quite dashing,” you teased.

“Dashing, hmm?” he chuckled.

Unaware of everything around you, you were both startled to hear the courtyard doors open with footsteps following. Jumping from each other's arms, you separated a good distance away only for you to see your father and Elrond turn into the corner section you were standing in.

“Oh, good. You’ve met!”

#legolas imagine #legolas imagines #legolas one shot #legolas one shots #legolas x reader #legolas reader insert #legolas fic #legolas fics #lotr imagines #lotr fic #lotr fanfic #lord of the rings #lord of the rings fanfic #lord of the rings fic #lord of the rings imagine #lord of the rings imagines #lotr imagine #lotr x reader #lord of the rings x reader #legolas #legolas x you #legolas x y/n #legolas fanfic

[dailydemonspotlight]

Day 16 - Queen Mab

Race: Night

Alignment: Neutral

April 11th, 2024

Irish folklore is a strange rabbit hole to plunge down, filled with legendary heroes and strange villains, but the story of Cu Chulainn, the protagonist of the Ulster Cycle, is one that has always caught my interest. This story was the originator of many a trope, many a book series, and its main antagonist, the menacing Queen Medb, is an incredibly fun example of a femme fatale and a warrior queen.

Medb was the queen of the kingdom Connacht, a woman who had many lovers and was famous for her promiscuity... and trickiness. Cunning and ruthless, and with a propensity for manipulation, she served as the ultimate enemy of Chulainn, at first trying to seduce him with her daughters until eventually realizing that the plan wouldn't work, likely due to Chulainn's fealty towards his wife (or, alternatively, his asexual swag.) According to irish folklore, Medb could also be very, very similar, if not the same as Medb Lethderg, goddess of sovereignty in the irish Kingship of Tara.

Medb came to power in the story 'Cath Bóinde,' wherein she was born under the care of High King Eochaid Feidlech, a man who was purported as having killed the former king to take his place. Medb was married off to the king of Ulster, Conchobar mac Nessa, and in spite of them having a daughter, the marriage soon fell apart. They left, yet Medb held a grudge, and seeing that Eochaid had given Conchobar another one of his daughters, Medb went ballistic. She slaughtered her while still pregnant, leaving the child to be born via a medieval C-section. The king of Connacht was also desposed of around this time, and Eochid put Medb back in her rightful spot, now as Queen of Connacht.

After all of this, several marriages and kids, and a rise to power, Medb felt on top of the world. In her bloodlust with all of the power she gained, she soon grew jealous of her husband being richer than her... albeit only by one bull's price. Since the person who held onto this bull, Dáire mac Fiancha, rejected her offer, she went to take it by force, landing her in her first major conflict with the wandering teenaged warrior Cú Chulainn.

Ever since this very first conflict, their storied rivalry encompasses many a tale, eventually ending in Cú Chulainn's death, in which the warrior ties himself to a stone to keep fighting, even as his life comes to an end. I'll go more into this in the future during my Sentana/Cú Chulainn analysis, but needless to say, Medb's involvement in the Ulster Cycle makes for a fascinating deep-dive into Irish folklore.

As far as her design goes, the epithetical Warrior Queen has a rather strange appearance in the SMT series, almost appearing like a punk rocker such as a member of KISS- albeit with much more color. However, I have a personal theory as to why this may be- and it all has to do with cultural perceptions.

Queen Medb was seen as deviant, a cruel woman who rose to power with her own overwhelming strength, and while she was a bastard, a bit of the hatred felt towards her could be due to a sort of misogyny common in the middle ages. This is all purely conjecture, of course, but a controlling and domineering woman could've been something seen to be feared...

Much like how punk-rockers were seen as satanic in the 90's. During the satanic panic, a lot of people outside of regular circles were ostracized as being demonic in some way, shape, or form. Metal bands were especially targeted by this moral crusade, and it may just be where the influence for her design came from!

Past my own pet-theory, though, the rest of her design is rock-solid. A helmet-esque mask, steel breastplate, and long blade all play well into the 'Warrior Queen' quality she's well known for, and her gloves appear as snakeskin or even latex at first glance, playing into her domineering and controlling role. All in all, while Queen Mab wasn't my favorite demon at first, the research into her folklore has led me to finding an all new appreciation for the Ulster Cycle's main antagonist.

#shin megami tensei #smt #megaten #persona #daily #smt nocturne #queen medb #queen mab #ngl i'm very proud of this one #the ulster cycle is unironically great #like its almost like a fuckin shonen

[stigmatamama]

MCR5 timeline analysis -

This is 100% based on my theory on MCR wanting to drop MCR5 and have it nominated for a Grammy. Why do I think this? This is possibly their last album and they want to go out with a bang. The only Grammy nomination they have received was for Black Parade, which they are playing front to back during WWWYF. SO they are just coming off the buzz of their SWARM tour, with almost a full year of hiatus the first news we have heard is headlining WWWYF which is happening October 2024. Here on Tumblr we have all speculated when the next single or the album will drop, but for my Grammy nomination the best time to release an album has been debated. Some say September, some say the summer (mostly July from what I see).

Looking at this year's nominees for best rock albums and when they were released:

But Here We Are, Foo Fighters - June 2023

Starcatcher, Greta Van Fleet - July 2023

72 Seasons, Metallica - April 2023

This Is Why, Paramore - February 2023

In Times New Roman…, Queens Of The Stone Age - June 2023

There is a pretty big difference in when these were released, but it all falls within the second and third quarter of the year (except for Paramore).

If we look at the past 4 winners of best rock album Grammy we have the following:

Patient Number 9, Ozzy Osbourne - February

Medicine at Midnight, Foo Fighters - February

The New Abnormal, The Strokes - April

Social Cues, Cage the Elephant - April

SO if Paramore wins that will be the third album dropped in February that won in the past 3 years, which is quarter 1 of the year. With all of this, the best chances of MCR having a strategy around releasing their album to get the most Grammy attention, MY personal educated guess would be either later Q1 of 2024 OR early to late Q2. So looking for Late February to early June. If this is true there is a good chance of a tour leading up to or including WWWYF.

Thank you for reading all of this for all who did. Please let me know thoughts, comments, or concerns.

#mcr #mcr5 #my chemical romance #gin is rambling #long post #grammy nomination #mcr5 truthing #frank iero #gerard way #ray toro #mikey way

[ocarinas-princess]

Why Ocarina of Time's Princess Zelda is is underrated, and why she is one of the most tragic incarnations of Princess Zelda: an analysis post

Ocarina of Time's Princess Zelda is my favorite Zelda character, and on of my favorite characters ever. Sadly, she is not talked about that much. I've seen some people call her boring and I've actually seen quite a few people hate her due to her actions at the end of the game. I wanted to make a post analyzing her character and talking about some of the things about her that people overlook. I will be using the manga some here, which is not canon, but I encourage you to keep an open mind. I'm cross-posting this from twitter with a few changes and things I forgot to mention. The original thread can be found here.

We first see Zelda in the courtyard. We learn that she has prophetic dreams, and that her most recent ones have been about Ganondorf and the fall of Hyrule. So at the age of around 10 she’s already worrying about saving her kingdom from disaster. It’s far too much for a 10 year old to be worrying about. And you can see that she’s very concerned and that it’s all she’s been thinking about.

I’m going to assume that everyone knows the general story of Ocarina of Time, so I don’t need to explain every little detail. Long story short, Ganon attacks Hyrule castle and Impa takes Zelda and flees with her. It’s unclear exactly what he did but I think it’s likely she saw people die that day. Some guards maybe, or possibly even her dad. It’s heavily implied that her father is dead in the game. And in the manga Ganondorf straight up says that he killed him.

I’m going to take a second to talk about the people in Zelda’s life. It’s very clear how she trusts Link with all her heart and I don’t think I need to explain that one. But I do want to talk about Impa. Impa has known Zelda since she was a baby, and is Zelda’s attendant.

These two care about each other very much. Impa believes Zelda when she tells her about her dream. Zelda trusted Impa enough to confide in her. Also, Sheik later begs Link to save Impa, and Impa’s parting words are asking him to protect Zelda.

Apart from her Impa, I doubt Zelda had many other real connections in her life. Possibly a few guards? I doubt she was every able to go outside of the castle. In the manga we see that a part of her longs to be a normal girl.

A bit about Zelda’s personality. She’s adventurous and playful! When Link takes her letter to the Death Mountain guard, he makes a comment that Zelda has come up with games before!

We also see this side of her in the OOT manga. It’s clear she doesn’t like staying inside and being regal.

She’s also very brave. In the OOT manga she stands up for Link when he gets into trouble, and she even stands up to Ganondorf, right to his face!

Now, while the OOT manga technically is not canon, here’s something that is canon. With the Mask of Truth, Link can read gossip stones across Hyrule. One of these gossip stones says that Zelda is a tomboy!

A few things I forgot to mention. It seems like Zelda’s father was not very involved with her life. I mean, he didn’t take her seriously enough to even hear her out about the dreams she was having. And I presume her mother is dead. So she really had very few people in her life.

Another quick thing about her is that she cares deeply about the people of Hyrule and her kingdom. Despite the fact that she wishes she was a normal girl, she still takes her duty as princess and eventually queen very seriously.

Let’s talk about the 7 years that went by while Link was asleep. All 7 of those years, Zelda had to live through. She was only 10 when those years began. She watched her kingdom fall and she watched Ganon come into power. She likely saw people die. What little childhood she already had was taken from her. But she didn’t just give up and wait for Link to save her. She is NOT a damsel in distress. She started to train. She wanted to become stronger. She wanted to be able to fend for herself. She wanted to be able to assist Link when the time came.

