#(it's got some ~visual effects~ that i can't see either so i assume it for some reason just didn't take)

[daz4i]

you know that vine that's like "please god can i have just one good day?" "oh my god, you again? give it a rest buddy!"? that's me asking for a pain-free day

[halemerry]

On Crowley, memory, and identity.

So full disclosure first, I am not someone who is particularly interested in having Crowley's angel name on screen - personally I rather like the idea of never having an answer to this question - but I also do think it's interesting and fun to speculate and we got quite a few hints at this throughout this season soooo

Obviously part of this is that we meet him. The angel that would become Crowley is the first person on screen this season. We confirm a lot about him here. He confirm that he is powerful enough to start the engine of the universe. We confirm that he can control gravity and time and space and light. We confirm that he is the being that says let there be light before the beginning. We also confirm that he consulted with the concept designer of the universe and that he's very comfortable with the idea of questioning authority. We are also given Aziraphale's anxiety as a contrast to this and as proof that that is not a universal trait for early angels.

Now, we have always had evidence that Crowley is powerful. He's done some things that seem impossibly big. He stops time very casually and seemingly without effort - even at the end of season 1 it doesn't even seem to give us the same strain on him that holding the Bentley together does. This is a thing that we only ever see Crowley do and notably a thing that you would think other beings would mess with to their advantage if it was possible. Which means they either literally can't or that it never occurred to them that they could. Or as is becoming increasingly clear: perhaps it's a bit of both.

But that's not the only implication of power we get in season 1 either. We get Crowley seemingly in tune with the universe in a way many angels and demons aren't. Which, makes some sense if he helped make it. This manifests in all sorts of ways. He's constantly aware of Aziraphale's presence. He can smell when the world state changes like when Adam names Dog. He holds the Bentley together through utter destruction. He notices that there are different books in the bookshop - something I always assumed was meant to convey he was familiar with the shop's contents but after learning he didn't even know Jane Austen was a writer I wonder if it's actually more to do with him being in tune with reality. He also can apparently quite literally feel when there are eyes on them.

We're given even more of all these things this season in some really interesting ways. Crowley literally tests the air to check if a miracle has happened - another thing that we don't see anyone else do despite Heaven literally assigning someone to Aziraphale to check for a specific miracle. This particular beat is also something we are shown twice this season. Both here and in 1941, when Furfur uses the miracle blocker on Aziraphale. Here Crowley tests his miracles and despite getting nothing of the sort when Aziraphale tries a miracle literally the beat before this, we are given both a visual and an auditory effect. It ripples out with a watery sound effect from Crowley's finger. It's like he's prodding at reality.

There's also several instances involving the recognition or lack thereof of angels and demons. Crowley feels that the demon army is arriving before it does. Neither side seems to be able to track Gabriel - one of the most powerful beings in existence - at all once he leaves Heaven. We also see countless angels fail to notice Crowley himself both as Bildad the Shuhite performing literal miracles right in front of them. And this happens again as he prances about Heaven after Muriel. Aziraphale can't tell Shax is a demon despite Crowley recognizing she's manifested behind him nearly as soon as he answers the phone. Aziraphale can't even recognize that he himself is still an angel at the end of the Job story.

He also. Quite literally. Brings someone back from the dead???? Like waves a hand casually on the street and reconstitutes Mr. Brown like he'd never been dead at all. Mr. Brown returns with no memory of what happened to him holding a newspaper that seems to have literal bite chunks coming out of it. It's not framed as a huge miracle or anything strenuous either - just a casual snap.

And that's not even getting into the parallels with Gabriel. First of all. We get the color purple. It's purple when Aziraphale and angel that would become Crowley start the engine of the quadrants of the universe and it's purple when they miracle to hide Gabriel. This color is associated with power and, historically in the language of this show, with Gabriel himself. Them using it together twice speaks a lot to the power they have together.

But that's not the only symbolism historically tied to Gabriel that has found its way to Crowley this season either. Most flashy of all is the lightning. This is how we see Gabriel arrive on earth at the end of season one and it is something Crowley apparently just Does when he gets too mad to contain himself.

This alone wouldn't catch my attention except. Except the way Crowley reacts to Gabriel's memory problems is... interesting to say the least. He's angry and understandably so. Part of this is him being mad and protective of Aziraphale - he says as much himself to Jim directly. And yet, weirdly, it's the kind of mad that reminded me of something else.

This is the mad he tends to gets at his plants. Do it properly. Think hard. You can do better than that. Grow better. It's the kind of angry that's steeped in projection. It's he kind of angry that is undercut with the occasional weird undercurrent of understanding. And so much of his dialogue with Jim around this is framed like he does actually understand. Jim says it hurts and he says he knows. Jim starts talking about it feeling like being an empty house that still remembers where the furniture is and Crowley immediately latches onto this and understands ah it's looking at where the furniture isn't.

And there's a few other conversations that center around this issue that I find really interesting from a projection perspective. There's the conversation that happens when Crowley goes to have an alcohol fueled chat with Jim. He says "You're Jim now. Got everything just the way you wanted?" This doesn't make a whole lot of sense for him to be addressing Gabriel with. As far as he knows all Gabriel would want was the end of the world.

And then there's the particular way he asks Jim to eliminate himself in this scene. Climb out the window. In other words, have a fall. Something he pretty immediately retracts and clearly feels guilty about no matter how much he hates Gabriel.

And then there's the first conversation he gets to have after learning about Gabriel. Crowley opens this conversation, thinking out loud. He's staring out, not talking to Az yet and the very first thing out of his mouth is, of all things: "He's going to be okay." A weird start for a statement about Gabriel in itself but then Crowley goes and adds what at it's core is his own trauma narrative to the end with, "We can just take him somewhere and leave him there."

Now the real fun bit: Crowley also has memory issues that are out very prominently on display even as far back as season 1.

He has inconsistent memories of his Fall. The answers he gives us to why he Fell change slightly - even when he's alone with himself. He doesn't seem to understand why exactly he Fell even though he clearly has some vague idea of the pieces in play. I always thought to some degree that this was just a trauma response, but season 2 drew even more attention to this and now that we know that memory alteration is how Heaven handles powerful angels I can't help but to wonder if there's more in play here.

Crowley can't remember Furfur - who he apparently literally fought next to during the war in Heaven. Crowley can't remember building a nebula with Saraqael. Crowley doesn't remember why they decided gravity was a good idea.

But he does remember bits and pieces here and there. He remembers doing some of the starmaking. He remembers how to access clearance locked files. He's missing pieces and also seems to have an understanding that Gabriel's memories ARE in there. Almost like he's done this work on himself before.

This narrative itself is also far more concerned with the angel Crowley was this time around. It teases his rank a few different times. Most notably is him having access the files only available to Dominions and above.

Now angel hierarchy is a bit of a messy area depending on what sources you're using but given Good Omens tendencies in the past we can assume that this leaves us five ranks. Dominion, Throne, Cherub, Seraph, and Archangel.

I might break down why I think Dominion, Throne, and Cherub feel kind of odd to me later if there's interest - now available here - in that but given the current length of this meta I just want to focus on that last one for now.

Crowley was an Archangel is far from a new theory and I've honestly historically had some fairly mixed feelings about it. But the parallels between Jim and Crowley lend some interesting connective tissue to a lot of those theories. And. There's also some interesting camera work and script writing tied to Crowley and that term outside of the scenes about Gabriel's memories specifically.

Firstly, during Crowley's chat with Beelzebub he says it's a big universe with plenty of places for an archangel to hide. Like Alpha Centauri perhaps?

Then we get Aziraphale and Crowley both presenting Hell and Heaven respectively the idea that it could have been them that did the archangel class miracle. Aziraphale gets scoffed at and yet. Shax is the one who says the miracle was archangel level and Crowley's response is "how do you know I didn't do it?"

Then later as she's prowling about the shop we get this interesting shot of Crowley in the doorframe and Jim in the background. Crowley grins and offers to let Shax look in and see if she can see any archangels in there while he's framed dead center and Jim himself is blurry in the back of the frame.

And most fascinating in my opinion is this shot that happens when Crowley and Muriel are accessing the classified files. Nearly every shot in this sequence is group shots or shots of Gabriel. The camera is focused in the plot and the way the archangels function as a group and on Gabriel himself. But we get one single shot in this entire sequence of Crowley by himself and it is immediately following Gabriel saying "I am the only first order archangel in the room - or, well, the universe."

And then in the end. We get the Metatron who goes out of his way to avoid using Crowley's name. He calls him demon (and insists correctly that Crowley would recognize him even when Michael doesn't) or refers to him as Aziraphale's friend. He only ever uses that name when trying to use him as a bribe for Aziraphale. That combined with the dark look he gives Crowley implies a familiarity that only the Metatron has with him.

