#proof of address

[lloydfrontera]

ok so you know how in china 'cut sleeve' was used as an euphemism for homosexuality. that but in lorasia they use 'lullaby singer'. or 'angel fighter'. lately 'knightly escort' is making the rounds. there's a lot of euphemisms for gay people actually.

[cuppajj]

y’all please read the baau masterpost, like actually read it, not asking bc i want you to know all the intricacies of the lore, but because i want you to read the rules to know what is and isn’t okay. such as making baau character ai. please don’t ask me about making a baau character ai when i have made it expressly clear that I am thoroughly against it.

[wavesoutbeingtossed]

Randomly thinking about “tolerate it” (narrator voice: it was not random) and how under the cloak of fiction it is ostensibly inspired by works like “Rebecca” (which Taylor said she read during the 2020 lockdowns I believe?), with the line of “you’re so much older and wiser” indicating that the speaker is significantly younger and inexperienced compared to the person she’s speaking to and a pretty direct reference to the plot of the book.

But I saw something somewhere once that stuck with me about how it might not be referring to relative age between the characters but chronological age as in the passage of time in a relationship. And that made me think about how in a contemporary context, it might not necessarily be referencing an actual age gap between the two characters, but rather a sarcastic or cynical response to the man’s claims that he has matured (“you’re so much older and wiser [than you were before/than you were when we met/etc.]”), which then made me think about that line in relation to the woman. And that it could be taken like, “you act like you’ve matured so much in our time together and like you know everything, while I’m supposedly still stuck as the girl I was when we first met.”

Which then made me think of the “right where you left me” of it all and did you ever hear about the girl who got frozen time went on for everyone else she won’t know it and the bit in Miss Americana where she talks about how celebrities get frozen at the age at which they got famous, and how she’s had to play catch up in a lot of ways not just in her emotional growth but kind of in general. (Which also made me wonder if she’s ever been called out for immaturity/lack of curiosity/lack of education about things in her life…)

Which then made me think about the rest of the song, and @taylortruther’s posts yesterday about ���seven” and “Daylight” and the way Taylor idealizes her youth yet contrasts it with an almost sinister reality in its wake, and the line, “I sit by the door like I’m just a kid,” because the discussion raised that her relationship let her recapture some of the childlike joy and wonder she’d lost. So this line is a double-edged sword: the speaker sits by the door with childlike hope that the person will come home and cherish her, but on the darker side, feels like the child dealing with the monsters she doesn’t have names for yet and the feelings of isolation she felt as she aged.

I’m not saying the song is necessarily autobiographical; like most of the songs on folkmore, it’s clearly a fictionalized story based on media she’d consumed and created, but we know a lot of the fictional songs were infused with her own feelings and experiences and… This idea swirling in my head picked up steam and now I kind of can’t stop thinking about it. Sorry but I’m a little obsessed now.

Like maybe it might start to shed light on why she identified so strongly with the novel in the first place…

[qqueenofhades]

Where is that text post about procrastinating on a task for literal months only to find that it takes less than 10 minutes to complete and is so very easy. Because etc etc I am in this picture and I don't like it.

[entryn17]

paypal you're killing me man

[c0rpseductor]

this isnt specifically a trans guy problem but i love how often i encounter commentary on media representations from this incredibly specific genre of trans guy who is like "no real trans man is effeminate or nonpassing and if he is he certainly doesn't want to look that way. all of us think ryan gosling is aspirational. every single one. it's incredibly unrealistic to think that a trans guy would want to look trans, because i personally don't want to." like the No Fun Allowed Brigade. why are there so many of these guys

[blacknovelist]

(one piece wano arc spoilers)

So like @guardianlioness and I were talking about one piece and thematic stuff and generally losing our minds and we were talking especially about like

How Zoro and Sanji and Luffy are a Trio but also how Zoro and Sanji are explicitly also painted to be a duo to Luffy, right, like. They're the "Wings of the Pirate King". Together, they protect and look after the crew, but also their captain. They are, effectively, equals in what they do, "official" roles IN the crew itself aside. Zoro, with his high physical power as their physical defense and Sanji, with his high empathy and compassion as an emotional bulwark

And

Like

Okay. Here's the thing. Here's the proverbial problem. Cause right now, as it stands, Oda's introduced an unbalance to the duo. We were specifically talking about how frustrating it kind of is that the imbalance exists.