Enter Sheik. Often called Zelda’s “persona” or “disguise” but I’d argue that this is actually her embracing her true self. This is the first time in her life where she’s not under anyone’s control. She does all of this while hiding from Ganondorf, who seeks her. When the time comes for her to meet Link again, she assists him in his journey by guiding him and teaching him songs. I think it’s unfortunate that we didn’t get to see her fight but here’s an official art that shows them battling together so I think it happened offscreen!

Another thing that she did is she saved Princess Ruto from under the ice of Zora’s Domain!

Link battles Ganondorf and Zelda does assist! She uses her power to hold him down while Link delivers the final blow and she then initiated the Sage’s Seal!

And now I have to talk about her regret. She blames everything that happened on herself and herself alone. She blames herself for dragging Link into it. She even feels that she needs to make it up to him. It’s a horrible burden to bear. She’s only 17.

She sends Link back to his original time. And she often gets backlash for doing this. But she does it for two reasons. The first is that she believes this is her atoning for bringing Link into the fight. She wants him to regain his childhood. She won’t ever get hers back.

And the second reason is that Link must seal the door of time, so that his timeline will have a future (for a while). Ganon was able to be kept at bay.

With Link no longer a part of her world, and Impa no longer a part of her world, she truly has no one. She will go on to become Queen and Hyrule will be rebuilt. But I don’t think just because Hyrule is rebuilt that that’s a happy ending for her. Like I said, she has no one. No one that she can confide in about her trauma. No one that would understand the burden that she bears. She will eventually have to marry someone and have a child to continue the royal bloodline. And while some things could possibly bring her joy, like a child, I don’t think she’d be truly happy for the rest of her life. She’ll never see Link or Impa again.

Thanks for reading!

#ocarina of time #the legend of zelda #the legend of zelda ocarina of time #tloz #tloz oot #oot #oot zelda #princess zelda #zelda #zelda oot #ragan's posts

[blueiskewl]

Tutankhamun’s Tomb may Conceal Fabled Queen Nefertiti

Researcher says hidden hieroglyphics indicate that Egyptian boy king had buried his stepmother years earlier in adjacent chamber of tomb, behind a false wall.

Hidden hieroglyphics found in the tomb of Egyptian king Tutankhamun have given further strength to a theory that Queen Nefertiti is buried in a concealed, adjacent complex, according to a world expert on the matter.

Legendary beauty Nefertiti was wife and queen to King Akhenaten. She died in 1330 BCE.

Akhenaten’s son Tutankhamun became king at the age of 10 but died just nine years later in 1324 BCE. DNA testing on ancient remains has shown that Tutankhamun’s mother was another woman found in the tomb of Amenhotep II, making Nefertiti his stepmother.

Nicholas Reeves, a former curator in the British Museum’s Department of Egyptian Antiquities, told the UK Guardian newspaper in a Monday report that Tutankhamun’s unexpected death at an early age meant there was a need to quickly find a place to bury him.

He suggest the Egyptians chose an antechamber to a much larger tomb “prepared for and still occupied by” Nefertiti.

Reeves said that his theory is supported by recent research on hieroglyphics in Tutankhamun’s tomb depicting his burial which, he claims, found they were painted over other graphics showing Tutankhamun interring Nefertiti.

The discoveries were found in cartouches, special hieroglyphics that include royal names, on the north wall of the tomb. The drawings are captioned as showing Ay, Tutankhamun’s successor, performing the “opening the mouth” ritual on the mummy of Tutankhamun.

But Reeves said that the facial profile of the figure marked as Ay in fact closely resembles those of official representations of Tutankhamun, while that of the mummy “carries the indisputable features of Nefertiti.”

“Close inspection of Ay’s cartouches reveals clear, underlying traces of an earlier name – that of Tutankhamun. In its original version, this scene had shown Tutankhamun performing the funerary ritual for the tomb’s original owner, his immediate predecessor… Nefertiti.”

“Demonstrably, the scene had begun its life as a record of Tutankhamun officiating at the burial of his predecessor,” Reeves said.

“I can now show that, under the cartouches of Ay, are cartouches of Tutankhamun himself, proving that that scene originally showed Tutankhamun burying his predecessor, Nefertiti. You would not have had that decoration in the tomb of Tutankhamun,” he said.

“We’ve always been puzzled by Tutankhamun’s tomb because of its strange shape. It’s very small, and not what we’d expect of a king,” he said.

Nefertiti’s tomb, he believes, could lie beyond one of the walls of Tutankhamun’s chamber, but its entrance has been disguised as a wall of the room.

George Ballard, a radar specialist and geophysical investigator, told The Guardian he believes findings suggest that the north wall of Tutankhamun’s tomb is false, but decorated to match the other walls that are cut from the natural stone.

“But if there is a structure, that means somebody built it, and you don’t build things in the Valley of the Kings without an intention,” he said.

The tomb of Tutankhamun was discovered by British archaeologist Howard Carter in 1922, nearly intact, containing his golden sarcophagus and a hoard of other items.

In 2015 Reeves claimed high-resolution imaging of Tutankhamun tomb found lines under plastered surfaces of walls suggesting hidden doorways, though the results were contested.

However, more recent studies using thermal imaging and mold-growth analysis back up his theory, Reeves said.

The new evidence is included in Reeves’s upcoming book “The Complete Tutankhamun,” set for release in October.

In the book Reeves cites other examples of burial chambers that were found to have larger tombs behind concealed walls.

#Egypt #Tutankhamun’s Tomb may Conceal Fabled Queen Nefertiti #king tut #howard carter #archeology #archeolgst #history #history news #ancient history #ancient culture #ancient civilizations #ancient egypt #egyptian history #long reads

[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

Psycho Analysis: Clayton

(WARNING! This analysis contains SPOILERS!)

Tarzan is a film that has aged pretty well in the eyes of the internet. The action, the animation, the epic Phil Collins soundtrack that goes unnecessarily hard—Nearly every aspect of this film is looked on with a lot of fondness these days, a far cry from that time Trey Parker and Matt Stone had a hissy fit that they lost an Oscar to Phil Collins and made an entire episode of South Park insulting him over it. But there is one aspect of this film that you don’t really see come up very often in discussions of the film: The villain, Clayton.

But come on, he’s a Disney Renaissance villain! Surely he can’t actually be so boring and forgettable that we just don’t bother to talk about him, right? Well, let’s take a look at this mighty hunter and see why he doesn’t seem to be remembered quite as much as that rocking soundtrack.

Motivation/Goals: Clayton’s biggest issue is he has easily the lamest and most uninteresting motivation for a Disney villain: Greed. Now, greed in and of itself is not a bad motivator for a villain; some of the greatest villains of all time are motivated by greed, such as Hans Gruber. But it seems like nearly every time Disney has attempted to do a villain motivated by greed, it just hasn’t worked out well, as Ratcliffe can attest to. They did eventually manage a few solid greed-motivated antagonists in the post-Renaissance era like Rourke and Silver, but that was immediately after Clayton’s time, so he doesn’t really avoid the fate of being a rather predictable and dull foe.

It’s even worse because there is a much more personal foe, the leopard Sabor. Sabor is the killer of Tarzan’s human parents as well as his adoptive mother’s gorilla child, so there’s a much more meaningful and personal connection there, not to mention the fact Sabor is just plain scary. But nah, she gets axed off halfway through and we’re stuck with a two-dimensional big game hunter.

Performance: When he’s not lending his mighty voice to the famous Tarzan yell, BRIAN BLESSED spends his time in the movie playing the final boss of Tarzan’s story and the killer of his gorilla father. The vocal performance here is one of the biggest redemptive elements of Clayton; not once has BRIAN BLESSED ever half-assed a role, no matter how corny or flat it is (look at his performance in the insane animated film Freddie as F.R.0.7. for instance, where he plays the most generic supervillain ever with great gusto). He manages to breathe a lot of life and a little bit of personality into this not-so-great white hunter, even if he’s still a generic character at the end of the day.

Final Fate: This is perhaps the most notable thing about Clayton aside from his VA. During the final confrontation, Clayton becomes entangled in vines. He begins hacking and slashing at them, until finally he cuts through enough and he goes tumbling to the ground, a vine wrapping around his neck. You can guess what happens next.

This one stands out because it is honestly shockingly graphic. Yes, Tarzan is a bit more violent than your typical Disney fare, but for a split second you get to see the broken-necked corpse of this dude swinging in silhouette! It’s up there as one of the most brutal and disturbing Disney deaths ever seen. 

On top of that, it’s a rather brutal take on the greatest foe of every Disney villain: Gravity. Disney, much like Enrico Pucci, is absolutely obsessed with gravity judging by how often it takes out the big bads of their films. From the very start with the Evil Queen in Snow White to several Renaissance villains like Frollo and Gaston, that thing that dropped an apple on Newton’s head seems to have it out for Disney villains. The thing is, we usually don’t see the splat, we don’t see the actual moment of death. Some of them you can even pretend they survived with some injuries if you’re feeling overly nice (Gaston was actually supposed to survive his fall originally). Here though? Clayton is completely and unambiguously fucking dead, his neck snapped by his own wrathful arrogance being combined with gravity. 