So who is he then? There's plenty of old meta out there about why certain archangels fit or don't and I won't reiterate them here. They're interesting and definitely worth poking around at and very fun to read! Personally I'm not as interested in naming the someone he used to be as I am in examining the places that ghost of this angel has started to poke through the narrative so I'll end this here. It's spiralled into something far longer than I ever meant it to be anyway.

[arsynnotarson]

so. you wanna start making ug subs (underground subliminals)? let the ex ug sub maker explain some stuff

disclaimer: this is only how to make! this doc is a great starting point for the other things like manifesting and what not

firstly: get your materials

the main thing you need is something to read affirmations. using a tts software is what most, if not all submakers use. i use the software balabolka, which lets you change the pitch, speed, and volume of the text, but free tts and ttsmp3 are websites you can also use, though they do come with usage and character limits, which is a pain if you plan on doing longer and more detailed subs. you can also read out your own affirmations too instead, which might work better depending on what you believe.

the next thing you need is some audio. youtube to mp3 and YtMp3 (beware of viruses) are two of which i used if you have something off youtube you wanna use. i recommend asmr (for those of you that like it) of any type; rain is a common audio choice, but i see slime asmr, clicking asmr, you name it, used too. music is also a good choice, but ive heard that music with lyrics can mess with your subconscious, but all that's limiting you is your own beliefs. also, a critique ive heard on music is that it can get repetitive and you might not want to listen to it over and over if you plan on reusing a subliminal (but then again so can any audio, so who's to say?)

the final thing you need is something to mix the two together. a software like capcut can work, but so can a software like audacity.

optional: something to make the sub into a video with. wanna incorporate your transition goals / desired results as images into your sub? good choice. you can use capcut for that, as thats what ive used.

secondly: writing affs (affirmations)

so now youve got yourself prepared, now comes the main attraction of subliminals: the affirmations. make sure to visualize what you want for the best affs, as it helps with making sure you got everything down and dont accidentally leave out an aff or two you made this whole subliminal around.

now, you can use the law of assumption or law of attraction, but i focus on law of assumption-type affs, as that's what works best for me. here are some base affirmations:

"i have [blank]"

"i have always had [blank]"

"i know i have [blank]"

short and straight to the point affs like this are what ive found to work best personally. dont be afraid to go all out with these, either: your subconscious knows what you want. its very smart. be as detailed as you want.

make as many affs as you see fit, as its your reality you're affirming.

thirdly: mixing the affs + audio

go into the software i assume you have gotten by now and throw those two little mp3s (your affs and audio) into it.

you're gonna wanna make your affs quiet, or at least quieter than the audio, but not mute. the plan with this is that your conscious hears the audio, but your subconscious hears the affirmations and takes it as truth. your conscious is none the wiser. you should set the affs' audio to be just enough to where you yourself can't hear them.

speeding up the affs is a common thing people do (but it might make the affs easier to hear so make sure to relisten to make sure that doesnt happen), but its not an absolute need.

extra: layering affs

layering is putting affirmation audio over another affirmation audio. it can be the same affs, either more sped up, slowed down, or even reversed, or an entirely new set of affs. this can be used to kill two birds with one stone so to speak depending on how you use it, or can make your subliminals stronger / more effective.

extra: bundling subliminals / bundles

bundles are subliminals that combine two subliminals into one mp3. while this might sound like layering, and while it is similar, its taking two completed affs / subs and putting them together (hence bundle) into one mp3. an example would be subliminal x and subliminal y are both about topic z, so they could be bundled into subliminal xy and be "z bundle" (i really hope that made sense)

extra: booster subliminals

booster subliminals (or, "boosters") are made to enhance, speed up, or overall help your results come quicker. this can be achieved by just simply writing affs like "all of my desired results are here already" and bundling / layering it with other subliminal audios (make sure to make as quiet as the affs!!)

extra: formulas

formulas are ways of writing affirmations. some formulas work wonders, and become staples of some sub makers creative process, and because of this, a lot of submakers are protective of it. you can make your own formulas, too, so test out the waters to see which style of affs help you the most!!

extra: angel numbers

angel numbers are the same number that repeats in succession, typically in threes and fours. an example would be 111, 333, 888, 9999, and so on. angel numbers are seen as signs from the universe that your results are coming true as a whole, but each set has their own meanings. you can also choose to assign a certain angel number to assure you of your results, to make sure youre not running into coincidences.

extra: frequencies

certain frequencies can help you attract certain energies. 432Hz can attract happiness, which very helpful when affirming, as happiness helps results come faster, in my experience.

anyways, this has been arsyn's official tutorial on sub making!! remember, you can manifest anything you want. keep believing. stay safe

[tokiro07]

Cipher Academy ch.43 thoughts

[This Place About to Blow]

(Contents: Minor cast analysis, Iroha analysis)

Welp, Iroha's dead, series over I guess

So I'm admittedly disappointed that the dungeon doesn't seem to have monsters or enemies, just puzzles presented diegetically, though it's possible that Nisio just doesn't want to show his hand too early. For now, I'm going to assume that there's nothing fantastical until proven otherwise so I won't set myself up for further disappointment

I do really like that the aesthetic for the question boxes has changed to the glasses frames, that's a really nice touch and makes it feel like we're literally seeing from Iroha's perspective in that moment

I also like that even if there aren't enemies, the floors do have a pretty significant level of variety, including casino, mahjong parlor, aquarium, and overnight train. That last one in particular gives me hope since it means that the floors don't have to be stationary rooms. For all we know there could be a UFO floor or a floor the size of an entire town, but again, I'm getting ahead of myself

It's interesting seeing everyone planning their strategy, you need to have a clear approach when tackling a procedural game. Toshusai considering waiting for her group (strength in numbers) vs. speedrunning (getting experience, not sitting around) is the kind of question that only the frontrunner could have the luxury to consider. If she speeds ahead, she could get into trouble that she's not prepared for, but if she stays still, someone like Kubinashi could catch up and surpass her before her allies do

Speaking of, Yugata says she's planning to move ahead 25 floors to reach 175, where we know Kubinashi is waiting. Why is Yugata trying to get to Kubinashi and not Toshusai? I can't imagine she's plotting a betrayal, so if anything I'd wager she's either planning to snipe Kubinashi back to the first floor somehow or she has some pressing questions that she needs answered

Karigane notes that she can't leave messages behind or make any alterations that might help her trailing teammates, which implies that she was intending to do exactly that. Leave it to the mystery book fan to want to leave helpful codes behind

Meanwhile, Hanagoromo is checking to see if she can find any glitches or shortcuts, which makes sense for a member of the undercover ops Class E. Naturally, Hanagoromo's inclination is to check under the mahjong tables since she spends so much of her time under tables herself, but it also seems like a good place to look for glitches. Visual assets in games are often used to either obscure graphical errors (like Daisy's third eye under her hair in Melee) or to create optical illusions that give the impression that a visual looks how the designer wants, so in a room full of tables, there's a good chance that one of them is hiding some kind of unavoidable or possibly even deliberate error. I don't know if that error will be at all helpful for Hanagoromo, but hey, speedrunners break games in all kinds of novel ways, and I haven't got a single clue how they go about doing that in the first place, so godspeed to her

We cut to Nohime, Kogoe and Zakuroguchi acting as overseers of the game, each of them eating their signature food: Kogoe has a corndog with copius amounts of toppings, Nohime is sipping tea, and in the most shocking twist of all time, Zakuroguchi is eating a pomegranate (Zakuro meaning pomegranate). Man, this is making me want pomegranate...they're in season now, right?? Ah, but they're expensive...

ANYWAY!

We finally learn what Nohime meant went she said she lost her sight from a "dazzling code;" her vision was damaged while roaming the puzzle dungeon's prototype! The way they're talking about it, it sounds like they're saying that her eyes were physically damaged by the game, which implies to me that having the code projecting directly into her eyes by the glasses effectively fried her optic nerve or corneas the way that looking at the sun might. I can't imagine how much light is needed for a screen to recreate solar retinopathy, but I have to assume that the visual output of the glasses has been toned down to prevent that from happening again

Moving back to Iroha, he's joined by Koshibai who gave up her 100 floor advantage just so she'd be able to experience the entirety of the game. Even ignoring the fact that she just wants to have fun, I absolutely see the benefit in resetting: by skipping ahead so far, the player isn't just making up a lot of ground, they're being put in an inherently more difficult scenario without any clear baseline of what to expect. It's bound to be easier for a player starting at floor 200 to be killed by a lvl200 puzzle than it would be for a player whose had 200 floors to learn the ins-and-outs of the game as a whole, at least that's what I'd expect. Even if I'm technically smart enough to last at that skill level, I'd much prefer to work my way up so that I'm more familiar with the mechanics first

That said, we can be pretty sure that Iroha has the technical skill to be higher up, and yet he's having a lot of trouble on BF1, isn't he? He's getting way more flustered than he usually does, even considering that he has a ten second time limit. Hakanage's invisible ink puzzle was way harder than these ordnance puzzles, and he solved that quickly and calmly, but this is what's throwing him?