Because Oda gave Zoro conqueror's haki. He and Luffy share this— but it leaves Sanji as an odd one out. Thematically, it makes no sense to end with this like... off kilter seesaw. Why would you build these two up to BE on even standing only to take that away from them? Don't get me wrong, Zoro having conqueror's haki is a delicious character choice that I think adds fascinating complexity to Zoro and his position in the crew. He's a powerhouse, he's exerting his will over reality, and he follows his Captain the future Pirate King without question. Haki. Love it. Brilliant. But it makes no sense in the overarching thematic line between him and Sanji in regards to Luffy.

Giving Sanji conqueror's naturally wouldn't fix the issue, because frankly that defeats the entire purpose OF the char building that's been established in whole cake island. Sanji rejected the line of noble, of royalty, of power. It makes no SENSE for sanji to have it, he's not someone looking TO conquer or overcome the way Zoro is, it doesn't FIT him. And saying the stuff with his raid suit and the Germa augmentation rearing its head is the balance point is nonsensical for the same reason. Sanji already rejected all of that power and what it means and reclaimed it in a new way. Explicitly, directly, he denounced these things, directly ASSOCIATES them with a loss of humanity and his very self, wants nothing more to DO with it. Not only does it not make sense, but going back on it would be a slap in the face to all the development Sanji's gone through up until now, even laying aside the fact that it doesn't parallel Luffy at all so the unbalance isn't really addressed in that case.

But you know. Conqueror's Haki isn't the only thing Luffy has to proverbially offer. Conqueror's Haki is the overt, the direct, the loud and forceful. There's a lot we don't understand, between the stuff we do. It bears down and exerts over reality, makes demands of it. It tells you to listen.

What do we know about The Voice Of All Things? Not a lot. We know it seems to enable one to hear not the words, but the intention, the truth of other living things and even in objects, especially those with will like the Poneglyphs. We know Roger had it, Zunesha has it, the Kozuki line seemed generally to have it. The Three Eyed tribe may be capable of awakening it in themselves. We don't know if it's purely something you're born with or not. We don't know what it means, if anything, except for this: to hear the voice is to listen to the world around you and understand its heart.

When Luffy enters Gear 5, the only one who can tell at first is Zunesha. Zunesha can hear his heartbeat, and conveys this through the Voice to Momonosuke.

The anime conveys it more clearly, but it's in the manga text, too. Immediately after Zunesha realizes this... Onigashima is shaking. No one quite knows yet what's going on, other than Kaido is here and the world around them is trembling. Those on the battlefield, they've got front row seats to witnessing the transformation, what comes next.

Zoro and Sanji have finished their fights. They're conked the fuck out post battle, like usual... or they should be. But here's the thing. Right after Zunesha calls for Joyboy, from a room distant to the fighting, offset from the war waging outside...

Sanji's part in the major battles is over by this point. If they wanted to emphasize a "the crew knows their captain" moment, why not showcase the other strawhats too? The ones not on ground zero? But it doesn't show anyone else. It focuses. on. him.

Sanji, who's a deeply compassionate and kind man. Sanji, who stopped and paid attention even to the biological relatives he couldn't stand when he could've walked free without a care. Sanji, with his skills in Observation, in already listening to and feeling out others' intentions...

Zoro having conqueror's haki doesn't make sense on its own. It unbalances the duality of the Wings of the Pirate King. But give Sanji the power to hear the Voice Of All Things or something damn well close... that's a pretty good parallel to each other and their roles to Luffy, don't you think?

[phantomsofmyformerself]

so in the second ep of s1, y’know lestat telepathically talks to louis and i've seen people complain about it since he's not meant to be able to. but i've also seen people say how it purposely shows louis' unreliable narration.

but also. possibly? is the fact louis hadn't drunk human blood yet possibly part of it? like he hadn't fully transitioned yet so lestat could still talk to him until he had drank human blood? maybe??

[creepyscritches]

Man it is worth pointing out that the ACA is a living piece of legislation. Like every year updated protocols and guidelines release to the whole industry from CMS (gov oversight) and I educate professionals in my field on the changes each time. It was built intentionally to be an evolving and improving system that can handle more and more people each year. The ACA is not a stone tablet; it's an arm of federally protected benefits like Medicare that is inherited and maintained and built up by sequential administrations. It is WORKING, it's so reassuring to see it become so intertwined with our American health care model that an entire wing of the industry is now dedicated to the ACA.

