#ten-minute analysis

[wintersnails]

House has definitely sent Wilson a dick pic or several but he sends them by email because they are both old men and the titles are things like ‘URGENT: please identify if lung cancer’ or ‘patient biopsy results - respond ASAP’ so that Wilson’s guilt complex makes him feel obligated to open each one just in case someone’s life is actually on the line

[mlobsters]

severance s1e8 what's for dinner?

man, what is going on at waffle house these days

[dearreader]

taylor in atw10 saying she remembers the first fall of snow… and how she’s just compared her relationship to autumn and how it’s the beginning of the end and still full of beauty and bright colors and things can still grown and live in that time… but then she remembers the first fall of snow… the sign that winter is here… and it’s really dead and gone….

[maespri]

if people keep carelessly throwing around terms like npd and sociopath and psychopath in reference to goro akechi im going to LOSE my fucking MIND

[wouldvegonealongwiththerighteous]

*grabbing your hand* Listen to me. The Scarf™ is a representation for the permanence of love. They can't take their connection back. She wants him to have it, because it means he kept it because deep down, he loved her too. She's not calling him up, demanding it back, venmo requesting him for the scarf. She wants him to remember her and what they had.

[hotchnerobsessed]

Ten Minutes

Fem!Reader x Hotch | When Aaron gets home from a case late at night, you join him for a shower before getting cozy in bed together.

Warnings: 🤭+😜 Nudity, and mention of steaminess (you shower together but nothing *happens*), just lots of fluff!

Word Count: 1758

Masterlist

I wrote this a while ago but as luck would have it I’ve found myself posting it on Thomas’ birthday, so I’m going to consider this a little Happy Birthday to the man who brought Aaron Hotchner to life ♥️

**********

You and Aaron had made an agreement early on in your relationship that no matter what time he got home from a case, he would always make sure you knew. If it was during the day when you were still at work, he’d call you. If it was late at night, and you were already fast asleep, he’d always wake you up with a gentle kiss against the side of your head.

Tonight was no different, as he gently closed the front door and flipped the lock, setting all of his things down on the couch as he passed it. Silently making his way across the bedroom, he reached the side of the bed and couldn’t help but smile at the sight of you, all cozy and warm, the covers pulled right up under your chin.

He almost didn’t want to wake you. The truth was, most times he didn’t want to; you always looked so peaceful. But one thing he loved even more than seeing you this restful, was the gentle, “hmmm? Aaron?” you always cooed as you woke from your slumber.

Reaching his hand out, he gently caressed your hair, revelling in the familiar feeling; he’d missed you so much. Leaning down, he carefully placed that same tender kiss against your temple like always. With his hand on the back of your head, and his lips connected to your skin, you stirred slightly.

With your eyes still closed, he continued running his fingers through your hair gently, as you finally broke from the dreamworld and cooed that same, “hmmm? Aaron?” your voice all sleepy and warm.

He couldn’t help but smile, his heart melting at the sound of your voice. “It’s me,” his voice was low and soft, “I’m home.”

“Mmmm,” you hummed, your words slurring together, “wha-time’s it?”

Pulling his hand away from your hair, he checked his watch, “2:30.”

You groaned, nuzzling your exhausted body further under the covers, “come to bed.” Your words were a little more articulate this time, your mind finally awake enough to be so.

Laughing softly, he admitted, “I will, I’m just going to shower first.” You groaned again; you didn’t care if it had been a few days since he’d last showered, you just wanted to hold him close. Reluctantly pulling one of your arms out from under the covers, you reached for him, and that’s when he noticed you were wearing one of his sweaters. His heart swelled in his chest, knowing that he was still able to comfort you, even when he was hundreds of miles away. He took your hand in his, leaning down and kissing your knuckles gently. “I’ll be quick.”

Sighing heavily, finally opening your eyes, you glanced up at him, a pout on your face.

“Ohhh what’s that look for?” he teased.

“I just want you to come hereeee..” you whined playfully, eliciting yet another laugh from him.