Well that's because, as Zakuroguchi points out, Iroha is already predisposed to having an aversion to ordnances. Astute readers may remember that Iroha told Yugata in the lipogram battle that he has an explosives handling license, which means that Iroha has experience with them. Despite having the license and skill to handle them, that doesn't necessarily mean that Iroha isn't afraid of them, and in fact is likely traumatized by them, either from a bad experience within the course he would have had to take to earn that license or from an event that prompted him to get his license in the first place. I still think some if not all of his cheer squad were killed in an explosion, hence why he also has trypophobia, and that trauma is giving him trouble dealing with this particular scenario

Koshibai encouraging Iroha to have fun with the game could be interpreted as her picking up on his insecurity, giving him the reassurance and grounding he needs to stop panicking and solve the final puzzle quickly. However, as we see with the explosion, it would appear that Iroha's newfound peace of mind did not allow him to find the right answer

Since Iroha was employing the right-hand technique to solve the maze (keeping your right hand on the wall to move along the perimeter and ensure you don't end up walking in circles), he missed the initial left turn that he was supposed to make. Because he took the wrong turn right at the beginning, it's hard to say how that affected the answers after the fact, but it's possible that they were trying to get him back on track, so maybe a few of the questions should technically be reversed?

Either that or the Xs don't refer to the shapes made by combining the arrows, but rather by overlaying the turns he was supposed to make themselves? If that's the case, then I think the answer should have been 3, as Iroha "crossed" over three times (1 to 2, 4 to 5, and 6 to 7, with 3 to 4 and 5 to 6 going in the same direction)

That, or Iroha DID notice something else (he did say "there's also this thing...") that gave him the hint he needed to solve the puzzle and the explosion we saw was what was supposed to happen, and Iroha and Koshibai are now moving down to the next floor through the opening created by the bomb

Honestly that's what I'm most expecting to happen, as knocking Iroha back to the start when he's at the start would most likely create needless padding, unless perhaps the stages change pretty significantly between visits. I suppose we'll find out soon enough, but that's my bet for now

[mermaidsirennikita]

wait how did stj wreck his career?

I assume this is about Aaron Taylor Johnson's wife?

I mean, I don't have direct knowledge of this, but it's pretty clear that Hollywood literally doesn't know how to handle him because you can't promote Aaron without acknowledging his wife... Who very likely met him when he was underage, cast him in her movie (Nowhere Boy) when he was 17-18, and subsequently got with him while she was in her 40s and he was 18. It's something people weren't comfortable with in 2009, and that has only become more difficult for people to grapple with as time has gone by.

To be super blunt, conventional wisdom is that young up and comers, especially men, should be single when they first become Known in Hollywood. That way, they can meet with other young up and comers, get buzz for their relationships, and either become known for being bon vivant bachelors a la Leo and Chris Evans, or pair up with a high calibre woman and promote themselves as a dual entity (Zendaya and Tom Holland, much as I think she could do better). So in general? It's a good idea to be single if you're a guy as hot and talented as Aaron, who totally would've been promoted as the Sexy Supertalented Artist.

But not only was he not single, which could be tackled--in interviews, you had this thorny background issue of... How do we discuss his wife... Who is 24 years his senior, hooked up with him when he was a literal teenager, and subsequently had two kids with him in his twenties so that he is now basically... locked in with her forever on some level. It feels really, really uncomfortable. And I don't think Sam is super well-liked in certain circles, her being a groomer aside.

Of course, you could argue that Sam being the older party as the woman made people regard this with more disgust than they would if she was the man, but like--I'm not gonna cry in my cereal about it. And I mean... Even a lot of the skeeziest Hollywood hitters still wait until the girl is like, over 21 to make the relationship known (no cookies, just acknowledging the "unsaid rule" with all that). Aaron was a baby, and you can see it in the movie, which SHE DIRECTED--and Nowhere Boy actually features an excellent performance from him, but it also acts as like... A visual record of him being groomed. You know she's behind the camera. You know she's directing this (sometimes very sexual) content. You can see how incredibly young he is up close and personal.

Oh--Nowhere Boy also dwells very heavily on John Lennon's (real) mommy issues, and speculates on what is essentially a pseudo-incestuous relationship between him and his mom. So. That kind of. Adds to the skeevy effect.

She's also *rumored* to be super controlling of his career choices, not wanting him to play opposite certain women. There aren't a lot of romantic lead roles in his filmography, unless you count Anna Karenina. There have been rumors about him fucking around on Sam, and in general the gossip has always been that she doesn't like him hanging around hot women his own age. God forbid he escapes the woman who again, starting fucking him when he was 18! And she was 42! As his director!

[duckielover151]

Some Ep 3 Live Action One Piece Thoughts

I have to say... I'm not in love with this episode. But to be honest, I didn't love the whole Syrup Village/Kuro adventure in the anime either so...

I'm just gonna break it down like I've been doing. Negatives/Meh reactions first, save the good stuff for last.

To start... I'm still holding out hope for Coby and Helmeppo becoming friends. I feel like it's pretty central to both their characters and surely that's one thing Oda would have fought for, right? They're both still getting plenty of screen time, but Garp almost seems to be pitting them against each other. And I'm not feeling that right now. I feel like that friendship breakthrough could still be coming... I do want to see Helmeppo redeemed, show that there's more to him at heart than just the spoiled brat we've gotten to know... and I'm hoping to see it soon.

Episode 3 is really visually dark. Most scenes were kind of muted. I'm not a fan of that kind of style in general, but I especially wasn't feeling it during the scenes where they're inside the mansion, having a party. What we saw of Kaya's mansion in the anime was so big and light and airy... The live action's take on it feels like some kind of evil funhouse.

But the big reason I may not feel totally satisfied by this episode may just be because it's the first one that doesn't resolve its conflict in one episode. This episode ends with everyone in a pretty dire place. Kuro won't be properly confronted and defeated until the next one. (I assume. But with the pace this series has been keeping, I can't imagine it stretching out to episode 5.)

A couple of the good points feel a little marred by 'meh' feelings.

Okay. Listen. I know this is a tiny, tiny detail. But it's bothering me that they didn't also dye Celeste Loots's eyebrows blonde. It's not bothering me on the other characters who have crazier hair colors but... Don't get me wrong! She's really killing it as Kaya in every other aspect. I think she's perfectly captured that inner spark and strength Kaya has while definitely coming across as frail and sickly... But something about her doesn't look wispy enough. Kaya practically looked like a ghost. Someone who had all the life-- and thus, color-- sucked out of her. I would have liked to see something more to that effect in her live action appearance.

I know I've already talked about the way they've portrayed her mansion. But it's not just that the lighting's been lackluster. Some of the colors are also weirdly garish in places. Especially the scene where they first all meet in the garden, I got the weirdest... Alice in Wonderland vibes. I don't think that's a bad thing. It just feels a little strange. Also. Kuro's lackeys. The Meowban Brothers. Something about the way they've been brought to life... I can't be the only one getting 2003 Cat in the Hat vibes, right????? That's so weirdly fitting. I have a hard time believing it's a coincidence. It's another thing that, like, I don't think I hate it... but I don't know if I like it.

Finally, I really liked seeing Nami and Kaya bond. Nami gets this particular look when it's revealed that Kaya's parents are dead that was a really great little detail. Their talk really gave the audience a chance to see that there was some depth to Kaya, which was also great. I'm just not sure how I feel about how it came about. It feels like a pretty important detail that Nami's not just a thief... she steals from pirates specifically. Up until the point she officially becomes one herself, that is. There's an integrity to that that the live action hasn't preserved. While I'm totally fine with a lot of the other changes they've made, I don't think I'm on board with that one. It just doesn't feel necessary.

But despite my overall meh feelings towards this episode, there are a lot of entirely unblemished good points in episode 3.

I do still think the way it's coming together is really great. That they all meet on the day of Kaya's 18th birthday, accidentally walking right into the climax of Kuro's schemes to take over her fortune. Perfect.

That her fortune is the fact that Syrup Village is known for its shipbuilding in this version... also really great. Gives our characters more of a reason to be there, for one. Also just gives the place a little more flavor.

It hasn't really come up yet that Usopp's got kind of a blemish on his life. A father who ran off to be a pirate. But his running through the village, crying wolf about pirates day after day really hits different in a live action. A villager literally pulls him aside, tells him he's pathetic and that he's wasting his life and... ouch. That was surprisingly brutal.

