#we're here for Vibes and Themes and Symbolism only!!

[erstwhilesparrow]

i love assigning blorbos pokemon teams, coming up with pokemon teams is sooooo fun. i get to browse bulbapedia and look at lots of pokemon and think about Symbolism, what's not to love

[lucabyte]

thinking about the very specific reading of isat i had during act 3 for the most part

anyway yeah ill ramble here about this. since it actually explains my headcanons for what the disappearing island wish was

disclaimer: taken as a whole this is way too allegorical for what i'd consider a holistic reading of isat, but it was part of my running theories at the time.

anyway my guess for the real-world equivalent of the island ended up being French Polynesia by the end of the game. I had initially thrown a dart at siffrin being greek wrt europe, sisyphus allusion, enjoyment of plays and seafairing-- but the moment that little guy started getting real weird about stars and specified they were from an island i switched my guess to him being polynesian. And then that reading only really strengthened from there (and i was pretty close, tbf!)

but yeah during act 3, especially the king plotline, i started thinking about the themes of cultural erasure + lack of identity that the game has and how that plays wrt vaugarde's extremely welcoming and diverse nature.

reading far too much into it but it made me wonder if they are the results of a fallen empire of some kind. somewhere that gathered people from across the globe (as empires are known to do) before dissolving into what seems to be a localised theocracy of some kind?

like. vaugarde is basically the Good End for an empire. Fully demilitarised (they barely have use for police to the point where the defenders are surprised by burglaries, and almost CERTAINLY have zero army), extremely diverse, not caring where one comes from.

(either that or they've been a socialist utopia like, forever? and thus just aquired migrants perpetually... but ka bue is characterised as harsher by odile in a lot of respects so one can assume its not that the whole planet is Niceys All The Time.)

this lines up pretty well with the um. Whole France Thing. Boy do they own a lot of islands still that they maybe shouldn't. Also lines up with bonnie's word-of-god french creole dialect. So Vaugarde as the welcoming, ideal form of former-colonialiser-nation is like. one i vibe with if we're gonna read too hard into the worldbuilding as presented.

Anyway all this to say I did for a time wonder if the Northern Island wish was 'For The Island To Be Safe'. Assuming this world to have any level of inter-country conflict-- Wish craft is powerful stuff, and a singular island might not be able to defend itself against those seeking to take it by force. Hiding the island from the world would protect it.

... though that felt like an unusually cruel read. The implication that cloistering away like that is a 'valid' strategy for a culture to be safe (albeit with the splash damage of hurting any diaspora).

Plus, wish craft is superbly powerful, with evidently its use on the island only becoming more widespread after it was discovered how to make it work Consistently.

(i work here under the assumption that Siffrin's growing cloak is imbued with wish craft, assumedly the same as the king's armour? Since there's no way that was created at that scale...)

So it almost makes more sense, to me, for the wish to be to 'Protect The World (universe) From Us' or to 'Keep The Universe Safe'.

Wish craft being so second nature to the Islanders (See: Siffrin, favour tree), that a wish that breaks the universe is almost inevitable were the knowledge to become widespread and ingrained.

This too is an oddly cruel read, that a culture's rituals can be dangerous to that degree, but ... ? Dunno. Like I said, reading it as hard allegory makes it fall apart somewhat. Symbols can mean many different things at once until you flatten them for direct analysis like this. I don't think it's quite so 1-to-1, and it's honestly slightly too 'no story only lore' for my tastes, so I did push a lot of this stuff out of my analytical mind once I started getting to the back and of act 3 and into act 4.

Anyway. Not the most coherent explanation in the world, but still some thoughts I had mid-game that i figure i should put somewhere at least, even if I don't think they are really what the game is going for.

As a bonus, the discussions on what the island wish were in this context also lead my friend @samhainian to speculation on the colour wish that i really enjoy. Which is....

The wish that removed colour from humans perception of the world being something along the lines of:

"I wish the world was simpler"

ergo, removing colour as an invocation of Nuiance VS Black and White Morality. The world is simpler, easier to understand.

I think it's a fun headcanon! I like it.

Well anyway. A work is more than the sum of its parts and dissecting something so sloppily as this often does it a disservice. So don't take my theorising as anything more than a general rundown of where my head was at mid-game before i had all the pieces. The emotional core of the story is far more where it's at for ISAT sooooo. [Shrugs and scampers away]

[blue-howlite]

Rambling about my new obsession because I'm the sole lord of this glorified trashcan and I can.

Sylus from Love and Deepspace.

Warnings: spoilers for his two story chapters, spoilers about Dawnbreaker, generic spoilers about the game, a lot of self indulgent thinking, error.404 coherence not found, we're hopping from one thought to the other like the sparrows on the window, inaccuracies are likely to happen I'm just a silly guy.

THIS MAN.

So, from the blurred scene we see as flashback when we're on the rooftop with him and stuff, someone made out the figure of a "Wanderer" Sylus on his knees, stabbed with a sword in the chest by the MC. I'll add the link to the Tumblr post with the video here. The video is from TikTok but it's easier to see here if you ask me and besides this is what triggered all my thinking.

Now, hear me out.

We know the other guys (well you guys probably know, I landed on the game for Sylus and saw almost nothing of the in-game lore of the guys, I only know spoilers from social media and something from the anecdotes) all sacrificed something for MC in her past lives. Faith, power, people... They had all to renounce to something to protect MC. Some people were wondering what Sylus sacrificed for her in her past life with him.

This would be the explanation.

He literally died for her.

Like in the flashback he tells MC to press on, so she didn't kill him as an enemy, but he LET her kill him. And for some reason she HAD to kill him too. We can see his clawed hand cradling hers and making her hold the hilt of the sword.

Now if we go down the wanderer theory, y'all are familiar with Dawnbreaker anecdotes right? How people started turning into wanderers and the alternative Zayne had to kill them even though they still had human looks for the most part.

So what if Sylus was, in another life, that kind of wanderer? A human turned into a monster, that MC had no choice but to kill?

BUT WE'RE NOT STOPPING HERE. OH NO WE'RE REACHING WITH THIS ONE.

The surroundings, for what little we could see in the blurry flashbacks, weren't of Linkon, or any place on the current in-game earth for that matter. A very post-apocalyptic vibe, right?

AND we know from Dawnbreaker that his world is going in a similarly dystopic direction: the government is hiding the fact that people are turning into wanderers, Linkon in ruins, normal wanderers roaming free and people forced inside their houses. We've seen suspicious wanderers in the new story chapters too, when we were at the club fighting the other faction of Onychinus. Just reminding y'all.

Now I won't reach THAT much by saying that Dawnbreaker is in the same timeline of wanderer Sylus and MC (though...) BUT what if in their timeline they found themselves in that similar situation, just way further ahead and way worse? MC as one of the few surviving humans with Sylus as her companion, both of them trying to "press on", with ultimately Sylus turning into a wanderer and getting killed by MC, then her dying later on.

This feels like a mashup of Doom Breaker and Eternal Afterlife but it's probably just me.

And all the possible simbolysm, as the person in the video noticed, like the claw gripping a heart on Sylus's necklace? Could it be symbolic of his wanderer self clinging to his humanity? Or maybe his wanderer self, still somehow conscious, offering his heart to MC to be killed, like he did in the flashback?

