#// also can my muses stop having PARALLELS | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

vidavalor · 1 year ago

Note

Do you think Aziraphale has a raging praise kink in addition to his 'food' and 'Crowley watching him do stuff' kinks? *hands you a box of spiced apple muffins, along with the recipe: https://www.hairybikers.com/recipes/view/spiced-apple-muffins*

Hi @jotun-philosopher! A recipe!!! I'm so excited. The website you shared is quite interesting. I'll have to make these on the other side of my holiday food as they look delicious. Do I think Aziraphale has a raging praise kink? Oh, yeah. Raging might be an understatement lol.

Praise kink and trauma thoughts under the cut.

In S2, we go from Lord Beezlebub paralleling Aziraphale, missing their Crowley (Gabriel) while in Hell, and musing that it'd be nice if someone ever told them they were doing a good job over to Aziraphale doing some difficult trauma work in Edinburgh and calling Crowley to talk to him about it. What goes a little undersung here, imo, is the way this is filmed and how Aziraphale can't stop talking about 1827 to a point that Crowley actually has to prompt him into telling him what he learned at the pub about Gabriel. This is because while Aziraphale-- who really didn't need to go to this cemetery at all for any reason related to figuring out what happened to Gabriel-- has been back to Edinburgh since 1827 (Crowley mentions him going to Edinburgh "for the festival" in 1.01), he's never been back to this spot since the night Crowley was yanked to Hell in front of him.

When we come in on Aziraphale at the cemetery, it's right off of that scene in the 1827 flashback and then we watch Aziraphale turn around again, now in the present, right? It's that he does have to turn around that's pretty significant. It says that he's not here because he thought maybe seeing Gabriel's statue again might give him some random insight as to what's happening to Gabriel in the present. He wasn't looking at the statue at first-- we come in on him looking at the spot where Crowley was taken.

Crowley and Aziraphale are in a place between S1 and S2 where Armageddon: Round Two could theoretically happen at any time. They have no idea if it's happening in five years or next Thursday or in an hour, really, and that's made the fact that Aziraphale has really never gotten over 1827 worse for him, to a point that it now bothers him to be away from Crowley for any significant length of time, especially if they've been arguing, because he's always worried that something will happen while they're apart and he'll never see him again. He spent almost a month (estimated by the dates in his diary) in 1827 thinking that had happened. He does some work on that in Edinburgh by deciding to go to the spot again and, when he does, he has to magically get the nearest cell phone so he can talk to Crowley from the spot because he knows that hearing his voice will help.

By telling Crowley that he's looking at the statue of Gabriel, we get in his knowledge that Crowley will understand the significance of this (and in Crowley's response indicating that he does) that they've talked about this at some point. There are other suggestions of that in the season (like the "I'm coming back. I won't leave you on your own" moment) but this phone conversation says that Aziraphale has verbalized to Crowley at some point how much 1827 still bothers him and Crowley understands that Aziraphale is telling him that he's taking a step towards trying to deal with it more.

(This is also an example of Aziraphale having done something clever and needing to call Crowley to tell him about it before he pops lol, which he's apparently been doing a lot lately since he no longer can get a pat on the back from Heaven, not that he ever did much, which is part of the whole damn problem. One could then perhaps presume that Crowley's been doling out a lot of praise over the phone of late, in addition to in person.)

So Crowley responds to Aziraphale telling him that he's in the cemetery in Edinburgh and looking at the Gabriel statue/trying to deal with 1827 by doing what they do sometimes-- cheer each other up from some depressing stuff about the past with a little of some of each other's favorite sexy chat.

This is basically a mirror in reverse of the scene in S1 in the car on the way to Tadfield where Crowley tells Aziraphale more about the antichrist baby swap and how it went wrong. Crowley was feeling depressed about the whole mess and how Armageddon was imminent now as a result of it and Aziraphale's response was to pivot to what was, effectively, dirty talking him in blasphemous Bible speak euphemisms in a dry-as-all-fuck, combination Pompous Angel/mildly soft dom tone because Crowley's sooooo weak for that lol. (I'm talking about the "seeds of destruction" scene, the dirtiness of which is probably a whole other meta, since we're mostly talking about Aziraphale here.)

Aziraphale's version of that is a massive praise kink. He looooves being told he's good at something or he did a good job or really just anything related to him and goodness, since Heaven's done a number on him and he struggles sometimes to fundamentally believe that he is good, which is lunacy but so are negative thought cycles in the first place. The praise thing with Crowley isn't unhealthy-- I'm not suggesting that. Aziraphale's negative thought cycle is unhealthy, obviously, but the praise kink thing with Crowley is actually not a terrible counter to it. It's obviously not the entire solution to dealing with Heaven's abuse of him but it is also doesn't hurt that Aziraphale believes Crowley and values what he thinks, which can help break up negative thoughts.

It exists both in and out of bed and Crowley was intentionally blending that over the phone in the Edinburgh scene by responding to Aziraphale being like I did the really hard trauma work thing we were talking about today and I'm still here go me with the kind of praise you'd give someone for doing something that was tough ("good job") but delivered low and with the little "mmrmm" before it, which was to associate it with, uh, other kinds of praise Aziraphale has elicited from Crowley before, by way of also invoking Aziraphale's Assorted Rumbly Crowley Sounds Kink as well.

Aziraphale undoubtedly heard it and replied around it, like he was doing with most of Crowley's flirting with him in S2, because driving Crowley slowly insane is also Aziraphale's favorite past time. It was made funnier by the fact that he left Crowley in London to get The Shop Lesbians together, explain The Vavoom to a memory-wiped Jimbriel, answer any questions about love for the Inspector Constable angel Heaven sent to spy on them, and fix Shax's "hot water boiler" so The Love Doctor was in and getting no love himself lol. Crowley's comment wasn't meant to go anywhere anyway, really-- Gabriel was literally five feet away at the time, which was probably also amusing Crowley-- but yeah, I think the conscious, intentional way Crowley phrased that is meant to suggest that Aziraphale not only likes positive reinforcement in life in general but has a bit of a raging praise kink in bed, with which Crowley is very familiar.

#ineffable husbands #good omens #crowley #aziraphale #good omens meta #good omens 2 #aziracrow

145 notes · View notes

le-panda-chocovore · 1 year ago

Text

I don't know if someone already said it but I need to make this post.

I read something about Orpheus not so long ago and my first thought was oh, this is STSG. The metaphor isn't perfect, the parallels don't completely align, but you can see it, the codes are here.

We all know the story. Eurydice died and Orpheus went to the deepest level of hell to bring her back, and the moment before he reached the surface, he turned around and lost her again forever.

Maybe it's just me, maybe it's because I'm too deep in the analysis of their relationship, but something in this myth resonates with Geto and Gojo's story.

They loved each other, no one can deny that. They were young and passionate, and they inspired each other to become better. Eurydice was Orpheus' muse and Suguru was Satoru's blue spring. Their lives were so bright and pretty and colorful when they were together.

Then one of them left, leaving the other in a state of despair. Unable to grieve, Satoru worked so hard to find a way to Suguru, to build a world where his love could come back (despite knowing very well that nothing could bring Suguru back to him).

Fast forward 10 years and so many things happened. Satoru still dreams of him.

Satoru knows about the Prison Realm, he knows this is a trap, he knows he can't stay here, he knows that if he stop moving he'd lose. He's smart, he knows. He also knows that Suguru's dead and there's no hope of saving him now. But when he hears the voice, he can't help but turn around, and he doomed himself (and the world) by doing that, but he has to -he needs to look back. To see Suguru's face, to be sure it's him. Orpheus knew it was Eurydice and Satoru knew it wasn't Suguru but they needed to be sure, they had to see by themselves. They knew they'd lose everything, and they did it anyway. Because when you hear the breath, the voice, the steps of the only one you have ever loved behind you, you look back.

And people keep accusing you for this ultimate mistake, they said you shouldn't have, they say they'd have acted differently, but it doesn't matter. Because if you acted differently, it would have meant that you didn't care about them.

Satoru turned back, and all the efforts he made to arrive here became vain.

This is a story doomed by love. Love is the twistest curse of all.

63 notes · View notes

kanmom51 · 2 years ago

Text

JK 'Seven' Campaign Behind-The-Scenes Film

Hey all, coming a little late to the party here, but hey, it's the weekend.

Basically JK is gorgeous.

End of post.

Nah.

Not really done, although there isn't too much to say about this clip.

One thing we got was JK in a white singlet, which is one more parallel to JM's Face photo shoot campaign.

