#'I concur with that analysis'

[bumblingbabooshka]

Watching 11:59 and I can’t believe they just put a literal Hallmark romcom in the middle of Star Trek Voyager down to Shannon hating Christmas/New Years this show is wild

[juniperpyre]

#it’s clear to me that he deeply respects the man#which is again super interesting#because common fanon portrayal of sirius is this rebel rule breaker lothario kinda guy#but he truly trusts dumbledore. even after 12 years in azkaban#sirius black#albus dumbledore#gof live blog

I think fanon really misses the practical side of sirius. he understands the consequences of his actions and is prepared to live with them. unhappiness and discomfort is his stasis. but the consequences of him disobeying dumbledore would not affect only sirius, but the whole order. they'd affect harry.

sirius has no problem deciding to sacrifice his comfort or happiness or even sanity for other's sakes. he has no problem doing it just for a personal thrill. when he says "the risk would have made it fun for james" he is speaking only about the risk to himself, not to harry.

sirius' rebellious attitude comes from his abuse. his practical side comes from his abuse as well. he learned how to look at the facts of a shitty situation with no good options—obey horrible parents and hurt inside, maybe even hurt others one day, or disobey horrible parents and hurt now. dumbledore is offering a similar choice, except if sirius obeys he is the only one getting hurt. what a good deal!

logically, dumbledore is the best leader to oppose voldemort. the best course of action is, therefore, to follow dumbledore.

i think sirius’ canon approval of dumbledore is an interesting piece of characterisation. very often in fic i see him being written as rebelling against the old man but canonically he obeys his every word, even if he doesn’t personally agree 🤔 in gof he’s convinced that snape, a man he loathes, is probably not up to something nefarious because dumbledore trusts him. in ootp, he HATES being stuck in grimmauld place but he obeys dumbledore’s orders to the T. when harry tells him he thinks he attacked arthur weasley, sirius only questions whether dumbledore is aware of this, before brushing it off

[apas-95]

here's like. a plainly known fact: the Boeing 737 was originally produced on a military contract as a cargo hauler for tanks, large equipment, and troops alongside. it was passed up and we now have the iconic galaxy and c-130. the nose-loading, gigantic-bodied, quadruple-engined humpbacked lump of a plane was, then, resold to the civilian market as a cargo hauler and passenger transport. this is not some wild conspiracy, it's just a fact about military contractors, and, thereby, pretty much the entirety of the US aerospace industry: military contracts come first, military contracts are what actually pay for the whole operation, but military contracts aren't reliable, so it's valuable to let civilian-facing branches procure some of their own funding. this is true of all military contractors, I concur! boeing, lockheed, raytheon, all the rest - and, yet, weirdly, people suddenly get defensive when the exact same analysis is applied to their pet favourite rocket company, SpaceTwitter (née SpaceX). weird! suddenly it's very important to state that the engineers really believe in the noble goal and mission of space exploration, and that they don't even really have that much of a connection to the military, and actually everyone launches secret military satellites on classified contracts so why do you have to bring that up when it's really about going to mars I swear there's some possible way to make that profitable

[lukolabrainrot]

This is going to be long, I am sorry.

So, recent posts, we are all talking about them, assuming things, trying to find 5 differences and all that, but certain comments sparked a thought in me which I would like to share. What if we all are looking into timeline in the wrong way? Now I would need someone with an actual knowledge of how this promo contracts works to confirm or correct or entirely contradict my little theory. Is there a general timeframe in a contract during which L would have been supposed to post about this hotel or is a truly specifically established day? Now hold that thought, I would like to explain why this theory even came into my head and it’s a bit lengthy.

I think we all notices certain patterns and features in behavior of some less pleasant individuals in L close social circle. And even though we don’t have any concrete proof we have some pretty damning evidence that something went wrong post Part 2 premiere and more importantly during the “happiest” Italian gateway in relation to those particular individuals. We can see it clearly in their behavior during and post that, in pictures as well as drastic behavioral pattern changes. Not going to elaborate on this we have all been here during that and there are more than enough of in depth analysis on various platforms, this lovely blog including.

One such evidence which makes me pretty certain that something happened is actually N herself. There were many, many ways to post about her close friends’ birthday, but she specifically chose those pictures and that phrasing. She could have even just post those cute pictures with some other words, but no, she mentioned paparazzi and friends protecting friends. Along with someone mentioning L leaving two days earlier than his friends (not a 100% fact I concur but definitely possible), this makes me believe he truly learned something to shake those relationships, perhaps some kind of betrayal? And we know that N is protective of people in her life, even as just a friend if he shared the situation with her, I can totally see her wishing to throw some shade on people who put in jeopardy her friends’ safety and privacy. (I would have done exactly the same thing) N just coincidentally had a very convenient, easily deniable way to do just that.

Now I truly do believe that likes on SM mean nothing, just from my personal perspective. We also know that L followed and liked J posts on SM for a while even after a break up. This situation though seems different, A is different. I saw someone make a comment that L likes seem almost like a little reminder to A that he still can see what she is doing, we all know SM games she enjoyed playing promoting their supposed intimacy. At that time I dismissed it because it seemed too far fetched, but what if not? I mean, if he finally comprehended her shadiness, as well as some other people’s, what if he finally sees the bigger picture?

And after this essay finally comes my timeline idea. What if it was not A who posted before L, but he who posted after her? Now read that again. When she just posted a day before L, everyone immediately assumed that it looks like Cypress, and that even though she tries to make it look like someone tall is filming her, something didn’t seem quite right, ergo A playing games again. And is it not strange that her first hazy but more or less direct hint at him being in her life still, came after N and L had some interaction on SM (her posting him, and him liking her post for KS), as well as whole JD situation taking attention away from her? What if L saw it and decided to use his promo to clarify any assumptions. “I am in Spain and I am alone,” he connected it to Bridgeton and made sure to emphasize that he is there by himself. This, of course, is just my little theory. The reason I even came up with it is because I never saw similarities in those pictures myself, and I think L expected people to realize that. Which is why he posted another balcony pic after people started commenting on similarities to As’ post, with one towel, one cup, one person. Now I am not trying to be purposely obtuse or in denial, I genuinely do not see anything beyond passing similarities that can be found in many Mediterranean resorts. And if you look closely at the balcony pictures that most seem to be basing their views on, I suggest you look again. Truly. At picture of L in a cap standing in front of balcony with greenery, take some eye measurements. We know he is approximately 185cm high, the greenery is somewhat at his hip area, A is shorter than L but even still that greenery would not be almost reaching her breasts. But as I said, just my opinion, my observation.

.

[gumbaigumbai]

Ear pieces analysis time (Redone!) ~

Okay after a good night's rest I can stop mindlessly Luka posting and actually form coherent thoughts.

So, I saw some people speculating how Luka turned off Till's ear piece when he was up close to him, and we get that still of him mid-laugh because no one can hear Till. I thought this was a good theory -- until I went to the video and checked for myself. EDIT: Okay so I kind of had to rewrite some parts because I /completely/ forgot about very significant official art. But now I think it's more accurate.

First off, we know from official art that the contestants are having their heartbeat tracked and possibly listening to it through the ear pieces.

Till's earpiece glows red throughout the round and is not exclusive to when Luka messes with him-

-meanwhile, Luka's stays green-

-so what does this mean?

It means that Till's heartbeat was irregular from the start, the distress Round 6 caused him carried over and Ivan's death greatly impacted him. We know Luka is winning about halfway when it's up on the board, he's performing better because he keeps himself calm, his BPM is not fluctuating.

How do we know they weren't just given green and red colors of ear pieces to differentiate them? Because Till's does go green, for just one scene.

After being taunted by Luka, Till's spirit is probably at an all time low, yet he gains back his vigor upon seeing Mizi in the crowd. In that moment we can see his ear piece glowing green.

Because of the significant reaction Luka has here, appearing both surprised and angry, we can concur that in that second Till was able to forget about both Ivan and Luka.

I also think it is important to note how quickly Luka moves on from that surprised expression; he understands that he needs to remain calm and he regains his composure immediately, although we do see him mildly frustrated at Till being able to ground himself.

This all shows how the light in their earpieces was displaying their state of mind, and although having had a disadvantage from the beginning, Till was calm when he met eyes with Mizi.

So yeah that's my theory on how the ear piece lights work thanks for reading wahoo

[somedayillbepeterpan]

This is awesome

Penelope & Colin Bridgerton: The Exploration of a Relationship Between an ENFP & INFP

I did Kate and Anthony long ago, before season 3 came out, and now a lot of you wanted Penelope and Colin (plus it won a poll). Not going to lie, this was a little bit different, because ENFP & INFP have the same cognitive functions, and are more similar in function order, as opposed to an INTJ & ESFP, but it was fun nonetheless!

Two Fi & Ne users

Since the beginning of the show, it is established that Penelope and Colin have very much in common. Colin writes to Penelope regularly, while Penelope is implied to be one of the few people who genuinely understands him, and the only one interested enough to give a response.

Even before the audience sees Colin’s attraction towards Penelope, we see them regularly engage with each other, Colin specifically seeking Penelope out at social gatherings and Penelope always happy to engage in conversations with him.

Colin, as a Ne user, is the only one who understands the ideas that Penelope has, that others, especially her own family find bizarre, and Penelope, as an Fi user, is able to listen to, and understand Colin’s emotions in ways others might be unable to.

Dominant Fi, Auxiliary Ne vs. Dominant Ne, Auxiliary Fi

Both Penelope and Colin have Ne & Fi, which gives them a lot of common ground, but the order of their stack also affects their relationship and helps to convey their differences.

Penelope is an Fi dom, so her emotions are more so a driving factor towards her decisions than her Ne. Colin is an Ne dom, so his ideas and his exploration of possibilities drives his decisions more than his Fi.

Penelope’s ideas and dreams exist to support her emotions, while Colin’s emotions exist to support his ideas and dreams. This is why Colin is eager to put his dreams into action by traveling the world, while Penelope writes to make sense of herself and her feelings.

However, because of this, both characters are able to push their auxiliary functions to light more. Penelope is able to allow Colin to reflect more on his emotions, and is able to call out when she feels he is pushing them away to create a persona. Colin is able to become a source for her ideas and fantasies by both writing her letters and becoming close to her.

In Conclusion

I think what works so well with their relationship, is that they are so similar, which is reflective with the cognitive functions they have. This is similar to Anthony and Kate, who are also pretty similar as far as typings go (though, in their case, they had the same dominant function and different auxiliary functions).

[rinixo]

pendulum

Tech/Reader | 5.2k | Rated E | afab reader, smut, virgin!reader, inexperienced reader, sex pollen, oral sex, experienced Tech, Tech with dom tendencies, Tech is a tease, mention of illness, mention of needles

While scavenging a (mostly) abandoned science facility, you are dosed with a mysterious substance. Tech offers assistance.

read on ao3

You had yet to have a mission with (the former) Clone Force 99 that didn’t end up going sideways, and it was getting to the point you wondered if the galaxy had something out for you.

When you were first introduced to the team of ex-troopers on Ord Mantell you didn’t expect you’d be seeing much of them after that. You did the odd job for Cid now and again - being a war refugee wasn’t the most stable of lifestyles - and every time you showed up at least one of them was parked in the parlor. After a while, you had begun to join them on select jobs and had gotten to know them fairly well - especially since every one of the missions ended up with someone hurt, kidnapped, or, as in this case, dosed with an experimental drug.

