#not even in a speculative way just in that they share less stories about each other and what they do together | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

togglesbloggle · 5 months

Note

🔥The ice giants

Oh, this one's tricky. Do people have strong enough feelings about the ice giants for opinions about them to be unpopular? Even NASA doesn't care enough about them to send a spacecraft more than once in a blue moon. I think I'll try to weasel out of this one with the opinion 'all planets are interesting, even Neptune,' on the grounds that uninterestingness is itself the dominant opinion.

The midcentury explorations of the solar system were, in retrospect, kind of crushing for the human imagination. We went from totally unbounded speculations about the diversity of worlds- imagining robust ecosystems on Venus and Mars as late as the 50s and early 60s- to a series of photographs showing cratered, dead, atmosphere-less worlds. And 'realism' became accepting these photographs, building a story of the cosmos that is not just sterile but quite simple, treating the solar system as conforming closely to low-complexity models of planetary formation. Gravity collects micrometeorites and gas particles in planetoids and moons according to the ratios predicted by temperature and distance from the center of the accretion disk; terrestrial worlds close in, gas giants further out, ice giants further still. The planets sort themselves by density, with interior deformation or sortition based on thermal gradients, radioactive decay, magnetic forces; moons find a stable orbit or don't, and that's that.

But the thing is, once you actually get past that superficial Voyager flyby-photograph, these worlds all tend to have dramatic and exciting particularities of their own. Look at Pluto! Look at Titan! Look at Enceladus! Look at Ceres! Probably the most boring and well-studied planet I can think of is Mercury, and even that has cool stuff like solid ice at the surface.

Part of this is just noticing over time that the interface between planets and space (that is, their surface) is not always or even usually the most interesting part of them, and assumptions to the contrary are an understandable but misleading form of Earth-chauvinism.

And a larger share of it, I think, is just that once you get something substantially larger than an asteroid, the combined influence of so much volume, so much mass, and so much time just tends to amplify the variance of your system incredibly far beyond what you'd expect from your 'terrestrial, gas giant, ice giant' template. The model is actionably useful, don't get me wrong, and worlds rarely vary so much that they outright break their category. But nothing the size of a moon or planet is actually simple, and nothing on the scale of four billion years is actually stable. And so each of these things, no matter how straightforward the template, will gradually tilt and totter its way within an unfathomably large space of possibilities to something that is practically speaking unique, and which reveals something new about the cosmos that you can't find anywhere else.

If the ice giants seem simple, it's a reflection of our methods and our technological limits, not the planets themselves. We are, generally speaking, absolutely terrible about investigating gaseous worlds on their own terms- and maybe we simply don't have the right tools or the right questions yet to figure out what makes Neptune and Uranus special. But it's only a matter of time.

#my actual inside-baseball unpopular opinion is that I bet they have complex weather systems at certain characteristic depths #which have the potential to drive complex chemical synthesis #and that a lot of the puzzles with their internal structure and density are resolved through this disequilibrium synthesis #where the slowly changing chemistry alters the characteristic weather depths and vice versa

166 notes · View notes

waywardstation · 2 months

Text

A long, long time ago I got asked about Akari’s pokemon team. I had answered it, but since then I’ve changed a lot of the Pokémon on her team, and wanted to make a proper post for it ^^

@tjs-stuffs has put in lots of thought and meaning into their own pokemon teams for their AUs, as well as analyze NPCs’ pokemon teams to see what it says about their trainers, and I thought that was really cool so I wanted to try that too when reconstructing Akari’s team!

long analyzation about each member below!

—————

EMBER ♀ | LVL 48 QUILAVA

HARDY NATURE

Akari’s starter Pokémon. I thought a fire-type would work well with an outgoing personality, and it would be a useful starter to have in the wild — makes camping easier with usefulness in cooking and staying warm.

And with Hisuian Typhlosion’s entries saying it’s speculated to guide lost souls, I believe it’s especially fitting for Akari since she was put there to really help out a very lost Jubilife Village and show them Pokémon aren’t creatures to be afraid of. And in my stories especially, I frequently stress that Akari is “guiding” Ingo out of this lost, empty state and will eventually be the reason why he gets back home.

—————

KITE ♂ | LVL 36 DRIFLOON

IMPISH NATURE

Akari caught this Pokémon out in the fieldlands while doing her initial trial for Cyllene.

Lots of drifloon and drifblim’s entries talk about the Pokémon’s relation to lost people, more frequently children. And how with those who go missing, no one knows where they went. Sometimes also relates to lost souls. Akari is certainly a “lost soul” who was plucked suddenly from her time, and no one knows what happened to her or where she went.

—————

JELLY ♀ | LVL 41 MANTYKE

JOLLY NATURE

Akari caught this Pokémon in the coastlands when she saw she couldn’t avoid swimming anymore, and needed help as someone who couldn’t swim.

Mantyke is one of the very few pokemon (if not the only one, IIRC) who evolves through a symbiotic relationship with another Pokémon, remoraid. I thought it would attribute well to Akari, since so much of what she’s doing in Hisui is based on symbiotic relationships.

She is doing what Arceus asked of her, and in return Arceus assists her where it can. She stays in Jubilife Village, but only if she does hard work and is helpful to Kamado and the Galaxy Team in return.

And in my fics especially, her and Ingo have a symbiotic relationship, both helping the other out in many ways (that are emotionally healthier and less forced than what she’s got with Arceus and the Galaxy Team).

—————

TRINKET ♀ | LVL 39 CHINGLING

CAREFUL NATURE

Akari caught this Pokémon in the highlands when she spotted its unusual and pretty colors.

Chingling are said to be based off Suzu bells, which can be used for Shinto Shrines — worshipping places for various deities, and were around in Japan during the Meiji Era.

As someone doing what was asked of them by Arceus, a diety that is greatly respected and revered in the region (although they’re largely unknown to be what everyone calls Almighty Sinnoh until the end of the story), I thought it would be a good fit for Akari.

—————

FREIGHT ♂ | LVL 40 SHIELDON

BRAVE NATURE

Akari caught this Pokémon within a space-time distortion in the highlands. She asked Ingo to help her name this one.

Shieldon and Bastiodon are described to be very strong Pókemon, yet they prefer avoiding conflict — they’re also impenetrable with their hard heads, but are weak to attacks from behind. And as ancient Pokémon from the past, the ones that show up in Hisui are obviously displaced.

I think a lot of these fit Akari well. She’s also very formidable in battle but isn’t really someone who often goes looking for fights (in the aggressive sense, at least). The sturdy face but weaker backside also seems to fit how I write Akari; she puts on a tough “I’m fine” front a lot, even if she’s not, and is sometimes reluctant to share her struggles. And finally, the most obvious — she’s just as displaced as these fossil Pokémon.

—————

POM-POM ♂ | LVL 45 RUFFLET

LONELY NATURE

Akari caught this Pokémon in the icelands (specifically during the events of HFBE, she finds it without its parents).

Many of Rufflet’s dex entries describe it as Pokémon that will fight stronger opponents more out of recklessness than bravery, and Braviary’s dex entries describe it as a Pokémon that will bravely fight for its friends to protect them, even if they themselves are hurt.

I felt like this fit how I write Akari pretty well. Sometimes she’s reckless, yes, but she will take on whatever comes after herself or her friends, and will keep pushing. (Such as frequently claiming to fight Arceus to get Ingo home with her if she has to — she will follow through with this if she must!!)

#I’ve had a lot of fun thinking about Akari’s team and giving each one meaning and relation to Akari #I would have put Akari’s pre-Hisui team on here too but I felt like that would have been too long #another post for another day!!#Akari has a few other Pokémon that she keeps with her too #but they’re not really her ‘team’ pokemon #they stay in the pasture (swinub) or in her housing unit (rotom) or can’t officially be caught (Powder #one of Sneasler’s kits)#I’ve been doing a run with these Pokémon on PLA too #but I had to stop when my hand got worse #I hope to continue it soon!!

142 notes · View notes

delusionbound · 5 months

Text

“Amanita Szarr, and the two assholes who adopt her”

mild tw for brief mentions of possible sexual trauma and childhood abuse

summary: literally brainrotting over amanita, tav and astarion rn. this is all self indulgent. basically just my thoughts on how tav x astarion would work with amanita as their pseudo kid. found family ensues

you’re in act 1 after learning about astarion and his relation to cazador. a young girl shows up in the middle of the night, awkwardly trying to talk to you. if you pass an insight check, you see that she’s hiding something behind her, she’s nervous, it’s like she hasn’t talked to anyone in a while.

whether you fail the check or not, she fails her attempt. she fails to stake astarion in the chest regardless, and after a series of confusing attempts to talk you learn about who she is.

