#thank you for caring anon lol

[elcorhamletlive]

Why and how The Menu is bad?

I trust you and I love your taste in movies. Please rant on. 👀🍵

Aw thank you for trusting me, anon. I'll put my opinion under the cut.

Basically I just found that the movie rung shallow in its critique, and the characters and plot just weren't fun enough to compensate for the lack of thoughtful, interesting ideas. The movie really doesn't go much beyond the idea of "eat the rich", which is fine for a movie, but at times it seemed to find itself more important and philosofical than that, which I found annoying. So many of the "critiques" felt misaimed and clumsy - a food critic is a key representative of modern capitalism? A washed up actor? Why did we need to be informed the chef sexually harrassed one of his workers at one point? And the underlying weirdness of Tyler's character - he comes across as the product of someone who once read the explanation of the concept of "mansplaining" on a twitter thread and thought that was the pinnacle of feminist theory. The "see, he's obsessed with food but he can't cook!" thing made me think of a fanboy on the internet saying "if you don't like his movies, I'd like to see you do better!".

The humor didn't fly with me either. I get that these are character mostly made up so we can laugh at them, but I think the writing lacked subtle touches of humanity that would have allowed me to enjoy laughing at them more. This is when I can't help but compare it to Glass Onion, which also works with stereotypes, but a) the stereotypes it uses are actually based on relevant figures in pop culture and politics; and b) the characters are given enough room to breathe so that even though they're all recognisable stock figures, we can, occasionally, glimpse some humanity. The Menu is just like "lol rich people" whcih is why I find it an annoying bad movie, because it's the kind of story that shields itself from criticism through its politics - like, sure, eat the rich, but you still need to tell a good story.

I also find that unlike most "eat the rich"-esque movies coming out at the moment, The Menu just isn't fun, and its ostensible main character has little agency so it's hard to root and care for her like we do in something like Glass Onion or Ready Or Not. I think withholding that she's a sex worker for such a huge chunk of the movie was a huge mistake, because it prevents you from immediately seeing her as the audience stand-in that we should root for. It also creates problems in characterization because she behaves like a bored girlfriend in most of her interactions with Tyler, not like a newly hired worker providing a service.

So basically yeah, I did not enjoy it. If you did, more power to you! But I just found it very frustrating and a chore to get through, even though I fully came into it expecting to have a good time.

[uc1wa]

18+ minors dni

tags: nudes, mentions of penetrative sex

11:24pm jason: when does your class end again?

11:27pm jason: just saw the pictures you took on my phone last night

11:35pm jason: do you want me to call you and pretend that you have an emergency? i’ll say somebody died lol

11:45pm jason: attachment: two images

the class, that was undeniably and exhaustingly lecture heavy, was excruciating to sit in the two days a week that you did. the professor continuing to talk, reading off the powerpoint slides he presented, without a single spare elaboration.

it was exhausting every day that you had to enter the room, and as per usual, your hands had gotten tired and had the mind of their own to find your phone, smiling to yourself as you read the multiple messages from your boyfriend.

the part about him calling you made you laugh to yourself, opening the messages on your phone to view the images he had sent you.

and all too quickly, your eyes widen, heart drops, and phone slams against your desk space a little too loudly. thankfully, in the spacious and filled lecture hall, only the three students that sat near you gave you a look, to which you apologize quietly.

what a blessing it was that you were sat at the end of the row, nobody in the seat directly behind you, because if you angle your phone just right, your eyes have the ability to look at the pictures jason sent you once more. this time with awareness of just what the man had sent you.

the first, a cuter and more innocent looking one. a high angled selfie that make jason’s eyes widen naturally as he looks up to the camera, lip puckered out teasing and jokingly. the angle showing his abdomen that has no shirt covering it. a shadow underneath his pecs that make them look meaty and strong. his abs that he doesn’t have to flex, even in his sitting position protrude, ripple by ripple. his shoulders that are broad and big cover the expanse of background that you presume is desk space.

the picture alone could be saved for later when you get back home, touching yourself under covers. but you have to bring a hand to cover your mouth at the second picture he sent.

you knew what jason’s cock looked like. hell, you could describe in detail how it felt to be inside of you! but the look of it, all hard and begging for attention, does enough to make you squeeze your legs close and close your eyes for a second to bring yourself back to earth. opening to re-examine the photo.

it was lewd how his pre dripped down the sides of his length, milky lines running down along big veins that you had begun to memorize. veins that, when jason bottomed out in you slow enough, you could feel pressing against your walls. his tip that was an angry shade of red, the shade that gave you the knowledge that jason worked himself up just to take this photo for you. the shade of red that showed he had an internal battle with himself to not finish, to achingly take his hands from his cock just to flash a photo to send you as your sat rows of seats in front of your professor.

just as you swipe away from the photo, jason’s continuing to text you. his eyes reading over the read receipt that you’d left him.

12:05pm jason: might enroll in some of your classes next semester for fun

12:06pm jason: sit in the back so nobody sees and finger your pretty self under the table. wouldn’t let you wear underwear btw

12:07pm jason: i know my baby isn’t leaving me on read :(

12:08pm jason: gonna come to your place and fuck you against the window when you get back since you wanna show my cock in front of your whole class

12:08pm jason: your neighbors wouldn’t mind, you think?

the pink on your cheeks doesn’t fade as you continue reading the texts your boyfriend sends you. your eyes widening with every one delivered and heat growing embarrassingly fast in your pants. your fingers begin to find their way against your keyboard, but pause once a longer message finds your phone.