“All clear,” a modulated voice confirmed from ahead of you. Rubbing your arm where the crazy scientist had managed to jab you, you joined Tech in the doorway of an empty storeroom. You and he had been separated from the rest of the crew and were currently wandering around the lower levels of the science facility you had been sent to salvage. The power was out from a large overload, trapping you in the dark labyrinth for the time being.

“Let’s rest here,” Tech decided, pulling off his helmet and setting it on a crate. “I’ll try to make contact with the Marauder.”

“All right.” You walked over to a crate opposite the one he was leaning against, hopping up on it with a grunt. Pulling down your sleeve, you tried to get a good look at where you had been jabbed with the syringe.

Cid had promised that the place was abandoned, which turned out to be extremely untrue. Some unhinged scientists had stuck around, and when you had stumbled on one in what was supposed to be an empty laboratory you had ended up in a scuffle. Thankfully Tech was right behind you and quickly neutralized your assailant, but not before a needle was slammed into the flesh of your upper arm.

It seemed to be ok, you decided. You’d probably end up with a bruise, but other than a dull throb there didn’t seem to be much damage.

“How is it?” Tech questioned, not looking up from his datapad. At first, you had freaked out, thinking you had been poisoned, but a calm analysis by your quick-witted companion had been able to confirm that whatever it was in the syringe wasn’t going to kill you. It was still unclear what exactly it was, but you had relaxed a bit knowing that you weren’t going to keel over, foaming at the mouth.

“It’s fine, I think,” you answered. “A little sore.”

“Mmm,” was his simple response. You didn’t mind - in fact, you had become quite fond of Tech’s particularly blunt way of addressing things. He didn’t mince words and got straight to the point, something you appreciated after years of dealing with pirates and scavengers and countless others who survived by deceiving others. It was a refreshing change of pace, working with someone whom you could trust.

“Any luck?” You inquired, tilting your head at the device in Tech’s hands. He sighed and set it off to the side.

“Unfortunately not,” he said. “Whatever EMP pulse it was that shook this place and got us separated from the others also fried my datapad, and I don’t have the necessary tools to repair it.”

You raised a brow. “Really? Nothing in all those pockets of yours?”

“No,” Tech pinched the bridge of his nose. “Not this time. An oversight on my end.”

Looking around, you rummaged through some of the crates and discovered a store of medical linens. Divvying them up, you settled against the crate with an exhausted sigh.

“Might as well bunker down then,” you said. “It’s been a long day.”

“Indeed,” Tech concurred.

—

Several boring hours later, the two of you sat side by side against a crate, finishing off some rations.

“So what do you think these guys were doing here?” You queried, wiping crumbs off your hands.

Tech cleared his throat, launching into a hypothesis. “From what info I was able to collect, it seemed they were working on biological warfare agents. Enhancing illicit substances, things like that. A lucrative business.”

You frowned. “I’m not going to get the plague, am I?”

“No, I don’t believe so,” Tech affirmed. “The work being done here seemed to be more on the subtle side. Designed to impact smaller targets in specific ways.”

“Like what?” You were curious, and thankfully Tech liked to explain things as he expanded on his guesses.

“Mind-altering drugs that impair judgment, or create paranoia,” he listed. “Substances intended to embarrass or cause people to debase and humiliate themselves.”

“Sounds like you have firsthand experience.”

He glanced at you. “There was an interesting situation where were evacuating a senator from a separatist prison. She had been injected with a drug that caused her to exhibit fewer inhibitions when it came to soliciting others. It was quite the struggle to let her down, due to her impaired state of mind.”

“She propositioned you?” You asked incredulously.

“Yes. Rather forcefully,” Tech mused. “I had to restrain her, in the end.” He let out of huff of amusement at the memory. “I have never preferred my sexual partners to be those in positions of power, much to her disappointment. It creates an inherent power imbalance that I am not particularly interested in.”

You gaped, mouth open lamely. That was not the way you had expected that story to end. Tech had always come off as someone who would be uninterested in such frank expectations around sex.

“You look surprised,” Tech observed, and you sputtered.

“No, it’s just - I just thought that-“ you trailed off, realizing you were only digging yourself deeper into a hole of embarrassment.

“You thought that out of my brothers, I was the least likely to have experience with sexual intercourse,” Tech stated matter-of-factly. He had a way of saying things so casually in situations others would be uncomfortable in, and this seemed to be another one of those.

“I - yeah,” you admitted. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have assumed something like that. I didn’t mean anything by it.”

Shrugging, Tech looked back down at his dead datapad, fiddling with some wires.

“It is a logical conclusion,” he remarked. “I am aware that my attributes do not lead one to associate me with sexual situations.”

You frowned. Was he calling himself unattractive?

“Well, I wouldn’t say that,” you countered. “I- you’re very handsome, Tech.” You flushed at your admission, wondering if you were overstepping.

He tilted his head towards you again, one brow raising in question. “I am a clone. We vary little in our appearances.”

“I’m serious,” you huffed, punching him lightly on the shoulder. “Sure, clones are clones, but you and your brothers look quite a bit different from your average trooper. And not in a bad way.”

He held your gaze for a breath longer than necessary before returning it to the device in his lap. “Thank you,” he acknowledged, after a brief silence.

Thankful that your conversation had relaxed, you leaned against the crate and stared up at the ceiling, lit dimly by a flickering inset light.

A dull throb of discomfort made you wince. Pressure was starting to build behind your eyes, like a headache. “I think I’m going to try to sleep,” you decided, and went to the corner where you had set up a makeshift bed.

Tech just nodded and re-focused back on the datapad. Rolling onto your side, you closed your eyes and tried to will yourself asleep.

You woke a while later, what little sleep you had experienced restless and uncomfortable. Sweat made your thin shirt cling to your shoulders and chest, and your mouth was drier than Tatooine.

Looking around for your canteen, you hastily downed what water was left in it. It wasn’t enough, but it helped a bit. Your head hurt, your blood felt like it was on fire, and there was an ache between your legs that hadn’t been there a few hours ago.

“Ah. You’re awake,” Tech’s voice chirped from the doorway. He stepped inside and stood with his hands clasped behind his back. “I was expecting you to still be out.”

“Can’t sleep,” you rasped. “I think whatever that scientist injected is starting to kick in.” You rubbed your eyes and glanced up at your companion.

“Hmm.” Stepping forward, Tech took your chin in hand and tilted your head to the side. “What kinds of symptoms are you experiencing?”

“I’m burning up,” you mumbled miserably. “My head hurts, and -“ you trailed off, feeling shy once again. You were not about to admit to Tech that you were starting to feel incredibly aroused.

“And?” Tech prodded.

“Nothing,” you deflected. “That’s all.”

Another brow raise, and you suspected he could tell you were not being honest. Thankfully, he didn’t push the subject, and let go of your chin before wandering back over to his own bedroll.

“I was able to make contact with the others. They had to flee, but will be back here in a few hours,” he said, sitting against the wall. “We can get you medical assistance and investigate the purpose of the drug once it does.”

You nodded, throat too dry to respond. Noticing you shaking your now empty canteen, Tech tossed you his. You downed it in one go, mumbling thanks.

“I’m gonna…try to get some more sleep,” you rasped. Though you doubted it would work, you figured trying to sleep until the rest of the crew arrived might alleviate some of the discomfort coursing through your body.

“Do not hesitate to tell me if your symptoms worsen,” Tech directed, and you sighed and laid back down.

The fire burning under your skin only increased as time went on. You curled up on your side, trying not to whimper or give in to the urge to stick your hands down your pants. Tech wandered in and out of the room, no doubt looking for something to keep his busy mind occupied. Part of you longed to call out to him, beg him to help you alleviate the ache of emptiness in your cunt, but you stilled your tongue and tried to tough it out.

Finally, after a particularly harsh pulse of need, you sat up and leaned against the crate. You pulled up the back of your shirt, pressing it against the cool metal in an attempt to find some comfort from your burning flesh, but it did little to help.

“You have gotten worse,” Tech chimed from across from you. He peered at you intensely, and you wondered how long he had been watching you. You noticed he had stripped out of his armor and was just in his underlayers. “I suspect you are in significant discomfort.”

“Yeah,” you conceded. “It’s making me feel-“ you trailed off, wondering how to explain it to him.

“Your body has increased in temperature and levels of sexual hormones,” Tech stated bluntly. You gaped at him, surprised he had figured it out. Had you been that obvious?

“How did you know?” You asked.

“When I ran a diagnostic when you were injected I got several hits related to amatory agents. It did not seem pertinent to mention at the time,” he explained. “I did not want to make you uncomfortable. Topics of a sexual nature are usually quite private for most.” “I think we’re past that,” you croaked.

“Agreed.” With a low grunt, he hopped off the crate he was sitting on.

“Perhaps I may assist,” Tech offered. He stood straighter, hands once again clasped behind his back.

You choked out a laugh. “What, put me out of my misery?”

You caught a glimpse of the faintest movement of his lips into a smirk at your jest before it disappeared. “In a way,” he mused.

“I do have limited knowledge of aphrodisiac and libido-enhancing stimulants. I suspect that is what you were injected with, based on your symptoms.” He pushed up his goggles, listing them off. “Increased rate of respiration, dilated pupils, sensitivity in erogenous zones-“

“Ok,” you cut him off, feeling even more flushed at his frank descriptions of your current predicament. “Aphrodisiac, I got it. How are you going to help?”

“I could stimulate you in an attempt to relieve the symptoms,” he continued. “In many cases, these kinds of toxins can be flushed out of the system more rapidly by engaging in amatory expression.”

You blinked up at him - on a good day Tech’s scholarly explanations sometimes flew over your head, but this was a whole new kind of confusion.

“I must be losing my mind,” you rambled. “Because it sounds like you’re offering to fuck this out of my system.“

“That is precisely what I am offering,” Tech confirmed. “In less technical phrasing.”

You chewed over your options. None of them were particularly favorable. You could either lay there in continued misery until the rest of the crew arrived, or sleep with Tech.

In a normal situation, the second option wouldn’t seem so daunting, but you had never slept with anyone before. You had fled your planet at a young age and since then had never been in a place where that kind of experience was feasible. Did you really want this to be your first time - in a dusty storeroom, with someone who was only doing it out of medical need?

A particularly painful pulse to your groin answered for you. Standing with a groan, you looked up at Tech who was patiently waiting for your answer. “I-we can try,” you decided.

Nodding, Tech stepped towards you. Your heart, already thrumming, increased in its tempo as his much taller form closed in. Your breath came out in rapid pulses as he leaned his head down towards yours, his eyes focused intently on your face.

You started to feel overwhelmed. “W-wait,” you pushed on his shoulders, stepping backward away from him. “Hold on, I-“ You wrapped your arms around your chest, creating a barrier.

Tech immediately drew away, tilting his head. “You are nervous,” he observed “Understandable. I will leave if you have changed your mind-“

“No,” you shook your head. “No, I’ve just…I’ve never done anything like this before,” you confessed, staring intently at the ground.

A beat of silence. “Ah. You are a virgin,” Tech replied simply. “Surprising.”

You frowned, looking back up at him. “What?”

“You are a young woman with features many people consider attractive,” he elaborated. “It stands to reason that you would have had those who would have desired you sexually.”

