#And I'm having Executive feelings

[sophieswundergarten]

So excited you decided to do this ask game because I love your writing!

When I read #29, I couldn’t help but hear McCracken saying it (but authors choice on who he is saying it to 👀)

"Where are my manners, my dear?" McCracken's smile was not unlike a shark as he advanced on Martina. "Oh, that's right," He simpered, "They're taking a vacation. Same place yours were all that time on that miserable island. Do you remember that, ducky?"

Martina recoiled, holding her probably broken arm close to her. The Ten Man laughed cruelly, sliding his tie out of its knot and snapping it menacingly.

"How do you like it when someone else has power over you?"

#I Am Choosing Violence :) #And I'm having Executive feelings #Thank you so so so much Curio!! #I hope this was satisfactory #ask game #asks

[canisalbus]

the anon saying they wish vaschete were plushies inspired me

.

#oh no #oh #oh boy #they're adorable #I'm sorry but I'm just mentally smooshing their soft round little heads together #their expressions! #the teensy paws #really feeling that cute aggresion #you made their faces translate into simplified plush form so well #I'd be lying if I said it never crossed my mind how neat it would be to have plushies of them #not as merch but like to keep as mascots and have them sit contently next to each other in some nook of my home #I'm not completely hopeless at sewing but I've never designed patterns quite as complex as this #and I think commissioning a professional for a set is likely beyond my budget so eh one can dream #gift art #makedamnsvre #own characters #Machete #Vasco #from a technical point of view #I feel like I'd be adamant about keeping Vasco's ombre ears and muzzle but they could be potentially difficult to execute #unless you airbrushed them by hand or something I don't know how this works #and I'd probably be really picky about the texture of Machete's fluff as well #finding a faux fur with the right length curl and springiness might be hard #honestly I think I might have easier time if I tried art doll/ooak route because that permits more painting and sculpting than pure sewing #but then the squish factor would suffer

[mlobsters]

supernatural s11e20 don't call me shurley (w. robbie thompson)

#happy valentine's day #supernatural #mygifs #sam and dean #spn 11x20 #dean winchester #sam winchester #robbie thompson #spngifs #frustrating episode because in isolation this scene is heartbreaking and i'm crying over it now - yet in the episode i was 😐 #because it felt so contrived! and got resolved immediately. and sam had nearly died a few episodes ago! #but they executed it really well and the Feelings are definitely there #i just wish it had taken place in an episode that for me had room to breathe and feel the impact of it #because it's just devastating at the end there where dean is having to deal with watching him slowly die #my more thorough bitching is in my recap with the episode tag #anyway i was croaking along to fare thee well in the car tonight and was gonna post a video clip of that #but then realized this was more thematically appropriate for the day #sam and dean mush

[silvermun]

coming out from the grave to ask how are we doing after that reveal y'all

#i'm hype but fingers crossed it's executed well #also how are you all in general i feel like it's been centuries lol #(im typing this one handed bc i have arthritis)

[gotchibam]

Dragonite ko-fi doodle for RayStarKitty!

#artists on tumblr #pokemon #dragonite #gotchibam arts #tysm for the tip & being patient w/ me!! 🙏🙏🙏 #btw ko-fi reqs are still closed since I still have a lot in my queue #tbh I feel so bad for taking so long w/ the doodles ;_; #I know I keep calling them doodles but some of them actually take some effort to finish #esp. since I tend to be a perfectionist so like.... if a detail bothers me i'll keep trying to fix it #even if it looks good enough wkjsdhfjhsdf #also I feel like my executive dysfunction has been getting worse so i'm having trouble finishing stuff ;_; #but ppl have been very understanding so far so I really appreciate that ;w;

[genericpuff]

And with that, 2000 years of history and 10+ years of an animated adaption later, Attack on Titan is over.