Yeah, we want a better health care system, of course we do!! That's why so many people dedicate their careers to supporting the ACA!!! THIS is the fish crawling onto land that can eventually become a health care system that treats us with dignity. We just have to keep evolving it into a more equitable and accessible option. I vote with my head mostly tuned into future health care + research policies and it makes my goals much clearer. Biden has spent 2 separate administrations leading the Cancer Moonshot research funding initiative that has contributed significantly to the boom in cancer breakthroughs. Trump suggested we drink bleach for covid. I trust one significantly more than the other to continue funding ACA and NIH initiatives and interests 🤷

[melancholic-pigeon]

Okay this is the *actual* last comment, for real, but I just found out Spider is now smearing me as a convert and accusing me of being involved with drama I was not involved with because he mistakenly attributed my apologies for his public temper tantrum as being about something unrelated.

THIS IS A FALSE ACCUSATION and I do not appreciate having yet another bit of fake malicious intent falsely ascribed to my actions and* attributing a completely unrelated attack to me.

Also, it's very sad and disappointing whenever a Jew gets mad at a convert because something else is going on in the Jew's life and the convert happens to be in the splash zone and the Jew falls over backwards to smear the convert and invalidate her faith.

Just....the childish aggression is making me so, so sad and disappointed, from someone I used to think very highly of, who is now lying about me and publicly smearing me with false accusations based on a conflict he started because he misinterpreted something I said and I went out of my way to give him the benefit of the doubt when trying to clear up the mistake HE MADE that led him to decide bullying and attacking me for three fucking days was appropriate and okay and that I'm the bad guy for saying it's wildly unprofessional to behave like this in public to a former customer face.

Sorry, but facts, reality, linear time and the truth of what I actually said and did are on my side here, and I will not stand for being smeared and attacked and shat all over because I had the gall to try to kindly resolve his uncalled for, unjustified temper tantrum.

I am also not sorry that I left a side note in the tags that it was also unacceptable for HIM to drag his daughter into a stupid internet slapfight based on his own reading comprehension failure. Because it was and is unacceptable, and she needs to hear that message from someone.

End of story. Keep digging that hole as long as you like, Spider. It's not helping your case and is continuing to make you look progressively worse and more unreasonable, and the only person you have to blame is yourself.

*revised for clarity

[bigothteddies]

starting my lil stalker notebooks tonight 🫶🏻

[messrsrarchives]

sitting in the bank straight up doing it. and by it, haha. let's just say... hysterically sobbing and screaming.

[callowaycrossing]

Calloway 2.0 is here!

Calloway is a sleepy little town 🌙 but watch out there is something haunting the hollow 👻

[ content warning for bug models ]

DA-6256-9534-8014

[wavesoutbeingtossed]

the post i just reblogged made me think about the throughline between BMR probably convincing her 1989 was the peak of her career and that she was heading towards legacy act territory and treated her accordingly*, the fallout from 2016-2017 where she felt the public would turn on her if she was too out there, the anxiety she had throughout Lover about her career waning and being convinced it was her last chance at commercial success and what we can now glean what was going on in her relationship about eventually feeling like she had to retreat and dim her shine in order to be tolerated as a partner because that's the way she'd been convinced was acceptable in multiple situations. 😵‍💫

(*to be clear, I know she was still one of the biggest stars in the world at the time and certainly the biggest act on the label, but I get the feeling they were like "you're not likely to ever tops this" hence how they hedged their bets on selling her back catalogue)

[gojoest]

all i ask is that attention seeker to stop spreading nonsense about me and name dropping me anywhere they see fit or deliberately claiming they had a situation with me as to spread the fire while all i did was block them and move on but i find myself forcefully dragged into a nonexistent drama like i cannot believe my eyes the level of petty is beyond insane i am quite literally speechless

[naturallyexcessive]

pride, arrogance, and a melody (or four, actually)

This is a given considering that the franchise started from and is - in most of its mediums - a musical at heart, but DAMN, I’ll say this over and over, Revue Starlight has incredible music. Bangers everywhere. 

Hokori to Ogori (Pride and Arrogance) is probably one of RevStar’s staple songs. It’s one of the most listened-to revue songs and is practically iconic. It’s also a perfect example of RevStar’s usage of motifs within the franchise. I’m not great at essays but dear GOD do I badly want to talk about it. So, why not?

(Heads Up 1: I am NOT a professional when it comes to music theory!! I’m definitely using some terms incorrectly here and there so please take them with a grain of salt)

Hokori to Ogori has four main musical ideas that make up the song. For simplicity, let’s just call them Pride, Swansong, This Is Tendo Maya, and Arrogance.

