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wordbunch · 1 year

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You’re in the Fellowship and the Hobbits have a crush on you...

a/n: lol there’s no explanation for this, just a cutesy idea that came to me. yes I know I’m still not finished with my Legolas story 😅 no warnings here, just fluff and chaos 💛 (the reader here is human/elf/dwarf/anything but a hobbit for extra fascination 😆) lemme know how you liked it! 😘

+ tagging @starlady66 as requested

For starters let's just (re)establish one thing: being subtle and lowkey is not something any of them vibe with (except sometimes Frodo)

If you're an Elf, Sam would be infatuated with you beyond words. You would just be talking about something and he'd stare with the biggest heart eyes, and then blush furiously either when one of his friends point it out, or when you make eye contact with him - he'd be so red in the face

Oftentimes he would ask you lots of questions with genuine curiosity, and you would be more than happy to answer, whether it's about historical events, songs and stories, customs of your own race, your travels... Anything, and he wants to know it all

Whenever he cooks for the fellowship, you (after Frodo, of course) get the most delicious piece of whatever he made, you caught on it fairly quickly

Many times the Hobbits will talk about you (only the best, of course), but they would be unaware of how loud they're being, and you would hear so many adorable comments and try not to giggle

"Did you see how [y/n] fought off that orc?!"

Frodo would enjoy engaging with you in meaningful, deep conversations, and you think he's wonderful to talk to, yet the spark in his eyes gives him away. And sometimes he has a little smile on his face, no matter what you talk about, he just enjoys talking to you and having your full attention 🥺

wait hold up, Sam would give you random flowers he found along the way, or he would just show you and teach you about many different plants

Like I said, Frodo would be the most lowkey of all of them, but you picked up easily on his mannerisms and you can now read him like a book

You have a great knowledge of Middle-earth and he often wants to consult with you when trying to make a decision where to go next

You yourself are very protective of the four Hobbits and just have a soft spot for all of them, you like to ruffle their curly hair and sometimes tell them a legend or sing an ancient song as they go to sleep

They all love to stay close to you when you're walking over long distances, especially Frodo and Pippin

Firstly, they feel safe with you, secondly, they enjoy your company

You try to always reassure them in little ways

You always always always have a snack or a piece of candy in your pocket for any of them 🤫

You practice sword fighting with Frodo a lot, you're very concerned for his safety, of course

Sometimes that would make the other 3 just a tiny bit jealous, and then of course you'd have to do it with everyone

Gandalf had known you for a while and trusts you, therefore, all four Hobbits trust you completely

Merry is super loud and boisterous around you, shamelessly trying to get your attention, and then keep it for as long as possible

He likes to act all brave and tough when you get attacked by orcs, but more times than not you ended up saving him

Merry is definitely the boldest when it comes to openly complimenting you, and he's very dramatic about it also

In comparison to him, Sam can sometimes feel extra shy and inadequate, but you make sure to let him know you appreciate him and what he does and says

He's just as important!!!!

Sam would tell Frodo that he's crushing on you (not like it's hard to tell...) and when Frodo says he's having the same feelings, Sam immediately wants to back out but Frodo is like "you really think [y/n] would end up with either of us?"

Merry and Pippin enjoy telling you stories of their mischievous adventures so much, and they exaggerate stuff so much in order to make themselves seem cooler

You think they're unbelievably fun either way

So, Pippin is canonically the smallest and youngest and you have an EXTRA soft spot for him, and also he's the most painfully obvious about his crush

He's always sooo embarrassed when Gandalf is strict with him because you can also hear the wizard's reprimands of the young Hobbit

He blushes furiously and he gives you a sad baby look and you always reassure him that "accidents can happen to anyone" and "Gandalf can just be grumpy like that, it's not your fault"

More than once he instinctively hid behind you in a dangerous situation

Sometimes for safety he likes to hold the hem of your cloak and fiddle with it as you walk - helps him get his mind off of all the impending dangers

The other 3 Hobbits would relentlessly make fun of him for being so obvious but he doesn't care in the slightest

Many times when you were alone on the night watch, one of the Hobbits just happened to be unable to sleep and would keep you company instead

Once during the night watch Merry was hanging out with you and laughed so loudly at something you said that half of the fellowship woke up and wanted to strangle him

Especially in those late hours Frodo likes to confide in you and even talk about his dreams and visions that you try to interpret together

You teach Sam about the stars and constellations and phases of the moon

Almost every time Pippin joins you on the night watch, he ends up falling asleep like hugging you around your legs as you stand alert or something (i diagnose him with BABY)

He very much loves to give you cool rocks that he gathers on the way

If any of the Hobbits has an unpleasant dream that wakes them up, they come to you, you just have the calming protective energy (and candy in your pockets, when you think about that...)

If only one of them had a crush on you, it would be a lot to handle, let alone FOUR

But they're so cute that you just can't dismiss them or ignore them ever

And maybe all that lovely chaos is a good distraction from everything bad happening around you

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that-ari-blogger · 2 months

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The Wizard Is Right? (Sentimental Man)

Here is a question: Does a lie have to be untrue for it to be a lie?

I was to say something, fully believing it to be false, and then find out later that it was actually true and I didn't realise it, am I still lying?

I would argue that the answer is yes. A lie is a willing act of deception. But it's interesting how flimsy the relationship between the concept of truth and reality is.

The Wizard Of Oz is a character who lies through his teeth at all times, with one exception that we will come to in a later post. However, a lot of what he says ends up coming true anyway.

Let me explain.

SPOILERS AHEAD: (Wicked)

Let's be clear about something. The Wizard is not a politician, he's a conman. That is the point of his character. Oz as a whole parodies the performative nature of rulership, how it is often just as much about convincing people that you are doing a good job than actually making changes for the better.

The joke therein, is that this conman got further than anyone who is trained in the field by playing the system how it actually works, rather than how it should function.

So, no, I am not going to draw any conclusions about individuals in the real world, historical or modern. Likewise, I am not going to claim that the Wizard is an allegory for anyone in particular.

Take that as you will.

As we have been making our way through Wicked, we have been introduced to characters with varying relationships with the truth. Elphaba's mother is having an affair, Galinda and Fiyero are both putting up masks to cover up their true selves, and Elphaba has bought in to the mythology of the wizard.

Then we meet a character who is pure deceit in a crystalised form, Oscar Zoroaster Phadrig Isaac Norman Henkle Emmannuel Ambroise Diggs, the Wizard of Oz.

"I am a sentimental man Who always longed to be a father"

The word sentimental is defined by the Cambridge Dictionary as: "related to feelings rather than reason", and the wizard is certainly not that, because he isn't from Oz at all. He was unwillingly plucked from his true home and placed in Oz, a place that was in the midst of a history defining drought. He remained in Oz for a while before he became the Wizard, and he had no interest in returning home at all.

He also, I will remind you, runs a country based on constant surveillance and propaganda, which is a very detached approach.

The wizard knows all of this, he is complicit in it, so he is lying here, right?

But, he is sentimental, and for that I point to the acting. In the version of Wicked that I went to see, the wizard was played by Simon Burke, who gave the character a vibe similar to Matt Smith's 11th doctor. He is enjoying being in power and taking actions that sabotage the future of Oz in order to stay in power. That doesn't seem reasonable to me.

There is also the fact that his idea of crisis aversion is "giving people a common enemy", something he achieves by actively oppressing a specific group of people. This is bigotry and shows a belief on his part that this group of people is somehow less valuable to Oz, which is irrational, and bigoted.

The frightening thing about Oz, is that I don't think he actually knows why he does what he does. I think he thinks of himself as a chess master style ruler, who makes the optimal decision for Oz at all times. I don't think it has occurred to him that the most optimal decision is to not be the one in charge.

The rest of this song is a metaphor about how the wizard sees himself as the father of his country, and by extension Elphaba. This is what those in the business like to call irony.

I that the effect that the wizard has on Elphaba is fascinating. He inspires her. Although it is important to make a distinction between his mirage and his reality. The Wizard has lied to Oz and sold them an idea of fairness and equality that he is going out of his way to enforce the opposite of.

But that myth that he has created directly inspires Elphaba, as she becomes someone determined to make that false hope into a reality.

Final Thoughts

I think its rather funny that the Wizards' lies become self fulfilling prophecies, directly causing events later on in the story. It's like fate itself has this guy's number and sent him a text during the intermission that read "I know where you live."

In related news, the wizard's actual name is Oscar Zoroaster Phadrig Isaac Norman Henkle Emmannuel Ambroise Diggs, which is absurd, even for a satire.

Next week, I will be looking at a lesser known part of this musical. it's a small song and not that important, I was considering skipping over it. I think its called Defying Gravity. So, stick around if that interests you.

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#rants #literary analysis #literature analysis #character analysis #what's so special about...?#wizard of oz #wicked the musical #wicked #wicked 2024 #wicked wizard of oz

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dakotakazansky · 11 months

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Ghost • Fourteen

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Warnings: 18+, Fluff, Angst, lots of Dumb Bitch Juice, Some Smut Pairings: Jake ‘Hangman’ Seresin x OC & Javy ‘Coyote’ Machado x OC Word Count: 2,043

Kota

It's just after 3 PM and Jake and I stopped at a local gas station before starting our 5-6 hour drive to North Island. With snacks in hand we start our trip deciding we'll stop for dinner once we get into North Island. We roll the windows down, and turn on the local country radio station. With warm California air overwhelming our senses, and country music up loud, we are both in our happy place, being with each other.

"You know Kazansky, I'd have never pegged you to be the country music listening kinda girl." I chuckle lightly to him, "Well I'm sorry to disappoint." He snaps his head in my direction, "Disappoint? Oh darlin' no, that just makes you that much more perfect." We laugh in unison before I jokingly say, "Ay, eyes on the road cowboy!"

After about an hour of driving and singing along to the radio like fools, I stick my hand out of the window and allow myself to feel the drag of the wind against my hand. I make my hand go against the wind like an airplane and let the wind pull my hand up like a plane taking off. I hear Jake laugh, assuming he looked over to see what I was doing or checking his mirrors and caught me acting like a kid. Without looking at him while being fascinated by the wind I say, "Let me know if you want me to take over driving Cowboy." He places his hand against my knee and gives a soft squeeze, "Will do darlin', but I'm good for now, maybe in an hour or so."

After about another hour goes by I can tell by Jake's body language that he's getting a little antsy about driving. "Hey why don't we stop here at this Historic Park that's coming up in about 10 mins, we can get out, stretch our legs, walk around for a little bit and then I can take over driving the rest of the way?" I watch him let out a soft sigh of relief, "Kota you're a blessing." I nudged his side, "Thanks for finally noticing!" I joke with him.

We approach Fort Tejón State Historic Park, and we hop out of the truck. We stretch our legs by walking a short way on one of the trails before we return to the truck. I jump into the driver side, while Jake happily gets into the passenger side, but slides all the way over the bench seat to be right next to me. "Sorry Cowboy." I say as I adjust his mirrors to my height. "Next time remind me to get you a booster seat, so you'll leave my damn mirrors alone." He jokes back at me. I push him away, "Damn that's a cheap shot Cowboy! Plus you wouldn't be able to handle me sitting taller than you anyways." I joke back.

We begin the rest of our drive down to North Island, at this rate it'll be almost 10 or 11 PM when we get there. I've got one hand on the wheel and the other is resting on the back of the bench seat. Jake leans over to lay his head on my shoulder. I start running my fingers through his hair knowing it's something very comforting to him.

Before I know it he's out like a light. I reach over to the controls on the wheel to turn our loud music down so he can rest easy. I'm glad I'm the one currently driving, because from how quickly it took him to fall asleep, he probably didn't sleep much last night. Did he just not sleep well or could he have been worrying about me too much to sleep last night. I think to myself some more and assume it was because of worrying about me, it would explain why he was awake as soon as I rolled over last night.

I can't help but adore the man leaning against my shoulder. I think back on everything he and I have been through, and wonder if maybe Tate was right, maybe I should make the first move, or well second at this point. I start to feel him stir beside me, and continue to run my fingers through his hair, sometimes lightly scratching his scalp. I begin to hum along to the songs on the radio, and at some points even softly sing along. Jake calms back down and we finish the drive to North Island.

I softly shake him after I put the car in park outside of the base housing office, since we both have to go in to get our keys. "Hey cowboy, we're at the housing office, let's go get our keys and head home for the night." He wakes up, and we go inside to grab our keys and get our address, and keys and get back in the truck. I drive us to our new home for the next three and a half months.

I help Jake into the house, and get him to the bedroom. "Hey, why don't you go ahead and go to bed. I'm not tired yet, I'll start bringing in the lighter boxes, starting with the blankets and bedding." He nods sleepily, and decides to go wash up in the bathroom while I grab the box full of bedding. I start putting the sheet on the bed, and he finishes washing up, and helps me get the other side of the sheet on the bed, I then toss him my pillows from my bed, and my blanket and we get those situated.

He climbs into bed, "Kota make sure you come to bed soon, don't try to be the hero and get everything unloaded tonight." I chuckle at him, "Don't worry Cowboy, I'll be up soon." He looks at me sleepily, "You promise, because I really want my Kota snuggles." I look down at him, "Yes cowboy I promise, don't try to stay awake just for me, you need sleep." He nods against the pillow closing his eyes. I leave the room and start unloading the light boxes and bringing them into the house. I save the heavy ones, and the unpacking of the boxes for us tomorrow.

I quietly walk back into the bedroom, and look over at the man finally sleeping peacefully in bed, and smile. I go to wash my face and change into some pjs in the bathroom to try not to disturb him with the lights. I crawled into bed next to him and you'd have thought this man was a heat seeking missile, because as soon as I got in bed, while still asleep, he pulled me in tightly to him.

—

The following morning we woke up, and decided to go out to get some breakfast since all our belongings were still packed up and we wanted to eat before unpacking since we accidentally skipped dinner. We eventually ended up at a little coffee shop near the base, called Clayton's Coffee Shop. Jake and I each order the 2 egg breakfast combo with ham for me and bacon for him. We split an order of the Strawberry Shortcake Waffles.

Once we've finished breakfast we go back home and start unloading the rest of the boxes from his truck. We spend the rest of the morning and some of the afternoon unloading and unpacking the boxes and getting our house set up. We stand in the middle of the open concept living room/dining room/ kitchen area and just feel proud of ourselves. "I can't believe one how quickly we got all of this done, but two, holy shit we made it to Top Gun." I say to Jake. "Honestly it feels like a dream come true." Jake says back to me.

"Well should we go explore a little bit around the base since it's only Thursday and Top Gun doesn't start until Monday?" He grabs the keys off the counter, "You don't have to ask me twice! Let's go explore the town of our new home for the next three and a half months!" We both run out to the truck, and begin to just drive around town becoming familiar with where all the grocery and drug stores are, where the NEX's are, and all the restaurant and coffee shops are.

During our exploration of the town, we found where the Hard Deck was and I remember my parents and Uncle Mav talking so much about this bar. Jake and I took a break from exploring to go sit on the beach and just listen to the sounds of the waves. I got a text message from Tate, saying that they'd be here within the next hour. I told her Jake and I explored a little bit and then texted her a photo from where Jake and I were sitting on the beach.