One more piece just falling into place.

Oh, and obviously we all saw this too, right?

You know, the mud on the pants.

Mud that happened to be all over JM's Like crazy MV.

Was JK also walking through the mud? Together with JM? Is that what JK is telling us? Just in case we didn't know who these lines were meant for:

Every night you spin me up high

The moon that embraces you

Let me have a taste

Give me a good ride

Oh, I'm fallin', I'm fallin', I'm fallin'

Oh, it's gon' be a good night

Forever you and I.

And the spikes.

Let's talk about the spikes a second.

Yes, they both have the spikes. JM on his actual skin, JK on his jacket.

I had a little interesting back and forth with @ffjj5 about this.

JM's spikes on his skin representing inner struggles, finding a way to be happy in his own skin, to find his real self and accept both his masculine and feminine sides. @ffjj5 bringing this up. How possibly it was his own skin that was the cause of most of his pain.

On the other hand, JK's spikes are on his clothes. And my thoughts were perhaps JK's spikes are on the outside, because the for him, the struggles were external. JK, the golden maknae, the one that at 15 was front and centre. the one with "the best voice", the one that BTS cannot do without, the one that literally EVERYONE had the highest of expectations of.

So JM was dealing with internal struggles - spikes on the skin.

And JK dealing with external demands - spikes on the jacket.

JM dealt with some of these issues during Covid and this came to be in Face.

And with JK, well, we've kind of seen him fighting back lately, perhaps his way of dealing with some of these external demands.

Oh, and did I mention the song playing in the background during JK's clip?

Just another coincidence?

Anyway, I love how every single thing JK does is thought out. Might not be that our interpretation is the one he was thinking of, but 100% there is a reason for every single thing he does.

One good thing coming late to the table is that I get to see what others are talking about before I open my big mouth. And well, how people twist every single thing they can when it comes to JM and JK.

How people take the "JK being JM's copy cat" and twist it all around to JK stealing JM's ideas? Plagiarism? Really?

Let's start with what plagiarism actually is:

Before people go open their mouths, maybe better they go check what the meaning of the words they throw around mean.

Did JK ever come out and say this was all his idea?

Did JK even talk about the photo shoot, the concept, the ideas, how he came up with them, and why he chose them?

Of course he hasn't yet.

So how the hell is this plagiarism?

The day JK says "this is all my original idea, omg what a surprise, didn't even know it looks so much like JM's", then fuck them haters, maybe then they could open their disgusting mouths and say that word. But see, that day won't come. So for now, they need to stop talking shit.

Did we forget this?

or this?

Now, this one isn't about JK stealing JM's ideas like some want others to think. It's about JK looking at JM, seeing him as someone who inspires him. Someone whom he admires. I saw @roo-bastmoon use the term muse, and I agree. JM is JK's muse.

So, the way I see it is that JK is mirroring JM.

Like I said, every single thing JK does means something. It's well thought out. The outfits, the muddy jeans, the silver rings, the spikes.

So, instead of seeing JK doing this, showing up styled so very similarly to JM's Face campaign, inspired by JM, mirroring Like crazy, not copying it, honouring it in his own way, people are taking that and making it out into idea theft.

The way JK is underestimated by this fandom surprises and angers me every single day.

Oh, and btw, JK's morning concert on GMA is sold out. Surprise surprise.

Oh, and one more thing:

Please don't hate me for this.

Yes, he's damn adorable, but please, that hair style... no more... Please.

#Junkook #JK #JK Seven #Jikook #Kookmin #Minkook #Jimin #JM #JM Face #JM Like crazy

164 notes · View notes

ungrateful-cyborg-moved · 11 months ago

Text

Social media comparison

Alright. I've tried different new/alternative platforms lately in hope to find something I really liked, and there are very promising ones. I didn't try everything, of course, but this is a kind of overview of my journey so far? Or just my thoughts on the matter.

I've tried Pillowfort, Bluesky, Mastodon (didn't last long enough to have much of an opinion, it simply didn't click), Dreamwidth and Cohost (as of today, can't post there yet).

My comparison under the cut:

► I appreciate that they're algorithm free, whether it's because they truly believe in an Internet rid of the most invasive of them or because it's too expensive to implement on a brand new platform or some other reason. Only the future can tell, but for now it's nice.

► Pillowfort: beside the post formatting that I find extremely comfortable, my favourite thing is probably communities. I feel like this is the strongest "pro" in favor of Pillowfort because this is where they truly distinguish themselves from other social media.

Communities, in a way, remind me of forums. They're however easier to take in hand since you don't have to deal with as many options and choices. In my opinion, communities on Pillowfort are a bit lacking in functionalities though. I think more tools to easily organize them would help, like a widget or something to link stuff so you can create and animate events within said communities.

(I also feel like Pillowfort would gain from not being dark blue. We have more than enough dark blue websites, and it doesn't go well with the warmth invoked by its name in my opinion, but that's a minor detail and just a matter of taste.)

► Bluesky: basically Twitter but better. No algorithm, for a start. The curated feeds are nice. They're a bit like communities on Pillowfort since they can be moderated but from a non-mod user, it's even easier to post in them: you just have to use the right keyword for your post to appear there. Well, if the mod left it open to all rather than chose to vet who can or cannot post in it. Lots of flexibility and control over your timeline overall.

I don't like the 300 characters limit, however. Never liked it with Twitter either. It's not really conductive to conversations, and the general design tends to make the website feel rather impersonal. It's really more like parallel talking than community building.

Overall I think it's a good tool to promote your (visual) art or website, etc. but not great for hosting conversations past commenting briefly what others are doing. I mean, you can make threads but it'll never be as good as Pillowfort or Tumblr for this.

► Dreamwidth: I'll start with saying that Dreamwidth isn't a social media, it's a journaling platform and I haven't used it much yet. Had in plan to post my headcanons about my muses there and stuff like that so I did spend some time trying to figure out how it works.

First, there is a lot of options to let you have complete control over who can see what. Like, a lot.

You can entirely personalize what your journal will look like. It's a bit easier than having your own website—since I reblogged a post about that yesterday—because you don't start from 0, so it might be a good option if you don't feel comfortable jumping into Notepad++ to start coding. You can just change a thing here and there, or nothing at all, or almost everything. It's pretty old school though, so for those completely unfamiliar with early/pre-web 2.0, it might not look very appealing at first. However, I'd say don't let that stop you! If anything, it's a good opportunity to learn a bit of code without pressure.

You can also create communities, which as you might have guessed is very important to me. When creating one, you can set up whether everyone can join, everyone can ask to join but has to be approved by a community admin or to limit the access to those you have personally invited. Like for your own journal, communities are completely customizable, and Dreamwidth allows adult content.

I'm not sure you can top DW communities in terms of functionalities—aside from making a forum—but it's not as intuitive as Pillowfort (though in exchange you get more customization). You're also more limited regarding image hosting (see here). That said, hosting services exist, many are free, and that's without mentioning that you can post on Twitter and the like and use the picture link in your DW posts. I don't think many will only use Dreamwidth anyway.

► Cohost: I was expecting nothing when I registered earlier today, but this is an overall good surprise: it's Tumblr, but better.

More control of what you see. More user-friendly UI. It's not fucking blue. Adult content allowed. You can change your main blog page and make it private.

The only two downsides I'd mention here would be that you can't customize your blog page appearance and you have to wait for one or two days before being able to post. Although if it means less bots, I'd rather wait.

And this ends my rather non-exhaustive tour of the social media/blogging/journaling platforms. If you catch any mistakes let me know. I didn't dive deep, this was just me sharing my thoughts.

(As far as I know, they all allow adult content and give you tools to not see it if you don't want to.)

#OOC #social media #Internet #cohost #dreamwidth #pillowfort #bluesky #long post

45 notes · View notes

mythals-whore · 9 days ago

Text

Author Ask Tag:

@thedissonantverses @basedonconjecture

Not you guys making me think deeply about my writing. Is this just an excuse for me to yap and assign meaning to my smutty fanfic??? Love that for me

What is the main lesson of your story?

What a good question, not to be colored with my own general musings on life lately.

There’s a lot to be said for the main theme of Veilguard being about regrets, but i think I’ve leaned a lot into the lonely island man from Varric/Solas DAI banters?

“That's the world. Everything you build, it tears down. Everything you've got, it takes. The only choices you get are to lie down and die or keep going. He kept going. That's as close to beating the world as anyone gets.”

So…basically that. Yes, the world is bad and everything is falling apart and you should try to fix it but you also have to LIVE. It’s scary and sometimes it sucks but you have to Do It Anyway.