I wasn't planning on making an essay post about this but like all of my essay posts, it got crazy out of hand, so here we are. I have a lot to say on it and the more I wrote, the more I realized exactly what the Attack on Titan finale was about. It's cathartic. It's also kind of a big shitpost but not for the reasons you might think.

Spoilers for the Attack on Titan finale ahead! CW: DISCUSSION OF WAR AND GENOCIDE AHEAD!

Now for anyone who knows what I'm about to talk about (and anyone who follows my stuff here), I'm sure you're wondering , what side do I fall on in regards to Attack on Titan's ending? Am I about to talk shit about it? It's very divisive and somewhat inconclusive. It followed the exact ending in the manga which, while expected, was still disappointing to many who had hoped the anime would take some other path.

But I have to ask, could there have been any other way?

Eren committed mass genocide, bordering on extinction of the entire human race. There was no way that he was gonna come out of it redeemed or as a hero, and he knew it. He went straight up Walter White core here and like Walter White, he is not a hero.

The fact that the Marlayans have been constantly going to war with other countries using Eldians as their personal soldiers goes to show that for countries that seek out conquest, there's no target too small or insignificant that can't be marked as an "enemy", and we see that reflected in Eren as well, in his pursuing of "freedom", an ever-moving goalpost that can never truly be satisfied.

The Jaegerists were hellbent on creating a new empire on the bloodshed of Marley - 'an eye for an eye', so to speak.

Nothing was ever going to truly satisfy either 'side' in the conflict of humanity vs. Eldians because such conflicts' origins have been obfuscated in hundreds of years of history, propaganda, and generational trauma that has repeated itself for so long that many don't even know what they're fighting for anymore, aside from one thing - that they don't want to suffer, that they shouldn't have to suffer for the actions of their ancestors, that they want peace and happiness but don't know where to start with taking the first step.

I think people are disappointed in this ending because, let's face it, it's anime, and it's an anime adaption that took years to finish. We always want to see some kind of vindication from stories like these, but I think in having vindication, it ultimately removes the point altogether of what's being said.

As much as we may try to fight it, try to deny it, the course of human history travels in a circle. Conflict will always arise. History is written by the victors, and those victors will be seen as heroes by whichever side they're fighting for regardless of what heinous acts they may have committed to justify their salvation. And after all of that conflict, regardless of the result - time goes on, and new conflicts arise.

But I don't think that means we have to succumb to grief and suffering and that's a point that I'm seeing missed in a lot of the discussion around the finale. There's a very powerful scene between Armin and Zeke, in which Armin talks about how he was born to run up the hill with Mikasa and Eren. He recognizes fully that if his life isn't meant to be long, he can still cherish those small moments that he thinks back on fondly, the moments that defined his life with the people he cared about.

And that's really all life is. Small moments and experiences that stick with us until the end. The very act of being born in and of itself is a cosmic miracle that gives us the chance to experience things that bring us joy and stay with us forever - however short or long that 'forever' may be. We take these small moments for granted when we're comfortable, but we look for them the most when we're suffering.

If I can relate all this to another piece of media that says the same thing - albeit with a much brighter ending - FF XIV: Endwalker also asks a similar question to Attack on Titan - is the only meaning in life to suffer and die? Of course, by its end, we learn that while death and suffering is an inevitable part of life - not something that should be avoided - it shouldn't persuade us to give in to fear and despair as a constant state of being. And I think Attack on Titan goes for a very similar approach, albeit slightly more as a cautionary tale - a nihilistic reminder that ultimately, the losses and victories we find in our current point of history are still just that, a single point, a blip that will be forgotten until it's ultimately repeated, and there's no escaping that.

It cautions us that freedom cannot exist without constant vigilance for war and conflict. It cautions us that our values and core beliefs for attaining freedom, love and happiness can be twisted into a weapon to cause harm, vindication gained at the cost of another. It cautions us that when left in the wrong hands, power can and will be abused by the ignorant while propagandizing itself as "the greater good".