Mind racing - did he just call you attractive? - you shook your head. “No. It just…never felt right. Comfortable,” you faltered.

Tech nodded, rubbing his chin in thought. “That is not unusual,” he affirmed. "Or unwise. Many people experience dissatisfaction stemming from unsuitable sexual partners.”

“I’m a little out of my element,” you muttered. “I don’t know what to do.”

There was a gleam of something unreadable in Tech’s gaze, and he leaned forward. You breathed out, eyes wide and body frozen. He hovered over you again, your back pressed up against the crate and neck craning to look up at him.

“That is quite all right,” he assured, taking your chin in his hand again. “I do.”

With that, he pressed his lips to yours. The kiss was soft, and exploratory, sending shivers up your spine. You shuddered against him, and he took that as an affirmation to press against you more firmly.

Relaxing your body, you allowed Tech to move closer, legs spreading to allow him to slot himself against your trembling form. Your hands came up to grasp at his firm biceps as he pulled away from your mouth. You panted, eyes fixed on his slightly swollen lips.

“I want you to tell me if you are uncomfortable at any point,” he instructed lowly. “Due to your enhanced state you may not feel the usual discomfort, but seeing as you have never done this before, there is still the chance you may-“

“Tech,” you pleaded, interrupting him. His touch had ignited something inside of you, and you pressed up against him. You knew that when this was over you would be grateful for his concern, but right now you just wanted him to kiss you again.

“Please,” you whispered, and you saw his throat bob as he swallowed roughly. You wondered how you looked in his eyes - flushed, aroused, body fervently pleading for his. Did he like it? Or was this just clinical for him? Your lust-addled mind wanted him to like it. You wanted him to like you.

Clearing his throat, Tech leaned back down. This time you met his mouth with your own, sighing at the way he licked your lips before his tongue slid over yours. He pulled back, and your whine at the loss turned into another sigh as he kissed from your jaw, down your arched neck to your collarbone. Grasping the hem of your shirt, he pulled it off your damp skin and let out the smallest of exhales at the sight of your bare chest.

“Brilliant,” he mumbled. With impressive strength, he grasped your hips and sat you up on the crate so that your chest was level with his head. Dipping his head down again, he placed more soft, open kisses on your skin. One of your hands went from his arm to his head as his clever tongue lathed over the peak of one breast - the sensation made you gasp, shocks of pleasure cascading down to your slick cunt.

“Sensitive,” Tech noted, voice husked as he moved from one peaked nipple to the other. “A result of the drug, perhaps?” His teeth pulled on your nipple, gentle yet firm, and you arched into it. “Or maybe you’re always like this.”

“D-don’t know,” you stuttered. “You’re the first one to d-do this…”

A pleased hum, and Tech looks up at you. “Fascinating,” he husked. You wondered if he liked that - being the first man to touch you, kiss you, see you bare in this way. It would certainly fit with his curious nature.

He trails his mouth down your body, lips ghosting over your soft flesh. He comes to the top of your leggings and leans back. Taking them in his hands, he begins to pull them down your thighs, your hips lifting to assist.

“Have you never experienced any kind of sexual contact, or just not penetrative sex?” He inquired, slipping your drenched panties down your legs as well.

“Nothing,” you mumbled. “Just…just myself.” You had explored your own body a few times, but a lack of experience and motivation had never brought you any kind of significant relief.

“Nothing,” he repeats, and pushes your shoulders gently so that you are laying back on top of the crate, your hips pulled to the edge. Tech kneels, and you prop yourself up nervously, realizing what he was intending to do.

“I- I think I’m pretty ready,” you squeak. “You don’t have to do that-“ You trail off as he flicks his eyes from the apex of your thighs to your face. He lifts his goggles off, placing them down neatly at your side.

“This is your first time,” Tech’s gaze is firm, determined. “I would be remiss if I did not give you the experience you deserve.” His hands come to spread your thighs, and even through the fog of your lust, you burn at the thought of him staring at your glistening folds. One of his hands moves from your thigh, and he runs two fingers over your cunt, pressing at the swollen, sensitive flesh. You let out a moan as he repeats the motion, applying pressure on your clit with his knuckles.

He settles his face between your legs comfortably, pulling one of your legs to the side and lifting the other to rest on his shoulder. With one last glance at your smoldering expression, he dips down and lathes his tongue from your leaking hole up over your clit.

You gasp, a hand coming up to cover your mouth. Every new sensation up to this point had been more pleasurable than the last, but this? The feeling of Tech’s tongue licking your cunt purposefully was nearly indescribable. It was more than just the physical sensation; it was also the visual of this man kneeling before you with his head between your thighs. Something about Tech had always seemed so untouchable, unattainable, yet here he was, mouthing against your cunt on a dusty floor.

“No need to silence yourself,” Tech chides, a frown on his brow. “There is no one around to overhear, and I would like verbal confirmation of your pleasure.”

“O-okay,” you breathe shakily, moving your hand from your mouth. Satisfied, Tech returns to his work dutifully.

You oblige his request with soft panting and gasps, and let your fingers run tentatively over his scalp. He hums in affirmation against you, making you twitch from the subtle vibration.

He focuses on your clit as something bright begins to spark inside of you. You know what an orgasm is - theoretically - and lay your head back down as Tech draws you closer. He alternates between kitten licks and sucking, and a tremble starts in your lower body. As it builds so does your anticipation. It’s almost overwhelming, and Tech notices you fighting it.

“Let it happen,” he soothes. “I’ve got you. You’ll feel better once you come.” More attention to your pulsing clit, and your leg begins to shake as your orgasm crests.

Your back arches stiffly, your mouth opening into a silent gasp. Tech holds you firm, licking and kissing your cunt all the way through it. Warmth, like liquid lightning, explodes from where his mouth meets your body, and for a moment you think you’ll never come down from it.

Eventually, you come to, leaning up back on your elbows as Tech stands. He wipes his chin with a thumb absently, and you stare at how his lips glisten with you.

“Was that your first orgasm?” Tech queries. You nod, still in a haze. He smirks ever so slightly, clearly pleased with himself.

“How do you feel?”

You frown, trying to think. Much of the burning sensation is gone, but there’s still an ache deep inside of you that has yet to be satisfied.

“Empty,” you decide, and Tech lets out another terse breath. You look down at his waist - he is stripped to just his blacks, and there is a prominent bulge pressing against the dark fabric.  Your mouth suddenly waters, and you lurch forward, startling Tech.

He stabilizes you with his hands on your shoulders. “Careful,” he warns.

“I want to make you feel good,” you insist. “Teach me how to touch you.”

His throat bobs again as he swallows roughly. “Another time,” he placates. “This time is about you.”

He slides his blacks down, revealing his cock, hard and throbbing. Your cunt pulses in anticipation. You’d never seen a man's penis outside of images on the ‘net, so you didn’t have a lot of references, but you were pretty sure he was more endowed than the average male. So much so that even through the insistence of the drug you were concerned if he would fit inside you.

Tech comes forward to kiss you again, pulling you towards him. Sliding his arms under your bare thighs, he pulls you off the crate and walks you over to where his bed linens are spread out. Breaking from your mouth, he lays you down, hovering over your body and slotting himself between your legs. He shuffles forward, groin meeting yours, and rubs the head of himself through your slick.

“Remember what I said,” he directs lowly, and you nod. Satisfied, he grasps your hips and positions his cock at your entrance.

You wince at the pressure and the push; not from pain, but from the experience of a new sensation. Even through the enhancement the drug has placed on your body, he stretches you, splits you. Your mind races, trying to find the words to describe how it feels to have his cock inside of you - full, big, deep - finally deciding that it just feels right.

A groan from above you snaps your focus back externally, and you look up at Tech’s face. His brow is furrowed, not unlike when he is focusing on a problem.

“Are you ok?” You whisper, and he nods, head dipping to see where he is feeding himself into you. He pushes forward, thrusting more of his cock into your body.

“Yes,” he breathes out. “You are very tight, even with the effects of the drug.”

Clocking your concerned expression, he dips his head down to capture your mouth in another kiss. “It is - you feel incredible,” he assures. “I’m going to move now.”

Tech starts out slow, the drag of his cock up and then down intended to get you acclimated. Your legs come up to hook over his hips, and you bite your lip at the way your body is dragged against his.

You sigh in pleasured satisfaction, eyes closing and body relaxing into the rough medical blankets. Above you, Tech watches the way your mouth opens and brings a hand up to caress your swollen bottom lip.

“How does it feel?” Tell me,” he requests. Your brow furrows as you try to find the words, and he urges you on with another purposeful thrust.

“Good,” you cry. “Stars, Tech- it’s so good.” You roll your hips up to meet his, body purring with gratification at the strained breath it draws from him.

“What feels good?” He prods. His hips circle, and you choke at how he seems to know exactly where you need him inside of you.

“Your cock. S’big. Filling me up,” you mewl. “I l-like it, Tech.”

“Good girl,” he breathes out, and you clench at the praise. His pace quickens, and you know that you’ll feel the ache of him inside you for days after this.

You feel an orgasm building once more, though this time it is sparking from deeper inside of you. There’s a particular spot inside of your cunt that his cock rams against over and over, precise and intentional. One of his hands comes down to press softly against your swollen clit, and you let out a squeak at the sensation. You try to fight down your release, wanting to drag this out as long as you can.

“I…am not going to last much longer,” Tech professes, voice tense. You let out a low wail. “Where do you want me to come?”

“Inside me,” you beg instantly. “Come in me Tech, please. I need it.” It isn’t an exaggeration - your nerves scream for him to spill his seed inside of you, to satisfy the fire under your skin. It’s what you need to relieve the ache that has been building for hours.

“P-persuasive,” he chokes, gripping your hips and fucking himself into you harder. “If you insist-“

Your legs, hooked over his thin waist, tighten their grip around him. You cease fighting your impending release, enjoying the way your cunt flutters around Tech’s iron-hard cock. He is enjoying it as well if the way his mouth opens in a low gasp is any indication.

“T-tech,” you rasp, and his gaze snaps to your face. A firm hand grasps your chin, and he leans forward, his chest pressing against your own heaving form.

“Look at me when you come,” he demands, and you do your best to do what he says, Your orgasm rolls over you, and you blink away tears of pleasure as he rocks you through it.

His own finish comes during yours, the way your cunt clenches around him wringing from him the orgasm you need him to have. It’s a sight - the normally so put-together man burying his face into the side of your neck to muffle the sound of his pleasure into your sweat-slicked skin. His hips slow their pace as he pulses his release inside of you, giving in to your request for him to finish inside of your desperate cunt.

It takes a moment for both of you to steady your breathing. You throw an arm over your eyes, relief pouring through your body. It feels like dipping into a cold pool of water on a hot day, body returning to a state of equilibrium.

Lifting himself off you slowly, Tech pulls himself out of you at the same time. Your tongue darts out with a gasp at the sensation of something thick leaking out of your still-fluttering cunt. You hear him let out a satisfied noise at the sight, tucking himself back into his underlayers.

“Are you all right?” He questions softly, and you peek out from under your arm to nod.

“Yes,” you shiver. “T-thanks. I feel much better.”

Nodding, Tech leans against the crate, letting out a sigh. “I am…glad to hear it.”

Now that the drug has been placated, your senses returning to normal, you start to feel awkward. Following his lead, you gather your clothes and slip them on quietly, leaning up against the crate next to him. You pull your knees up to your chest and lay your chin on top, wondering if you should say something.