If you don’t let yourself experience the love and the good things as they come and you’re always thinking about the end goal, then you miss the good that happens on the way. And the good moments that happen are the reason you’re fighting to save the world at all.

What did you use as inspiration for your world building?

It is Dragon Age fanfic, so Dragon Age. The Veilguard specifically.

My MC is from Tevinter and canonically from a military family so i have done some research on the Roman Empire’s military/also some modern military terms/practices.

What is your MC trying to achieve, and what are you, the writer, trying to achieve with them?

I mean the main goal is to stop the elven gods/blight save the world.

But obviously there’s the romance which is more at the center of the story. So i guess ill say that the character arc for my MC is that love (romantic & platonic) can be a source of strength.

Also i think there may be something to be said for learning that you’re worth more than what you do? I would say that my MC has always been fighting/working toward a goal. She’s very job oriented so i think she’s sort of learning that she is a Person and not an entity and that is okay (leaning into the Solas parallel/foil a bit).

How many chapters is your story going to have?

It has like...26 now? and I have at least ten more planned but I'm going to round it out and call it 40. (I am not well)

Is it fanfiction or original content? Where do you plan to post it?

Dragon Age Davrook fanfic, it is posted on ao3.

When did you start writing?

I think when I was 13ish?? I was on Quotev back in the day, and I can't lie i think my first was Mortal instruments fanfic?? I haven't written anything in a long time, and i have not posted anything ever?

Small anecdote but i did take a screen writing class in college and my professor had other students read your script to the class. I used to beg to go out in the hall bc the thought of anyone reading my writing was so mortifying (he did not let me go out on the hall but I was allowed to put my head down on the desk which i always did). So this is a big step for me.

Do you have any words of encouragement for fellow writers of writeblr?

Write it anyway!

You think you’re bad at it? Write it anyway! (you’ll get better!) You think no one will want to read it? Write it anyway! (they will!) You think you don’t have any unique ideas? Write it anyway! (you do, i promise)

Read books, watch movies, play video games, make playlists for your stories/characters! Find inspiration in other art(: fill your cup, as the saying goes.

ALSO find other writers. They will help inspire you and keep you going when you feel like quitting (:

No pressure tags for: @flowersforthemachines @rook-laidir @thebarghestiest

Only if you feel like yapping about your writing for the group(:

#author ask tag #writeblr #dragon age the veilguard #i love these tag games #they are so fun #mostly bc i love to YAP

7 notes · View notes

ghoulish-art-tendencies · 9 months ago

Note

Hi! Do you want to rant about space dementia? I always like learning about new songs and their meanings :)

Bye <3

I DO.!!1! Okay so let’s strap in bc this might be a little long. Sorry!!!

First i’ll put the put the song for reference

Okay to understand this analysis, you have to understand what “space dementia” actually is. Space dementia is a type of (fake) sickness that some astronauts will get, that makes them feel lonely/depressed, and that they or anything else doesn’t matter anymore. Basically because they’re in a giant space of literal nothing, it makes them feel so insignificant and also feel like just another nothing floating along in it.

Now, there is 2 separate analyses for this which might make this really long so..sorry. One looks at it through the more direct lense of space dementia, while the other is how Space Dementia can parallel the feelings of a toxic relationship. You can skip one or the other if you want and i’ll label them.

Also throughout this I will be saying him when referring to the person singing due to the person singing Matt Bellamy and I can differentiate what I am talking about.

SPACE DEMENTIA THROUGH A DIRECT LENSE:

“H8 is the one for me

It gives me all I need

And helps me coexist

With the chill, ooh”

Although this part is one of the few confusing bits to me, h8 is often used as hate in chat, which could be saying “hate helps me coexist with the chill” such as being cold and hateful yourself helps you coexist with the chill of space that makes you feel worthless.

“You make me sick

Because I adore you so

I love all the dirty tricks

And twisted games you play on me, ooh”

Okay starting off “you make me sick” is fairly obvious; space dementia is making him sick. “Because I adore you so” is interesting and i love this lyric. Obviously if you didnt love space you wouldnt go and be an astronaut and go into space in the first place. Its saying it exactly as it means: i love you so much that I came to see you for myself, even if im getting sick because of you. “i love all the dirty tricks / and the twisted games you play on me” is basically again saying he doesn’t care what space will do to him, he will still love it as it is.

“Space dementia in my eyes and

Peace will arise

And tear us apart

And make us meaningless again”

“space dementia in my eyes” is literally about how its consuming him and is inside him and how much its affecting him. “peace will arise / and tear us apart / and make us meaningless again” grouping these all together as they basically say the same thing. Saying that everything will eventually stop existing (either the sun consuming earth, black holes consuming space) and make them all meaningless again because everyone, everything will be forgotten, even himself (especially if hes stuck in space).

“You make us wanna die

I'd cut your name in my heart

We'll destroy this world for you

I know you want me to feel your pain, ooh”

“you make us want to die” again, makes the guy want to die bc of how depressed and meaningless its making him feel. “Id cut your name in my heart” he would do anything for space because he loves it so much. Carving your name into my heart is often seen as a metaphorical act of love. “we’ll destory this world for you” not entirely sure on this, but could just be a reaffirmation of literally doing anything. “i know you want me to feel your pain” space is the one inflicting this sickness onto him, making him feel lonely and empty just like space is.

After that is just repeating lyrics but thats Part 1.

SPACE DEMENTIA REPRESENTING A TOXIC RELATIONSHIP:

now, this is my favourite/most thought out interpretation, but there are so many different interpretations that follow a similar path of toxic relationship, so that’s what I will explain. If anyone else has thoughts please share though! <3

“H8 is the one for me

It gives me all I need

And helps me coexist

With the chill, ooh”

Hate is the one for me and the rest of this could be like how it helps him coexist in this world even though its not healthy. It could be like he is used to love being hateful possibly from trauma as a kid.

“You make me sick

Because I adore you so

I love all the dirty tricks

And twisted games you play on me, ooh”

Now starting on the actual toxic relationship, I will be talking about space as a person and referring to them as so, so don’t be confused (using she/her for space as well so it doesn’t get more confusing). “you make me sick / Because I adore you so” he loves her so much, so sticking around even though its making him feel horrible about himself. “I love all the dirty tricks / and twisted games you play on me” he loves them all because he loves her so much, even though they’re dirty and twisted. He can’t see past his love for her.

“Space dementia in my eyes and

Peace will arise

And tear us apart

And make us meaningless again”

“space dementia in my dementia” could be referring to how hes blinded by love, and how eventually everything will tear/fall apart and make everything that they had meaningless.

“You make us wanna die

I'd cut your name in my heart

We'll destroy this world for you

I know you want me to feel your pain, ooh”

“you make us want to die” space is making him want to kill himself becuase of her toxic behaviour. “id cut your name into my heart / we’ll destroy this world for you” he would do anything for her basically. “I know you want me to feel your pain” shes making him suffer, possibly disguising it as how shes suffering.

TLDR: or Basically, if that made no sense, this guy is stuck in a toxic relationship and he is too blinded by his lover for him to leave, and shes constantly hurting him, but he sees it as love. He would do anything for her, as he feels like nothing matters except her.

Now for side notes on why else I love the song beside the lyrics. I LOVE Matt Bellamy’s voice in this song specifically. The high notes he manages to pull off are just beautiful. Not only that but the instrumental at the end after the lyrics come to an end just ascends my body every time. It truly feels like you’re floating in space and that everything feels BIG around you, and yet empty. The song feels and sounds so sorrowful too and I think the emotions come through so well through both the vocals and backing track. Something that stuck with me that someone told me was “it sounds like a 70s art studio in the middle of the night” and GOD yeah it really does. Everything about the song is perfect and I hope I never get tired of it from playing it on repeat too much.

thank you for coming to my ted talk on Space Dementia. Sam try not to write a whole essay for every ask about a special interest challenge (IMPOSSIBLE). Im so glad to have this out of my system though and it probably made no sense whatsoever as all my thoughts are usually incoherent written down or said aloud. ^_^ Thanks for the ask and permission to rant and have a great day <3

#asks #muse #space dementia #music analysis #muse band #try not to rant about my special interests or topics ik too much about challenge (IMPOSSIBLE

19 notes · View notes

taylorrepdetective · 1 year ago

Note

Wait could you expand on says don't go / cornelia street analysis? I would like to hear more about that

Say Don’t Go was written with DW during the last days of December 2013. It appears to be about a new, undefined relationship where Taylor is in that stage of not knowing where the other person stands and is confused and a bit distraught that they are leading her on and don’t feel as strongly as Taylor does. Taylor is hooked and desperately hoping this person isn’t gonna be another unrequited love. You can read it as an early non-labeled relationship because Taylor says “I love you” to the person apparently for the first time, and is met with devastating silence. Ouch. (It obviously could be read as a relationship that is trying to be rekindled and the other person is not fully into it, but to me, new, undefined relationship fits best, especially with the timing of what I believe was going on at this time, and with other context, which I’ll get to.)