But I feel like Usopp is very much a cartoon character. There's a lot about him that would struggle to fly in a more realistic live-action. So I'm really pleased to say that Jacob Romero Gibson is also really killing it in his role. We are 4 for 4 on great casting for the Straw Hats. Something about the way he delivers his lies... They're still outrageous claims, but there's something so casual and sincere about the way he tells them... And I really love that this episode ends with Usopp running into Coby and Helmeppo when no one else will believe him about there being real pirates this time. Goes back to this tweaked version of the story all coming together really nicely. I'm really interested to see what role they'll end up playing in that conflict.

And I like that Arlong's being established as a more overarching villain of this arc, and pulling Buggy along with him. I could spend another 12 paragraphs speculating on all the places that could go, but I'll spare you.

I have high hopes for episode four!

[adobe-outdesign]

I was looking through your old asks and I found a Spamton Pokémon Rating and I gotta say, it's a shame that most people only know him through his Deltarune cameo. Kinda like how people only know Ridley from his Metroid cameos rather than his original appearances in Pokémon... speaking of which have you done Aerodactyl yet? That’s the first Pokémon Ridley equivalent that pops to mind lol

Aerodactyl is okay—though I'll admit, it never did all that much for me. I think it's just because I feel like I've seen this kind of wyvern-style pterosaur dozens of times before, and it's just not as interesting as actual proper pterosaurs (though granted, the Japanese word for pterosaurs is "winged dragons", so that might've been intentional). I'll get into this later, but IRL pterosaurs were some of the weirdest prehistoric creatures out there, and I would've loved to see that worked more into this design.

I also feel like the colors hurt it a bit. There's nothing wrong with the purple, but when the entire palette's monotone with no real markings it ends up not really having anything to make it pop. Even just a different color for the wing membranes instead of just a slightly darker purple would've been something.

And just to clarify, what we got isn't bad; I think the head's a bit too big for its own good, but its otherwise serviceable. I'm also always a big fan of correct membrane-style wings (correct in the sense that they're anatomically plausible; IRL pterosaurs had rounder wings and no thumbs), and the arrow tail is a nice touch. It's just that, at the end of the day, it feels less like a unique prehistoric creature and more like Charizard 2.0.

I'll give mega Aerodactyl this: It does at least attempt to fix some of my issues with original Aerodactyl. The colors are slightly improved—using the addition of black to add some much-needed contrast, darkening the wing membranes, and even making the eye color more vibrant. It's also more of a unique design, feeling like it has something to differentiate it from other dragons/dragon-like pterosaurs.

However, I can't say I love the rocks, either. First, they create some visual awkwardness; the ones on the stomach aren't needed (a dark underbelly to match the wing membranes would've worked fine), and the "beard" only makes the head look even more oversized. The ones on the wings, back, tail, and hind claws look fine; if they had just stuck to those ones and maybe the ones on the ears, it would've looked a lot less messy. Also, why is the tail flatter?

But secondly, those rocks bring me to my second point: mega Aerodatyl doesn't really have an interesting direction. It's just regular Aerodactyl, but Pointier(TM). There's almost something interesting going on with these 'dex entries:

None of the fossil Pokemon are properly reconstructed, as emphasized by most of them having rock-typing. The idea of mega evolution restoring a fossil Pokemon to its original prehistoric form is perfect. The problem is that the idea presented here for Aerodactyl's original form is... rocks. Even if we assume Aerodactyl was always rock-type and that wasn't a side-effect of it being resurrected from a fossil, its true appearance just being the same thing With Rocks is just... not that interesting, or at least as interesting as it could be. (Plus it raises some logistical questions. Like, why does it have proper wing-hands it can walk on in the improperly restored version?)

I point this out because, if you didn't know, pterodactyls are extremely weird:

Look at that. Equal parts ridiculous and terrifying.

My point is that I would've liked to see mega Aerodactyl lean more into IRL pterosaurs for inspiration if that's what they were going for. Give it a more elongated face, rounder wings, longer neck, etc. And some pterosaurs were quite colorful. Adding in some red and blue accents and darker stripes would've been a great way to really make the original purple palette pop:

Anyway, overall, original Aerodactyl is fine, but it feels somewhat generic, and the monotone colors make it feel washed out. The mega attempts to fix a few things, but ultimately creates more problems and doesn't really take full advantage of its concept.

Also, final fun fact that I found out while researching this: There is an actual IRL pterosaur genus called Aerodactylus that's named after this Pokemon. Because scientists are as nerdy as the rest of us.

[ellaintrigue]

Last night I found out that one of dad's childhood people had passed away. I didn't know them so it doesn't personally effect me, but they had cancer and were only 60 so that hit home. It bothers me because I've been obsessed with death recently. Has anyone else noticed how many celebrities have died in 2021 even? Not just Prince P. and DMX but just one after another since the start of the year. I'm not superstitious enough to wave my arms and wave about omens but it is ominous.

Reading that made me want to look back through messenger to find another dead person that knew my dad. Without getting into detail there was some drama in dad's life a couple of years ago, but right before that, this woman added me and mom on FaceBook. We didn't know who she was, we just assumed because she was old that she knew my parents or something. Well, she complained she felt fat or something and I said "you look great" in the comments, SOMETHING along those lines. I am body positive and would never insult someone. Well, her sister inboxed me screaming how dare I insult her sister and that mom and I were pieces of shit. I was like "what?" I had no idea who she and her sister were and once the woman found that out she backtracked and apologized. It was weird, but ya know, everyone is a dramatic troll online.

Fast forward to a couple of years later and I found out that these women were basically mad at my father and thought mom and I knew who they were. Bitch what? I fully put the pieces together last night when I scrolled back to the dead woman's messages. She had messaged me briefly in 2017 and she was dead by 2019. She wrapped her truck around a tree taking a turn too fast. The news article described a trashed white pickup but dad approached me in the yard with his hands in his pockets and a distant look in his eyes. He said that not only was she still alive on impact but that she was practically torn in half by the mangled truck. She was partially decapitated but died in the hospital. I can't imagine being alive that long like that. Was she able to look down and see her organs all laid out or was she unconscious?

It's the anniversary of my grandmother's death, early April 2019. I'm not going to cry and moan about my dead grandma, I wasn't even thinking about it in fact. But for some reason it was leaving a bad taste in my mouth anyway. I was too upset to go to her funeral but mom brought me some food back. A broken chicken wing rejected by other goers and some limp pasta salad. "Everyone ate all the good parts," she said.

I've said this before but it seems weird when someone dies and you start eating. I had graphic visuals of my grandmother's coffin sinking into the dirt and her starting to rot while everyone ripped their teeth into fried chicken. Gnashing their jaws and loud slurps as they sucked down sweet tea. I'm overreacting, it shouldn't bother me that much. I was thinking about it last night and thought about how my old cat died in 2014. I stepped outside one morning and I saw her back legs from under a hedge and instantly knew she was dead. She was almost 19 and when her head came into view her eyes were completely clouded grey from death. I wrapped her up in a towel and buried her but whenever I think about someone dying I imagine their eyes being the same way. That misty grey look of surprise, "hey, I'm dead!"

I had sobered up by that point yesterday and started to cry a little. I hadn't slept yet but either when I sleep and wake up sober, or I sober up by 10 PM life just hits me hard. I think about mom being sick, I think about how I can't make enough money, and it just maddens me. Then always upon sobering, I can feel all my physical problems again. Last night I was in vicious pain, tossing and turning like my body was on fire. I got up over and over to piss blood. I had been bleeding a lot into my urine the past week but sometimes it just gets unbearable. I lay awake all night cursing life.

This morning I woke up and stepped outside and narrowly avoided stepping on a droplet of blood. I don't want to step in that no matter how small. I stepped back and there was more blood. So I put my hand on my crotch, then my face, to make sure it wasn't me. I just don't know anymore the way things fall apart. I wasn't bleeding so Domino must have eaten a critter or something.

In a world full of death it would be nice if the shitty people died for a change. The people I know that have died were kind, yet the monsters I've encountered keep on running around hurting people. The words of one online predator still ring in my head "stop acting like everyone is out to get you and give me a chance." The toothy military vet's message before that told me I should be raped and killed.

Karma, do you exist? Stars, do you align? Kill some devils so I can eat carefree funeral chicken.

[sakurosiee]

so i had a plot for ushijima cuz i watched a scene in hwarang and wanted to develop a story from it and i just had to write it🤩🤩

Hands pt.1 ; Ushijima Wakatoshi x singer!y/n

Warnings: none really.

Wordcount: don't know, didn't check.

Plot : You, a famous singer, grabs the wrong ass in public.

Your cousin just came back home after finishing a semester of college in US. You of all the people in your family was tasked with picking up your cousin in the airport. You really didn't want to but you belonged in a family of doctors and the lives of their patients will be their first priority. Your cousin's family on the other hand lived far away. If anyone could spare time, it was you.