“You are thinking very loudly,” Tech comments, and you flick your eyes at him. His head leans against the crate, turned slightly to pierce you knowingly.

“Is mind reading another one of your enhancements?” You mumble, and he gives you a soft smile.

“No, though that would come in handy at times,” he reckons. “I just mean that you should not feel embarrassed at what has just transpired between us, though it is natural for one to experience those kinds of feeling after their first sexual encounter-“

“Easier said than done,” you challenged half-heartedly. “But thanks. I’m…grateful that you were here.”

“Was it satisfactory?” Tech inquired, and you let out a short laugh.

“Well it’s not like I have a wide frame of reference - but yes,” you admit. “It was…very good.” You clear your throat, embarrassed. “Was it…ok…for you?”

Tech raises a brow at your timid question. “Are you asking if I enjoyed having sex with you?”

You groan and bury your face in your knees, and feel him shuffle closer to you.

“While it may have been born out of medical necessity, it was not a chore,” Tech assures you. He knocks a shoulder against you, and you tilt your head up to pout at him. That’s probably the most direct affirmation you’re going to get from him, you decide. Little wins.

“And I meant what I said,” he continues. “About…another time. If you are not opposed.” Your brows raise in interest, and you clear your throat nervously before asking;

“How long did you say it would take the rest of the crew to get here?"

—

[bobbinfire]

Transformers One - Animation Student Analysis

(Aka why TFHypeGuy is right and you need to make this a #TFWeekend)

Disclaimer: This is a Review by an animation student based on the first viewing alone. I will not be giving the same quality of analysis of a film like a seasoned animation professional. However, I still have tons of knowledge by the years I have spent personally studying animated films and the new information learned through my academics. If you are still here, with that out of the way let’s begin.

(As requested by @serotoninisheldinkiwis)

((Spoilers below- quick non spoiler version here))

Transformers one is the peak example of what a brand such as the transformers franchise could accomplish when fans and talented artists work together to make a piece of art. The phrase of “could accomplish” is even over written as they “have accomplished” this. Both seasoned and newly furnished transformers fans seem to concur this as a fact.

All animation fans (you could even get the same from any of my fellow animation classmates) agree the Spider-Man Into/Across the Spider-verse movies are the best amongst the vast pool of the animated film medium. Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie (2022) was my favorite animated film, for both story and animation. But when compared to the artistry that is the Spider-verse, I knew that it still couldn’t compare in terms of mastery. No matter how much a film has your love, you are more likely than not to agree with the concept that Spider-verse saga is the best. And I used to agree. That was until the night of Friday September 20, when Transformers One single handily took the scepter of victory and waved it high for the awaiting crowds to see. The controversy I may get from this will probably be immense, but the statement I am willing to scream from the rooftops is that Transformers One has officially surpassed Spider-Verse movies as the top animated film. 

But what actually makes an animated film the “best” when compared to the variety of competitors flooding the market on a bi-monthly basis? What makes this film so better when it could be just the current hyper fixation coded bias of a long time transformers kid who just got handed a shiny new toy to play with and will eventually forget about once the next film releases. Well my friends…and random people of the internet, here is an analysis made by an animation student (me *cough *cough) that breaks down the answer to that question. 

Animation

As with any quality animated film, the animation itself will make or break a film as it is the core part of the film. Transformers One’s animation was handled by the company Industrial Lights and Magic. While not a large competitor in terms of feature film animation, they have produced films that have pushed past known boundaries of both animation and story as seen in their few animated feature films: Rango (2011), Strange Magic (2015), and Ultraman Rising (2024). Their work in the industry is primarily known in reference to their special effects work with Jurassic Park (1993) and Star Wars (1977). ILM’s animation in Transformers One manages to bring to life a world many have tried to do before, but not as elegantly or dare I say brilliant as this. The animation itself seems to stay on a constant frame rate, the beauty of special movements or actions being more defined by hard cuts or continuously moving shots. Each movement has purpose even ones that seem more throw away because it adds to the personality of the characters/environment. Specialty/new techniques are not as important for this film, which is perfectly okay considering they managed to hit each one of the 12 principles of animation when it counted most. An animation coming from a special effects studio in general is very good because they tend to pay major attention to any animation related to special effects, even if it’s just for a cartoon. Details can range from giant Quintesson ship slowly descending to the tiny sparks cause from a hit to a metal face. The animation in general is smooth as well as robotic only when it needs to be.

Environments

There have been a variety of environments in both animated and live action films that have help suck the audience into the story. When an animated pulls it off successfully it is even more noteworthy worthy. However, one must note the limited use of environments when it comes to how much we see past the establishing shots. Most times the best of environmental shots are primarily used to help set up a location or scene, then the rest of that is limited to a small corner (more often than not for budgetary reasons). Transformers One leans into the almost constant use of environments, not only for location, but for story as well. There is a variety of scenes that are carried through meticulously crafted sets and allow for you to not only finally get to know the world of Cybertron, but we travel through the environments almost fully as we progress the story alongside the characters. Minor details play a large role in the environment. Between the polished textures, the detailed individual blades of alien vegetation, the different background characters, and the hidden easter eggs within the framework of the designs themselves allow for a new thing for you eyes to feast upon with each viewing.

Textures

The use of textures in both environment and character design is on another level when compared to other 3D animated films. Speaking from experience the process of applying basic textures to a 3D model already requires hours of hard work, dedication, and patience that you will be very low on by the end of the whole ordeal. So when you analyze the detail and complexity of the work the team at ILM brought to the table it is truly extraordinary, even more so when you realize the time it would take to fight the UV layout and unwrap the mesh of a complicated figure like a cybertronian, especially one that has to transform. If you are confused on my alien language look up basic uv layout and texturing tutorial for maya on YouTube and generate a heart attack for yourself. Good luck sleeping tonight. Transformers one works itself down to the individual grains in the sand, the cracks in the ground, the glitter speckled plating on Elita-One’s head; even the length and deepness of scratches in armor can be measured. The effort put forth creates an effect of feeling you can touch the textures just by looking at them. Of course textures can only go so far without the correct use of the next subject. 

Lighting

When used to its fullest extent lighting not only lights the cast and their environment but it helps extend storytelling capabilities. Things such as mood, emotions, atmosphere, movement and location are brought out through simple artificial particles. The darkness of the mines contrast with the bright fantasy lighting of Iacon, which in its own way contrast the calm natural lighting of the surface. The carefully crafted textures of a surface could not be fully realized without the full use of directed light bouncing off it. During the final sequence of fights the change of D-16 to Megatron is not only conveyed through the change in the lighted color of his eyes but the waves of light flowing from them as he battles his way through opponents. The trail of light allows our eyes to not only follow Megaton’s movements but his descent into his dark path, with his blood red rage clouding his vision and being all that he can see.

And finally the most important point to cover with any animated film besides animation:

Story

Recently Dreamworks employee Rick  Rickdel gave a lecture on my campus. Out of all he talked about one of my major takeaways was when he said: “a story only connects with the felt needs of your audience”. Transformers fans have been wanting a movie like Transformers One for a long time. Even the smallest fans wanted to know what happens between Optimus and Megatron. And that’s the true beauty of this movie. We already know basically what happened between them, we know the overall story. Going into the theater we already knew how it was going to officially end and based on the lore we knew how it was going to start even. So the most important thing for Transformers One was how they connected the two and carried out the main part of the story. And what they did not only managed to meet expectations, but surprised us multiple points along the way. Voice actors poured their souls into these characters, leaving behind their celebrity personalities and bringing the characters to life. Each character themselves that had a relatively good chunk of screen time had a role in the story and were not just throw away side characters. With each one it’s set up for an almost domino like effect for the plot. Bee is not just a goofy side character, he assists in the journey, helps them get to new locations, and even provides relief from the typical dark undertones. Darkwing is a side character that ends through one quick mean spirited action kicks off the rising action at break neck speed. The quintessions show briefly, but provide enough of a threat without overstepping the plot’s boundaries that it is okay they are not there for long, but there may be a chance they can come again. Sentinel is at first glance a stereotypical egocentric villain, but take away his power and status and he will crumble in your hands (quite literally). He is not designed to be redeemable, but he is also not evil just for the sake of being evil. He has goals, he has factors that push him to evil things, but he very clearly has gone far enough that he no longer cares. His overall actions that are not super specifically targeted end up affecting what were originally minor threats to the point it results in his demise. And because of how his character was designed we rejoice even if actual justice wasn’t delivered. For a film have good storytelling it needs to have two factors: the story (the lore and information the audience receives in order to understand the film’s world) and plot (the events that play out in the films timeframe). The movie uses both of these to their proper extent allowing people like my friend was never watched any Transformers media before to watch it with understanding and enjoy it. It plays out what we expect of transformers media while taking on its own persona. What I find most enjoyable about the movies plot is the fact it is similar to a slow burn romance, but in reverse. We take this strongly built brotherly bond that can be shaken, yet once the match gets struck we can do nothing but watch as all these ties melt to heartache before our very eyes. And the audience’s vision eats it up without blinking once. We watch as D-16 goes to catch Orion, only to slowly realize he can’t undo what he’s done to the point of of diluting his mind to making it Orion’s’ on fault. We watch orions spark break through the emotions in his eyes as he begs D-16 not to…but it’s not about not dropping him, it’s about not becoming what he has watched him slowly come into to the point a flip is switch and D-16 is gone. @sephirose explained the summary of this movie best:

“D-16 reached out and caught Orion.

Megatron dropped him.

Orion Pax held onto D-16.

Optimus Prime let him go.”

Even the soundtrack tells a story. “The Fall” it only plays an emotional heartstrings of former Transformers Prime fans, but encapsulates “the actual physical fall of Orion and the metaphorical one of D-16 as he kills Sentinel” (@firebunnylover). Even if the end of the film is just a quick hit of Megatron being banished and forming the Deceptioncons while Orion ascends and becomes robot Jesus, it is what we were expecting. 

And that is the culmination of these factors. It manages to astound and amaze, but in the end it was a Transformers movie meant to be satisfactory. It is satisfying to the transformers soul, and in turn we should do our part like TFOneGuy says and give it the appreciation it deserves.

Anyways, sorry this took so long (I say to the single person who asked for this) to get out but in order to be able to give an in-depth animation student analysis I have to do well in my animation classes.

[valtsv]

hey I just got done watching The Terror and my friend said you have good analysis about it, and I concur after binging ur terror tag, so I was wondering if you had any idea why Edward(?), like Did That, to his face? You know who I mean right, chains guy? It's such a very specific thing to do I feel like it has to be significant but for the life of me I can't see why the hell that happened

so that's a really fascinating mystery actually! it's based on testimonies from inuit people living in the area who encountered the men of the expedition as they attempted to walk out and the corpses they left in their wake, at least one of which mentioned finding the remains of a man with chains attached to or piercing his face. nobody knows what happened there or why, but it's in the show as a nod to that.

[thundercrack]

Study of Elite College Admissions Data Suggests Being Very Rich Is Its Own Qualification

By Aatish Bhatia, Claire Cain Miller and Josh Katz July 24, 2023 (full text under the cut)

Elite colleges have long been filled with the children of the richest families: At Ivy League schools, one in six students has parents in the top 1 percent.

