like to keep files pretty well organise . there is one area that consistently struggle in , however : spirituality , magic , and religion .
for some reason , just can not keep any one solution in place for very long before another one sprout up ... and then another ... and another . by this point , definitely have 3 to 5 slightly different permutations of some things . on one hand , that is really neat way to see how thoughts change over time . on other hand , this is pretty useless to look through without some specific organisation scheme .
to get any use out of these random assemblies , kossai have to ... guess what ? make another organisation scheme . and that too will fall out of use , and therefore become part of cycle ... bah !!!
Current Mood:amused
Current Music:impromptu no. 3 ~ vladimir horovitz performance of franz schubert
Rogan: After making my silly Bechdel in Bookshelf post, I found myself thinking about other variations. I also found myself thinking about how community is shown in fiction.
Happy Snowflake Season to all! As we prepare to kick off the 2026 snowflake_challenge, please feel free to promote this event within your own circles. You are welcome to use any of these new banners for that. The community page also has icons.
Due to switching webhosts for healthymultiplicity.com, our email is down and probably has been since Christmas. We are working on getting it up and going again.
Until then, if you have our phone number or the old email for the Greenough Hall MSTers Club, you can contact us through those. Sorry for the inconvenience; among its many failings, the old webhost has given me no sign of whether the emails I sent in the past week went out or not; on my end, it’s been acting buggily normal, and I’m having to guess it no longer works purely because nothing has come in for so long.
Here's a shot from the 1978 animated Lord of the Rings movie, directed by Ralph Bakshi.
Here's a John Howe illustration – Howe worked as a chief conceptual designer on the live action 2000s trilogy.
And here's a shot from the 2001 Fellowship of the Ring movie.
I love seeing these sorts of cross-medium influences in adaptations.
This one's almost as good as all the stuff Peter Jackson swiped from Army of Darkness for the Helm's Deep battle (the gunpowder joke is just the tip of the iceberg).
Speaking of Tolkien, I just learned about Eric Fraser's very cool 1981 cover and interior illustrations for Radio Times, done to mark the release of a serialized BBC radio drama of JRR Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings.
Brian Sibley has the fun story behind the illustrations at his blog – he was the one who adapted the story for the broadcast. He took the opportunity to get in touch with Fraser and buy the cover painting before it was even finished, leaving a laundry list of "very grumpy" bigshots unable to own it themselves.
Since then, Sibley has been buying up other interior illustrations Fraser did for all 26 installments of the show. Some examples:
Today, Sibley lacks just a single illustration – this one, for episode two.
That's right, this story ends with our hero desperate for little else but to find the One Ring and take for himself at last! Oscar Wilde was right; life really does imitate art.
Okay, that's it for Lord of the Rings art – if you really need more, check out my old Angus McBride post. We're moving on to Madeleine L'Engle and the Duffer brothers.
Here's a shot from the final season of Stranger Things.
That particular edition of A Wrinkle in Time is the 1976 Dell Laurel-Leaf, with cover art by Richard Bober.
Bober went uncredited until 2023, when art book author S. Elizabeth wrote a blog post about the mystery, which drummed up enough attention that art blogger Wallace Polsom noticed and correctly deduced it was Bober. Polsom's Twitter thread where he talks about it is currently locked, but if you want to follow him, he has a website and tumblr.
Anyway, I recapped it all for a podcast episode from Boston's public radio station, and you can see all the relevant cover art over at a blog post I wrote about the search at the time.
I should stress that I just recapped it! Shout-out to S. Elizabeth and Wallace Polsom, who actually did the leg work.
And the latest news about just how deep Bober's lack of credit went? Bober's family recently revealed that "In 1983, Richard's nephew bought a copy at his school book fair because of the cover, not knowing his uncle had painted it!"
I really enjoyed Guillermo del Toro's version of Frankenstein. Del Toro made no secret that he was heavily inspired by Bernie Wrightson's beautiful illustrated edition – he even thanks him in the film's end credits.
Wrightson's Frankenstein was a labor of love that took him 7 years, with the complete book eventually published in 1983.
On tumblr, Frankenstein superfan snowpaw23 put together a post looking at the many Wrightson quotations that del Toro included in his film.
I'm trying something new here as part of my plan to beef up my $5/month paid tier in 2026.
The big changes are yet to come, but for this issue, paying subscribers can read on for some great new phone lockscreen recommendations, cool links, and my music rec of the week.
Free subscribers: I love you just as much, happy new year, and I'll see you next week, when we'll talk about sleighs drawn by polar bears.
One of my most popular posts from last month – this 1993 Moebius version of "Nighthawks" – is my current desktop background.
That's it for desktops, though: the rest of the post is lockscreens. Here are all the coolest options to wow your friends with.
First, the stylish '60s one that I'm currently using: Jack Gaughan's The Universe Between cover, 1967.
Ed Emshwiller's "Starship Soldier" was the November 1959 cover to The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. There's a certain glee to the way these bulbous soldiers are zipping around. And you barely notice the spider aliens!