So why not just find the joy that we can? The friendships, the little moments, the things that bring us happiness even if only temporary. Conflict is inevitable, suffering is inevitable, but that doesn't mean life isn't worth living. "Happiness" is not a tangible end point - it's the side effect of living a meaningful life that's true to yourself.

Attack on Titan is over. Some will argue the ending was the only way, others will argue that there could have been another way and that the anime adaption had the chance to change it but still didn't for reasons beyond their comprehension.

But isn't that the whole point? We'll argue. We'll bargain. Many of the arguments made will reinforce our own beliefs further rather than sway us. Many of us will insist there had to be another way, just as Armin insisted that this couldn't have been the only way, that humanity must have had another option. Meanwhile, many of us will acknowledge that at the end of the day, this is the story Isayama wanted to tell, and regardless of whether or not it makes him an idiot toying with his audience and admitting defeat by lampshading it in the penultimate scene of Eren admitting to his own idiocy, this was the power given to him and he used it in the best way he knew how.

Much like in any conflict, there's one thing that unites both sides - the human need for joy, connection, and freedom.

We might not agree on how Attack on Titan ended, but we can agree that it was a hell of a ride, and I hope we can all agree that it was worth riding, even if it wasn't satisfying for everyone in the end. It brought many people together regardless of their backgrounds, experiences, and differences, and connected them through something they all loved for over ten years. And despite how big a part of our lives it was, life will still go on, and we'll move on to other things to watch, enjoy, and argue over. Isayama will move on to whatever awaits him next, knowing fully well that his choice was his own, that he created the series he wanted to create regardless of how people feel about it. We'll all look for our own forms of joy and happiness as life moves on around us, as conflicts come and go.

Isn't that really what freedom is at the end of the day?

#also ok i know this turned into a philosophical post but like #i'm still just talking about fucking anime #so please for the love of god i don't want to be seeing anyone using this post as a way to play devil's advocate on real actual war crimes #human conflict in and of itself is an enigmatic inevitability but blatant actions of genocide and colonization are not #and that was made VERY clear by the end of the series through eldians and marlayans putting aside their differences to take out eren #also ymir being in love with king fritz was a bit of a weird thing to do but that's for another post #i think it spoke more to her just being that desperate for connection that she fell into an abusive relationship #but idk it could have been executed better esp because a lot of the 'romance' in AoT is weird #still i really enjoyed the finale tbh and i don't think we're supposed to be left feeling strictly one way about it #the fact that we're arguing over whether or not the finale was good is literally just proving isayama right ngl LOL #attack on titan #attack on titan finale #attack on titan spoilers #shingeki no kyojin #shingeki no kyojin finale #shingeki no kyojin spoilers #essay post #long post #tw genocide #tw war

[laundrybiscuits]

(wait for the season to come back to me tag)

It gets less strange, as time goes by. Eddie doesn’t make any kind of noise about him moving out at some point, and neither do Steve and Robin. Turns out they don't need to store any bodily fluids in the fridge, and in fact if Steve didn't know better, he wouldn't be able to tell that Eddie's drinking blood at all. Steve assumes he's getting animal blood from somewhere on a regular basis, but as far as either Steve or Robin can tell, he never takes it inside the apartment.

Anyway, it turns out Eddie can still technically eat human food, but about half of it tends to come back up afterwards. They’re still figuring out what works and what doesn’t. Robin made a little chart with smiley-face and frowny-face stickers, which Eddie has been gleefully filling out. He’s drawn little fangs onto the stickers with a Sharpie.

That’s another thing: to Steve’s mild surprise, Eddie and Robin have been getting along like a house on fire.

“I really wish I’d known him in high school,” says Robin, slicing bell peppers for dinner.  “I think it would’ve made Hawkins a lot more bearable.”

Steve doesn’t really remember Eddie at all from school, which is probably a really good thing.

He can’t imagine the guy he was back then being this obsessed with Eddie. Well, no, that’s not true. He can imagine it, but he’d have been such a jackass about it. Probably would’ve fucked a few girls about it. Maybe would’ve even bullied Eddie about it.