I sat on the beach hugging my knees to my chest, while I was glad to be here with Jake, I was really saddened by the fact that I had dreamt of this moment with Bradley by my side, we had always talked about one day going to Top Gun together. I guess Jake could tell something was amiss because he wrapped an arm around my shoulder pulling me closer to him, "You okay Kota?" He questions.

"Yeah I'm okay, just thinking about how being at Top Gun was a dream that Bradley and I had together." I say looking at Jake.

"I'm sorry Kota, when's the last time you spoke to him?" He begins rubbing my arm softly.

"Oh, like an actual conversation, many years ago, but I do try to text him for the holidays, or birthdays, or tell him I'm there for him when the anniversary of his parents' deaths comes around." I say sighing, missing Bradley, so I take the photo I had sent to Tate and send it to Brad too, with the caption, ‘Remember when we dreamt of this moment’.

I knew better than to expect a message back from him, he seemed to only message me back on the holidays I guess to be nice. Jake and I sat in silence for a little while longer and just let ourselves for once lose track of time. We were eventually interrupted by Jake's phone ringing. "It's Javy." He said looking down at his phone. "I think we're about to get roped into helping them unpack." I say laughing.

Jake answers the phone and the conversation went as such:

Jake: Hello

Javy: Hey man, what are you and my little buddy Ghost up to?

Jake: Nothing really, we're still just sitting at the beach.

Javy: Would you both mind coming to help Tate and I unpack? Tate in the background: Pleeeeease?!

Jake: (laughing) Only if you guys buy us dinner and beers.

Javy: Done deal, I'll text you the address, we're pulling up there soon.

Jake: Sounds good man, we'll leave as soon as we get the address.

Javy: Thanks guys, we really owe you.

Jake: No problem man, we'll see you soon.

—

Jake stands up as his phone goes off again, and reaches out his hand to help me up. We walk back over to his truck and make our way over to Tate and Javy's new place. We savored the ride over to their house, as it would be our last little bit of peace and quiet until we finished helping Tate and Javy unpack.

I think to myself, come on Kota this could be your chance to tell him how you feel. I try to put on my brave big girl pilot pants, and begin, "Hey Cowboy?" Jake looks over to me for just a second before returning his eyes to the road, "Yeah?" I rub my hands on my thighs to try to calm my nerves but ultimately chicken out of what I really wanted to say, and instead said, "Thanks for earlier, you know, comforting me while we sat on the beach." He reached over to give my knee a little squeeze, "Of course Darlin', I'm always gonna be there for you."

I melt at him calling me Darlin', I could never get tired of that. We go back to our comfortable ambiance of low volume country music and waves crashing. I beat myself up mentally, Damn it Kota you chicken, you should've just told him.

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wanderer-on-the-steppe · 11 months

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Songs about the Khmelnytsky uprising, part 2: Гей, браття козаки

youtube

(The video should start at 49:33 automatically - but if it doesn't, that's where the song can be found.)

This is one of my personal favourites. Not only for the beautiful music (though that doubtlessly is a reason ;)), but also because it is based on a 19th century poem by Stepan Rudansky (Степан Руданський) which is highly interesting with regard to later perceptions of the uprising.

For, while some songs written by contemporaries for contemporaries are so full of references to specific events that one has to have some background knowledge - or one just doesn't understand what the singer is talking about -, this one's so timeless, one wouldn't even know for sure which rebellion it is about if it wasn't originally called "Khmelnytsky's song" (Пісня Хмельницького) before it became known by its first few words: Гей, браття-козаки...

Which gives readers, as well as singers and their audiences, some interesting choices how to interpret the song. It is of course perfectly plausible to assume that the person inciting the Cossacks to rebellion here is Khmelnytsky himself, and, when he reminds them that they are just as strong as their ancestors, and have sabres and horses just like them, he could refer to even earlier Cossack rebellions. At least one wouldn't be able to proof that this isn't all the author wanted to say. But it's just as possible to think of the ancestors as the participants of the Khmelnytsky uprising - and immediately the reminder to the Cossacks that they have horses and sabres just like them (and are therefore able to fill the graves in the steppe with the bones of their enemies once again!) gets quite a different meaning...

This second way of understanding the lyrics is made escpecially easy by the fact that the enemy is only referred to as such: by the generic word "enemy" (ворог). Songs about the Khmelnytsky uprising written by contemporaries that are really about its specific events and only about its specific events are usually quite clear as to who that enemy is: it's the Polish noblemen, and if you listen to two or three of these songs, you'll probably hear the word ляхи at least a dozen times ;) If a 19th century poem, by contrast, vaguely talks of "the enemy", this does stand out – especially if the message is all about teaching that enemy a lesson and defending the Cossacks’ freedom and dignity once again…

This song is also fascinating because it shows how much the perception of Khmelnytsky varied two hundred years after the uprising. Because on the one hand, there’s considerable criticism of the Treaty of Pereyaslav and its aftermath at this time – it’s even part of the famous poem by Pavlo Chubynsky (Павло Чубинський) that, in a modified version without these lines, was turned into the Ukrainian national anthem:

Ой Богдане, Богдане, славний наш гетьмане! Нащо віддав Україну москалям поганим?!

Oh Bohdan, Bohdan, our glorious hetman! / Why did you give Ukraine to the bad moskali?!

(And as a side note, this particular part of the poem never ceases to amaze me, because… it’s basically one line for flattering him, and one line for telling him he really messed up. Which sounds funny when one puts it like this, but – there’s undeniable skill in summing up the complicated relationship with a historical character this simply in just two lines of poetry.)

At the same time, recalling the Khmelnytsky uprising the way Rudansky does it has obvious subversive potential. It is used to remind the descendants of the rebels what they are capable of, and to warn the enemy about the consequences of “mocking Cossacks”. And the message, of course, is not confined to the 19th century: the reason that I linked this particular performance of the song – not just by this artist, but also from this one concert – is that it makes full use of the song’s potential even for today. Because the first time, the lyrics are sung in their original form – but at the end, when the singer repeats a few lines, he replaces that purposefully indistinct word “enemy” by who exactly it is nowadays…

#songs about the khmelnytsky uprising #ukrainian music #bohdan khmelnytsky #bohdan chmielnicki #taras kompanichenko #stepan rudansky #тарас компаніченко #степан руданський

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mydaroga · 1 year

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If you still feel like answering - 2, 3, 29 :)

Hello darling! Thanks for asking! I'm always interested in giving my opinion about anything really--I just never do usually when not asked because Tumblr is awkward and I'm chatty but insecure. (It took me a few days because I'm traveling by sailboat to deserted islands and many don't have cell service, go figure.)

2. Unpopular Paul opinion?

Oh man. I mean the popular opinion runs the gamut depending on who you talk to. One of the mysteries about this guy is that he's so polarizing. It's wild.

I guess the take I have that I see least represented in the literature AND fandom is that he's both marvelous and talented and doing his best BUT ALSO he's a bit ridiculous and can be difficult and a little cringe and both of those things are not only possible, but okay. Like he's not perfect or an angel but he's not a no-talent manipulative hack either (I'm being extreme, but I hope you get what I'm saying). There's this feeling in some zones where any critique of Paul or his work is somehow you being a hater, but for me his foibles are just as interesting as his lovely qualities, and I am a fan of the whole absurd package. He doesn't need me to defend him; I find him fascinating in part *because* he's complicated. When I say things like "wow he's ridiculous" or "what an insane thing for him to say" or "how can such a charming man be so bad at acting" it's out of love. But I've found nuanced takes on McCartney are few and far between.

3. Unpopular Ringo opinion?

Well the obvious one is that he's a great drummer, but that's only unpopular like forty years ago.

Ok I guess here's one--I love Ringo, I think he was exactly perfect for the Beatles, I hold him in high esteem. But I feel no need to look any further into him or his psyche. I feel no need to probe. He's what he needs to be and I'm not really interested *beyond* that.

Actually he'd probably be ok with that, because it means I'm actually normal about him.

29. Should Paul get to change the name order on the songs he wants?

I haven't given this much thought. But my gut reaction is actually...no. I don't really care why or how they reached the agreement they did (I mean I do care, but only out of a need for gossip) but it's the agreement they reached *while both parties were alive*. The other half of Lennon-McCartney can't renegotiate so he's S.O.L. as far as I'm concerned.

Anyone who actually cares enough can easily look it up and figure out who did what. Another Lennon-McCartney Original is a historical fact now and any effort to change that is a ret-con he needed to have taken care of before. I realize that there was very little chance of that under the circumstances, and no one knew there was a time limit on that negotiation, but there it is.

#thanks again!!#you know i live for these questions and any discussion #Beatles asks #the ask box #len gthwise #kris talks a lot

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speakyskelly-1999 · 3 months

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so i just watched pink floyd - the wall

fascinating piece

hard to recomend ngl cos it's a kinda heavy, i don't think the some of the content is for everyone

but

very good

i don;'t now how much i wanna give like a detailed review about it cos it's very abstract and up to interpritation which means it very revealing about a person when they analyse it and i'm not against that but like my main issue is that it would be so much effort to write all my thought/feelings about it down into a coherent review

like if i was to actually try i'd neeed correct spelling, gramma and punctuation to properly get everything across correctly

and i simply don't have time to do that at the minute

like maybe eventually but at the moment i literally don't have time

and like idk how much that would actually match the ton of this blog

instead

here are some random ish thoughts i had about the piece that are kinda funny

spoilers for the wall ahead and errr tw yonic imagery and discusions of facism

also i have boba, ignore how late i'm having caffine for me

so random funny thouight i had about the wall in no particular order cos i started listening to journey and i'm losingf my train of thought

so pink is played by bob geldof (who i always new as rod geldof idk whyyyy) and people make a point that he dosn't get to sing in teh film which is whatever to me rn but i do think it's funny that i think a tim curry version of this film would slay. like don't get me wrong i loved bob's proformace, it was great, but i also want a version with tim curry cos look

the second gif is very thematic

oh look it's dina from alice in wonderland

so anyway

can you tell i lreaned how gifs work

ehhehe

anyway

so theres a scene where pink is giving like a "fascist speach" to like his fans (it's complicated..... it's complicated) insead of the music concert he's giving and like all i could think about was andrew tate and taylor swift. weird i know. will i explain why eeeeeeeeh, it's hard to cos it's so abstrac and on the nose at the same time it's a really complicated explination but yea. andrew tate and taylor swft. oh and like also hitler cos thats what they were riffing off but like pop culture now wise tate and swift

theres a point when the "ghost" of pinks wife comes back to "haunt" him as a vigina monster and i thought this was the perfect moment to deepface jerma into the film as pink like look at him

he'd fit

he'd be a good pink

errrrrrr what else

oh not really funny but erm yea as someone who had parents who were into pink floyd and played another brick in the wall (cos like they were in school when the song came out so yea you'd deffo like the song then), listening to it without the visual element is a diservace to the song and it's meaning and then also not having the context of the stuff in the film leading up to this point, real diservice to the song. liike people still use this song today and with good-

WTF..... WONDER WOMAN?????????

-reason cos the education system is still fucked. But. ahdn hear me out. the way it's used in the film and with it's full context, people kinda miss use it today. like errrr it's rooted in it's historical setting (it's weird saying historical cos it was like errrrrrrrrr 50 years ago which for some people really isn't that long a go and like i don't view it as that long ago, but) the culture at the time si so diffrerent to now what like it dosen't work as the same anti school vibes as now.

like i kinda stated i'm not gonna go more into that but if you wanna get the vibes for your self watch the first 28ish minuets of the film (okay thats more than i thought it was but yea,) or watch the music video, the six minuet one, this one Another Brick in the Wall Pt. 2 (The Wall) - 1080p Remastered (youtube.com) 👍🏽 it's the exert from the fiml. theres some things that aren't explained by just the music video but the school bit that i'm on about mainly is

i can't remember anything else that i thought was funny so errr yea

cat break

over all i'd give this a errrrrrrrrrrrr 8/10. like i think it could have benifitted from being a little less abstract butr at the same time could it really be made less abstrat? i dunno. i'd recomend if you like this sort of thing. like british music from this time, pink floyd, political peice, abstraction, that kind of thing.

bye

ps you should watch foling ideas review of the nostalga critics parody of the wall, tis very good

#okay so like i will get round to rating thoes anime i need to #i've also like watched so many what i'm like suuuuuper behind #*pretends to tuck hair behind my ear cos my hair is too sort to do so and i'm being silly*#i think i have like mashle season 1 and the whoile of lucky star to do #fuck was my last one sailor moon s????#shiiiiiiiit #oh ooooooooh #i've finished 22 anime in that time #oooooh nooooooo #did i review the eva rebuild movies cos then thats four knocked off #and like i don't have to do teh lupin ones #i could do them in one #dispear #okay imma have to make a list

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selfcallednowhere · 2 years

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March 7, 2018 Seattle, WA

Another Seattle show at the beautiful and historic Neptune Theatre, one of my favorite venues in town where it's always a treat to see them. After a brief time at home to just catch my breath a little after spending the entire previous week traveling from show to show all the way up the coast, I met up with my usual Seattle show buddies crew of Matt and Ant and we headed over to the venue. Ant was recording the show, which was cool (I don't get bootlegs of the shows I'm at nearly often enough and I really appreciate having them both as mementos of the spectacular events shows always are for me and as aids in writing these very reviews), but it also meant I felt an obligation to not sing along lest my voice end up on the recording, which was almost physically painful because singing along with every single song, no matter how obscure (unless it's something they are only just then premiering and so there's no way I could've known the lyrics ahead of time) is such a major part of how I get into shows normally--it was perhaps similar to how the people who really love to dance feel when they're forced to sit down.

They opened with my beloved "Ana Ng," followed by "Damn Good Times." Afterwards, Flans informed us "Dan had the face-melt mod built into his guitar. He pulls out one of the little tone controls and it melts faces." Then he said that even though they've played here before he's still unclear on whether the proper name of the venue is "Neptune" or "The Neptune." After audience members yelled "The" he said, "The quiet dignity of The Neptune" (I don't know about "quiet" but "dignity" is certainly an apt quality to associate with a beautiful and classy old theatre like this one), and then differentiated it from the "New Wave" version of just "Neptune."

Then there was some discussion about how happy they were to be here at this sold-out show, with Flans saying something about high SAT scores and lit majors (guilty as charged on both counts over here) and John saying they'd sold out completely and lost all their street cred. Flans agreed and said, "Yeh, we're just getting our audition reel in to The Voice."

Then John talked about how they have a new album out and were hoping people weren't coming to the show just thinking "Well, I really like the old stuff, so I only have to put up with the new stuff," which elicited my usual reaction of awareness that he was joking but also real sadness at the idea that there might be at least some truth in that joke and a further awareness of how ridiculous that would be because the album in question is so so SO good, one of my favorites they've ever made. Then Flans said it was ok because the show was "impossibly long," and that this would "give us the elbow room to get in both songs that we feel are important for us to play, and songs that you feel are important for us to play."