This 1997 illustration by Tristan Elwell for Vivian Vande Velde's Curses, Inc. and Other Stories is a pretty incredible lock screen for anyone who loves cats and retro computers. I finally bought a print of it for myself, after telling myself I needed to for years.
These ones are all modified versions of Ralph McQuarrie illustrations and concept art. A few more are available over at this collection of Star Wars lockscreens.
Speaking of Star Wars, here's one that doesn't need any modifications: Noriyoshi Ohrai's Return of the Jedi poster art.
Finally, here's one that I found on tumblr over here.
The author recently linked to this old blog post on Bluesky - it's a collection of block quotes taken from RPG handbooks, all discussing how the concept of committing violence functions within their RPG. A fascinating read and a cool way to structure a blog post, to boot.
3 for the Memories' 2025 session will be open for posts on January 3, 2026 and will run for 3 weeks until January 24. Event participation is as follows:
1) Three photos only per person during each annual session. Members are encouraged to discuss the reason for their choices.
2) Photos can be hosted at Dreamwidth or elsewhere, and should not be larger than 800 px width or height.
3) All three photos should be in the same post. Cut tags should be placed after the first photo.
3 for the Memories is not a competition, and entries are not being judged. Rather, participants are encouraged to share photos they took in 2025 that they find meaningful in some way or which represent how they experienced the year.
recently mention that still implement some kinds of age restrictions for younglings here , but think good to talk about why exactly , and how kossai handle .
in any plural collective , children can have much more life experience than age would imply , and no longer exist within child body . most major age restrictions fall into one of these categories :
things that children can not safely accomplish with motor skills at this age - hence why children may get safety knives and plastic sewing needles , in effort to protect from injury
subject matters that children lack emotional or social maturity to handle responsibly alone - ideally , need adult guidance to talk through at appropriate level
things that would negatively influence development of brain and body , potentially hurt in ways that adults would not be - hence strict alcohol and drug laws
within plural collectives , though ? none of this is necessarily true . some will find that children can easily handle knives and drive cars , but need adult company to watch anything more complex than sesame street . sometimes , will be able to handle horror movies and raunchy scenes , but can not get dressed alone . sometimes might be fine to get high and chill out , and sometimes might negatively impact in way adults would not feel , even though not literally impact development .
age restriction is very personal as such - not only personal to collective , but to each individual child within collective . one of truly universal rules which have here is not to use public social media , or to talk with people who do not yet have discussion on how to handle young fronters . this is not because all younglings simply can not handle and be responsible , though this is true of some individuals , but because other people by and large do not know or care about proper respect .
often , other people get this idea that must baby-talk and become parental figure or such , to treat as burden rather than person - and honestly find fellow plurals to be worse about this than singlets sometimes . this is major frustration to everyone , so choose to cut off at source , as much as that also can frustrate . no real win , frustration either way .
other than that , though ? younglings do not necessarily have worse motor skills than adults , so what would be unsafe within milestone groups might not be unsafe personally . and to be clear , this can be very true of singlet children as well , as some families work hard to help with development as early as possible ! that in mind , both in home world and when front , even youngest here may be able to function with motor skills on par with adults . when certain tasks might be unsafe to accomplish , this is for same reasons as adults , not unique to younglings .
what is more impactful to kossai is emotional and social maturity . while younglings here still have many years more life experience than same-age singlets , and thus not exactly on par , this tend to be where young nature shine . as such , kossai do put restrictions on some media , as well as certain home world gatherings and events .
different age restrictions apply case by case to different media , events , and individuals - some flexible , and some not . some prohibit entirely to non-adults . some ask that adult be present for guidance , to be able to help and comfort . others allow solo engagement , but only if meet certain requirements personally .
( as mention last time , but feel might as well say again : kossai do lack memory barriers , and so knowledge about characters from any media is still accessible to all fronters . personal ruling is that younglings can play with any characters regardless of source media , but still must follow restriction for direct media or fandom engagement . there is simply no good way , or good reason , to try and enforce rules on private imagination and creativity . )
in any case , kossai do find that age in number is not always helpful - again , because of longer life experience , might compare to array of different milestone groups , not just one . these milestone groups also do not account for more personal quirks and needs - what might be OK to engage solo for one will need adult company for another , or prohibit entirely .
will also say that younglings here recognise and embrace differences from adults . to remain young here is , in at least some part , active choice - and just like some things belong only to adults , some also belong only to younglings . separations and limitations do not come from place of hate or over-protection , but to respect those differences and allow everyone happiness .
of course , this is how kossai do things . some of these things will almost definitely not apply to other collectives , but would encourage to think more about some of these points , and whether restrictions actually comfortable or ... well , too restrictive .
Current Mood:thoughtful
Current Music:the enchanting glow of the moon cradles the woods ~ arthel
This is a screenshot of Episode 17 (Timestamp 12:35 out of 20:41) of the cult classic metafictional fairy-tale anime Princess Tutu (2002).