“You’re so cute when you’re like this,” he leaned down once more and kissed the pout on your lips, “I promise I won’t be long.”

You huffed in defeat, “okay fine, you’ve got 10 minutes, Mister.”

“Yes ma’am,” he responded playfully, placing one more kiss against your knuckles before letting go of your hand.

It wasn’t long before you heard the water running. You’d tried, you truly had, to just stay put and let him have his shower, and wait for him to come to you. It was silly, that now, with him home and simply on the other side of the door, somehow you felt even farther away from him than you did when he was gone. The longer you laid there, alone in bed, the harder it became to resist.

Flipping the covers off, you slid your legs over the side of the bed and quietly padded your way across the floor. Pushing the bathroom door open, you saw the silhouette of your husband through the steamy glass of the shower door, his back turned to you. You took a second to admire his broad frame, his biceps and shoulders flexing breathtakingly as he scrubbed the shampoo into his hair.

It was always so effortless, how easily he could get you going. When he was trying, all it took was one look, a slight smirk on his face, the lust undeniable in his eyes, and you were done for. When he wasn’t trying, it was everything from the way he ran his thumb across his knuckles when he was thinking, or the way he ran his fingers through his hair to push it out of his face, to the way he came home after a tough case with his tie loosened and his sleeves rolled up. Or times like this, while sure, he may be completely undressed, his ass looking mighty fine every time he shifted his weight, but he clearly wasn’t trying to seduce you.

You took a deep breath and pushed all those feelings aside, knowing neither of you had the energy for that right now. Genuinely all you wanted was to hold him close again. “Aaron..” you spoke softly, not wanting to startle him.

Turning around, he was just about to rinse the shampoo out of his hair, when he took in your blurry figure through the steamy glass. “Sweetheart..” he trailed off through a soft laugh, “go back to bed. I’ll be there soon.”

You shook your head, gripping the hem of the sweater and pulling it over your head. “I want to join you..” The tone in your voice was a little more suggestive than you’d intended; all the thoughts you’d just had running though your mind, mixed with your still groggy state, made it difficult to hide.

Another soft laugh escaped his lips, “I’m so sorry my girl, I don’t know if I’m really up for, that, right now..” He spoke gently, the regret in his voice evident.

Shaking your head once again, you admitted honestly, “oh, no no, me either,” letting out a small laugh of your own. “I just want.. you..” you confessed. “I tried to be patient, I really did, but I just couldn’t wait until you were done..”

He smiled wide, deciding to poke fun at how easily you’d caved and decided to join him, “ahh yes, your willpower is a force to be reckoned with, honey.”

You stopped in your tracks, the sweater only halfway off and still hanging over one of your arms, as you did your best impression of the scowl he always wore on his face. “I haven’t seen you in 8 days and 13 hours, okay? You have to give me a bit of a break here.”

That got another laugh out of him as he finally tipped his head back and rinsed the suds from his hair, “Reid, is that you?”

Dropping the sweater to the floor and now working on your underwear, you teased right back, “don’t even try to convince me you weren’t keeping track either.”

Tying your hair up in a messy bun, you slid the shower door open to find him staring at you, a grin spread wide across his face as he admitted, “you’re right. I was.” He reached his hand out to you, and after you’d stepped in he slid the door shut, pulling you into his chest. “And it was actually 14 hours.”

With your palms flat against his sturdy chest, your eyes lit up as you gazed at him, “well there you go! It was that extra hour of waiting that made it impossible for me to go another minute longer.”

His smile was one of those smiles that consumes your entire body. The way his eyebrows rose slightly, the way he eyes glittered, and the way his nose crinkled as his cheeks lifted. The way his shoulders relaxed, the way his chest rose as he breathed deep, and the way his hands grabbed at the bare skin of your back, pulling you even closer.

Standing on your tiptoes, he leaned down to meet you halfway, the way you’d done so many times before it was now second nature. As your lips met, starved for what you’d both been craving for too long, you felt your body sigh. The feeling of his warmth this close to you again, finally, lit every nerve ending in your body on fire; but still, it wasn’t sexual. It was familiar, and comforting, and freeing.