Then Flans joked about how we should all be using our phones for both flash photography and any important texts we might get, and that we should offer up fake enthusiasm for the new songs, which John agreed with and said that was what he'd been trying to say earlier. He also informed us that vinyl copies of the new album are available at the t-shirt stand, and if we asked there might even be a "rare, unsigned copy" of it available. Then Flans said, "I do want to point out that a man appears to have brought some sort of gun sight to the show. That's a very elaborate camera you've got there, sir. I hope you're a professional. Please be sure to post those online." (As with any time the subject of photography is raised I really wanted John to jump in and say something since his own interest in it is so fascinating and exciting to me, but sadly he did not.)

They played "I Left My Body," and then Flans was asking, "What's that? What's that, Seattle audience? You wanna hear more new songs? *lots of cheering* We don't wanna slow down the show! Shit!" Then John said (in a mock-resigned voice) "Oh, all right."

They played "Mrs. Bluebeared" and then "Your Racist Friend" (complete with Curt's usual dramatic and ecstatically-greeted entrance) and then "Hey, Mr. DJ, I Thought You Said We Had a Deal" (complete with Curt's usual completely amazing playing that I always enjoy more than on any of the other songs featuring him).

Then, in what Flans described as "the moment I've all been waiting for," the contra-alto clarinet made its first appearance. "People in the audience who have been doing Google Image searches of 'enormous paperclip' can calm down now. Introducing, coming in stage left, it's the contra-alto clarinet, ladies and gentlemen! It has its own Pinterest page. With thousands of pins. Many of them...are just drywall equipment photographs." Then he was making the joke he often does about how it was "stolen in the middle of the night" from a local high school marching band, and John cut in to say that he actually did purchase it from someone here in Seattle. Flans again: "And by the way, on the case it does appear to have some sort of stenciled...H...something...that's been very crudely removed. 'Property of thieves.'" John said, "I think everything we own says that."

Then Flans said, "Actually, there's a place we can't play in Boise anymore, because they're so mad at us about another thing, but it's too complicated to get into." A setup like that (especially as told by Flans, who can make pretty much anything hilarious) couldn't help eliciting plenty of laughter and (for me anyway) curiosity, so he continued "But because they're never gonna talk to us again, I can tell the story now, briefly." He said the place was "a very legitimate theatre--I forget the name of it, but it's the only very legitimate theatre in Boise." Boise is close enough to Seattle (relatively, about 500 miles or to put it the obvious other way "just a full day's drive away") that apparently there were people in the crowd who knew the place in question and were yelling the name, but Flans informed them it was unnecessary because he'd been lying about not remembering it. John said he felt like they were "entering that late Frank Sinatra period, where you just complain about stuff," and then Flans went ahead and named names: the theatre is called The Egyptian. He explained that equipment like lights and music stands are normally provided by the venue, but at this place "all their music stands just said, like, 'The Something-Something Elementary School.' And I don't think they bought 'em at an auction. Just sayin'." Then he told us to "feel free to not post that on social media" but SORRY Flans it is my contractual obligation to record and post every single detail of these shows. Then he asked how those of us in the balcony "enjoying the luxury of seating" were doing (we always sit in the balcony at Neptune shows because Matt has a bad back and can't really handle standing for a whole show well).

Then they launched into "All Time What" (supreme rockin' fun as always), and then Flans said it was now time to return to the deep cuts, which John said actually means the "crappy old songs." Flans said the next song was from their "worst-selling album" and I was wondering what that might be, but the answer, once it was revealed, seemed rather obvious: Mink Car.

The song in question was "Bangs," which I personally am not superinto, but it is still reasonably fun live, and also I was just happy for Ant because he adores the song for reasons I'm not entirely clear on but it still makes me happy when my friends are seeing songs I know they're really excited about seeing. Then they did "When the Lights Come On" (still the ultimate live new song of the ones they were doing on the tour up to this point--so rocking! And I hardly ever get live Linnell rocking opportunities.)

Afterwards, John said "Let's drag the show down a little, let's slow the show down. Stop all this high-energy stuff. Can't keep up, man." Then Flans told us he'd actually thought the show was going to start at 9 (an hour later than the actual start-time).

JL: Well, that's when the show really starts. JF: I just got here. JL: I'm not here yet.

Then Flans went on to tell us that it's "very hard for me to time my activities appropriately," and that his phone rang at 7:58 when he was "in the middle of a beautiful meal with a good friend" (I know he has plenty of friends all over the place but I couldn't help wondering if he was talking about amazing local musician and well-documented Flans pal John Roderick).

I also should note that it was at this point in the show that these really obnoxious guys near us in the balcony started yelling out requests for "Minimum Wage" and other stupid shit and continued to do so frequently for the rest of the show, often at times that made it difficult to hear what The Johns were saying, which is horrible because (as anyone who's been to even a single TMBG show knows) that's one of the most enjoyable parts about seeing them. I was only restrained by going over to tell them to shut the fuck up in the between-sets break by Ant and Matt repeatedly telling me that they were drunk and my attempts to do so would surely not do any good.

Then Flan gave us this big fakeout. He said the next song was from The Else, and then started telling a story about talking with an "interview person" when the album was first released who was telling him what a great opening track the album had, but then he had to explain to him that iTunes had just loaded it in backwards. I missed the The Else tour and have only seen a very small number of songs from it a small number of times in the tours since, but I have seen "The Mesopotamians" approximately 50 million times, enough that I am now really burned out on it live, so to think for a moment that I would instead be getting to see "I'm Impressed" (one of my favorite songs on the album which I most definitely have not seen) and get really excited about that, only to find out it was just another performance of the one I've already seen 50 million times, was extremely disappointing.

Then John made a joke about how he wished they could have the "iTunes loaded it backwards" effect for their entire career. "'You guys are so young and fresh now!'" Then he did a variation of his frequent joke intro for the song:

JL: So here's a song about an ancient near-Eastern rock band. They had a TV show in the '60s, and by that I mean the three-thousand-and-sixties, BC. Some of you are not old enough to remember. JF: The original '60s. JL: Yeh. The real '60s.

So then they of course played "The Mesopotamians," and although as I just detailed I'm quite burned out on this song, this particular performance did feature a couple of the things John often does during it that are exceedingly cute, the first being holding up a bit of his own hair on the "says my haircut makes me look like a Mohenjo-daroan" line and the second being hopping.

Flans said because it was now just before the end of the first set it was a spot where they could play the really quiet song, and then they played "This Microphone." Afterwards, he informed us that the song was both on the new album and (shortly) also on Dial-A-Song.

JF: In the next couple of weeks there's gonna be an animated version of it made by this fellow Dave who, if you track the New Yorker covers, he did the one of Donald Trump in the sailboat, with the sail in the shape of the Klan...hat. We collaborated with him on the video. By 'collaborated' I mean 'he made it for us.' 'Collaborated' is a big word. And often misused. It means 'made for us.'" JL: And by 'collusion' I mean that he made it for us. *some other stuff I couldn't make out under all the cheering and yelling* You tell me. JF: If by 'criminal activity'-- JL: If it's in your heart and you care about, because you love America-- JF: Because you love America, you're a traitor. To your own country. JL: Then, yes. JF: If caring so much about money in itself is a crime, then put on the cuffs! Guilty as charged!

Then there was a loud thumping noise, which John attributed to "electric jolts" of his accordion mic. Flans said that microphones "seem like they can make so much sound, but when they're malfunctioning, they can make such louder sounds." Flans was asking him if the accordion was going to be ok to go and he said he wasn't sure, and Flans said "There appears to be a full box of Cap'n Crunch inside of his accordion." John said they should just go ahead and "it'll be amazing later--but for now, this weird shitty sound!" Flans told him he deserves a new accordion and so does the audience, which I was quite in agreement with because (as I've discussed many a time elsewhere) I would much much rather see him play literally any other accordion he has ever used than that damn depressingly tiny Main Squeeze.

So then came my other big upsetting disappointment of the first set. They started playing "Turn Around," which is one of my top top absolute all-time favorite songs, but then John abruptly stopped after the first verse.

JL: Hold on, hold on. I've got--I have a really cool idea, which is--we're gonna do this song, totally differently. You have enjoyed the accordion--really, that should be enough, right? You've seen it, you've heard it. So now, check this out. JF: John is taking the accordion off... JL: And heading over to the sophisticated horizontal accordion. See how that sounds.

He I guess thought this was quite funny, and judging by their reaction so apparently did a lot of the crowd (notably Ant, sitting right next to me), but I MOST CERTAINLY DID NOT. I mean ok ok I guess it was a little funny just as a way to describe the keyboard, but I was too busy being furious about not getting to see him play accordion on one of my most beloved accordion songs to care. (To clarify, even though I'd much rather see him play any other accordion than this one, I would also much rather see him play even this accordion than keyboard.) This is not the first time I've seen him switch over one of my top favorite accordion songs to keyboard, he's done it for "The Statue Got Me High" at a handful of shows I've been to, but it was the first time I'd seen him start to play a song on accordion but then switch over just a bit into it, and the pain of not getting a thing you really love is always made sharper by thinking first that you're going to. (Also for what it's worth the accordion sounded fine to me, after that initial loud thump before he actually started playing.)

They closed the first set with "Spy" (John was again employing that sample of a woman singing "Now the night has gone" that I saw him use a fair amount in the song on this tour but still am not sure of the source of) and then "Birdhouse in Your Soul."

After the between-sets break and the showing of the "Last Wave" demo vid, they returned for the Quiet Storm mini-set, starting with the cool contra-alto clarinet version of "Older." Then Flans explained that we were now in the Quiet Storm portion of the show, "where it is always quiet, and often stormy."

Then came "I Like Fun," which Flans informed us afterwards is the "titular track" on the new album and that he was only using that phrase "to make use of this adult crowd."

Then: "We do know that people enjoy the old songs, so we're gonna play a song from 1840 right now. You may recall the title of this song from the moment when you woke up in 9th grade history class. It's called 'Tippecanoe and Tyler Too.' It's an election song that was extremely persuasive. It was often sung right before the bar fight." After the song was over he told us, "Of course, that's an original composition." Whatever had been wrong with the accordion was apparently fixed now, or at least fixed enough to be considered playable, because John was once again playing it for this song and continued to do so when he normally would thereafter.

Then there was the transition they frequently did of telling us we would now be moving all the way to THE FUTURE of 1844, where we would find fantastical futuristic things like "driverless beards" (JF) and "electric buggy whips" (JL). Afterwards, John admitted that he'd mispronounced "Oregon" in the original recording of the song (a part of the song that got a big cheer from this crowd since Washington was also included in the territory, though it seemed like maybe he didn't know that because he just referred to it as "the state south of here"), "and I heard you guys singing along and I was like 'Oh well they're gonna get it right,' and I guess that, I guess--no? Don't make assumptions. I apologize. To everyone who's not here."

Then Flans said Marty was "leaving his electronic drums behind and embracing the acoustic sounds of the school alarm bell," and also Curt was switching over to the euphonium. "Of course, euphonium is not the instrument's real name" (a dumb joke I've seen both Johns repeat various times that still never fails to amuse me). Then they did "Shoehorn with Teeth," which is so fun live and I really haven't seen enough since way back in the day when I was first going to shows and it featured Dan Hickey on the glockenspiel, so that was fun.

Then:

JF: What's next? What are we playing next? JL: We have a song from our John Henry album. JF: You're gonna have to give me more information than that, John. JL: The roar of disapproval from the crowd. JF: Is it the one that starts with G minor? JL: It does start with G minor. Not to, y'know, give away--Spoiler alert! Don't spoil the song's G minor! JF: For the seven people in the audience with perfect pitch. Still no refunds.

So then was my song, my dearly beloved and intensely self-identified "A Self Called Nowhere," as deeply emotional and special an experience for me to see live as it ever was. I remain eternally grateful that I got to see this song live as much as I did on this tour, especially considering that before the tour happened I was resigned to the fact that I very likely would never see it at all.

Next they did the wonderful accordion arrangement of "How Can I Sing Like a Girl?," and then the full band returned for "Istanbul" complete with Curt's cool trumpet + valve trombone intro. Afterwards, Flans said having Curt playing with them every day is a constant reminder of "what it would've been like if we'd've just practiced more."

Then he went into an explanation of the AV Club covers project they've participated in, which he described as "like Hunger Games, but with music." He talked about how they'd first done "Tubthumping" and how difficult it was to make it into a good cover version, and then a couple of years later "we had what we call the 'oblitunity' to follow up that act, and were given the equally complicated task of covering a song by Destiny's Child," who he pointed out are much more popular than TMBG is and so it was "really a challenge" to mange to do this and not be hated by the mass of Destiny's Child fans. But then after the unexpected success of the song, "there was a brief period of time where we thought about changing the name of the band to Destiny's Child's Child, and touring casinos with a one-song repertoire."

So then they did "Bills, Bills, Bills," followed by "Particle Man" (with John's pre-song "command" for us to continue clapping on the backbeat "no matter how much we beg" and "Elusive Butterfly" in the middle), and then the ever-rockin', ever-amazing "The Guitar."

Afterwards, Flans was shouting out how amazing Danny was on that song, and how he hadn't been sure "how that was ever gonna end. It was like, this or dawn." John added that Danny had in fact badly injured his finger earlier in the week "so really, it's kind of ridiculous."

JF: It's been replaced with another person's finger. At extraordinary expense. And sacrifice. Of another person's finger. JL: The whole other person had to be sacrificed.

Then John said he wanted to figure out a way to "dovetail the cloning conversation we were having" (one of those casual mentions he sometimes does of what sound to me like really interesting conversations they're having on the bus or backstage or wherever that always make me so curious about what the conversations actually sound like) into this finger talk.

JF: It's impossible to say. JL: It's impossible to say. It's too early to say. JF: Too early to say. Facts aren't in. Facts aren't in about cloning being fucked up. For the sake of a finger. JL: I don't know. Y'know. Nobody knows. JF: Tremendous expense. JL: Ethical quandary.

Then they played "Wicked Little Critta" and then "New York City" (which Flans introduced by telling us it was by our fellow Pacific Northwesterners on the other side of the border, Cub from Vancouver). Afterwards, Flans told us about their scheduled upcoming appearance on the Joco cruise and their first-ever tour of Canada, to which we were "perilously close" and so should "pass the word along" to Canadians because they were beginning to worry that the whole thing was "a huge mistake. I mean, first of all, we posted on some social media somewhere that we were doing an eight-city tour of Canada, and a Canadian responded by saying, 'We have eight cities?' We're not making Canadian jokes, ladies and gentlemen. The Canadians are making Canadian jokes." Then he was joking about how there's "very little Canadian content up here on stage," and "It's true, we have actually played in places that were strip clubs during the day and rock venues at night, so we've had the essence of the Canadian rock experience. But now we're going full immersion."

They closed out the second set with a trio of always superfun live songs: "Number Three," "Twisting," and "Doctor Worm," with some band and crew intros stuck in before the last.