Her name is Amanita Szarr, and she’s on a mission to kill every vampire she finds despite being one. And she plans to kill a man named Cazador. She’s blunt, she’s honest, and she’s furious.

She’s wearing a crisp and wrinkly old dress, she has blood shot eyes and poorly chopped hair, she looks angry. not just angry, but vengeful.

over the course of a month you learn she’s cazadors fucking niece. although she would keep most of what she’s been through unknown. this would absolutely rock astarions perception of what was already an incredibly traumatic situation. how much was he hiding from him? How the fuck did he miss a kid being locked in an attic being turned into either a true vampire or dhampir due to a wonky transformation.

can you imagine the sheer abuse she went through? the severe isolation, and the possible sexual trauma (due to the type of ppl were dealing with here, although this is just speculation) and neglect for all of her adolescence.

astarion can understand it way more then he’d like to admit.

amanita and tav would start out with a general distrust for their respective reasons, but eventually grow a mentor and student relationship, after all she hasn’t been shown much basic affection. Although she’d be distrusting she’d be quick to latch onto someone…Astarion and her would be a very different story though.

amanita and astarion would hate each other initially. both terrified to confront the memories they want to block out, and both being complete opposites. she’s spent the entirety of her life locked in an attic, she’s shit with people.

she doesn’t know how to manipulate people and she doesn’t want to. Astarion has adopted it out of survival instincts. And needless to say he’s not fond of kids, even if they are over 100 years old. but slowly they both gain a begrudging sense of exasperation for eachother, but it’s fond.

it takes a long time no doubt, but they both share some things in common. They both want one particular asshole dead, and they’re both willing to hurt people to survive.

Id like to think that she’s a witch, a ranger, or a bard, she was incredibly academic due to how much time she had on her own. Maybe the only thing to occupy her time was an instrument and song writing. Maybe she just got really good with daggers and her only contact was with animals outside. But either way, she’s good at what she does and she’s willing to kill to survive.

It’d start with Astarion teaching her a few knife tricks. Slowly they’d start to talk about books. The turning point from a begrudging companionship to actual friendship would be when she shares one of her favorite books with him. he can see the doodles and annotations as he reads and slowly starts to see her as less of an annoying kid and more of an apprentice.

and as months passed, all three of you began to form this odd sort of trust. and that became something neither of you expected

a family. an unconventional and messy one full of people who were working through their problems, but a family nonetheless. after everything is said and done, the epilogue might consist of all three of you or just you and astarion, depending on how the story plays out and depending on whether or not she continues to hunt vampires (she’d also leave if he ascended in my opinion). and it’s the nicest thing she’s had in a long time

#bg3 #astarion #amanita szarr #found family #amanita #astarion x tav #astarion x reader

49 notes · View notes

athousandbyeol · 8 months

Text

discussion #11 (only friends): is mew an outcast in the friend group? is it an intentional tactic by the directors/scriptwriters to make mew "less attractive"?

i think, from episode 1 to episode 3, we aren't seeing much of mew because it's intentional.

he's always at the furthest side of the shot, not really in the spotlight (except in scenes shared with top and close-up shots of himself alone). the clothes he wears aren't exactly trendy or fleshy. those glasses. he looks... boring. ordinary. nothing exciting about mew.

(i just have to put this picture because he's as precious as he can be <'3)

(well, hello there, mew.)

i think the directors and scriptwriters intentionally make mew look/feel like an outcast in this messy friend group so that we'll grow suspicious of him. mew is 'hidden' because he has yet unleashed the 'other side' of his. because i think we might have questions now; is he really all this? is that even possible?

side note: even p'force said mew is the flirty/cunning one in this relationship. he knows a lot of things, but i assume he chooses not to let people know because it isn't of importance to mew. he just wants to have fun sometimes and get that degree. that's all. but is that really it?

i see so many people are having strong opinions about mew, but saying mew is boring is where i believe this is somewhat true. i think many of only friends watchers took the bait— mew is so boring— they [topmew] aren't progressing anywhere— what are they even doing? it's so interesting to witness so much disparity when it comes to topmew. some like their story. some hate them. but as someone who enjoys every plotline in the drama, i can only say the six of them revolve around each other. the story won't progress if one character/a couple is pulled out from the circle. all of them are equally important. some relationships progress faster than the other. it's in sync with the build-up of the story (do refer freytag's pyramid to get a better idea of how a story is constructed), and the growth of the characters. they depend on each other. so, like it or not, the six of them co-exist. it can't be five people or only two pairs. it must be six and three pairs to make only friends work.

i regress.

moreover, i guess, p'jojo and p'ninew want us to implant this idea of mew in mind— just a normal person. i think, in that way, it creates tension, suspense and speculation. i think most of topmew enjoyers see this gradual growth of mew's character. as top has grown out of his confident persona little by little (mostly when he's with mew, top shows more of his vulnerable and child-like personality; the smile top gives mew during the silent disco scene was so pure and innocent. it made top look like a kid again; that lost kid in the fire), mew's other side of the coin is waiting to set sail. this excites me very much. because we clearly don't know who on earth mew is. and i'm taking this opportunity to applaud p'book again. he's doing a fantastic job as mew. kudos to him.

additionally, i have a question, don't you think it's a bit off that mew is friends with 1) ray, an alcoholic (i apologise if this term is degrading), 2) boston, a sexually-active person, and 3) chueam, the party-goer (i don't have anything negative to say about her, hehe). mew— a nerd, who likes partying but is still pretty much an average university student— how did he end up in this group? i just find it a bit weird. a bit out of place. he feels like an oddball in this friend group. it's like he doesn't belong here. and that itself is very intriguing.

i have a feeling mew's transformation will shock everyone, and he might be the core of everyone's heartbreak/headache (with nick being the second/main destroyer). i'm excited to see mewnick's revenge arc unfold because both of them will approach their battles differently; nick is going to be more emotionally driven, while mew is strategic and perhaps, heartless.

thus, i think the directors/scriptwriters have succeded in making us view mew as just... a person. nothing special. dull and one-dimensional. but this is just so thrilling to me as i believe (way before the series aired) mew is so much more than what we think he is, and i can't wait to see that mew. :)

//p.s. i don't know what this is honestly so i apologise for even writing this post...

[1 | 2 | 3 | 4 (i) | 4 (ii) | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12]

81 notes · View notes

pensbridge · 7 months

Text

No matter what, fandom & the internet has a way of integrating toxicity into anything fun

If it's not:

— Thinking they have a right to the sexual orientation of actors as if the act of performing a story is "taking" jobs from the people not even present in the prospects of people in the room, it's

— Shipping actors and thinking that it is their job description to go beyond remaining cordial with their co-worker and doing the pre-assigned press by management/pr (if a joint interview is not required, it's not something that will be set up); also talking about your unabashed shipping w/o shame

— Harassing people's real life significant others or becoming obsessed with insignificant hate posts about them in their asks and analyzing an actor's actions, including the status of their friendships with co-workers// Parasocial relationships? They're weird

— Constant discourse for a fictional character or a ship as if it isn't possible to put your energy into something you actually like and remain quiet about something that brings you dissatisfaction (I don't participate with talk about parts I don't like; you can too)

— Writer hate (thousands upon thousands of shares in support for a strike have occurred, but people continuously take minor flaws as a means to be negative about the entire show (this is not about shows with terrible quality and endings; this is about shows that have a good run and ppl taking minor flaws to downvote the overall product)

— Furthermore, the minute a show drops the floods of negativity that await us (this is not representative of every piece of media out there; if it's bad, it's bad-you can tell the difference); but near-perfect shows, people just start looking for issues and drowning out any praise that lasted less than a day

— Any talk of appearance// Reducing people to their appearance. "Hot people," "hot guys depicting a gay relationship," men and your ideal within the female gaze/ your type of leading man, women and your over-critique of them. It's all such a shallow, reductive way to view humans beings

— Pitting actors/actresses against each other/ talking about who is better; and further spreading gross messages of hate in attempt of celebration/praise for the other person; idc anymore about doing this to characters, please these are real people!

— Any participation in the speculation of or jokes about an actor's life and perceived drama incl. edits and/or hateful commentary further spreading a message and perception to anyone that sees it, or

— Conspiracy theories, and seeking them out with every action, word, and gesture a person makes/says.

Please. Be more interesting.