A very famous singer in and out of your homeland.

It took you quite some time to disguise your self, but covering up avengers-style is not the most effective. Your hair was currently dyed a silver balayage with lightning blue streaks and anyone would've recognized you from afar. Even if you had your hair tied up, people already began to look at you even before you could step inside the airport. Cameras already began to flash and not long after photographers were already there.

You could've asked someone else to pick your cousin up in your stead, but you loved your family even if there were a lot of shortcomings. You missed him badly that you wanted to smack the back of their head even if he was taller than you are. You checked the screens that displayed the flight arrivals and it turns out that he's already here. You immediately took your phone out to check if you had a message from the said cousin but you were called by one of your fans.

They tapped your shoulder and you turned around to see three men. They greeted you first before asking you for a picture but you politely declined, instead you gave them your signature. You smiled at them then proceeded to texting.

_hjmiwa : hey i've been waiting for 30 mins already :< are you here already?

You read his message before responding.

y/n : i'm looking for you! but how tall are you again? What are you wearing and stuff?

_hjmiwa: i'm 1.78m dummy. i'm wearing a gray hoodie too. oh and i have a suitcase and a gym bag.

You irked at his answer. A lot of people wore hoodies of different shades of the colour. You needed more details.

y/n : be more specific please :(

_hjmiwa : i'm wearing red volleyball shoes rn. and unlike other people i'll probably be on my phone the entire time trying to catch up with Japan news. I'm by the clocks too.

Okay that was better. You began to roam around and people looked at you as if you were some lost puppy. Others asked you to take a selfie with them but you couldn't be seen in any social networking sites right now, not when you being in the airport was already causing quite the ruckus. You were lucky though, as everyone in the airport had to move since it was a very busy place but people recognizing you wouldn't miss out. You were thankful that majority of the people inside either smiled or waved at you, in which you returned the favor.

He's 5'10, you thought. The thing is you can't really tell much about height. You stood at 5 foot 7 and heights that went beyond yours was considered tall. So anyone taller than you, you assumed to be 5'10. You did poorly in visualizing sizes and that's one of the reasons why you never bought clothes and furniture online.

You kept looking around for anyone who was a head taller than you that was wearing a gray hoodie, had two bags with them, and most importantly wearing red volleyball shoes. No one would wear volleyball shoes in the airport. You watched the news earlier this evening and there weren't even any announcements about sports and all.

You spot the exact man there. You ticked everything in your checklist when you were able to assure yourself that it is indeed your cousin. Your cousin had a sexy back and that was no lie. You ran up quickly from behind to give them a hug and you did it tightly, planting the sade of your face against his back. You snuggled him and your hands on his stomach felt the hard rock abs underneathe.

You knew that your cousin wasn't this ripped as you recalled the last time you saw the guy.

But it was him anyway.

You told him, "I missed you so much Hajime!"

Even if a lot of people saw this, you really didn't mind the upcoming articles of you hugging a man in public being posted and shared online. You can always say that the person was your cousin and have many others confirm your statement. You pulled away from the back hug you gave this person and grabbed his ass. You pulled your hands away from his ass and said, "That's for always smacking the back of my head you ass!". No one looked your way and you were thankful because you were able to do it freely.

Everything stopped when the person you thought was your cousin slowly turned their heads and stared at you wide-eyed.

You just grabbed the wrong ass.

There was no commotion at all until you made one. You gasped loudly unintentionally. The guy in front of you didn't even recognize who you were. To him, you were just a stranger. You were so embarrassed of what you have just down so you slapped(not really that hard) him across his left cheek.

"Eh, y/n?" The familiar voice says.

That was the voice of your cousin.

You turned around to meet the face of Iwaizumi Hajime. This guy recognized the guy you slapped. He waved at him too but crowds already began to form encircling the two of you. You quickly left strutting in your rubber shoes. You looked behind you to hiss at Iwaizumi, "Come here!". He patted the famous left-handed athlete on the shoulder and said, "It was nice to see you again man. I don't know what's going on between the two of you and what just happened but I-" He gets cut off when you glared through your pink tinted shades. "Sorry got to go!" he said before he rushed to your side, finally leaving the airport left in a mess.

[qforqazaq]

Ninety One – Men Emes

Okaaaay, people, here comes a long-awaited comeback from Ninety One that screamed, no, shouted so much culturally significant meta at me I could barely handle it. Ironically, when I was watching reactions to this MV, most people were so bloody oblivious to anything that was happening on the screen that I was painfully restraining myself not to slam my head on the table, but then remembered "oh, right, that's why I'm running this blog in the first place."

Okay, let's start with the video, shall we?

The opening scene is obviously with Alem because if 91's song doesn't start with Alem there's something definitely wrong with it.

Anyway, we have Alem looking like a mo-fo mafia boss, a Kazakh Don, if you like, in an office that's practically littered with KZ references. First, your eyes might catch those weird looking symbols on the desk, which are actually Orkhon-Yenisei runes - a script of Old Turkic tribes aka one of the direct ancestors of Kazakhs - that I was going to talk about for ages, but didn't have a good excuse to. So thank you Ninety One for bringing that up, I can unleash my inner linguistics nerd upon people regarding the subject in a separate post. The runes are actually read from right-to-left (because that's how it works) as "l" and "r", although I'm not sure of their implied meaning here. My theory that means just that: "left" and "right", for whatever deep reason.

So, while you're admiring Alem's outfit and hairstyle as he's showing off his results of perfecting The Stare™ (I had a theory his stares are so intent because his contact lenses keep drying up and it's his attempts not to blink much when cameras are on), you notice not only that Samsung is the main sponsor of this production (is it surprising?), but also that there's a picture of random people on the background, and a funny-looking statue next to the window. Except for that is not a picture of random people, that is actually a photo of the leaders of the Kazakh national movement/autonomy against Communists in the 1910s - Alash Orda, which I'm probably going to elaborate on in another post. For now, I'll just say that these were the writers, poets, social and political activists, the Kazakh Intelligentsia™, who were later prosecuted and repressed by the Soviet regime. Very important addition to the set if you ask me, and very deliberately chosen.

As for the funny-looking statue, that is a miniature "Balbal" of Kültegin or Kül Tigin, who was the General of the Second Turkic Khanate of the same Old Turkic people who used to write in the aforementioned Orkhon-Yenisei runic script. We can talk about it later on, for now, I can only say that 10 seconds into the video and my inner history nerd was screaming very much delightedly at these references. Didn't expect that much meta in such a short amount of time, eh? And we didn't even mention how cigars are allowed now, along with the whiskey-looking tea in a tumbler.

Anyway, then we are abruptly cut to AZ and, shortly after, ZAQ with an eagle. And no, it's not just a "lol, look, a bird", that's the Golden Eagle, a species that was trained and used for eagle hunting by the Kazakh nomads for centuries. Which is why we have it on our flag too. Btw, extra kudos to ZAQ for delivering his lines while having an eagle on his arm without its hood. I would have been more than slightly concerned if I were him.

If you don't know much about that aspect of nomadic life in Central Asia, I recommend watching the critically acclaimed documentary film The Eagle Huntress about Aisholpan - a 13 y.o. Kazakh girl from Mongolia being the first female mastering the art. FYI, it is narrated by Daisey Ridley aka Rey from Star Wars. Watch it.

The scene is black and white, and AZ and ZAQ are wearing suits which look very agreeable.

Then, we have the bridge that is delivered by very blond Bala, which isn't the best look on him in my opinion, but he's wearing a suit too, which is always a good idea. Bala, you must know, has perfected his camera acting and now successfully flirting with it without so much as breaking a sweat. Good job Juz, you know what you're doing.

Now, when we're done sharing niceties, can we, please, focus on the background - which is, of course, all lofty and fiery - specifically, on those symbols carved on the wall? And what are they? Yes, you guessed right: the Orkhon-Yenisei runes, yay. FYI, it says "QAZAQ", in its very palindromic fashion - the meaning here, I assume, is quite self-explanatory.

In one of the cuts we see that Bala is actually there with a dog. And, guess what, it's not just a dog, it's actually a Tazy - the Kazakh national hunting breed, of which, quite frankly, I did not know anything before researching for this MV. See, even I'm being educated here, I feel so enlightened.

After that, we have the chorus, and all five of them are first standing and then walking like a bloody band of gangsters, all suited and effortlessly cool, as if towards an important tét-a-tét with a competing band. My immediate association was Crows: Zero (I'm sure, my fellow Japanese weeboos get what I mean) - lots of shonen swag and badassery. I approve.

In the meanwhile, Bala is showing off his moves, again, very at ease, chill and relaxed.