When they came back for the first encore, John was profusely thanking us for being so great, and then said, "We do love this town," and that he was really sincere. Then he asked Flans, "What was it Joe Franklin said?" Flans replied, "It's all about sincerity, and if you can fake that you can do anything." Then he started explaining who exactly Joe Franklin was, and said that he was the host of "the longest-running and incredibly dull television show" in New York, and that it was filmed on a split soundstage with the other half used for Romper Room, "so everything that you saw while you were on the show was just a gigantic Romper Room set." Then John checked to confirm if we actually knew what Romper Room was.

The first encore was the amazing double-shot I saw them do at several other shows around this time, "Dead" and then "Don't Let's Start," both of which are so so so high on my all-time fav songs list that I really couldn't ask for anything better.

When they returned for the second encore, John said, "So yeh, Mink Car. You love it, you hate it, you can't live with it..." Then they played "Man, It's So Loud in Here" (which is forever tied up with my extremely intense memories of that tour, my very early days in fandom), and closed things out with "Fingertips," including a very long, lingering final note.

So, a really swell show--fantastic setlist, beautiful venue, experienced with a couple of my best fandom buddies. The yelling drunk guys and brief accordion abandonment were upsetting, but whatever, still had a great time. And finally: John was wearing a long-sleeved black shirt with the sleeves pushed up.

#tmbg #show reviews

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bgallen · 2 years

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A list to end June with

Happy last Friday in June! Next week I will be out of town and as such, I have included some videos, etc. about the first Independence Day in the United States of America. I could go on for hours speaking of my thoughts and feelings and hopes and frustrations, but I will not. Surely, the rest of the internet can entertain you in those regards. What I will say, is that history is never fully or always on an upward trajectory. So, what we have accomplished, are able to accomplish, are accomplishing now, and will accomplish one day….are all worth fighting for.

I hope that you have an enjoyable weekend planned, we have a birthday celebration for my sister that should be a lot of fun! We are huge birthday people in our family. So, I am looking forward to a weekend full of books, sushi, brunch, coffee, friends, and family. And hopefully a little bit of sleep. May you enjoy this list I put together! There are also some photographs at the end.

US History:

· Declaration of Independence vote - YouTube, this one gives me chills every time.

· John Adams Declaration of Independence 1776_WMV V8_1_WMV V8_001 - YouTube, this really is a beautiful document.

Music:

· Top Gun: Maverick OST | Original Motion Picture Soundtrack - YouTube, Hans Zimmer can do no wrong in regards to soundtracks.

· OneRepublic - I Ain’t Worried (From “Top Gun: Maverick”) [Official Music Video] - YouTube, this one is such a fun summer song!

· Lady Gaga - Hold My Hand (From “Top Gun: Maverick”) [Official Music Video] - YouTube, Lady Gaga has an incredible voice and this song has so much power.

· Jessica Darrow - Surface Pressure (From "Encanto") - YouTube, you can fight me, but THIS is the best song from Encanto…not the Bruno one 😊

Notetaking:

· The 4 Notetaking Styles: How to Choose a Digital Notes App as Your Second Brain - Forte Labs, fascinating concept about using the correct digital note app for how your brain works. Helpful information here.

Travel:

· Staying at the Historic Castles of Ireland | Barron's (barrons.com), these are phenomenal works of art.

· 613 E Mitchell St, Petoskey, MI 49770 | MLS #468570 | Zillow, this would be one of the US’s “old” buildings. This home, built in 1877, is right between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. It is a beautiful home in an even more beautiful part of the US. If you’ve never been to the UP, it would be well worth your time.

Coffee:

· Angelo Moriondo: How the father of the espresso machine used science to make coffee (inverse.com), fascinating!

History:

· Clothing in the Mongol Empire �� Brewminate: A Bold Blend of News and Ideas, the imperial court clothing was beautiful!

· Plague: Ancient teeth reveal where Black Death began, researchers say - BBC News, this is amazing stuff that we are able to learn about now.

To think about:

· Inside Shein’s Sudden Rise: Fast, Cheap, and Out of Control | WIRED, I would say this is for sure a worthwhile read.

Interesting:

· An illustrated history of the iPod and its massive impact | Cult of Mac, this is so interesting.

· "Jabberwocky": One of literature's best bits of nonsense - YouTube, Lewis Carroll – of course.

· If by Rudyard Kipling - Read by Sir Michael Caine - YouTube

#history #ushistory #america #learn #learntogrow #weekendpost #fridaythoughts #music #photography #knowledge_sharing

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noyaism · 3 years

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A Night Off

Being the Erwin simp I am, he had to be my first AoT fic. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it :)

Pairing: Erwin SmithxFem!Reader

Word count: 4.8k

Warnings: choking, creampie, super soft ending, little bit of angst at the beginning (tw: death), praising, little bit of size kink (lmk if I missed any warnings !!)

Song Inspo: A Night Off - Drake

Life within the walls was as mundane as life could get. It might've been peaceful, yes. Hell, it was the only life you could be having, but still, you yearned to know more of the world you lived in, as you felt as if there had to be more. The walls and the titans beyond it couldn't be all there was. That just seemed so limited to you, in a world that just had to be vast. Maybe this was simply your thinking because you were a child. Of course the world had to be bigger than what you knew, it's not like you knew much of it anyway. Or maybe there really was more base to what you thought, maybe your fantasies were a reality.

Because you were as fascinated with the world as you were, history was your favorite subject growing up. You sat up a little straighter, clutched your pencil a little harder, listened just a bit more intently whenever the lesson started. A decent amount of the things you were taught made sense to you. However, something about the prospect of the walls being all that was left of humanity, that there was simply nothing but thousands, maybe even millions of titans outside just waiting to devour you and nothing else, just didn't sit right. It seemed so oddly far fetched, and you couldn't put your finger on why it felt that way. Apparently you weren't the only one who was feeling unsettled by this.

A small boy raised his hand, you recognized him as the teacher's kid; Erwin Smith. There was a look of pure curiosity in his eyes as he questioned his father, you could tell he was having the same feelings you were.

“If we lost all records of what the outside world was like, how do we know we’re the only ones left?”

It was odd for you, hearing someone else have the same question you did, something that came to plague your young mind. You wondered what the boy might've been thinking about what was outside.

The teacher, his father, dismissed the question, going on about the lesson. Erwin looked defeated as he sat back down, continuing to take his notes as if nothing happened. His eyes told a different story, though. There was a lot going on in his mind, and at your lunch break you decided to pick his brain.

“So what do you think is outside?” You asked the boy as you went to sit next to him in the schoolyard. Your backs were to the wall, and you both carefully ate your sandwiches as you surveyed all of the other children running about freely. The two of you weren't like them, that was plain enough to see.

“I’m not sure really, but the story my father told just doesn't entirely make sense. Almost as if we’re being led to believe something that isn't true at all. Do you get what I mean?” You nodded your head at the boy’s question, letting out a small sigh.

“My parents have told me that same thing, and it just doesn't really sit right with me. But then again it's what everyone knows, right? So maybe we’re crazy or something.” Erwin laughed lightly at your words, nodding along.

“Yeah, maybe we are. At least I know someone as crazy as me now.”

And from that moment on, you and Erwin became the best of friends. The next day Erwin told you he had something important to tell you during lunch. The two of you sat in the same place you had the day prior, and he divulged to you everything his father had told him. You sat in utter amazement, slowly chewing on your food as the theory was explained.

“So the history that we know is all a lie? The king just wanted to make people easier to control?” Erwin nodded his head intently, a small smile on his face.

“Yeah, so he changed the memory of all his subjects, and altered any historical records to follow suit. That's why we don't know anything about the world beyond the walls, the knowledge has been stolen from us, and it's been so long since then that it's doubtful anyone truly remembers.”

This all made an insurmountable amount of sense to you, and when Erwin decided he wanted to tell your fellow classmates, you agreed to help him spread the information around. That night when you told your family they simply laughed, thinking it was some crazy theory you and Erwin had made up. They thought it was cute and completely dismissed it, but advised against telling too many people about it, just in case it might have caused you any sort of trouble. You thought they were crazy for not believing, but realized you couldn't force them to. You also didn't understand what they meant by getting in trouble through telling people of this theory. That was until the Military Police questioned you and Erwin. You kept your calm and the two of you thoroughly explained what Mr.Smith had told Erwin, and were let on your way. Unfortunately, Mr. Smith didn't come home that night, leaving Erwin orphaned.

You held Erwin’s hand at his father’s funeral, offering all the emotional support you could. Death is usually hard for children to grasp, but the two of you knew that his death wasn't an accident, and that the Military Police berid of him because of his theories on the history of your society and the world beyond it. While Erwin held onto hope that there was justification in his father’s murder, you rightly knew there couldn't be any motive that would make it right.

As you both continued to grow up you and Erwin always had each other’s backs. Where one of you went the other wasn't far behind, and the both of you intended for it to always be that way. You seemed to be the only two people that had any inkling of the truth, and so it was best you two stuck together. You both decided to join the Survey Corps, as it was your best shot at ever being able to find the truth, and get some sort of vengeance for Mr. Smith. It meant a lot to you to be able to go into the outside and find what you knew had to be true, and it meant just as much to Erwin, probably even more.

When Shiganshina district fell and Commander Shadis stepped away from his position, Erwin was appointed his successor. Before he was officially sworn in you got him alone, wanting to know how he was feeling about it all. There was nobody in the world who you were closer to than Erwin, and you knew this was going to be a lot for him to handle.

“So, am I going to have to start calling you Commander now? I am technically older than you, addressing you as my superior will be kind of weird.”

“For you and me both, but if this is the task I’m giving then I'm going to do it, and do it proudly. If they think I’m fit enough to lead the Scouts it's an honor, and it's one I can't give up. Especially if that means I can get closer to the truth. You know I have to do this y/n.” You let out a small sigh, nodding your head. You pulled up a chair beside him, putting an arm around him.

“I know you do, but just know I’m always here. I've been your right hand since we were kids, and you've been mine. That isn't ever changing. We’re gonna find the truth, no matter how many expeditions it takes. I couldn't possibly think of a better person to take orders from than you.”

Since his father had died Erwin didn’t smile much, but in that moment he flashed a big one at you, and it was almost like the two of you were kids again.

The Survey Corps wasn't an easy job in the slightest. A lot of the time you had to watch your comrades die in front of you, while you yourself were just narrowly escaping the jaws of death. Add onto that a growing dislike by the public, and it took quite the thick skin to proudly call yourself a scout. You did so without second thought, especially now that your best friend was the commander. You did get moments of escape, though, and you did get to become really close to the people you worked with. From the day you met Moblit Berner you found him to be quite the endearing person. He seemed almost too soft to be a scout initially, but softness wasn't really an option for him as he was tasked with keeping Section Commander Hange in check.

You and Moblit had developed a bit of a romance within a fairly short period of time. You were attracted to his kindness, how gentle and loyal he was behind the panicky exterior. You had a lot of love for him in your heart, but part of you couldn't lay a finger on why you didn't see longevity with him. It was in no way his fault, at the very least you were sure of that, but you couldn't quite give a clear explanation as to why it was you felt that way. The question plagued you, and it became obvious Moblit was starting to catch on.

“Y/n?” He asked, shaking your arm lightly and breaking you out of your trance. The two of you were in his chambers, just talking as you normally did. Nothing was out of the ordinary, despite you being so uncharacteristically distracted.

“Sorry, sorry I was just really lost in thought. There's a lot going on right now, it's all really overwhelming.”

“Yeah, it is. But I don't think work is why you're feeling so overwhelmed, at least not the whole reason why.” You sighed at Moblit’s words, running a hand through your hair. You weren't exactly sure what to say, it's not like you could explain what you were feeling at all.

“I get it, though. I've been feeling really overwhelmed too, and not just because of work. I don’t really know how else to say this, so I’m just going to come clean. Y/n, I care for you a lot, and I don’t want you to think that I don’t, or that I've been lying to you or anything. It’s just that I’ve come to realize that I actually have really strong feelings for Nifa, and-”

“You...you’re saying that you have feelings for someone else?” You quickly cut him off. You avoided eye contact with him, trying to decipher what you were feeling to the best of your ability.

“I am, and I’m really sorry that’s the case, but I have to be honest with you and with myself.”

The both of you sat in silence for a while, the quiet thick in the air. You still couldn't tell what you were feeling, and you weren't sure you were going to be able to figure it out yourself, either.

“It's okay, Moblit. I’m just glad you were honest with me, I guess. I wish you the best, and I hope Nifa returns your sentiments. You're a really good guy, and she's a really good girl. I hope it all goes well for you two.”

Before Moblit could even reply you left the room, heading straight to Erwin’s without once looking back. Moblit didn't bother to chase you, knowing well that it was better to leave you be to work out your feelings. You didn't waste time knocking on Erwin’s door, simply opening it up and leaning against it as you closed it. He was sat at the small table in the room, writing in a journal by the firelight. He looked up at you in confusion, not at all mad you simply came busting in, though. It was something you did since you were kids, he was completely used to it by that point.

“Moblit just broke up with me.” You said, finally peeling yourself off the door. Erwin stood and walked over to hug you, his much bigger frame engulfing yours as he did his best to comfort you.

“I’m really sorry about that, Y/n. What happened?” He asked as he pulled away, going back to sit and you joining him in the seat opposite his.

“He told me he has feelings for Nifa. I can’t really say I'm surprised, she’s a beautiful girl, has a great personality.”

“It’s not like you don't, you know. Don't sell yourself short.”

“I’m not, I’m not. I guess if I were him I would have feelings for her, too. Especially with how I’ve been lately. I wasn't ever really present with him. Something always just felt off to me, and I couldn't put my finger on what exactly it was.”

Erwin took a moment to think before he responded, closing the journal and putting it aside.

“Were you simply just losing interest in him?” He questioned.

“I dunno, I kinda feel like I wasn't ever really interested in him at all.” You started, letting out a sigh before continuing.

“I feel like...I feel like what I felt for Moblit was almost like I was just...deflecting what I was actually feeling.”

“And what was it that you were actually feeling?” Erwin replied, looking a bit confused as to what you meant.

You looked into his eyes, the same eyes you had gazed upon for countless years now, and in that moment, something clicked in your head. Every moment the two of you had spent together, every time one of you saved the other, every laugh, every smile, every word of support, it all flooded you in an instant. It felt as if the whole world shifted, like nothing ever really made any sort of sense until that very moment. The two of you had been by each other’s side for so long, and you had watched him grow from a bright eyed child to a strong willed man, and in every moment you could think of you had been falling deeper and deeper in love with him.

“That I love you, Erwin. And I guess I kind of always have.”

Your words were simple, concise. Erwin’s gaze turned soft as you spoke, and he moved his chair over to sit in front of you. He took your hand in his, gently running his thumb over your knuckles. Both of your hands were callused and hardened from years of training and fighting, and yet in that moment there was a softness in how he held your hand that you didn't know either of you could even possess at this juncture.

“I’ve been waiting a really long time to hear you say that, Y/n.” Your head, which was down so you could watch how he held your hand, immediately perked up as you heard him speak words you couldn't even believe were real. This time it was you that looked at him in confusion, which melted away as he leaned in and kissed you. You gathered from his words that Erwin had been feeling this same way for a considerable amount of time, yet wasn't sure if he should act on it or not. While part of you wish he would've, you were glad he didn't. This moment was utterly perfect, and even the slightest of differences wouldn't have made it the same.