(Heads Up 2: In this word dump I use the term “motif” as a sort of general term for separate musical ideas. To be honest, it’s possible these are actually themes and I’m getting the two terms mixed up, but honestly both have similar definitions and I feel like as long as I’m carrying across the general idea of what they represent I’d hope the distinction between the terms isn’t too important.)

"Pride” is the motif. You know the one. This motif is the song’s main melody of sorts and technically introduced in the very first verse, where Karen and Maya are singing together. The verse that follows, where Karen is seemingly getting the upper hand on Maya, features a higher-energy variation of this motif. This motif eventually comes back, full force and dramatic, with Maya’s iconic YORIIIII TAKAKU YORI KAGAYAKU and etcetera.

“Swansong” is the more menacing motif that plays after Karen’s verse, when Maya comes in after questioning Karen’s motivations. Maya’s next verse follows with a more intense variation of this same motif. This motif is darker and intimidating; simply, it acts almost like a bad omen, a warning about what’s to come. In the context of this song, it’s about the thrashing Karen is about to receive (hence the name Swansong). 

“This is Tendo Maya” is what I’d argue to be just as iconic to Maya musically as the Pride motif is. A simple motif of three orchestral stings, it’s heard right before Maya steps up her game. It comes back fittingly at the end of the revue, when Maya reaches Position Zero and declares that she is Tendo Maya; while albeit varied, it still features that iconic three-sting cadence. Simply put, this motif serves as an announcement of who she is, her declaration of war, a sort of “You’ve Done Goofed” in the eyes of those facing her.

Someone with a better grasp on music can probably explain this better than I can (perhaps identifying the exact chords and tonal degrees), but what’s really neat is how this motif actually doesn’t resolve until the end of the song, at the second time we hear it. It’s like one huge release of tension that started from the moment we first hear this motif.

Finally, “Arrogance.” In Hokori to Ogori, you can hear it before Maya’s final verse (from “mikansei no kakugo...” to “...sono manazashi” and right before said final verse), as well as immediately afterwards at the final breakdown before Maya claims her victory. The fanfare and delicious rhythm of 16ths followed by the simple cadence of three solid quarter notes? Ugh. Love it.

Now, this revue is ALL about pride. It’s in the name. And other people have done much better analysis on this revue as a whole in much more precise terms than I ever could and have talked about its themes precisely. But in summary, this revue is very much about Karen and Maya’s clashing skill (or more specifically the gap in between Karen’s and Maya’s skill), and this pacing of the Pride motif reflects it.

It’s introduced with Karen and Maya on supposedly equal footing, both standing proud in their ability and determination. Yet it’s Karen who attacks first, confident (perhaps arrogant) in her abilities, and therefore she’s the first to get a verse.

However, while she’s able to put up a fair fight at first, able to carry her pride (and sing the same song) against Maya for a brief moment, Karen is ultimately seen as naive and arrogant for even thinking she can win against Maya, and is quickly overpowered (it should be noted Karen doesn’t get to sing any more lines after this). Maya goes above and beyond Karen; in fact, she literally sings the Pride motif at a higher key than Karen does. This is her stage, this is her victory, this is her song. This revue is about pride? Pride is exactly who she IS. This motif IS her. Which is why it’s no wonder she takes absolute control of this song and owns it, so much so that these motifs become associated with her to the point of being leitmotifs instead. 

I’d say it’s almost universally agreed upon that Hokori to Ogori is very much Maya’s theme, as a result. You hear any of the tunes from Hokori to Ogori and your mind just flicks to her immediately. While she technically has an official leitmotif in the form of her section in PRE-CALL as part of the stageplays, I’d say at least the Pride or This is Tendo Maya motifs could outright be considered her leitmotifs. 

So, yeah! Hokori to Ogori features incredible and equally memorable and iconic musical ideas that make for one hell of a godly song, one that perfectly encompasses all of Maya’s dramatics, sheer skill, and motivations.

The best thing, though? You can hear these respective motifs beyond this song alone.

Probably the most blatant example of this is the finale of Utsukushiki Hito Aruiwa Sorewa, aka the Mayakuro Revue of Souls. The entire final section is just one big rearrangement of Hokori to Ogori; with all the previous motifs coming into play, yet having varied and changed in the face of this new context; Maya has changed - Claudine has changed her, in fact, having revealed her “true” self - therefore so does the music.

Even better, even BEFORE the rearrangement kicks in, when Claudine goes to lob off the head of Maya’s bird-soul-vessel-thing, when she sings “Right now, the stage belongs to me,” she’s actually just singing the Pride motif!