Chorus moves to the second part of the song with another rap verse from ZAQ. Do you remember that set in the previous black-and-white scene with the rappers? This one is that same set i.e. a carcass and insides of a Yurt - a traditional nomadic portable house used by Kazakhs for centuries. We see ZAQ sitting in what looks like a Khan's throne with battle spears and fur skins of wild animals. And no, nobody is trying to offend animal rights activists and humanists, just trying to showcase the culture here, alright? As you've noticed hunting has always had cultural significance for Kazakhs, and, well, it's survival in the bloody Eurasian steppes we're talking about here, with windy -50°C in the winters you've got to wear something to protect from freezing over, you know.

ZAQ delivers his lines in his usual very efficient fashion, and we cut to Ace walking over to the race track, very stylishly so that it might as well be a car commercial, to a parked Ford Mustang (and, yay, we've got a budget for a nice car now!) that's drifting its tires out in the shots in-between. Did I mention Ace's wearing a suit? I'm telling you, a car commercial.

I have a feeling that a Mustang was chosen deliberately, a subtle shoutout to horses as another culturally significant symbol and animal for Kazakhs. They could've gone for a Ferrari for the sheer visual effect of it, but I suppose Samsung is generous, but not that much.

And then, we have a chorus with a dance break. Interestingly, despite the numerous cuts and camera angles, and even blinding background lights that obscure the view, I did not mind how the dance was shot. The choreography itself is nothing short of cool: very laid-back, effortless, with easy open moves and a masterfully feigned nonchalance. I know I'm using cool and effortless a lot, but what can I do, they are the keywords for this MV. I like those claps btw, remind me of hilarious dances in Kazakh weddings lol. Very ironic. In either case, my compliments to Asiya for her work, bravo.

While you're still getting over the choreography, you're introduced to AZ casually lying among many ladies in night gowns, and yes, we now are allowing this too along with cigars and whiskey-looking teas in tumblers. Don't get me wrong, AZ is wearing a modest pair of black silk shirt with black trousers (can't say the same about his wild tricoloured mess of hair), and evidently still can't take his hands off his nose (he does keep rubbing it), but the whole scene, the wide shot of it, looks so unapologetically hedonistic that it might as well be a Gucci Guilty commercial. Well, Ninety One definitely went all Gucci in this MV, so associations are unsurprising. Scrumptious.

The only cultural reference we've got here is the neon rune "r" on the background when AZ is sitting up.

Then, it goes back to the chorus with the guys standing with more fire in the background. There are other cuts from previous scene including the one with Alem throwing off 10000 Tenge bills with that photo on the back while staring into the camera.

Conclusion? A+ to the production team, especially set designers, Bibotta for the styling, and Yerbolat for knowing what looks good and what doesn't.

All and all, it was a good MV, a good break from artificially colourful secluded studio sets.

Now let's move to the music.

The song starts with, what I thought, those weird sounds from some Japanese instruments, but upon hearing the chorus my immediate reaction was "wait, is it a hip-hop beat from the early 2000s?"

Honestly, it isn't a very pop song. It screams hip-hop, and I dare say, this song was meant to be performed by the rappers only, which was somewhat proven true given that AZ and ZAQ were both writers and composers of Men Emes. Its hip-hop nature shows even in the structure: there are no vocal verses, only a bridge and a chorus performed by the vocalists, and everything else is just rap. And oh my, that's some rap, indeed.

First, can we just address, that once again the rappers of 91 managed to sneak up another controversial line bordering with vulgarity? I am talking about the first two lines of AZ's rap here, those who don't know what I am talking about, ask me about it later. The audacity though, huh. In either case, that got an incredulous chuckle out of me upon realisation. Congratulations, boys, mischief's managed.

AZ was his extravagant self in general, wouldn't say he brought a lot of literary value in this track, to be honest. Well, especially compared to ZAQ (and it is always difficult to compete with ZAQ's lyrics), who's just unleashed the study of "how many words and rhymes with "u" and "ü" sounds I can shove into one rap verse while making it sound intelligible and meaningful." And did so successfully, I must say. Personally was always astonished how masterfully he manages to use the vowel harmony - one of the linguistic traits of the Kazakh language - weaving syllables to the whole other level of wordplay. Lyrically, all cultural references in the MV seem justified, given how ZAQ is lamenting over how "his nation is moving with a snail speed" and such. With this, he is brushing the socio-political problems in the country, it seems. And it is very promising, as in this country high profile artists don't risk doing that.

(Btw, a mention of Surtur was another delightful nod to my inner nerd who loves Norse Mythology, and a reference to Cthulhu was rather amusing. Lovecraft wouldn't've minded.)

I had many problems with voices in this track. For some reason, I couldn't recognise half of them. I only clearly heard Bala, Ace's voice became obvious only when he moved to an octave higher, and I didn't even realise it was Alem singing in the beginning. Was very shocked to know that it was ZAQ, not AZ, rapping with that higher voice in the second part before switching to his usual old school style. We're trying different things, I see, though I wouldn't mind them toning down their tuner game a bit. I know who's singing what now only thanks to the MV.

To sum up, it's a very different 91 song. Not that it's very astounding in its originality with blending different genres in one as you'd expect, but it's probably refreshing to hear something bold, audacious, yet simple, very hip-hopesque circa 2001 from them. It seems they're deliberately trying to diversify their audience throwing a track like that. Which isn't bad at all, I rather enjoyed it. (By the way, those drums in the bridge section sounded almost tribal. Just saying.)

Despite the MV and song screaming "WEALTH", "SWAG", "COOL" and "SUAVE", I do not actually think it was only about showing off. Well, of course, a part of the message was a la "look what I've got in the end, despite all your judgement" with "you're not me" and all that. However, I think it was also targeting and mocking the spoiled kids of corrupt government officials or just corrupt rich "bosses" in general who always act as if rules and law are not made for them. "Yeah, you're cool, but not the coolest, might be rich, but not the richest, and even good-looking but not really. Don't be so full of yourself, you're not the centre of the universe" kind of message. And that imagery of Alem as a mafia boss in his office is juxtaposed with all those cultural artifacts hinting on what is actually more important and valuable, especially with the Kazakh cultural leaders of the 20th century watching from the picture on the wall. And Alem throws those bills as if saying "yes, I'm doing that, but it's just money, so what." Even AZ looks somewhat lost and empty-eyed lying there among girls when he's not trying to convince you how envious you should be right now.

Probably it's me reading too much into this, I don't know, but the MV only amplified the feeling that you've got to read between the lines, it isn't all about bragging.

For now I'll give the MV 9 out of 10, and the song is a solid 7.

Peace out ✌️

[veterveter]

Hey hey, it's gay bike anon again! I'm more than honoured to get my own tag!!! I definitely would like to keep talking to you <3 And only love for you too <3

I'll gladly wait for your response to my ask (or asks??? we'll see one day ehehehe)! I feel you, when people cite some of my text messages from a few months (or more) ago I'm often like "nope, nah-ah, that's not me, you're wrong". Same for older essays, I often can't believe I wrote those. And even with things I wrote late at night a few weeks ago, sometimes I'm like "I wrote that? That monstrosity??? Okay, I need more sleep before writing". (My capacity of writing in correct English grammar usually goes to sleep before I do, same goes for varied word choice). But sometimes I'll see this project I've worked on YEARS ago and exactly recognize the pieces I wrote? Since the ask would be fairly recent, I suppose I would recognise my writing style and word choice and since I didn't wrote it whilst sleep deprived (I hope??) I'm setting my chances of recognising it pretty high. But we'll see one day, the mystery will marinate for a while... [I am rereading this in the daytime, and this is EXACTLY what I meant, at night I make the weirdest word choices?? I’m definitely not changing it though because I might find it kinda funny]

I snorted so hard about the way you talked about your almost-name, I'm giggling here like crazy. Apparently my name means something alike 'dedicated to God', but my parents aren't really believers, so gotta love that. The meaning of my sibling's name is 'summer', but I'm the one born in the summer, whilst my sibling is born in autumn, oops. Guess my parents never checked one of those sites/ books where you can find the meaning of a name hahaha.