Pressing one final kiss to his lips, you finally pulled back and held out your hand, asking playfully, “pass me the conditioner, please.” He raised an eyebrow at you, and that only egged you on, “we’ve got to get you cleaned up so we can get to bed. I said you had 10 minutes, remember?”

He laughed at that, leaning down and pressing a kiss to your forehead. “And here I thought you only wanted to see me naked,” he added with a wink.

You blushed slightly, but teased still, “hey, you’re getting a free show too, Hotchner.”

He couldn’t argue with you there, as he finally handed the bottle of conditioner over. Lathering your hands, you reached up and began massaging it through his hair, giving him the perfect opportunity to place more gentle kisses against your forehead, his hands grasping your hips gently.

It wasn’t long before his hair was rinsed out, and you may have insisted that he allow you to help with the body wash as well, to which he happily obliged. In no time you were both out of the shower, dried off, and making your way back into your shared bedroom.As you slipped into a new pair of underwear before pulling that same sweater back over your head, Aaron eased into a fresh pair of boxers.

Another thing you’d done countless times that was now second nature to you, was the way you gravitated towards each other as you climbed into bed. Once you were both under the covers, it was mere seconds before you were in each other’s embrace. With your arms curled into your chest, he wrapped his arms around you and pulled you tight to his chest.

Nuzzling your head into his neck, he always placed a gentle kiss against your hair before saying goodnight. Only this time, he added playfully, “is this better?”

Nodding your head, you confessed, “much better.”

A small chuckle rumbled in his chest before sticking to his routine; placing a kiss on top of your head, he whispered softly, “goodnight sweetheart, I love you.”

You hummed contentedly, “I love you, too, Aaron. Goodnight.”

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

Tag List: @ssamorganhotchner ; @ccristata ; @anlin2058 ; @sannunah28 ; @hotchgirlsummer ; @red-red-rogue ; @chibsytelford ; @hannahufflepuff ; @mrs-ssa-hotch ; @ivyflowers13 ; @rousethemouse ; @emobabeyy ; @yourdryadwife ; @boredelle ; @simp4f1 ; @hmett20 ; @soryuwifeyxx

[il3x]

HI

obsessed with the interconnection of FIRE4FUN and RISK, RISK, RISK! obviously the transition between the two (idk music language, you know what I mean) goes hard but the whole songs are thematic twins. do not separate

[tokiro07]

Undead Unluck ch.231 thoughts

[Do You Remember~ The 17th Night of November~]

(Topics: criticism - pacing/narrative focus, character analysis - Gina/Feng/Julia/Billy, speculation - Soul/Ruin)

Juggling Glass and Rubber

Damn, Tozuka, you weren't lyin', that Unjustice can sweep the Master Rules!

I'll admit I am a little disappointed by this turn of events because, like I was saying the last several weeks, I expected there to be an extra wrinkle that kept Unjustice from trivializing all of the MR fights, especially the ones that hadn't actually happened yet!

Yusai I was always pretty shaky on, and since she never got much characterization going in, I'm not exactly surprised, but the rest were definitely bummers

I've said before that I'm fine with skipping the Sick fight since Rip and Latla's climax already happened, but it's not like there was nothing to be done with it, like focusing on Sick's desire for revenge or having Rip look back on the mistakes he made in L100

Same thing with Billy and Tatiana's reunion - technically the climax of their joint arc was at the end of L100 when they promised to stay by each other's side until death, but I always thought of that as the setup to an upcoming payoff, not the payoff itself. It's definitely still salvageable here, but I think having Tatiana come in to save Billy when he's having trouble would have felt a lot more cathartic if it was focused on and analyzed rather than just...happening. Some insight as to why Billy was having trouble using Unjustice, like perhaps being overloaded with too many new Rules or reconciling with the choices he'd made, would have given Tatiana something internal to save him from as well as something external