71 notes · View notes

mafaldaknows · 7 months

Note

Kylie and timothe are allegedly getting married next year. Now tell me how is thios PR and how he's still getting his cherry popped by Armie Haammer. And I want a logical explaination, not some cult guru shit about believing in love and all that nonsense.

Hello, Anon:

Let’s stop for a moment and consider what the word “allegedly” means.

It seems to me that an unfortunate by-product of our social media culture is that people conflate allegations with facts, to the point that all anyone has to do these days to make something true in many people’s minds is simply to say it somewhere on the internet. It doesn’t even have to be “official”.

Allegations are not facts. Speculation is not confirmation. Hypotheses are theoretical. None of these things assumes itself as the truth, but merely introduces a starting point for further discussion or investigation in order to discover the truth about something.

So why bother to come to my inbox to ask me what I think about something that you already seem to think is true? It seems to me that you don’t need my validation. And don’t worry, Anon. I’ll spare you the cult guru shit about love.

Because what’s love got to do with it?

It takes at least two years for people to stop being on their best behavior around their romantic partners, so making a lifelong commitment to love, honor, and cherish someone in less time than that is a serious gamble, and seems highly unlikely in this case, assuming that at least one of them still has functional critical thinking skills, and isn’t in the habit of setting their life on fire without first contemplating the consequences, as most reasonable grown adults do, especially when making such a major, life-altering decision like getting married to someone they barely know.

What’s ironic to me, Anon, is that if you wanted me to agree with you, this would be a good spot to give you some cult guru shit about love. Because I believe that there are some people who know right away that they’ll love someone for the rest of their lives. But they tend not to need a team of managers and publicists, and constant, chronic, random no-one-asked-for-it-but-here-it-is-anyway press attention to prove it to everyone on the internet, in order to seal the deal. Lovers just love, no press required.

They only just allegedly met this spring. One year’s time is most likely not enough time for them to know if they’re suitable life partners for each other, if they intend to stay married, especially if they’re not even “official in private” and only “casual” at this moment in time, depending on how their insider source is feeling that day, depending on which way the wind blows, even when no one asked. It might be helpful for someone on their PR teams to keep track of what their insider source is telling the media on an hourly basis on an excel spreadsheet or something so they’re at least all on the same sheet of bullshit.

If it happens, then mazel tov to the happy couple, and let’s hope there’s a prenup, to keep things simple when if it falls apart.

As for popping a cherry, that’s a one-shot deal. Once in a lifetime. You might want to brush up on your idioms, Anon. 💥🍒💥

However T & A chose to define their connection to each other is no one’s business but their own. I’ve said this time and again. And who T sleeps with is also none of my business.

How T chooses to share his business that’s nobody’s business like nobody’s business is the larger issue, imho. The fact that T&K’s presence together has become ubiquitous in the media has now made it my business, like it or not.

Selling their relationship seems to be the point, and that’s the part I struggle with. It’s difficult to see the truth of their alleged love story when it’s so deeply embedded within such an obvious PR sales pitch. Even if they’re madly in love, that doesn’t change the fact that they’re also using each other as a means to an end. Famous people marry each other all the time without ever having to ask one to commodify themselves for the sake of elevating the other’s image.

Unlike some other relationships, however, T &A do not make it their business to make it our business to know their business, every damn day, for months on end. So I have no idea about the status of their relationship; romantic, platonic, doesn’t matter to me, Anon. But I can still be hopeful and watch for signs, with both my feet firmly rooted in reality.

Only time or Tim will tell.

Thanks for your question. ❤️🧿☺️🍒👀

#hello anon #it’s business baby #cult guru love shit #what’s love got to do with it #commit and commodify #a means to an end #isn’t it PRomantic #always be closing #can’t knock the hustle

68 notes · View notes

5and3nevermind · 1 month

Text

Rewatched Jimin’s Favorite Lyrics from Face. A few things that stood out to me:

- Jimin places the story of this album firmly in the pandemic. (He mentioned this when he was on Suchwita too.) Of course, he could be writing about a break-up that occurred during this time, but I think it’s much more likely that the loneliness and isolation he discusses were a product of the pandemic, the cancelled tour, the uncertainty, etc. combined with the fallout he had with his friends in Face Off (Just my opinion!)

- Jimin about Face Off: “I talked a lot with Yoongi-hyung where human relationships are the hardest…” He goes on to talk about how friendships and relationships fluctuate. You’ll be close with someone for awhile, but then you’ll drift apart, etc.

This reminded me of BE-hind Story when Jimin talks about how he had learned that the members are the only people that will always be there for him. (This would have been 2020, which lines up with the period that Face is about.) Yoongi chimes in at this point to say, “We can be close with different people each season, but some people get tired of that.” (More of my long-winded thoughts about BE-hind Story here.) Very fascinating, right?! I think this really illustrates the sincerity of Face. Hearing Jimin talk about the same themes and concepts over a span of years tells us that his lyrics are genuine. And we see Yoongi’s involvement in these conversations too…back in 2020 and all the way up to 2023 when Face was released.

- Jimin’s discussion of “Dear Army” doesn’t leave much room for speculation (in my opinion). “The producer suggested to me to write about my emotions to Army fans.”

He says his favorite part is a portion that Namjoon helped write: “If we were together even the desert could turn into the sea.” He mentions that he wrote this verse in past tense. (?)

- Jimin discusses each track on the album (except lyric-less Interlude: Dive). Even with all of this great information that he shares with us, we’re left with questions and plenty to interpret and discuss, which is part of what makes the album so intriguing. However, let’s not ignore what he has gone to the effort to share. We can certainly use these pieces of the puzzle to help us better understand and appreciate the album.

Brief thoughts on Face here and here

More on ym discussing Face Off here

#face era #yoonmin

13 notes · View notes

ambassadorarlert · 4 months

Text

warning: fandom drama, discourse, racism, transphobia, slurs, mentions of cnc and rape, manipulation, lying, gaslighting, screenshots.

for context: a good friend of mine, who i wont directly @ but they're name is Roman, wrote a cnc roleplay fanfic last year. the fic had proper warnings, labels, tags, a read more break point, and even included reader giving armin aftercare once the roleplay scenario was over. the fic got lots of attention, none that were negative, and Roman started gaining more attention as a AOT writer. I reblogged the fic in support of my friend and their work. the fic is not the focus of the argument. people can protect themselves from things they don't wish to see however they feel necessary. but, the events that followed after the fic was published and deleted, is what this discourse is about. @kingkaisen @kingkonoha @erensbaebee @aviolentrose has been stalking and harassing my blog for months, making me feel uncomfortable and unsafe. they and several others have gone out of their way to send hateful messages to Roman and I about our race, ethnicity, hair texture, harmful stereotypes about Aboriginal/Indigenous people (specifically telling Roman to "huff gasoline" which is a well thought out Aboriginal stereotype), speculating what is in between our legs (telling us we're dirty, that our 'pussies stink' and that we have foul body odor). Roman and I both identify as non-binary, and any crass comments or questioning about our genitalia is transphobic. This is extremely disturbing, and only an unsound individual can escalate things to the level that they have become. in order to protect themselves from content they did not want to see, kingkohona soft blocked me without saying a word. i found it odd that she would do this and not say anything at all, considering we were all in a group chat together, friendly with each other on tumblr, and spoke just about every day. I messaged her first, asking what was wrong:

I said I understood because I 100% understood why she didn't want to look at it. However, she never expressed her discomfort. She never expressed how she was uncomfortable with the topic of CNC in general. In the group chat, we all talked about it and we all agreed that we were low key into it but were too shy or ashamed to actually say anything first. So, myself and others were under the impression that were were all on board with CNC.

Just as it is her right to protect herself, it is my right to protect myself. I couldn't quite put my finger on what was wrong, but something was not right. We were all friends up to this point, have shared very intimate details about our lives and our traumas, so I was initially hurt that she did not tell me this at first, and chose a more shady route. In my logic, if she really were a friend we could confided anything to, she would have been able to tell me and we would have been able to fix this issue. I decided to block her, my reasoning being poor communication skills, shifty behavior, and not being the greatest friend leading up to this point. but that is neither here or there. I also then made a post, shading her because I turly was hurt and mad, saying that if I miss a tag on darker content to just tell me and not to do weird things behind my back. Soft blocking your friend with the intention to break the mutual, while still speaking to them every day and pretending nothing is wrong, is extremely weird to me. I don't regret that post. I don't regret cutting her off on those grounds. Later I would know that she is not the kind of person who she says she is or portrays herself to be. This is when things hit the fan. Kingkohona brought it upon herself to make a post that spins a completely different narrative than what was actually happening.

