#and I must be someone new

[melit0n]

It came to me in a dream

[time-to-write-and-suffer]

I love how on Tumblr, "media literacy" has become "Um, just because someone writes about this doesn't mean they're endorsing this. I hate all these media puritans ruining everything."

I'm sad to inform you that knowing when and whether an author is endorsing something, implying something, saying something, is also part of media literacy. Knowing when they are doing this and when they're not is part of media literacy. Assuming that no author has ever endorsed a bad thing is how you fall for proper gander. It's not media literacy to always assume that nobody ever has agreed with the morally reprehensible ideas in their work.

Sometimes, authors are endorsing something, and you need to be aware when that happens, and you also need to be aware when you're doing it as an author. All media isn't horny dubcon fanfic where you and the author know it's problematic IRL but you get off to it in the privacy of your brain. Sometimes very smart people can convince you of something that'll hurt others in the real world. Sometimes very dumb people will romanticize something without realizing they're doing it and you'll be caught up in it without realizing that you are.

Being aware of this is also media literacy. Being aware of the narrative tools used to affect your thinking is media literacy. Deciding on your own whether you agree with an author or not is media literacy. Enjoying characters doing bad things and allowing authors to create flawed or cruel characters for the sake of a story is perfectly fine, but it is not the same as being media literate. Being smug about how you never think an author has bad intentions tells me you're edgy, not that you're media literate. You can't use one rule to apply to all media. That's not how media literacy works. Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! Aheem heem. Anyway.

[expelliarmus]

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Alas, this beautiful dream could not last.

[stoat-party]

[taxinealkaloids]

thinking about the tower princes again. girl worst friends. they’re so miserable i’m obsessed

[bsdtual]

So i heard David Tennant made a whatsapp group for the actors who played the doctor and i'm pretty sure the first conversation went like this

[gods-favorite-autistic]

Richard Lipschitz with a stutter/lisp/general speech impediment my beloved

[jtl-fics]

Fluent Freshman - Part 16

PREVIOUS

Sweeties is very busy tonight but they get a table relatively quickly. He sees some people looking at their group all dressed in the ‘required’ attire for going out to Eden’s and reminds himself that maybe it’s for the best that people remember him tonight. It MAY help the police find his body in a shallow grave somewhere if they can piece together his last few hours.

Nicky stops by the salad bar and grabs three packs of crackers. He hands one pack to FF who just stares blankly at it before shrugging and figuring his stomach needs something so he opens the pack and just eats the crackers.

Nicky looks at him with an abundance of fondness that he doesn’t understand but shakes his head and hands a laminated menu over to him to order dinner from. “I know you’re not drinking but you still gotta take your meds before we leave.” Nicky reminds and FF nods. He reaches into his pocket to confirm that they’re there and feels something cheap and plastic.

Oh god, he forgot to take his Happy Meal Toy out of his pocket. No one needs to know that.

He shoves his hand into his other jacket pocket and the sandwich baggy with his single dose for his Ulcer is right there.

He starts to look at the menu when he realizes that everyone else already knows what they’re going to order since they apparently come here regularly. He tries his best to never be a regular at any place where they can see him and repeat his order back to him (Hello CVS girl, yes thank you for holding some Pepto for him. No he is very brand loyal and would not like to try Tums thank you.)

FF stands behind the art of the panic pick.

He has cultivated this ability over his many years of panicking. He can look at a menu and pick an item that might not be the thing he most wants on that menu it is something that he can eat or drink. Then while he has that pick queued up and ready to fly if a member of the waitstaff comes over before he’s actually read what’s on offer he has his panic pick.

A place like this has GOT to have a burger.

He finds it under the sandwich section easily enough and now he has his panic pick as he peruses the rest of the menu.

The waitress comes far faster than he had anticipated and slams waters down at each of their spots. “What can I get you?” She asks and before anyone says anything Nicky and Aaron slide over the two packets of crackers that she takes before looking at the empty packet in front of FF, “Just two?” She asks.

WHAT KIND OF CODE IS THIS?

“Just two.” Nicky says grabbing his trash and handing it over to her.

She shrugs, “Anything else on the menu I can get you boys?” She asks.

They all make their orders and Nicky, bravely, steps in to remind him he likes his burgers well done when the waitress asks.

“Sorry, I should have warned you.” Nicky laughs bumping his shoulder against FF’s “This place has this stuff called cracker dust, it gets you high but it’s not addictive.” He says.

Every single 80’s PSA goes off in FF’s head all at once.

NICKY “FLIPS TURTLES BACK ONTO THEIR FEET” HEMMICK DOES NOT LOOK LIKE HOW THE ‘JUST SAY NO’ ADS HAD SAID HE WOULD.

There’s not a trench coat! He wasn’t even wearing a hoodie with the hood up! There’s no sunglasses! Nicky had given him a baggie for his ulcer meds but IT WAS A SANDWICH BAG.

“I see.” He says out loud.

“Do you wanna try some.” Aaron asks. He double checks and yeah Aaron is still in the same club clothes he had left the house with. He has on a hoodie but the hood is down.