Erwin pulled you into his lap, kissing you harder now that the gap between your bodies had been bridged. His arms stayed wrapped around your waist, and your hands snaked up into his hair, tangling themselves in his golden strands. For a moment you thought about how this might affect your friendship, but you realized your friendship had always been so much more than just that. This was just the culmination of years of pent up emotion.

Erwin placed kiss after kiss on your jaw, bringing them down to your neck as he softly bit your skin. In an instant you remembered how you complained about how Moblit was too soft with you to Erwin, and it seemed he had learned from the other man’s mistakes. A soft moan escaped your lips as Erwin continued to mark his territory, each kiss and bite making you fall weaker and weaker in his grasp. You began to grind your hips into his, enjoying the friction between the two of you. Erwin stood, moving his arm under your thighs to hold you up, walking over to the bed and carefully laying you down. He loomed over you, illuminated by the moonlight bleeding in from the window on your left, and the candlelight on the right. He looked utterly godly above you, it made you crave even more of him.

He started to quickly unbutton his shirt, and you did the same, needing to lessen the number of layers between your skin. This wasn't the first time you had seen Erwin shirtless, although it wasn't necessarily a common occurrence, and this time it made your cheeks heat up. You simply couldn't believe how beautiful he was. A small smirk pulled up the corner of his lips as he leaned down closer to you, his lips just barley ghosting over yours.

“Like what you see, gorgeous?” He teased, kissing you needily. You chuckled lightly, nodding your head a bit. Erwin was never like this, the playfulness in his tone so different than his usual stoicism. Seeing him like that was enough of a turn on, but the fact his affections were focused on you made it even more attractive.

“More than you’ll ever know.” You replied before kissing him again. He trailed kisses down your neck and onto your chest, once again starting to mark you up. He showed no restraint in how he touched you, and you allowed him free reign over your body. He swiftly removed your bra and left a mess of small hickeys and bruises all over your torso. He took time to take your nipple into his mouth, sucking lightly on the nub as he rolled the opposite one between his fingers. Your fingers scratched at his back, your legs wrapped around his waist to keep him close. Even just this felt euphoric, and it only made you want more, whatever “more” could be.

“May I?” Erwin asked as he tugged lightly on the waistband of your pants. You nodded quickly, and with a smile he undressed you further. Shoes, pants and underwear were discarded onto the floor, and there you were, completely bare in front of him. Erwin took a moment to admire you. Even if you were a soldier, a warrior, in this moment you were as delicate as a flower to him, the most precious rose. You were so small in comparison to him he almost mistook you for fragile, but he knew better than anyone just how strong you actually were, and how much you could take. In a more literal, fighting sense at least. He wanted to make you melt, though, and was certain he knew well how to.

He left kiss after kiss on your inner thighs, making you squirm in anticipation. He held your hips down, halting all movement he didn't approve of. The mere sight of him between your thighs made you so excited, your pussy already dripping without having been touched even once. It was almost embarrassing for you, but it only made Erwin want to devour you even more. He moved your legs to drape over his shoulders, and his hands held onto your thighs as he finally made contact with your core. The lightest touch of his tongue felt like the sweetest sensation, had you been any more deprived of pleasure than you were just that would've been enough to bring you close to the edge, but you were intent on holding out for him.

His lips closed around your clit, sucking lightly as he brought a hand down to your folds, fingers teasing your entrance. With how wet you were they were easily permitted entry, two of Erwin’s digits pushing into you with ease. Your hips circled on his mouth and your hands moved to his hair to push his head closer to you, anything to feel more, anything to bring yourself to the edge of glory and then some. His fingers curled up to brush up on the most sensitive parts of you, the feeling making your back arch and an elongated moan to fall from your lips. You didn’t want to get too loud, as it was getting late and you knew your comrades were probably trying to get some sleep, but you truly couldn’t help yourself, nothing had ever felt as good as this, and you were just getting started.

It didn’t take much more for you to rocket into your first orgasm, your juices coating his fingers. He slowed them down, their pace having been fairly rapid, until you reached the end of your orgasm. He pulled them out slowly, agonizingly so, and licked them clean, taking in your flavor. A smirk curled the side of his mouth, and without a word he was right back between your thighs, lapping up every last drop of you.

“E-Erwin…” You breathlessly pleaded, chest heaving as overstimulation started to poke at your senses. You didn’t even know what you were pleading for. You surely didn’t want him to stop pleasing you, frankly if you could do this for hours on end you would’ve, but you simply couldn’t articulate what it was you wanted. Erwin came up from between your legs, leaning down to place a kiss on your lips as his body once again engulfed yours.

As he pulled away you looked into his eyes, the little skies you came to know so well, and you saw something there you’d never seen before. A mixture of love and lust that darkened their color just a bit. Even the look in his eyes made it quite clear what his intentions with you were, and you had no intention of objecting to whatever was to come.

“Quiet down, baby. Just trust me, I know what I’m doing.”

Erwin quickly undressed himself completely, not wanting to waste any more time. He wanted to be inside you just as badly as you wanted him, maybe even more. If there was anything he needed, it was a night off. A night to indulge himself in pleasures he usually denied, too wrapped up in military life to give anything of that nature a second thought. If there was anyone who was going to get him like this, it was you, the woman he was madly in love with.

For a lot of people, all work and no play made them dull. For Erwin, however, it made him all the more ready to give you absolutely everything.

With a quick thrust he entered you, making your back arch hard as your hands grabbed onto his arms for support. The man was very naturally endowed, and taking only about half of him as you were was still a lot, and he was well aware of that. He wanted to push you, see how much you could actually take. Once you seemed to settle he gave you the rest at a much more manageable pace, a smirk on his lips as he bottomed out.

“Look at that, so you can handle it. Good girl.” He praised, leaning down to place a kiss on your forehead before he started to move. His strokes were slow, but they hit so deep, you felt so full. Just as he had said, he certainly knew what he was doing.

He took you like this for a while, admiring how utterly gorgeous you looked like this. How you squirmed with his every move, how your mouth laid open lazily as you moaned, how your eyes started to glaze over as you gave yourself over to undying pleasure. It was a thing of beauty, slowly ruining you as he was. He brought a hand to wrap around your neck, squeezing softly before picking up the pace of his thrusts. He didn't question if you could take it, he knew you would.

The slight asphyxiation turned the feeling of pleasure up to ten, making your walls clench tighter around Erwin’s length. As he picked up his speed your hands moved to his back, your nails lightly marking up his skin. Your body jolted upward with how he pounded into you, it was utterly relentless. You moved one of your hands to rub your clit, another orgasm ready to take you over. You quickly hooked your legs around his waist, letting him in even deeper, and a couple thrusts as this new angle sent you into your second orgasm.

You were getting pretty loud, and as much as Erwin loved all the pretty little noises you were making, he knew it was probably better to quiet you down some. He let go of your throat and pulled out, flipping you onto your stomach. Your cheek came clad to the pillow below you, and you felt your hips being pushed up into the air. Erwin had to stop for a second to admire this display, the way your pussy gleamed with your essence, it was intoxicating.

“Keep it quiet. Don't give me a reason to punish you, angel.” His words were both orders and a warning, and you were in your right mind to obey. You nodded your head just as he pushed into you once again, and you let a long moan out into the pillow beneath you.

His hands gripped hard onto your hips, and once again he moved at a pace that let you know his lust was borderline insatiable. You moved your hips in time with his, the sound of skin to skin contact filling the room. Erwin let out low grunts from between his lips, and in harmony with your muffled moans a symphony of the utmost carnal desires was being played. Every instrument, your bodies, perfectly in tune.

As strong as you were, you felt so weak, your legs about ready to give out with how bad they were shaking. If it weren’t for Erwin holding you up you certainly would’ve toppled to the bed by now, but you were trying your hardest to hold your own. You wanted, nay, needed to take him. To take everything he gave you, and more if possible.

Moan after moan spilled helplessly onto the pillow as you felt him begin to lightly twitch inside you. Your walls tightened around his length for the last couple thrusts, and he soon emptied a fairly large load of his seed inside of you.

The both of you breathed heavily, exhaustion starting to set into your bodies. He pulled out of you slowly, sitting back and watching his cum start to drip out of you. Just as your legs completely gave out he scooped you up and laid you on your back. He moved to lay beside you, and you placed your head on his chest, just listening to his heartbeat as you both caught your breath. You almost couldn’t believe what had just transpired, had it not been for the exhaustion you felt, and you now joining hands with Erwin.

“Do you think things will ever end? And maybe our lives can be somewhat normal?” You asked, eyes fixed on you and Erwin’s hands. He rubbed your back with his free hand, tracing small shapes into your skin.

“I’m not sure, honestly. One could only hope, I guess.”

“Well I do. When things are finally safe and all, I think we should buy a nice house, have a couple kids, and just live a quiet life.” You replied, looking up at him with a small smile. Despite how much you loved being in the Survey Corps, and how important it was to you to be here and to fight for your freedom, part of you wished things were different. You wished you and Erwin could just go off and be together, but both of you were so deeply loyal to your cause, it just wasn’t a possibility.

“Yeah, I think that’d be nice. When we finally make it out, I promise you we can.” You smiled even brighter at his words, placing a soft kiss on his lips before nuzzling back into his chest.

“Until then, we’re keeping each other safe. Just like we always have. That means I’m going to need you to gamble with your life just a little bit less.” Erwin laughed lightly, nodding his head in reply.

“Well to be fair, up until a little while ago, I had nothing to lose. Now I do.”

#attack on titan #attack on titan smut #shingeki no kyojin #commander erwin #erwin #aot erwin #erwin smith #erwin smut

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gaymershigh · 3 years

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Hi-hi! Can I request headcanons of Octavinele with a reader who is a representative of their species (octopus for Azul and moray for Jade and Floyd), but he spent his whole life among humans and knows nothing about the world of underwater inhabitants. Therefore boys decide to teach him about the life of the merfolk in exchange for the fact that reader will teach them about life in the human world (I was VERY inspired by the song "Strangers like me" from "Tarzan"). Thank you ~

Awww, this scenario is pretty cute! 🥺❤ ALSO OMG ANONNIE THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR REMINDING ME THIS SONG AND JUST TARZAN IN GENERAL!!! I love Tarzan and any scene where Jane teaches him about normal human life is so dksjkssnksnsnsnan I'M IN LOVEEEE 😭💖

Triggers: none

Azul, Jade and Floyd's teaching their male s/o who is a representative of their species about merfolk life and vice versa

When you first told him that you were also the same species as him, his mouth was agape. He wasn't prepared for the second shock that you also never had an experience of living at the coral sea, which is supposed to be your homeland. Does he wonder if that's the case then what happened in your life that caused you to stay on land? Did your parents have an interspecies relationship and they decided to stay on land? Did something happen to your parents and they forced you all to stay on land for safety? Are your at least biological parents even alive? He has so many questions but he doubts that he has that many answers. For now, he'll let those questions spit out of his mouth for another day.

When you voiced out your curiosity about sea life, an idea immediately came to his mind. He scooted super close to you and excitedly tried to initiate a contract with you. The deal wasn't obnoxious or anything ridiculous at all so you don't have any problems with accepting it. Plus, why would he even hurt his boyfriend just to gain something? He's not a sociopath. You two discussed and scheduled the date of what you called "Coral Sea school trip". Don't worry, he also thinks that this is very unnecessary as well but he doesn't want to take the risk of the twins ruining the moment or anyone from the school seeing his true form.

His eyes shined when you turned into your octopus form, you're very beautiful, more beautiful than he could ever be he thought to himself silently. As it was your first time going in on water in your supposedly real form, you will be slower and clumsy, so he holds your hand to prevent anything bad from happening. This little activity went smoothly. He teaches what it's like to be a very rare species in the sea and the more he speaks, the more he envied you as you didn't need to face the potentially horrible life you could've gone through. He teaches the baby steps and anything that doesn't make much noise as he does not want to attract attention.

When it's time you have to teach him more about human life, he's very invested. Especially if you talk about anything business-related. You also make your lessons slow since he deserves it, he did go slow on you during the Coral Sea school trip. He would ask so many questions, you might just get tired from all of it. He might even ask more questions after that day. Before you know it, he's scheduling another Coral Sea tour, he's planning to teach you how to hunt and he's expecting you to teach him more about business topics even if you don't own one.

"Oya, is that so?" My, oh my. Isn't that interesting. Day by day, you always manage to captivate Jade with your unpredictability and your sudden bomb drops of news. He's a very curious man so he'll ask you many questions like how did you find out your real form? Did your parents decide that they will live on land for reasons or did you run away from them at such a young age you completely forgot about life at the Coral Sea? If that's the case, then that's hilarious. He'll be telling you facts and how his life was back in his hometown, telling you how different it was here when it comes to getting food, the food chain, the little ways to survive there. Now that you thought about it, it kinda makes sense now as to why they're so smart and unpredictable as they're born and living in a rather unpredictable and dangerous environment in general.

The more he talked about life at the Coral Sea, the more you got fascinated. He could see your beautiful eyes sparkling and that made his eyes narrow, he was pleased with this reaction. He asked if you were interested in maybe visiting there and seeing what's there to offer? Maybe you could teach him too about human life if you want. He says if you want but it's a must in this or else..he will just be upset. He's also curious about the land life as well to the point he made a club about exploring the wilderness and collecting mushrooms. You said yes and he's very delighted to hear that. You both will visit the place together when you two have a lot of leisure time. So when you two do finally have free time, he called you right away to come to the wall of mirrors.

Surprise, surprise, he's already there, neat looking and everything as always. Since he knows that you will have struggles to swim as fast as his pace so he gently holds your hand as he leads you to the mirror. When you changed your form, you looked mesmerizing. His eyes were wide for a few seconds before going back to his soft smile, complimenting your eel form as you told him to stop the teasing. He's put a lot of lessons in one day but of course, he would be gentle because he has common sense and he doesn't want to harm you in any way. He had a thought to make you meet his parents but scrapped it as it might be too much for your first day. He takes you to historic buildings and then to the "city". While the place does feel intimidating, you felt a bit safer as Jade's with you.

When it's time for the human life lessons, he has more questions than Azul as his questions are in so many categories but most of them are questions related to nature. You two decided to place this little private event in club time. You two hiked as you answered his little questions, it was amusing as he sounded like a five years old child. He would pick up an item he has never seen before and asked what it is if you know. As he also studied a lot about human life already before meeting you, he might accidentally educate you too in the meantime, he chuckled if he does to mock you in a lovingly matter. If you haven't joined his club, he advises you to do so as he hopes for more of these life lessons.

Floyd gives a very loud "hm?" To your confession. You've never lived in the ocean before? That's weird, especially when you're the same species as him. He wouldn't ask that many questions, not like he has many questions in his mind in the first place. His very first question would be just "Why and then that's pretty much it, he'll go back to the conversation you two were having. It's not like he's disinterested, it's pretty interesting it's just that whatever you guys talk is more important even if it's just a talk about parkour or whatever. It seems that you need to initiate the conversation about his life at the Coral Sea and he's rather delighted that you're interested in whatever he's going back then so he goes on a full story from his family to how they met Azul in detail.