Which is PERFECT given how right before this, she was mocking Maya’s revue intro. It really emphasizes how Claudine at this moment is really stealing Maya’s thunder, how it’s HER pride that’s contesting Maya’s.

Another detail I really love is how in Hokori to Ogori, the song ends with the Arrogance motif before closing off with Maya’s self-declaration. However, in UHAS, it simply ends on the new, varied version of the Pride motif as the two declare their rivalry/love for each other. There is no arrogance, they are made for each other, there is only pride in themselves and in their rival.

What’s more is that the song ends with one final variation of the Swansong motif, before closing for good and effectively ending Maya’s (and Claudine’s) final performance within the Revstar as an anime. Again, fitting, given Swansong’s definition.

But wait, there’s more! We also hear one of Hokori to Ogori’s motifs in a very different song, and that’s during the Revue of Astral Sins, in Starlight.

That’s right, we hear it in the final revue song of the anime, long after Maya has been defeated; it’s not the first of other songs we hear in Starlight, as the song also features parts from the tracks Karen to Hikari and Elle est belle: Utsukushii Hito. It’s present at the very beginning, but the motif especially becomes prominent once Hikari starts singing. You don’t hear it past the beginning of the song/revue but it’s very much there!

Why? Thinking back to the Revue of Pride sequence, during the sections where the Arrogance motif is playing is when we’re shown shots of Hikari rushing to save Karen.

In a way, this can be compared to as being reminiscent of that, representative of Karen being here to save Hikari; their back and forth of rescuing each other.

You could also see it as being representative of the arrogance of Hikari and Karen; Karen’s supposed arrogance in her efforts to defy fate itself and save Hikari, or Hikari’s own arrogance at her efforts of keeping herself isolated and fending off Karen’s love. Perhaps to keep things simple you could also read the Arrogance motif as simply a “rush” or “desperation” motif of sorts instead, something that the two of them definitely are whenever this motif is used for them.

Yet, we can still hear Hokori to Ogori in one more piece: Bridge no Ue De (On The Bridge). It’s technically a part of the OST and not explicitly a revue song, but it’s actually the first time we hear the motif, since the first (and the only, if I recall correctly,) time we hear this play is in the sequence right before the Revue of Pride itself.

In this sequence, Karen has just freed herself from Hikari’s attempt to lock her away from participating in the revues again, arrogantly rushing off in spite of Hikari’s efforts to chase her down and get her to stop. It makes sense that we hear the variation of that Arrogance motif here, and also further supports why we hear this motif again during the Revue of Astral Sins, especially if you also attribute this motif to the theme of desperation.

But then the main Arrogance motif kicks in, and guess what’s happening?

It’s Maya having a flashback to after their first performance of Starlight, when Claudine declares her rivalry to Maya in incredible homoerotic fashion. Proud and perhaps, well, arrogant.

It’s just brilliant.

I will say though as another additional point: contrary to this entire word dump, the soundtrack doesn’t lean into leitmotif usage too extensively, compared to other pieces of media that heavily utilize it (games like Undertale and Hollow Knight come to mind). Not including Hikari and Karen, almost none of the other girls’ revue songs are referenced musically beyond their respective revues and as such they don’t really have leitmotifs unique to each of them. Maya appears to be an exception here (unless we also include Nana, who I actually do like to believe has her own theme in the form of Rondo Rondo Rondo, but that’s for another write-up).

But to be honest, I’m glad for it. Unlike the other girls where their revues focus on certain issues they have, ultimately such themes that surround their revues don’t make up their entire personalities. Meanwhile, as stated earlier, pride is almost everything Maya is, it’s paramount to her character. So it only makes sense that she gets this exception, that she gets this piece of grandiose music dedicated to her ideals, especially given how said ideals are important/parallel to the supposed ideals of stage girls; Maya isn’t just prideful because she’s a top stage girl, she’s a top stage girl BECAUSE she’s prideful, after all.

So, yeah. Revue Starlight is a musical masterpiece as we all know and its usage of (leit)motif here as a means of supporting its method of telling its story is not only handled in perfect moderation, it’s executed beautifully when it is used. It’s able to take these memorable and iconic melodies and assign meaning to them to make what’s happening in the story hit just that extra bit more. This is just one of many examples of brilliance regarding Revue Starlight’s music and one of many reasons I’m in love with it.

(Though I will say this is only one of many ways of interpreting things! Things change if you consider Hokori to Ogori actually featuring the Bridge no Ue De motif instead of the other way around I’ve interpreted it as here.)

Basically? TLDR: wow the funny yori takaku this is tendo maya melody cool and epic