12:10pm jason: gonna fuck you so good that you drool on your window. lol it would be cute if you wore some lipstick too, wanna see how big of a mess you can make. gonna clean it rn just to show you how much of a slut you are for my cock

12:11pm jason: see you soon baby :)

[pettyprocrastination]

whoever this beloved anon was I am so touched by your kindness! You definitely didn’t have to do this but I am so happy you enjoy this idea and I will happily expand upon it for you!

this is just a collection of word vomit bullet points for the time being but I will happily answer any and all questions about this pair!!

warnings: violence, angst, child death (Sarah Miller), foul language, the same warnings that apply to tlou, reader is Sarah's mom and described as having similar features to her. 

So the general Idea is that you and Joel are happily married before the outbreak. 

You had been Sarah's mother, his high school sweetheart he got pregnant when neither of you were old enough to have any reaction to the pregnancy test other than a fucking panic attack in one another’s arms. but you made it work 

you both worked but made time for one another and your sweet girl, going to museums every other weekend and joel insisting on swooping you off for a date every now and then 

nothing special. He knows you’re more of a diner gal than anything too fancy that makes you both feel out of place. 

On his birthday in 2003, you had planned to tell him that you were pregnant again. But the memories of your own fears of motherhood from all those years ago begin to swirl through your head again and you get cold feel. deciding to tell him the morning after

it is his birthday afterall, you want to focus on him. 

but when you’re woken up in the middle of the night because tommy needs to get bailed out, Joel kisses you sweetly one last time before promising he’ll be back and you can’t shake the feeling that something bad is happening. 

its you that shakes sarah awake that night. shouting at her to put on her shoes when she’s still rubbing the sleep from her eyes because you’ve been listening to the radio for the past two hours, calling joel again and again and again praying for him to fucking pick up but to no avail. 

Sarah, bless your little girl’s bleeding heart is the one who insists you check on the adler’s against your better suspicions and when you find the eldest looming over her daughter, blood and sinew dripping from her mouth, you grab your daughter hand and burst into a full sprint until something slams into your back and sends you tumbling onto their front lawn

its how joel finds you, struggling to keep the once sweet old woman, whose now nothing more than dead eyes and gnashing teeth straining to snap at your pulse point as you push against her while sarah shrieks before your husband runs forward and cracks her skull with a wrench. 

there’s hardly a moment of pause, just enough for him to pull you up and into his arms before he’s ushering you both into the car with an urgency. 

when the truck crashes, you get separated from them. Perhaps at Tommy’s side when the flames rise and create a wall, separating you from your husband, or maybe pulled into the mob of chaos when trying to escape from those already infected-

all joel knows is that you promise you’ll find him: just get sarah to safety and you’ll meet him at the river

Poor thing is already so frightened, held in her father’s arms with tears streaming down her face insisting they can’t leave you they just can’t but her father kisses her forehead and reassures her its going to be okay 

“we just need to be brave, okay babygirl? Your mama’s real tough, she’s gonna be alright.” 

he isn’t sure if he’s saying it to his daughter or himself. 

but when he comes to the river you aren’t there. Only a soldier who points a gun at the scared little girl in his arms and then he loses everything

its when the light is gone from his daughter’s eyes that he realizes. His voice cracked and raw from sobbing that he looks around to see his brother with drawn in shoulders and tears in his eyes but his wife is nowhere to be found. 

Tommy says you got lost in the chaos. Everything was so loud, so sudden that he turned around and suddenly you weren’t there. 

Joel wants to go back but its Tommy that stops him, that dulls the red in his vision to a sad faded pink because his brother points at the orange horizon not too far from them, so much of the city is already in flames. 

“We’re gonna find her, but not there.” 

So Joel searches. for the first year spent in the world post-outbreak its all he did. 

He became a smuggler because of it. 

Information came at a price and he needed to be able to fucking pay it, whether it be in blood or ration cards. He was willing to do anything to find you or any thin thread that lead your way. 

But it’s Tommy that asks him to give up. Not in those words of course. 

The youngest Miller knows better than to say something so cruel that would make his brother, the only person he has in this world turn on him. 

But his voice is worried when he asks him one night in Boston when he hasn’t even had the chance to wash the blood from his knuckles 

“You think she would have wanted this for you?” 

the fight that followed his words was brutal. Vicious insults and scarred fists slamming against each brother until they're both too tired and bloody to continue. Each leaning against a wall for support and Tommy’s wavering voice breaking the silence. 

“I don’t know where she is, Joel. But I do know you're gonna get yourself killed if you keep lookin’ for her.” 

All he can do is nod. 

It’s a few days later when he meets Tess. Who has heard plenty of stories about the elder miller’s brutality and wants him to put that muscle to good use for some extra profit. 

It begins his new life. One that empty and cold but one he can live. 

Until of course, Ellie comes along. The sweet and incredibly opinionated girl that makes him become something akin to the man he thought died twenty years ago. 

its when he’s traveling with Ellie, that it happens. When a warm familiarity has settled between the two because so much blood and pain has been shared he can’t help but see her as something close, something bright even though all he can force himself to utter in her reference is “cargo” 

when theyre traveling through the woods as Ellie chatters away, probing his memory about a movie that may or may not have existed thirty years ago because her descriptions of the plot are incredibly odd he hears a voice shout for them to stop and finds himself staring at a man- no, a boy- pointing a gun at them. 

