somewheremidatlantic

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Food for thought

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Perfectly balanced as all things should be

(via)

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There's a reason autistic people can experience burnout due to masking.

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I told Miyazaki I love the “gratuitous motion” in his films; instead of every movement being dictated by the story, sometimes people will just sit for a moment, or they will sigh, or look in a running stream, or do something extra, not to advance the story but only to give the sense of time and place and who they are.

“We have a word for that in Japanese,” he said. “It’s called ma. Emptiness. It’s there intentionally.”

Is that like the “pillow words” that separate phrases in Japanese poetry?

“I don’t think it’s like the pillow word.” He clapped his hands three or four times. “The time in between my clapping is ma. If you just have non-stop action with no breathing space at all, it’s just busyness, But if you take a moment, then the tension building in the film can grow into a wider dimension. If you just have constant tension at 80 degrees all the time you just get numb.”

Which helps explain why Miyazaki’s films are more absorbing and involving than the frantic cheerful action in a lot of American animation. I asked him to explain that a little more.

“The people who make the movies are scared of silence, so they want to paper and plaster it over,” he said. “They’re worried that the audience will get bored. They might go up and get some popcorn.

But just because it’s 80 percent intense all the time doesn’t mean the kids are going to bless you with their concentration. What really matters is the underlying emotions–that you never let go of those.

— Roger Ebert in conversation with Hiyao Miyazaki

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An older comic about appreciating snakes.

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went to my best friend’s house last night and saw a little plushie dog and plushie cat that had been sewn together down the middle into a two-headed chimera. I said, “did you do that?” she said, “yes, I saved them.”

turns out at her old job when the last two plushies hadn’t sold and became deadstock, her boss told her to cut them up and throw them out. so she cut them each in half, preserved their heads, and then rebuilt them together.

cannot stop thinking about the way these little plushies were approached with the instinct of a Vampire or some sort of ancient god. “Let me save you [turn you into a monster].”

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do you think natalie's blackface portraits were lighter skinned to look like her or is there a default set of DEI paintings the board gives to black employees

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something so interesting about this latest episode paired with ben/adam's podcast and tramell tillman's (milchick's) commentary is that tramell said one of the first questions he asked about his character, in the context of this surreal setting that's not-quite-here in the world, was "Does Milchick know that he's black?"

Because shows / stories in this vein (and it's hard to even describe severance as existing alongside ANY other media because of its singularity) - stories about an idealized utopia-that-actually-dystopia and technological transhumanism HAVE to confront the historical reality of eugenics & racism as embedded in notions of the "ideal society." they fundamentally cannot be race-blind without missing out on what I think is an essential social commentary.

and severance has been very carefully building up to this moment and, I anticipate, Milchick defecting and going rogue down the line - because he's been CARRYING the entire department, dealing with the repercussions of an understaffed workplace and singlehandedly keeping everything from falling apart, and as a reward.......he gets pictures of a founding father in blackface. So he can see himself reflected in "greatness."

and so now we understand that, okay, this is a company with an ostensibly "welcoming" diversity philosophy in that they will hire you, but they are so severely detached from humanity and cannot comprehend how you exist in your own body and navigate the world as a person of color. Because this is a White company, this is a company whose entire MO is creating eternal-servants out of existing free people, who never see the fruits of their labor, whose entire life is constructed to profit those who actually get to walk away and raise a family. Absolutely superb.

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sorry, i was just having the funniest conversation with my friend about if the matron became mortal and got raised by her champion again, like if vax returned and then raised her like purvan, and it gave me truly the funniest mental image of a vaxleth happy ending only keyleth now has to raise the goddess she loathed, like we've been laughing about this for ten minutes straight

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"If the gods become mortal, there will inevitably be at least 20 random dudes claiming to be the mortal incarnation of the Dawnfather at any given time." Yes. And one of them will be Asmodeus.

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it's funny although a little exasperating how artists designing "princess" or medieval-esque gowns really do not understand how those types of clothes are constructed. We're all so used to modern day garments that are like... all sewn together in one layer of cloth, nobody seems to realize all of the bits and pieces were actually attached in layers.

So like look at this mid-1400's fit:

to get the effect of that orange gown, you've got

chemise next to the skin like a slip (not visible here) (sometimes you let a bit of this show at the neckline) (the point is not to sweat into your nice clothes and ruin them)

kirtle, or undergown. (your basic dress, acceptable to be seen by other people) this is the puffing bits visible at the elbow, cleavage, and slashed sleeve. It's a whole ass dress in there. Square neckline usually. In the left picture it's probably the mustard yellow layer on the standing figure.

coat, or gown. This is the orange diamond pattern part. It's also the bit of darker color visible in the V of the neckline.

surcoat, or sleeveless overgown. THIS is the yellow tapestry print. In the left picture it's the long printed blue dress on the standing figure

if you want to get really fancy you can add basically a kerchief or netting over the bare neck/shoulders. It can be tucked into the neckline or it can sit on top. That's called a partlet.

the best I can tell you is that they were technically in a mini-ice-age during this era. Still looks hot as balls though.

Coats and surcoats are really more for rich people though, normal folks will be wearing this look:

tbh I have a trapeze dress from target that looks exactly like that pale blue one. ye olden t-shirt dress.

so now look here:

(this is a princess btw) both pieces are made of the same blue material so it looks as if it's all one dress, but it's not. The sleeves you're seeing are part of the gown/coat, and the ermine fur lined section on top is a sideless overgown/surcoat. You can tell she's rich as fuck because she's got MORE of that fur on the inside of the surcoat hem.

okay so now look at these guys.

Left image (that's Mary Magdelene by the way) you can see the white bottom layer peeking out at the neckline. That's a white chemise (you know, underwear). The black cloth you see behind her chest lacing is a triangular panel pinned there to Look Cool tm. We can call that bit the stomacher. Over the white underwear is the kirtle (undergown) in red patterned velvet, and over the kirtle is a gown in black. Right image is the same basic idea--you can see the base kirtle layer with a red gown laced over it. She may or may not have a stomacher behind her lacing, but I'm guessing not.

I've kind of lost the plot now and I'm just showing you images, sorry. IN CONCLUSION:

you can tell she's a queen because she's got bits I don't even know the NAMES of in this thing. Is that white bit a vest? Is she wearing a vest OVER her sideless surcoat? Girl you do not need this many layers!

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posted on Kate Bornstein's substack

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what is THE worst thing you've ever drank. all liquids acceptable. please tell me what it was, bonus points for why

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