There are several contradictions here that prove that Kingkohona is not telling the truth about certain aspects of the story. Firstly, Kingkohona left 16 comments under my post, from a side blog no less, and then deleted them all before i could even respond or take screenshots, so this is truly coming from word of mouth which I hate. In 1/16 comments, Kingkohona insisted that she directly @'d me in that tumblr post above. This is obviously a lie. My old url (arlertwitch) is nowhere mentioned in the post. She even outright says that she cannot @ me because I blocked her. The second lie she spun is her suddenly referring to "rape fantasies" while she previously acknowledged, and continues to, that she knew the difference between cnc roleplay and "absolute cnc" (which is straight up rape.) She either actually doesn't know the difference, or she's downplaying what she knows to further push her agenda and paint herself that she is a victim. After this post would be posted by her, Roman and I's ask box was absolutely flooded with garbage, as mentioned before. Including one, not as hateful, message from a blog I've never seen before, Eren’sbaebee. Eren'sbaebee also decided to stick their neck out and make several posts about Roman and I, publicly saying heinous things about Aboriginal people, and even uses the "a-b-o" slur. Without the slashes, obviously. They also made a separate post about how I "get off to rape." I hopefully don't have to explain how untrue and sick that is. These posts were deleted. Do you see the pattern. I am a grown person that has a job to go to, so I messaged Kingkohona on the side once I had finished my day of work. I told her exactly how I felt. Not much of my story has changed. I still stand by on what I said and how I feel, and I still feel that way to this day. These are the messages that were exchanged back and forth. This was also the last time I spoke to Kingkohona personally. I had to crop and leave some things out because again, tumblr only allows a limit amount of photos in a post.

"I-" Impeccable empathy skills.

This took place in April/May 2023, and the harassment has not stopped since. It took me a while to come to the conclusion that Kingkohona and her clique were the ones sending messages, until the side-blogs started popping up. They all had Kingkohona's general aesthetic (black and pink. no age. no bio even. only reblogging and her work always being the last reblog that was made. always 1hr ago.) I understand that is a huge accusation to make, but once you have a feeling in your gut its hard to ignore it. Kingkohona has also used side-blogs to send asks with links, directed to posts that were made about me, saying things to intentionally provoke me.

The link to the post in that ask has since been deleted. Shocker. A common tactic for Kingkohona to sweep her deeds under the rug and avoid having evidence. This has been a pattern for months, as some of you already have seen the things I have gotten in my ask.

I just came back from a month long hiatus, and the other day I made a post venting about all of the things I was going through in real life and on tumblr. Of course, kingkohona saw this and took the opportunity to try and spin another tale. In the other 15 comments that she made, she insisted that she has no side blogs, that she was unaware of the hateful messages that Roman and I were getting apart from "just one" message that she anonymously sent to us. Which was, indeed the comment about how Roman and I's genitals must smell. It's really a shame that I don't have screenshots of any of this, the 16 comments were live for 10 minutes before being swiftly deleted. (EDIT: I didn't respond or take screenshots immediately as they were posted because I have hobbies, and was using my laptop to play video games and to make this post.)

I'm sure you can pick up on the lie there as well: How she was "unaware" of all this hate we were getting but still admitted to sending nasty messages.

the way she is capable of lying through her teeth is wild. she uses a fake persona that she is a soft, delicate, sensitive person when she has proven that she is so far from that. she's manipulated people, and has outright lied to thousands of her followers, (who she referred to as "fans" in 1/16 comments. a true display of how narcissistic she is. fandom writers aren't celebrities and followers aren't your "fans" lol.) she is still under the impression that I'm upset about being softblocked over a silly fanfic, but the problem is much deeper. I have explained this to her, but she still won't see reason. And she obviously won't leave me alone, since I have to make this god damn post.

My days of exposing people have long been over. I haven't been in this kind of drama since I was a teenager, but I cannot allow this type of behavior to slide. Not towards me, and especially not towards any of my friends. Kingkohona has gone out of her way multiple times to consult a "mutual friend" about my doings, and if we still talk, despite them setting clear boundaries that they don't want to be involved.

She can lie and pretend that she's innocent until she's blue in the face. She can swindle her "fans" however she wants. but at the end of the day i know what she did. Roman knows what she did. and that "mutual friend," who actually wants nothing to do with any of this, knows everything as well

I'm sorry for this long post. I'm sorry to rehash, at this point, year old drama. And I'm sorry to bring such dark and horrible topics to your dashboards. We really were friends. We talked each other through rough times, and shared extremely private details to each other. But I'm taking back control of my blog. I will not allow this girl to stalk me any longer. like i said before, I want my blog to go back to how it used to be and support other writers and get back into my own groove, but first I have to take out the trash.

Tay, Ave, Bree, whatever your name is, you've created a horrible space on here because you'd rather lurk and stalk in the shadows that be a true friend and admit what you've done was wrong. get fucked. stay off my blog. don't contact me again.

#text post #tay-gate #kingkonoha

16 notes · View notes

fire-of-the-sun · 1 year

Text

Vaxleth Speculation

Just wanted to share some thoughts and speculation about Vaxleth before the season ends.

I'm really hoping the lack of Vaxleth moments in episodes 7-9 (and basically the entire season) means we'll be getting some significant ones in the last three because, if not, I definitely did not expect to get less of them in S2 than S1 and I'd be really disappointed. However, there are other reasons for lack of content between them that isn’t due to negligence.

Right now, they both have reasons to be keeping each other at arm’s length. Vax is in a rough place after becoming the Matron’s champion but eventually speaking with her (as Keyleth encouraged) and fully accepting her should help boost his morale as well as reminding him even more how short life is.

So far, Keyleth’s story this season consists of her conquering some fears. Fire can only hurt her if she lets it and she’s become more confident in herself and her abilities. This achievement could in turn be applied in other ways such as finding the strength to face potential emotional pain. She also made a comment while gassed up that “we’re just prisoners of our own anxieties searching for connection”. Though this line took place in a moment of levity, perhaps her words here speak to a deeper thought that’s been brewing regarding overcoming anxiety in the pursuit of finding genuine connection and therefore open herself up to those connections.

As her fear as brought up by Osysa hasn’t been fully addressed yet, I imagine it will in an overdue conversation with Vax as Keyleth looked concerned about him after his vision and has probably been wanting to speak to him to see how he’s doing and this could finally lead to them voicing how they’re really feeling and showing progress both individually and together. This could result in yet another rejection scene however, only this time there might be more of an admission that, yes, she loves him too but that fear of growing too close to someone just to lose them is what is truly keeping her at bay beyond just saying they have responsibilities to focus on like last season. That way the relationship is still technically taking a step forward as we get more explicit confirmation that Keyleth does care about him in that way too while also not fully becoming canon yet and saving that for next season.

However, if they perhaps believe they won't be able to defeat Umbrasyl and they're going to die, she has nothing to lose and, mustering some newfound confidence (fire can only hurt if you let it) she parallels Vax's confession to her in S1 and finally just tells him how she feels too, fears and all. That being said, I don't want things to feel rushed at the end especially given how little screen time they've shared this season. Becoming fully canon will require multiple conversations and big moments still in my opinion.

Of course, the lack of screentime between them also allows more time to be devoted to the progression of other couples. 2x08 was a very heavy Perc'alia episode so it's just as possible for one of these last episodes to feature a lot of Vaxleth development too and perhaps their lack of content recently is due to the fact that their spotlight is coming later. I mean, at this point Vax has talked to Percy more this season than he has Keyleth.

Anyway, I’m just begging for more interaction in general too. Anything. I'd love to see a hug, some smiles or something and even a role reversal with Keyleth being the one to encourage him and remind him how amazing he is perhaps to cheer him up. To see her make him happy. To see some of his old self surface. Please, I'm dying here and I'd be pretty heartbroken if this season ended with nothing super significant transpiring between them and/or to end their arc on a negative, hopeless note. But who knows, a lot can happen in an episode, perhaps there will be plenty to come with three more to go and there’s nothing to worry about...

#vox machina #vaxleth #vax'ildan #keyleth #tlovm #the legend of vox machina

55 notes · View notes

singular-yike · 7 months

Note

I've always wondered what was the deal behind 2 of Kuroji's spellcards: Front and Back "Three Traitors" and Backstab "The two-faced and the Judge".

Is there anything that could point to for what these spellcards are referencing. If not, I'd at least want to hear your thoughts on them.