Ellie stills, but Joel can see enough to know that from the lanky figure and dimpled face that he’s young. Maybe twenty, twenty-two at the oldest, but his eyes dart from Joel to Ellie with a pinprick of fear that allows Joel the time to charge forward and slam him to the ground before wrestling the gun from his hands. 

He has enough to time to tuck it under the stranger’s chin before he hears the sound of the safety being turned off and finds himself looking up and seeing a gun just inches from his face. 

Joel’s head whips around when Ellie’s voice calls out his name in fear, he turns to see another stranger holding her a gun point, shoulders drawn back and a shadow cast over their face by the had obstructing their identity. 

“You hurt one of mine, I hurt one of yours. That a fair deal?” 

Its takes him a moment to recognize you. It’s been so long since he’s heard your voice, the sweet tease when you would poke at him each time he woke up late despite the fact that you reminded him to set his alarm the night before, the times you’d chide him with a harsh “Joel Miller!” whispered in public anytime he was able to grab you a bit too passionately to be appropriate in public but the laughter in your voice let him know you were never truly mad at him. You didn’t know how to be. 

But that sweetness is buried under a cold rasp that cuts through the air as you point a rifle at the scared little girl in front of you.

“You think I won’t?” You’re older now, skin covered in scars from a life he didn’t know you got the chance to live and your eyes are cold as they regard your husband. “Put the gun down and get the fuck off of him, I won’t repeat myself.” 

Joel mumbles your name in awe. The woman he loved, the woman he mourned the one he fought so hard to find stands before him like some sort of hallucination and suddenly the world feels like its spinning until you bark orders at him again. 

“You’ve got five seconds Joel, make a fucking choice before I make it for you.” 

He looks down and realizes the boy under him, the one with the bleeding nose and snarling face has your eyes and his dimples. 

“One.” 

The one above him has Sarah’s hair. Soft brown curls that shine under the sun. 

“Two”

Wait. No, they both do.

“Three.” 

Twins. Jesus fucking Christ you had twins. 

“Four.” 

Joel holds the rifle up above his head and the one boy standing snatches it from his grasp, tossing it to the ground and kicking it far from his reach. He slowly stands, allowing your son- dear god your son- to scramble to his feet. 

Your voice softens just for a moment. “You okay, Duke?” 

Blood stains the bottom half of his face from where Joel slammed his fist into the boy’s nose just moments before, but he nods nonetheless. 

Now, they both stand on one side of you and he can see the resemblance clear as day the same way he would whenever Sarah was by your side.

When you order him to hand over his bag, he does so without question before telling Ellie to do the same. 

She watches him with wide eyes, her hands still up in the air but gaping at her companion as if he had grown a second head. 

“Joel!” “Just do it, alright?”

He doesn’t miss the way you watch their interaction with narrowed eyes until she tosses her bag to you and you slowly lower your gun. 

“Now, you want to tell me what the fuck you think you’re doin’ at my home?” 

[a2zillustration]

What species is Croissant, anyway? They have elfin (or gith) ears, but their eyes don't look like anyone else's

Trying to be very normal about answering this since I've been spinning Croissant's lore around in my head like a microwave for months.

Croissant is a half-elf!

Their mother is a wood elf, and their father is a fey of the fox persuasion (drawn glamoured and unglamoured). Croissant gets their eyes from him, though they didn't always look like that.

[batsplat]

Thank you so much for ur work for this community 😭

thank you!! so, listen, I need to get some casey, jorge and valentino images out into the world

this is from the 2007 qatar post-qualifying press conference. obviously it's not just the three of them given colin edwards is like. right in the middle. (and *checks notes* gábor talmácsi is also there.) but still a photo of historical significance... casey's first ever race with the ducati (which he very much wins), plus valentino with his then-current teammate edwards and then-future teammate jorge... it's a bit unclear when jorge was actually signed - lin jarvis implies it was in 2006 but if that's the case, edwards seemed to be under the impression for a little too long that he wasn't going to lose that seat. anyways! look at wee nineteen year old jorge lorenzo, look at his utter absence of anything approaching a smile... look at him

misano 2007 post-qualifying press conference and a very powerful photo imo... some nicely contrasting vibes here, good composition... jorge had already been announced as valentino's teammate, and the title is already more or less in casey's pocket (even more so after casey won here and valentino had a mechanical dnf lol - they'd basically brought the race back to the calendar for valentino so this was. not ideal! incidentally still the last race with an entirely non-european podium.)

not much from 2008 tbh. casey and vale took turns to flop in the first bit of the season and then jorge started crashing his brains out. anyway these are from indianapolis, at a time when jorge was just about in the process of getting his act together while casey had crashed in his last three races (including laguna where he picks up the bike to finish p2). quite fond of this race actually, bit of a mess due to the weather and ends up getting red-flagged

first race of 2009.... casey's scheduled annual qatar win. decent shout for his most boring one of the lot, sorry king

pre-event presser before mugello, where valentino had won seven consecutive times headed into the 2009 race. if I'm valentino I low-key never show my face again after the le mans catastrophe but whatever it's fine

the le mans fiasco in question

anyway mugello is another wet-ish race that valentino ended up playing too conservatively because of the le mans horror show. so casey wins! also jorge beats valentino! old man's washed! just about scams his way onto the podium

italian press weren't particularly kind to valentino for having the audacity to lose mugello. they said it was over... he was finished... imagine only winning a race seven times in a row. was he even trying any more? loser

valentino bounced back at catalunya 2009 in highly dramatic fashion (y'know, it's the one with the last corner overtake). moment of deep historical significance in which jorge pulls valentino down from the podium to give him a hug

first race where casey was really struggling with his mystery illness... idk if I were valentino or jorge I'd maybe check if the third guy on the podium isn't about to drop dead but. well. professional athletes, never really been known for their empathy. they did clap along with the journalists in the post-race press conference when the moderator thanked casey for actually making it to the presser, so that's something?