Final Thoughts & Score: Clayton is almost the very definition of “mid.” He’s not great, he’s not awful, he’s just fine and serviceable. That being said, there are a few elements that help him stand out at least a little.

Yes, Clayton has very boring and basic motivations, and that don’t really put the most exciting spin on it. He’s a poacher and a hunter, but he doesn’t have the sheer charisma and personality of fellow villainous hunter Gaston. That being said, BRIAN BLESSED definitely injects his usual grandiose hamminess into the role, and his death scene is just so good… Maybe too good, honestly. His death scene is so great that it really does overshadow everything else about him. Think about it: When was the last time you saw anyone talk about Clayton outside of maybe his Kingdom Hearts boss battle? It’s really the most memorable thing that happens to him. He doesn’t get a villain song, he doesn’t really get any cool quotes, he just has a great vocal performance, an awesome death scene, and gets to ride a giant monster chameleon into battle in a Disney/Final Fantasy crossover video game. That’s the extent of his impact.

And like I mentioned above, it really doesn’t help that he steals the spotlight away from a far more intimidating villain who actually has an honest-to-god personal connection to our protagonist. Sure, Sabor isn’t the deepest character on Earth and she’s a 6.5/10 at best, but I’d argue she’s at least as complex as Clayton is, if not more so. There’s even something of a mystique to her that our maniacal hunter simply lacks, and it really is a waste she was killed at the midpoint just so we could have Clayton take on the big bad role.

Still, for what he is, he’s not bad. He’s a remarkably unsubtle villain but he does serve his role in the plot well, and he’s not really the bottom of the barrel. I’d say he scores a very low 6/10. I almost gave him a 5.5, but I think that death and the fact he’s voiced by a man who was willing to reprise the role in a video game where Donald and Goofy team up with an anime boy to fight freakish heart-stealing monsters gives him a little bit of a boost. He’s one of the least interesting villains of the Disney Renaissance, sure, but that still makes him better than a lot of villains out there. 

#Psycho Analysis #Clayton #BRIAN BLESSED #Tarzan #Disney #Youtube

[autisticsupervillain]

Fictional Throwdown Friday: Team Battle!

This Week's Teams...

I.M.P. vs The Seven!

Teams:

I.M.P

Blitzo

Moxxie

Millie

The Seven

Homelander

Queen Maeve

Black Noir

A-Train

Starlight

The Deep

Rules:

No Restrictions

Scenario:

After one of the victim's of the Flight 37 crash goes to hell, I.M.P gets hired to assassinate the Seven in retribution.

Analysis: The Seven

What if the Justice League were evil? It's one of the oldest questions in comic history. Injustice, the Justice Lords, the Dark Multiverse, countless comics have dedicated themselves to answering this question. What kind of hellish dystopia would they turn the world into if they sought to only use powers for themselves?

As it turns out, a dystopia that looks quite a bit like our own.

Introducing the Seven. The world's greatest superheroes, brought to you by Vought International. This all star team has inspired countless amount of merchandise, ranging from comics, movies, video games, and more. But, of course, as with all celebrities, there is something much darker lurking beneath the waves.

In truth, all of these heroes are nothing more than walking, talking products home grown by their corporate owners. Experimented on with the super soldier serum known as Compound V when they were children, each of the Seven were groomed from a young age to be perfect products, with no actual regard given to their status as people. As such, The Seven each perfectly represent the ultimate corrupt celebrity.

A-Train, the team speedster, is in truth a massive junkie always looking to get his fix, often at the cost of everyone around him. His addiction to V got so bad that not only was he willing to kill his own girlfriend to keep it under wraps, but it wound up causing him a near fatal heart attack that permanently crippled his running speed, stopping him from ever being the world's fastest man ever again.

Black Noir, the team's brooding assassin, is in truth a traumatized schizophrenic who was so badly beaten by his old leader Soldier Boy that he lost the ability to speak and now he sheepishly does whatever his corporate masters command.

The Deep, local Aquaman rip off, is behind the scenes, a monsterous rapist who uses his position to sexually harass and assault his fellow heroes, including newbie superhero Starlight, which resulted in her working with The Boys behind the scenes to bring down her more corrupt co-workers.

The most monsterous of them all, however, would be Homelander, current Vought CEO, who has a perchant for sexual assaulting his managers, killing his co-stars, and leaving thousands of innocent civilians to die fir the sake of his own PR.

What's more horrifying is that these people are easily the most powerful people on the planet.

The Deep is the weakest among them, with his best showing being surviving two miles under the ocean, which would require him to endure a force equivalent to 498004.1896 joules across his entire body. Fitting, seeing how he's only of any practical use in the water, as his powers revolve entirely around breathing underwater and talking to sea creatures. With no superhuman speed feats of note, The Deep is an even lamer version of Superfriends Aquaman. Take that for what it's worth.

Source:

Next up is A-Train, whose overall power was heavily nerfed after his heart attack. Where he was once fast enough to liquify on contact just by running into them, A-Train is now only able to run a measly 119 m/s... which is still obscenely fast to be fair. Just nowhere near where he once was. It's so fast that the kinetic energy alone would be 602696.443 joules, enough to break through a solid stone wall.

Source:

Black Noir is where the Seven start getting truly impressive. While he has little more going for him than superhuman strength, he is one of few members of the team to actually be properly trained in martial arts, as he fought in Nicaragua alongside the US army with his old hero team Payback... before team leader Soldier Boy brutalized and crippled him that is. This experience edge has allowed him to defeat fellow Supes such as Starlight and Kimiko, as well gave him enough sense for him to carry around sleeping gas grenades, smoke bombs, and daggers. He's also tough enough to tank an explosion from the Supe terrorist Naqib, whose blasts should be worth roughly 70 kilojoules of energy and he's been stated to be able to outrun cars.

Source:

Comparable to him is Starlight, whose light based blasts are strong enough to knock Black Noir back, while the above explosion didn't even stagger him. She possesses the extraordinary ability to absorb electricity and shoot it out as massive beams of light, bright enough to potentially blind those who look at it. With an extraordinary amount of electricity in her system, she can even manage to hurt Soldier Boy, one of the few Supes on the planet capable of hurting Homelander. Though, do keep in mind, this far above her normal levels and only something she could achieve while her powers were completely overcharged.

Queen Maeve is up next and, as stated by Homelander himself in a deleted scene, she is the second strongest superhuman on Earth. After extensive training, she was even able to draw blood from Homelander in a straight up fight, reliably holding her own, even if she was eventually overwhelmed. Her armored bracelets, are just as tough, capable of withstanding Homelander's heat vision.

And finally, there's Homelander. The man who won the superpower lottery. He has heat vision that can melt solid steel, flight that can keep up with airplanes, super senses that can hear your heartbeat, and x-ray vision that can see through several stories. He's easily the most powerful and dangerous man on the planet. It took a massive chemical plant explosion to so much as scratch him, with a blast comparable to 43 tons of tnt barely even making him bleed.

Source:

He's also capable of outrunning c4 explosions at point blank range, moving 18x faster than sound to do so.

Source:

Now, if you're wondering where Supersonic is on this list, he is not only entirely featless, but he's also dead on account of Homelander. That's the first big problem with this team in a fight. They don't work together, they just try to appease Homelander to avoid getting slaughtered. They're not a superhero group, they're a bunch of superpowered celebrities being reigned over by one big bully.

As such, very few of them have any actual applicable skill or combat experience. While Queen Maeve, Black Noir, and Starlight have actual martial arts training and have been in a handful of series fights, the same cannot be said for The Deep, A-Train, or even Homelander. In fact, Homelander has only been in two fights where his opponent could actually threaten him. One of which was Maeve and one of which he ran away from after getting outnumbered. Everyone else, he just mows right through on the spot with eye lazers.

Despite that, however, The Seven are still easily the mightiest and deadliest heroes on planet earth. May god help us all.

Analysis: The Immediate Murder Professionals

It is remarkably easy to go to hell.

Cheat on your wife? Hell. Kill your husband for cheating on you? Hell. Build miraculous futuristic technologies by experimenting on the poor? Straight to hell! It's hardly fair! No wonder hell is suffering from an overpopulation crisis, it's so easy to get stuck there! And the worst part is, you don't get to enact brutal revenge on those who wronged you in life! What's a forsaken soul to do?

Call the Immediate Murder Professionals!

Some of the finest... well... deadliest... no... some of the luckiest imps in hell have gained special access to the human world, and they're using that incredible power to kill whatever puny earthlings you get around to in life. Thanks to their... "business arrangement" with the demon prince Stolas Goetia, these professional killers have special access to the grimoire of the Ars Goetia, permitting them to create portals anywhere in the human world.

They're lead by Blitzo. The O is silent. Once a simple circus performer whose life was destroyed in a fire that killed his family, scarred him for life, and destroyed his relationship with his best friend, he now runs one of hell's most unique up and coming businesses. Despite being a loud, vulgar, abrasive wind bag, he's a deadly proficient killer and assassin. A master acrobat with a flair for the dramatic, he's never caught without a flintlock, a semiautomatic, and a sniper rifle. And he's the one who arranged the business deal with his.... partner Stolas.

It's a transactional fucking, he swears.

But despite his numerous flaws, he's a loving father to his beloved hellhound daughter Loona.

Moxie Knolastname was once an enforcer for his abusive father's mafia family, joining up with Blitzo in prison after a job gone wrong and... begrudgingly... respecting him for being a truly loving father and, on occasion, a good friend. The greatest marksman on the team, this well read thespian and historian is just as deadly an assassin as any of his teammates.