You don't know how happy he is when you're fully focused on his words. Other people usually would stare into the clouds or directly tell him to stop talking so his mood is suddenly more bright than it already is. You kept asking questions about the difference between land and sea life, his opinions and such he proposed an idea, why not find out together by going to the sea? You were excited and made the mistake of saying "I cannot wait" because..he also cannot wait! He's in a good mood right now, why not just go there? Who cares about his job!? He's not in the mood for that but in the mood to go back to his hometown so let's do just that!! Besides, you don't want it postponed because of his foul mood, don't you?

Your eel form makes him very happy. He's circling you like some sort of cult ritual to check you out. He's hugging you, jolly, and surprised that his species are very squishy. Unfortunately, you are dating Floyd so you should be expecting that he doesn't go gentle or do these baby steps. He would go immediately to his unique ways of hunting for food, the extreme sports he has an interest in, and anything that's just risky in general. He will whine when you're slower than him or can't keep up with these intense lessons but of course, will give in to your complaints because he doubts he can do anything about your weaker stamina. Yet.

When it comes to human life lessons, he will always say irritating things like "I already know this" or "this isn't interesting" so be careful in what topics you will bring up. The subjects that usually perk up his ears are sports-related things or anything that requires a lot of physical activity. Fashion also gets his head up, especially about shoes. He will ask a multitude of questions about the things mentioned above because you know, it piques his interest. Maybe some human version of pranks so he can do it to his unfortunate victims, mostly Riddle. If you manage to interest him for the entire time, he might want to do this again but maybe more sea lesson times than land?

Lmao sorry for the very slow updates lately. I have been physically sick and have no motivation to write lately so expect updates to be rather slow! Sorry about that!!..

~𝕸𝖎𝖗𝖎

#twisted wonderland #twst wonderland #twst writing #twst azul #azul ashengrotto #azul x reader #twst jade #jade leech #jade x reader #twst floyd #floyd leech #floyd x reader #octavinelle #x male reader #male reader

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pub-lius · 3 years

Text

A Debunking and, in my Humble Opinion, Superior Version of Weird History’s “Hardcore Facts About Alexander Hamilton”

I haven’t updated my blog in quite some time, and that is due to my schedule being primarily dominated by school. So, I decided my first step into posting semi-regularly once more shall be a more casual, more fun endeavor.

If you have not heard of the Weird History youtube channel, good for you. It is yet another social media platform that misconstrues history to appeal to the public’s enjoyment of extremes and strangeness. I saw The Historical Fashion Queens make a video responding to their highly misinformed documentary on corsetry on Miss Abby Cox’s youtube channel, which I highly recommend. This intrigued me, and I decided to find a video I could dissect off my expertise, at first only for fun in my own time. This resulted in the production in a very long bullet list in the notes app of my phone. So here is my informal destruction of this godforsaken video.

Disclaimer: I am not at all excusing any of the awful things Alexander Hamilton did during his lifetime. I am absolutely the last person who would even come near to claiming that many of the things he did were justifiable in the slightest. Although, he might be the only historical figure which I have a very strong interest in the life of, as he was incredibly complex, and the part of me with a love of psychology finds him absolutely fascinating. There is also something to be said about the way we consider moral standards of historical figures. We are quite lucky to believe in the time that we do, and not all of our standards can apply to historical figures. This does not mean they should not be held accountable. I find that a way to criticize people while also praising them where it is due is by judging them based upon their intentions. In my opinion, Hamilton’s intentions were not to harm anyone in most situations, so I don’t think he was a terrible person, nor do I think he was a particularly good one. Then again, I don’t think either of those things about a mass majority of people, so let us proceed without further delay. (Note: I will also be referring to the collective Weird History channel as the Narrator to avoid any mental gymnastics, and all of my knowledge is coming from my memory of Hamilton’s writing and some biographies.)

Automatically, the video starts with mention of the musical, but that just reminds me that many use Ron Chernow’s biography of Hamilton as a basis of their statements about him without utilizing much critical thinking, so I am slightly nervous.

The Narrator then refers to Hammy Ham man as “...one of America’s most undervalued founding fathers...” Now, it is debatable whether or not Mr. Hamilton is undervalued per se, but when it comes to the founding fathers, they are usually undervalued or overvalued. At this point, Hamilton is both.

I shall not subscribe, thank you for the offer though, Mr. Narrator.

Now for the first fact: “Historians don’t know when Hamilton was born.” Yes, this is correct, but I don’t believe this should be labeled as “hardcore”, but perhaps that is just me. One early document indicates that Hamilton was born in 1755, while all later ones point to 1757 as his year of birth. We know Hamilton was not always a completely honest man, so it is possible that he lied.

Also, they show an image of a baby, and I do not know if this is actually Hamilton, but they use a lot of strange imagery, which I found humorous.

“A self-made man born out of wedlock.” Now, this fact could indeed be “hardcore”, if this was not colonial America we are discussing. Hamilton actually wasn’t really special in this regard. Yes, his rise to fame was impressive considering his circumstances, but this wasn’t unheard of.

The Narrator then says that Hamilton’s mother, Rachel Faucette, was “estranged from her husband.” This caused me some confusion as it is a vast understatement. Her ex-husband was absolutely awful to her.

Additionally, they claim that James Hamilton left his family behind for some reason that I did not write in my notes, but the most likely reason that he actually left was because of his awesome debt. James Hamilton also had a history of ambitious pursuits for money, so it would not be extreme to claim that he moved to another island to attempt to make a fortune in some trading endeavor.

They also cease to mention the Stevens family, who housed young Alexander while he was working for Beekman and Cruger, and had a great influence on him, but I digress.

“A college dropout who joined the Revolution.” Once again, this isn’t special. Many rowdy young Whigs left behind their careers and educations for pursuit of military fame in the Continental Army. They also do not mention anything of Hamilton’s expansive military career, which aside from being indicative of primitive research, but would produce more “hardcore facts.”

Although, they do discuss his application to Princeton college, which is interesting enough I suppose, although everyone who has heard the first two songs of the musical knows this story. His proposal for an “accelerated course of study” was likely inspired by Aaron Burr, as claimed by Chernow and Miranda, or James Madison, as supported by evidence provided by author Noah Feldman in his novel, The Three Lives of James Madison, which is an excellent read. Young Madison, having already completed a course, decided to do so again, but compacting a usually three year course into a shorter period of time. He hardly slept during this period, which was stressful upon his health, making Princeton more disinclined to allow a similar course to be taken.

The Narrator then claims that Hamilton “formed his own militia of 25 men.” Technically, yes? But not exactly. Hamilton joined a paramilitary group called the Hearts of Oak, and they drilled in Trinity Churchyard. This became ironic later. He then became a captain in the New York Artillery Company, and enlisted his own men, which was at one time around thirty or so, if my memory serves me correctly.

“Founded a bank that existed for over two centuries.” Ah, yes, a very hardcore fact indeed. Yes, Hamilton did establish the Bank of America, but Robert Morris was the one who inspired him to do so. Though, I do think the financial plan is a product of his own genius, but I will get into that much later.

I got an ad. :(

The Narrator also says that the misfortunes done to the New York shipping industry by the Articles of Confederation were the most prominent, if not sole, motivation for Hamilton to concoct his financial plan. He first recognized the need for a sound financial plan when he was in the army. You know, when he was watching men die of inadequate supplies because the government couldn’t tax the states.

This video, like Chernow’s biography and Miranda’s musical, claims that Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr were friends when, in actuality, they weren’t really. Yes, they knew each other, and they didn’t hate each other until the end of Hamilton’s life, but they really didn’t think about each other much before the Election of 1800.

“Hamilton authored over half of the Federalist Papers.” Indeed, he did! I enjoy this fact. It isn’t very “hardcore” but it is very impressive. The Federalist Papers were arguably Hamilton’s greatest accomplishment, as he organized the entire thing and, as previously stated, authored much of them. I very much enjoy the Federalist Papers, as they give some insight as to Hamilton’s political and philosophical theories, as well as how he thought of the world. It makes for an interesting read if you have something you’re looking for.

Now, this may be a hot take, but Madison’s essays are by far more effective, as they were better organized. Hamilton and I share a common flaw, and that is the lack of brevity.

“Involved in America’s first sex scandal.” Yes, we all know. I’ll get into the Reynold’s affair later because it’s its own beast to conquer. Basically what you need to understand information I shall provide later in this post is that James Reynolds extorted money from Hamilton, and if Hamilton failed to pay, Reynolds would expose the affair Hamilton was having with his wife, Maria. Hamilton paid, but when Reynolds was arrested for something else, he exposed Hamilton anyway.

“He worked with Aaron Burr to defend a man.” Once again, this isn’t very surprising. They were both capable lawyers in the same area, so it was basically inevitable. Though there was this one instance where Hamilton and Burr were working on a case together and Hamilton, being himself, insisted upon having the last word. Well, Burr was tired of him, and I can’t say I blame him, so he made every possible argument in his finishing speech, leaving Hamilton with virtually nothing.

The Narrator also mentions Hamilton’s opposition to slavery, but he didn’t really outwardly oppose it as much as you would think listening to the musical or reading Chernow’s biography. Far from being the “fervent abolitionist” Chernow and Miranda glorify, Hamilton didn’t really do much for the enslaved. He helped John Laurens in his Black Plan and joined the Manumission Society, but other than that, he never made any attempt to progress the abolition of slavery. He also “purchased” slaves for his in-laws, and some argue that he “owned” some himself, but there is no contemporary evidence to support this that I have seen. The enslaved and servants that were in his household likely belonged to his wife.

“Founded a newspaper that still exists.” Ok.

“Died by duel.” I swear, this fact is by far the most unnecessary. They mention the duel so many times that it is already redundant. I completely skipped over this part, and the video ended, so I was thoroughly underwhelmed.

Well, seeing as this post is already longer than my attention span, I shall save you the pains of having to read any more in just one post. I shall make a follow-up to this where I give my own facts, which I believe are far more hardcore than “he founded a newspaper.” I hope you have enjoyed and this isn’t too terribly boring. I hope to get back to posting soon.

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scapegrace74-blog · 3 years

Text

Wolf Like Me

A/N So there I was, all ready to keep working on my new historical AU, when Metric Jamie and Claire barged into my brain and started making demands. I’d been neglecting them, they said. I hardly ever let them indulge in smut, they said. I could only go back to writing the AU once I gave them their due. The things I do for these two loons, man...

The title song is by TV on the Radio and doesn’t have much to do with the subject matter, except for one line which has always made me... *pulls at imaginary collar*

The entire Metric Universe, now chronologically ordered, can be found here. I’m placing this new installment between Ceremonies and Lazy Dancer, so sometime during the first month or so of their physical relationship.

The light filtering into their compact kitchen was diffuse, watery and dull as the weather outside. He went through the motions of preparing coffee, despite the fact he wasn’t working until later in the afternoon. By all rights, he should be sound asleep. His aching body had lifted him from the shoals of sleep and his weighty thoughts had kept him grounded there.

Carrying his mug and a reheated meat pasty over to the sofa, he lowered himself gingerly to the cushions. He had been ridden hard and put away wet, he mused. On the surface, this wasn’t a disagreeable state, but very little about his budding relationship with Claire could be safely interpreted on its surface.

As though summoned by his thoughts, his one-time roommate and seemingly voracious lover emerged from his room and padded down the hallway to the bathroom. She looked like a cross between an albino gazelle and a harried hedgehog. Even in his current mood, he couldn’t help but smile fondly. His love for this woman was monumental, rooted deep in his soul and reaching out to span the horizons of his life. He only had to find a way to keep it, and her, from killing him. Piece of cake.

Frazzled hair now somewhat tamed, Claire settled gracefully next to him with her own coffee, near-translucent eyelids lowering in bliss as she took her first sip. He wondered if she could sense to waves of tension that emanated from his skin like heat from a sunbaked street.

“So,” she murmured at last, “last night was pretty wild, huh?”

Right topic, wrong interpretation. Still, she had brought it up, and that was the best opening he could hope for.

“Mmhmm,” he replied non-committedly.

“I thought I might have to hook you up to a saline I.V. there at the end. What was that, four times?” She grinned slyly at him from over the rim of her mug.

“Three,” he corrected, although he couldn’t fault her observations. His balls were still tender.

Finally reading his mood, Claire placed her mug down deliberately on the table. She turned to face him, eyes narrowed in scrutiny.

“Don’t overdo the accolades on my account. Jesus, Jamie, you’d think I ruined your favourite rugby jersey, not rocked your world in bed. Are you mad about the handcuffs?”

Despite everything, his cock twitched in his shorts at Claire’s mention of last night’s foray into light bondage: his, not hers. While not a kink he’d explored before, his reaction has been far from disinterested. No, he wasn’t mad about the handcuffs.

“Ye seem verra keen tae discuss my opinion o’ last night, Sassenach. What I’d like tae ken is did ye like it?”

Spluttering, Claire ran her hands nervously through her hair. He watched her carefully as she tried to navigate towards an acceptable answer. It was a delicate operation he was undertaking. He would need all of Claire’s surgical dexterity to broach the topic without cutting through the tender tissue of her perfectionism.

“What a ridiculous question, Jamie!” she finally said. “I’m pretty certain our neighbours needed a cigarette by the time I was done.” Collecting her still half-full mug, she made to rise. He held her in place with a palm across her thigh. Beneath his touch, her muscles were twitching.

“Aye, but were ye?”

“Was I wot?” Her eyes were fixed on the kitchen, as though longing for escape.

“Were ye done?” He spoke slowly, softly, tiptoeing into a minefield.

“Jamie...” she chuckled nervously.

“I want tae say somethin’ to ye, Sassenach, and I dinna want ye tae take it fer criticism...”

“Jamie,” she repeated, this time in a warning tone.

“Nah, ye need tae hear this, Claire. I love ye, as ye ken well. I love everything about ye, even the annoying bits. An’ because I love ye, nothing makes me happier than tae see ye well pleased and tae ken twas I who brought ye that pleasure. Do ye understand my meaning?”

Enormously wet eyes stared at him, a furrow between her arched brows as though she was working through a riddle. At last, she nodded in acknowledgement.

“I’m no’ daft, Claire, nor am I sae blinded by lust that I canna see that ofttimes, when we lie t’gether, yer enthusiasm can be a wee bit.... what’s the word? The one the Millennials throw about when a thing is designed for somebody else’s consumption?”

“Performative,” said in a bleak voice.

“Aye, performative. And while it’s a dream come true tae bed you, t’would be a million times better if I kent ye were taking yer bliss for yerself, an’ no’ giving it tae me like some sort of gift ye dinna deserve.”

He paused, trying to read whether his words had found their mark or if she was about to pack her bags and tell him to go to hell. He wasn’t exaggerating. Sex with Claire was infinitely better than any other sex in his life. And while he didn’t have some vast experience of women, he’d been with enough to know when Claire’s enthusiasm was feigned. She wanted him, of that he was certain, but she’d never learned to take. It would be the rarest privilege to be the one to show her, if only she would let him in. He could teach her tricks that would blow her mind.

***

“I feel foolish.”