A large new study, released Monday, shows that it has not been because these children had more impressive grades on average or took harder classes. They tended to have higher SAT scores and finely honed résumés, and applied at a higher rate — but they were overrepresented even after accounting for those things. For applicants with the same SAT or ACT score, children from families in the top 1 percent were 34 percent more likely to be admitted than the average applicant, and those from the top 0.1 percent were more than twice as likely to get in.

The study — by Opportunity Insights, a group of economists based at Harvard who study inequality — quantifies for the first time the extent to which being very rich is its own qualification in selective college admissions.

The analysis is based on federal records of college attendance and parental income taxes for nearly all college students from 1999 to 2015, and standardized test scores from 2001 to 2015. It focuses on the eight Ivy League universities, as well as Stanford, Duke, M.I.T. and the University of Chicago. It adds an extraordinary new data set: the detailed, anonymized internal admissions assessments of at least three of the 12 colleges, covering half a million applicants. (The researchers did not name the colleges that shared data or specify how many did because they promised them anonymity.)

The new data shows that among students with the same test scores, the colleges gave preference to the children of alumni and to recruited athletes, and gave children from private schools higher nonacademic ratings. The result is the clearest picture yet of how America’s elite colleges perpetuate the intergenerational transfer of wealth and opportunity.

“What I conclude from this study is the Ivy League doesn’t have low-income students because it doesn’t want low-income students,” said Susan Dynarski, an economist at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, who has reviewed the data and was not involved in the study.

In effect, the study shows, these policies amounted to affirmative action for the children of the 1 percent, whose parents earn more than $611,000 a year. It comes as colleges are being forced to rethink their admissions processes after the Supreme Court ruling that race-based affirmative action is unconstitutional.

“Are these highly selective private colleges in America taking kids from very high-income, influential families and basically channeling them to remain at the top in the next generation?” said Raj Chetty, an economist at Harvard who directs Opportunity Insights, and an author of the paper with John N. Friedman of Brown and David J. Deming of Harvard. “Flipping that question on its head, could we potentially diversify who’s in a position of leadership in our society by changing who is admitted?”

Representatives from several of the colleges said that income diversity was an urgent priority, and that they had taken significant steps since 2015, when the data in the study ends, to admit lower-income and first-generation students. These include making tuition free for families earning under a certain amount; giving only grants, not loans, in financial aid; and actively recruiting students from disadvantaged high schools.

“We believe that talent exists in every sector of the American income distribution,” said Christopher L. Eisgruber, the president of Princeton. “I am proud of what we have done to increase socioeconomic diversity at Princeton, but I also believe that we need to do more — and we will do more.”

Affirmative action for the rich

In a concurring opinion in the affirmative action case, Justice Neil Gorsuch addressed the practice of favoring the children of alumni and donors, which is also the subject of a new case. “While race-neutral on their face, too, these preferences undoubtedly benefit white and wealthy applicants the most,” he wrote.

The new paper did not include admissions rates by race because previous research had done so, the researchers said. They found that racial differences were not driving the results. When looking only at applicants of one race, for example, those from the highest-income families still had an advantage. Yet the top 1 percent is overwhelmingly white. Some analysts have proposed diversifying by class as a way to achieve more racial diversity without affirmative action.

The new data showed that other selective private colleges, like Northwestern, N.Y.U. and Notre Dame, had a similarly disproportionate share of children from rich families. Public flagship universities were much more equitable. At places like the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Virginia, applicants with high-income parents were no more likely to be admitted than lower-income applicants with comparable scores.

Less than 1 percent of American college students attend the 12 elite colleges. But the group plays an outsize role in American society: 12 percent of Fortune 500 chief executives and a quarter of U.S. senators attended. So did 13 percent of the top 0.1 percent of earners. The focus on these colleges is warranted, the researchers say, because they provide paths to power and influence — and diversifying who attends has the potential to change who makes decisions in America.

The researchers did a novel analysis to measure whether attending one of these colleges causes success later in life. They compared students who were wait-listed and got in, with those who didn’t and attended another college instead. Consistent with previous research, they found that attending an Ivy instead of one of the top nine public flagships did not meaningfully increase graduates’ income, on average. However, it did increase a student’s predicted chance of earning in the top 1 percent to 19 percent, from 12 percent.

For outcomes other than earnings, the effect was even larger — it nearly doubled the estimated chance of attending a top graduate school, and tripled the estimated chance of working at firms that are considered prestigious, like national news organizations and research hospitals.

“Sure, it’s a tiny slice of schools,” said Professor Dynarski, who has studied college admissions and worked with the University of Michigan on increasing the attendance of low-income students, and has occasionally contributed to The New York Times. “But having representation is important, and this shows how much of a difference the Ivies make: The political elite, the economic elite, the intellectual elite are coming out of these schools.”

The missing middle class

The advantage to rich applicants varied by college, the study found: At Dartmouth, students from the top 0.1 percent were five times as likely to attend as the average applicant with the same test score, while at M.I.T. they were no more likely to attend. (The fact that children from higher-income families tend to have higher standardized test scores and are likelier to receive private coaching suggests that the study may actually underestimate their admissions advantage.)

An applicant with a high test score from a family earning less than $68,000 a year was also likelier than the average applicant to get in, though there were fewer applicants like this.

Children from middle- and upper-middle-class families — including those at public high schools in high-income neighborhoods — applied in large numbers. But they were, on an individual basis, less likely to be admitted than the richest or, to a lesser extent, poorest students with the same test scores. In that sense, the data confirms the feeling among many merely affluent parents that getting their children into elite colleges is increasingly difficult.

“We had these very skewed distributions of a whole lot of Pell kids and a whole lot of no-need kids, and the middle went missing,” said an Ivy League dean of admissions, who has seen the new data and spoke anonymously in order to talk openly about the process. “You’re not going to win a P.R. battle by saying you have X number of families making over $200,000 that qualify for financial aid.”

The researchers could see, for nearly all college students in the United States from 1999 to 2015, where they applied and attended, their SAT or ACT scores and whether they received a Pell grant for low-income students. They could also see their parents’ income tax records, which enabled them to analyze attendance by earnings in more detail than any previous research. They conducted the analysis using anonymized data.

For the several elite colleges that also shared internal admissions data, they could see other aspects of students’ applications between 2001 and 2015, including how admissions offices rated them. They focused their analysis on the most recent years, 2011 to 2015.

Though they had this data for a minority of the dozen top colleges, the researchers said they thought it was representative of the other colleges in the group (with the exception of M.I.T.). The other colleges admitted more students from high-income families, showed preferences for legacies and recruited athletes, and described similar admissions practices in conversations with the researchers, they said.

“Nobody has this kind of data; it’s completely unheard-of,” said Michael Bastedo, a professor at the University of Michigan’s School of Education, who has done prominent research on college admissions. “I think it’s really important to good faith efforts for reforming the system to start by being able to look honestly and candidly at the data.”

How the richest students benefit

Before this study, it was clear that colleges enrolled more rich students, but it was not known whether it was just because more applied. The new study showed that’s part of it: One-third of the difference in attendance rates was because middle-class students were somewhat less likely to apply or matriculate. But the bigger factor was that these colleges were more likely to accept the richest applicants.

Legacy admissions

The largest advantage for the 1 percent was the preference for legacies. The study showed — for the first time at this scale — that legacies were more qualified overall than the average applicant. But even when comparing applicants who were similar in every other way, legacies still had an advantage.

When high-income applicants applied to the college their parents attended, they were accepted at much higher rates than other applicants with similar qualifications — but at the other top-dozen colleges, they were no more likely to get in.

“This is not a sideshow, not just a symbolic issue,” Professor Bastedo said of the finding.

Athletes

One in eight admitted students from the top 1 percent was a recruited athlete. For the bottom 60 percent, that figure was one in 20. That’s largely because children from rich families are more likely to play sports, especially more exclusive sports played at certain colleges, like rowing and fencing. The study estimated that athletes were admitted at four times the rate of nonathletes with the same qualifications.

“There’s a common misperception that it’s about basketball and football and low-income kids making their way into selective colleges,” Professor Bastedo said. “But the enrollment leaders know athletes tend to be wealthier, so it’s a win-win.”

Nonacademic ratings

There was a third factor driving the preference for the richest applicants. The colleges in the study generally give applicants numerical scores for academic achievement and for more subjective nonacademic virtues, like extracurricular activities, volunteering and personality traits. Students from the top 1 percent with the same test scores did not have higher academic ratings. But they had significantly higher nonacademic ratings.

At one of the colleges that shared admissions data, students from the top 0.1 percent were 1.5 times as likely to have high nonacademic ratings as those from the middle class. The researchers said that, accounting for differences in the way each school assesses nonacademic credentials, they found similar patterns at the other colleges that shared data.

The biggest contributor was that admissions committees gave higher scores to students from private, nonreligious high schools. They were twice as likely to be admitted as similar students — those with the same SAT scores, race, gender and parental income — from public schools in high-income neighborhoods. A major factor was recommendations from guidance counselors and teachers at private high schools.

“Parents rattle off that a kid got in because he was first chair in the orchestra, ran track,” said John Morganelli Jr., a former director of admissions at Cornell and founder of Ivy League Admissions, where he advises high school students on applying to college. “They never say what really happens: Did the guidance counselor advocate on that kid’s behalf?”

Recommendation letters from private school counselors are notoriously flowery, he said, and the counselors call admissions officers about certain students.

“This is how the feeder schools get created,” he said. “Nobody’s calling on behalf of a middle- or lower-income student. Most of the public school counselors don’t even know these calls exist.”

The end of need-blind admissions?

Overall, the study suggests, if elite colleges had done away with the preferences for legacies, athletes and private school students, the children of the top 1 percent would have made up 10 percent of a class, down from 16 percent in the years of the study.

Legacy students, athletes and private school students do no better after college, in terms of earnings or reaching a top graduate school or firm, it found. In fact, they generally do somewhat worse.

The dean of admissions who spoke anonymously said change was easier said than done: “I would say there’s much more commitment to this than may be obvious. It’s just the solution is really complicated, and if we could have done it, we would have.”

For example, it’s not feasible to choose athletes from across the income spectrum if many college sports are played almost entirely by children from high-earning families. Legacies are perhaps the most complicated, the admissions dean said, because they tend to be highly qualified and their admission is important for maintaining strong ties with alumni.

Ending that preference, the person said, “is not an easy decision to make, given the alumni response, especially if you’re not in immediate concurrence with the rest of the Ivies.” (Though children of very large donors also get special consideration by admissions offices, they were not included in the analysis because there are relatively few of them.)

People involved in admissions say that achieving more economic diversity would be difficult without doing something else: ending need-blind admissions, the practice that prevents admissions officers from seeing families’ financial information so their ability to pay is not a factor. Some colleges are already doing what they call “need-affirmative admissions,” for the purpose of selecting more students from the low end of the income spectrum, though they often don’t publicly acknowledge it for fear of blowback.

There is a tool, Landscape from the College Board, to help determine if an applicant grew up in a neighborhood with significant privilege or adversity. But these colleges have no knowledge of parents’ income if students don’t apply for financial aid.

Ivy League colleges and their peers have recently made significant efforts to recruit more low-income students and subsidize tuition. Several now make attendance entirely free for families below a certain income — $100,000 at Stanford and Princeton, $85,000 at Harvard, and $60,000 at Brown.