With him, he brings his loving wife Millie, arguably the single most bloodthirsty imp this side of the ring of wrath. Armed with a short temper and a massive battle axe, she can cleave targets in half by the hundreds and will happily slaughter an army to reunite with her dear husband.

Together, this scrappy rag tag team is capable of taking down any target you hire them for, from a family of cannibalistic serial killers to an entire building of demon hunters. Despite their lack of magical glamours, they're still masters of practical disguises, able to easily blend in to the human world and take any identity they might need, even disguising as world famous celebrities. They carry every kind of weapon they might need, from pistols to sniper rifles, battle axes to swords, crossbows, grenades, and even a big, fuck off rocket launcher nearly the size of a building.

But their deadliest weapon of all would have to be their holy tipped gun. As an ordinary gun enhanced with the melted down weapons of angels, these fire arms are powerful and deadly enough to even kill demon royalty, nullifying their powers and destroying their souls completely.

As demons from hell, they're far more resilient than any ordinary human. They've regularly shrugged off being shot, stabbed, blown up, and crushed. They can drink demonic alcohol with no ill effects, which can transform earth animals into monsterous sea beasts, and Blitzo in particular can even beat out Queen Beelzebub, Queen of Gluttony herself, in a drinking contest. They're completely immune to Earth fire and can even tank an explosion that destroyed all of Loo Loo Land. An explosion that big would generate an energy equivalent to 6.7 tons of TNT.

Source:

Millie was singlehandedly capable of slaughtering the Knolastname mob family, they've massacred their way through the demon hunting D.H.O.R.K.S., defeated Striker, one of the deadliest assassins in the entirety of the wrath ring, and even managed to kill a target who was protected by the angels of heaven. The team can consistently dodge arrows, bullets, and even automatic fire, and can keep up with the Robotic Fizzarolli in combat, who can dodge Blitzo's guns at close, moving at 4796 meters per second! That's nearly Mach 14!

Source:

But despite all of their on paper impressive feats, they are still held back by some massive glaring flaws. As imps, they're some of the lowest ranking demons in hell's hierarchy, having none of the special powers of royal or sinner demons. They're just as mortal as regular humans. But Blitzo in particular can sometimes by the tean's biggest liability. He blames himself for the fire that destroyed his life, and has developed a repugnant personality that pushes away the people closest to him because that's what he believes he deserves. He refuses to acknowledge his deeper feelings for Stolas because he can't comprehend someone genuinely loving him back and his inappropriate behavior can at times put strain on his team's coordination.

Despite that, I.M.P can simultaneously be some of the luckiest demons in hell. So lucky that Blitzo was once able to trick an entire room full of gangsters into killing each other by tipping over a box. They've even recently gained an ally in Asmodeus, the King of Lust himself, via Blitzo repairing his old relationship with his long lost childhood friend Fizzarolli.

Life in hell might shit all over them, but they'll never be down for long. So if you're a sinner with a score to settle, hire the Immediate Murder Professionals! Kids die for freeeeee~

Throwdown Theme:

Throwdown Breakdown:

I'm going to be honest, I think the Imps have got this.

The imps, individually, aren't that far behind Homelander himself in stats. They're just barely slower than him, at Mach 14 against Mach 18, and just 6x weaker than him.

That might sound like a massive gap, but think about it this way. The average human being can punch with an energy equivalent to 100 joules. Professional boxers punch with an energy equivalent to 1000 joules. Meaning the actual strength gap isn't so big as to be impossible in real life. The gap between Blitzo and Homelander is roughly equivalent to the gap between your average karate master and Mike Tyson. Homelander is stronger than them, but not to the extent he's ripping them apart like he does everyone else.

Source:

This is multipled by the fact that IMP's guns are capable of hurting those comparable to themselves. While Homelander may be bullet proof in his own world, a gun that can kill you will just as easily kill Mike Tyson. Because... that's how guns work. Piercing damage.

I think I've lost the thread of this metaphor.

Okay, try again. IMP comparable to Homelander. IMP guns can pierce people comparable to themselves. Therefore, IMP guns can pierce Homelander.

On the flipside, Homelander's heat vision might not effect IMP at all. They've only been harmed by hellfire and fire from the human world does nothing. But, Homelander's heat vision is clearly much hotter than just ordinary fire, as it can split airplanes clean in half, so... up to you, but at the very least, the IMPs would be able to take it better than most people would.

So, A-Train, Black Noir, The Deep, and Translucent are non-factors due to being unable to hurt three near-Homelander level opponents. This leaves Homelander, Maeve, and an amped Starlight.

I could honestly see Homelander getting taken out early if he tries to tank the IMP's gunfire. Even if he assumes they're some kind of Supe from their appearance, he's never encountered a gun that can hurt him. He could dodge it easily, sure. But nine times out of ten, he won't. He might try and shoot first with heat vision, but he's never bothered actually avoiding gun fire because he's never needed to. And against a gun that can erase his soul like the one Moxxie took from Striker, that's not gonna cut it.

There's always the chance that Blitzo's shit talk would provoke Homelander into shooting first, which is pretty in character for both of them, but given the IMPs already established resistance to heat and fairly comparable stats, I don't see him wiping them out in one go before getting shot himself.

That leaves Starlight and Maeve. Starlight can amp herself up to IMP's level, but she doesn't start there. She's going to need time to charge, which is going to be very difficult to do in a three on two (if Homelander doesn't die immediately, he's not gonna give a shit about protecting her). So it's a question of if Maeve can do that. Because the rest of the Seven both can't and won't likely do anything to help once Homelander goes down.

Maeve's bracelets give her a way of blocking IMP's gunfire, but she's going to have to do that while contending with an unrelenting onslaught from Millie against both Moxxie and Blitz simultaneously. I don't see her fairing well. Not when Millie is fairly easily her superior in terms of skill. As in, Millie is so deadly that the Ring of Wrath will not let her participate in their bloodsports any more because she kills too many of the participants. That's a good deal above Maeve's combat experience.

But all this is assuming Homelander underestimates IMP and gets dropped instantly because of it. For the sake of argument, lets say he does realize he's looking at actual demons and takes them seriously because of it. (Demons aren't real jn The Boys universe and Homelander isn't actually Christian. He just pretends to be for PR's sake. But for the sake of argument) I could genuinely see him giving IMP a lot of trouble.

Homelander is fast enough to dodge their gunfire, so hitting him while he's flying around shooting lasers is going to be very difficult. However, he's going to be equally hardpressed to hit them in turn, due to comparable speeds and IMP's skill advantage. With Maeve's assistance and an amped Starlight, the Seven could turn the tide.

However, IMP's supernatural degree of luck is a factor that could turn the Seven against each other. This is the same luck that made a flying piano change trajectory mid flight to kill their target and the same luck that made Crimson's mob all kill each other. With a group that already hates each other as much as the Seven does, with Blitzo and Moxxie likely actively goading them on, the Seven could very well turn against each other. IMP has an established knack for annoying enemies into fucking up with both their wild inappropriate antics, Blitzo's big mouth, and their general absurb amount of luck. Take CHERUB and Stricker for instance.

If IMP provokes an argument or fight between the Seven, that frees Homelander up to get shot. And if Moxxie says "Harder daddy!~" while Homelander's crushing his skull, that'd throw him off a good bit. That'd be.... very on brand for both shows honestly.

Once Homelander is down, I'm actually kinda up in the air on whether IMP wpuld kill Maeve and Starlight. Sure, Maeve was complicit with the Flight 37 disaster, but she tried her damndest not to be. Black Noir I could see getting blitzed and killed before he could get any sympathy, but the girls here are honestly among the most innocent of the Seven. I could see Moxxie sympathizing with them at least, and while Millie and Blitzo are more on board with killing innocent people, they both respect him enough to hear him out on these things.

Moxxie's conditions would probably just be going to the authorities about the Seven's atrocities, something both Maeve and Starlight would be happy to do with Homelander dead. Hell, the government could probably get DHORKS off of IMP's back in exchange for saving the world from a potentially genocidal threat in Homelander. This works out well for everyone.

Well, except Vought, but fuck them.

This Throwdown's Winner is...

The Immediate Murder Professionals!

#fictional throwdown fridays #helluva boss #the boys #immediate murder professionals #the seven #moxxie knolastname #millie knolastname #blitzo #homelander #queen maeve #starlight #black noir #the deep #a train

[etourdit]

Silence is closer

So, there's this podcast I listen to, about literary analysis, and recently they analysed Melville's "Benito Cereno", and I thought to myself: this story is SO lacanian, with all the ideologically-induced blindness, Babo and Benito falling equally silent after the climax, even the veil hiding the Real that can't be faced is there.

So I started looking for some lacanian interpretations of the text and I found one, not so lacanian after all, entitled "Ships Passing: Encounters with Strangers in Melville's 'Benito Cereno' and Conrad's 'Secret Sharer'" and the moment I read the title I heard in my head the words "silence is closer, we're passing ships in the night" and just like that, I'm now stuck with ...Like Clockwork, which is, after all, not the worst thing that could happen.