we all have our struggles

the very next race. immaculate vibes imo. the 2009 title fight going into assen had all three of them tied on 106 points... #heritage

anyway the race itself is pretty boring (as unfortunately are many of the races that year), but it's valentino's 100th win so good on him ig. he got out a special banner with photos of all his wins, which would've been an absolute pain to lug around if he'd not immediately won the next race after his 99th

cute. unfortunately, this is now very much mystery illness period for casey... heroic effort to get himself to the podium but not much more was possible at the time

laguna 2009 post-quali presser. jorge is sitting for the photo, because even though he'd bagged pole, he had a massive highside right at the end of qualifying... hurt both his ankles and his shoulder. he'd also had a horrendous highside right at the start of laguna '08, did a good job to banish his gremlins in order to win at the circuit in 2010

qatar 2010... can't have been after the race because casey crashed :/ valentino grabbed the win, before immediately injuring his shoulder in a motocross accident. all went downhill from there, really. damn the eruption of eyjafjallajökull we were robbed

laguna 2010 podium, most memorable as 'that time when they accidentally played the italian anthem rather than the spanish one and valentino thinks it's extremely funny' (clip here). extremely poor quality photo shows casey found it funny too. very #them thing to happen to them. valentino buddy the cap's supposed to remain off for the duration of the anthem

this is very much post-leg break btw, still pretty cordial with each other given some of the stuff they'd been saying about each other to the press during that period lol (not casey/jorge, they were basically fine by this point)

presser right after jorge and valentino's little motegi misadventure... gifs from the presser. valentino's smirk vs casey's grin while jorge is being interrogated, I think about you often...

this was casey's fourth consecutive phillip island win (of six total)... isn't that just like. an incredibly cool circuit to be goated at. does mean the fight for the victory was generally quite boring - though the battles behind casey weren't always exactly thrilling either, so you can blame that on the era too. 2008 and 2010 has decent action behind casey, 2009 is the closest casey was pushed for the win and 2011 at least has a bit of weather-related jeopardy

valencia 2010, photos taken before unfortunate events

last shared podium!! le mans 2012, a fun wet race that featured the final proper casey/vale duel at the race after casey's retirement announcement so has real sentimental value... congrats to valentino for not collecting casey this time. presser clip where he shows he's also pretty glad about how he (just about) managed this

[dragon-spaghetti]

So if Husk is a trans man, and his kid Violet is from when he was alive ... was he the one who gave birth to her? And does that mean that he wasn't out as a trans man at the time? And that his partner was a man?

He was in fact the one to give birth to her yes, but no one knew he was trans; he kept it hidden and bounced from place to place before anyone could start to question him 💀 he was on his own when Violet was born (terrible idea but he didn't want to risk being outed by going to a hospital)

Omg the partner thing is interesting; they split before husk realised there was a baby in the picture, and the partner never knew. Until me and albo accidentally made a whole arc of said partner wanting to get redeemed at the hotel cause they're also in hell, and now it's a whole thing because a big part of why they split was due to transphobia from the partner but since landing in hell they've realised a lot of that was actually internalised because they are also trans and it is a wholeass arc of this au now LOL

[mogwaei]

The fact that you only started drawing recently blows my mind, because you are beyond skilled!!

You can write, you can draw - can ya leave some skills for the rest of us?!

I consider you my friend and want to say this but I don't have the guts to say it off anon SORRY:

I AM PROUD OF YOU AND THE HARD WORK YOUVE DONE TO GET SO GOOD

ASKFFHJKF GAWD *ragdolls out with emotions* PRECIOUS.

This is what 10 years of Solas does to a frog previously marinating in a bog 😂

You're much too kind skjfhfjk I'm TRYING, which is a very strange feeling to have when I don't know where I'm going art-wise! I'm so overwhelmed with people being nice to me lately, and even more so that I have people that are proud of me?? My keyboard has a tear droplet on it now thx ok I'm going to stop before I say anything else ridiculous. thank you 💜💜💜

[stabbyfoxandrew]

Oh no poor Neil first Andrew comparing him to Nathan and then the knife in his hand making it all worse.

More please xx

(Also how is your headache?)

WIP Wednesday (4/17) | Guardian Angel Neil AU (Part 163)

“I thought the knife shows up when I’m in trouble,” Andrew says, eyeing the blade. It seems freshly sharpened and ready for a fight. So, between it and Neil’s anger, Andrew is understandably a bit nervous. But Neil wouldn’t turn it on him. Would he?

Andrew clears his throat. “Am I in trouble, Neil?”

Neil’s jaw clenches and he turns to look at Andrew. “I will never harm you. You know that.”

“Then what’s this?” Andrew flicks the flat of the knife to punctuate his question, equally relieved and freaked out that he can feel the steel under his finger. Neil hisses in a breath.