I guess my issue here is that we're not really getting to see the effects that Remember is having on the cast as a whole, which I think would have better served as the focus here. I don't know if it's that Tozuka has been given a set number of chapters to work with by Jump or what, but it seems likely that Tozuka had ideas for how he wanted to execute everyone's arcs and fights but had to prioritize who to give the lion's share of the focus to for the sake of maximizing narrative impact

Case in point, the characters who he did manage to analyze here each had a pretty unique interaction with Remember

Remember Who You Are

Despite how brief their scenes are here, I do think that Gina and Feng's moments illustrate Remember's value remarkably well

Gina starts referring to everyone by the old nicknames she used for them in L100, only to amend "L'il Lucky" back to just "Fuuko," directly demonstrating the mental gap between the present and past. Gina naturally picks up her old habit, but isn't restricted by it. The respect and love she has for Fuuko goes beyond what can be expressed by a cute nickname, and those feelings were forged through L101 Gina's relationship with Fuuko. It's subtle, but it's a nice little cherry on top of Gina's arc

Feng, meanwhile, is noted to be getting stronger as Time ages him. This could be taken two ways: either he's stronger because of Remember and Time misread the situation, OR because Feng knows that he would have spent his time training and improving, his body, mind and soul are developing proportionally rather than being aged in a vacuum. The latter is thematically appropriate to countering Time's philosophy that age's function is to weed out those who have outlived their usefulness, while the former is a direct result of all of Feng's accumulated years across loops compounding simultaneously. Could be a little of both, honestly

What's even better about Feng's moment, though, is what he says in response to Julia's help: "I'm not deserving of your charity." In the past, Feng definitely would have been mad about getting help, resenting the idea that anyone thought he couldn't hack it on his own, but that's not what he said here. He believes he's done nothing to earn Julia's aid, that whatever Time was going to do to him, he had coming, and this is certainly because he remembers what he did. All of the people that he's ever killed, the lives that he ruined, especially his own son's, he now knows and can look back on from the perspective of having just abandoned the mentality he had back then

If Feng still believed in individual strength before receiving Remember, he probably would have looked back on the failures of his past as the results of his own physical weakness, not because of a flawed philosophy. Instead, Feng has already proven that he's stronger now after learning the true value of his age and legacy, so while he can still improve thanks to the lessons he can learn from his past self, the current Feng is able to retain his new outlook because he has an objective point of comparison that this was the farthest he ever made it

These are the sorts of subtle advancements I wanted to see from the whole cast, and again, while we still can see them, I think having a chapter dedicated to showing each little vignette would have been more effective than either breaking them up like this or showing such a notable imbalance between them

At the very least, though, even without being the primary focus of the chapter, Julia's interaction with Remember is far and away the most interesting one

Welcome Back, Juiz

Julia's behavior just before and after Fuuko actives Remember easily provides the most contrast of everyone and best demonstrates the tremendous growth rate that Remember allows

Prior to Remember, Julia was only able to use Unjustice involuntarily. To great effect, mind you, but still by accident: first when she stopped Soul's attack, and (seemingly) second, when she used it to reduce the damage of Soul's attack and ride it back to the surface. It's not explicitly stated that that's what happened here, but if Soul's intention was to kill Julia with that, he really dropped the ball, so I choose to believe that his bloodlust was negated by Unjustice

Afterwards, Julia was using Unjustice like a pro. She dropped War down a phase, got Time to bring Feng back to his prime, and even got Death to take out Luck, a feat that Fuuko objectively wouldn't have been able to accomplish with Unluck alone since Luck would have been able to avert Death's inadvertent attack with his good fortune. The most impressive part to me, though, is that she was able to channel Unjustice into her soul!