“Did you come out to him yet?” Steve asks Robin.

Robin leans all the way out the kitchen door, practically horizontal. Steve grabs the back of her belt so she doesn’t overbalance. “Hey! Hey, Eddie!” she yells.

“What, Buckley!” he yells back.

“I’m gay!”

“Cool, me too!”

She lets Steve’s grip swing her back in, grinning. “Your turn, dingus.”

Steve’s going to. He is. The longer he waits, the more awkward it gets. He’s got nothing to lose. He—

Robin takes him by the shoulders, spins him around, and pushes him out into the living room.

“Uh,” he says. “I’m—bisexual.”

Eddie actually does, like, a full-body twitch; his eyebrows climb practically to his hairline for a second, and he sets down his book.

“I’m…very proud of you? Thank you for telling me?”

“Why are you being weirder about me than Robin,” says Steve, annoyed.

“Because you’re being weirder about it than Robin was! I don’t know, I don’t have a lot of practice with, uh, this. Also, Robin was a band geek who dressed like Annie Hall, and you were—popular.” He draws out popular like it’s got three key changes in it, waving his hands in the air.

“Yeah, okay,” Steve huffs. “Sorry I wasn’t, like, alternative enough to be a real queer.”

“No, c’mon, Steve, I didn’t mean it like that. I accept you! Buckley, get in here and accept Steve with me.”

“Ste-eve Harrington,” Robin sings out, wandering out of the kitchen to wrap her arms around Steve’s waist. “We accept you and your beautiful bisexual soul.”

“Thanks,” says Steve dryly.

Eddie points at him. “Feel accepted.”

“I feel accepted,” Steve says; daring, he holds out an arm, and Eddie hops up to let Steve pull him into the hug too.

“Good,” says Eddie into Steve’s shoulder. “You should be.”

#steddie #fic: wait for the season to come back to me #I'd been slogging through angst and complaining about it #and today I was like. but what if I didn't tho. #what if I just wrote about the vaguely weird coming-out you do when you spend most of your time in queernormative spaces #and you already kind of know about the other person even if nothing's been officially confirmed #I've literally said 'samesies' to a coming-out bc I'm the woooorst #the other day a straight friend asked me 'when did you come out' #and I was like...this morning. yesterday. last year. twenty years ago. #also I feel I have been focusing too much on the pathos of this story and not enough on vampire shenanigans #I'm making the executive decision not to care about tonal shifts

[crispycreambacon]

I'm a bit frustrated with myself right now

#tw vent #anxiety inducing #vent #vent art #maybe i do have executive dysfunction #i'm just so mad and upset at myself and i want to cry but at the same time i don't feel anything #eugh #i just wish i didn't have a-levels to prepare for #this is supposed to be a break. this is supposed to be a holiday. #i can't wait to get out of here #executive dysfunction #undiagnosed adhd #<- maybe. i really don't know. i really don't know :(

[clarabow-mp3]

what has ruined the mcu in my opinion is that i feel like they used to have creative people make the movies they wanted to make with a few tiny little notes from one guy with a plan about characters or events or concepts they should briefly mention and now they feel like they were made entirely by executives who just crunched the numbers on what made the most money and shit out movie after movie after movie desperately asking "do you like this?? is this what you like???? you like doctor strange right what if we put doctor strange in this movie will you like it will you go see it will you give us money please please please give us money". and i will not because they're not making movies anymore they're making content.

#gotg 3 was such a welcome departure bc they let james gunn tell a story. about CHARACTERS. which is somehow an insane and revolutionary idea #if i'm honest as much as i hate to say it bc i really love it it feels like a lot of this came from eternals flopping #both commercially AND critically like it didn't make much money but it was also their first rotten movie on rotten tomatoes #for the first time in a little while they took a risk on an auteur with a distinct style they let her change up the formula ever so slightl #and for the most part she made the movie she wanted to make and it was a colossal failure the likes of which they'd never really seen befor #and instead of realising that a) it was 2020 no movies were doing well and b) it's okay to have a divisive movie sometimes #they panicked. and now we're stuck with focus group executive ai movies.