Also, just to mention the other necklace he has, with the heart being impaled; I don't know how strong vampire lore is in China, BUT a stake to the heart is what is traditionally believed to kill vampires. And vampires, traditionally, are represented as parasites, or rather humans that are possessed by a parasite, and killing them is putting the human soul at peace and saving it. So apply it to Sylus and the earlier reasonings about his past life with MC.

It's the theme of losing humanity and being saved through death before it's too late.

Also it would be such a good parallel with the scene from their first (not exactly first but you get it) interaction, when Sylus presses MC's gun to his chest and encourages her to shoot. Like MC killed him at the first chance she got.

Which would support the wanderer Sylus theory.

And that thing about not being killed by the same thing twice in Lost Oasis??? Hello???

Yes he didn't actually die and can use his energy manipulation to heal himself quickly but you get my point:

He coerced her into shooting at his heart. Where she likely stabbed him in the other timeline.

...

Okay now that we've talked about this (AAAAAAAAAAAAAA THE LORE THE SYMBOLISM THE PARALLELS THE DEPTH I JUST CAN'T WITH THIS GAME) let's go to something lighter!

Like, did you know that crows are one of the smartest and most loyal birds out there?

They have a great memory and will remember you if you help them, becoming loyal to you (following you around, giving you trinkets...) and sort of adopting you as their god in a way (since they give you offerings and expect food in exchange so you are getting my point I hope). What does this say about Sylus? EVERYTHING.

He comes to MC when he needs help and always rewards her, he literally says that he adores her (not in the main story), has his "flock" (Luke and Kieran, and Mephisto if we want) looking out for her, not to mention the stalking...

He's that perfect mix between adorable crow husband and tormented gothic antagonist.

Alr thank you for coming to my LaD talk, have a cookie 🍪

[crispy-kitten-princess]

If i ever were able to list all the things i dislike in Magisterium series, this post would've been endless. Instead, I'd mention smth i love so much that it makes me re-read the series for the fifth time and gives me inspiration for new drawings and playlists

The first one is aesthetic. I don't think I've ever read a YA book with the death and necromancy as the main lore theme. Also, the first book in series is so sweet and innocent compared to the fourth I can't believe it lol. Corpses. So gothic. So edgy. Love it

The second is very similar to the first - chaos magic. We come across elemental magic in all sorts of media, but they don't usually have the 5th element, or if they have it's more likely to be electricity or smth. Not ACTUAL NECROMANCY omfg... I love it. Also Makars being able to manipulate not only chaos (the void itself) but the soul.... Cute

So next. The main character ofc. Callum Hunt. What can I say he is such a cinnamon roll hating himself for what he is not. Screaming, crying, throwing up. I can feel his pain with every fiber of my soul he's so relatable. He is a type of chaotic neutral main character which is rare I guess, and at the same time he doesn't act like a total jerk and piece of shit. Can't name some other like him, idk. He's sweet but also edgy. His self-confidence is below the surface of the earth. He's just like me frfr my poor little meow meow. Also he is disabled and it influences the events of the book. Sometimes. Cool, representative. Not a disabled person myself but can appreciate it

Another reason for me to love the series is the changing of Call's secrets idk how to call this. The structure of his character lore. His secrets and abilities, they're layered.. you know... And every book one by one uncovers these layers: 1 - he uncovers that he is the reincarnation of Constantine. 2 - he gets his powers (which made Constantine evil at the first place). 3 - he learns more about Constantine's family, and the whole world finds out that he "is" the Enemy of Death. 4 - omg how much he uncovers here lol i can't. May be my favourite book thanks to its maaad vibe. Everything he learns here makes him closer and closer to Constantine. 5 - i know that most of the fandom thinks it was stupid to make Constantine himself a reincarnated thousand-years-old evil Makar. And i may agree. But in the moment of reading this it was so impactful for me idk why.... I literally cried idk!!! Lol. Love the moment where Call opens his memory to help his friends to fight wolves or smth, and PASSES OUT. KING. So, the other secret is uncovered here. Everything he learns makes him understand Constantine's/Maugris's motives, but he never ever becomes anything like them nor wishes to follow their path. Pretty symbolic and meaningful

Upd. SOME MOMENTS ARE FREAKING HILARIOUS

So what can I say? Every series has it's weak and strong points. Some of them become classic literature, some are forgotten in the abyss of YA books. I understand why Magisterium's place is with the second type of series, and it's not even saddens me anymore (we're so underground teehee). But i see many posts where the series is shitted over, and not much of posts appreciating the things that we actually love in it. Aren't they the reason you started and finished it sometime? So I'm here spreading positivity! And also because I'm so tired of being a fan of this shit so i tried to acknowledge all that i love, and why am i here in the first place

I think it's all for now, maybe I'll come with more ideas later

Fandom are you alive? Heh am I a Call kinnie to the point that i become necromancer?...

P.S. sometimes i think I'm so cringe to be periodically obsessed with this STUPID POOR-WRITTEN CHILDISH BOOK ABANDONED EVEN BY IT'S OWN CREATORS BUT I CAN'T HELP IT...... AND THE WORST THING IS THAT I DIDN'T EVEN READ IT IN MY EARLY TEENS (except the 1 which i read when i was around 13. Read it twice in one week so maybe that's the moment my brain was damaged) I READ IT WHEN I WAS 16 ALREADY aaarrrhh I'm so cringe. Why obsession why why why why why why i hate this but this is literally the only book which makes me cry and scream and feel every fucking time i re-read it even when i know EVERYTHING THAT'S GONNA HAPPEN LITERALLY EVERYTHING reading it all again for the 6th time FOR GODDESS SAKE WHY IS THIS HAPPENING TO ME

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

wibta if i showed up to someone's house unannounced to get closure?

cw: brief s/a mention, kidnapping, stalking but not in detail 

ok, so I (30F) had a years long very close friendship with A (30F) when we were in school. close to us graduating high school, she met K (M, 31) and they started dating. K gave me weird vibes (he made r*** jokes and was kind of a fuckboy) but she liked him so it was whatever.  Fast forward to us graduating high school. I leave the state for a several months and an injury brings me back. A and I are still friends and I find out she broke up with K. She also tells me that when they were dating he s/a'd her while she was drunk (but she "didn't mind/it wasn't r*** cuz she "couldn't feel it and he was gentle"), kidnapped her from a party to "take care of her while she was drunk", and stalked her house. I was very upset and immediately hated this guy. But I also noticed that for some reason she was trying very hard to get him back (ie dressing up like one of his favorite youtubers (who had a very distinct and gimmicky style), dying her hair, just generally being...different). I have to leave the state again. 