By putting Unjustice in her saber, Julia effectively injected Unjustice directly into Change's body, ensuring that she couldn't live by her own philosophy of constant change, even if Julia wasn't physically there to make visual contact. Juiz never learned soul manipulation, and Julia only just now mastered Unjustice thanks to her memories, so the fact that Julia was able to integrate those two abilities into such a high level technique is proof that her current self has in no way been overtaken by Juiz's memories, the most major worry that everyone had for Remember's use

That's not to say that none of Juiz's experiences made it to Julia, she still did remember Juiz's entire life after all. Beyond just Juiz's techniques and physical abilities, Julia went from panicking over Soul's attacks and Victor's injuries to calmly and confidently taking out the MRs one by one. She knows now what she's capable of and the weight that she carries, and she remembers what kind of relationships she had with everyone else. This is likely why she went to Billy first - both to give him access to Unjustice to make him stronger and to remind him that, despite their pasts, they aren't enemies anymore

The look of shock on Billy's face suggests that he was paralyzed by the realization of his past actions, and it's Julia's words that snap him back into the present and bring a smile back to his face. That's really what I was talking about earlier; giving Billy an internal conflict with his memories would have provided an angle that no one else really had while also allowing him a stronger character moment with both Julia and Tatiana

Still, even if it's a weaker moment than it could have been, I do appreciate Julia's direct acknowledgment of Billy as an ally, as it at least subtly harkens back to their previous encounter. Where previously Billy stole Unjustice and lost the ability to use it after Juiz had some time to think about his motivations as an enemy, this time Julia is willingly entrusting Unjustice to Billy as an ally

Actually, I wonder if perhaps that's why Tozuka had Billy fail to use Unjustice on Sick, because he is still fighting that internal conflict...for now, I'll choose to believe that Tozuka has that in his back pocket, but I won't be redacting any of my criticisms until he makes good on that, as this review is based on my immediate interpretations and I don't want to erase all of this and redo it...

Along the same lines, not only does Tozuka still have a backdoor for analyzing Billy, he also still has one for giving us some more cool moments for the rest of the Master Rules as well

Put Me Back in, Coach!

Despite one-shotting seven MRs all at once, Julia didn't actually manage to clear the field. The Union's gearing up to face Sun, but they seem to be forgetting: they didn't actually beat Soul. He's still in the Roundtable Room, and he's undoubtedly more pissed than ever

I'm not sure if I would have caught this on my own before seeing their post on this, but Webmantis on twitter pointed out that the MRs' souls must all have been sent to Subspace, the cosmic waiting room that all souls go too between loops. They note that, since Soul hasn't entered Phase 3 yet, he'll most likely be able to bring everyone back

However, they also note that doing so would be an odd narrative choice, as it would make Julia's steamrolling seem kinda pointless. Why bother killing off a bunch of characters just to revive them in the next chapter?

Fortunately, I think I've come up with the perfect answer to that very question!

Firstly, it's to show off Julia's post-Remember Unjustice; we were promised a sweep, and Tozuka made good on it in spectacular fashion. Second, and more importantly, their deaths are necessary for Soul to reach Phase 3

Fuel for the Fire

You may recall from a few weeks ago that I described the mechanism that the MRs use to reach Phase 3 is absorbing their Rule directly: Change absorbed the change in her shape when she was cut in half, Time absorbed Shen's lifespan, War absorbed Billy and Tella's violence, Justice absorbed Yusai's resolve, etc. This is why Death only just now reached Phase 3, because no one was dying the entire battle until she was forced to personally kill Luck, and Luck was likely being prevented from absorbing any fortune by Unluck

So now that all of the MRs other than Soul are dead, their souls are free of their vessels. I don't know if their vessels were actually preventing Soul from accessing their souls, but since he seems to consider the others his friends, he probably didn't want to resort to absorbing them either way, but now? It doesn't matter if he could or couldn't before, now he has to, otherwise it's all for nothing

Now, the question may be how he'll be able to reach them. Webmantis' proposition was that reaching Phase 3 would give Soul access to Subspace, but I'm saying that he won't be able to reach Phase 3 without the souls that are there - that's a pretty clear logical paradox

Well, not to speculate too much, but I think we already have our answer to that one too: Soul's finally going to change

Another topic I've been going on and on about lately is the stagnation and inflexibility of the Rules, the most notable being Soul's rejection that souls are connected. However, Soul saw that new facet of his Rule be added in real time, by Negators that aren't even his vessel. The only one who should have control over his Rule is himself, and yet he's seen others interact with their souls through reinterpretation time and again (Andy vs. Ghost, Gina vs. Change, etc.). In other words, he should know full well by now that his Rule isn't as set in stone as he once thought, and if everyone else can control their souls through their perspective, then why couldn't Soul himself?