The lines “why’d you have to lead me on” and “I’m trying to see the cards that you won’t show” is a direct parallel to Cornelia Street’s looking back to the early stages of that relationship “Back when we were card sharks playing games, I thought you were leading me on”. So assuming Say Don’t Go was written contemporaneously to the events of late 2013, and that verse of Cornelia street is looking back to then, we got a resolution to the questions asked in SDG. Taylor thought they were leading her on but the “you called before I hit the tunnel..showed your hand” indicates that the other person finally explained themselves and they weren’t leading her on. And since in CS she is looking back from 2016 (when she lived at Cornelia st) to the early part of relationship, we can assume that that showing your hand bit in CS means the relationship from late 2013 continued for years.( Yes I know there’s that pesky “packed my bags left Cornelia st” that doesn’t fit 2013 , but let’s not forget she buzzcuts things and doesn’t always write literally because she is in the closet. Personally, I substitute The West Village for Cornelia St here.)

There are lots of other parallels in this song to other songs. First of all we have “cat and mouse for a month or two or three” which in my world view points to an early undefined relationship where they were sort of playing games with each other before they defined it. And Delicate, which was them having The Talk to define it.

The most intriguing parallel, though, is with YAIL. This new idea that Taylor’s confession of love was met with a devastating silence, and then by the time she wrote YAIL she was able to reinterpret that silence into a form of falling in love with your best friend (with the fear of ruining it causing confession paralysis that is such a core queer experience) is really something. I always loved YAIL, but this interpretation takes it to another level that makes me want to jump off a cliff.

Other possible linked songs:

-shot in the darkest dark and Getaway Car’s we never had a shotgun shot in the dark.

-The way she yells “I Love You” calls back to Cruel Summer’s screamed “I Love You” which was met with a devilish grin.

- the knife and the bleeding also ties to cruel summer.

I don’t want to go too far because it’s easy to get caught up in Swiftisms and see parallels that aren’t really there (like she wrote songs about trucks and dresses and rain and porches when she was 13-15 yo, it doesn’t mean she was still singing about that muse 10 years later.) But the card sharks, showing your hand, leading me on stuff between CS and Say Don’t Go is as clear as anything we ever get imo.

Lastly, we have this diary entry to tell us, contrary to her public statement that she stopped dating for two years, she was clearly dating someone during this period (one week after writing SDG) and it wasn’t going well:

Also, the original prologue to 1989 included this:

I wrote about moving to the loudest and brightest city in the world, the city I had always been overwhelmed by... until now. I think you have to know who you are and what you want in order to take on New York and all its blaring truth. I wrote about the thrill I got when I finally learned that love, to some extent, is just a game of cat and mouse.

So another parallel to Lover, that is specifically about deciding to move to NY.

So to me, it appears that sometime shortly after this diary entry, the Delicate conversation happened and the hand was shown. And she decided to move to NY by the end of January,

#jet lag kicking my ass

47 notes · View notes

lipslikethegardensofbabylon · 9 months ago

Text

#ttpd analysis day twelve - loml

when i first listened through TTPD this gave me such strong track 5 vibes so for that reason it’s an honorary track 5 in my mind

there are a couple of thoughts on the lowercase loml - i keep these longings locked in lowercase could be one, but one thing that sticks out to me throughought the whole album is we never see any muse directly saying to the narrator “I love you”. to say ‘you’re the love of my life’ is sort of a roundabout way of saying it, but it carrieds less weight, like saying “I got love for you” vs “I love you”. the latter means more. it’s also interesting to note given that the opening track says repeatedly “I love you, it’s ruining my life"

there are salient Dancing With Our Hands Tied parallels -

who’s gonna stop us from waltzing back into rekindled flames if we know the steps anyway/we were dancing, dancing with our hands tied

when your impressionist paintings of heaven turned out to be fakes/deep blue, but you painted me golden

stitching “we were just kids, babe”/25 years old, how were you to know?

our field of dreams engulfed in fire/swaying as the room burned down

what we thought was for all time was temporary/could’ve spent forever with your hands in my pockets

if you know it in one glimpse, it’s legendary/first sight, yeah we love without reason

I know that pulling parallels from DWOHT/rep may ruffle some feathers but she also says a conman sells a fool a get-love-quick scheme which directly pulls from Why She Disappeared - wary of phone calls and promises, charmers, dandies and get-love-quick-schemes.

the never quite buried line immediately made me think of the 1, in my defense, I have none for digging up the grave another time .basically that the narrator can't fully separate themselves from this destructive force, and it shows that they've tried, repeatedly, historically.

along with the 1, there are other lyrics from folkmore that are very reminiscent of loml -

I thought I was better safe than starry-eyed/eyes full of stars (cowboy like me)

I felt aglow like this/your touch brought forth an incandescent glow (ivy)

if you know it in one glimpse, it’s legendary/it’s born from just one single glance...you said I’m the love of your life about a million times/but it dies and it dies and it dies a million little times (illicit affairs)

when your impressionist paintings of Heaven turned out to be fakes/ you paint dreamscapes on the wall (peace)

our field of dreams, engulfed in fire/my barren land, I am ash from your fire (hoax)

talking rings and talking cradles/your mom's ring in your pocket… dancing phantoms on the terrace/left you out there standing crestfallen on the landing (champagne problems)

the other line that i love is and all at once, the ink bleeds. it makes me think of two things:

in that Directors interview she talked about how having something poignant happen to you is great for creative work but if you write about it too soon/without processing it fully, you can lose perspective. so it makes me think of that, but with the sharp pen, thin skin, and open heart.

#taylor swift #words of mine #ttpd #ttpdminutes #ttpd minutes #ttpd analysis

16 notes · View notes

satanandsoul · 2 years ago

Text

♍︎ Jungkook Birth Chart Analysis ♍︎

With his birth time confirmed in his recent instagram live, we can finally take a look how his astrological placements and aspects come into play.

Disclaimer: All these are for entertainment purposes only. DO take my words with a grain of salt.

Astrological body that will be looked into in depth in this post is Black Moon Lilith (BML) as it shows up prominent in my research.

Sun conjuncts Retrograde Mercury in 2nd house: This man is INTELLIGENT! Not in the traditional will-score-high-in-exam type of way, but street-smart. Pluto squaring this conjunction adds a well of depth to his insight. He is observant. Let's be real here. Sun-Pluto and Mercury-Pluto natives are distrustful in nature. They don't take things at face value. Especially with Mercury-Pluto harsh aspects, they will linguistically pull apart your words to look for hidden meanings. At the same time, Mars sextiles this conjunction, fuelling this mental process. This man's mind must be very busy. The chart above also shows that this conjunction inconjuncts Uranus, but I won't take this into consideration here as the orb is 3 degree, a bit too large for inconjunction. But generally, this indicates a person with a thirst to rebel.

Moon in 1st house trines Saturn in 9th house: The reason I don't feel this man is as emotional as other Moon in 1st house natives is because of this aspect. Saturn calms things down. The education that Jungkook receives is likely to be highly traditional. To a point that he could have been told he shouldn't cry as he is a male. (Fxxk toxic masculinity btw!) It doesn't mean that Jungkook agrees with this sort of teaching, however this aspect shows Jungkook restrains himself showing emotions because of this to a certain degree. But that doesn't mean he is unfeeling, in fact, he has some very disturbing emotions. His Moon squares Pluto in 5th house: the Weeknd also comes to mind whenever I see Moon-Pluto aspects in a natal chart. His music (his creations) encapsulates the emotional struggles a Moon-Pluto native has very well, e.g. the emotional guard, distrust, the yearning for emotional closeness but at the same time being scared of it etc.. The above chart also shows that moon inconjuncts Neptune but again the orb is 3 degree, I consider it too large for inconjunction. But generally speaking, this aspect can make a person more sensitive to his or her surroundings and others' feeling.