Queens of the Stone Age - I Sat By The Ocean (Official Audio) (youtube.com)

#Herman Melville #Joseph Conrad #Benito Cereno #Secret Sharer #Queens of the Stone Age #I Sat by the Ocean #Jacques Lacan

[jahe]

so i was collecting hints from the drama about naksu, buyeon and janguk’s age to show viewers (from my country) because i believe there is no birth secret between naksu and buyeon. but howdy, my head is now pounding hard. the timeline so messed up i have to use my brain three times harder i feel like i am gonna puke.

okay, so this is how naksu is actually older than buyeon. and buyeon and janguk are same age friends(?) and also fated to each other.

so it said cho chung was there to record the sky when janguk was born. (ep 5)

the evidence shown cho chung that night (ep 4):

so this guy still alive when uk was born and probably took days for the songrims to kill him because he gone wild based on what jinmu said (back to ep 5):

who do you think turned him into a soul shifter in the first place is bugging me so hard it distracted me from making note of uk and buyeon birth timeline, but let’s just dismiss it. the more i want to think about that the more hurt my head will be.

so this scene in the first episode (or every naksu’s flashback about her dad’s death) probably took a while after both uk and buyeon were born:

you see, it bothers me how hokyung was there, looking so fine despite after birthed a 13 months ice stone baby. yeah i know she is so powerful but still... damn.

(also i really want to talk about how psycho jang gang was, he was looking so cool and collected when witnessing his close friend gone wild and slayed by park jin and became so heartbroken the next.)

anyway, back to the topic.

this is naksu when her dad died:

she is definitely around 5+ years of age.

but you don’t know the time buyeon born, it could be around when naksu born as well. well, there are so many possibilities on that but i believe buyeon and uk born around the same time.

and then:

and master lee said this also:

so i think buyeon and uk born around the same time from this very fate.

for whom is buyeon’s father, there is one strong opinion from majority that it could be jang gang’s, which is quite doesn’t make sense but also possible. i mean, jang gang has that potential of become the chaos bringer and he is messed up af. i have list of reasons why but this one is not about jang gang. this one is for my analysis of naksu and buyeon age (also uk) to rule out the possibility of them being the same age. and also if jang gang is buyeon’s dad then will that make buyeon and uk siblings? though uk has the soul of king’s son but genetically the would be sister and brother. prolly good anyway, because this can stop ppl from shipping buyeon and uk.

bonus:

i think yul is older than danggu and uk. probably closer to naksu’s age because he reached chisu quite longer than the two, aside him being the best student at songrim.

go won’s mom or the queen most likely had won first before soul-shifted with the shaman.

#alchemy of souls #jang uk #naksu #bu yeon #my head is pounding #my analysis could be wrong anyway #we still have 4 eps left to reveal buyeon's existence secret #but it is obvious that naksu is older than uk #noona romance i guess

[thescrapbookingscientist]

Bimonthly Media Roundup

Late and short again, 2024 is kicking my ass already again

- Velocipastor (Movie) - Way to pass the time while helping a friend move, it looked stupid in a fun way and kind of succeeded? There were some genuinely really funny moments, such as when they just put the text "Car exploding visual and SFX" ontop of a peaceful street and had the actor react like they were actually seeing something, when that lady exploded out of nowhere, and the Frankie Mermaid character, but there were also plenty of moments that just kind of dragged - namely anytime they were trying to be serious without any tongue in cheek gags. So I wouldn't rank it on the top level of bad on purpose movies but it was a fun single watch.

- The Boy and the Heron (Movie) - Hmm While I definitely don't think its a bad movie as the visuals alone are worth the watch, I don't think this was one of Miyazaki's strongest either. The plot was hard to follow and even after browsing through analysis and understanding more the intent behind the themes of pushing an unwanted legacy onto someone/dealing with grief, I really don't think it was done in a very cohesive or powerful way even if I respect the artistry of it. Overall I feel like most of the elements were done better in prior films (Cool tough lady done better in Princes Mononoke, Cute little creatures done better in Totoro, Thrust into a strange magical world done better in Spirited Away, troubled protagonist done better in Kiki, ect) Which I would rather just rewatch, which I know isn't exactly fair to this movie but it's the truth. I don't regret having seen it and would maybe rewatch it a while later, I'm open to reavaluating it on a second watch, but for now my honest opinion of it is that its just okay.

- Pokemon Concierge (TV) - cute little stop motion mini series, the plot isn't anything special but the visuals are really cute and interesting and the setting of a Pokemon resort is the definition of wish fulfillment. Good on them for not exclusively using the most popular pokemon either, though of course Pikachu couldn't not be there.

- Dr Stone (Anime) - Exciting to have Tsukasa back and have a larger goal as well as some clues to the mystery of how everyone was turned to stone. I don't really talk about this series as much due to the 1 episode per week rate and smaller fandom but I do quite like it, it's very cozy and I do really love my aroace cocky but sweetheart protagonist Senku. Looking forward to see how stone age America will be depicted.

- Lower Decks (TV) - Yup.

- Strange New Worlds (TV) - Yes.

- Mage and Demon Queen (Webcomic) - Looking over all the webcomics I read in 2024 I noticed a distinct shortage of yuri so I aim to rectify that this year. This one is quite promising so far, the beginning being funny enough with the "Hot demon vileness being confused and put off by the human hero being super into her even when her life is being threatened" setup, and then pushing into more heartwarming territory by addressing this and actually diving into the reasoning/backstory/emotional intelligence of the characters beyond the setup. I also just adore any "friendly demon family" setup so I quite like the Demon Queens entourage and how cool they are with the human with a crush on their boss. Super cute, liking it a lot.

- One Piece (Anime) - The pace my sister and I have been watching this show is frankly insane. I was going to use this blurb to talk about the pros and cons of Thriller bark, which had a neat aesthetic but overall was one of the weakest arcs so far thanks to the gross comedy and lackluster villains, but in the extra time its been since I paused this we've also blown through all of Sabaody, Amazon Lily, Impel Down, and Marieneford - All of which were way more interesting and frankly some of the best One Piece content so far. Maybe I'll do a bigger elaboration one day but as a short roundup, Sabaody was fun with a cool environment and introduced a lot of interesting new faces, Amazon Lily was surprisingly pretty funny, Impel Down was a blast and I'm starting to see why Buggy is so popular, Marieneford was full of tension and while I do think it went on just a little too long the overall emotion and impact it will have on the world and series is incredible. It's so hard not to get sucked in to making this myy whole personality.

- Genshin Impact (Video Game) - Thanks to saving up to try to guarantee the 5 stars I wanted I've recently gone from having no five stars to having Navia, Raiden, and Qui Qui, as well as now having a C6 Cheveruse, multi constellation Rosaria, Candance, Bennette, and Sucrose, and several decent weapons, which is very exciting though bad for my experience papers and primogem stash. I accidently rose my adventure rank so I guess I'll be doing some character stories before finishing Sumeru, though I've quite liked the environment and time loop story so far.

Listening To: Turn the Lights Off and The Bidding by Tally Hall, How Did You Love by Shinedown, The Moon Will Sing by The Crane Wives, L'oiseau et L'enfant by The Schlagerflowers, Cruel Summer by Taylor Swift, You Happened from The Prom Musical, All the Boys by Panic! at the Disco, Can't Catch Me Now cover by Annapantsu, Ways to Go by Grouplove, As it Was cover by Reinaeiry

#weekly roundup #my post

[sciencestyled]

We’re The Chosen Ones: A Laughable Encounter with Our Almost-Extinct Ancestors!

Ladies, gentlemen, and esteemed guests of the internet, we’ve stumbled upon an artifact, a gem, a revelation so immense, it makes the discovery of King Tut’s tomb look like finding loose change under the sofa.

Apparently, 900,000 years ago, we, yes WE, the stately beings gracing the Earth with our enlightened presence, almost got wiped off the face of the planet. Sounds like a melodramatic screenplay, but darling, this is the cinema of life, and it’s as real as the nose on your face.

And guess who’s spilling the post-apocalyptic tea? None other than the archer-extraordinaire, the Girl on Fire herself – Katniss Everdeen. Who better to narrate the saga of human resilience than the queen of survival?

So, we almost froze and starved our way into extinction. Now, you’re probably picturing a handful of cavemen and cavewomen, shivering, gnashing their teeth, dramatically falling to their knees in the snow. A cinematic masterpiece! But they, like the champions they were, clung to life with the tenacity of a cat on a drapery. The OG Hunger Games champions!

There was a big chill – not the friendly gathering of college buddies, but a Stone Age cold snap, fiercer than the iciest of winters. Did we mention this brutal onslaught was accompanied by droughts? Nature was clearly not in a forgiving mood. Ah, but much like Katniss’ masterful evasion of danger, a merry band of our ancestors danced through the icy blades of extinction, and here we are, their proud descendants, armed with smartphones, and an insatiable appetite for memes.

How did this come to light, you ask? Well, amidst the manuscripts and echoing halls of academia, a scholarly soul named Wangjie Hu and their team of brainiacs constructed a statistical masterpiece, a method so refined, it would make Sherlock Holmes tip his hat. Their analysis of our sacred DNA whispered the secrets of an age when we teetered on the brink of non-existence. Elementary, my dear Watson!

But wait, hold your horses! Before you ink that survivor tattoo, know this - not every academic is singing this swan song. A duo of dissent, Schiffels and Kelso, have arched a skeptical brow at the narrative. A refreshing spritz of controversy to spice up the academic casserole!

Now, as we raise our perfectly sculpted brows at the unfolding drama of our almost-extinction and subsequent rise, let’s not forget the chilly ghost of climate change that lurks in the shadows. We escaped the icy grasp of death once, but darling, even sequels can pack a punch.