At Princeton, one-fifth of students are now from low-income families, and one-fourth receive a full ride. It has recently reinstated a transfer program to recruit low-income and community college students. At Harvard, one-fourth of this fall’s freshman class is from families with incomes less than $85,000, who will pay nothing. The majority of freshmen will receive some amount of aid.

Dartmouth just raised $500 million to expand financial aid: “While we respect the work of Harvard’s Opportunity Insights, we believe our commitment to these investments and our admissions policies since 2015 tells an important story about the socioeconomic diversity among Dartmouth students,” said Jana Barnello, a spokeswoman.

Public flagships do admissions differently, in a way that ends up benefiting rich students less. The University of California schools forbid giving preference to legacies or donors, and some, like U.C.L.A., do not consider letters of recommendation. The application asks for family income, and colleges get detailed information about California high schools. Application readers are trained to consider students’ circumstances, like whether they worked to support their families in high school, as “evidence of maturity, determination and insight.”

The University of California system also partners with schools in the state, from pre-K through community college, to support students who face barriers. There’s a robust program for transfer students from California community colleges; at U.C.L.A., half are from low-income backgrounds.

M.I.T., which stands out among elite private schools as displaying almost no preference for rich students, has never given a preference to legacy applicants, said its dean of admissions, Stuart Schmill. It does recruit athletes, but they do not receive any preference or go through a separate admissions process (as much as it may frustrate coaches, he said).

“I think the most important thing here is talent is distributed equally but opportunity is not, and our admissions process is designed to account for the different opportunities students have based on their income,” he said. “It’s really incumbent upon our process to tease out the difference between talent and privilege.”

Source: Raj Chetty, David J. Deming and John N. Friedman, “Diversifying Society’s Leaders? The Determinants and Causal Effects of Admission to Highly Selective Private Colleges”

[enzymedevice]

Okay so I’m aware this is insane behaviour but in The Crow (2024) Bill Skarsgård has a tattoo that says "GOOD BOY" but the word GOOD has been crossed out so it says "GOOD BOY" 'cause he's a bad boy or whatever so anyway I became kind of obsessed with that and made an infographic I think everyone can concur is the most useful and wanted piece of media analysis anyone could ever possibly do on the Crow franchise.

[randomfoggytiger]

Seasonal Color Analysis: David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson (UPDATED)

Going into this, I knew David didn’t have a… good fashion sense (even his sister would concur); but it’s always enlightening to see just how bad his fashion sense is. It’s charming, really. 

Meanwhile, Gillian (or her stylist) pinpointed which were her worst colors or worst looks and went crazy with the rest-- an excellent example of knowing the rules in order to break them.

I will be referencing all the information compiled in this Seasonal Color Analysis post to determine their undertone: Hue, or the coloration of their skin; Value, or the lightness and darkness of their saturation; and Chroma, or the bright and low value of their undertone.

TL;DR: David is a Soft Autumn, and Gillian is a Light Summer.

**Note**: For more in-depth explanations (and swatches) of David and Gillian's skin tone, see this and this post.

The Trickiness of This Technique

True pigmentation is often disguised or distorted under differing light sources--examples provided by the edits below--

thanks to @dd-is-my-guiltypleasure, post here--

and thanks to @gillyscloset, post here--

but, though I don't have DD or GA in person, I do have a wide sampling of all types of lighting (natural, direct, artificial.) With my bases pretty much covered, I venture forth into the unknown and take whoever along with me~.

HUE

Step One to determining one's seasonal palette: analyzing the levels of warmth or coolness in an undertone.

David and Gillian have one aspect (of two) in common: a red undertone. And, while it would be true and incredibly easy to say his red leans more apricot or cinnamon-- a Warm Hue indicator-- and hers leans more pink or blush-- a Cool Hue indicator-- that might not be the best vehicle to broadly determine undertone.

So, here we go on the long route.

-David-

First, we must calculate the balance of yellow (warm) and blue (cool) in his undertone.

The top left shirt is cool and vibrant, the top right shirt is cool and muted, the bottom left shirt is warm and vibrant, and the bottom right outfit is warm and muted.

The first thing I notice about David's skin is how red it is, even without a tan (top right photo.) The second thing I notice is how red it is in the top left photo, meaning the color is clashing with, not blending into, his undertone. The third thing I notice is how "overpowered" David is by the pink shirt (it wears him instead of him wearing it.) The fourth thing I notice is that the vibrancy of the bottom left warm outfit overpowers him, too, especially compared to its counterpart on the right. The fifth thing I notice is that this principle holds firm with the top right shirt, as well.

This leads me to a few conclusions: David's undertone is red, which becomes more uneven with bright, cool colors. Moreover, vibrancy in general does not suit him, drowning him out in its potency.

Overall, David has a Warm Hue with muted undertones. His worst colors would be Cool Hues with bright undertones.

-Gillian-

Let us calculate the yellow and blue value in her undertones.

The top left dress suit is warm and vibrant, the top right dress is warm and muted, the bottom left dress is cool and vibrant, and the bottom right dress is cool and muted.

Again, the first thing I notice about Gillian's skin is how red it is (particularly her legs) in the orange dress, even if most of it is concealed with face and body makeup. The second thing I notice is how overpowered she appears in the top left photo. Thirdly, that that pattern replicates slightly in the bottom left: her arms and head seem disparate from bright white of her dress. The fourth thing I notice is the more proportionate balance between her limbs and the color intensity in the top and bottom right dresses. The fifth thing I notice is how alive Gillian looks in the bottom right photo: the cool, muted jewel green melts beautifully with her undertone while the gold in her hair and dress appears "apart" from her.

This leads me to these conclusions: Gillian's undertone is red, which becomes more uneven and pronounced with unflattering warm colors. Moreover, its vibrancy is overpowered or elevated by the matching intensity of her clothes.

These conclusions also apply to The X-Files's (bad) Revival wig she disliked: the undertone was warm compared to the cooler undertones of her 90s dye.

Overall, Gillian has a Cool Hue with muted undertones. Her worst colors would be Warm Hues with bright undertones.

VALUE

To quote my previous post (because I'm lazy):

Higher Values usually have lighter or more "translucent" hair, allowing light to pass through it, as well as finer or sparser brows. Golden, grey, strawberry, or silver hair would all suit Higher Values, whereas they would overwhelm the Lower ones. High Value tones look great in lighter colors such as cool pure white, warm ivory white, and other lighter colors. Deep colors near the face tend to drag down and dominant the "presence" of the outfit, making it appear as if the clothes were wearing the person rather than the other way around.

Lower Values usually have darker or more "opaque" hair when in direct lighting, as well as darker or bushier brows. Medium or low value hair colors such as auburn, brown, or black would suit and enhance Lower Values, whereas they would dull or drag down the Higher ones. Low Value tones look great in darker colors such as navy blue, pure black and deep brown. Light colors near the face gives them an exaggerated pale, tired appearance.

Medium Value tones are an exception to the rule. Medium values look too overwhelmed in both very High Value (light) and very Low Value (dark) outfits; and look great in "medium" colors such as grays, lighter browns, and camel colors.

(Sidenote: If a person falls into the Medium Value range, they have exponentially lightened-- heh-- their workload by cutting out unnecessary guess work.)

-David-

Now, we compare and contrast David in different values, Cool Hues to the left and Warm Hues to the right.

Light Value

Light Value doesn't blend with David, washing out his skin tone (in spite of the presence of darker stubble in the second picture.)

Medium Value

Medium Value makes David seem most at home, blending seamlessly in with his mid-tone hair (and even emphasizing his brows and lighter stubble in the first picture, despite the glaring sun directly overhead.)

Dark Value

Dark Value is the most uncomplimentary to David, making him appear dragged down, overly tired, and older than his years (even with the enhanced darkened and cool filter on the first picture.)

David, we see, is a Medium Value.

-Gillian-

Now, we compare and contrast Gillian in different values, Cool Hues to the left and Warm Hues to the right.

Light Value

Gillian is incredibly suited to the Light Value, her vibrant skin coming alive under the dewy, fresh, "natural" makeup style and lighter colored hair and outfits.

Medium Value

Gillian isn't really suited to Medium Value, appearing separate and more muted by its lack of vibrancy.

Dark Value

And Gillian really isn't suited to Dark Values, appearing "overdone", fatigued, and older than her years.

Gillian, we see, is a Light Value.

The Difference in Black and White (and Gray)

And now, we compare and contrast David's and Gillian's Values against each other.

Black

Flash photography rarely makes anyone look pretty, but here it at least amplifies Gillian's "translucent" Light Value and David's middle-of-the-road, Medium Value. The lines and shadows of both their faces are unfairly pronounced; and, in short, they both look like wax figures.

Yet GA has an unexpected exception: because of the vibrancy of her tone (to be further discussed in the Chroma section~), she is able to pull off black if, and only if, she sticks to Light Value hair and makeup. DD stays doomed-- doubly so, because he gravitates to black for his day-to-day wear.

Gray

Gillian rarely wears gray or middle-of-the-road browns-- astute of her or her stylist, as it is the hardest of the three Values for her vibrancy to pull off with any degree of success-- appearing waxy and sickly compared to David-- at home in his own skin-- on the left.

White

David is, again, not looking his best-- not as tired or shadowy as the black shirt, but more pale and washed out compared to the gray-- and, again, his shirt seems to be wearing him. Gillian, on the other hand, shines in this (almost) white shirt, her Light Value complimented by her blonde hair and very light background.

Chroma 

Chroma measures the brightness and clearness or softness of a Hue.

Again, I shall quote my other post:

High Chromas have a brighter, clearer appearance-- with very little brown or gray pigmentation in their skin tone-- and a "dewy" or bright skin texture. Their darker brows usually have a deeper coloration; and their irises are usually "richer" and clearer with defined "edges" next to the whites of the eyes. Supposedly, this gives Higher Chromas an "alert and eye-catching expression. "

Low Chromas have a desaturated or muted appearance-- with a prominent gray or "ashy" pigmentation-- and a "matte" or softer skin texture. Their finer brows usually have a "sparser" appearance; and their irises have a softer, blurred "edge" next to the whites of the eyes. Supposedly, this gives Lower Chromas a "softer gaze" and more "delicate charm."

-David-

Now, we must assess the chroma level of David's skin, Cool Hues on the left and Warm Hues on the right.

High Chroma

He does not blend cohesively with High Chroma, becoming lost in the vivacity and punch of the pink and black (left) and yellow (right.)

Low Chroma

But he does blend cohesively with Low Chroma, equaling the chroma's scale and becoming whole with his overall look.

Gillian 

Now, we must assess the chroma level of Gillian's skin, Cool Hues on the left and Warm Hues on the right.

High Chroma

She is overpowered in the shining intensity of these High Chroma colors, but not completely lost. Because she is Medium Value, GA holds her own, despite the outfit and her skin tone’s lack of cohesion.

Medium Chroma

(Credit to: Ella Ray Style)

Medium Chroma is a blend of the two: GA does not have strikingly solid, clear chroma colors in her hair, skin, or eyes-- pure black or dark brown or clear white, for example-- but nor does she have muted or “blurred” grays dominating her features, either. She sits between the two; and is flattered by neither.

Low Chroma 

While she does not blend cohesively with Low Chroma, GA’s skintone is more prominent-- dominant, in this case-- which also creates a lack of cohesion. The effect, then, either contrasts against it quite starkly (muddying her distinct features, left) or wars with it, ultimately appearing "mousier" (right.)