With the lesson that Julia just taught him about souls, Soul can connect himself to his fallen comrades and drag them back from Subspace (or prevent them from reaching it in the first place), and achieve Phase 3 by adding their souls to his own. Whether this would mean gaining power over their Rules or reviving them is another question, but at the very least it would show tremendous growth in his character

I'll go into more detail on this if it comes to pass, but Soul learning to change his perspective on his Rule would make him more like the Negators, more like a human. This would also make him the most well-rounded and developed UMA to date, which I think would more than make up for any loss of characterization among the rest of them

Now, I would definitely prefer that he brings back the MRs, if only so we can see Luck's Phase 3 (c'mon, he's Fuuko's foil for cryin' out loud!!!), but even if he just integrates them into himself, I think that would create the perfect parallel to give the final member of the Union a chance to demonstrate his growth

The Man Who Would be King

While fighting Soul, Sun and Luna are all clearly the most important boxes to check off right now, there's still one more that Tozuka alluded to in this chapter: Ruin's return

How Remember will affect him exactly, I won't speculate on, but I think it will give him the final push he needs to join the Union and help fight God. If my previous speculation about Soul comes to pass, then that would make Soul the ideal matchup for Ruin

Not only would they have the parallels of being "multiple souls in one body," it would also be the ultimate payoff to Ruin's designation as The King of Negators. If Soul is Master Rule #1, then it's Ruin's destiny as the Negator King to negate all of the Master Rules in his reformation and rebellion against the God he so thanklessly devoted his life to

This would also present the opportunity for Ruin to reform the MRs too and unify both Negator and UMA as I've speculated on before, but again, I don't want to go too far into it here. As it stands, this is just me making things up, and I don't want to either raise my hopes too high OR preemptively run out of things to say, but the parallel is so interesting that I can't help but get excited by the possibility

Conclusion

As always, it's entirely possible that I'm wrong about all of this. Maybe Soul's gonna try to go Phase 3 and self-destruct because of Unjustice; maybe Soul is gonna fuse with Sun in Phase 3 and they'll become "SOL;" maybe Kururu's going to use Unchaste to aggro Sun into shooting Soul dead. I don't know. There's always a chance that what we get isn't as interesting as what we envision; the best we can do is be open to what we do get rather than insisting it has to be the way we want

If there's one thing I hope I've gotten across with this review, it's that I don't want to get hung up on the negatives, but I also don't want to just ignore them either. I am disappointed that certain plot points are being glossed over, and that's a valid response for any of us to have, but I'm not going to go so far as to say this was a bad chapter because of it. Good things definitely still happened within this chapter, and there's plenty of chance that good things will come out of what this chapter set up

As I said, all there is to do now is be patient and open-minded. If this ends up just being a lull in an otherwise fantastic finale, so be it. If it ends up being the start of a rushed mess, so be it. The only way to know is to be there to see it

Until then, let's enjoy life!

[banefort]

"An obsessive fan follows an artist home and tries to get their attention by literally literally tearing himself apart."

Stray Dogs, dir. Richard Kern (1985), House of the Dragon (2022-)

[shyjusticewarrior]

It's giving "'fuck the patriarchy' key chain on the ground"

[darlingamidala]

man, i’m watching AotC and it just occurred to me that Palpatine could have arranged for Anakin and Padme to be reunited at literally any point during the ten years since TPM, but since he didn’t, that means he probably would have been deliberately preventing them from running into each other

[essektheylyss]

great news, folks, my professor told me I have the power to be a menace to society and then gave me full points for an analysis in which I took a 300 word detour to explain Goncharov. I'm having the time of my fucking life.