Our journey of discovery is akin to a rollercoaster ride through an enchanted forest, where secrets lie buried, and revelations spring like mystical springs. Katniss has flung the doors wide open to a past where we danced with extinction, pirouetted on the edge, and lived to tell the tale.

So pop the popcorn, pull up a chair, and let’s marvel at the epic tale of our ancestral Hunger Games, where every day was a dance with death, and survival wasn’t just a game, but an art form, painted with the brushes of resilience, courage, and an unyielding zest for life. We’re not just the audience; we are the living, breathing sequels to an epic we’re only beginning to understand.

And as the credits roll and the echoes of our tumultuous past fade into the silent hum of the present, remember - we are the chosen ones. Born from the ashes, destined for greatness, and armed with the unrivaled legacy of warriors who stared down the abyss and whispered, "Not today."

Mic drop. Curtain falls. Encore awaits.

#extinction #history #science #the hunger games #katniss everdeen

[nikkibwriter]

LGBTQ+ Representation In Media

The world is changing every day, and people and their beliefs are changing with it, including how normal it is to be a part of the LGBTQ+ community. However, it is still a struggle for some to accept the LGBTQ+ community, and every coming out story is different. But even though these stories are just as important for people to know about, they are often misrepresented. Even in this current age, media is still struggling to provide accurate LGBTQ+ representation. From negative portrayals, overdramatic writing, and lack of LGBTQ+ actors to queerbaiting and censorship, it is clear work still needs to go into the media industry.

The LGBTQ+ community is continually underrepresented, and even when it is in the spotlight, it is not portrayed in the best way. According to the National Library of Medicine’s article, “Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Content on Television: A Quantitative Analysis Across Two Seasons” by Deborah Fisher, it states that aspects of a character’s sexuality were considered “too sensitive” to be seen or discussed on TV in the past. One of these themes is sexual issues related to the LGBTQ+ community: “Despite the lifting of some longstanding taboos over the last several decades, television programming has been called “compulsory heterosexual” (Wolf & Kielwasser, 1991), and depictions of the sexual issues associated with nonheterosexuals1 may remain relatively rare (Brown, 2002)” (Fisher). This encouragement of heterosexual relationships and lack of support for LGBTQ+ is continually hurting representation.

But the issue goes back further than that. According to a study from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga by Carson Cook, the earliest depiction of homosexuals were negative. They were depicted as child molesters, victims of violence, or drag queens (Cook). This kind of representation made people uneasy about being gay, and would have a negative impact on people’s ability to come out of the closet. Throughout the 1970s-80s, some TV shows would have gay characters shown in positive light, but they never stayed very long:

“… always for a single episode, not as a recurring character (Netzley 969). In these occurrences, the character’s homosexuality was presented as the problem of the episode, rather than just an aspect of that character, and the story was contextualized primarily by how it affected the lives of the heterosexual characters” (Cook).

This short-lasting representation is bad for the LGBTQ+ community because not only is an LGBTQ+ character not given a lot of screentime, but their sexuality is seen as an issue when it should not matter. People are people regardless of who they are attracted to, which is why the LGBTQ+ community craves to be seen for who they actually are. They do not want conflict; they just want people to realize that being gay, bi, asexual, non-binary, etc. is normal. If heterosexuals can have countless accurate representations in media, why can’t the LGBTQ+ community?

            In this video, the Youtuber, Wolficide, discusses the issues with media representing the LGBTQ+ community. He is really tired of seeing the same stories being told in every TV show. Wolficide admits there is good representation in kids cartoons like Adventure Time and She-Ra and the Princesses Of Power, but that is also where the problem lies. Wolficide states that good representation is ONLY seen in children’s cartoons. It is progress on creating more accepting LGBTQ+ content, but it is just one-stepping stone. More shows need to present the LGBTQ+ community in a healthier light; do not make it the main focus, just make it casual. Let it be normal for a guy and a guy to fall in love like how a guy and a girl can fall in love, for instance.

However, people in media need to be cautious with how they write LGBTQ+ characters. Katelyn’s Thomson’s academic journal, “An Analysis of LGBTQ+ Representation in Television and Film” points out that representation can be good for normalizing gender and sexual differences, but it can also easily reverse progress as well:

“Marshall (2016) also points out that while these representations show a clear progression in the number of representations, they often prompt viewers to accept stereotyped portrayals of gender and sexual differences as normal, which can have a regressive effect advancement of acceptance towards queer individuals” (Thomson, 2).

While representation can help normalize the LGBTQ+ community, it can also be harmful if it shows a stereotype, like gay men having a higher voice or them walking more femininely, for example. Yes, this could occur in the real world, but that is not always the case. People are different, which means how they express themselves will be different. That is a good thing, and it should be demonstrated and represented. Sarah Stevens’ scholarly journal, “Kids, Culture, And Queerness: The Progression of LGBTQ+ Representation in Children’s Media”, recognizes this importance. It states that today’s children media has a responsibility to model attitudes/behaviors that can better communication and increase positive interactions:

“… media exposure may lead to “social inclusion, increased literacy, and improved socioemotional skills,” while also warning that the behaviors that children learn from media are difficult to separate from their content” (Stevens).

Having media exposure to LGBTQ+ characters will allow understanding to grow and flourish, and help eliminate the negative stereotypes against the community.

However, even when there are LGBTQ+ characters, the representation can still fall short if they are not played by LGBTQ+ actors or are the victims of queerbaiting. In the article “2SLGBTQ+ Representation in the Media” from the website Media Arts, when films and TV shows are casting actors, media content like Moonlight, Transparent, and Prom had straight and/or cisgender actors play gay or trans characters. A journalist, Liam De Brún, reveals that there is a history of “straight and cis actors winning accolades for playing 2SLGBTQ+ characters, arguing that ‘it’s not brave playing a gay man, in fact you stole the role from a member of the LGBTQ community’ ” (Media Arts). I agree with this because LGBTQ+ characters should be played by LGBTQ+ actors, otherwise it undermines the intention of those characters. And queerbaiting is just as harmful because it leads fans hopeful for LGBTQ+ representation, but it does not confirm it during a show. One example is the Legend of Korra. The main character, Korra, was revealed to be in a relationship with her teammate Asami after the show was over: “This kind of after-the-fact representation, though, is in some ways worse than nothing, since it reinforces the idea that queer relationships cannot be shown openly” (Media Arts). Providing representation after a show is over is insulting to the LGBTQ+ community, and does not provide the acceptance they need.

People pay attention to how the LGBTQ+ community is portrayed, so it is important that people in media get it right. Tessa Kaur’s blog, “Queer representation in media: the good, the bad, and the ugly”, states that proper representation helps fight off stereotypes and hateful ignorance towards the LGBTQ+ community. The reason it works is because if people see LGBTQ+ characters in media, this “normalises the existence of queerness. And when these characters have compelling inner lives and relatable struggles, queer existence is destigmatised” (Kaur). Having positive representation allows the LGBTQ+ community to be seen, and helps people become more accepting of them.

In this video, the Youtuber, Its’s Rebecca Rose, talks about how the Disney show, The Owl House, has made monumental strides in this direction. The cast is made of queer characters, with the main character Luz Noceda being bi, her love interest Amity Blight being gay, supporting characters Raine Whispers and Masha being non-binary, and many others.

It was a wonderful show, but what made it especially great was that sexuality was not a major part of the story. It was simply revealed, and the story went on. This is what LGBTQ+ people want and what younger audiences need to see. LGBTQ+ characters can be all-round characters, and this can help future shows who strive to incorporate LGBTQ+ representation.

But while LGBTQ+ representation is important and viewers want it, everyone is not on the same page. The United States has produced several television shows and films with LGBTQ+ characters like The Owl House and Lightyear, but other countries are not willing to air their original content. On Twitter, the non-binary voice actor of Raine Whispers, Avi Roque, revealed that in the Latin American Spanish dub version of The Owl House, Raine’s pronouns were changed from they/them to he/him. This greatly upset Roque and several TOH fans. Raine Whispers made history as the first non-binary character to be introduced in a Disney show, and for another version of the show to depict them with he/him pronouns is highly offensive towards Roque, the show, and the fans.

            In addition, the film Lightyear faced discrimination because of a scene between an LGBTQ+ couple. According to an Out magazine article, “A Movie Theater Said It Would Fast-Forward ‘Lightyear’s Same-Sex Kiss” by Mey Rude, it states that not only did the film get banned in Middle Eastern countries for a kiss between a same-sex couple, but it was also getting the same censorship in the United States. When it was revealed an Oklahoma theater would be censoring the kiss, local resident Patricia Kasbek responded, “ ‘I told them that it was completely insulting for them to censor a same-gender kiss when they've never done this to an opposite-gender kiss’ ” (Rude). This complaint demonstrates that fans were unhappy about the film being unfairly censored, and feel they should have the representation in the film uncut.

This news video from Sky News Australia confirms Lightyear was banned from 14 nations because of the kiss from the same-sex couple. This kind of censorship makes it appear that it is shameful to be gay, and that is hurtful for young audiences because they need to see it the most.

We cannot undo the harm done in the past, but we can create a more accepting generation of people in the present and future. We just need to open more opportunities in media to generate it.

Citations

“2SLGBTQ+ Representation in the Media.” Media Smarts, Canada’s Centre For Digital And Media Literacy, 2021, https://mediasmarts.ca/digital-media-literacy/media-issues/diversity-media/2slgbtq-representation/2slgbtq-representation-media. Accessed 29 Apr. 2023.