[dazais-guardian-angel]

I'm finding it difficult to reconcile the fact that what I've always wanted and envisioned for Nikolai and his relationship with Fyodor based on fanworks and the very very little canon information we've had to go off of so far, will very likely be very different from what we actually get.

While I understand the appeal of Fyodor taking over Nikolai's body via his blood ability, and the inherent, romantic, ironic tragedy of that — for Nikolai, the person who yearned for freedom, to meet an end by having his soul eternally trapped in the body of the person he loved the most, while Fyodor lives on in his body, never truly knowing how much he was adored by him — I would just hate the idea of that happening now? It just feels far, far too soon for Nikolai to be dead, for his character to no longer have a role or a purpose; his mind and behavior is so utterly fascinating in all its bizarre contradictions, there's so much more to explore and discover with him, he's one of BSD's most complex characters, or at least he's set up to be, and I really hope Asagiri wouldn't throw him away this soon without doing anything more with him.

I never really thought that Nikolai would be the one to end Fyodor for good, way down the line (that can only ever be Dazai's job, to me, since he's his foil), but I always imagined he'd at least have some kind of role in attempting to kill him, since that's his ultimate wish. I imagined that it would be ugly, frenzied, unhinged, desperate, Nikolai finally being forced to acknowledge the horrible truth that's always been buried within his subconscious but he's never wanted to accept: that going against all human reason and killing someone he cares so deeply for will not, in fact, simply make those feelings go away, and will instead make them unable to ignore in his despair. The realization that he'll always be chained to human emotions, to love, no matter how much he thinks he can be free of them. And then, the ensuing breakdown from that. Yes, it's extremely fanficky lmao, but that kind of drama makes sense to me for him and them. It's interesting.

There was also the angst angle of Fyodor being immortal, and Nikolai's agenda perhaps stemming from wanting to save him from that, and being able to finally free him from it in the same way he himself wants to be freed. Killing being the ultimate expression of love, not too dissimilar to Mushitarou killing Yokomizo, both putting on an act of being hateful/vengeful/hostile towards the other in order to cope with the fact that deep down they can't bear the thought of them being gone.

But then we got Fyodor's "death" here, and Nikolai's reaction to it was so unbelievably underwhelming and calm that it made me question everything I thought I knew about Asagiri's writing skills him, and what the story is going for with him. And combined with this revelation now that Fyodor is (unsurprisingly!) immortal, but specifically in the way that he can be killed but supposedly resurrects endlessly (which I really like in of itself, don't get me wrong)... it makes me question what exactly Nikolai knows, or will know, and it somewhat destroys the potential angst we could get with them in the end, or at least drastically changes it.

If Nikolai already knows Fyodor can't be killed, that means we'll never get a moment where he tries to kill him and then has to face the fact that he did the deed and it didn't make him feel freed, and he instantly regrets it. It also means we'd never get a moment where he tries to kill him and then discovers he can't truly die, and the ensuing insanity that would occur from that. It also makes me even question the legitimacy of his reaction to Fyodor's "death" here... was it so damn apathetic and lukewarm because he already knows it wasn't permanent? I mean, I'd like an explanation for it feeling so ooc, it would make me feel better about that, but I can't deny that it would be disappointing to have yet another part of this arc that was just an act and not genuine feelings....