Makeup: Values and Chromas

How does one balance or play with their Values and Chroma using hair, makeup, accessories, or other articles of fashion?

Gillian Anderson has High Value: meaning she will look amazing in lighter makeup-- which creates a natural, refreshing, and airy appearance-- preferably in purplish pink, pink, coral, light berry, peach, and nude shades. Because of the natural prominence in her face, darker makeup would muddy the clarity and create disharmony by having "too much" on her face. Of course, she can wear whatever she wants; but knowing this information clarifies why she and her stylists likely keep her makeup minimal.

(Sidenote: Although David Duchovny does not wear makeup, one of his characters did. If you search up Denise Bryson, you'll see the makeup artists gave David a Medium Value makeup look: the lipstick gave a Dark Value punch, and the Light Value cheeks and eyelids provided a complementary counterbalance.)

SEASONAL COLOR ANALYSIS: Putting It All Together

The Seasonal Color system takes all three qualities of undertone-- Hue, Value, and Chroma-- to determine what Seasonal subtype a person is. One will be most dominant, taking the primary position; the second will obviously be secondary; and the least impactful aspect of the three will take up tertiary position (and, therefore, can be set to the side when determining one's subtype.)

Again, I recommend trottin' on over to this post to learn more about primary, secondary, and tertiary qualities; however, if that's not your speed, keep reading.

Testing the Options

We're going to do something a little different.

Usually, this post starts out with David each section. However, Gillian's Season subtype is a bit trickier to figure out than his.

First up: Gillian.

-Gillian-

We've discovered she's a Cool Hue, High Value, and Medium Chroma'd individual... but which of the three is primary, and so on?

There are only six seasons with Cool Hue; and of those six, only half combine with either High Value or High Chroma: Light Summer (Light/High Value primary, Cool Hue secondary); Cool Summer (Cool Hue primary, Soft/Low Chroma secondary); and Soft Summer (Soft/Low Chroma primary, Cool Hue secondary.)

Automatically, Cool Summer and Soft Summer are eliminated because of Gillian’s High Value, meaning she is a Light Summer! However, we’re going to go through each option to test out this hypothesis. 

Since I'm far from an expert, it's time to fire up the editing app and start (badly) swatching comparison colors!

Soft Summer

So, what's the difference between the two?

Soft Summer is primarily Soft/Low Chroma and secondarily Cool Hue-- meaning, it can pull off warmer colors if they are soft or Low Chroma in Hue. 

Light Summer is primarily High Value and secondarily Cool Hue-- meaning, its cool colors must be higher in value, with greater leniency towards warmth in their palette. 

(GA is outfitted in Soft Summer colors in the top photo, and Light Summer colors on the bottom.)

Gillian’s Medium Chroma automatically cancels this season from consideration. Despite this fact, we can see the effect that muted purple has on her face-- dragging it down, slightly; and making her eyes appear hollower and smudged. Further, if she were Soft Summer, GA would always look out of place in Hues with a higher chroma (which she does not.)  

Cool Summer

What's the difference between the two?

Cool Summer is primarily Cool Hue and secondarily Low/Soft Chroma-- meaning, it is filled with exclusively cool colors.

Again, Light Summer is primarily High Value and secondarily Cool Hue-- meaning, its cool colors must be higher in value, with greater leniency towards warmth in their palette. 

(As you can see, GA is dolled up in Cool Summer colors in the top and Light Summer colors in the bottom.)

While the muted Cool Summer purple is flattering to her complexion, Gillian looks more alive, supported, and luminous in the Light Summer one. Further, if she were Cool Summer, GA would always look out of place in warmer hues. Gillian can pull off (and is currently) warmer hues in her hair, makeup, and clothes-- as long as their warmth does not overpower the overall value of her Hue. Therefore, she is not a Cool Summer.

In conclusion, Gillian Anderson is a Light Summer~. 

And last but not least: DD.

-David-

He's a Warm Hue, Low Value, Low Chroma kinda guy... but, again, which of the three is primary, secondary, and tertiary?

There are only six seasons with Warm Hue, and only three that combine with his Low Value and Low Chroma. And all three roads lead to one destination: Autumn-- Soft Autumn, True/Warm Autumn, and Deep Autumn.

Soft Autumn is primarily Low Chroma and secondarily Warm Hue.

True/Warm Autumn is primarily Warm Hue and secondarily Low Chroma.

Deep Autumn is primarily Low Value and secondarily Warm Hue.

But guess what? A surprise jumps out from the woodwork: because David has Medium Value, it cancels out Deep Autumn as a consideration (very handy in these situations.)

So, only two choices left:

Soft or Warm Autumn?

Can David pull off Warm and Cool Hues as long as they have Low Chroma (Soft Autumn), or can he pull off Low and High Chromas as long as they have Warm Hues (True/Warm Autumn)?

It's time to bring in some "worsts" and see which looks the least jarring.

Observe the disparateness of chromas on his skin: the Cool, Bright Chroma pink shirt (left) is the first thing you notice from a distance, rivalling and overpowering David's skin tone. Compare his pink to Gillian's in the above section and you'll notice the striking difference: that she is equal to the intensity of bright pink, but he is erased by it. Meanwhile, the Cool, Low Chroma blue shirt (right) is not as "separate" nor as glaringly obvious-- in fact, because it borders on Medium Value, DD can almost pull it off better than some others.

This means that David is primarily Low Chroma and secondarily Warm Hue-- able to pull off warm or cool colors as long as his primary feature (Chroma) is kept intact.

Thus, David Duchovny is (I think) a Soft Autumn.

(Sidenote: This is two-folds hilarious because 1. DD never picks "his colors", which proves his sister right; and 2. DD's infamous pumpkin shirt has been axed from his "Best Dressed" list. Ahhhh, don't ever change, Mr. Duchovny.)

CONCLUSION

So! Both DD and GA are muted with Medium Chromas. Interesting.

David and Gillian can play around with their colors and values as long as their chromas remain the same (the pic included, for example.) Also, Gillian scoped out her worst colors ("gray" or "murky" tones) and avoids them fairly well while David only ever picks the worst colors for himself and wears them with pride. And would we, the people, have it any other way?

What does this mean in the long run?

Well, I got to sharpen my color analysis skills; hopefully you enjoyed the journey with me; and we have some answers to the infinite number of unanswerable questions in this universe. That's good progress, I'd say.

(Fun fact for those who read to the end: Winters and Summers are more likely to have Cool Hue eyes; but Summers' irises tend to shift color because of their muted quality. I suspect Autumns work the same way, which would explain why DD's and GA's respective eye colors look vastly different depending on the photoshoot.)

Thank you for reading~

Enjoy!

[specialagentartemis]

hi artemis! a friend I made during artfight who doesn't have a tumblr account asked me to pass a question on to you!

they're wondering if you know of any good resources for researching more modern history. This is what they were interested in specifically:

"i am trying to think of somewhere i could find information about when cars started appearing in songs and i am absolutely blanking on how i could find things about this

i know the library of congress has a LOT of stuff [and a really good system for filtering the search results] but… i don't even know what i would enter into the search bar sjdhgj. cars?? songs?? the spread of motor vehicles??"

i know this isn't your specific area of expertise but i thought you might still have some thoughts, or be able to point them to someone else who could help. also, they asked me to tell you that you're very cool and they like your posts :) (i concur)

Aww, thanks! <3

Hmm unfortunately, this is not really a topic I know anything about. This is a combination topic/time period I don't study, and a method (corpus analysis) I haven't really done.

But I can talk about how I would go about it, because starting research from scratch is a specialized skill and it is Daunting.

First, I go to Wikipedia on my topic--let's try the Wikipedia page for "Lyrics." The "Academic Study" subheading has no references--pity. Ignoring most of the article text, I scroll down to the references. Scanning them, they're not that helpful, but "Further Reading" suggests Moore, Allan F. (2003). Analyzing Popular Music. That looks potentially useful! File that away.

All right, now I go to academic databases. My own university's library database and JSTOR are my first options. Let's try some keywords--technology in popular music. Hm, no, that's mostly turning back books and articles about the technology used to make and disseminate popular music, not references to technology in the lyrics. Wrong tack. Try technology popular music lyrics. Little bit better--it turns back The Bloomsbury Handbook of Rock Music Research, that sounds promising. The Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World, sounds like it could be a useful reference too. Still, this turns back a wide variety of things, none of them about cars. All right, "technology" was too broad a concept. We want to know about cars. Try cars popular music lyrics and automobiles popular music lyrics.

Aha! Here's some good stuff! "Sentiment analysis of popular-music references to automobiles, 1950s to 2010s" (Wu et al. 2022); "Experience economy in the making: Hedonism, play and coolhunting in automotive song lyrics" (Askegaard 2010); Driving Identities: At the Intersection of Popular Music and Automotive Culture (McLeod 2020); "Communicating cars: television, popular music and everyday life" (Alam 2020, a chapter within the book Race, Taste, Class and Cars). Now this is what we're talking about!

And reducing my search terms to cars in popular music, I turned up a book called Popular Music and Automobiles. Jackpot!

Tbh research is trying various keyword strings, and then sifting through a dozen irrelevant result for every relevant one. Identifying relevant-looking books and articles from titles and abstracts is also a skill. JSTOR is good but arbitrarily limited; Google Scholar is pretty good; Library of Congress has records of nearly everything but is in my experience kind of overwhelming unless you know precisely what you're looking for. University library databases are the best, if you have access to any.

However, once you've hit on something specific, the LOC is really, really good in this way: you can go to the page for the book you found--here's "Popular Music and Automobiles"--and then look at the subject tags. Automobiles--Songs and music--History and criticism is its own subject tag! You can see what other books have that subject tag!

... looks like, including Popular Music and Automobiles, it's only four. (and one of those is also McCloud's "Driving Identities," lol.) But, hey. That's two more books about the topic you didn't know about before!

These are the tactics I use when I want to research something new! Hope some of this was helpful.

[liquidorcard]

Could we maybe get an analysis on her “stop making villains like Magneto, they suck” video?

Also, I for one am sat patiently for that Flowers In The Attic analysis.

FItA Lorch Analysis coming next.

For right now: Part 3, Final round. FIGHT!

[Part 1] [Part 2]

Lily Commits Elder Gay Mutant Abuse, feat. "Eldritch Lily" (Part 3)

8:30: "And making these characters hop in the giant death robot so they can randomly do some heinous act of evil so you feel less guilty for wanting to bring them down is very telling about your priorities as a writer." [We're still talking about Korra, for context.]

I'm highlighting this quote more than anything as a means to really dig into the big stink with Lily's media analysis here. I've said something along the lines of, "I kind of agree with her, but not actually," several times while writing this, and this is exactly why.

I think a lot of people come at media criticism from a very flawed position because of the way the grading works in our school systems, of all things. They judge it like there is the possibility of getting an A+ on your show, movie, novel, video game, etc. For the purpose of reviews, as a quick way to indicate quality/how much you recommend a piece of media, I understand why critics would use scoring systems like that-- but when it comes to analysis, that's not really a useful approach. There are technical skills and proficiencies in execution that you can grade media on like that, but even they have their nuances. Conceptual ideas presented in media, however? No dice.