Mercury parallels BML: He knows how to fxxk with your mind with his words. Instead of actions, he teases with words. He would like to see the muscles around your eyes twitch when he says something naughty. I will stop here as this is not a 18+ reading. But BML is what the patriarchy cannot control. It will not surprise me if Jungkook muses over some feminist ideas.

BML conjuncts AND parallels north node: He is destined to become the exact opposite of what the conservative Korean society is. Actually he is already showing signs of this, with his steadfast stance on tattoos, I am glad he is on the right path.

Venus in 3rd house opposite Saturn in 9th house: Venus in 3rd house indicates that Jungkook shows his love through bantering. This is honestly becoming a recurring theme of his. He is smart himself and would like someone to challenge his intellect in a fun way. This is not an aspect that he will sing you love songs or cuddle you. Saturn suppresses that. This love style is strengthened by the fact his Venus trines Jupiter in 7th house. Someone with an outstanding alma mater can attract Jungkook's attention. I can envision Jungkook trying to get his or her attention by starting the conversation with a controversial topic. And of course Venus-Saturn natives loves partners who are more mature than them. And when you throw Jupiter into the mix, this partner also has to be wise, at least knowledgable.

Mars in 4th house squaring Uranus in 6th house and Jupiter in 7th house: There must be a lot of actions within Jungkook's household. Not necessarily competition, but definitely things are always happening in his household. Impulsiveness is likely as both Mars-Jupiter and Mars-Uranus aspects both indicate that, but for different reasons. Jungkook can do things because he thinks it is fun (Jupiter), or because he wants to challenge the status-quo (Uranus). Again, not diving into the sexual interpretations as this is not a 18+ reading. Mars squaring Ascendant: This man's competitiveness can rub people in the wrong way. People can view him as brash especially when Jungkook's mars falls into Scorpio. I mean, Scorpio Mars has a reputation of being ruthless and vicious.

Descendant conjuncts Uranus: This aspect attracts erratic people into Jungkook's life. Like minds attract. Jungkook can be as erratic as the people he is attracted to. Luckily, Uranus is in the 6th house, not in the 7th house of partnership, or else Jungkook will have a difficult forming long term relationships with others. But now, I see that Jungkook has an unstable working environment. This aspect can indicate people come and go in one's life, in this case, work life.

#jungkook astrology #bts astrology #astrology #birth chart #natal chart #natal placements #natal aspects #natal astrology #bts #jungkook

183 notes · View notes

amber-jinx · 11 months ago

Note

Me again!

Do you think that Rachel and Max had a spiritual connection with one another? They’re completely different as far as their personalities and outer appearances. Yet, they both have one thing in common:

Their love for Chloe.

Plus, the fact that Rachel appeared as Max’s spirit animal (the doe) somewhat shows me that they were connected to some degree. What do you think?

You always ask great questions! I must admit I'm not as well versed on Max's side of the story as Rachel's, so there definitely are people who can give a more comprehensive answer than me. But imma just try and write what comes to mind :)

For 2 people that have never met, their spiritual connection, chemistry, "fate entanglement" as I liked to call what they have are the strongest across the fandoms I've seen. When Max returned, we as players felt Rachel's presence all over Arcadia bay. In the original there was even a line to the effect of "I feel like everything in this town is connected to Rachel Amber somehow". Max was able to "see" Rachel through different people in Arcadia bay. Everyone had something to say about her, even a random trucker. It can be said that she really had an effect on the people of that town, if we put the fire aside. This town being Max's hometown adds another layer to it, it is so much different due to Rachel's existence.

left pic from a fan made Rachel DLC | Yes, their love for Chloe is the key link that transcends through time & space, allowing them to see each other in some way.

Like the town, Max is also very different from her past self. While she didn't have such a strong presence back when she was growing up in Arcadia, Max eventually became the decider of the town's (including most of its people) fate. Whether Rachel is the root cause to Max's powers is very much a mystery and up to interpretation, just like many things in life is strange.

If we acknowledge that Rachel is the cause of the fire, there could be another parallel: this girl who tried to leave this town nearly destroyed the town; meanwhile another girl who came back actually have the power to do that, or stop it from getting destroyed. Even though both never meant to. (Not expanding on Rachel being the storm here cuz it's really not definitive & personally I think if Rachel's got powers she'd just use them on those who did her wrong, not the entire town)

Personality-wise, especially on the outside, they are almost opposites. But somehow I get the feeling that they'd really understand each other, because on the inside, they may not be that different. I've seen a Tumblr post saying Rachel using her people skills to get on people's good side is mirrored by Max using her rewind powers to fix her responses. (When you've got such an ability, of course you use them! Which is different from being manipulative, might I add.)

Rachel with her sensitive, vulnerable side, which she guarded & masked with so much effort and painted with her smiles & godly social skills, is definitely able to understand & empathise with Max and not judge her. And Max being pretty perceptive herself, having quite an astute understanding of Rachel just from photos she found, is definitely able to see more than Rachel lets on. Both are powerful smartasses and fiercely protective of Chloe. (& both bi x)

Max sees, Rachel shows. The photographer & the muse. Built for an "electric combo", as Love is Strange says, even though they may not hit it off well at the start due to awkwardness or slight jealousy from both sides, eventually they're gonna realise that the other is beneficial for them. Max is able to ground Rachel and give her heartfelt & real advice that she needed; Rachel's able to help build Max's confidence, socialise better (back off V, she's with me), share insights about art & photography.

I'd even say Max & Rachel may complement each other more than Max and Chloe, OR Chloe and Rachel. (If there are more content on these 2, AmberPrice in my heart might be challenged. Yeah. It's scary.)

Some say they share the same spirit animal, which is really possible (bts putting that "doe see doe" photo on Rachel's bed frame), or it could mean that as Max's spirit animal, Max sees all spirits in a doe form. Another possibility is that Rachel have the doe as her spirit animal, and everyone who can see her spirit sees the doe. Nonetheless it's incredible that Max seems to be the only person to be able to see the doe, or that Rachel chose to present herslef to only Max. Definitely a connection there. 🦌

Looking at their personalities through enneagram (Rach 4, Max likely 9) we see that they can be similar but in different ways (9 & 4 can be mistyped):

"The difference is that Nines are detached both from the external world and from their emotions (not keeping in touch w Chloe in Seattle & delay on reaching out to her?), whereas Fours withdraw from whatever has caused them pain (delaying telling Chloe about her messy relationships cuz it causes her pain? + her immediate reaction to finding James making out with another woman). Nines see the world through rose-colored glasses, and their view of it is comforting, whereas Fours see the world from a garret window as outsiders and are not comforted: everyone else seems to be living a happier, more normal life."

Thanks for the question! I've no idea I was gonna write this long. You guys can see a few of my blogs or reblogs that I've mentioned these 2 via the tag "Rachel and Max" or "Amberfield" if interested :) Feel free to reblog/ add on!

16 notes · View notes

vossn · 5 months ago

Text

🩸✨Writing Interview Tag Game✨🩸

Thank you for the tag @ineadhyn ! Really excited to do this.

When did you start writing?

I started writing at age .. eleven, I think? It was a story about a girl getting taken to a parallel world populated by elves to save their world. Pretty cliché, but I also took some inspiration from some historical sources I liked at the time, so it did at least kickstart my knack for worldbuilding.

I wrote some more, I stopped, grew up, graduated, entered fandom spaces and remembered "hey, you used to love writing, what happened?" (depression, mostly). I wrote a modern AU for a game I was playing at the time. I stopped again. You'll never guess why. I made writer friends. I created a character I loved so much that I had to bring their story to paper and later created my novel project. I went from zero to hundred and haven't stopped in 3 years. The rest is history.

Are there different themes or genres you enjoy reading more than what you write?

One thing I love that I don't really write much are humorous pieces. Those are my catnip. Other than that, I pretty much read what I write!

Is there a writer you want to emulate or get compared to often?

I don't have any big-name authors - but I do have some wonderfully talented friends and acquaintances that, if someone told me our writing was similar, I would be overjoyed. My friend keeps telling me I have a "film noir" style, and I do try to keep that going in everything I write.

Can you tell me a bit about your writing space?

I prefer to write in cafés or libraries. Otherwise just at home on the couch or in bed, and those are far from glamorous. If i tell you I am writing, there is a 90% chance I am wearing nothing but boxer shorts and drinking coffee independently of the hour. I also light some incense or scented candles to write. Y'know, for the Omnissiah

What’s your most effective way to muster up a muse?

Go on a walk. Play some thematically completely unfitting music. Think long and hard about the vibes. Stop every 100m to make notes on your phone. This works best if it is 2am, I wish I was joking.