He does as any 80’s teen sitcom protagonist does by the end of the episode.

“No thank you.”

He thinks Mr. T would be happy that he said No. That ad had been especially nerve wracking as a kid when Mr. T ‘shakes some sense’ into the camera.

“Alright, no worries. Neil and Andrew don’t do any either.” Nicky says quickly.

The drugs come with the food and Nicky and Aaron pocket them before handing over cash to the waitress who just counts it right there. He focuses on digging into his burger and realizes it has jalapeños on it but Nicky volunteers to eat them with his nachos and lets the conversation weave around him as he polishes off his burger and takes his ulcer meds. “Oh cool, hand me the bag so I can keep our stuff in there.” Nicky makes a grabbing motion with his hands and FF just hands it over.

He zones out as he eats his fries. He wonders if Great Gran is upset watching him or if she’s happy that he said no to drugs. Maybe he should have said yes, then he could at least be blasted out of his mind when Andrew dragged him to the basement.

Well, it’s too late now.

The waitress comes and clears out their plates but picks up her notepad and pen again. “So, what ice cream do you boys want tonight?” She asks and looks straight at FF.

But FF is prepared.

Ice cream places are easy. His panic pick is a given, it’s Vanilla. Every ice cream joint has it so he barely even notices how his heart rate kicks up to 190 BPM and his palms grow instantly sweaty.

“Vanilla.”

“Sorry Hun, we’re fresh out.”

OH GOD. QUICK, SAY SOMETHING ELSE.

“Surprise me.”

NO YOU IDIOT SAY CHOCOLATE.

“Surprise you?”

RETRACT, IT’S NOT TOO LATE.

“Yeah. Surprise me.” He repeats and he can FEEL Nicky vibrating with laughter next to him.

“Alright Hun, I’ll surprise you.” She winks at him and he blinks back at her.

The rest of the table all order (They’re all normal people who order strawberry (neil), the special with chocolate (Nicky), Lemon Sorbet (Aaron), and Brownie Fudge (Andrew).

“Surprise me.” Nicky whispers to him.

“I panicked.” He whispers back.

“Yeah obviously.” Nicky snorts but pats him, “It’s fine. The worst is you might end up with Pistachio or something.” He pats FF on the back.

FF likes Pistachio and the world loves to make FF suffer.

“Here you go hun. We just got this in, it’s Mango.” She says setting down two scoops of a bright orange ice cream down in front of him, “With a little surprise.” She winks again as she sets the other ice cream down.

They all get started.

Why is the Ice Cream kind of spicy?

He eventually puzzles out that the waitress has served him a Mango and some kind of pepper (probably habanero) ice cream. She smiles when he thanks her for the surprise, tries not to let it show how much the spice is KILLING his stomach let alone the acid of the mango.

Andrew has his eyes narrowed on him and he’s sure the man doesn’t want him to make a scene at a place that seems to be a frequent haunt for the family. So he eats every last bite and ignores how his lips tingle.

“Ohhh it must have been good. Maybe we should get you her number.” Nicky says looking at his empty bowl.

“No, I’m good.” She was pretty but considering the acid currently swirling in his stomach she probably thought he was an asshole for asking for her to ‘surprise him’. Even if that wasn’t the case, what if she thought it’d be cute to serve him this spicy ice cream as a cute couple thing? His stomach can’t take that.

“Aw man you’re no fun.” Nicky pouts.

They pay for their meals and the waitress hands him his receipt with a wink. He nods back at her before shoving the receipt into his pocket next to the Megamind toy. “Have a good night.” He says.

“You too Hun.” She says.

They head out for Eden’s and in a way the ice cream is a blessing because his stomach hurts enough that he barely even notices his anxiety about being at the place where Andrew most certainly is going to stab him at least once by the end of the night.

MASTERPOST FOR ALL PARTS OF FLUENT FRESHMAN AU

NEXT

Per your requests:

@i-have-three-feelings​ @blep-23​ @dreamerking27​ @andreilsmyreligion​ @belodensetdust​ @rainbowpineapplebottle @yarn-ace​ @iwouldlikesometea @lily-s-world​ @obscureshipsandchips​ @booklover242​ @whataboutmyfries​ @sahturnos​ @pluto-pepsi​ @dreamerthinker​ @passinhosdetartaruga​ @leftunknownheart​ @aro-manita-muscaria @hologramsaredead​ @Chaoticgremlinswishtheycouldbeme @tntwme​ @tayspots @nick-scar​ @crazy-fangirl2524​ @blue-jos10​ @stabbyfoxandrew​ @splishsplashyouropinionistrash​ @sammichly​ @the-broken-pen​ @bitchesdoweknowu​ @very-small-flower​ @ghostlyboiii​ @its-a-paxycab​ @bisexual-genderfluid-fan​ @cheesecookie​ @theoneandonlylostsock​ @foxsoulcourt​ @blueleys @adverbialstarlight​ @elia-nna​ @can-i-just-stay-in-the-corner​ @nikodiangel​ @foxandcrow-inatrenchcoat​ @hallucinatedjosten​ @satanic-foxhole-court​ @vexingcosmos​ @chalilodimun​ @insectsgetcooked​ @angry-kid-with-no-money​ @queer-crows​ @lilyndra @themugglemudperson​ @readertodeath​ @apileofpillows​ @mortalsbowbeforeme​ @hellomynameismoo​ @next-level-mess @youreonlylow​ @interstellarfig​ @notprocrastinatingatalltoday​ @percyjacksonfan3​ @queenofcrazy27​ @bsmr261 @ghostlyscares​ @spencellio​ @adinthedarkroom​ @harpymoth​ @sufferingjustalilbit​ @anxietymoss​ @oddgreyhound​ @ohno-myhyperfixation-itsbroken​ @ken22789​ @atiredvampire​ @isoldescorner​ @not--a--pipedream​