“Whatever for, mo nighean donn?”

They were lying in his rumpled sheets, still fragrant with the previous night’s debauchery. Rather than tear him a new asshole for his audacity, to his everlasting surprise Claire had crumpled into his side with a breathy sob. He had carried her back to his room like a bridegroom. There, with tender lips and winnowing fingers, he had eased her into a rare moment of emotional vulnerability.

“I’m studying to be a doctor, for Christ’s sake. And I’m hardly a blushing virgin...”

He gritted his teeth, trying to avoid thinking of the selfish men that came before him. They weren’t here now, holding this fierce but complicated woman in their arms, her maple eyes and molasses hair spilling all over him. He wasn’t her first lover, but god willing, he would be her last.

“Ye’re a giver, Sassenach. It’s who ye are, down to yer core. Tis hardly yer fault ye were never taught that pleasure is the gift that gives.”

“Will you? Teach me?”

A shiver ran the length of his spine, lighting his nerves like sparklers. Even after the night they’d just spent, blood flooded to his cock like a bruise. He’d have to be dead to not rouse at such a request from this woman.

“Aye, mo ghradh. It would be my pleasure.” And he meant it.

Rather than immediately strip naked, they spent a good deal of time kissing and petting, their clothed hips settling into an easy grind. Everywhere he sampled, she was sweet and salty, sour and bitter, a smorgasbord for his tongue and his mind. It was this variety, this seemingly endless combination of textures and moods, that captivated him. He was certain he would never tire of her.

As things grew more heated, Claire tried to roll him on top of her, but he resisted.

“No, a nighean. Like this.” He pulled her on top of him until the bulge in his underwear lined up with the furrow in hers.

“Jamie!” she laughed, pulling her hair back from her eyes.

“Makes me feel like a randy lad of fifteen all over again,” he teased. “Ye make me sae hard, Claire.”

She gasped, and he watched in fascination as her pelvis shifted from a steady rock to a deliberate, searching circle. There was a distinct stain of moisture on the pale blue fabric of her knickers, but he couldn’t say if it came from him or her. Both of them, most likely.

“Sae hard,” he continued in a low murmur that shook with restraint, “tae see ye take what ye need from me.”

A high pitched whine indicated his partner was growing frustrated by the ongoing torture of their almost-contact.

“Please, Jamie,” she begged.

“What is it ye want, Sassenach?”

A flash of spitfire defiance met his teasing question.

“Your cock.” The click and suck of her pretty mouth spilling such filth was nearly his undoing. Perhaps it was for the best that she’d nearly drained him dry only eight hours before.

“Then ye better take it, aye?”

Faster than he could have imagined, Claire dragged his boxer-briefs down past his ankles and shed her own knickers. With the sigh of a nomad reaching an oasis in the desert, she sunk down on his length in a single, long draught. She was so wet it oozed down to where his balls where already drawn up tight against his base. Clenching his eyes tight, he counted slowly to ten.

“Now what?” she breathed, seemingly as stunned as he felt.

“Now ye move until ye find the place where it all clicks,” he offered with a flex of his groin.

“What about you?”

“Christ, Sassenach, can ye not feel me throbbing like a bloody split lip inside of ye? Don’t spare a thought for me. This is for you.”

She let out a curious hum and twisted her hips this way and that, rolling him against her inner musculature. A slight arch of her fluted spine. A counter-clockwise roll. A series of rhythmic pulses, and then she found exactly what she was looking for.

“Oh.” It was the exclamation of a prophet, having glimpsed the divine. That of a pilgrim, having reached the mountain top. It wasn’t like him to mingle the sacred and the profane, but the look on Claire’s face was nothing short of holy rapture.

“That’s it,” he encouraged, clawing at the bed clothing to avoid grabbing her and pounding to his own rhythm.

“Oh! Jamie. Oh!”

“Tell me, Claire. Tell me,” he begged, desperate for something, anything, to hold onto on the sheer cliff of madness that suddenly yawned before him.

“I’m... I’m fucking you, Jamie,” she whispered, like it was a secret kept in a locked diary.

“Aye, ye are, a nighean. Dinna stop. Dinna stop, Claire.”

Wispy noises and half-formed words began to slip from her mouth. These weren’t the orchestrated moans and cries of the night before, and they aroused him a hundredfold more. If he had to guess, she wasn’t even aware she was making them.

“Can’t...” she breathed after endless moments, neck straining as she titled her chin skywards, slim hands coming to rest on his chest.

“Aye, ye can,” he urged, though he doubted she heard him.

What only minutes before had looked like budding ecstasy was quickly turning to frustration as her head began to thrash from side to side, whipping her hair across her cheeks.

“Can’tcan’tcan’t,” she chanted almost to herself.

She was teetering on the knife edge between heaven and hell, that much was clear. Half mad with agonized bliss himself, he sought frantically through the atlas of her labyrinthine mind, searching up dark hallways and around blind corners for an answer that would help release her from her self-made snare.

“Take what ye need, Claire,” he panted, offering himself up to be consumed. Then, gambling boldly, he added “Be a good girl an’ take it.”

He knew she’d heard him by her sudden stillness. He held his breath. There was a tremor that started where he was buried inside of her and spread across her surface like wind across a pond, given voice as a rapturous sigh when it reached her face.

She began to move again, a pinched look of determination on her beatific face. A set of dainty fingers sank to where their flesh met, so wet that it burned, bursting full and yet cavernously empty, begging to be drowned. He couldn’t look away, curling up on his spine for a better view, slack-jawed and mesmerized by her practiced movements.

“I’m... I’m... oh my god, Jamie, I’m going to...”

He couldn’t have stopped himself then for all the money in the world. Teeth set, eyes fixed on nothingness, he spun away from gravity just as she let out an otherworldly howl and bore down on him like a wolf ravishing a lamb. Lava rushed down his veins and through his cock in bolts of heat, the whipcrack of release shimmering like electricity across his skin.

Claire folded down over his chest, her arms crossed over her head like she waiting for a bomb to drop from the sky. She still rode him languidly, wrenching ever last drop of pleasure he had to give. Her shoulders shook in some strange cocktail of gasping, laughing and sobbing. At long last, she was still. She had yet to meet his eyes, and he felt unaccountably nervous.

Pushing strands of hair away from where they had stuck to her face, she rested her chin in her stacked hands. Her face was equal parts awestruck and adoring, and he allowed his tense muscles to relax. Seemingly at a loss for words, she placed a lingering kiss on his sternum and rested her cheek once again on her hands, exhaling deeply.

“Sassenach?” he asked, once his breathing was once again under his control.

“Hmmm?”

“I ken ye were only kidding about the I.V., but...”

#my writing #outlander

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normal-thoughts-official · 3 years

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I would have loved to see more interactions with the seelies- people who can’t lie but are crafty and secretive sounds fascinating. Think of the dialog! Alec going to magnus for advice since he has centuries of experience talking to them, Alec playing mental chess while trying to maintain peace. Would have loved getting more- but let’s be real, Cassaundra and the show writers weren’t clever enough to actually make any conversations like that of value.

SAME!!!!! honestly i would have loved to see so much more of the seelies. like bro do you understand that their culture predates the VERY EXISTENCE OF HUMANITY??? they are the ONLY kind of downworlders whose culture is completely detached from any human culture, not only because of predating it, but also because of the relative isolationism - which means human culture barely had any influence on their culture and history AS it developed

so like you can literally go fucking bonkers??????????? you can make ANYTHING. they have a whole ass society that doesn't have to have ANY ties to mundane concepts or history AT ALL. complete creative freedom. you could do ANYTHING! and don't get me started on the potential this has, within storytelling, to contextualize a lot of stuff modern western culture sees as natural or timeless as actually pretty fucking specific - like monogamy, cisheteropatriarchy, the gender binary, racism. all immortals have that potential of course since they can come from an array of different cultural and historical backgrounds but seelies in particular have SO much potential that is NEVER! FUCKING! USED! it all goes to waste and they are just a generic vaguely monarchic society that behaves literally exactly as modern western cultural standards. WHY. i'll never stop being salty, especially within sh where all this potential was there and instead they just villainized the seelies like no tomorrow for nO FUCKING REASON, and included a whole plotline about their ruler being a terrible power-hungry person and then proceeded to act as if that would have no influence on the seelies under her rule? thanks for nothing

like i know the seelie queen was so badly written that her own motivations even as a power-hungry wacko didn't make sense or were consistent (like why give simon the mark of cain for example, and for god's sake what kind of power-hungry crazy bitch gives their main enemy the power to literally kill her and destroy everything she has at the blink of an eye, like??? she literally tried to assist in her own genocide, it makes no fucking sense, i fucking hate it here) but if they are going to make her Terrible the least they could do was show how that impacted the people under her rule, especially if they are going to have meliorn be fucking tortured and either forced to display the marks of said torture or choosing to display them themself, like? please give your plotlines one singular thought

but of course it's easier to villainize seelies and reduce them to their obviously tyrannical ruler so they can go back to focusing on the shadowhunters and their issues. nevermind the fact that seelies are obviously equivalent to native ppls/third world countries resisting colonialism/imperialism in sh's stupid ass racial metaphor, which makes making their ruler a big bad unequivocally evil villain that is ruining everything A Choice. and a particularly choicy Choice considering they cast a middle-eastern man to play the most important seelie character. but if they are going to do that they could at least address how the people under her rule suffer and how that's a direct consequence of shadowhunter colonialism and interference, but why would we fkcnig thdo that!!!! when we can have love triangle drama or whatever

and tHEN there is the whole aspect of being unable to lie which is bound to have such an impact on their culture and history since they have to rely on other forms of communication to protect themselves - and considering the whole "tyrannical rule" plotline, to further the queen's agenda in the first place. and how telling the truth without preamble would probably be considered a huge display of trust in a society that has culturally developed so many ways of talking around things. like again the potential of the cultural and historic background for that society! it makes me go insane!!!

anyway all of that to say #JusticeForSeelies and #SeeliePlotlinesNow 2021 and forever. and YES i would have loved to see more interactions between them and other characters, particularly magnus because 1- admittedly i'm a hoe; and 2- magnus was clearly the one that had the most experience talking to seelies and that others relied on for that communication. he also seemed to be the most comfortable with them, which indicates there is either some sort of history there, or magnus just happens to feel relatively at home with the workings of their culture. which makes sense, because magnus also had to develop pretty similar defense mechanisms due to his, A- work as a warlock representative who has to interact with shadowhunters on the regular; B- history with having to deal with asmodeus, which required him to be very smart about what he disclosed and how, especially considering that he had to have been planning banishing asmodeus for a long time before he got to do it; and C- just history with abuse in general. we've seen the way he closed his heart off to new people; but at the same time, magnus is obviously an extrovert and likes to be around people in general. this meant that, in order to be able to both be in the kind of environment where he thrives and protect himself/his heart/his feelings, he had to learn how to interact with people while putting on a convincing façade, which requires pretty much the same sorts of wordplay and defense mechanisms that seelies use

magnus is good at wordplay, he's good at using talking to his benefit; we've seen that. he is also good at hiding and deflecting. he is notably not good at directly lying - every time he directly said A Lie such as "i am perfectly fine and not bothered by this at all :)" it was way less convincing than it was a clear display that he wouldn't budge. even alec, who has difficulty with social cues, noticed the lying and seemed concerned about it. so like. clearly his defense mechanisms were less lying and more dancing around subjects, directing conversation to safe topics, and guiding people to making certain assumptions and seeing sides of his that were safer and he preferred

so in that way it makes sense that magnus is somewhat in his element when dealing with seelies. i think "comfortable" is a strong word because this whole song and dance takes a huge toll on anyone's mental health and energy (which i think is something that could be very interestingly explored in seelies, their collective psyche, and their culture, the way they build relationships, etc. let meliorn have partners they feel 100% comfortable talking without preamble with 2k21), but it's something he is used to and a dynamic he can fall into without as much effort as others who would be second guessing themselves more and going slower, which clearly gives the seelies, who are used to it, an advantage

and like i know that i'm implying a confrontation or sort of situation where they are on opposing sides to seelies here, which i kind of am because i am thinking mostly about magnus' interactions with the seelie queen specifically, since she was the seelie he had the most meaningful interactions with. his interactions with meliorn were very few and almost never relevant, i barely remember them happening outside of generic downworld cabinet interactions tbh. but i don't just mean that because again, stop villainizing seelies 2k21

i also mean just generally that magnus would be in a more comfortable position talking to seelie strangers and slowly working into building a relationship and mutual trust. and just generally understanding them and the workings of their culture because he can empathize with the way they have built their social defense mechanisms. no one is 100% truthful to strangers, but seelies always seem kind of- analytical. and the cultural difference + anti-seelie racism makes them seem untrustworthy to most people, but magnus Gets It, so the potential for friendships! and the mutual understanding and the relative comfort around each other! and both parts understanding the enormity that is letting their walls down gradually and being more direct as time goes by. like.... aaaaaa

and yes magnus becomes a sort of reference on talking to seelies, mostly because he is good at "playing their game", but also making it a point to humanize seelies and making the other parts understand where they are coming from and how they feel :) and just improving their relations, particularly with other downworlders

im not going to get into alec because 1- the relationship between shadowhunters and seelies is already filled with oppression and a lot of complications, and particularly now that the seelie realm is politically fragile due to the loss of their ruler (however terrible she might have been), it would play into either white savior narratives or just straight up colonialism, especially given how alec as a leader already has a history of trying to build tutelage over downworlders (i don't care what his intentions were, it's still true, and although he's learning... well. he's learning, continuous action); 2- that would be more a relationship of opposition and i'm not that interested in that. but i would love to see seelies rebuilding themselves and their relationships and alliances with other downworlders particularly, and all the better if magnus is playing a part in that :)

in short:

more seelies

more magnus with seelies, especially friendships

more focus on the politics of seelies now that the seelie queen is gone

more seelies

#sh #shadowhunters #lore #magnus bane #meliorn #seelies #the seelie queen #seelie culture #seelie history #meta #magnus bane meta #meliorn meta #in a way #ask #anonymous #long post #salt #a bit #ok maybe a lot but mostly to add flavor to my lore ramblings

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ofcowardiceandkings · 3 years

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I think you mentioned listening to podcasts? Do you have any favorites to reccommend? I've run out of content :(

that i do !

im not entirely sure what kind of podcast you'd be interested in but i'll throw out a few of the goodies in my huge library of stuff , i'll miss out a few of the HUGE podcasts that have been all over tumblr though

a LOT of it is true crime or human interest stuff , or history because im nerd ,, and a few of these dont have nearly enough attention so [shrug] i'll try to keep this short i guess lol this isnt EVERYTHING ive got in my library or listened series' by any measure

i AM gonna pop a shout to both Stuff You Missed in History Class and Stuff You Should Know from iHeartRadio because their HUGE archives have kept me from losing my mind many times over , and they cover a wide range of both important and wacky topics

BomBARDed (ongoing) this is the only fiction podcast i have happening right now really but its DAMN GOOD ONE .... it's an actual-play D&D 5E podcast in the DMs own musically-inspired world, focussed on a group of multiclass bards going to music school !! and all players (+DM) are members of the Texas band Lindby !! and they actually use and play music in the show with one original song an episode !! Kyle's worldbuilding and storycraft are truly incredible, and (Nick) Goodrich, (also Nick) Spurrier, and Ali's characters are in depth and interesting as well as an absolute powerhouse :') i actually made a piece for its first fanzine, Bardic Dreaming, which published earlier this year and is free to view now, all the players and the community are super wholesome its just very good overall 💙

History & Humans;

Fall of Civilisations (ongoing) legit one of my favourite podcast finds, im so glad my youtube autoplayed one of these ... it took me like 2 hours to realise it was 1) not the same as what was playing before and 2) had been on for 2 hours and wasnt near finished lmao. anyway, this is a series by historical fiction writer Paul Cooper, and is honest to all thats good one of the best documentary series ive encountered in years - and ive consumed a LOT of documentaries. it covered the downfall of various civilisations through history, and the episodes run from an hour to FOUR hours depending on the topic. its so chill to listen to and just get done, but over the pandemic all of the episodes have been given full movie-quality video versions too on youtube if youre more of a visual person.