A Pair of Mysterious Kuroji Spells

On Front and Back "Three Traitors" and Backstab "The Two-Faced and the Judge"

Below: Front and Back "Three Traitors" (Normal)

As far as I can tell, checking out both Japanese and Chinese sources as well, no one has actually come forth with any explanation as to what those could possibly be based on, if anything at all.

So instead, here's some of my own speculation!

Front and Back "Three Traitors"

Looking at it literally, Front and Back "Three Traitors" is of course a literal description of how the spell functions.

Three lines of bullets are shot out by Kuroji, and after a while they reverse in their travelling direction, attempting to "backstab" the player. Thus the three bullet lines are the "three traitors".

Of course, there's also the chance that it references something further, in real life or in the story of Len'en. Like I mentioned, I have no idea what it could be referencing IRL, so instead let's look at the latter line of thought.

I have two guesses as to what this could be pointing to:

1. The "three traitors" are Kuroji, Hooaka and Aoji

First, and perhaps the one that most folks would think of, is that the Mugenri Shitodo have "betrayed" Hoojiro in some way, making them the three traitors.

I say "betrayed" because judging by both how Hoojiro acts in AWTIF and how Aoji responds to Suzumi in BPoHC the two sides don't seem to entirely hate each other, and rather still care for one another quite a bit.

Perhaps it was a betrayal of trust or shared principles, but I don't think it would've been anything so great that their relationship had become irreparable.

Of course, there's also the chance that Hoojiro only "forgave" them after their disappearance, but that's getting a bit too speculative for me, so I'll leave it at that.

2. The "three traitors" are Suzumi, Suzumi and Suzumi

The other idea, is that this refers to Suzumi Kuzu, the three traitors thus referring to Hamal Cine, Arde and "Benny".

From the Scoundrel Team vs Suzumi dialogue in BPoHC, we can clearly tell that Suzumi once quite seriously betrayed the Shitodo (likely as well as Tsubakura, Yabusame and Clause; and maybe Kurohebi, though this one is ambiguous).

This idea fits the best into the spell title, at least using canonical information. Though frankly I find this the less likely option, especially since Kuroji shows little to no indication of knowing about the three Suzumis.

Backstab "The Two-Faced and the Judge"

Now this one is a lot more ambiguous, considering that this one is the hard/unreal version of the last one, we can try interpreting along my two theories from the last section.

1. If the traitors are the Mugenri Shitodo

Going by this one, the two-faced would of course be the three Mugenri Shitodo, and if I had to center onto any of them, it'd likely be Kuroji themself.

Out of the three, they're definitely the most likely to do, or even lead the other two to do, something that would lead to a "betrayal" of sorts, at least when considering their personality.

This would then of course place Hoojiro as the judge, and if the three really did do something to betray her, she would course then be the one to judge them.

2. If the traitors are Suzumi

This would of course placed Suzumi as the "two-faced", though technically speaking I suppose Suzumi is "three-faced". Perhaps Benny was just as reclusive as they are now?

In this case though who "the judge" is would be a lot more ambiguous. Tsubakura or Kuroji seem the most likely candidates here, Tsubakura being the main target of Suzumi's schemes and Kuroji being the creator of this spell card.

Personally, I lean towards Kuroji being "the judge" here, since to be completely frank Tsubakura seems to lack the assertiveness to really judge anyone, especially not with Suzumi.

In fact I'd say that Tsubakura seems quite unable to let Suzumi go, in a sense, if the Shrine team vs Ex+α Suzumi dialogue is any indication.

Like I said though I don't really think the Suzumi line of thought is the right one, but who knows~?

3. Kuroji is the two-faced? Or is Kuroji the judge?

The tricky thing with this name, is that unlike Front and Back "Three Traitors", there's nothing that seems to immediately link this name to the spell itself.

There are after all only two characters in the spell title, "the two-faced" and "the judge", while the spell prominently features three lines of bullets.

So instead, perhaps the characters in the spell title now instead refers to the player and Kruoji instead? But then is Kuroji the two-faced, making Yabusame/"Tsubakura" the judge? Or is it the other way around, making Kuroji the judge?

I personally lean towards Kuroji being two-faced in this case, though I have no actual reason for why other than a gut feeling.

Ending

And that's honestly all I have for this! Pretty much purely speculation and not much else. Still, I hope it's at least food for thought, or even just fun to read.

As usual, I hope you enjoyed~! :)

#len'en #len'en project #len'en lore #kuroji shitodo

11 notes · View notes

torturedblue · 10 months

Text

Has anyone thought about a 2012 apocalyptic future x Rise apocalyptic future crossover? 🤔

I know this fandom goes wild for future Rise boys x present Rise boys ‘crossovers’ and same for 2012 x Rise crossovers but now I’m really curious to see how the adult turtles from 2012 and then Rise would interact and compare notes when sharing war stories…

One of my reactors on Patreon just reacted to the Mutant Apocalypse arc that I have refused to watch again since it came out because ouch trauma, especially since I thought that was supposed to be the actual ending 🥲

But it makes me realizing when comparing that the 2012 boys didn’t even get to stay together like Rise did, and the Kraang successfully killed all the humans in the mutagen explosion.

The Rise guys at least got to stay together until each one died, but they also had to spend the entire apocalypse still fighting. Which makes it seem like 2012’s predicament is less horrible since their main concern is finding resources and survival, but if you think about that too, in Rise, even though they were fighting so long, the chance/opportunity to kill the Kraang and fix everything was actually an option all that time. They had lasting hope, however fragile and wavering. For 2012 all that stuff seemed pretty permanent. The desert wasteland and civilization gone as it once was… Not only that but they already lost the entirety of the human species which could never come back.

And now that I’m really thinking about it, there are no Kraang around in the post apocalyptic desert, so were they somehow destroyed in that mutagen explosion too, or did the remaining survivors of Earth somehow kill off the Kraang at some point? More likely, maybe after seeing the miserable wasteland that earth became, the Kraang left to go back to Dimension X or start over somewhere else with another planet. Unclear whether the mutagen bomb didn’t work how they wanted it to or maybe after the turtles interfering so much they just wanted to destroy the planet completely as vengeance and move on somewhere else

Now, in both worlds it’s mostly yokai/mutants left as the main population, either left fighting the fight or all the mutants just left surviving. The turtles’ kind became the mainstream population which is a lot to unpack. Despite being mutants and turtles living underground their lifestyles are so derived from how humans lived. Both their Splinter’s were once human and now their former species is (nearly) gone…

I also find the differences in how each group progressed in growing pretty interesting. The Rise turtles got to grow how they were supposed to for the most part, save for Mikey’s advanced aging and if you want to include Leo’s prosthetic arm later on. Whereas, the 2012 turtles vary much more differently in physical form than they’re supposed to and in comparison to each other:

Donnie’s a cyborg with only his human brain left, his body still resembling his teenage body rather than his much older current age

Mikey just barely grew at best, and practically mirrors Rise Mikey’s physical state, unfortunately 2012 didn’t keep his sanity 100% in tact though

And Leonardo was almost completely deformed from taking the brunt of the mutagen bomb and becomes absolutely freaking huge. Like probably bigger than Rise Raph huge

Raph seems to be the only one who grew in (comparatively) the least abnormal and most healthy way, resembling what the rest of his brothers would’ve likely grown to appear as had they not had the different health complications/deformities. He also resembles his Rise counterpart’s body build the most. I know many speculate Rise Raph would’ve only kept getting bigger and bigger as they transitioned into adulthood, and it seems 2012 follows that track as well with how large and aged he is

Not to mention their varying mental health… My god. Again, poor Mikey partially lost his mind, and even though he did have Chompy and Ice Cream Kitty to keep him company all those years it still takes a toll on the psyche to not have anyone around to actually converse with for so long. Out of all his brothers Mikey’s definitely seems like the one to need social contact the most for stability.

Raph can’t remember much of anything from their past life because of the mutagen blast. As far as we can tell he remembers enough about his brothers to see them as such, but we also know he doesn’t even remember Master Splinter, his own father who he knew since infancy

Leo completely lost who he was and forgot who his brothers were, not only that but becoming the very thing that is the complete antithesis of who he is: a villain. One that was rather similar to Shredder at that. And we can’t forget yet another parallel where he almost killed his little brother because he didn’t even know/remember who his little brother was

Donnie seems mostly the same at least when it comes to mental health and keeping a grip on reality, but I’d really like to know his true feelings on losing his physical body and becoming an android. They make it seem like it must not bother him much, and teenage Donnie pre-apocalypse might even find the idea really cool, but we saw how it affected Fugitoid and once that becomes a reality it’s a whole unavoidable mind fuck

Ack. Now I can’t get this out of my head. The adult apocalypse versions of these guys would have so much to talk about and honesty I think meeting more counterparts—especially from apocalyptic timelines —would be such a great comfort to both groups. With how much each side has lost having more family that survived would be a welcomed thing.