[fishy-styx]

Analysing the lyrics of 'Notion' by The Rare Occasions (and telling you why it's really fucking good)

So, I was listening to my therapy playlist (as one does) and, when this song came on, I had a Sudden Urge to write a sort-of-not-really essay about it (as one does). So, why not, right? (I'll also talk about why I personally love it so much, at the end. You can scroll down to the big, coloured text if that's what you want to read instead.)

While 'Notion' does have an Atheistic message (of how there is no afterlife, and that it's just a comforting lie), it's also about not letting life pass you by; you only get one chance, and you should make the most of it.

!! Also, before we start I'd like to say that I'm considering the first four lines as verse 1, the next four lines as verse 2, the instrumental as the instrumental, the next four lines as verse 3, the seven after that as the bridge, and the last four as the verse 4/the outro.

!!! Also, also, I'm coming at this from a mostly Christian perspective, since that's what I believe the song is mainly referring to, and because I'm an ex-Christian myself (now Agnostic) and thus understand that specific religion the most.

To start, Verse 1 gives us the hook and establishes the thesis of the song, right off the bat.

Sure it's a calming notion, perpetual in motion But I don't need the comfort of any lies

The main message is that while an afterlife and living on in perpetuity may be a comforting idea, it's not real, and the singer doesn't want or need it. Then it explains what the singer meant in the last couple of lines.

For I have seen the ending and there is no ascending Rise

I interpret this to mean that the singer knows or strongly believes that there is nothing after death.

The first two lines of verse 2 lines help give us some context about the singer and their past.

Oh, back when I was younger, was told by other youngsters That my end will be torture beneath the earth

When the singer was younger, they were told by their peers that they would spend their afterlife in Hell. I take this line to be showing that the singer was raised Christian, but didn't believe in it and now finds the overall philosophy harmful. These next lines elaborate on why their peers thought they'd go to Hell.

'Cause I don't see what they see, when death is staring at me I see a window, a limit, to live it, or not at all

The singer doesn't believe that there is an afterlife. Instead of seeing death as a new opportunity, the singer sees it as a time limit. They see it as something to encourage you to live the best life you can, while you can.

Then there's the instrumental break, which doesn't have lyrics (obviously), but I'd like to mention it since it's actually my favourite part of the song.

Verse 3 starts off with a question to get the listeners thinking. It asks:

If you could pull the lever to carry on forever Would your life even matter anymore?

To rephrase: "If you had the chance to live a perfect afterlife in Heaven, what's the point of your current, mortal life?" This is the singer arguing for why they find this philosophy harmful. If the afterlife is real, then your current life becomes pointless aside from staying true to God and not straying from his path. The singer thinks life should have meaning, and this sort of thinking invalidates that. The second half of verse 3 reiterates the hook and thesis.

Sure it's a calming notion, perpetual in motion But it's not what you signed up for

While it's comforting to think that death isn't the end, the singer says that the listener didn't sign up for living forever, and implies that the listener might not know what it entails. They're saying you didn't sign up for following all these rules about following God's will or even having an afterlife.

The bridge begins by telling us that the singer knows that life won't always be great, but it's not all bad, either.

I know there won't always be sunshine But there's this momentary beam of light

These lines use the metaphor of sunlight to talk about the good in life. It's saying that life will not always be good, but that there are bright spots, so to speak. There are moments of happiness and success; it's not always gloom and suffering– the weather changes. The next part of the bridge is quite direct about its messaging.

You don't have to wait the salty decades To get through the gate, it's all in front of your face

It's telling you that you don't have to wait for your life to end to get to heaven; your life is in the present, and you should be living it instead of treating it like a chore to be rewarded for with eternal paradise. The last bit of the bridge just reiterates the first two lines of the bridge.

I'm sure there won't always be sunshine I'm sure there won't always be sunshine But there's this momentary beam of light

Finally, the outro/verse 4 starts by speaking in hypotheticals.