Alternatively: Swim for about 2km. Be alone with your thoughts and see where it takes you. Good luck remembering those ideas when you leave the water though.

Are there any recurring themes in your writing? Do they surprise you?

Religious Imagery and discussion: This one is complicated, because I am technically raised close to atheist, but religion as a concept did have a huge pull on me as a child. If you grow up being told there is something wrong with you, the idea of "Some god made you, and you are exactly the way you are supposed to be" is a magical thing. Of course, reality looks different. Half surprise, half not? When I found out the RT fandom has a whole subsection of fics dealing with the symbols of the Inqusition I was like. well, this calls my name. Also I met some of my closest friends via the discussion of churches as a setting and very angry [redacted] in said churches so. Hello gang. 👋🏻

My ultimate tagline is "Violence as desire and desire as violence" and while the pattern did take me through some introspection, not surprised either.

Repression. Again, are we surprised? No. Not really. I'm generally very aware of my themes, I'd say, but please enlighten me if I forgot something. Submit me to the ordeal of being known etc etc

What is your reason for writing?

I do enjoy it, I have ideas, and those ideas need to out or start paying rent.

Is there any specific comment or type of comment you find particularly motivating?

Nope! I enjoy all of them. You can get brownie points for citing favorite lines or saying something that makes me feel seen!

When two people I really look up to in terms of style described my prose as "clean" and "effortless" I just about died, because I never thought of myself that way. Same as when someone observes themes and patterns that even I haven't noticed. Also when a dear person replied to my WIP with "I'm going to eat your fingers", that made me laugh so hard I still think of it.

In short: You have something unhinged to say - Say it. I love comments so wild they have never been heard before.

How do you want to be thought about by your readers?

"Damn, there is something awfully wrong with that guy but I'm into it. Also that prose fucks."

What do you feel is your greatest strength as a writer?

I hate how edgy this is going to sound, but my strength is writing darkness. Overdrawn emotions taken into the extreme - obsession, hatred, desire, but also coldness or hopelessness and despair. I love themes and emotions that don't exactly fall in the middle of the bell curve, because writing them is fun, and there is merit in exploring them. I often joke that my experiences at least enable me to write really weird stuff, but I mainly just favor these topics because it allows me to get really poetic with my language.

TL;DR: I put the lust in bloodlust.

How do you feel about your own writing?

This is a tricky question for me to answer at the moment, because I've been going through it™️ and my perception is clouded by that. Generally I'm pretty confident - I know my strengths and weaknesses and I know what I put out there is okay. On the other hand, I feel like the vulnerability is needed to keep me humble. Whenever I approach something with too much "I can do this!" it turns out dogshit. However, I feel at least that what I provide is unique to some degree.

When you write, are you influenced by what others enjoy or might enjoy reading, or do you write purely for yourself, or a mix of both?

Brother. Please take a look at my ao3 and tell me anything on there can be considered popular /s

I write for an audience of one - what I wrote is what I wanted to read. Quite a few of my works are so limited in their audience that they never make it to posting. I get ecstatic when people show interest, and that is the main reason I share, but I try not to keep an imaginary audience in my head when I write. It hinders me. I love doing gift works, and I approach them with the mindset of "I'm going to give you something that's for you specifically but still has my unique spin on it" and of course factor their enjoyment into my writing, but try not to overthink to the degree it stops my enjoyment.

Let it be said, I love my fandom friends, and want to write them all the things.

Tagging: @redbatchedcumbermayned and @galateaencore (only if you'd like, of course)

#this was so fun and very uplifting #new tagline: 'my strength isn't that I'm good but that I am insane'#tag game

7 notes · View notes

archiveofkloss · 7 months ago

Text

In conversation with fellow top model Christy Turlington, Karlie Kloss opens up on how being a muse and a mother unlocked the next great chapters of her life

Those in the world of fashion can recall the moment Karlie Kloss appeared on the scene at fifteen with feline, emerald eyes, and a smize that has made her a muse to many.

A walking phenom since her early days of dominating catwalks, campaigns, and covers, the industry has been trying to keep up with Kloss as she makes leggy strides toward her next goals with intent, grace, and the guidance of her fellow supers in the business. For Kloss, that mentor position was filled by none other than Christy Turlington. “She is such a North star for me,” Kloss explains. “For what it could mean to be a model and also use your platform [to promote] things that make a real impact in the world.”

With Kloss now in her early thirties, her activism work and outspokenness echo that of Turlington. The two have walked uncannily parallel paths: both were discovered in their early teens, made the decision to step away from the modeling world to attend college in their early twenties, and now have two kids. Additionally, both have dedicated much of their efforts to their community-driven organizations like Kloss’ Gateway Coalition, focused on reproductive care, and tech education initiatives, Kode with Klossy, and Turlington’s Every Mother Counts. Most recently, Kloss has ventured into new territory, adding another title to her impressive resume by taking on the role of CEO of Bedford Media, overseeing the soon-to-be-revived publications, i-D and LIFE magazine. It seems nothing can stop the force of nature that is Karlie Kloss.

V MAGAZINE: How did you meet? Do you remember that first interaction?

CHRISTY TURLINGTON: You want to tell it, Karlie?

KARLIE KLOSS: The first time I met Christy Turlington, it was almost like a scene out of a movie because I’ve idolized Christy long before ever meeting her, and all that she stood for in the world and the industry. I remember many years of being on shoots and feeling like I got to know you by the stories other makeup artists or hair stylists [would tell me] about the legend of Christy. No Woman, No Cry[Turlington’s 2010 documentary] came out at that time, and you were running marathons…I was always a super fan. She was shooting in the Donna Karan studio over in the West Village. Donna invited me because she knew how much I admired Christy, and I remember walking into Urban Zen where the shoot was happening. I was standing face-to-face with Christy, and I just started crying. I’ve never had that reaction ever again with anyone in the world, but I was so moved and humbled to meet her, and so I just was bawling.

V: Oh, my God! What was your reaction, Christy?

CT: No, it was so sweet! We’ve talked about it a lot since. I feel like you were 15 or 16, you were at the beginning of your career, and you sort of started at the top, so you were very much everywhere. What I remember very specifically about you and Donna’s interaction is that you reminded me of some of my peers when I was around your age, where we would be so invested in the designers and the people we worked with, that every day after the show, we’d pick up WWD. You talked to Donna in a very sophisticated way, giving her commentary on the collection that you had just worn, which was very sweet. I was touched. Donna, I’ve known since the beginning of her career, she’s also such an incredible woman and leader. And I felt in the middle of these two worlds. It was kind of like the confluence of past, present, and future.

V: Do you remember what year that was?

KK: I think that might be in 2008 or 2009.

CT: Yeah, I think it was before I was in school. I was at Columbia, working on my public health degree, and I feel like it was before Every Mother Counts, which was the beginning of my advocacy. But I had small kids, and [embarking] on a direction of where that step was taking me, so I was in a really important transition time, I would say.

V: I’ve seen many moments where you two were together—at events, in campaigns, and on covers—and I read in the New York Times that Christy actually wrote Karlie’s recommendation letter for college.

KK: Yes, for NYU!

V: How did that even happen?

KK: This was before ChatGPT, so she really had to write it! It was so generous of Christy to do that. Even knowing that Christy Turlington— who continues, over many decades, to have an extraordinary fashion career as an iconic supermodel—also cares about her education was so important for me. When I was in my early twenties, I was really nervous about the decision, because I thought, “If I take any amount of time away from my fashion career, will it all disappear?” and Christy was such an important sounding board to prove that [I should] invest in my own education. I couldn’t have done it—and wouldn’t have done it—without Christy’s example and encouragement.

CT: After we met, within a couple of years we started to get together and meet for lunch, and just talk about things. So, when Karlie mentioned that she was interested in going back to school, of course, I was ecstatic for her. When I decided [to get my degree], I was already making a conscious choice of stepping away and slowing down the career at like 10 years in. Karlie was still very much at the height. I think you were already recognizing that you were not as excited about all the things you’d already experienced. So I was really in support of this choice and also tried to give as much of a reality check of what it would feel like, and try to reassure her that the more that she did work on herself, the more in-demand she would be. The more you continue to evolve and invest in yourself, the more people want to be a part of that and want to get closer to you to learn all the different things that you’re now interested in. I think your curiosity, your earnestness, and your seriousness have always been, I think, what stood out to me. I’ve seen it in every phase since we first met. You just continue to evolve in the most natural, thoughtful, and purposeful way.