I find out later that A and K are dating a year later. I'm infuriated and tell her I don't like him, that the thought of him makes me physically ill (I had undiagnosed anxiety at the time), and how can she date him when he did all those things to her. she tells me that he got therapy and that he's really nice to her now and that she's happy. she also tells me that her mom kicked her out of the house because they were dating (mom didn't like her either). Anyway, I tell A that I love her and that I still want to see her when I visit home / talk to her / etc but the stipulation is that K can't be there because I will probably be physically nauseated the whole time. she tells me i need to respect her dating decisions, but that she'll keep him out of our interactions.

a few years later (we're still talking on an off, but not a ton), i am about to leave the country. i contact her again and apologize for not respecting her decisions and that i was only reacting to the things she told me about him. she says it's okay. fast forward i leave the country, have to reset my phone, and in the process lose her number. i try to contact her a few times via facebook but she doesn't answer me. several months go by, nothing. i get the "read by" message though, so i know she's on facebook. i also find out that she and K had a "picturesque" fairytale theme wedding and i can only look at one picture before getting sick to my stomach again. i decide to cut my losses and let the friendship be over. 

here's where the stupid thing starts. since we stopped talking, i've had at least 10 dreams a year about her. i've gotten therapy (not for this situation specifically but i've talked about it in therapy), written/torn up a symbolic "letter" to her, blocked her on all my socials, made good friends, gotten married to a loving spouse (who is my best friend!), have a job i love, and am pretty happy now. and really don't think of A anymore. but for some reason, the dreams persist and make me very frustrated. they're always about us rekindling our friendship or me apologizing to her about things. i've tried ignoring the dreams, accept that they're just my subconscious processing things, accept that the subconscious is just being fuckin weird, etc. i've basically moved on from this whole situation except for these god damn dreams. 

now here's where i might be the asshole. i looked her up online because the dreams were driving me crazy. it doesn't have her cell number but it does have a new address that might belong to her. i'm going to my home state next month. i haven't talked to her since 2017. aita if i showed up to her house unannounced to verify with my own eyes that she's okay and happy and maybe get closure? if that's even what i need? is there a better way to stop having these dreams?  

please tag as "dragonfly" so i can find the post later. thank you in advance to anyone with advice. 

What are these acronyms?

[taylortruther]

Idk if this is a popular opinion or not, but so far TTPD feels very Red-esque to me.

Like Red is THE taylor breakup album, and the GP says she writes a lot of breakup songs but I genuinely believe that Red is her only TRUE breakup album. Like yeah, all her other albums have heartbreak elements, but they are few and far in between (1989, rep, lover). Folklore and evermore were sold as fictional albums ofc so she always had the excuse of "it's not real".

Midnights reflects back on her life and explores a variety of themes...1989 is about shaking off heartache and new beginnings eclipsing your past woes (I think The Very First Night perfectly describes the central theme of 1989) etc.

I think TTPD is about to be her next full fledged breakup album. The thing with Red is that imo Jake was her last BIG breakup that really screwed her up (insert ten minute song here). Harry (18 y/o teenager), Kennedy (uh younger teenager), Tom (possibly PR, definitely rebound) And Calvin (Harris) just didn't do that for her.

Hits Different very explicitly mentions how much she simply didn't gaf until it came to Joe. It's her longest running and most stable relationship till date, and probably also her healthiest at some point. She deffo had plans about him, and she had a lot of time to sit and think and WRITE.

TTPD is obv an autobiographical album, and the last non-fiction album where her pen game was the centrepiece was Red. She says that she's never relied on songwriting as much as she has for this album...we should all be afraid.

Idk if TTPD will necessarily SOUND like Red (I low-key miss that sound) but we surely will have a very similar era. Her playing Red (the song) before YLM yesterday cemented the theory in my head. Someone on Twitter said that Joe is gonna get Jake Gyllenhaalified and I second that. Whatever is gonna happen, the main theme of this album is gonna be her own heartbreak.

Except instead of a passionate, fiery romance that crashed and burned...we're gonna hear about a relationship that was overwhelmingly monochromatic near the end. Red vs B&W. Color symbolism drives me INSANE.

oh, this last paragraph is riling me up

edit: and yeah i think we're getting those vibes because, as you said, red and joe were very impactful relationships. the most impactful, judging by how they are depicted in her music and life, even today.

[eileen-crys]

IX • THE HERMIT 🌟

Upright: Spiritual enlightenment, soul searching, self-reflection, introspection, contemplation, inner guidance, solitude.

Reversed: Loneliness, paranoia, isolation, bring reclusive, withdrawal, anti-social, restrictive, paralysed by fear.

The latest news made me realise I've never posted the Major Arcana I made a whole 3 years ago for the @akindoftarot project, I've only shared their post with it but never the card by itself. I also did the 3 of Pentacles, with 70s Deaky in a kimono, tap on it to see it!

This was my first card for the Queen themed Tarot Deck featuring nowadays John as the Hermit. 💖 This card is really fitting with him and I was really grateful to be the one who had to draw it! 💕💕💕 I experimented a lot with my style here and I wanted to give it a peaceful vibe, that feeling of loneliness but also internal peace, imagining him plucking the strings of his bass during the sunset in a London park. It's almost silent, distant in space and time. Of course I added some symbolism about his family but not drawing any real person with him, not even random people strolling in the park. Soon he'll go back home and have a nice and warm dinner but right now he's enjoying some alone time. 🥰

While drawing I was feeling a bit of an intruder myself, looking at him from behind... but that's also why I didn't draw his face, we're not trying to get his attention. Let's not disturb him and go away, okay? 🙏🏻💕

Please do not repost. Reblogs and comments are welcomed! 💜

[piracytheorist]

OKAY

I think it says a lot about my job that I was able to concentrate on it today and completely forget we GOT TRAILER

It was a mistake to check tumblr first thing in the morning, before I even got out of bed, but in my defense, I didn't expect it would drop at such a day and time! But anyway I did jump off of bed, turned on my laptop and recorded my face as I watched it. I needed to have that memorized XD

So, spoilers about the trailer below, and my own predictions about what each scene could be for! Reminder that I'm anime only, but have read the chapter that the first episode (probably) is based on, so for the most part I know what's going on, but for the rest I'm very much NOT aware :D Don't spoil me please :D

FAKE FAMBLY IS BACK

Manipulative Anya at her best! We love our gremlin!

Oh he's looking good :D

I fucking love this image. Look at Twilight pouting in the background. He doesn't understand why a child finds news boring.

WE GOT BLOOD WE GOT THORN PRINCESS IN ACTION LET'S GOOOOO

your honour I love him. Why does he look like he's ready to cry!

Ok from a first hearing the OP song sounds super cool. I feel like it's got "Mixed Nuts" vibes and I love it! I gotta look it up later!

Jeez Loid. Woman just woke up. Is that how he honeypoted all of his other missions?

Yor having a meltdown in the foreground and Anya being cute waking up in the background <3 I love my fake fambly <3

... okay. That's how his honeypots worked.

Yellow roses, if I'm correct, symbolize friendship. Interesting.

This is going to be a disaster and I cannot wait. Also I'm spotting Anya and Franky doing a horrible job at hiding in the left pic XD

My heart skipped a beat when I heard Anya's voice say "Moja-Moja" :')

Very sneaky. Much hiding. Wow. There's no way Franky thought this was working XD

The way all of this could have been solved with a "I tripped down the stairs and fell on my butt and now it hurts to sit" but hey we're getting a funny date how can I ask for more

Also the way Yor says that line my god

I am so ready for more Yor you have no idea

I gotta say, showing this moment is perfect for anime-onlies who haven't actually read this specific chapter. Loid just looks worried and Yor looks enraged. So many feelings for this episode XD

Are those macarons? What were the fucking chances that yesterday I went like "Next morning I'm gonna pass by that bakery that makes macarons". I haven't had macarons in years, yet I see one (1) advertisement about that bakery and its macarons and I go like yeah why not. Macarons. And now this. The fuck.

GREMLIN ANYA IS BACK

Honestly, her face in official merch is always a :D face with an almost unnaturally big smile all the time that I've missed her silly little face.

AH I WAS SENT THAT AS A MANGA SCREENSHOT!

Are those playing cards she's throwing? And is she reading someone's mind? I don't even care if she's cheating, good for you girl

Yeah, buddy, welcome to the real world.