I love how my ask was so weird and chaotic that you sent a screenshot to a friend. I LOVE that she had no idea what was going on. Then again, I watched the semis (obviously hahaha) but I had no idea what was going on either... But honestly it was peak Dutch culture, water and bicycles, I would just add an ode to 'hagelslag' and voila, the entirety of Dutch culture summed up... [Also: if you don't know: 'hagelslag' is just sprinkles which we eat on bread, yes, on bread, we do not not only eat sprinkles as on cake or on donuts, like in any other country, no, we put it on bread. It's actually a really popular sandwich topping here. My ultimate favourites are the chocolate ones, but you also have them in several fruity flavours (like forest fruit) and anise flavour.] Thank you, perfect chaotic energy is an ultimate goal I strive towards *bows like I'm Victorian royalty or something*

You're absolutely right, it went EXACTLY like that. Specifically, I would be studying for my exams, explaining topics to myself like I always do, so I'd tell myself "The six possible origins of economies of scope are indivisibility, specialisation, marketing, research and development, GUESS WHAT.. SUBWAY DRIVER GANDÍA... ehhh... what was I doing again??" OR: "one of the most detailed and most used models of responsive regulation is Brathwaite's piramid. His enforcement piramid visually shows, nope not important, SUBWAY DRIVER GANDÍAAAAAA" And I'd laugh, continue explaining theories and calculations to myself until my focus started lessening again and my thoughts would wander off again. I am VERY glad I'm not the only one who thinks about it from time to time, and I'm glad you're not suing me for any mental harm yet.

Yess, those pictures I saw from Promising Young Woman look so beautiful and aesthetic!! I'll probably watch it somewhere after the 16th, because I'll most likely have finished my last exams by then. I'll tell you what I thought about it! Thank you SO SO SO much for all the luck wishes!!!! I had an exam last Friday and I absolutely rewarded myself, because it went better than I expected and I passed an earlier exam and a paper too! I didn't buy myself a tricorne (yet), but I did buy funko pops (my inner economist said it was 100% rational because it was a really good deal hahaha). I still have two exams to go, so I could always buy a tricorne for finishing either of those, OR. EVEN BETTER. I'll ask my parents (or my grandparents) for one for my birthday. I mean, that would be hilarious. They'd be so confused. They've never seen S3 and S4 of LCDP so they'll have no idea, even if I tried to explain it. It would be so incredibly funny (and really really weird for them), I am laughing like crazy just at the thought of it.

I've never been in Finland before, but those temperatures do not sound legal indeed. I have no knowledge of Finnish law, but maybe article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, the prohibition of torture, would work? If I was the judge I’d 100% agree, so we should all sue the weather sksksks. I'm glad to have brought you rain though (and that I apparently possess the power to do so - magic weather controlling pirate seems like a nice enough job to me)!!! I hope the temperature has become at least somewhat lower. You're right, climate change should just... stop... right away. The weather is pretty weird here, right now: one day it will be super sunny and (at least) around 27 degrees and almost melting away, and the other day it will be raining and I'll be wearing my warmest sweater. Like, why the extremes??

I love that I am able to make you lose your coherent thoughts (that's probably why we have one brain energy about Underwater, because I, too, have the ability to make myself lose my coherent thoughts). I'm glad for your faith in my impersonation of Martín. I even started Duolingo Spanish again, and now know the phrase, "Yo bebo leche" (I drink milk) which obviously would be very important to him. Now I'll just need an Argentinian accent to go with it. Leaning menacingly on a cane would be GREAT, I love the idea. I'll open job applications for a Denver. Maybe my cat could help me, she, much like Denver, is super loud and she is super aggressive towards other cats, so there is potential there. And guiding dogs and even tiny guiding horses exist, why not a guiding cat?

I always assumed I would follow a more... you know… legal... career path, maybe even literally a career in law. But, my accounting professor also showed us how to manipulate financial statements ("so you can notice when people are doing this", uh-huh sure, sure that’s why) and another professor of mine also said that a criminal career sometimes could be the more rational, rewarding choice over a legally acceptable career. So, I suppose I should not be surprised by this sudden change of career plans. I should have seen this coming. And what better way to be able to avoid the laws than by knowing exactly what they are and how far you can go. And if that plan doesn’t work out, the books of law I have (they’re combined in two huge hardcover bundles) are really heavy and you could probably harm someone with them if you hit hard enough… Well, I suppose you can even leave “hard” away, just by hitting someone softly with those books you can bring serious harm to them… Ah, and like that one professor would say: in this scenario it would be a rational choice to become a pirate instead of a privateer. Oh dear, not Arturito :/ Mutiny would seem like a good option, I’ll take over the ship and become Palermo the Pirate. Sounds much and much better than “Arturo the Pirate”, since that isn’t an alliteration, sooo mutiny is reasonable even for that reason. And then there’s the fact that it’s Arturo, I mean, that says enough.

YOU LOVE UNDERWATER TOO????!!!! I completely forgot that you posted that! It seems we do indeed already have one shared braincell energy my friend <3

Last week has been pretty good (except for having to make a test at 9:30, what a godless time, I’m usually barely awake by then ehehehe), I think I aced the test I had, got back some good grades and finally got my first Covid vaccination (and only shortly slight dizziness as a side effect, so that's pretty great). And thanks so much!!! For now I’m safe from Gandía, but somewhere in mid-July I’ll have to take an exam on campus, so I’ll might be able to bring out my inner Palermo then.

How was your week? If the weather is still unkind to you (well, also if the weather *is* kind to you), treat yourself to your favourite ice cream and a break every now and then <3 Do you already have holidays or hasn’t your academical year ended yet?

You’re also right - this is conversation and we’re friends now <3 And I absolutely do like cookies! I would say my favourites are american cookies (though stroopwafels are reaally good as well) but honestly there are only a few kinds of cookies that I don’t love that much. And anything with chocolate in it is GREAT. I do also love apples and bananas, though grapes (which I just had) are even better! What’s your favourite kind of cookie?

Also, I know I have been giving you so many prompts already, but I saw this one in that list you reblogged and it gave me so much Berlermo energy: you live in an apartment with your best friend. the two of you always fall asleep in each other's arms, but one day, your friend isn't there. they've fallen in love with someone else. it's your other best friend, who recently moved in with you. and that's when you realize, that those nights you spent together, weren't so platonic after all. I would love it if you’d write it, but if you decide not to that’s absolutely fine too, no worries <3

By the way, I was going to post this quite a bit earlier, but my laptop (unlike me) decided yesterday night, when I was finishing writing this, that it was time to sleep, so I had to quickly dump this whole rant in Google Docs (it’s almost two and a half pages what the heck) and I was busy all day so I only was able to upload it just now. I swear I can ractually espond faster than after a week :) Have a lovely evening, much love from the gay bike country <3

Heeeeeeey you are back!!! How happy am I to see my favouritest gay bike anon return to my inbox!!! 💕 [Author's note: You can tell I started this reply right away because you've sent me three or four asks since this one and one can tell you are indeed back hahaha]

Yeeeeeees this is how one makes friends!! You know, I was just thinking the other night of how "gay bike anon" shortens to GBA, like the Game Boy Advance, you know. Make of that what you will, but it pleases me to know that you can also have a cute nickname for your cute nickname. Nicknameception.

Yes, exactly that, "I did not write that, and if I did in fact write that.. No I did not." Also, "the mystery will marinate"??? That's an amazing word choice and some day I will absolutely use it for something, just you wait. I think it just goes to show that you should write everything while tired, haha.

Haha I love that naming convention for you. It may make very little sense, but....... but. Also, happy birthday for whenever it is, presumably in the nearby past or future!! Lots of love!! You're the summer child while your sibling is... a summer child, but like, different.

Since you appreciated my almost-name story, I'll reward you with the rest of it: so my name is Tuuli, which is Finnish for "wind". My mum originally wanted to name me Pilvi, which means "cloud". And then she was like oh no this child is not at all serene and cloud-like??? and thus, a new me. I'm glad she had second thoughts, although I wonder if having such an ill-fittingly chill name would've done anything to alter my personality? Nomen est omen and all. There's some kind of an alternate universe where all of that played out, but I'm glad it's not this one.

Yeah either you watched the semis and have no idea, or you didn't watch them and have no idea. There is no way to get what was going on there, I'm certain they themselves also didn't get it. I had no idea about hagelslag but thjipgnhefjpihjo that's amazing, I love that for you!!!! There was absolutely no reason to go there but you as a country just... did that. Amazing. Please have some and report to me so I can live through you. And also, you are absolutely legit Victorian royalty [or something] *bows in return*. Also, I do love how you say "I watched the semis (obviously)." Imagine if you didn't and this entire time I was tragically misinterpreting the nature and intentions of your ask and you were just rolling with it because you've no idea what I'm on about but are also too polite to tell me that. Khhhhhhh

Your brain has priorities!!!! And they're honestly beautiful. Well done, brain. Subway driver Gandíaaaaaaaaaa~~~ My brain is filled with Berlermo quotes that come @ me at random times during the day and leave me just a tad shell-shocked, remembering how it all went down. I'm eating my morning yoghurt and my brain goes yo te propuse fundir oro juntos, and I'm just there like :)))))) Real nice, brain.

Have you had the opportunity to see Promising Young Woman yet? Hhhhh it's so pretty, every time I work on this reply [it's a lot of times, okay, I'm very diligent about this, I stare at this ask and craft snazzy replies in my head all the time, that's why I'm so slow in... actually replying] I'm reminded of that. I'm not a very visual person but the colours and the framing... that was really nice.