KK: Wow! This is like a dream. I’m glad this is being recorded. I think on days when I’m having a bad day, I need to look back at this.

KP: So with the both of you going back to school at the heights of your career, Karlie, did you happen to get any pushback at all from people advising the opposite?

KK: I think we all have that little voice in our head that is our own worst enemy, and as a young woman, I doubted myself in all sorts of ways. I was worried that if I made the choice to go back to school, this fairy tale of a fashion career that had happened quite quickly [would disappear]. I just had to trust my gut and kind of ignore what anyone else says. In modeling and fashion, everything changes from one day to the next, and nothing is promised. I had to take that leap of faith and believe that even if this all went away, I had a great time. I met a lot of great people, including my icon, Christy Turlington. Continuing the relationship we have with ourselves and being confident in knowing our power, our worth, and our potential—you can’t go wrong when you lean into who you are and invest in that. At that moment, that was the right thing for me to do.

V: Now at 31, having all that modeling experience and taking those investments in your education, you’ve gone on to start all these organizations. The same goes for Christy with Every Mother Counts, which Karlie has been involved in quite a bit. You went on a trip to Haiti a few years ago. I’d love to know at what point you had the ideas for those organizations.

KK: It’s so funny, I actually had a YouTube channel at the time [where I recorded the trip], I’m going to go back after this and rewatch those videos.

CT: Yes, I forgot about that!

KK: Remember that? Oh, it’s probably so cringe, but I was such a nerd. I was so passionate and excited about being on this trip [to Haiti], it really was a turning point for me in a lot of ways. Christy was so kind to invite me on this trip with some other extraordinary women who have continued to stay in my life, including Sara Blakely, who is one of the most extraordinary, successful female entrepreneurs in this country, and has built a company that has done so much good in so many ways. I think it was such an important trip for me to physically see the work. [Because] we live in New York, it’s easy to kind of feel disconnected from these topics—you go to a charity event and you write a check. But actually going on this trip and seeing where Every Mother Counts was really changing the lives of women in Haiti in the most profound and important of ways, [especially] in that moment of when you’re most vulnerable: bringing your child into the world. I founded Kode with Klossy a year or two later. [That trip] set me on this path and helped show me what could be possible through my own natural curiosity. So after that trip, I went back to NYU and I started taking coding classes, which made me realize there are so many opportunities in the changing world that we live in, and for young women in particular— imagine the problems they could solve with this ability. It started simply like that with 21 scholarships, and next year is our 10th year.

CT: That’s big, that’s huge!

KK: It’s huge! We’ve had more than 10,000 young women and gender expansive teens in our programs over the past years. We’re going to probably have close to 4,000 scholars in our programs this summer alone. You never know the way that you can impact somebody else’s life. I don’t think Christy even probably knew inviting me on that trip would set me on my own journey in such a profound way, and I hope that our Kode with Klossy scholars have a similar experience of wanting to continue to light that spark for others.

CT: I’m a big fan of Bryan Stevenson [social justice activist], and I love the way he speaks about proximity. For me that’s really the truth. I would say through Kode with Klossy, similarly, you want to be with those kids. You want to be in the room where the lights turn on and everyone has that feeling of connectivity and you’re a part of a community. We’ve crossed paths once again in our parallel pathing and that’s through what Karlie is doing now with Gateway Coalition. I think to have younger moms and people coming from the communities that they’re trying to address continue to keep quality care and service [that considers] the full spectrum of reproductive health and rights, it’s going to be even more helpful. I think that’s one of the parallels that we share is the ability to build a community that will ultimately have a greater impact… I can see the multiplier effect happening between coding and technology and the community you’ve built, and also the commitment you’ve made to do this work at this moment. I’m even more excited to see it from this angle because that’s where we intersect more directly than we have in the last few years.

KK: Thank you, Christy. That means a lot. Even in this country, with the lack of access to basic resources and healthcare, I really continue to learn from Christy in so many ways. After I just had my first [child] and came back home, Christy and Grace [Burns], her oldest, came over and met my little guy, and it was just so crazy. Having the entry into motherhood, and having your first child, no matter the resources you have or where you live in this world, it is a profoundly life changing experience, and you have to have your community and village around you. I feel very lucky that Christy and Grace are now in my village.

V: I love that. You know, we actually recently photographed Grace for our V GIRLSseries.

CT: Yeah, that’s right. She loved that! In LA, right?

KP: Yes, that was it. We first saw Grace on TikTok, and I found out that she recently shot a campaign, too, for Tamara Mellon.

CT: Yeah, she’s doing a lot of shooting, and she’s shooting friends right now in Spain. I sort of marvel at Karlie, and how much she’s able to take on. Seeing her do all the things, it appears effortless, but I know it’s not. Then, with my daughter who’s 21 in October, it’s like really another full circle. She’s in class full time, she’s publishing books of poetry, shooting campaigns, and being shot in campaigns, I’m like, “Of course, you can do that because Karlie is your [role model].” So it’s a very direct correlation in the way that we’re all continuing to inspire and care for and support one another.

KK: Yes, I’m in that phase where my three-year-old at three in the morning last night was all of a sudden in my bed and I didn’t sleep, and I’m like, “Okay, this is my life.”

CT: Aw! And the thing is, it doesn’t end, you know? Everyone had a mother in order to come into the world, and no matter what age or where you are, and what station you are in your life, your mother continues to worry, care, and be there ready for the call, just always there for you. I think that’s the part that’s so relatable, regardless of one’s decision to have a child or not have a child, which is why it’s so important to support that regardless. You see how important that is for the folks who don’t have it, and folks that do, and the difference that creates in terms of an opportunity for success and for people to thrive in their lives.

V: What are some of the ways you both see the results of all of your efforts through the mothers and the women that you’re helping directly?

CT: I get to hear a lot from mothers. We support mostly providers, from community-based folks that are community health workers, doulas or midwives, and also physicians. When I see people who are working at the community level—which is where we mostly are invested—they’re the people at the front lines. They’re the people who are not turning folks away, especially now that things are harder and more precarious, dangerous, and potentially riskier. They’re still there, and they are not going anywhere. Those are the people that give me the most motivation. I feel like our purpose really is to try to uplift them and give them the support and care that they need to continue to meet their communities where they are.

KK: That’s why unrestricted funding matters. Because I’ve also run a nonprofit with Kode with Klossy, and I know when you put that trust in the leader of that community who is providing that care, they’re going to do what they can to allocate these funds in the most high-impact ways. With Kode with Klossy, there are more than 10,000 young people who are now in the world’s workforce, and they’re not just young teenage women with dreams, they’re actually pursuing their passions. It’s really for me what always has been most important: self-realization more so than like a technical skill set. Of our alumni in college, more than 70% of them go on to major or minor in computer science, which is crazy to me. That to me is such an indicator that Kode with Klossy really reaches them in a moment where they’re deciding what doors the world could open for them. Especially now with every industry being impacted and needing to evolve, this basic technical literacy is crucial. To see how that plays out in their lives, and also how they bring that back to the community of Kode with Klossy—they come back and help teach in our camps, and they go on to build apps and projects that are impacting their communities, and solving problems that reach many people that are far beyond even just Kode with Klossy. So it’s pretty awesome.

CT: I was just thinking about Haiti because I hadn’t thought about it in so long–you don’t have any photos from that trip, do you?

KK: I do! I’m gonna find those.

CT: If you do, that would be fun to revisit, because we have so many photos from events and things that aren’t that exciting and we’ve only shot professionally together, really, once.

V: Yup, it was your Cole Haan campaign.

CT: It was a while ago. Then we did Edward [Enninful’s] last cover [for British Vogue]. Otherwise, most of our life has been doing other things. But we’re connected through it and it’s really lovely. I love our story, Karlie.

KK: I love our story. Well, maybe we need to do a V shoot together.

V: Let’s please do it!

CT: Next Mother’s Day!

KK: Exactly!

#karlie kloss #v magazine #v magazine issue v149 #interview #christy turlington

7 notes · View notes

brightbeautifulthings · 11 months ago

Text

Katzenjammer by Francesca Zappia

"They're all so dark, Dad said one day, watching over my shoulder as I worked at the kitchen table. Why don't you paint things like a blue sky, or a field of flowers, or a bird flying on a breeze? Something happy that your mom can put on the fridge. She can put these on the fridge, I said. Maybe just one flower? he asked. There are no flowers where I live, I said."