I remember that line from the end of the bullet-in-butt date chapter, and I gotta admit I don't really like it... but the way Eguchi delivers it makes me think he's not like "Women amirite" but more like "All my years of training did not prepare me for how people are like in their day to day lives because spy training has skewed my perception of day to day 'normal'" and that's perfectly valid.

But also what the fuck is happening here. What is that cat. Why is Yor about to Thorn-Princess it. What.

So Anya goes on a studying rampage, fails, and ends up crying on her penguin?

This only made me sad, what the fuck. It looks like Loid and Yor are looking at her failing grades, and Anya is disappointed in herself. I will don my clown wig again and say "If Loid doesn't go and reassure her so help me GOD"

I... don't like the ending theme song. But that's mostly a matter of taste, I guess.

Aw.

They dare throw this to anime onlies when they know we won't get romantic canon twiyor content until three to five business years from now at least

The assassin group... I'm supposing he means the one Yor works for? How long does "for a while now" mean? Wasn't Yor working for them since she was a teenager caring for Yuri?

In any case, wow that's a very intense visual.

omg omg omg

from the colour and the angle this looks like a vision Bond has. Loid and Yor are smiling and blushing but why does it make me feel sad!!

I don't know if it's because of what is said in that moment (they look like unrelated scenes since the line is being said by a woman who I'm guessing is a fellow assassin working with Yor or something) but then there's this

And we just don't see Yor like that often, if at all in the anime so far.

What is Franky wearing? It looks like a military jacket or something. I wonder if that's just stylistic choice or it's something more important.

*snorts laugh*

Gotta admit, from a few tidbits here and there it looks like Twilight is finally gaining some more understanding of himself and his situation... but the way he says that just makes me think that realization makes him more concerned than anything else.

So I can say with conviction this did fix something in me. Though I guess the first episode will be the bullet-in-butt date, so it will take me another week to go into new territory. But! Bullet-in-butt date in 12 days! And new cool stuff to look for later on! I'm so happy!

(Again, I don't want spoilers for any of these. Just let me have my fun speculating :D)

screenshots taken from the unofficially subtitled trailer here!

[catbells-and-summerlinens]

...I am out with lanterns, looking for myself

I love rewatching OFMD because there is just always some new detail to notice, or a new association to make. I've always loved this haunting painting of Mary's, but it struck me anew on a recent watch-through.

[Screenshot courtesy of @mondfahrt, thank you!]

I couldn't stop thinking about the Emily Dickinson line "I am out with lanterns, looking for myself” **, and about how it's such a lovely symbolic image for the show's core themes:

No wonder Mary's painting depicts this figure doing just that - she's just been freed from the suffocation of being in a stilted arranged marriage. She's probably experiencing the most autonomy she's ever had in her entire life while she paints this figure. It may even be a self-portrait (see @mondfahrt's lovely post), perhaps depicting her own symbolic journey of self-discovery. (I adore her for not giving this up on this journey just because Stede decides to un-abandon his family!)

Stede and Ed are also both "out with lanterns" searching for their more genuine selves. They've both been living under heavy, suffocating cloaks of social expectations and in one another, they finally find a safe place to shrug off those prescribed expectations in favor of curiosity, novelty, and risk.

They are also serving as mutual witnesses to one another's self-discovery, which is so vulnerable because it's a such messy, chaotic process (even if you're not a pirate on the run from the British Navy!). But it's also fucking gorgeous, because they get to do this together. That's what makes my brain zap and inspire a sudden hunger for drywall - Ed and Stede are falling in love with the freshly awakened, authentic self of the other one! It's magical! It gives me a pit in my stomach!

My last thought it how paradoxical this all is. Of course, if you're the one out there with the lantern, well there you are! I'm getting Ruby Slipper vibes - we really have everything we need right here within ourselves, and we've had it the whole time. We always have the ability to be a little bit more authentic, more honest, more "ourselves". But, we first have to venture out into a dark field, with only a small lantern in hand to find out what we're really made of and who we really are. Ed and Stede had to make their intertwined journeys through the darkness to end up at what might seem like an obvious answer once they're settled down at The Inn: "Oh, of course this is who I am, of course you're you, and of course we're together."

**OK, funnily enough, I just learned that this line is not from some stunning poem by Dickinson, but rather a letter to friend where's she's complaining about the chaos of recently moving to a new home, ha.

[a-friendly-fangirl]

Hello! It's been a while. I wasn't missed, I'm sure... and yet here I am once again.

So, I've had my Boygenius tattoo for months and I recently realised that I never explained the symbolisms behind it. Shame on me. Time to fix this!

The tattoo:

The idea behind it:

When I started thinking of a Boygenius inspired tattoo, the only clear thing about it was what I wanted from it. And what I wanted was to honor them and their friendship, but also my own relationships. The three cups were immediately chosen as the best vessel to convey this idea. But I didn't want it to be all. I wanted songs references and a way to show what friendship is to me. Hence, the symbols in the cups!

The first cup:

The first cup is obviously very Me & My Dog and Phoebe inspired. We have moon, stars and a spaceship. All of these elements bring me back to some amazing people in my life and to my wonderful dogs. It's also a throwback to one of my favourite Boygenius interviews, the one with Pitchfork where Lucy made Julien and Phoebe laugh by talking about outer space. Moon Song was also a clear reference as well as my favourite Phoebe song, Chinese Satellite, Emily I'm Sorry, We're in Love and Letter To An Poet. But I must admit that Graceland Too started it all.

This cup is the one encapsulating sadness the most. There's grief and there's bitterness, with a tiny bit of melancholy. On this cup, the others stand.

The second cup:

I'm extremely fond of it. This is where everything begins in this tattoo. Sadness and hope rule. This cup is very Julien. A moth stands close to a light bulb (Turn Out The Lights, Brittle Boned, Happy To Be Here, Leonard Cohen and Bite The Hand reference), reminding us of Favor. An hand comes out of the cup or sinks in it, giving Stay Down and Anti - Curse (my favourite Boygenius songs) vibes, along with Phoebe's Funeral and Lucy's Triple Dog Dare allusions. Trying to save itself, the hand grabs the third cup, throwing all the cups off balance and pours its special water on them as well as on itself.

This cup's main theme is the light or the possibility of seeing hope, even in the darkest of times. There's drowning and suicidal ideation, along with sadness... but there's also swimming back and accepting love, even when you feel like you don't deserve it.

The third cup:

This third cup is very Lucy. The heart, the hummingbird and the pink carnation are all clear allusions to We're in Love, with a touch of Kissing Lessons, Trust, Televangelist and Please Stay, while the pen is a mention to the latter and to Letter To An Old Poet and a little nod to Lucy's love for journaling and my own love for books and writing. Last but not least... the water. Water is a recurrent theme in the Boys' writing and gives meaning to the whole tattoo, showing hints of True Blue, Stay Down, Anti - Curse, Triple Dog Dare and Christine.

This third cup is a testament to love and friendship, showing off a lot of the symbols that Lucy especially has devoted to it, like the pen that reminds me of books and in particular the books on Julien's shelf. Or the carnation, whose colour was decided by both her and Phoebe.

The whole meaning behind it:

The tattoo in itself is my way to say: "I love you. You mean the world to me" to my friends. There's this sadness on which I stand (the first cup), but there's also a deep love for my chosen family that makes me want to try to swim back (the second cup), because their love can make things better. Which is why the hand has decided to reach the third cup and use that water (where symbols of love have been) to bless the other two cups, trying to bring relief to their contents.

