Also, I found out today that my K-pop darlings, CIX, are disbanding. I have deliberately paced myself so that I still have lots of their old videos and past media to savour, but I'll eventually have watched everything... and, well. I knew their contracts were up but this is the first time I'm experiencing this. I've been a k-pop fan for a decade and seen disbandments, but this is the first time it's happening with my faves. My other faves are ATEEZ who have all renewed after their first contract's duration was up, and KaiBaek from EXO who aren't in the same group anymore but are both active and so successful that they'll likely continue to be.
My day could've gone better, ha. The silver lining is that I'm getting to rest.
“i’ve squandered my resistance/ for a pocket full of mumbles, such are promises/ all lies and jests”
1-hour acid techno mix filmed in a Japanese sake brewery. Top comment: “she’s cooking, they’re cooking too.” The channel @Login.jp_ has more mixes played in various Japanese cultural locations both traditional and everyday-modern. (via)
Jon Batiste re-imagines Für Elise. (via)
The O’Reillys and the Paddyhats play an Irish folk-punk cover of The Boxer. (found after YT sidebar served me an atrocious AI-created Irish ‘folk-song’ version)
---L.
Subject quote from The Boxer, Simon & Garfunkel, for comparison.
Somewhere in Japan...
Baker #1: "So the couple getting married this weekend wants 'United Forever in Love' written on their wedding cake, but they want it in English. UG. Where's our English dictionary?"
Baker #2: "Oh, please. Just copy a few lines off this old box of Twinkies! No one will ever know."
Before you ask: Yes, this really is the cake from a Japanese wedding. Judy A.'s daughter is an exchange student there, and took the photo. No word on what the couple really wanted their cake to say, but hey, it could have been worse! They could have gotten matching tattoos that said "crazy diarrhea." :D
Thanks for the cultural exchange, Judy!
Friend of the site Connie Peters has driven the 2026 Ford Explorer Tremor, and she has a video review for your perusal.
Go check it out below — or scroll down a bit more for the transcript.
The TTAC Creators Series tells stories and amplifies creators from all corners of the car world, including culture, dealerships, collections, modified builds and more.
A transcript, summarized by AI and edited by a staffer, is below.
[Image: Video Thumbnail]
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Summary of Transcript:
Overview:
The video reviews the 2026 Ford Explorer Tremor, a new trim that adds light off-road styling and capability to the Explorer lineup, along with a more powerful engine option.
Key Features & Performance:
Powered by a 3.0-liter twin-turbo V6 producing 400 horsepower and 415 lb-ft of torque, paired with a 10-speed automatic and AWD.
Offers noticeably stronger acceleration and confidence compared to the base 2.3L engine.
Towing capacity is 5,000 lbs.
Includes mild off-road upgrades like all-terrain tires, skid plates, recovery hooks, and unique Tremor styling.
Driving Experience:
Comfortable ride with supportive, adjustable seats (good for different heights).
Engine sounds good and delivers strong performance.
Ford BlueCruise is highlighted as a standout feature for highway driving.
Interior & Tech:
Features a modern infotainment system with Google built-in, Alexa, YouTube, and wireless Apple CarPlay.
Heated/ventilated seats, digital gauge cluster, and multiple storage areas.
No standard wireless charging pad (optional).
Good camera system, though slightly distorted.
Space & Practicality:
Three-row SUV with power-folding rear seats and decent cargo space, plus a deep sub-trunk.
Second row has captain’s chairs with heated seats and charging ports.
Third row is usable, especially for shorter passengers, but has smaller windows and limited amenities.
Pricing & Verdict:
Starts around $55,000 CAD, with the reviewed model at about $70,000 CAD.
Positioned below the Platinum trim.
Best suited for families who want extra power, tech, and light off-road capability, though it’s not meant for serious off-roading.
Bottom line:
A comfortable, tech-filled family SUV with a stronger engine and rugged styling, but only modest off-road upgrades.
It started out with us rolling initiative (which was expected considering how the previous game ended), so we knew it would be pretty much nothing but combat. The DM consistently rolled high, though, while the rest of us rolled low on everything including initiative. Add in the fact that all of the enemies had flight capabilities while only two of the group did, two of the people on the ground had no distance attacks, and the other two depended on magic against enemies who cause double spell slots to be expended within 100 feet of them... well, needless to say, things didn't go well.
By the end, the sorcerer/cleric was dead, one paladin was unconscious, the fighter/warlock was unconscious, the NPC who'd banished several enemies from the field lost concentration and those additional enemies returned, the other paladin was in the single digits after being brought back up, and my cleric was at almost full health but 100+ feet away from the rest of the group (as she'd gotten boxed in by some enemies near her who she'd just managed to kill). So the wizard decided to say "fuck it" and pull six cards from the Deck of Many Things mid-combat in the hope of getting something helpful.
Of course, he only got to pull five cards (none of which were particularly helpful), because the fifth one was Donjon and he immediately disappeared to an extradimensional sphere. 🙃
At that point, it was looking like my cleric might be the only character who'd have any chance of surviving as she was far enough away not to have to use double spell slots as the enemies she was fighting were down, and she did have Dimension Door so she could potentially run. The only other PC still on their feet was the paladin, who decided to take a page from the wizard's book and start pulling from the deck as well.
He pulled the Fates, which essentially lets you pick any moment in time and undo it.
... yeah, needless to say we stopped the game at that point, because that's going to be something to figure out before next week. We're definitely going to undo this combat. The question is what specific point in time do we want to pick as the changing point in the hope it will give us a better chance of surviving (and hopefully winning).
From Latin, from hālāre, to breathe/exhale and by extension bad breath, and is also (combined with -osis, noun suffix of state/condition) the stem of halitosis, bad breath -- which TIL wasn't an invention of mouthwash companies in the 1950s, but actually dates to the 1870s. Huh!
---L.
This works great if you only have one rec and don't want to make a whole post for it, or if you don't have a DW account, or if you're shy. ;)
(But don't forget: you can deffo make posts of your own seven days a week. ;D!)
So what cool fics/fanvids/fanart/other kinds of fanworks/fancrafts/podfics have we discovered this week? Drop it in the comments below. Anon comment is enabled.
BTW, AI fanworks are not eligible for reccing at recthething. If you aware that a fanwork is AI-generated, please do not rec it here.