“I don’t know, alright? I thought that it appeared yesterday because you were in danger. Maybe it was because I got angry when I thought someone wanted to hurt you. Maybe it came now because I’m…” Neil tapers off, then spits the word, “Upset.”

“Oh,” is all Andrew can say to all that. The angel still has the knife, after all. And Andrew’s got his fair share of scars already.

“Hello!” Neil shouts up at the sky, startling Andrew. 

He gets no answer. Typical.

“I don’t want this! Take it back!” Neil waves the knife around as if trying to make it dissipate. But it doesn’t go anywhere. Even when he opens his fingers and gives up his grip on the handle, it stays stuck to his hand like the velcro on Kevin’s cap.

“Please!” Neil shouts, his voice wet. Hearing Neil say that word rips something out of Andrew’s chest and stomps it to dust. He wants to take it all back. He wants…

[astridthevalkyrie]

but since we're all gonna die, there's one last secret I feel like I have to share with you…i do not care for flower shop aus.

[fatedroses]

NOOOOOO Blueberry Grandpa!! 🥺🥺🥺 Atticus (and Regent by extension) is such an interesting character. Especially with his complecated relationships with what seems like everyone. I can see why Tsukiko loves her Dad so much. He's so kind and caring despite everything.

:D I'm glad to hear you enjoy old mr.blueberry!

I'm also gonna put this here because I felt like talking a bit more about him as a character:

I started writing Atticus because I wanted to explore pre-imperial and early imperial Garlemald with a character that lived through the brunt of some of the early conflicts (i.e, the reaper society, the home-front war, and the beginning of Solus' reign). Because a lot of the pre-history and subtext caught my eye while I was looking into lore.

He is a character I define almost primarily for the compassion and love he has for others, with Regent balancing him out by being an embodiment of his loyalty, determination, and sense of justice. And I've enjoyed writing him keeping that sense of self, even as it often puts him at odds with those he cares about. For Atticus, to pay the kindness he had gotten from those he had lost forward was the only way he knew of to keep that spark of their memory alive, and in how he thinks of himself, it is how he mentally prevents himself from becoming the man that took his village and his family from him in the first place.

The other main thing I wanted to explore with him is that he is, in archetype, a previous generation non-azem warrior of light, and the concept of him growing up and being from a place like Garlemald and the struggles that came with it because of how his motivations deviated from a lot of his kin.

Also in part because I thought it would be a least a little amusing for Emet to get attached to Atticus only to realize way too late that Hydaelyn had "gotten to him first". (Cue a man angrily shaking his fist towards the earth LOL)

[daily-dose-of-danno]

Aside from Vlad do you have a favorite ghost villain?

And aside from Danny who is your favorite good ghost?

For villain, definitely Skulker! I guess it’s his overall vibe? But I think he’s really neat. Plus he’s like. Iconic.

Season 1, Episode 3 - One of a Kind

Season 1, Episode 7 - Bitter Reunions

And for good ghost! Absolutely Frostbite. I love Pandora, but Frostbite had so much potential and really took on a sort of big role towards the end of the show when it came to understanding Danny’s core and his powers. I wish we had gotten to see more of him before the show got cancelled.

Season 3, Episode 2 - Infinite Realms

Season 3, Episode 6 - Urban Jungle

[webbo0]

It's a shame that Stay didn't get more a fandom. What do you love about Henry? I wanna know your thoughts because he absolutely is a special little guy. 🥺

First of all anon thank you for letting me talk about my little guy I'm in love with you now

Spoilers for Stay 2005 in reply below btw

I'll admit it's a lot of projection (mental iwness luv) but also look at him!! I'd dare say this is Ryan Gosling's most wet-cat role (besides Holland March but he's undefeatable). I just love a character in anguish and both him throughout the movie plus him at the end just hurt so good!

I think what captures me the most is the world he's created for himself. The whole movie we think we're seeing Sam's perspective but in reality we know next to nothing about him! Everything is a projection that Henry's come up with and that fascinates me! His own mind is trying so desperately to save himself but a deeper part knows it's useless but still his main perspective is to save himself and UGHHH

ALSO while you could say him being suicidal is a "rationalization" for dying, his mind could just as easily made him terminally ill, or able to predict a freak accident. The fact his mind comes up with being suicidal, combined with the cigarette burns, just makes me wonder about is mental state IRL. We know he has a good relationship with his parents and is in a happy relationship, but imo he must've had a history of mental illness/self destructive thoughts if not actively struggling. Idk I just want a He Survived AU where we get to unpack this! And unpack the survivors guilt!!! He obviously blames himself for the accident + everyone dying ("practicing for hell" "I killed my parents" etc.) And I Wish we could see him have to work past that. Maybe with Sam's help!! Because even though he's not an actual psychiatrist (at least I don't think so) in my He Survives AU Sam helps him while he recovers both physically and emotionally. I'd LOVE to see Henry's dynamic with IRL Sam and have to reconcile the version his mind made up with how he actually is!