In other words, as my tattoo states, my friends to me are "An incantation like an anti - curse/ Or even a blessing".

[zalrb]

the summer i turned pretty 1x03 review -- "you mean conrad?"

Oh god, the infinity symbol. Why would you pour that on her pancakes tho. Why is that the moment for the Moment.

"Looking like a vision in floral." She looks NORMAL. You guys are making it seem like she's Arwen coming to Frodo in an ethereal light and bringing him back from the brink of death.

Why would you get your daughter a present because it includes your best friend's favourite poem? That doesn't make any sense. That should be a gift for Susannah. This isn't how you show how close all of you are.

"You excited to see Taylor?" How long has it been since you last saw her? Like a week?

"You're the main character, not Taylor." Is she though?

"I do not want to be cancelled by the sailing community" that's not what being cancelled IS.

stop. saying. extra.

"I just really want to look good next to you" you know, you wouldn't have to try this hard with Jere, Steven.

BOYFRIENDS.

Yeah, Steven, play with your boyfriend

I don't understand why this volleyball scene is so long.

"I know, I just ... care." Do you though?

So if Nicole is the girl this season then who the fuck is Aubrey?

Nicole, honey, you can do SO MUCH BETTER than Conrad.

"Suddenly you care about clothes, you have new friends, you have a boyfriend." OK a) they're making it seem like Belly was dressing as a slob and she her wearing a baggy shirt and shorts isn't the same vibe, it's like when Teen Wolf was trying to say that Kira looked so un-put-together and messy and my girl was looking like this

please be serious. 2. Nicole literally sat by the pool with Conrad and watched you and Belly play water volleyball together. It's not like you and Belly went to get a banana split and then Nicole dropped by and she was like I invited Nicole too, that's OK right? and then you watched as they had all these inside jokes and Belly's trying to include you. You are still very prominent Taylor. 3. Same thing. Jere picked you two up it's not like she came to pick you up from the bus station with Cam Cameron and you walk to the car and see them making out and you have to be like "erm erm". *cries in frustration* DETAILS. And if these things happen later, they shouldn't they should happen BEFORE this conversation.

Where are Steven and Jere they are my only source of marginal entertainment this season because of pure head canon.

"Just promise me one thing, we'll always be best friends?" She comes her for three months out of the entire year, Taylor.

Right, Aubrey was his girlfriend from before and Nicole is a new disposable chick.

"You think you could talk to him?" see, if they were as close as they were meant to be, Laurel wouldn't need direction to speak to Connor about opening up. She'd just do it.

Why would you have a Midsommar theme? White people realize it's a movie about white supremacy right?

See Jere's being an ass here with the whole her lips touch a dead animal's lips but calling him Cam Cameron is just a dumb way to be a dick.

And Cam showed you the fuck up with that quick peck, Jere, so shut up you child.

BOYFRIENDS

Taylor is a good friend though, I just find her supremely annoying but that's a best friend.

OK so if you're going to play Best Friend by Saweetie, this is not the scene you play it at

for thirty seconds until they walk into the party. Especially when you're rolling up looking like this

If anything, what should happen is Taylor should do her up, look proud at her work and when they roll up to the party, she's NOTICED by people and Taylor should look her proudly and the song should be playing. JUST GIVE ME A SHOW.

Oh Jere and a disposable Black guy to make out with.

What kind of likkle stiff kiss is this?

*staring at Conrad* for WHY. I love how we're three episodes deep and I have NO IDEA why she likes him.

Yeaaah Lola tries too hard to act like she's having a good time.

So does Jeremiah.

Hahah I like how they skipped over the super rape-y part of Summer Lovin'.

Yeah, see again, this makeout is very just staged. If it's a stupid, drunken mistake, it should be a little sloppier.

"Oh my God I am so sick of hearing about this fucking deb ball." Did Belly ever mention it?

It's literally been one day, Taylor. And aren't you supposed to know that Belly has her Cousins life anyway?

It has been. a day. And Belly has been acting EXACTLY the same. She just finally wears the clothes you want her to.

So, she is but she hasn't done anything to you, Taylor, for you to say that.

We literally never see this, though! She just looks at him from time to time in a way that's supposed to be wistful but she can't access the nuance for that.

I remember I was obsessed with this guy in high school and I took a picture of him and his friends when we all went on a class trip to the States, I really just wanted a picture of him but I wasn't going to ask him to JUST take a picture alone so I took the picture and then I was looking at the picture on the bus but like zooming in so I could only see him and my friend was like WHAT'RE YOU DOING? and looked over and saw what I was doing and then we both decided that she never saw that and THAT was super embarrassing. I should be seeing THAT type of "omg I feel like I'm in high school again" shit from Belly.

Give me a gen z version of this shit

"I can't deal with this right now. I gotta go." I mean why? What are you doing, Belly?

See I know the whole thing is Jeremiah is supposed to be friending Cam Cameron up to deflect but it's not giving him the layers they think it is.

And he's not good at playing drunk.

OH MY GOD, the way I BURST OUT LAUGHING AT THIS

she is TERRIBLE.

"Can I ask you something..." "Is that it?" "Yeah, that's it." Why are they acting like the moment to ask him has passed when he still has to drive her home?

Like is that car ride silent?

"They should be in his desk" where she will find the infinity necklace.

"He's been acting weird for months. Just forget him." Lol, do you two like each other?

"And today you can't stop obsessing over Conrad" and like I know that we use that word liberally and this is partly because the acting is terrible but the scene needs more room to breathe. Like I feel like what should happen is she sees the bracelet and she mulls about it quietly and Jeremiah keeps asking her about Cam Cameron and she gives monosyllabic responses and then he's like Bells, where are you? Like you're barely speaking and then she should talk about Conrad in a rush where she just can't stop talking and it's like verbal diarrhea and then she takes a deep breath and Jere's just like wowwwwwwww

Honestly, Belly.

Brat.

Oh my god Belly, you should be yelling at him for making out with Taylor when he's dating someone else.

For your best friend dying, this is a very cold conversation. Like they're trying to be Beaches but they're not being Beaches.

My mom was OBSESSED with that movie omg.

[leefi]

The Flower That Bloomed Nowhere Read-through | Part 2: Chapters 14-22

Part 1: 1-14 | Part 2: 14-22 | Part 3: 22-34 | Part 4: 34-64 | Part 5: 64-80 | Part 6: 81-90 | Part 7: 90-100 | Part 8: 100-127 (caught up here)

im curious as to whether references to things that are very modern to us (i.e. occam's razor, the glass ceiling, etc.) are just a function of storytelling to help us understand themes and symbolisms (as in, if characters only referenced things recent to their history we would never understand what was going on, because i presume this story is taking place billions upon trillions of years in the future). realistically, these humans should be more alien to us than familiar, even if they still look like us. OR i wonder if there was something that occurred in the previous universe relatively soon after our current history (let's say ~10k years from now). because even if our history is preserved, it should be overwritten by a sheer volume of information that would only make it relevant to historians who specifically study the period prior to us becoming a physics-wielding species. random med students wouldn't be making these references, even if they're prodigies.