I’d love to see some other people or artists’ takes on this because holy crap the potential these apocalyptic universes have in meeting each other is freaking atomic, highly flammable, freaking radioactive

41 notes · View notes

mariana-oconnor · 1 year

Text

The Greek Interpreter pt 2

We have literally 0 plot to theorise on so far, just Mycroft in all his Mycroftian glory.

"I have had something quite after your own heart--a most singular problem--submitted to my judgement. I really had not the energy to follow it up save in a very incomplete fashion, but it gave me a basis for some pleasing speculation. If you would care to hear the facts--"

This is a bit like when my Mum tells me that I should look at the crossword she's started. Mycroft wants to share his enjoyment with his brother. Such a good older sibling. Also, he's too lazy to actually do the legwork required. But that's what younger siblings are for, isn't it? Or at least that's what my older brother tells me.

"This is Wednesday evening," said Mr Melas. "Well then, it was Monday night—only two days ago, you understand—that all this happened. I am an interpreter, as perhaps my neighbour there has told you. I interpret all languages—or nearly all—"

...He interprets all languages.

All languages.

All languages. Or nearly all. That's a lot of languages, my dude. I know some people who speak a lot of languages, but none of them comes close to speaking all languages. 5 or 6 I think is the most I've ever encountered, and only fluently in 3 or 4. There are definitely people out there who speak more, but nearly all. This man is officially the most knowledgeable person who has ever appeared in a Sherlock Holmes story. He's a linguistic genius.

The Internet tells me that historically the person who is said to have spoken/understood the most languages was Sir John Bowring, a 19th century governor of Hong Kong. He understood 200 languages and spoke 100.

The person who currently holds the record lives in Brazil and claims to speak 59.

The BBC website tells me that there are up to 7000 different languages, although 90% are spoken by less than 100,000 people. But Mr Melas does not specify that he speaks all the common languages or all the popular languages. He says he speaks nearly all languages.

Yes I am taking this literally purely to be difficult. It's more amusing that way. I know this is a case of hyperbole for fiction's sake, but I like the idea that Mr Melas speaks 6000+ languages. This is another case for random supernatural occurrences within the stories.

"I was not surprised, therefore, on Monday night when a Mr Latimer, a very fashionably dressed young man, came up to my rooms and asked me to accompany him in a cab which was waiting at the door. A Greek friend had come to see him upon business, he said, and as he could speak nothing but his own tongue, the services of an interpreter were indispensable."

First, I like the note that Mr Latimer is a fashion-conscious man. Second, how did he and the Greek man come to be friends if they could not speak each other's languages at all. Have they always spoken through other people? Maybe you should try learning some Greek, Mr Latimer.

"It was certainly more roomy than the ordinary four-wheeled disgrace to London, and the fittings, though frayed, were of rich quality."

Mr Melas is a cab snob. 'Four-wheeled disgrace to London' is a delightful turn of phrase.

"I had ventured some remark as to this being a roundabout way to Kensington, when my words were arrested by the extraordinary conduct of my companion. "He began by drawing a most formidable-looking bludgeon loaded with lead from his pocket, and switching it backward and forward several times, as if to test its weight and strength. Then he placed it without a word upon the seat beside him.

Well, this can't be good. Shenanigans are afoot. I like that Mr Latimer is very clear about this, though. Oh yeah, I'm a bad guy. Look at my bad guy credentials. There's no beating around the bush, just straight up threat of violence. Clear. To the point. No need for words.

"'This is very extraordinary conduct, Mr Latimer,' I stammered. 'You must be aware that what you are doing is quite illegal.' "'It is somewhat of a liberty, no doubt,'"

This is such a polite exchange. 'Uh, you are aware that kidnapping me is illegal, sir?' 'Yes, it's a little rude of me.'

So casual, so matter of fact. If I were kidnapped I wouldn't say 'hi, you know this is illegal, right?' But then i don't speak 6000+ languages, so what do I know about talking?

Realistically, this is terrifying, but Mr Melas' account is hilarious.

'I beg you to remember that no one knows where you are, and that, whether you are in this carriage or in my house, you are equally in my power.'

Less hilarious. More terrifying.

"'Well done, well done! No ill-will, Mr Melas, I hope, but we could not get on without you. If you deal fair with us you'll not regret it, but if you try any tricks, God help you!' He spoke in a nervous, jerky fashion, and with little giggling laughs in between, but somehow he impressed me with fear more than the other."

Yep, this guy seems unstable. Also 'no ill will'? You literally kidnapped him with a threat of violence. Yes ill will. Much ill will. I don't think you know what ill will means.

"'But say no more than you are told to say, or--' here came the nervous giggle again--'you had better never have been born.'"

Yep... this is the sign of a totally stable and reasonable person and absolutely not a creepy murderer. At least we already know Mr Melas survives to relate this tale, or I'd be certain he was about to be buried under the floorboards.

"'You are to ask the questions, Mr Melas, and he will write the answers. Ask him first of all whether he is prepared to sign the papers?'"

The fact he is not allowed to talk indicates that something about his voice would give something away. If they don't know Greek then writing and speaking are pretty much interchangeable for getting information across, so there would be no need to stop him from speaking because he can write incriminating things just as easily. Unless, one of them can read Greek, in which case why get an interpreter? So I stand by my thought that his voice must be incriminating. Or he's mute. Always possible.

"I took to adding on little sentences of my own to each question, innocent ones at first, to test whether either of our companions knew anything of the matter, and then, as I found that they showed no signs I played a more dangerous game."

Resourceful and intelligent. He tests the water first with non-incriminating stuff, then gets more in depth.

"'Harold,' said she, speaking English with a broken accent. 'I could not stay away longer. It is so lonely up there with only—Oh, my God, it is Paul!' "These last words were in Greek, and at the same instant the man with a convulsive effort tore the plaster from his lips, and screaming out 'Sophy! Sophy!' rushed into the woman's arMs Their embrace was but for an instant, however, for the younger man seized the woman and pushed her out of the room, while the elder easily overpowered his emaciated victim, and dragged him away through the other door.

OK, so Sophy seems to have been having quite a pleasant time of it all told. While poor Paul's been going through it. Kind of dumb of them to let her walk in on them, though. I assume that they had a plan to avoid that which somehow went wrong. Also, if she's being held of her own free will, this seems like it might put an end to that? Unless she's very gullible.

So, brother? I'm thinking relative because he has to sign something before she can get married? Or he wants her to be married? Presumably there's some sort of fortune involved.

"'We should not have troubled you, only that our friend who speaks Greek and who began these negotiations has been forced to return to the East. It was quite necessary for us to find some one to take his place, and we were fortunate in hearing of your powers.'"

'forced to return to the East' is that like saying he's in the cellar looking for a cask of amontillado? Maybe he just had a family emergency... maybe?

Also 'your powers', yes. Mr Melas's linguistic skills are clearly a super power.

"if you speak to a human soul about this—one human soul, mind—well, may God have mercy upon your soul!"

This threat clearly worked well, considering Mr Melas has so far told at least two souls about the situation, with great glee. I get the impression that Mr Melas is a stifled adrenaline junkie and this is the best thing that has happened to him all year.

"I cannot tell you the loathing and horror with which this insignificant-looking man inspired me. I could see him better now as the lamp-light shone upon him. His features were peaky and sallow, and his little pointed beard was thready and ill-nourished. [...] The terror of his face lay in his eyes, however, steel grey, and glistening coldly with a malignant, inexorable cruelty in their depths."

Sounds delightful.

Honestly, it's the little pointy beard that clearly marks him as a villain, though. Everyone knows that.

Although if he doesn't put more care into maintaining it, the league of villains will have him cast out for failure to maintain proper villainous standards.

"Any steps?" he asked. Mycroft picked up the Daily News, which was lying on the side-table. "'Anybody supplying any information to the whereabouts of a Greek gentleman named Paul Kratides, from Athens, who is unable to speak English, will be rewarded. A similar reward paid to any one giving information about a Greek lady whose first name is Sophy. X 2473.' That was in all the dailies. No answer."