I am somewhat glad you've not been to Finland yet, you must hit me up when you come visit, I'll take you for coffee!!! It's actually cooler now (bless!!!!!!!!!!!), the last... four days have been reasonable 14-20 degrees, after four consequtive weeks of 25+. Kkhhhh thinking back to it makes me feel a little ill, but now beret weather is back. I own a lot of berets, dear gay bike anon. I'm going to my university city for the weekend and I'm already wondering which beret(s) I should bring with me. This is an important decision with potential long-lasting consequences. I don't know if you've played any of Telltale's games (The Wolf Among Us and the first two seasons of The Walking Dead are the best ones, fight me), but when you make a decision and the game goes "This character will remember that." and you instantly go oh no what have I done??? That's how I feel about choosing the perfect beret for my city outing. But yes, weather extremes are just the worst. We've been having the longest drought I've ever seen here (it's still not properly rained, for the record, on Tuesday it rained for an hour or so) while in other places there's awful flooding. That's awful.

Ahhh I'm so happy you're continuing your Spanish-learning!! I took a beginner's course at uni in the spring semester, I'm going to take the next one when uni resumes in September. And yes, I'm studying it for LCDP. I mean I love languages in general, but I never had a particular need to study Spanish, until this year I suddenly did. I'm also Duolingo-ing it! Very slowly and steadily. Also, I adore the idea of your cat being your Denver. What's your cat's name??? What do they look like?? Tell me everything, you can't just leave it at my cat, you simply must allow me to meet them. Also, you know why guide cats aren't a thing? Because cats are the worst. I love cats, but you can't just teach them to do useful things. They'll do them if they want to. As I type this, my cat is trying to catch flies at my feet. Her name is Muusa.

I studied accounting for my undergrad!! So I can join you in [[[preventing]]] tax fraud and [[[recognising]]] tampering with financial statements. We can make a totally legitimate business out of it. No but truly, I'm certain we were taught some of those things with the expectation that our future employers would expect it of us. Capitalism is so fun :)))))) And you shouldn't be surprised, academia is but a stepping stone to crime, honestly. Any dark academia book will tell you this. You start out learning Latin and wearing turtlenecks, you end up with murder. That's just how academia works. And you seem to have already chosen your weapon... you're well on your way. :) Palermo the Pirate sounds great!!! I support your mutiny. I don't think I said, but this is my favourite word of the English language. Mutiny. Mutiny????? It doesn't sound very serious. It sounds cute, actually. I love it.

I'm so happy to hear you got your covid vaccine!!!! I had mine a month ago or so - I typed you a reply to the subway Gandía thing on the train ride back, actually. I was really stressed about getting it on my right arm, because I'm left-handed, and last time I got a vaccination (like a decade ago) they insisted on giving it on my left arm and I was sad :( But this time!! I got it on my chosen arm and was very pleased. So anyway, that was a segue. I'm glad you got your covid shot and were side effect -free!!!

My week has been good, thank you!! I went to my uni city for my niece's birthday on Monday, and as said I'm going back on Friday (tomorrow). So this time in between has felt like exactly that, time in between. I started reading Call Me By Your Name. I had my Korean class last night. Now I'm hanging out with my cat (she has stopped chasing flies and climbed to my lap) and talking to you. My holidays started already in May! And uni resumes in the beginning of September, but I'm a tutor for new students so I need to show up three weeks earlier for the orientation weeks. Yes, we do three weeks of orientation (read: three weeks of drinking). It's a bit insane.

Now I need to ask you again how your week has been, since I'm so slow. How has your week been?? Are you free from your exams?? When does your uni resume?

Stroopwafels are so good ahhh I'll have to buy them when and or if I see them. Possibly when I'm in central Europe but haha I can hope to be lucky and see them at a store with imported stuff, you know. My favourite cookies??? Omg maybe these ones - they have this truffle filling, and they're fun to eat (this is important in cookies, you see):

And of course they're Fazer. Because Finnish people have only one setting, apparently. Or maybe that's just me. But all cookies are great, honestly. I like making American cookies, that's always a fun pastime (and you get to have cookie dough, that's like half the fun). I've actually not made them for a lifetime??? Maybe I should, soon. I'll keep you updated. Also, brookies. I love making brookies, they're great.

I really really appreciate being given prompts, I hope you know that!! Thank you!! Consider me pocketing this prompt and maybe eventually some day theoretically getting back to you about it!! You're right - it has Berlermo energy. Insofar as either of them actually have other friends. :)

Thank you for this kind message, dear gay bike anon <3 I'd apologise for my slowness in replying but I think I'd rather you just assume that I'll get back to you, and thank you for your patience <3 Your kind and funny and chaotic asks always brighten my day. I hope you'll have a great rest of the week and just... all the nice and fun and good things and great vibes in life. All the best, dear gay bike anon <3 Take care!! And greetings from Muusa as well - she just yawned and I presume that means "greetings".

[him-e]

your points about how sometimes people put the blinders on when they're in a toxic relationship are fine. but i'm not exactly sure that D&D thinking that deeply. the show cares most about the shock value of endgames and big moments more than anything else. and i can't help but think that they're dragging out the j/c relationship so its more shocking when jaime kills her in season 8. the reddit spoiler guy also said that cersei can't follow through with her threat of killing jaime when he breaks

up with her. because she still has some feelings for him. and then right after that she has a miscarriage. to me this is D&D setting up the valonqar for season 8. when cersei realizes that jaime is her valonqar will surely be a heartbreaking moment in the books. the show cut out valonqar and cersei’s paranoia so this is their way of doing it i think. that cersei will be heartbroken when jaime kills her because she couldn’t bring herself to kill him and also because she’s just miscarried his babynot that long ago. so my frustration isn’t with jaime being “weak” and not leaving cersei already. its about how D&D continously dumb down his character and keep adding cheap sex scenes to make the endgame more dramatic. also i don’t blame NCW trying to rationalize D&D’s writing in interviews, but i don’t think that’s what D&D are actually going for lol. as far as for the veracity of these leaks, its supposedly from awayfromthelads 2nd account. lots of people dont believe him but i do.

whether or not the D’s are thinking that deeply, it’s how the thing comes across to me, so I’ll run with it because it offers a more interesting discussion than “no it’s just bad writing”, which is something I can’t do much about. It’s a bit like shipping; canon gives you lemons so you make lemonade. In this case, lemonade is backed up by the actor’s interpretation, which is not irrelevant. Nikolaj has already filmed these scenes, so whether he’s just /rationalizing/ or he shares his view with the authors, I must believe that whatever happens in s7 supports, not contradicts, this reading.

re: “shock value”, see this post by @justthetippihedren, especially the part where it quotes Cogman. GoT discourse views shock value in a very negative way, and I don’t necessarily disagree, but the truth is in a serialized visual medium you have to worry about pacing things in a way that doesn’t put too much space between a certain seed and its payoff: “you have to pick and choose…where information’s going to be most effective”. So maybe yes, they want to maximize the impact of whatever Jaime ends up doing with or /to/ Cersei, but it’s not… wrong? To do so? Like you said, maybe this is their way of replacing the valonqar part of the prophecy—they’re doing a different build up, not /no build up at all/. Or maybe it paves the way for something else, but it’s still nothing positive for JC. 

I mean, it’s not like the JC relationship is going WELL. I dislike the sex scenes because they completely erase Jaime’s trying to stick to his KG vows, but sex in itself isn’t an indicator of a healthy relationship (come on, it’s just there because they need someone to fulfill the sex quota until the planets are aligned for Jon/Dany’s celestial hook up, as unfortunately this is still HBO). The miscarriage seems pretty symbolic, and Cersei’s threat to kill Jaime is… probably a point of no return.

And Jaime, on his part, already started to have doubts. They had him tell Brienne something to the extent of “you can’t seriously expect me to switch sides and turn my back on my family” which means that, on a subconscious level, he IS considering it (also, that’s foreshadowing). They had him give THAT look to Cersei while she sat on the iron throne, only a few episodes after we were shown a flashback of Aerys’ murder. They had him be visibly tempted by Brienne and watch her longingly as she sailed away from Riverrun, as if he wanted to follow her. It is excruciatingly slow and admittedly boring to watch and certainly not as good as his development in the books, but they planted SOME seeds.

My advice is to keep your expectations low ANYWAY (I haven’t been particularly impressed with Jaime since season 3, and I definitely agree they dumbed down his character and fucked up his /honor vs legacy/ internal conflict to a point where little can be done to fix it), but at the same time don’t assume that it will be another season of treading waters for Jaime. These “spoilers” tend to sound much worse than they are, because people either can’t explain properly what they saw/know or they always miss some fundamental nuance.