Casting Lots: A Survival Cannibalism Podcast (on series break) yeah that says that lol ... its a SUPER niche topic but its very interesting and treated very well despite being kind of comical at times, the hosts are just naturally funny lol ... it delves around from the history of cannibalism in whole regions to specific incidents as recently as the 1970s, and of course the first episode is about the Donner Party, and it covers things ive never heard of despite being kind of important ?? anyway Alix and Carmella are good eggs

Sawbones (ongoing) i probably dont need to mention much here other than say that Justin and Sydnee saved me from being SO BORED sooo often, the history of medicine is wacky as hell and its what most of my history GCSE was on so [shrugs]

Cautionary Tales (on series break) this was a wild-card find lol ... it's by Tim Harford "the undercover economist" who writes for the Financial Times, and its topics kind of weave modern topics and science with how to learn from historical errors ... its a bit weird but well worth a go, also each series has a few celebrity guest voice actors which is pretty awesome

Ephemeral (ongoing) this is a very strange but thought provoking series about sounds and other things just barely saved. topics include the last castrato, the hello girls, hand-stamped records, the spread of kīkā kila music, and acoustic fossils of wild places.

Neat! The Boozecast (ongoing) history and bartending whats not to like lol ... hosted by Teylor Smirl and now their dad Tommy, they're just digging around in how important booze is to human culture

True Crime (white collar and weirdness);

Swindled (ongoing) this is an amazing show full stop. A Concerned Citizen details some of the most impactful and unruly things to happen in white collar and corporate crime. very factually accurate but given the sheer bullshit of the topics the deadpan snarking is [chefs kiss] absolutely warranted ..

American Scandal (on series break) this one is a series within a series type, and spends a few episodes at a time poking holes in some of America's biggest scandals, from a dramatised but fact-based point of view. such as what the hell was going on with Enron, how big tobacco was forced to own up to covering its own ass, how Iran-Contra happened, etc. it also now has a sister show called British Scandal, which does the same thing for British cases but with a slightly different format.

Missing in Alaska (finished) this was a fascinating series, a deep dive into what happened to two US government officials who disappeared on a small chartered flight in Alaska in 1972. it goes some really strange places, but it actually turned up a lot of previously unknown information through the audience. John Walczak's new series in a new feed is Missing on 9/11 which looks into what happened to Dr Sneha Philip.

Pretend (ongoing) Host Javier Leiva holds interviews with anyone living a lie, or who have been touched by them. con artists, snake oil salesmen, former cult members, catfishing victims, anyone and everyone.

Power: The Maxwells (finished) hosted by journalist Tara Palmeri, the story of media tycoon Robert Maxwell from nothing to empire to mysterious death and the scandals uncovered after he was gone.

Lets Talk About Sects (ongoing) Sarah Steele covering cults from around the world, in particular those in Australia - where she is from. She often has former members on the show to share their stories, and share knowledge of how they left. each story has the relevant content warnings at the start of each episode.

Brainwashed (finished) investigation of the CIA's covert mind control experiments, centred on the experiments performed at a hospital in Montreal, and its cultural impact.

Dr Death (2 series finished) two series investigating huge cases of fraud and medical malpractice, and how they were brought to a stop. series 1 covers Dr Duntsch and his horribly butchered neurosurgery, series 2 covers Dr Fata and his fraudulent cancer clinic

The Immaculate Deception (finished) untangling the weird and disturbing fertility fraud of Dr Jan Karbaat, who fathered children himself through his fertility clinic, and the impact of his deception. later episodes also touch on other similar cases.

True Crime (Violent/General);

The Casual Criminalist (ongoing) Simon Whistler of-the-many-youtube-channels cold reads a script about the case of the day, with some of his daft commentary thrown in.

Southern Fried True Crime (ongoing) Crimes from the American South hosted by Erica Kelley, she puts all the facts out there but refreshingly for true crime she doesnt hesitate to tell you if she thinks someone is human garbage lol

They Walk Among Us (ongoing) probably one of the most popular UK crime podcasts, very measured and well put together, not weird or annoying about it either.

All Crime No Cattle (ongoing, feed slowed down for now) specifically about crimes from Texas, hosted by Erin and Shay, they're very sensitive hosts and a lot of the cases they cover shed light on why the Texas criminal system is how it is or show an impact at a national level

Canadian True Crime (ongoing) Canadian crime from an Aussie who's lived there for a decade, Kristi is again a sensitive and measured host covering some important topics

True Crime (Violent/Deep Dive);

Hitman (finished) journalist Jasmyn Morris digs around in the sticky tangle around a book published by fringe publisher Paladin Press, and its apparent use as a blueprint in the killing of a mother, her friend and her 8 year old boy for financial gain.

Camp Hell: Anneewakee (ongoing) this series is exploring how a wilderness camp "correctional facility" was endorsed by the Georgia care and juvenile reform system, despite widespread abuses and shady practices the whole time. warning for csa and child cruelty throughout.

True Crime Bullshit (on series break) this one is a huge huge rabbithole but a very interesting one where the host Josh Hallmark has spent years digging into the life and potential crimes of Israel Keyes. Keyes is often mentioned as a serial killer with no pattern, but in picking it apart thats not quite true, and has sparked some re-evaluations of missing persons cases and stumbling upon information the FBI has redacted organically. there's also a series in the middle looking into the crimes of Kelly Cochran

Forgotten: Women of Juárez (finished) this series looks into the huge numbers of missing women of Ciudad Juárez, the strange circumstances surrounding them, and the potential cover-ups and corruptions on both sides of the border, trying to give a voice to all of the forgotten women and girls and their families without answers. the series itself is finished, but a spanish language edition is being released every week now.

aaaaaand i'll call it there before i list everything lol, i hope you find something to plug your boredom hole with !!

#audio #rory's ramblings #podcasts #asks #anon #long post

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hatchetfieldtheories · 3 years

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Return to Hatchetfield-Town - TGWDLM Part 3

Have I been putting off this part because of sad Bill? Maybe. Or is it because of all your amazing Ridiculous Hatchetfield Theory submissions? Yeah, you were right the first time. I just can’t deal with sad Bill.

We left part 2 of the TGWDLM rewatch where the Scooby Gang had turned up at the spooky mansion, which can only go well, and we come back in part 3 as they’ve left the tied up resident bad guy alone with the one person who has a weakness for said bad guy.

Links to previous parts

It’s Ted loving time and I make no apologies for it.

Am I the only one who saw the scene with Ted and Charlotte and immediately got sent back to MAMD’s Joey and Sally? It’s so good seeing Joey and Jaime acting opposite each other like this again, they both bring the same amount of chaotic brilliance.

I have no jokes to make for this, I just needed a gif of the “slap” here. Beautiful. Iconic.

Here we see a bit of the true Ted, the Ted we see in Time Bastard. He’s an idiot sure, but its obvious he is actually a hopeless romantic who really cares for Charlotte, underneath an exterior of “sleazeball”.

When I originally read what happens in Time Bastard I will admit it didn’t really fit with the image I had in my head of Ted. Ted is first and foremost played for laughs. He’s selfish and arrogant and funny. But rewatching TGWDLM, especially with Time Bastard in mind, you do see where Joey let’s Ted’s façade drop. You see it at a greater extent later when Charlotte dies and Ted goes off on one to Bill. But you also see it here (I’m sorry Ted fans):

Serious gifs, who is she?

Now. What’s happening in this next little scene? Are we ready for some tin foil hatting?

What do you want Charlotte?

Continuing our theme of characters explaining what they want in clear and certain terms, Charlotte starts praying to God, then Sam wakes up. Was Sam waiting for everyone else to leave before “waking up” in order to target Charlotte? Or were Charlotte’s prayers answered by an Eldritch being with the capability to control the Creedy Chorus? Later Sam says that he “saw god”.

In Black Friday, Linda attempts to issue in the “birth of a god.” God is certainly a word the Devil Dolls are happy to attribute to themselves. Somehow I don’t think it would have mattered if they had gone to a Methodist or Presbyterian church.

Opinion time: Tied Up My Heart is a full on rock bop and deserves way more praise and acclaim. You could have told me this song was from Rock of Ages and I would believed you.

“Don’t you twust me” – serious Wiggly vibes there Sam.

This is kinda catchy Sam!

In part two we briefly discussed when Hidgens became infected, and there is some theories that believe he was infected from the moment he touched the blue brain goo, leading to Show Stopping Number happening.

Charlotte was infected the minute she touched Sam’s brains. Like Hidgens, it happened slowly, but its very clear it had begun to take root in this song. Tied Up My Heart is to Charlotte, what Let It Out is to Paul. They both find themselves dancing without meaning to, they both begin to hear the music. I’ve mentioned previously that Tied Up My Heart is the only song in which there is an offstage chorus, which would be strange unless for the first time we’re hearing the show as Charlotte is hearing it – she’s beginning to hear the rest of the Hive.

The only difference between Charlotte and Paul is their wants during these pivotal numbers. Paul is trying harder to fight the song because his want is to destroy the meteor. Charlotte isn’t able to fight the song because her want is Sam… and the song is giving her that.

I think this is the part of the musical where most people pause and proclaim… what the hell am I watching. Which, you know… valid.

Can anyone tell me what foreshadowing is?

Ted just casually predicting the ending of the show. Take out the head and the whole thing falls down – an historically inaccurate statement in the proceedings of Hatchetfield’s apocalypses.

Exhibit A – Taking out the meteor does not stop the hive.

Exhibit B – Sending a Nuke into the Black and White does not stop Wiggly.

I don’t know what Nerdy Prudes will be about but heads up to the characters – maybe don’t try and destroy the root of the issue as your solution.

Obviously there is a lot of story in Emma and Paul’s discussion here, a lot of which gets unpacked and revisited in Forever and Always, but I’m not really going to delve into the specifics of it here. My biggest take away from this conversation is that Emma explains her past, and her intentions for the future, but at no point is it ever clear what her want is.

In a musical where character’s are killed because they want something, is it any wonder Emma is the one who survives at the end? She doesn’t have any big, ultimate want. She’s jaded and tired, until the end… when what she wants is for Paul to have survived.

This shows a clear distinction between how Pokey and Wiggly operate (and the others, but we’ll discuss them when we get to Nightmare Time.) Both of these Bothersome Brothers use wanting as their tool of chaos but in very different ways.

Pokey wants you to want something, in order to tempt you with that in order to destroy you.

Wiggly wants to find holes to fill with exaggerated, artificial echoes of a want.

The new game at Toy Zone – Bop Ted

Does anyone else forget for a bit how amazing Jaime’s voice is and then finds themselves entranced when Join Us and Die happens? I’m sure there is some lore in this song but I’m far too distracted.

If we refer back to our Violence over Time chart from part two of the rewatch you will see we have now fully arrived at the point where the Hive has stopped trying to just entice everyone with fluffy feelings before murdering them, and are now just resorting to “we’re gonna kill you and it’ll hurt a lot.”

I know there is plenty of discussion regarding whether Hidgens is good or bad, infected or not infected etc – but none of that matters. What matters is he makes the same crappy puns I make in inappropriate situations and I think that’s beautiful.

“The Charlotte you knew and loved was gone the minute a note came out her mouth.” – Snape’s back with the foreshadowing again.

Hidgens then proceeds to subject our heroes to a very intricate test to find out who is human, and who is the musical Doppleganger (one of the AJ Holmes fans there). I’ve seen Moana once, and I became obsessed with the bioluminescent crab so I don’t remember any of the other songs apart from Shiny. This is a problem because the only other song I know from Moana has now become Paul’s version of whatever it is he is singing. I refuse to believe there is any other version of that song.

“Their tactic is to hide amongst us, and as their numbers grow, they become more bold.” – yes Hidgens – we’ve all seen the chart.

Acting Masterclass with Corey Dorris

Bill gets a phone call from Alice, she’s stuck at Hatchetfield High and her girlfriend and the other kids have become singing and dancing zombies. Is this a prequel to High School Musical?

Its worth noting that Alice has locked herself in the Choir room – Hatchetfield High’s number one place to hide when things are going badly - x

Look what happened Nightmare Time.

Corey Dorris’ face pulls on every heart string I possess. Not Your Seed is a fantastic song, with some superb singing by Mariah, but the heart of this song is Corey. Bill is a broken man from the moment he echoes Alice’s words that Grace Chastity is a Nerdy Prude. And the voice crack!

Small warning here for a very brief discussion about suicide. If you want to skip past scroll to the next gif.

The song is an attempt to bring Bill to the Hive, but I think the plan from the start was to push him to shoot himself. Bill wants his daughter back, he wants her to be a part of his life, but unlike with Charlotte, where Hive!Sam attempts to convince her he’s not really dead and wants her, Hive!Alice uses Bill’s want to break him further and further, swinging between Alice’s love and disdain for her father. This isn’t an attempt to lay a trap and kill him when he falls in it, it’s a blatant push towards him killing himself. The Hive only picked up the gun because Paul was there to stop him.

I also find the mirror of this moment to later in Watcher World very fascinating. We obviously know Pokey and Blinky are brothers, and I wonder if the set up leading Alice to point a gun at Bill in Watcher World is Blinky’s twisted humour, echoing what he knows happened in another timeline. A horrible joke that would be lost on Bill and Alice in that timeline, but very recognisable to all of us Watchers.

Once again the Hive could have easily killed Paul, but they don’t. They make a big song and dance (get it?) out of how the guns not good enough to kill him with and then they start singing at him just in time for the army to turn up. The Hive had no intention of killing Paul yet, though obviously they can’t let him know that. Paul has been chosen as their Hero. He’s got work to do.

Hatchetfield High Homework

Just the one this week, I’m currently doing an Ask series where I attempt to make ridiculous sounding Hatchetfield Theories make sense. You can find them by searching Ridiculous Hatchetfield Theories. Go and have a look and follow the wonderful people sending them in.

When the rewatch returns, we get our first peep into the world of PEIP.

#return to hatchetfield town #hatchetfield #starkid #hatchetfield theory #hatchetfield theories #team starkid #the guy who didn't like musicals #tgwdlm

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