Well now they're definitely going to know he said something. Subtle.

"In the meantime, Mr Melas, I should certainly be on my guard, if I were you, for of course they must know through these advertisements that you have betrayed them."

You don't say? No, seriously. I'd be worried if I were him. But apparently he's just got absolutely no fear.

"Then the brother--for that, I fancy, must be the relationship--comes over from Greece to interfere. He imprudently puts himself into the power of the young man and his older associate. They seize him and use violence towards him in order to make him sign some papers to make over the girl's fortune--of which he may be trustee--to them."

OK, so clearly that's entirely wrong because it's Watson's thoughts on the matter. So back to the drawing board. Not to disparage Watson, at all... but there's no way it's right if it's his theory.

"I really fancy that you are not far from the truth."

Really??!? That's probably the biggest surprise of this whole story so far.

Sophy seemed to have no inkling of any crime or ill-intent on the part of the bad guys, so they're clearly being subtle with her. Or they were. You don't just wander around a kidnapper's house going 'I came to find you Harold, because I was so lonely all alone up there'. Unless you're actually a character in an erotic thriller novel, then I guess that probably is a thing you would do.

I don't think this is an erotic thriller, however.

Did Watson really get this one right? I guess we'll find out next time.

#The Greek Interpreter #Sherlock Holmes #Letters from Watson #long post #That was the best gif of evil Leo from charmed I could find #it was very disappointing #but I really wanted to include him #because it's such a look #lol

24 notes · View notes

5eraphim · 2 months

Text

speculating about the "plot" of my favorite album of 2023 (Married in Mount Airy, Nicole Dollanganger) 🍸🤍🌙💎💒

(Unedited)

Before going into spoilers/the album's storyline, I want to commend how STELLAR the album's production was, and how far @nicoledollanganger has come since starting out making dream pop recorded in her bathroom/bedroom on garage band (still love that music, but the progress speaks for itself imo). This album is nothing less than hauntingly beautiful, aided in no small part by the final composition and how the story is woven amid the vocals, instrumentation and lyrics. It's the kind of music so good it makes me want to SCREAM, on god.

Favorite tracks were: Married in Mount Airy, Gold Satin Dreamer, Whispering Glades, Nymphs Finding the Head of Orpheus and Moonlite

(Spoilers below, duh)

my interpretation of the story told by the album starts with the bride running away with her husband on their honeymoon (Married in Mount Airy) Their good times together, though with an underlining eeriness resting below the surface (Gold Satin Dreamer and Runnin' Free). The husband relapsing/worsening alcoholism and violent temper (Dogwood) The bride begging her husband to stop drinking and the violent behavior (My Darling True) Knowing what she has to do, but overwhelmed with fear and hesitation- she knows what she has to do if she wants to live, and she has a feeling tonight's the night, but she can't help but fear having to go through with it. (Some Time After Midnight)

The bride's ultimatum to put an end to the toxic relationship with her husband confessing to the murder of her husband. (Bad Man) The Bride shoots her husband late in the night, leaving him to rot in the forest/reflecting on how bad they were for one another. (Nymphs finding the Head of Orpheus) Reflecting on what might have been the "worst" most dangerous nights shared with her ex-husband (Moonlite) Making her peace with what she's done, laying all the love she once had for her ex-husband to rest. (Whispering Glades)

The final track I'll Wait for Your Call is extremely bittersweet because, even after everything the Bride has gone through, and all she's done, there will always be a part of her that loves her ex-husband. And even in death, she can't help loving him from afar, and dreams about reuniting with him in the afterlife.

Also of note is how the ending instrumentation of "I'll Wait for your call" perfectly mirrors the opening music for the opening track, like a tragic ouroboros. IMO, the perfect way to end an album written to sound like a surreal dream you can't awaken from. Like Mount Airy is this fucked up purgatory for these two sinners cursed to remain tethered together till the end of time. The Groom cursed to relive a hell of his own making (constant drinking, endless wrath, stuck with a woman who loves him less and less with each passing day) and the Bride cursed to remain in the abusive relationship as punishment for her murder.

Heartbreaking, haunting- but undeniably beautiful. It's everything I love about Dream Pop and more, it was well worth the wait.

and like MY GODDDD, not to "spoil" the ending of the album (but also it's hard to spoil an album like this considering it's just something you gotta experience as a whole, but i digress) it's so brilliant to have the line "Where all you have to bring is your love of everything" from the MIMA's opening track work in tandem with the line "There's a spot in the grass in the grass waiting for you at Whispering Glades" Bringing the tale of a bride running away with her groom on their honeymoon; their love story ending with the bride murdering her husband and laying him to where she leaves her love of everything. Literally going from Married in Mount Airy to Buried in Mount Airy

My one nitpick here is that i'm not too crazy about the album's cover. I really love how she usually illustrates her own cover art for albums/EPs, and the image used is very uncanny valley and a bit stilted to me.

(but you know, this is completely subjective, and at least it's better than the cover for Heart Shaped Bed, again in my opinion. maybe i only feel this way bc there were so many lovely promos dropped before the album, i can't help but compare them. Idk why, but there's something so compelling about the image of her with the wired phone- I would personally vouch for that one as cover art)

#married in mount airy #nicole dollanganger #MIMA #indie pop #dream pop #.txt #album review

4 notes · View notes

rivertalesien · 8 months

Text

People are still sharing their 9/11 memories but it was hard revisiting that day. Mine started with hearing Donnie Bonaduce on the radio screaming about what was going on until I had to turn on The Today Show to figure out what that idiot was on about now...and there it was. I remember Katie Couric's sobriety as they all tried to hold it together for their audience. Watching that second plane hit the tower. There's no words for that.

In the first hours after, there was so much chaos and so many rumors, and we heard very little from any government officials. Bush did make a brief statement in the morning, but then all we heard was of him on Air Force One flying around the country (he doesn't return to DC until later that evening). He basically up and disappeared. We heard Cheney was giving orders and this only made Bush seem even more removed: we all knew who was really in charge.

From the false reports of other bombings and hijackings around the country, this really seemed like something enormous and there was no one out there to calm anyone's nerves or tell us what the plan was. Not even their spokesperson, Condoleeza Rice, made a statement.

Osama bin Laden's name was everywhere on the news, though it was just speculation. It's the GOP who are sending up the "act of war" card and blaming it on bin Laden. We heard Congress was being taken to an undisclosed location and the government was still operational.

I remember the first couple of hours after the planes hit as being significant for the country's trauma and how it would all play out later: the longer we went without a serious breakdown of the events and the scope, without any sign of reassurance or any official details, the deeper the trauma set. The whole country was being shut down. Airplanes everywhere had to land (that week of no planes in the air? That silence was haunting). New York City was being evacuated. We'd never experienced anything like this. My grandparents said even WWII seemed less dramatic by comparison. It felt like we were being spun too fast on a blood-soaked merry-go-round and couldn't get off. My grandfather said at least they'd had Churchill and FDR. We talked like this was the start of World War III.

The first real statement with any substance that we heard from a world leader on the matter was Tony Blair, then Prime Minister of the UK. He wasn't Churchill, but his words and his voice were something of a calm in that storm: we weren't alone. For all I cared, Blair could have been president at that moment.

The whole day was a nightmare, mostly for New York, and it didn't end with Bush's press conference that evening, promising vengeance. I believed it then and I believe it now: it was the wrong thing to say and it set the Worst Timeline in motion.

It didn't take long for the flags to come out, to see them on every door or waving from the back of pickup trucks. It didn't take long before the first stories of attacks on Muslims in the US. It didn't take long for terror to become a way of life, to see it packaged and sold on TV. It didn't take long for our government to give unprecedented power to Bush jr. to wage war wherever he liked for however long he liked. Each day felt like the walls were closing in.

We knew the hijackers were from Saudi Arabia, but two years later we were invading Iraq on the false pretense of them having weapons of mass destruction. They had nothing to do with 9/11.

In the streets that March of 2003 we got a preview of the future: filled with militarized police and media as the mouthpiece of an authoritarian regime. It was the first time being on the wrong end of a can of pepper spray and feeling nothing but disgust at how easy it was to spot all the lies. Media calling protestors "strangers" and "violent" when the only violent aspect was the police. It felt like we'd wandered into the Twilight Zone.

We had eight years of non-stop revelations of what monsters we were becoming.

Obama's tenure wasn't a reprieve. It might have been the commercial break.

But we've never left that purgatory and the far-right is even more determined to keep tunneling us into hell.