Long ago, I saw a post that identified the exact source of the text in this image. The source, according to the post, was a German book or literary journal of some sort, discussing a landmark piece of German metafiction aimed at children. That novel, Die unendliche Geschichte (1972) by Michael Ende, was published in English-speaking countries as The Neverending Story. Does that name ring a bell? According to a survey from 2006, the original novel was most popular and successful in Germany and Japan; most Americans, meanwhile, were more familiar with the 1984 film adaptation.
The original post, unfortunately, was witnessed so long ago that I do not even remember if it was late 2000's or early 2010's, late-Livejournal or early-Tumblr. I have tried searching both sites. I have never been able to find the original post. There is a post about German in Princess Tutu on the old LJ community; it does not cover this episode.
While lamenting my struggle with stepnix, he hunted down a lead: a German-language PDF of "books you need to know."
Er, not what the PDF says is page 27. What the PDF says is page 29. We can actually identify some exact lines from the screenshot in this page!
und Fantasie. In Die unendliche
Poesie als Medien der Selbst- und
als wirksame Möglichkeit, Realität zu
wechselseitigen Einflusses von Vorstellung-
allem an der altersgerechten
Ziele orientierten Jugendliteratur
Now, here's the issue: this PDF, according to the information on the sixth page of the PDF, appears to be a digitized copy of a booklet (or excerpt of a larger book?) published by Duden in 2011. Princess Tutu, meanwhile, aired on Japanese television in 2002.
I sincerely doubt Ikuko Itoh, Junichi Sato, or anyone else who was working on the anime are secret time travelers. Which means that there must be an older source for this writeup on Die unendliche Geschichte.
In the meantime, here's a Google Translate version of the quoted passage:
The central theme of the young adult novel, which has become a cult classic for adults, is the relationship between reality and fantasy. In The Neverending Story, art and poetry assert themselves as media for self-discovery and understanding the world, and fantasy proves to be an effective way to change reality. The exploration of the reciprocal influence of worlds of imagination and ideas opened up new perspectives for young adult literature, which until then had primarily focused on adapting social themes and educational goals to suit the age group.
Finally, though! Now when I say "there's a link between this anime and The Neverending Story", I have something to point to! Very useful for if anyone wants to write meta about that connection. ^_^
some really fun updates to shezow shrine . still not done with all of page content - shehicle is especially bare - but check out ! really want to talk about spoilers , and want to see if people can figure out first .
hard to say that enjoy hoarders TV episodes , but there is something that draw back in . would say there is something of satisfaction with episodes that go well , and personally find importance in ability to see consequences and solutions . but unfortunately even good ones most often inter-cut with cruelty towards hoarders , between family members , and so on . subjects of show very clearly do not get near as much time or respect as deserve , and conditions built for TV , not for actual help .
so ... really happy to actually find cleanwithbea , who deep clean homes in horrendous conditions all for free , while protect client privacy and speak with genuine respect and care . there is also none of TV drama where subject only reluctantly agree , and then panic because completely upend house - bea specifically select for clients who self-apply , ready for whatever must be done no matter how extreme . breath of fresh air .
( wow , is this first time anyone on dreamwidth actually use recumbent mood ? :P )
I've fallen in love with this manga and am continually surprised at how few people seem to have heard of it, so here's my humble attempt to spread the word :D (This is a cross-post from my journal, where I'm also delighted to discuss this fandom anytime :D :D)
It only took one promo picture to get me to check it out:
...I didn't really ask any more questions after that. Bonus impact for stumbling on it in Japanese because the "kept pet" implied in the verb is lovely, and obviously plays with the K-9/"police dog" title.
Anyway, meet Oboro on the left - he's great - and Ren on the right - she's great. The art is beautiful, and everyone is very pretty.
About the world
Some people have special abilities, most of which are not well understood. Only one thing is known for sure: these abilities manifest after someone commits a crime. For example, the criminal from the first chapter is an arsonist and can control/become fire. (Somewhat unrelated, but this is pretty fun coming in from the Boku No Hero Academia world, because it's like a universe in which only bad guys get a quirk.) Here, these abilities are called "sins." In the Japanese, it's simply the kanji for crime with "sin" written in katakana beside it.
This seems pretty simplistic at first glance, but that slowly changes as we drill deeper into the worldbuilding and learn the nuances of these abilities and how they manifest. The implications are deeply fucked up, with often devastating consequences that I'm totally here for as my heart gets shattered again and again.
The story premise
Our plucky detective Ren is selected to join Division 9, a newly created division that pairs a detective with a sin user in order to fight fire with fire -- what could possibly go wrong?! I love her. She kicks so much ass.
TOGETHER THEY FIGHT CRIME! More specifically, crime related to sin users. But they also get their asses kicked and handed over to them quite a bit, haha.
(don't forget to kill the auto-dub) I know what you're thinking: Can I run this in Chuubo's? I'm pleased to say it is the easiest thing in the world to run it in Chuubo's.
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