I could cross the ocean in a fit of devotion (I'm sure there won't always be sunshine) For every shining second, this fragile body beckons (I'm sure there won't always be sunshine)

By saying this, the singer is telling us that they could spend their whole life with their "fragile body" and limited time devoting themselves fully to God and aiming for the afterlife, but as they've established before, they believe that this is pointless. Underneath this whole outro, the refrain of "I'm sure there won't always be sunshine" is being repeated, once more reinforcing the message that life is never all bad. The next part directly calls out and people who look down on others because they follow God.

You think you're owed it better, believing ancient letters

In this the singer is admonishing people who think they're better, and that they deserve a good afterlife, just for believing in old texts that tell you to believe in a god. And the song ends with the thesis:

Sure, it's a calming notion, but it's a lie

To sum things up, the song message is this: "There is no point in waiting for the afterlife that will never come; live in the present, and don't waste your precious years." It's a profound message that is comforting in it's own right, even while it tells you that there is nothing after death.

Now I get to ramble about why I love this song. If you just came here for the analysis, you can leave now, but please do tell me what you thought about it (it gives me serotonin).

This section is going to be much less essay-y so if you came for mildly unhinged ramblings, this is for you.

So, Notion, where to start? Now that I don't have a structure to follow, it's kinda hard to figure that out.

Well, the instrumentation is great. I'm such a sucker for rock, and the bass is absolutely amazing. The acoustic version is also great, and um, that's about it. I've already spent two and a half hours (straight) on the analysis, so I'm not going to go in-depth on the music. You can just listen to it if you haven't already and hear what it sounds like and say, "wow! Fish is totally right, the bass is really nice, also fish is such an amazing and cool person for writing this essay that I really wanted to read." (okay, maybe not that last bit, but I hope you agree that it's a banger song)

The lyrics are really cool and good and (gimme a sec to find a synonym...) superb. They really hit me in the soul and I can relate to them as an ex-Christian and as someone who has (and still is) struggling to find meaning and purpose in life. You'd think the idea that there is no afterlife would make me even more depressed, but it's honestly kind of motivating. I wish I could write another essay on how I feel about this as an ex-Christian, but again, I hyperfixated on this for two and a half HOURS; my eyes are dry from staring at my screen, my hands are starting to cramp, and my back hurts from slouching. I think I'll spare myself this time.

Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

[marshmellowtea]

in speaking of video essayists that lost me almost immediately i recently tried to watch verily bitchie's video on the feminism on barbie because i wanted an actually queer friendly dissection on why it falls so flat for me but after several minutes of meandering rambling with no real point in sight, a mention of the most annoying take on the beauty and the beast (that being the fucking stockholm syndrome discourse), and an uncritical mention of the riot girl movement as a paragon of countercultural feminism i just couldn't do it anymore lmao

[sweet-as-kiwis]

Plus side to having a boring class that only meets once a week: I only have to sit through two hours of Bullshit once

Downsides: I FUCKING FORGOT ABOUT THE CLASS IT STARTED 40 MINUTES AGO FUCK

[elalmadelmar]

It's also incredibly important because some of this older media was the super progressive and "politically correct" cutting edge of its day, and you will not understand the course of progress if you refuse to look at the path it has taken!

Saying that something is "a product of its time" has been given a (deserved) bad rap for being used to excuse and shut down conversations about the bigotries present in older materials, but if you use it as the start, rather than the end, of the conversation-- then it is an incredibly important and useful approach. What does this story, regarded in the context of its time and place, tell us about the concerns, struggles, and attitudes of its time? What has changed? What hasn't?

You gotta read and watch some old books and films that aren’t 100% modern politically correct. I’m not saying you should agree with everything in them but you need to learn where genres came from to understand what those genres are doing today and where media deconstructing old tropes is coming from.

Also, more often than you might think, they’re not actually promoting bigotry so much as “didn’t consider all the implications of something” or just used words that were polite then but considered offensive now.

Kill the censor in your head.