I keep wondering if we'll break out of our collective trauma and start over, but if its out there, maybe it's waiting for the next catastrophe.

#9/11

7 notes · View notes

luxaofhesperides · 2 years

Text

stories as a vessel for human history: an essay by lee jihye

In writing an essay for her history class, one of the first ones she's taking in university, Lee Jihye can't help but feel a little too much on the topic.

Or: You are Lee Jihye and you are trying to be a good student, but you're not sure you know how to be good, much less a student when the last time you were a student you—

also on ao3.

. . .

Topic: Human history passed down via stories.

…much has already been discussed about written history through personal diaries and letters. Documents that have survived from the Roman Empire are, perhaps, among the best examples, containing a glimpse into the author’s life, the culture of the time, and the language used. Writings from the Roman Empire also include quotes from plays that have been lost to time and are only known for those few remaining lines. Many works of the Ancient Greeks also survive this way.

There are many written documents that survive to the modern day and have been preserved physically and digitally through copying and digital archiving. What is less discussed are living stories. Stories and accounts of different periods of history passed down through people. An oral history that is shared through speaking and art. Nontraditional stories include cave paintings, preserved human footprints from early humans, embroidery and other craft arts passed down through families and sold in estate sales.

Pieces of the lives people have lead left behind to be found and

You sigh, leaning back in your chair. This is still just the introduction of your essay and it’s taken you a full hour to write. It’s not even done yet.

University is horrible. It’s necessary for you to get a decent job in whatever field you want—something you’ll figure out later—but that doesn’t mean you enjoy it. Sure some of the offered classes are cool at all, but as a first year, all you can do is take the required classes and that includes history.

It’s honestly shocking that you even got this far. Two years ago, you wouldn’t have ever thought about being in a school setting again, too focused on survival and nightmares and fear, but now you’re here. Trying to write a paper at midnight because it’s due in two days. Or tomorrow. Whatever.

At least being part of the group that helped save the world gets you in without much of a fuss. There’s no way you would have made it in any other way, considering you never finished high school.

Not that it would have changed much; you were never a good student.

You don’t actually remember much about high school, now that you think about it. There are vague memories: walking down the hallway, getting lunch, sneaking out of gym class. All of it’s overshadowed by—

Her pulse under your hands. You can feel it fluttering against your palms. It’s a sign of desperation, of fear, of no no don’t please I want to live but she smiled. She smiled at you and opened her mouth to

provide an insight to what life was like in their time. We can piece together their story with the fragments they leave behind. We can learn what they wanted to say and pass that down, becoming another part of the journey of history.

A notable example of this unwritten history is fairytales. Stories told to children to impart lessons and warnings so that they are better prepared to survive in the world. Though many of these did eventually become written down, not all did. And if they did, different versions of the same story suggest that these stories were passed through word of mouth, changing with each person based on memory and understandability of the story. There has even been speculation the the fairytales penned by the Grimm Brothers were not original, but were instead folk tales that were passed down until they wrote those stories into a book.

These stories can also provide us knowledge of the time and culture they originated in. Despite being fictional, they are rooted in reality where

death had come for everyone, that day. Everyone but you. Alone, you had to step over their corpses, stumble out of that school, wondering if you really did survive. Maybe your corpse just hadn’t realized it yet, and when you finally did, you would drop dead and never feel so much pain again.

But you kept going. You kept walking, blind, until the cries of monsters shook you out of your dissociative haze. From then on it was a mad scramble to survive when you had already done too much surviving. It was a man with a scowl and a black coat handing you a sword and dragging you to a train station. It was monster after monster and scared, desperate people looking to you for help because you were the only one who kept coming back alive.

That’s a story too, but it’s not one anyone wants to talk about.

If we go even farther back, we can look to cave paintings to understand their stories. Historians have offered theory after theory about what each could mean, why it was drawn, what purpose it serves. What most are forgetting are the basic facts: even before humans had permanent settlements and governments and written language, they had art. They created different colors, used that pigment to draw animals and people and maps, communicated with images.

Those walls say: humans were here. We were here and we saw the world. This is what was in it.

Those walls say: these hand prints are our children, who we held up because humans have been giving their kids paint and messy hands for thousands of years. These hand prints are proof of multiple people painting in a cave, sharing color, being together. This is a history of togetherness that has never left

alone you can’t help but think of all the ways things could be different if your roles were reversed. Would you have done that to her? Made her place her hands on your throat, made her let go of your limp and still body?

She would have done better. Been more levelheaded, more thoughtful, more composed. Although you can’t image her getting along with Lee Gilyoung well, not with her fear of insects.

You wonder if anyone else would have loved her as much as you did.

You’ll never know. You can’t change the fact that you killed her.

You’ll never change that fact that her story is only known through you. That she is only known for a murder broadcasted as both a warning and an inevitability.

No one could escape it in the Star Stream. Even the constellations found their place in the sky with blood on their hands. There was never any other way.

Investigating history through these nontraditional means allows us to see connections across time and culture. Humans have always been human; much of our humor stay the same. Graffiti in Pompeii contain crude jokes, including a “Your Mom” joke, references to popular culture at the time (the Aeneid), and declarations of relationships that, in the modern world, would be similar to carving names and hearts into wood.

Despite the distance between us and our ancestors, our defining characteristic of

being a crybaby. Many of your tears had been caused by stress and fear and grief, because those are the emotions that the scenarios brought out the most. Kim Dokja’s deaths have made you cry. But so has the act of Yoo Joonghyuk carrying out to safety when you were too injured to move.

Sometimes you wonder if you had been cursed to feel everything just a little too much. To feel it endlessly.

Even now, you live in a world where Na Bori is still dead by your hand and Kim Dokja won’t wake up and the Star Stream is gone but nothing has been fixed.

Not really, anyways.

In all honesty, you’re not sure you know to live in the world anymore. A world without the Star Stream, a world at peace, a normal world.

You’re trying, but it feels like playing pretend. What’s normal is going to college and studying and figuring out what career you want. But you never really thought you’d have any of that, and now that it’s being handed to you, it feels like a joke with no punchline.

You wish Kim Dokja would wake up. Surely he’d know what to say to help you figure out what to do next, how to

create textiles and houses and families. These are also unconventional histories; they are deeply personal and rooted more in the context of family than of time. Consider a technique for creating something that only one family knows, and thus is passed down from generation to generation. Consider the recipe book of a great-great-great-great grandmother and how ingredients have changed so much it’s impossible to accurately recreate any of the foods listed. Consider the way names are passed down alongside material objects.

Consider the stories we keep passing down, the ones that have stayed with us since our ancestors gathered around a fire and

lied to her about how her story ends.

That’s not to say Kim Dokja is a bad liar. He’s too good at it, actually. But once you got to know him better, it was easy to see the tells, to hear it in his voice.

He promised you a happy ending then told you to leave him behind when your camp was attacked. He promised that he would be fine, but that was a lie too. You were prepared to die with him, right then and there.

That was part of his plan, too.

It got the attention of the forgotten people of the scenario, and they taught you so much about what stories are. About why they’re important. About why they’re alive.

You wonder what happened to them, those reincarnators, after the Final Wall fell and the Star Stream was destroyed. You wonder if anyone remembers them, gave them

gravestones depicting beloved children taken too soon, clay tablets stamped with baby footprints paired with names, notches in a wooden beam to track the height of children we’ll never know; all this is history. All this is a story that says in the same voice: we do this because we love each other enough to make a physical memory.

History is a collection of stories. Each story is a remnant of someone declaring “I was here. I was not alone. This is the world I live in.”

There is no other way history can be passed down. There’s a reason for this, for all the stories and words and artifacts: we don’t want to forget each other.

You push your laptop away from you, letting out a breath. All that’s left is a page for sources and to add in footnotes to cite your research, then editing and restructuring and...

You pick up your phone to check your notifications. There is no phone charm on it.

It hurt too much, seeing it dangle from your phone as if nothing had changed at all. As if she might walk into a classroom one day and playfully push you until there was enough space for her to sit, for the two of you to share a chair. As if you’re back in Taepung and no one is dead except the girl you used to be.

Instead, you keep her charm tucked safely in your pocket, your palm, your wallet. Anywhere you can hold it to always bring a memento of her with you.

You can’t forget.

You won’t.

This is your story: to hold onto your past so your ghosts never leave you. It starts and ends with your hands.

#orv #omniscient reader's viewpoint #orv fanfic #lee jihye #borijihye #my writing #i love writing in second person and i love making my girl sad :)

55 notes · View notes