Also he's hot af miserable and covered in blood

In conclusion I love self destructive people, wet-cat characters, and I have Ryan Gosling brain-rot already, so the combination of all three has imploded my mind. I am in a chokehold by a character that would listen to Radiohead and think it's deep as fuck

Now if only there was any content about Stay :( I need a 600 page novel about him (I might just write it myself atp)

[atomiclace]

who knew that some agere people would be the worst type of people to exist (talking about you spinny)

[whiskeyswifty]

Feel free to bank this ask if you need more time but what are your overall thoughts? I feel like I won’t be able to ever rank this album bc it straight up doesn’t feel like an album it more feels like she was like 🤲 here ya go! Which I don’t mind too much bc there’s plenty for me to dig into here but I’m always curious to hear your takes! :)

i fully took your permission to bank this and sit on it, so thank you for that haha but FINALLY i think i can talk about it with enough perspective and time with it where novelty or initial vexations have worn off. I think for the sake being respectful of people's sensitivity (not a value judgment) i'll break it up into positives, net neutral thoughts and criticisms. So you can skip the critical section if you're unable to handle frank but thoughtful criticism of her and her work (again not a value judgement, do whatever you need to enjoy what you want to enjoy. i just enjoy engaging with art critically and it is my blog after all). I'm sure i missed something, and i'll babble about it in the near future, but for now this feels like a good place to stop and share where I've landed.

My TTPD songs on repeat (in no particular order):

The tortured poets department

down bad

so long london

but daddy i love him

florida

guilty as sin

who's afraid of little old me

loml

broken heart

smallest man

clara bow

the black dog

i'mgonnagetyouback

i look in people's windows

so high school

the prophecy

POSITIVES:

loml upon first listen was my favorite and is probably the most Taylor swift song on this album, in the best way. the soft and emotive voice, rising with anger and cracking with pain. the piano and the rhyming structure of the bridge being a cascade of couplets, and even the conceit of the song! taking a well known acronym loml and despite the song being a heartbreak song, still using it in the song the way you expect. luring you in and getting you to let your guard down, knowing to wait until the right moment, and then on the LAST LINE subverting that expectation devastatingly. it's got all the swiftian motifs; the longing that lingers despite a betrayal, the magnetism of an old flame that you can never quite stamp out, haunted by it, passion as fire as it but also how it consumes and destroys, being a fool for love, the burden of remembrance and willing yourself to forget. you name it, this song's got it. just really a remarkable little gem of a song.

but after the anthology came out, loml was usurped by the prophecy. it's absoutely my favorite like hoooooooooly shit. this is what i LOOOOOOVE hearing about from her. the perspective of time!! the self reflection!! the tension of what you want vs. what you think you deserve!! The guitar plucking at the start every time makes me go AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH and the way she jumps up and down in pitch or whatever in the chorus??? WOOOOOOOO THATS THE GOOD SHIT. 

the title track really grew on me (and i have supplanted the fairly obvious subject with someone else that suits my taste so i have a ball listening to it. i won't say cuz people are fucking weird on here about deviating from the ~truth~ for their own personal enjoyment but my buddies know and we all agree it makes it so much more fun). I love the melodic way she sings on this song, and it's my platonic ideal jack production, where it's imitating that 80s emotional garbled synth a la new order or erasure or the cure. i eat that shit uppppppp. that final bridge/ring situation though is..... not great and is only saved because of how the way she sings it and how it tickles my brain.

THE BLACK DOG!!!!!!!!! THE. BLACK. DOG. HELLOOOOOOOO WHAT A TUNE WHAT A SONG WHAT A SPECIFIC GIFT FOR ME. literally the starting line lyric gets me every time like WHAT A NICHE EMO BAND NOBODY KNOWS HUH. fun fact, at my moms house recently i found this framed school assignment from when i was like 14 or 15 or something. we had to do a mock front page of a newspaper as an icebreaker activity, you all know what i mean if you know what i mean. And under the music section i put "I love to listen to The Starting Line and The Killers" like askfjalskjfsadklfj. taylor clearly wrote this song about me and sorry i did all that i guess, but you can keep stalking me it's fine.

Clara bow of course absolutely incredible closer, incredible song that i've waxed poetic about several times already so i won't bore you with repeat rants. just a stunner. a curtain close of a closer as the crowd jumps up for a standing ovation.

Aaron on this album.... my guy..... WHAT a showing from someone who has jumped aboard the taylor ship and steered it into incredibly rich directions!!! i think most of my picks for My Version of this album are aaron songs, and even when i thought it was a jack song and i was ready to congratulate jack on finding a sweet spot again..... oops it was aaron ajsdlfkdsfjlkdsjflsd. THE GUY!!! THE DUDE!!! LETS HEAR IT FOR UPSTATE NEW YORK!!!

NET NEUTRALS:

album proper is very solid and fun to jump around! it took me a few listens to really dig into it, but i like it. i don't think i love it, and i think it's a middling ranking somewhere in my ranking overall. Also, I don’t think the order is particularly important, as none of these songs really need to go before or after one another as they have little to do with each other. Which is neutral, and how honestly most albums are, and I'm pretty fine with how it is now . And anyway, play through-concept albums are rare and specific but a different beast than your standard album. I’m fine with how it is because I listen to different songs in different orders each time depending on my mood. but i'm also not interested enough in the subject matter to play around with it too much. I think the album proper is a good distillation of this project's songs with a little bit for everyone in there, which to me is a marker of success, even if i would swap some anthology songs for album proper songs.