Now, that isn't to say that it's impossible to do anything interesting with Nikolai already knowing the truth. He could be wishing to try to attain free will through the illogical pursuit of an impossible task: in this case, killing Fyodor. There's a beautiful, tragic paradox in him wishing to attempt something to gain his freedom that he and we know is impossible, especially if subconsciously he takes solace in the fact that he'd be able to kill Fyodor without actually losing him for good. If Nikolai doesn't already know, assuming he's not dead he's likely going to find out the truth soon when he next sees Fyodor alive and kicking — I can't imagine a way he wouldn't find out. In that case, we wouldn't get the aforementioned scenario where he tries to kill him and discovers it's futile, which is the most juicy to me I won't lie, but I am still fascinated by the idea of how Nikolai will respond just seeing him suddenly alive again and having to process this after having just mourned him. It's interesting to imagine how he might respond to and treat Fyodor after at last knowing how it truly felt to lose him, and realizing how much he didn't want that, and then suddenly having him back. It might cause him to finally understand that his desire for freedom is unobtainable, and cause him to spiral, and fundamentally change their relationship going forward. An eventual tragic end for him such as Fyodor taking over his body would not feel out of place to me in that case, perhaps, but still not until we've had more time to see Nikolai reflect and see his possible change in perspectives.

I don't know, I'm just rambling at this point lmao. I know very well that so much of my expectations and desires for Nikolai and Fyolai are built up from fan content over the years just because there's been nothing else to work with, and that it's unfair to judge what Asagiri decides to do with him/them based on preconceived notions. Whatever he does could still be interesting in the end, even if it's not what I initially wanted or expected, and being open to being surprised is always a good thing. At the end of the day we still know barely anything about Nikolai, so it's not completely fair for me to judge something as ooc for a character we still know so little about.

But... it's because we know so little about him and have gotten so little of him, that at the very least, I'm gonna be really upset if he does die here from being possessed by Fyodor like people are worrying about. I really don't think he will, because I'm pretty confident the helicopter pilot is the one Fyodor swapped with/resurrected in the body of as per soup's theory, and again I'm not saying it wouldn't be fitting eventually... but I really don't want it to happen now. :/ I just think Nikolai still has so much potential as a character and so much more we need to see of him before his likely inevitable and tragic demise (however it happens), so whatever Asagiri decides to do with him I just really, really hope we don't lose him so prematurely; it would honestly be such a tremendous waste imo.

#bungou stray dogs #bsd 114 #is this meta? i don't know #more like just incoherent rambling lmao #i just don't want Nikolai to die man....... I really don't #i get that people are hyped up on the juicy tragedy of it all but plssssssss it's too soon for him to go #we need so much more of the enigmatic clown...... he's too interesting to lose just yet!!! #i'm sad at probably losing the outcomes i always hoped for him and fyolai but right now i just want More Of Him #he can't die so soon when he's barely even had pagetime #it COULD be fascinating to see Fyodor's reaction to taking over his body but....... i don't think he'd /have/ any right now #they need more time together before one of them dies #i always thought/hoped Fyodor would die first and Nikolai would be left alone to angst lmao but ugh........ #now it's really feeling like it'll be the opposite #which again doesn't HAVE to be a bad thing depending on how Asagiri executes it........ I just think this is way too soon for it to happen #i'm gonna be so mad if Nikolai just dies offscreen without us ever hearing from him again because Fyodor possessed his body #poetically cruel and tragic? yes. but also so anticlimactic at this moment in time #never getting to hear from him again......... #ugh i blame all the Fyolai fan creators; they've raised the bar too high 😭😭😭 #idk maybe i'm just talking out of my ass though. i probably am. i just feel conflicted about all this and need to see where it goes

[guqin-and-flute]

BRAIN HACKING VIA POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT OF QUICK DOPAMINE REQUEST:

I have begun writing in PtL Are You Here To Stop Me again in a way that makes me optimistic that it will continue fairly easily. Headpat please.

#i need brain to WORK WITH ME and see this as a quick way to get feel good chemicals as opposed to a frustrating wrestle with words 🤦 #we do what we can you know #but i now have an optimal set up of comfort and quiet with a desk for snacks (!!!) and a very clicky mechanical keyboard #for sensory happiness #so I'm hoping that that helps make it easier to lure my executive functions out #to trap them under a box #my stuff

[perilegs]

do even half the bg3 players think about, or at the bare minimum, read/listen to anything said in the game. ever.