Cook, Carson. “A Content Analysis of LGBT Representation on Broadcast and Streaming Television.” Scholar.Utc, May 2018, scholar.utc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1133&context=honors-theses.

“Diversity of Regular Characters on Primetime Scripted Broadcast, 2020-2021 Season Statistic Picture 3.” World Economic Forum, 2023, https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/01/lgbtq-characters-representation-tv-report/. Accessed 29 Apr. 2023.

Fisher, Deborah A, et al. “Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Content on Television: A Quantitative Analysis across Two Seasons.” Journal of Homosexuality, 4 Oct. 2007, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2000838/.

It’s Rebecca Rose, director. LGBTQ+ Representation in The Owl House. YouTube/ LGBTQ+ Representation in The Owl House, It’s Rebecca Rose, 14 May 2021, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENPjsY4igIo. Accessed 28 Apr. 2023.

Kaur, Tessa. “Queer Representation in Media: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.” Heckin.Unicorn, 6 Oct. 2021, https://heckinunicorn.com/blogs/heckin-unicorn-blog/queer-representation-in-media-comprehensive-list-breakdown-lgbt?currency=USD. Accessed 28 Apr. 2023.

Misasi, Mads. “36 Greatest LGBTQ+ Television Couples from the Past Ten Years Picture 1.” Tell-Tale TV, 31 Jan. 2019, https://telltaletv.com/2019/01/36-greatest-lgbtq-television-couples-from-the-past-ten-years/. Accessed 29 Apr. 2023.

Morales, Adrianne. “Luz Noceda, Right, with Amity on ‘The Owl House.’ Disney Television Animation Picture 4.” Disney Confirms Its First Bisexual Lead Character, Who Is Also Multi-Cultural, CNN, 15 Aug. 2020, https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/15/us/disney-bisexual-trnd/index.html. Accessed 28 Apr. 2023.

“Of the 118 Films GLAAD Counted from the Major Studios in 2019... Picture 2.” Glaad, 2019, https://www.glaad.org/sri/2020/overview. Accessed 29 Apr. 2023.

Roque, Avi. “‘Avi Roque about Raine’s Change in Latin America’ (Tweet) Picture 5.” Twitter, Avi Roque, 10 Sept. 2021, https://twitter.com/ok_roque/status/1436386020899975169. Accessed 1 May 2023.

Rude, Mey. “Disney Pixar Lightyear Picture 6.” A Movie Theater Said It Would Fast-Forward ’Lightyear’s Same-Sex Kiss, Out, 23 June 2022, https://www.out.com/film/2022/6/23/movie-theater-said-it-would-fast-forward-lightyears-same-sex-kiss#toggle-gdpr. Accessed 28 Apr. 2023.

Sky News Australia, director. Buzz Lightyear Film Banned over Kiss. YouTuber/ Buzz Lightyear Film Banned over Kiss, Sky News Australia, 16 June 2022, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igk-y5lRQjg. Accessed 28 Apr. 2023.

Stevens, Sarah. “Kids, Culture, and Queerness: The Progression of LGBTQ+ Representation in Children’s Media .” Mahurin Honors College, 2022, digitalcommons.wku.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1991&context=stu_hon_theses.

Thomson, Katelyn. “An Analysis of LGBTQ+ Representation in Television and Film.” Scholars.Wlu, 2021, scholars.wlu.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1053&context=bridges_contemporary_connections.

Wolficide, director. The Issues With LGBT Representation In Media. YouTube/ The Issues With LGBT Representation In Media, Wolficide, 24 July 2021, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEa0xvIOcCo. Accessed 28 Apr. 2023.

#Youtube

[productsreviewings]

On the shores of Lake Victoria in Kenya, a brief valley extends south in direction of the looming Mount Homa. From it, a global crew of archaeologists not too long ago uncovered among the oldest stone instruments ever discovered in addition to the oldest stays of one in all our early cousins, Paranthropus—a genus we predict co-existed with our direct ancestors. The traditional instruments found alongside the banks are seemingly the oldest proof of each an necessary Stone Age innovation referred to as the Oldowan toolkit and of hominins consuming very massive animals. The findings had been revealed on February 9 within the journal Science. The Oldowan toolkit consists of three forms of stone instruments: hammerstones for hitting different rocks or creating instruments that pound, cores which are angular or oval formed and break up off items of fabric, and flakes used as a chopping or scraping edge. Examples of an Oldowan percussive device, core, and flakes from the Nyayanga web site. Utilizing a mix of relationship strategies, together with the speed of decay of radioactive parts, reversals of Earth’s magnetic subject, and the presence of sure fossil animals whose timing within the fossil report is properly established, the analysis crew was in a position to date the objects recovered from Nyayanga to between 2.58 and three million years previous. “Although a number of strains of proof recommend the artifacts are prone to be about 2.9 million years previous, the artifacts may be extra conservatively dated to between 2.6 and three million years previous,” lead research writer Thomas Plummer of Queens Faculty, analysis affiliate within the scientific crew of the Smithsonian’s Human Origins Program, mentioned in a press release. Paranthropus molars recovered from Nyayanga web site. Within the excavations on the web site, the crew additionally discovered an enormous pair of molars that belong to Paranthropus– a genus of shut evolutionary kinfolk of recent people. These tooth are the oldest fossilized Paranthropus stays discovered by scientists. Their presence at a web site with so many stone instruments has sparked a thriller about which human ancestors made the instruments. “The belief amongst researchers has lengthy been that solely the genus Homo, to which people belong, was able to making stone instruments,” mentioned Rick Potts, a co-author of the research from the Smithsonian Nationwide Museum of Pure Historical past, in a press release. “However discovering Paranthropus alongside these stone instruments opens up a captivating whodunnit.” “With these instruments, you possibly can crush higher than an elephant’s molar can and reduce higher than a lion’s canine can,” Potts mentioned. “Oldowan expertise was like all of a sudden evolving a brand-new set of tooth exterior your physique, and it opened up a brand new number of meals on the African savannah to our ancestors.” “East Africa wasn’t a secure cradle for our species’ ancestors,” Potts mentioned. “It was extra of a boiling cauldron of environmental change, with downpours and droughts and a various, ever-changing menu of meals. Oldowan stone instruments might have reduce and pounded via all of it and helped early toolmakers adapt to new locations and new alternatives, whether or not it’s a useless hippo or a starchy root.” The Nyayanga deposits present a glimpse into an ancestral world that’s presumably radically completely different from any we had pictured. In doing so, they’ve raised much more questions on hominin evolution. #Scientists #MillionYearOld #Toolkit #Kenya #Whats #Great #Engineering Archaeologists not too long ago uncovered among the oldest stone instruments and Paranthropus stays from the shores of Lake Victoria in Kenya. The instruments are seemingly the oldest proof of the Oldowan toolkit, which allowed hominins to eat very massive animals. The findings recommend that the Oldowan toolkit helped early toolmakers adapt to new environments.

Q1: What's the Oldowan toolkit? A1: The Oldowan toolkit consists of three forms of stone instruments: hammerstones for hitting different rocks or creating instruments that pound, cores which are angular or oval formed and break up off items of fabric, and flakes used as a chopping or scraping edge. Q2: How previous are the artifacts present in Nyayanga? A2: The artifacts present in Nyayanga are estimated to be between 2.58 and three million years previous. Q3: What's the significance of the Nyayanga deposits? A3: The Nyayanga deposits present a glimpse into an ancestral world that’s presumably radically completely different from any we had pictured, and so they’ve raised much more questions on hominin evolution.

[gallaghermcmanus]

Snowballing Work Exposures and also Lung-Function Loss of 2 Large General-Population Cohorts.

To encourage remission in the beginning business presentation, 36 individuals (suggest age group A dozen.10 years) gotten EEN and Sixty nine (indicate age group 14.24 months) gotten Do. Remission (Eighty-eight.9 % from the EEN class vs . Ninety one.Three percent within the Gemstones team (s Equals 0.3) from A couple of months) and also relapse (40.Six versus. 31.6 percent, respectively (g Is equal to Zero.14) more than 12 months) have been similar in both treatment organizations. Thirty-four people got combined DXA scans at the time of analysis and one year after: Of sixteen offered EEN as well as 20 given Precious stones. Alternation in BMD backbone z-scores according to navicular bone get older fine-tuned regarding elevation and also chronological age ended up being greater pertaining to EEN patients however, not in the past substantial (Delta z-score Zero.30 versus. Zero.Drive, g Equals Zero.28). EEN features equivalent efficacy to be able to adrenal cortical steroids; even so, EEN may lead to better BMD accrual. EEN needs to be preferred to corticosteroids because first-line therapy regarding induction regarding remission within pediatric Compact disk.Man songbirds evaluate their rivals through listening to their particular songs and, in most kinds, are specifically understanding of certain parts from the music. Yellowhammers (Emberiza citrinella) sing music with various houses made up of an initial key phrase associated with stereotyped and duplicated notes inside a https://www.selleckchem.com/ trill, as well as a terminal key phrase, existing you aren't, having a lower or perhaps high regularity whistles we known as factors. All of us analyzed One particular,055 music from Twenty five different males and found which 4 distinct structures may be distinguished in a France Yellowhammer population. We discovered that the regularity varies with the components ended up a lot more continual throughout folks as opposed to ranges of the records, using one of all of them, period of time regularity component was virtually doubly protected because substantial frequency factor. Next, in the untamed, we all screened the actual territorial replies regarding guys to the 4 various buildings determined that the complete music structure, that is consists of the initial phrase followed by a top regularity component as well as a low rate of recurrence factor, caused more robust place defence responses through the men than some of the various other buildings. While just the composition made up of the first expression along with the low regularity factor additionally brought on a robust result, we propose that this primary factor accountable for the enhanced reaction of the adult males will be the low regularity aspect, which can be consistent with the undeniable fact that it can be a lot more protected than the various other ingredients.Determining feature answers to be able to ecological gradients requires the multiple analysis of the information contained in 3 platforms: T (types submitting around examples), Third (enviromentally friendly traits regarding examples), as well as Queen (types qualities). One of the accessible techniques, the so-called fourth-corner and also RLQ techniques are a couple of desirable alternate options that supply a principal strategy to make certain you estimate trait-environment relationships.