Year Read: 2023

Rating: 4/5

About: Cat has been stuck in School for as long as she can remember. The hallways slowly expand and contract with School's breathing, the showers run red with blood, and the students have divided themselves into changed and unchanged. While the unchanged hide in the fortress of administration, Cat and her friends haunt the courtyard and hallways. Her best friend is turning into cardboard, and Cat's face has become a cat mask made of her own hardened flesh. There are no doors or windows in or out of School, and something is hunting them down one by one in the hallways. To escape, Cat will have to understand why they're trapped in the first place. Trigger warnings: Some triggers are listed at the end of the review because they include spoilers. Character death, guns, violence, blood/gore, dismemberment, body/eye horror, bullying, slut-shaming, vandalism.

Thoughts: Thanks to @ninja-muse for recommending this book, since I'm not sure I would have found it on my own. This is probably my favorite Francesca Zappia novel to date, and one of the best novels on this subject I've ever read (more on that after the spoilers). However, I believe it's best to go into it not knowing much more than the description provides. This book works extremely well as a slow reveal. What starts out as a mindfuck becomes slow understanding as we realize more or less alongside Cat what is happening in School, and you'd be doing yourself a disservice to read the spoilers if you plan to read this. However, it covers a number of very heavy and potentially triggering topics (and it's difficult to gush about how I think it works without giving things away), so I'll include those thoughts at the end. I can't stress it enough though. If you're not easily triggered, stop here and go read this book!

This is also one of the best examples of uncanny horror that I've read in a long time. Zappia expertly manages to capture the quality of a nightmare without sacrificing the continuity. School is creepy and semi-sentient, and the changes it brings about in half the students are a study in body horror. Perhaps even more terrifying are the parallels it draws to some very real life horrors such as bullying and, indeed, I found the flashback chapters of Cat's surfacing memories of her former life of being targeted, bullied, and slut-shamed at school more difficult to get through than the surreal scenes of hacked up bodies or bloody showers in School. Real life horror always affects me a lot more than the supernatural, and Katzenjammer does an excellent job of balancing both. The ending is cathartic and effective, and there's less of a plot twist than a sort of inevitable, dawning horror-- which is honestly the best kind.

SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS. TURN BACK BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE.

Remember how I said that real life horror is always worse than the supernatural or the uncanny? I stand by that statement. Zappia draws such excellent parallels to real life in her uncanny School that it's almost impossible not to realize before Cat does that the traumatic event that put them there was a school shooting. I've read a couple YA novels that handled the subject fine, but I don't think any of them capture it as well as this one. We need something like the supernatural School and the horror of bodies changing in ways we can't explain to fully grasp the senseless horror of gun violence. Killing children makes no more sense than hallways that breathe or girls who turn into their cat masks. It takes Cat the entire novel to understand the horror and absurdity of what's been done to her and to accept it-- that there are reasons but not excuses, and that we will never know all of them. I cried a little at the end, but I think the real life horror of it is too big for tears. Instead, it's a feeling that will sit with me long after I've turned the last page.

#book review #francesca zappia #katzenjammer #ya horror #underrated books #4/5 #rating: 4/5 #2023 #ninja-muse

13 notes · View notes

wundrousarts · 1 year ago

Text

I was going to save this until I reread Hollowpox, but that last ask reminded me that I should share this here, so I present:

Musings on Maud: Why is she considered so powerful, how does this affect her dynamic with Squall, and why is he so scared of her?

(Bonus: How can I connect it to Silverborn?)

Two disclaimers: I haven't reread Hollowpox in ages, so if there's anything that could prove or disprove stuff in this post, send it my way. Honestly send any discussion my way. I love discussing theories. Second, this was originally a reply to a Reddit comment on a post, to which you can find here. The comment discussed Maud being a signatory for a Squall safeguard, so since this comment is copied verbatim, it references that.

---

If it’s not outright stated, it’s at least heavily implied that Squall helped create/build up the Republic. It’s only existed for about 90 years, and Squall has been exiled for about 100. He mentions in Hollowpox how he knows that Maud’s plan is to take over Nevermoor/The Free State, because the Republic took over the other states in the realm and he “helped them do it.” However, unless Maud is immortal and also 100 years old, she is not the one who started the Republic from the side of the Republic. Also, no clue how long it’s been around, but Squall Industries has likely been around for awhile as well (this is how he gets his connections and power in the Republic), with Squall just constantly grandfathering himself in with the vampire trick or something.

Interestingly, Squall says two things in this scene (Chapter 34 of Hollowpox) that stick out to me:

“I made the so-called Hollowpox,” he raised his voice above hers, “because I was asked to. Because I was compensated handsomely for it. And because when the most powerful person in the realm asks for a favour, even I don’t refuse.

And

“But you’re a Wundersmith.” Morrigan was utterly baffled. “Why can’t you just stop them if they’re such a problem? I don’t understand!” “Do you THINK I HAVEN’T—“ Squall shouted, then cut himself off abruptly.

He also mentions how the Hollowpox was initially meant for the Republic, but Maud snuck in an infected otter across the border into Nevermoor— “That was never part of our deal.”

There’s definitely a business relationship between the two of them of likely consistent deals, one favor for another, quid pro quo. However, we also see that Squall can’t really go against her, something he seems to have tried before. Two chapters before this scene (Chapter 32), has this moment:

“Yes, shush. Maud said the Wintersea Party might help if there was a squid crow po.” “Quid pro quo?” “Right, one of those. She said they won’t do something for nothing, but if we could convince Prime Minister Steed to meet with her, just to have a conversation, then she would try to convince her party to share their cure.”

While it could be easily explained as part of her job, Maud seems to get most of her power and do things by extracting deals from other people. Maybe she’s knackless, or maybe she has some sort of connection to Puppeteering or a knack related to that. Not Mesmerism, but something that allows her to be persuasive, manipulative, convince people of things, and get them to do what she wants. A sort of parallel or companion to Squall’s connection with Puppeteering that we see in Wundersmith.

It’s interesting that when we first meet Maud, there is this exchange directly after she tells Mog that the Wintersea Republic would only agree to help the Free State if there was some sort of deal:

“But they’re your party,” Morrigan pointed out. “Aren’t you the one with the power? Maud stiffened slightly and cast her a wary, calculating look.

And then soon later she says this:

“Even if I could persuade my party to do the right thing – and I’m not saying I won’t try – there’s no guarantee Steed and his government would come to the table.”

The whole exchange seems very manipulative, like, “oh, I’d LOVE to talk and get this figured out, but I can’t…” There’s a big focus on conversation. Maud is wary when Mog mentions power— she thinks she means a magical power, something secret that gives her an advantage, when really she just means politically— so I wonder if she was worried for a moment that Mog realized she had some sort of coercive power.

I wonder what exactly her power is that makes Squall so scared of her, and why it possibly makes it so that he can’t fight make and overthrow her. Aside from their business relationship, which allows Squall access to Wunder and being a Wundersmith, there’s this other layer as well.

As for safeguard: I don’t know if Maud would be a signatory for a Squall safeguard, as that seems to just be for Wunsoc students, but I think that whatever their deal is and whatever her power is allows her to keep him in check. Jess said that we will learn more about safeguards in Silverborn, and I think it would be interesting if Mog learns more about them from Squall instead of Jupiter— and maybe it does end up being similar to whatever he has going on with Maud, who knows! I don’t really have any safeguard theories myself, but I will keep an eye out for what you add to your comment.

A Silverborn “silver” side note: A “silver tongue” means that someone is persuasive when they speak….. perhaps this idea, theme, power, etc. will be expanded upon in the future 🤔

#nevermoor #nevermoor theory #hollowpox #president wintersea #ezra squall #maud lowry #whatever their deal is it prob involves squall's access to wunder #anyways. enjoy folks! would love to know people's thoughts on this lol #difference between reddit and tumblr in allowing you to do new lines or not in indentations is so funny to me lol #hollowpox is so crazy bc the chapters in the 3rd act are like BAM BAM BAM so much important stuff happening and being revealed #'jam why do you use so many quotes' bc I am insane and like to have sources #but also when you spent months putting 1016! quotes into a quotebot you develop a decently specific memory for a lot of this stuff lolll #anyways turns out somehow I had the chapter numbers TOTALLY WRONG so had to go back and fix them lol. how did that happen.#this theory wasn't noticed on reddit. tough crowd. so hope some folks here appreciate it lol #real question is 'why is Maud + Mog so similar and is there a reason for this. and is this related to Mog saying Maud reminds her of a mom.#might develop it more once 1. i'm no longer in a heat wave that's frying my brain and 2. after I reread. bc might be hints I'm missing idk

52 notes · View notes