Ok so There’s been at least one Great War/revolution. Maybe there was some catastrophic universe-spanning apocalypse. Maybe somewhere the old universe suddenly entered a state of false vacuum decay and humanity was far enough away from the point of origin that it had time to prepare and preserve or escape to a different plane. Even though this is billions of years in the future their technology might be rudimentary. Was all of history between then and now erased in between?

the reason i'm saying all this is that (i'm going to try to make my point again but briefer this time). sometimes feels like this is taking place 10000 years in the future instead of billions or trillions. what i'm wondering is if this is just a function of storytelling (references we understand are #crucial to delivering #themes and also way more fun to read). OR if we're dealing with a universe different than our own (not meant to model our timeline in the first place), OR if the apocalypse happened relatively "soon" after our current "history" today. does that make sense?

It's the 28th of April 1409, at 5:06, and 53 seconds. Satisfied? ⬇️ I feel like this is a surprise tool that will help us later

Oh okay I got to the section describing transpositioning and teleporting. They’re folding spacetime not atomizing. thank gawdddd The idea of getting vaporized when teleporting scares me soooo much. If we ever invented teleporting and it was like that I would be a staunch no-teleporter-EVER. No way in hell am I ship of theseusing myself and letting my little freak clones run around and kill themselves every time they want to travel. To be honest I already sometimes get metaphysically scared that any temporary loss of consciousness kills you as you exist. Like not to the level where if I sleep or go under I die and a new me takes my place (on a conscience level) every morning, but I’ve gotten close to that. You know. Like on a Kinsey scale of this I’m like a 4.5

Distinction treatment? Ooooh Do most babies look the same as babies? (like more than they already do) Are the lower echelons of this city (wealth inequality still exists but im guessing true poverty no longer does?) all people who look like siblings or twins? does future plastic surgery make you taller yet

I keep thinking like. “Who of the cast could possibly be the one getting murdered?” And part of me is hoping it’s utsushikome (not permanently obvies). Because I want this story to pull a new vegas. solving a friend’s or lover’s death is out. solving your own murder mystery has pastiche. it’s fun. it’s fueled by spite, not even necessarily a will to live. its fun vibes. Also a few of the order members have decided her grandpa had BAD VIBES. and they literallyyyy JFKed him. So. Um. Time to keep up the family tradition lesbian. get shot in the head

actually I’m still kind of hung up on that grandfather (sort of) thing from the first chapter. Maybe they’re genetically related but not granddaughter-grandfather in the traditional sense. Maybe the order is trying to wipe out a genetic line or inherent ability that su and granddad have, or permanently remove some knowledge/mission he was undertaking prior to the JFKing.

Also why did granddad get shot when he was on deaths door with dementia anyway? To make a statement? To make a point towards other members of the order? Did he commission it? “Would it be funny if I fucked up my granddaughter or what”

One should never underestimate the power of aesthetics, Su," Kamrusepa interjected. "Man is a creature that is incredibly responsive to his environment. Reinforce a story in the world that surrounds him, and he'll stay more focused on following the script. ⬇️ (15)This is the first time she’s said something that didn’t piss me off immediately

Using the epic of gilgamesh is interesting considering the story’s title. They’re looking for that flower under the sea that doesn’t actually exist, but that isn’t to say they can’t just create one, right? what am i saying

Soon, we came to the edge of the bioenclosure and spotted one of the tunnels that Linos had described, wrought out of stone and thick glass. The center of the passageway was sealed by a heavy, rectangular bronze wall, with a rounded doorway in the center. To the left, built into the wall, was a lever marked "RELEASE SEAL" in large, engraved lettering.

"Suppose it's pretty obvious what we're supposed to do here," Theodoros remarked. ⬇️ THATS THE INTERNAL DEPRESSURIZATION VALVE THEODOROS CHAN

Bardiya had always had the uncanny ability - or maybe it was a curse - of not seeming to respond to social divides at all in his interactions with others. Whether it was age, wealth, Party, sex or experience, he hopped right over that stuff like it was a puddle. Sometimes this worked in his favor, though it could also cause problems. The amount of occasions I could recall where he'd got on to the bad side of a prominent scholar or academy patron because he didn't 'show enough respect' was well into the double digits. Kamrusepa had impressed on us an unofficial command to keep him contained at any social functions that involved our class. ⬇️ On the contrary I would think? If I was a successful academic I’d find reactions like Kamurespa’s fawning overwhelming to constantly encounter. I’d much rather talk to people like Bardiya.

Ok re: the fight su has with her milfy mentor in the arboretum. the fact that if two people are connected by an open wound they register as one person and that this circumstantial can be used in an act of violence towards one another is maybe the hottest thing I’ve ever read. Who said that

Bardiya is the only bitch in this house that I like so far. I don't presently like Su but I get the feeling she'll quickly become my favorite character once I get more of her deal. I also enjoy Su’s milfy mentor (Neferuaten) too but something is sus about her. Why are you kissing a young woman you’ve tutored since young adulthood on the mouth. (Unless that’s a platonic gesture in this setting. In which case excuse my presumption.)

it was not a platonic gesture in this setting

"But Bardiya isn't some innocent party. He was a soldier, and he and his friends were shooting at the bloody grand alliance army. Frankly, they're lucky they even tried something non-fatal to begin with." ⬇️ God Kam fucking SUCKS

UTSUSHIKOME YOU FORGOT TO STOP BY THEODOROS CHAN’S ROOM AFTER THE DINNER!!!!! UTSUSHIKOMEEEEEEEEE

girl SUCKS at completing quests within the established scenario, ASKED TO LEAVE THE TIMELOOP

Raises my hand. I have a question. Is Su really Su. Getting a lot of body imposter vibes from these journal entries she's doing.

[dallonwrites]

🏵️ rosette,🌻 sunflower, and 🌿 herb !! please

🏵️ [ROSETTE] What flower symbolises your OC best and why? What does the flower mean in floriography?

OKAY so I have flowers for Felix Dorothy and Beau but they are like. Based on pure vibes and not the symbolism. So if the symbolism/meaning aligns with them we're about to find out together!

I've always associated Felix with daisies (mainly white daisies but also pink now that I decided it's his favourite colour LOL). Innocence came up a lot re symbolism which I'm not really into but I also saw loyalty which I loveee because Felix is definitely loyal! He's such a dog to me

Dorothy is lavender to me and the first meaning that came up was purity, silence, devotion, serenity, grace, and calmness which LOLLL Dorothy would reject all of those. Except maybe devotion because that's a theme in RR, but it's more Dorothy wanting people to be devoted to her LOL

Beau is California poppies to me (all the shades!) and one of the meanings that came up was dreaminess which I'm obsessed with because dreams are a big part of Lover Boy and I want to write it with a dreamlike vibe!!

🌻 [SUNFLOWER] Where would your OC get lost in the moment/beauty of the place?

Beau is getting lost in the beauty of the ocean like at least three times a week

Felix has always been a mountain guy to me he actually LOVES heights and the view from heights. I fear he would also still get lost in the moment when he goes to a Church but I can't blame him...like stained glass

Dorothy is out getting lost in the beauty of the ocean like Beau but her ideal body of water choice would be a river or a lake. She's soooo girl who stands in the middle of a river/lake to me

🌿 [HERB] Is your OC religious? What do they believe in?