There are certain filmmakers in particular who I fully acknowledged are very skilled at their craft-- I still strongly dislike their films. I don't agree with the conceptual ideas they have to present, and I don't think they convincingly rationalize their position textually, subtextually, or otherwise. With that said: I think most media produced, regardless of quality, is a net positive for the intellectual landscape of humanity as a whole. With the exception of media that is actively harmful in a very direct way, disingenuous propaganda, or particularly egregious cases of cooperate slop, I support any creative's ability to add to the long-form conversation art and creation offers. Those highly proficient filmmakers I ideologically disagree with, their ability to articulate their worldview so genuinely, and clearly helped me as a creative articulate why I disagree.

With all that said, it's clear Lily doesn't think in that regard. Lily has taken media crit she has heard from other sources. She has just retrofitted it to whichever property she wants to rip into. If it superficially applies enough that she can misrepresent a piece of fiction with an argument, she will apply it across the broad. Approaching media crit like there is a definitive way to "score" fiction on its conceptual value, like it's a high schooler's end of term essay. Context be damned.

What she is articulating here is a valid criticism of certain fictions that try to present morally complex villains. This is a complaint I've made myself over properties like the first Black Panther film (which, thankfully, they at least did their best to rectify in the second). But not Kuvira. Not Magneto as a whole.

9:07: "Which would have been interesting, and led to some criticism of the main characters for trying to restore the same monarchy that has previously failed the people."

They weren't trying to restore the monarchy. They were protecting the prince from assassination. I feel like it'd be pretty tyrannical of the Avatar to say, "fuck you Earth Kingdom, you don't get your royal family anymore," without their say, Lily . . .

9:18: "Maybe talk about the United Republic being a literal concurred settler state."

YET AGAIN LILY'S CRITICISM BOILS DOWN TO, "I HAVE NEVER READ A COMIC."

9:30: [Lily takes like, the 12th bullshit pot shot at the creators of Avatar.]

I've ignored it up until this point. There's been too much else to talk about. But Lily has assumed an absurd amount about the authorial intent of everyone she's discussed in this video-- including Jack Kurby's intent when creating Magneto.

9:40: Lily fumbles through some final point here with two sentences that make no sense when put together about how this is all people doing tropes badly, but if you did it well then the trope wouldn't exist and aaaaaaaaaaaaa.

God please strike me down.

10:10: Lily calls this all propaganda.

Again. She's sort of right in the abstract, divorced from the content of her video. Wrong when taken in context of what she's talking about. SOMETIMES "sympathetic villains" are used as political propaganda. Sometimes, they're a legitimate expression of a creator's misunderstanding or mischaracterization of an ideology. Sometimes, they're an earnest dissection of the ideological concept.

Good argument of specific pieces of media, retrofitted, flattened of any nuance, used to discredit a thing Lily doesn't like across the board.

We're in a timeloop.

10:25:

God is dead and we have killed him.

11:01: "The problem is that this idea of all villainy being nuanced and complicated has just never really been true. Evil people in real life will often just invent justification for evil things they already want to do. And there's a point where someone crosses the line of evil so much that nothing they say earns them sympathy."

Lily thinks people commit acts of extreme violence and atrocity for . . . Fun, I guess. Disturbingly enough, this tracks real well with how she's justified her own abhorrent actions in the past. When other people do bad things, it's because they like it and are bad. When she does a bad thing, she has a reason, and therefore, it's justified. Another self-tell Lillian.

11:42: "The problem with my idea for these kinds of villains is that they inherently make white people of any gender uncomfortable."

GOD FINALLY FUCKING DONE THIS GOD FORSAKEN VIDEO AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA.

Pray for me, the fucking psychic damage I just fucking took for you guys.

I suppose the only take away here is this:

The thing that's so exhausting about Lily's videos is the complexity of the degrees in which she is wrong. She's developed, for lack of a better word, a talent for laundering good arguments in a very disingenuous fashion. I wouldn't go so far as to call what she does plagiarism. Her work is more than just stealing other people's arguments and regurgitating them back-- but what she does is a spiritual cousin of sorts.

She bootlegs intellectualism to sharpen it into a shiv she can use to stab at anything that displeases her. The same way she weaponizes her marginalized identity, she weaponizes honest and thoughtful media analysis aswell.

This video was, frankly, barely even about Magneto. Barely even about sympathetic villains. She has no interest in the material that was the topic of this video-- not even enough to do a bare-bones Google search beyond looking up vague facts she could massage into supporting her claims.

A lot of those very early X-Men comics are fucking rough. They include shit like Charles expressing some very creepy thoughts about a (I believe then) teenage Gene Grey. Some very yikes dynamics with the then mostly/arguably entirely white mutants acting out very on-the-nose imagery associated at the time with the black liberation movement. And some very questionable framing and dynamics due to the fact that, real life marginalized groups typically don't have dangerous superpowers.

However, you can almost sense the moment when Kurby started to take the reigns and make the X-Men into something really special. Not to imply that Stan Lee is a bigot or a bad writer, he had very good intentions. By his own admission, he did his best work as a collaboration with his artists guiding the story along with him (sometimes, well, functionally being the actual writer, no offense, Lee left a bit of a complicated legacy, we can't get into it right now.) Anyone familiar with Kurby's work as a whole will know just how profoundly humanist he was with the stories he told.

Despite what Lily arrogantly implied here, he always intended Erik to be a very sympathetic character. Even as a "villain," a sympathetic character vaguely coded as an "extremist" black activist was kind of bold for the 1960s. I can't tell you for certain what ol' Jack's authorial intent was, the man very rudely died 3 years before I was born so I never really got the chance to ask him-- but dare I say this was his best attempt at laundering the idea that maybe "radical" activists actually maybe had a point? To an audience who would have been VERY against that idea if presented to them outright at the time? Even now?

Media does have the power to shift cultural perception-- even if that takes time. In the early 2000s, when I was taught about Malcome X for the first time as a child, even then, 40-some-odd-years later he was presented to me in a negative light. It was in the context of him being the inspiration for Magneto, however. The emotional connection I had to that character made me question whether that characterization of Malcome was entirely fair-- even though I was too young and didn't have the full context to grasp what I was being told at the time. I do believe to some extent that Magneto's popculture relevance has helped preserve the legacy of some of the more controversial activists in history. By being a figure people can personally connect with. Of course, it's all more complicated and messy than I'm making it sound, however. It's unfortunately very easy to flanderize figures of history, boil down their motives, and flatten their narratives. A character in a story, detached from any direct sociopolitical baggage, is something you can form a bond with. Something that can (if handled properly) promote empathy for their real-life equivalents.

There absolutely is a conversation to be had about certain ideologies or positions being more often than not, for practical or political purposes, cast in the antagonistic role in fiction. However, Lily's thesis here, boiled down to the bones, has been disproven ten times over by the abject failure of shit like The Comic's Code Authority and The Hays Code. People don't emotionally connect with squeaky clean moral paragons as much as they do messy, complicated, emotionally challenging complex characters-- even when you paint them as the abject villain of the story.

People fucking adore Magneto. He's a cultural icon. Even before the FoX-Men movies came out, he was probably one of the few comicbook characters your mom could name. Vaguely recognize, at the least. And yes, that doesn't always translate into people being charitable to "radical" civil rights activists in real life-- but doesn't necessarily harm it either. Anecdotally, it helps, if but just a smidgen.

Anyway, get fucked Lily. Magnet Daddy FTW.

P.S. X-Men '97 is really good. Also, it's 100% alluding to these two having fucked. Maybe outright confirmed it by now, I'm not totally caught up.

I mean, we all already knew they totally were lovers, but.

Come on Disney, give the people what they want. Make 'em kiss. These poor old men have been having sexual tension for like, 60 years.

[nalyra-dreaming]

Nalyra look! That's some REALLY good meta. Would love your opinion.

https://www.tumblr.com/pynkhues/760291528700772353/i-would-love-to-read-your-analysis-of-louis-as?source=share

YES!!!

Thank you! Just reblogged it!

Oh. Totally forgot my opinion: I pretty much concur, in fact I was nodding along. It is CLAUDIA who is trapped by her parents, and Louis had a LOT more agency in his relationships than may seem. For everything else - the OP laid it out wayyyy better^^

[mrs-monaghan]

https://twitter.com/parkordie/status/1714224017907839040

Nah cuz these drags won't work for Jimin lol

First of all, JIMIN is literally a unisex name which is especially given for baby girls in SK. So there's no need to add anything to make it more girly lmao. His name is commonly used by girls anyway.. we have many girl idols named Jimin but uses stage names because JIMIN is owned by mimi 🤷‍♀️

Second, people really think saying he looks like a woman is offensive ? The same person who asked 'what the heck is men ?', Regularly wears women clothing, drew a bigender tattoo on himself, thinks he looks beautiful when dressed as a girl, calls himself pretty, pretite and delicate, chose modern dance and ballet as his major which are not commonly done by men and is frowned upon in SK, repeated he's NOT manly multiple times in a single interview, likes to keep his body dainty, want to make his booty even bigger, used a woman as his reflection and is VERY fluid with his gender identity representation 🙄🙄 More than anyone else Jimin knows his feminine side and fucking embrace it proudly

If him, his dad and mom, his partner, his members, his freinds and his stans doesn't have a single problem with him not being the usual 'manly' guy then who tf have a problem with how he carries himself ?

The way it's mostly JK solos trying to drag him for this.. are they worried whether he'll steal their man or what 👀👀 or that their 'straight' man won't be able to resist a pretty Jimin around ? Is JK that weak for pretty dainty boys shaz ? 🤔

While reading your ask it took me back to this moment

(Thanks @sarah2711)

RM literally short circuited 🤣😂😂😂 I can't with this clip coz RM takes me out every single time. 😆😆😆😆😆 Dead.

(Me digressing in 1....2.....)

I am surprised that JK doesn't seem to be simping here considering the fact that Jimin was super pissed during this bomb

coz JK wanted him to be in that snow white costume so badly.

Analysis no one asked for in 1....2....

Okay so Jhope says loser will have to dress up as snow white. If you look at Jimin's face, he is not happy

But the best part for me is how JK is looking right at him 🤭🤭

Yes... so are RM and Jhope but there is a reason I'm highlighting JK 😆😆

So Jhope says how this was all JK's idea. But look at Jimin's face when he says "that's right"

This tells me Jimin knew why JK wanted him in that dress. He hee. Jin confirms that this idea is quite recent.

RM concurs adding in this little detail:

Thats the face of a cheeky man up to no good 🤭 Especially when Jhope repeats the rule... and while Jimin is frothing at the mouth 👇🏽 JK is watching him looking quite excited about the prospect of the loser being snow white

We know JK expected Jimin to lose because that's what happens more often than not. Jimin always looses in RPS and JK was counting on this happening. But Mimi wasn't having it and not only can u tell because of how mad he looks, but also because he does the tongue in cheek thing

And we all know depending on the context, this is usually a sign of annoyance.

So the members start to play and guess who JK is watching 😏😏

The reason why this analysis is most probably accurate is because of the face Jimin makes when JK wins dramatically

Did you see that? Okay I will clip just Jimin's face since he moves too quickly for a proper screenshot. But just look how done he is. Zoom in and u can see it even better.

For reasons only known to Jikook, JK really wanted Jimin to be snow white and Jimin was 1300% done with his boyfriend.

Is JK that weak for pretty dainty boys Shaz?

Hmm 🤔

Anon,