#Inhibitor Library #ATM/ATR inhibitor #Wnt-C59 #CH-223191 #Colforsin #Alisertib #Puromycin #Elexacaftor #Enasidenib #Dorsomorphin #Z-IETD-FMK #Dolutegravir #Docetaxel #GW4869 #Tamoxifen #GSK J4 #PLX5622 #Blebbistatin #RepSox #Erdafitinib #compound 1 #KWA 0711 #DUP785 #ICI-176334 #MK-803 #AV-951 #PHA-848125 #AP1903 #Arg-Gly-Asp Peptides #2-MeOE2

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[greenlightmusicreviews2]

The Revenge of GLMR!!! | Reasons, Review & Analysis

Because opinions are like voices, we all have a different kind, so just clean out all of your ears, these are my views • atcq "award tour"

There’s a lot different ideas that run through my head when I’m listening to music, and - although it’s been a while - especially when I try to review music. Obviously, there’s going to be bias because I have certain sounds and textures and concepts that I like more than others, but there are three that I expand on down below: effort, competence, and experimentation.

Of course that’s not to discount other aspects like... production value, mixing style, lyricism, songwriting, composition, style and a lot of other aspects to what makes a song work or an album flow - egads! - album sequencing!!!

I really like music, and at the bottom of that, I really want to like music. I’ve spent a lot of time writing my own music and sitting next to friends as they mix and produce the music I write, and so it’s exciting, new and different to sit on the other side and seriously think about the music that I get to listen to. I want to take more time with this endeavor and put in the work to maintain this thing. Maybe that means starting with familiar stuff and getting a feel with how I think about music with artists or albums I know. At the end of the day, I’m a guy on the net with a blog, but I hope you sweet, beautiful people find something worthwhile, interesting, funny and hopefully insightful from this thing. Maybe you can get something cringeworthy out of it. We may never know, but hopefully, we may.

In the words of Josh Homme:

If you've got the time and you've got the space you've got to make something of it. We might balls the whole thing up but you've got to try!

Effort

One of the things I put a premium on is effort: did’ja at least try to make a good song or record? Because if you didn’t, then fuck you.

In my teenage years I listened to a lot of alt-metal, post-grunge, hard rock and generally loud guitar music, so understand that I speak with some authority when it comes to that genre of music. Seether, Hinder, Nickelback, Godsmack, Papa Roach, Saving Abel, Three Days Grace - even bands that were influenced from the original crop: Daughtry, Theory of a Deadman, Popevil - and even bands that were just a little outside of generic rockers, bands like Foo Fighters, Audioslave, the sort of acts that were pretty well-respected but still made similar music but of a little better quality than their imitators. So I’m a bit of an expert when it comes to the post-grunge sound, that sound a generation or so removed from the Seattle heavyweights they hold in such high regard. My favorites of the bunch were: Foo Fighters, Nickelback, Seether, Puddle of Mudd, throw in some Everclear and that’s a good sampling of bands that I really liked at that time. These are bands that sounded like they put in a good amount of effort in the records that they made.

I hear distant scoffs, but only because it’s fallen out of fashion to dislike Nickelback, but hear me out: if you think Nickelback was generic and derivative, then you weren’t given the chance to hear Nickelback-lite.

Nickelback is a band whose blueprint was always more CCR, ZZ Top and Metallica than anything else, and their albums, save for maybe Curb typically reflected this.

They combined these three somewhat disparate influences with the sonic template that the Big Four of Grunge popularized and made some incredibly catchy and well executed music.

Hoobastank, on the other hand, you could tell sort of wanted to imitate Incubus, but recognized the immediacy of a band like NIckelback. Their music was similar, though never venturing further than Drop-D tunings, but their songwriting was sub-par. There was never, I sensed, the effort that truly made certain bands stand out. The lyrics especially, where they offered fairly banal observations and pleas for help:

Show me what it's for Make me understand it I've been crawling in the dark Looking for the answer Is there something more Than what I've been handed? I've been crawling in the dark Looking for the answer

- “Crawling in The Dark” by Hoobastank (2001)

The sound is part and parcel of what rock bands in the mid-2000s were aiming for in order to receive radio play: dull production value, samey chord progressions, vaguely introspective lyrics and leads that sound like U2 outtakes. Was there any effort, any character, any color, any life to your production, music or lyrics? Unfortunately, once executives and the ilk come in, well, that’s where a lot of “corporate rock” gets its reputation from.

Competence

Competence is one of those things where all it’s asking is, did’ja do it well? Does it sound awkward or cringey, or is it well-executed and hits the mark?

An example that comes to mind is Foo Fighters’ 2014 album Sonic Highways. After 2011′s Wasting Light, which was a watershed moment for the band, they began to really lean into their own legacy. Grohl and Co. became a standard-bearer for rock music at this time, and to an extent still do. What came after was a pretty bloated concept record about the musical history of the United States in 8 different cities tied together with an HBO documentary. While the documentary was actually decently made though not perfect, the record suffered from the band overextending themselves. They recorded the album in 8 different cities while interviewing famous musicians with deep roots in those cities, and then Grohl would go and write lyrics based on what he had learned in those interviews, weaving in little things they said here and there in order to form a coherent narrative for the song.

It didn’t quite work. The music is decent for the most part, but Grohl was just not able to make it compelling enough. Dave’s insistence on the record not straying too far from the band’s original sound didnt’ make sense when the entire concept was based on a city-by-city celebration of American-made music. The finished product was colored by Vig’s by-the-numbers production and Grohl’s own hesitation about making it too different.

There are musical projects that are well-performed and well-produced (i.e. competent in a couple different dimensions), but the overarching concept can be marred by the artist’s own musical limitations.

Danny Worsnop has had a successful stint with Asking Alexandria. His foray into country music with The Long Road Home is pretty good. Kid Cudi, the rapper whose Man On The Moon records were well-done pop-cum-rap albums, didn’t quite hit the mark with 2012′s WZRD and much less with 2015′s Speedin’ Bullet 2 Heaven, both attempts to make rock(?) records.

An artist’s own musical limitations can hinder musical projects, even if other aspects of the music are otherwise done decently well.

There’s a dimension where a record can be “competent” in what it does and score a 5/10 or higher. There’s also a dimension where a record can be “competent” in what it does and score a 4/10 or lower. It’s tied to the effort made, and of course, goes by an artist-by-artist basis. Same thing with...

Experimentation

Not every song or album has to be a genre-bending, mind-expanding, sound-expanding trip through another universe, but artists that make an attempt to go beyond their comfort zone or beyond an established boundary get credit for doing so.

This is, again, kind of by an artist-by-artist basis. You can’t have multiple Beatles, for example, who rewrite the music playbook or whatever. But when an artist tries to go even a little out of their comfort zone, it’s appreciated. Take an artist like Ian Thornley. An extraordinarily talented guitarist and songwriter, his band Big Wreck recorded In Loving Memory Of... in 1997 and, although it took its blueprint directly from Led Zeppelin III, did some pretty interesting things sonically and early on demonstrated some great potential in developing their sound. Their follow-up was a bloated piece of work that unfortunately fell into the trope of “let’s go thicker on the guitars and have overblown ballads” that most rock bands in the 2000s fell into. After their break-up, Ian continued this trend with the plodding generic music of Thornley.

A band that actually threads this needle pretty well is Queens of the Stone Age. Josh Homme creates each record with its own unique identity, doing so competently, with effort, and not sounding (at least not all the time) like a phoned in attempt to sit on his haunchy laurels. Era Vulgaris, a personal favorite of mine, was this dirty, sleazy, almost evil sounding record while its follow-up ...Like Clockwork plumbed the depths of Homme’s struggle with depression and created gorgeous sonic landscapes on songs like “The Vampyre of Time and Memory” and “I Appear Missing.”

I like a little experimentation whether with production, music or lyrics. It’s not going to kill a record if they don’t really experiment, but the artist gets points for at least trying.

Final Thoughts, Concerns & Whatever Else

These three things are what immediately came to mind when I thought about what goes through my head when thinking about music. It’s not super technical, and probably comes from my own background as a musician without a background in theory and who pieces music together mostly through feeling and intuition. But there’s a bunch of other things that I know should look out, and want to look out for. Things like production value, lyricism, composition and style. The way I listen to music hopefully will change for the better, and looking back to previous reviews, I can do a hell of a lot better, and plan to. I actually hope to find better and more unique and interesting ways to describe how I hear certain sounds and even improve on listening out for certain, subtle aspects of production jobs.

Welcome back to Green Light Music Reviews! Sub-par music reviews for a healthy colon! Enjoy!!

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