Answered here for Beau! Felix and Dorothy both grew up in Christian fundamentalism and both reject that upbringing heavily but otherwise have different responses. Dorothy is just straight up atheist and has no interest anymore (although she is not anti-theist) whereas Felix, more at the start of RR but I'm curious to see where it goes, tries to hold onto some kind of faith. He actually kind of buried himself deeper into Christianity at one point and tried to find anything in it that he could take and find comfort in as opposed to the Christianity he was being taught, and he still carries part of that and doesn't know how he feels about it, because the only reason he sought comfort in Christianity was because he thought he had no other option

emoji themed OC interview

[notallwonder]

Alrighty. Here we are. Criminal Minds 16x06, "True Conviction". I've already seen it a couple times now, but I wanted to do one of these anyway.

Spoilers and extremely long play-by-play under the cut.

I'm unreasonably psyched for this

this technobabble doesn't wholly make sense to me. why would GPS matter?

obvs the most recognizable thing about JJ is the symbol of her marriage, great

lmao this is how I know I'm way down the rabbit hole for Paget - when I first saw Garcia's "bring 'em home, Emily" line, my brain helpfully supplied the sound of Arden Myrin's hilarious impression of Peter Pilot's mom Barb crying "Bring her hooooooome, Peter!" iykyk and if you don't, it's very unimportant

the smirk and eyebrow was completely wrong for the moment, yet Incredibly Hot

big style Janeway vibes as the turbolift elevator doors close

wow the jet is schmancy - wall sconces! it's wide enough to accommodate the new aspect ratio!

SUEDE JACKET EMILY

Tara you look so sad. Wish you had a hand to hold, your friends keep getting blowed up

Luke's ALIVE yessss

oh little baby unsub running through the forest....got bopped on the head....

now he's...locked in a cupboard under the stairs? harry potter?

MAC AND CHEESE MOTIF

god I want mac and cheese

I like this bad uncle guy. He's hilarious. Real good crazy eyes.

this really could have been a musical

honestly I think my dad served me that exact meal when I was a kid and my mom was away on business. Except mine also included canned potatoes (disGUSTing)

Emily hugging Luke and like...no shot of her acknowledging JJ? It annoyed me the first time and now it's HILARIOUS. Just...conspicuously avoiding JJ? I love her relief about Alvez (me too Emily!), and she already knew that JJ was up and moving and not dead. But...they had time for that hug and nothing else? FUNNY. CM flew too close to the Jemily Sun with "200" and the long walk back is still ongoing.

I guess if I wanted to watch this with my Jemily goggles... this could fit *very* well with the plot of "Late Bloomer", a lovely fic by angestreet in progress on AO3 (https://archiveofourown.org/works/43418964). ANYWAY - the not touching/having trouble being normal with JJ fits with an Emily who has been putting distance between herself and JJ for complicated emotional reasons she's just starting to understand. Or perhaps an Emily and JJ who have had some sort of personal conflict that we, the audience, were not privy to (see also: the "what ifs and if onlys" conversation in season 13). I mean, I still think it's a conspicuously odd choice on the TV screen, but there's room for some interesting storytelling there.

on the other hand - the flight down there from Quantico is at least 90 minutes. Plenty of time for the folks on the jet to get a phone update from JJ. I think we're led to believe they did NOT have that communication (i.e. the splosion interrupted cell service for a prolonged period), as otherwise why would Emily be palpably relieved about Luke's well-being once she gets eyes on him?

Ponytail Prentiss. Ma'am.

The brief and supportive embrace of JJ from Tara and Rossi? Beautiful. Chef's kiss. Lovely.

LOL this music. Teachin' the kid to lye. (haha im so funny)

So...are we to believe he is conflicted about his serial killer education?

No time for politics, Dougie boy!

ooh I wonder who the Attorney General is. Do you think we'll get to see her? Please be CCH Pounder.

Political pressure and machinations seem to be a theme this season. As I recall, prior CM painted its political villains more as bad individuals (Barnes, Strauss, seemingly Bailey at the start of this season). It does feel like CME is more deliberately placing the BAU in the context of a justice / law enforcement *system* that is corrupted or disturbed by political concerns (and otherwise wonderful and perfect and not at all corrupt in itself). Kind of interesting.

Poor Tyler.

Look! JJ talking directly to Emily! It happened! Not in the same frame, but. I just have to remind myself that these things actually happen.

Can you imagine Prentiss arm wrestling Bailey. She'd wipe the floor with that silly noodle. Her glare is too powerful, forget her arm.

So Bailey's *not* the reason they haven't been using the jet? It's the nebulous "politics"? Vague, but not a huge leap. We've already had Senator Aunt Zelda call back to the way Congress sometimes likes to hold the federal budget hostage to achieve certain ends.

ugh....friends....this should come as no surprise...... i'm so gone for her...... her visage pleases me no end..... (mind filled with spooky echoing whispers of sssmokeshhhow prentisssss)

Acting! Executive realness Emily. And she does trust Tara's ability to do the job, but is cognizant of those "politics" etc.

Tara knows she's staring at a shit sandwich coming her way. Tara, I love you. I'm sorry this is hard.

Tyler: "Some dude gave me my clothes back. Also he took my sick Crocs. I don't get it. Am I getting out of here?"

I like PG's dress.

MOAR HUGS!!!! love that. Whoopsy you hurt Luke's lil injured wrist bb.

JONATHAN DEL ARCO, my MAN. First watch through I did not recognize him but found him compelling. I love that guy. I loved seeing him reprise his role as Hugh in ST: Picard. I love his work here.

Emily is... compassionate in this interview. Doesn't feel adversarial. That look when he says he just wants to die.

Oy, poor JJ. She is stuck in this stupid situation with her business gnome husband where she gets to feel guilty AND almost got blowed up! And Will, please. "I promise to never miss your call ever again." Guys come on - be realistic here! This is So Dumb. I've never been able to hate Will despite the ways their relationship rubs me the wrong way. Because if nothing else, JJ does seem to mostly really like him. I don't get it, girl, but who am I to say? She looks really shaken in this scene. This gives me a bad feeling. I'm a little worried this storyline is going to end in her transferring out of the BAU or retiring or otherwise putting her family above her career in a more decisive way.

Tyler and Penelope... I don't hate it. Pen deserves some lovin' and she's a kind and compassionate soul. Luke adores her and he's better than Tyler in terms of current emotional stability I'd say. But the heart wants what the heart wants and sometimes the heart simply enjoys whatever is on offer. She must have her reasons.

I had to watch this Tara/Emily/Luke scene like 4 times because I couldn't hear the dialogue over everyone's insane BEAUTY. The HAIR. the..um...curves...the brown houndstooth over the navy shirt...Luke was there too...

side note: I hate the AirBnB/Target/IKEA generic-ass photography decorating the FBI offices. Federal offices are boring yes but usually in a more dorky way.

Oh! They are fighting in the Family Room.

Oh, Rebecca you little nightmare. Tara says Reeves is not Sicarius and that's all it takes for you to accuse her of dealing in conspiracy theories? That got my hackles up. FASCINATING. I can't look away.

Again...this plays into that same looming "Politics" business - the people around & in the way of our heroes are motivated by optics, by career ambition, by the *appearance* of justice served and the currency that provides. ...That exchange in episode 1602 or 1603, when Bailey suggests getting Domestic Terrorism involved to make people feel safe and Prentiss replies that that wouldn't make them safe.

This scene with Tara/Emily/Luke is lovely. They've got her back. She's a professional. Emily's reaction like "oof been there".