I’m not invested in her romantic life anymore, and i've noticed that seems to be one of the top complaints or roadblocks to enjoying this album, which is understandable. Especially when this one is incredibly unsympathetic, as is the sentiment writ large (and if I did care about her personal life, I would have those same roadblocks so lol). But I don’t think her diaristic songwriting is overdone or she needs to hang it up, which i've seen some people complain about. I think at this point, her choice in subject matter is what is key to the success of it. Her love life in a 2024 social landscape is yes comparatively straight, white, privileged, and because the romantic lives of people in that demo have been begun to be de-centered in culture over the course of her career, it’s now boring and rote, and we've had centuries playing out the cyclical drama of straight, white, and privileged people. But rather, her fame is what really is worth writing about imo. that’s what’s juicy about her now and what people wanna know, if she’s going to trade on personal details of her life as song fodder. She’s in such rarified air and songs that delve into how she feels about it are the best on this. what it has done to her? what has it driven her to do? The longer she spends in this machine, what does she decide is most valuable? What is worth it and what isn’t? What did she think would change and what did she think would stay the same, and which of those things was she wrong about? I love hearing about all the answers to questions like that on this album, and also answers to questions I had that she perhaps gave away unknowingly and quite…. Unbecomingly but still delicious none the less. Where we usually get one or two songs about fame per album, she has a nice handful on here and it’s so curious to me, especially considering she wasn’t raised among it. She’s an avatar for the common man in Hollywood in some ways, but losing touch with the common man more and more each day and I love seeing that documented, and how she has a self awareness about that, if no idea what to do about that. if she’s now the monster we made her, I wanna get to know that monster in all it’s ugliness and vindictiveness and whatever else lurks in there, and it seems she too is tired of caging it.

CRITICAL:

i loathe the anthology concept, mainly in how quickly she dropped it. i think the album proper is solid and dropping all those additional songs lowers the batting average significantly, as noted in many critical reviews of the album v. the anthology. I personally chalk it up to her experience with the vault tracks' success, which she mistakenly took as ALL of her songs are great and she should cut LESS of them. when the reality of that was they were received with such excitement because they had the lore of being vault songs, and they were ways for us to revisit eras of her musical styles that have long since passed, and there is IMMENSE novelty in nostalgia. I also think that if she pays attention to middling or negative reviews both from critics and fans alike (which i don't think tree puts on her desk, but she might seek it out for whatever temperature check reasons she has so i won't rule it out) she would have seen how midnights' "bonus tracks" or whatever you want to call them were received pretty unanimously as a great batch of songs, compared to polarized reactions to the album's original songs. perhaps that inspired her to approach her album release this time around by throwing spaghetti songs at the proverbial wall of an audience and seeing what sticks. i don't know if this is.... a bad approach? I don't feel great about it either, but it certainly is interesting coming from someone sooooooo meticulous in every other instance of her Taylor Swift brand in recent years. (or maybe she really did think every single song on the anthology was worthy, and that is perhaps my greater fear).

all jokes aside, I don’t actually think her and jack’s relationship has run its course in terms of inspiring one another to do new and exciting things, I just think perhaps some editing is required. I’m firmly of the camp that it’s not jack’s fault for something sounding how it does, as most people who work with him are quick to take offense to that and say that he very much is an employee as a producer. The artist is always the boss. Of course lesser artists or ones who are more friendly with him may be less honest, because of intimidation/gratitude or fondness respectively, but on the whole, it seems like he is at their mercy and will. And has the range to make music across many genres and composition styles. That being said, I do think there is a comfort in him and Taylor’s working relationship, of course because of their personal one, and that perhaps has become a bit of a hinderance to her. (He continues to make incredibly wide ranging stuff with other artists and his own music, so he stays pushing himself and being pushed) I don’t think what they make is bad, when it’s the least successful, but it’s a tad rote, heavily trodden, and flat. Perhaps the flatness in her voice on some of those songs is her trying to compliment an instrumental that is a bit flat, which is trying to keep pace with her vocals that are flat, and so on and so forth and there is no culprit but just two flat bitches saying exactly to each other. But it’s extremely frustrating if only because we have, on this album even, examples of when they both really blend beautifully and push towards something unique and exciting (Broken Heart, Black Dog, imgonnagetyouback to name a few). I would just like to see more development of sounds like that and exploration of that more boldly, as even those songs dance at the edge of progressing stylistically, but ultimately shy away from fully embracing something new.

it’s very interesting that this album does not have the same retention that her other albums have had with me, at least not instantly or in the weeks after. And what I mean by that is songs are not getting stuck in my head that much. I do not want to revisit them immediately after listening to them, and when I do, some of them have somewhat diminishing returns. And I asked myself why that is and the greater existential question of what is music supposed to be. And I think midnights is a great album to compare to this album and maybe history will make sisters of these two albums, it’s too soon to tell, but with proximity as something to inspire comparison, I think they’re great to talk about in conversation with each other. Midnights is an album that many critics and many longtime Taylor Swift fans did not enjoy to the degree of her others, and some new fans who came to her during folklore were turned off by her returned to pop in a way that some felt was empty. But what is interesting about midnights is despite the fact that the rich text isn’t really there or well articulated or particularly inspiring, the bangers are there to be so crass. Songs like antihero and bejeweled and even karma every time I would return to them or listen to them again I could not get them out of my head. Even though the lyrics are next to nothing or are the simplest versions of those concepts, the marriage of the lyrics with the melody is perfect. I wanna listen again, I get them stuck in my head, I wanna dance to them. Very little of that is on this album currently, even with songs I like or love. There are songs that I enjoy more with each listen, yes, and chew on lyrically and composition wise, but the bangers are not here, not like they have been in the past. if midnight was her putting bangers over substance, this album is her putting substance over bangers. I don’t know if either of those things is the right way to make music, or if there is a right way to make music.