#ive seen people mad bc they're convinced patch 6 made durgetash canon. it literally did not. did you see what was added to it? #that sounds like a take from someone who has not played the game #tbh. i'm going to get executed for this. but astarion fans especially feel like they a) have not pleyed the game which is true for a lot of #them b) have not listened to a word he's said and just project their own fantasy onto them #''i can't be whay you want to see in me'' #bg3 critical #this is beyond fanon. at this point i'm just guessing those with the loudest opinions have not explored the game. at all. #sorry for the typos im on mobile so i can't edit tags 😔

[ifmagicexists]

there's something that bothers me so much whenever i read or see magic reveal concepts that involve "i'm more mad you lied to me than i am about the magic how could you keep such a big secret from me" and i finally realized its because it feels so. dismissive of merlin's struggle? him having to watch people with magic be arrested or executed or burned day after day after day, to listen to the people closest to him so casually refer to it as evil, as though that were an unquestionable fact, having to live every single day less and less sure he could ever be accepted after hiding so long and seeing so much.

like in general but esp as a queer person, seeing these takes that make a magic reveal just about "why didn't you tell me don't you trust me" when actually the characters did not really give merlin much reason to trust they would be accepting (and in fact often in their very reactions demonstrate exactly why he was hesitant), and even if they had he lives!!! in a place where it is literally illegal!!!! like it is so frustrating to constantly see these perspectives where arthur or the knights angrily question why merlin couldn't tell them and merlin just being silent in response, when its so beyond clear how difficult a position merlin was in.

merlin is almost never the main character in his own magic reveal scenarios beyond just worrying about the other person liking him again, and while i get why that is, since its the other person's perspective shifting usually, its still frustrating because its meant to be a culmination of his life's struggle and finally a full realization and acceptance of himself, and i wish we could see more of that: more of merlin's own messy emotions towards having to hide for so long, over fearing his own friends, over suppressing who he is, over getting used to being open about it for the first time in his entire life.

#bbc merlin #merlin #arthur pendragon #knights #this post is not aimed at anyone or anything in particular #and i hope i'm not coming off aggressively or anything #but its just a very common trend i've noticed and have been kind of frustrated over #also i mentioned arthur and the knights in the post cause they're usually the ones i see this with #weirdly gwen often just unquestioningly accepts merlins magic despite the fact that her father literally being executed for it combined wit #-morgana's betrayal would probably leave her with some complicated feelings about magic as a whole #gee i wonder why it is that her reaction is just skimmed over as easy 🤔 #anyway that's a Whole Other post the point here is #i want more of everyone realizing how hard it was for merlin #and more of merlin realizing how hard it was on himself #instead of reveal fics that almost always involve merlin comforting arthur/the other person #like there's a place for those but it just rubs me the wrong way given the whole setup #and how analogous magic is to queerness #res rambles

[thewhizzyhead]

okay but AJR'S new song "Yes I'm A Mess" is one of their coolest concepts to date cause like, AJR has been hyping up the chorus for a long while now and from the frequently tiktoked verses "I could hate my guts when the sun comes up but I like myself like this" and the overall tune of the chorus, the most common impression on the song is that it's a song about the brothers "blowing up their lives" through partying and all that because they "like themselves like this". Basically it's your "wooo let's fucking party song" but in the perspective of them using it as a means of escape in a way. This impression is confirmed with the release of the full song whose lyrics include them wanting to quit their jobs and start over ("I'm in it now, I'm in it now, could I start again somehow?)