This interrogation. The tacit communication between Tara and Emily when Tara steps in (hot). The way Tara carefully talks her way to the point. The way Silvio's eyes cut over at "I met this woman" and then he looks away. The way the connection has been made - he does feel seen. He's smart too. And he's spent how many years committed to his path - death for the safety of the man he loved. I really enjoyed this scene.

Y'know Emily is consistently good about acknowledging Penelope's good work. I'm sure that's been true for the whole show, but noticeable here too - in 1603 when she tells PG her idea is really good, and here. Love it.

Oh now that I'm watching it carefully - PG has a whole MOMENT as she opens up about her own grief (unfortunate how many times the word "hole" appeared in this convo but wcyd). His lean in is NOT unwarranted, it's there in her eyes...

new catchphrase "it just makes the hole different"

I like Silvio's novio. I like that he found a way to live free of shame and fear. It does kind of beg the question why he didn't try harder to exonerate Silvio in the intervening years, but let's not dwell.

Rebecca's "I have never not been on your side" okay lady. you were pretty mad earlier and implied your girlfriend and her team were full of shit so... I guess you're a human being! lmao. I hate to see Tara back-footed like this but this is juicy.

oh hello hottie. Emily Prentiss, the way you sit in a chair.

Paget's delivery of "I'm not quite following" is hilarious. hashtag relatable.

So "family is what gets you killed". Family as weakness, as vulnerability. I don't doubt that over the next few episodes we'll get more rebuttal to that notion from our heroes, a la "we're a family and that's our strength."

These episodes really don't stand up on their own. They work better together. Can't wait for the next one.

[starsmuserainbow]

I'm trying really hard to do less OOC because I feel like I'm doing too much of that lately (though then again, without that, I'll just end up being silent for like weeks days on end when I don't manage to write something? feels worse, really), so, let me just throw some thoughts out all into this one OOC post instead.

I love all my chars so much I much too rarely say that. Currently, that's especially Akari, Starlight, Moonshot and Lightning.

I really wish I could draw better - I feel like I just missed out on internalizing some 'logic/perspectives' part at some point and will just forever be unable to do anything other than direct front view at all. I tried to start a drawing recently, and after trying the face like twice, I gave up because it looked really really bad. Maybe starting with the face is also the wrong point to start at, but it almost always is where I start, idk.

I'm trying to get myself a pc android-emulator to use another social media (starts with i and has a camera as symbol) because for some reason the chats over there have certain forms of shared pictures or whatever not supported when you look at it from a computer, also there's more features that the pc version just doesn't have and it's really frustrating and I don't wanna use my phone for it. Also fun fact: the windows store "app" of that media is the same as if you open the website in your browser (when closing it even said something about edge iirc), none of the app features are there, it's really stupid to even have that in your store if I can just visit it in browser for the exactly same result. Wish I could just somewhere say 'just pretend I'm a tablet or sth' to the website so I wouldn't have to bother looking for a emulator. (And I already tried that mobile website view thingie, that doesn't change anything)

I feel like I'm always just, like, attaching myself to others and getting to experience things through those others, always being only, like, an attachment, some annoying little random person that simply clings too hard to that other person that brought me into thing.

I'm trying to keep up writing again, I really don't want to keep having people wait for like a month or a little more. I managed to do it 2 days in a row now, and have something prepared for tomorrow already too, so maybe I'm on a good progress here. Then again, I also kinda had more free time these last 2 days or so bc I didn't feel so well.

It's just so darn hot. Can we please be done with summer already? Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the beachy vibes and stuff for my characters and everything, but in person I just never really at all enjoy summer and I just want to stop melting.

When chats are busy, and I say something (which I rarely do) and no one seems to answer to it, I feel so very much like I'm annoying. It's obviously just a brain thing, and nothing actually true, but man I hate feeling like that. It's usually almost impossible for me to try to say the thing again to try to get someoen to answer to it another time.

I really wanna be more active around the dash again. Liking things, perhaps sending things too (if I can get myself that far) - I feel like many of the ppl I see on my dash regularly I have nothing going with and doubt myself that they're even interested anymore even when we're still mutuals, and a part of me goes "you should just unfollow, clearly they're not interested anymore", but I don't want to give up on even more blogs than I already did somewhat recently (some months ago I unfollowed some I think) and I really have to try to find another way to fix this.

I'm so glad I found a way to access the yellow text color again. It'll be so nice to be able to use that again. And yes, I know that that color still looks weird even on my theme, but that's not my fault. All the other colors when used are on the theme in "npf-class:joey" etc, but for some reason this color never is. I tried to contact support about that before to get those into classes too which would allow me to style them in my theme (I'm doing it with some colors, if you see posts on my theme you see what I mean) so they're better readable, but they didn't understand what I meant and I can't explain it properly. Now that I looked at it again, it seems they fixed it for one of the colors - I think it used to be both red and yellow having that problem, now it looks like red styled properly - so maybe it's just not getting fixed bc they removed yellow from being an available color in the editor. Oh well.

Okay, that's all I can think of for now. Sorry for the long thing.

[merakejewelry786]

Are You Looking for Wedding Earrings in the USA? Discover Your Perfect Pair

Your wedding day is one of the most cherished moments of your life, and every detail matters, especially when it comes to your bridal ensemble. Among the many choices you'll make, selecting the perfect wedding earrings is a decision that can truly elevate your bridal look. If you're in the USA and on the hunt for exquisite wedding earrings, this guide is here to help you find the ideal pair that complements your style.

Wedding Earrings: A Bridal Must-Have

Wedding earrings are not just accessories; they are symbols of elegance and grace that frame your face and add a touch of sparkle to your entire look. From classic studs to statement chandelier earrings, the options are vast. If you're looking for a blend of tradition and style, consider Jhumka earrings. These intricate, bell-shaped earrings have a timeless appeal and work beautifully with various bridal styles, from traditional to contemporary.

Bangle Bracelets: The Perfect Complement

While we're on the topic of bridal accessories, let's not forget bangle bracelets. These versatile pieces of jewelry can add a dash of glamour to your wrists. Depending on your wedding theme and personal style, you can opt for traditional gold bangles, contemporary diamond-studded designs, or even a mix of both. Bangles are not only stunning but also a meaningful accessory in many cultures, symbolizing good fortune and well-being.

Where to Find Your Wedding Earrings and More

Now, the big question: where to find these exquisite wedding earrings and bangle bracelets in the USA? The answer lies in exploring reputable jewelry stores and online platforms that specialize in bridal jewelry. Many jewelers offer a wide range of options to suit different tastes and budgets. Shopping online can be especially convenient, allowing you to browse through a vast selection of wedding earrings, Jhumka earrings, bangle bracelets, and more from the comfort of your home.

Consider Your Bridal Look

When choosing wedding earrings and bangle bracelets, it's essential to consider your overall bridal look. Think about your dress, hairstyle, and the theme of your wedding. Are you aiming for a vintage-inspired look, a bohemian vibe, or a contemporary and chic style? Your jewelry should harmonize with these elements to create a cohesive and stunning bridal ensemble.

Final Thoughts

Your wedding day is a once-in-a-lifetime event, and every detail matters. When it comes to your bridal ensemble, wedding earrings, Jhumka earrings, and bangle bracelets are the finishing touches that can make a world of difference. Take your time to explore your options, consider your bridal look, and choose pieces that resonate with your style and the theme of your wedding. With the right jewelry, you'll not only look but also feel like the radiant bride you've always dreamed of being. So, are you ready to find your perfect wedding earrings in the USA? Happy shopping!