This gets into the existential question that is far beyond her, and not her responsibility to answer, that is what purpose does music serve as an art form. What metrics of success do we measure it by, obviously charts and financial success not being competent measures for art? And should music, which is perhaps the most populous and accessible form of art we have on planet earth because of the universality of a banger, maybe err on the side of bangers as enjoyability is it’s main purpose? Which is to say that should it always put the song over substance? If you can manage both, which she has historically been able to do time and time again, then by all means do so. But if you find yourself wanting to choose between the two, in the aftermath of this album I think my personal feeling is this. If you’re gonna write poetry, just write poetry, but don’t tell me that it’s a song if it doesn’t bang. And I don’t mean that it has to be a pop song, I am being a bit glib. I mean that I should want to listen to it. wordiness and any flow disruptions because of it should not take priority over the fact that it it a song and it should be pleasing to listen to, more so than it needs to be poetic. This album is a bit indulgent in the latter and i feel the songs that couldn't bend to the will of the "poetry" suffered. I think that’s ultimately what makes this album so easy and delicious to talk about because it is forcing us to ask these questions. Not just of music in general, but of Taylor Swift who, in a lot of ways, is a microcosm of the music industry. No I don’t mean that ~she is the music industry~ silly way that people refer to her. But I mean in the way that Taylor is a good case study in asking ourselves what we want from music because she is capable of all of the things that music is capable of. Even further, it’s us asking ourselves what we consider to be successful music. I recognize that this is an incredibly personal question for everyone in the sense that the success of music and art is a subjective opinion and that I am once again wading into waters where my feet don’t touch the ground but I do think it’s what makes talking about all of this so fun and why I find it to be an engaging and important and stimulating debate that we will probably have for eternity, or at least as long as Taylor Swift keeps making music. 

[allylikethecat]

Hey! I’m sure you did some already at some point in here but after Fridays adorable atkh date chapter I’m desperate for more scenarios of fictional Matty and George together so do you have any more sickfic hcs for atkh? Both characters are rlly different than they are in all the other fics

Ahhh first off, thank you so much for reading! I'm so happy to hear that you're enjoying All the King's Horses and how fluffy Friday's chapter was! I've talked about ATKH head canons before- they can be found HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE. The most important being that Fictional!Matty is a blue raspberry vape enjoyer, obviously lol

In terms of more sickfic head canons for those two... hmmm

Fictional!George is for sure more dramatic when he is ill/injured, he really wants Fictional!Matty to like take care of him? But honestly Fictional!Matty doesn't really know how? No one ever took care of him so why should he be taking care of anyone else? Like he doesn't mean that in a malicious or ill willed way at all, but like being vulnerable is embarrassing why would you WANT someone else around to see that?!

Meanwhile, Fictional!George tries really hard to take care of Fictional!Matty when he's unwell, but it's hard sometimes for him to even know when Fictional!Matty isn't feeling great - he hides it very well, is maybe a little more snappy (which isn't like him at all) but nothing major - he's also extremely uncomfortable with Fictional!George taking care of him be just doesn't know how to accept that kind of care / help

The biggest thing though, is that sometimes Fictional!Matty's back will bother him, maybe he twisted the wrong way in his sleep, maybe he was riding a horse that was a little special, maybe Fictional!George got a little too rough in bed, whatever, something has triggered it and Fictional!Matty would really like to just lay on an ice pack on the floor and feel sorry for himself in private (especially because even though he's been clean for two years, that's when the urges and cravings are the worst, it would be so easy to just take something and make the actual physical pain that he is very much feeling stop.) Slowly, eventually, maybe, he'll start to realize that Fictional!George wants to help him because he cares.

Thank you so much for reading and for like being interested in head canons about these two! This version of Fictional!Matty and Fictional!George are so special to me and so different from any of the others I have written and I love them SO MUCH and I'm just so grateful others have been so accepting and welcoming of them too!

I hope you continue to enjoy ATKH and that you are having a wonderful weekend!

❤️Ally

[e-likes-bones]

How did you render Dingo’s suit? It’s so pretty

thank you! i’ll try & explain what i did here lol (it will Not be very technical & a tad rambley):

i feel i should preface that i draw on procreate, altho i know you can do all the same things on other programs too for the most part

anyhow, it’s just 4 layers to get the effect (had to do a little box to show that part bc i merge all my color layers typically & dingo got merged lol)

(also ignore the high layer number i have like 18? drawings all on this one canvas, i draw on one canvas ‘til it wont let me anymore)

but as you can see i started w/ the base being pink & everything is just clipping layers above that.

i went over the pink w/ a darker magenta-y shade forming some blobby shapes, mostly around the edges of the jacket, adding these little lines going off of these blobs to add some more variety. from there i change the layer blending mode to hard light, lower the opacity of the layer down (here it was lowered to 30%) & apply gaussian blur to make it softer

the next layer? very similar, i use the same magenta shade, make blobby shapes inside the previous ones, just omitting the extra lines, & change the layer blending mode again to hard light, lower the opacity of the layer down (here it was lowered to 50% instead, making it a bit more saturated) & apply gaussian blur

the last layer is the highlights, which i just used pure white for, & did more rounded scribbles in the spaces between the shading blobs. from there i used gaussian blur again, & changed the blending mode to add, & brought the opacity down (the highlight actually got the lowest opacity at 15%)

& that’s how i did it, altho if all those words do Not help i also have this clip from the time lapse for drawing dingo (i set procreate to always save time lapses of my drawings, nice for future reference)