And of course, the theme of wanting to escae start over and becoming what you like yourself to be even if you make yourself into a mess is something quite relatable especially for young adults right? So that concept is good in it of itself but what makes this song so much fucking different IS HOW AJR FLIPS IT BY THE BRIDGE. By the time Jack sings "I could hate my guts when the sun comes up but I guess that's what this is. I like myself like this", there is a layer of acknowledged resignation that them blowing up their lives and escaping in the interest of starting over and "liking themselves" is something that's not that all good AND THAT POINT IS ESTABLISHED WITH HOW THE SONG ENDS - WITH THE OUTRO BEING ALL SLOWED DOWN AND REVERBED AS IF THE PARTY IS STOPPING AND YOU'RE COMING DOWN FROM YOUR EUPHORIC PARTY HIGHS.

This part especially took a lot of people off guard because they simply weren't expecting this shift of tempo to happen in a song marketed as a partying fun song and holy shit that's the whole point! The constant escape for a new and clean slate through indulging yourself into becoming someone you like to the point of self sabotage won't ever end up well - cause sooner or later, the tempo will turn slow, verses will be slurred, and the fun beat and whistles will stop. And for a band who prides upon having their songs be fun to dance to while being relatable in its woes of having to grow up and wanting to escape that, holy fuck is that an amazing point to make.

#look i'll be fucking honest i wish ajr was a bit more descriptive when it came to their lyricism #because i like how they play around with lyrics and additional context through lyrics is always nice for me #but i applaud their new direction nonetheless because right now ajr is playing around with concept execution #and yes i'm a mess just basically 110% confirmed that for me #i had a feeling that their newest album was gonna head to this direction given how vastly different the prod is #and the singles they've released so far seemed a lot more personal too #so yea if the rest of the album continues this pattern of being this conceptually smart #then my all time favorite album Neotheater might have a strong contender #cause like damn yes i'm a mess may not boast of smart wordplay and the like but goddamn does it carry a unique concept #and how the concept is executed is well done too especially that break down at the end aaa #anyways stream yes i'm a mess by ajr and all their other songs woo #ajr #yes i'm a mess #the maybe man

[rosepompadour]

Their pink-papered bedrooms were furnished with thick carpets and ivory-painted furniture. As the sisters grew up, icons, paintings and photographs went up along the walls, and frilly dressing tables were installed. Fashion magazines that Tatiana ordered from all over Russia and from abroad covered night tables. The princesses took warm baths at night with perfumed bath water from Coty, and they scattered jewelry cases, manicure sets, and combs and brushes on their vanities. The blankets on their beds were adorned with their initials, and their wardrobes were filled with matching pink velvet kokoshniki encrusted with bows. It was all so much typical, girlish ephemera, but to the public, the four Romanov sisters remained as beautiful and inaccessible as storybook princesses.

#historyedit #historicwomendaily #romanovedit #otmaedit #otma #the romanovs #history #* #i just finished the latest season of the crown (late to the party!) and they did NOT have to go that hard with the execution scene #it made me feel so ill #my mom was like 'oh they won't show it besides it's too soon!' #and i'm swinging my post-work glass of wine all 'they're literally going into the basement right now! AS WE SPEAK!' #mom: 'is the basement bad?!' #me: 'the basement is TERRIBLE!' #i heard the gunfire start and i just tossed back my wine like 🍷

[child-of-hurin]

.

I'm 50% into My year of rest and relaxation and the question is: when does this book get provoking/disturbing/interesting/the vehicle of at least a single original or inspired aesthetic effect

#i suppose this author gets more disturbing in her later books? but is there anything about /this/ book that is at all beyond commonplace? #beside the insipid execution -- everything about body image falls short of convincing me it is intended as irony and instead paints an #uncomfortably persistent image of the author as a truly pathetic person -- not a feeling i enjoy at all in any media form #normally a boring book can't affect me -- in this case i'm having such a hard time connecting this author's fame with the actual work #like prose-wise structure-wise image-wise there is nothing here that i can see... A matter of taste for sure. Truly I can't reach it #dr tuttle the only character in this book worth anything to my reader experience. save me dr tuttle #inane post #reading