mxfistofele

[mxfistofele]

i do think it’s a really fun feature that operas have birthdays. i know that everything can have a birthday if you know how to look at things but i love that every march 6 i see people saying happy birthday la traviata!! and every october 29 i see jokes about how of course don giovanni the opera is a scorpio (although i think don giovanni the character should have been born in may). there’s something so kind about it

#aw i don’t share a birthday :( #but i am between lucia and zauberflöte which are two eminently respectable operas to be near

[mxfistofele]

The fact that Cliopher HAD A HABIT of HUMMING a BANNED POEM when he was working happily... Incredible. The layers. He thinks he's all subtle and mature these days but he loves Aurora so much that it's just! Part of his regular routine! IN the ultimate no aurora allowed zone! POV you're a trapped rogue anarchist poet & your secretary not only had the balls to tell a joke AND meet your eyes AND tell you good morning like you're a human being BUT ALSO HUMS. YOUR #1 BANNED POEM. DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF YOUR SALAD. AS YOU'RE WRITING POLICY TOGETHER. POV you're a guard who knows your emperor is secretly Bard Robin Hood and the absurdly collected guy who's been quietly restructuring the government out from underneath itself hums Greatest Hits from the Bureau of Censorship IN the oval office so like. He's gotta know right. POV you're a regular guard or misc palace staff and there's a guy humming the Fuck The Emperor tune. In front of the emperor. And you've just gotta stand in the corner staring at the wall or pick up the dishes and leave like you're not listening to melodic high treason.

#atfots #hote

[mxfistofele]

All the hands of the emperor stuff - and presumably all of the Nine Worlds stuff by extension - is so good at balancing a variety of tones. The hope and the loss, the seriousness and the ridiculousness. The humour is sharper and sweeter because it's timed so well.

But possibly my favourite is the one that comes up in Portrait of a Wide Seas Islander.

Imagine, for a moment, that you are an emperor (among other things, but we're trying not to think about them). You are the emperor. The formality around you is extreme, most people you deal with are baseline frightened of you, hardly anyone sees beyond your ceremonial front. You are desperate not to be like the previous emperor, your uncle. All of this is very painful and difficult.

And you get this secretary, and you adore him. He's like your favourite person. And so when his great-uncle turns up and says he needs to do this cultural rite of passage ceremony, you're SO onboard. You're like, yes, fantastic, you should do this, do you wanna do it in the throne room? you should do it in the throne room, let's go. This is all very powerful and emotional and sincere.

And after this is all over, you swing by your secretary's apartments when he's out. Just being a good host, y'know, dropping in on his great uncle, making conversation. And you make this almost idle remark, a quick curious question about an element of his personal history, just being courteous.

And this ninety year old man looks you dead in the eyes, and says, in essence, "oh yeah I fucked your uncle, and he was ~mediocre~."

just. iconic, ten out of ten, no notes. Buru Tovo I love you so much.

[mxfistofele]

the best way i can think to describe the experience of reading moby dick is you’re in line at the dmv and this guy behind you very loudly says “well who HASN’T had a gay experience” and then proceeds to tell you every detail about his life in between anecdotes about how great sperm is and how ropes work and sometimes he’ll say the most poetic shit you’ve ever heard in your life and them jump RIGHT back into explaining how a whale is a fish because 1) it swims in water and you’re still only like halfway through the dmv line

[mxfistofele]

i have so many hobbies and interests but each day the four horsemen (instant gratification, shortened attention span, procrastination, exhaustion) grab me by the throat and shake me until i collapse in my comfy bed

[mxfistofele]

#this is how i feel about staplers

[mxfistofele]

like there comes a point where you think something is fundamentally wrong with you. and then it turns out it’s just Friday and you haven’t washed your hair in three days and maybe you’re also just a little lonely and the combination of all three of those things is whittling a hole into your chest every time you breathe. but also the sun’s up. and you’ve survived everything so far, so you’ll survive this too, even if it hurts, even if you have to survive it many times.

[mxfistofele]

Can you explain this gap in your blog history

[mxfistofele]

Ohio Total Solar Eclipse

[mxfistofele]

[mxfistofele]

Chen Chen

[mxfistofele]

sometimes i think about how there has always been this dream version of me in my head who knows how to play the piano and can sing in key and charts stars by herself (and w her loved ones too) and reads so many books and studies diligently every day and is top of every academic pursuit and has all these skill-based creative outlets she nourishes constantly and does not have to compromise any of them for the other bc she knows how to budget her time and is not afraid of failure and does not let petty distractions like phone time get in her way. and i'm like oh. i want that really bad. like that truly eclipses everything else in my life

[mxfistofele]

how do you become so well read?

by reading

[mxfistofele]

dionysus you have to stop. your robe too purple. your curls too divine, your manic swag too different. they will kidnap you.

#me when i see someone about to turn into a dolphin

[mxfistofele]

Cate Blanchett, 1994

[mxfistofele]

i cannot emphasise enough how much you need to create something. anything. it doesn't matter if you suck. you don't need to monetise it, or make it your career. you can restart an old hobby; you can start from scratch. it doesn't matter. you just need to hold something and be able to say "i did that". baking, drawing, painting, writing, coding, crafts, whatever. make something ! you cannot have all your hobbies be a form of consumption. it's fun, it's great in its own right. but the single best action to make yourself feel better, to calm your mind, to gain self esteem, is to Create

[mxfistofele]

Newt On Huge Oyster Mushroom

(Mount Tamalpais, California - 11/2014)

#newt on huge oyster mushroom !