The requests to be added to the tag list got spread out across a few  different mediums on this one so if I missed you I swear it wasn’t malicious I’m just brunch dumb at the moment. Remind me in the replies!

As stated before if you’re up here and I spelled it  right but you  didn’t  get a notification there might be something  switched around in  your settings that won’t let me tag you properly?

[hidingoutbackstage]

The poor quality songs releasing solely on Spotify with no rhyme or reason to them…literally all other EAH and Mattel social media not saying anything about it…Allison Bloom not knowing what the hell is going on…MATTEL THEMSELVES CALLING THE SONGS AI GENERATED???

[melit0n]

EUCLID ANALYSIS.

Part one -> Title and meaning

Part two -> Line by line analysis part one

Part three -> You're already here!

Part four -> Musical/instrumental notes

Part five -> The Night in Sleep Token

Part six -> Conclusion

“I play along with the life signs anyways” → ‘Play along’ implies acting or participating in something that may not be entirely genuine, it's almost childish; playing along with life like it's a joke.

Finishing the line with ‘anyways’ adds a sense of nonchalance to it all. It paints the image that Vessel is going through the motions of life, however, he hasn’t fully accepted it all yet. He’s in this middle zone, the twilight zone, of experiencing it all but through a dissociated state.

“But hope to God you don’t know this feeling” → This one can be interpreted as a direct message to us, as the listener. While Vessel has gone through mass amounts of distress in his lifetime, before he was Vessel and as he is now, he has taken the last option he has left; Sleep. He’s both hoping we don’t follow in his steps and hoping to the Dear God we have never experienced what he has been through and never will.

“Yet in reverse, you are all my symmetry” → And here is the first reference to Euclid of Alexandria and his symmetry.

The lyric, as a whole, expresses an intimately complex sentiment about the nature of Vessel’s relationship with Sleep or his partner. Even when viewed in reverse, the person holds a profound sense of balance (through the metaphor of symmetry) for Vessel; they completed each other perfectly despite their large differences, which eventually drove them apart.

I would like to mention this can also be seen as a response to the message Vessel received that stated he had ‘saved’ the writer. Vessel reflected on this in a speech, concluding that whilst the message is true, it is in an inverse sense. We saved Vessel. We are his symmetry even though we are so utterly different from him. It’s a wonderfully profound lyric, whichever way you decide to interpret it.

“A parallel I would lay my life on” → Symmetry again!

Despite it all, Vessel would lay his life in this relationship, this person; that’s how much trust he has. However, the reference to parallels presents the concept of parallel lines, which never meet. This suggests a distance or separation, which emphasises the unique and individual paths each person is on, whether that be because of fate or free will. Then, the statement that Vessel makes, saying he’d lay his life down for this parallel, indicates a deep and soulful commitment (or sacrifice) for the sake of symmetry. He’s saying he has full willingness to trust this person, even if their stars won't align again. Even if their paths won’t converge, he’d still have some sort of trust in them.

It could also be a callback to the main topic in Acensionism.

“So if your wings won't find you Heaven, I will bring it down like an ancient bygone” → The line calls back to TNDNBTG’s "and the night comes down like Heaven". This is Vessel willing himself to bring down Heaven for someone who deserves it, but cannot bring themselves to reach it, as a gift for them. A thank you.

Plus, the comparison to an ‘ancient bygone’ adds a layer of nostalgia or reference to the past, which suggests Vessel is drawing upon ancient or timeless methods to accomplish this; using the past to his advantage, for once in his life, which then links into the later lyric of "for me, it’s still the autumn leaves".

“Call me when you have the time” → A repeat of the previous refrain, but with changed words. It feels less like a cry for help, but more of a light-hearted question. A ‘Hey! I don’t need you right now, but call me when you’re free, yeah? I’ve got something to talk about’.

“I just need to leave this part of me behind” → Vessel has accepted his walls have closed in on him and have fallen down, and he’s realised he needs to move on. Yet again, it presents Euclid as a eulogy; a closing chapter for Vessel and maybe Sleep Token as a band itself.

“Do you remember me, when the rain gathers?” → Vessel’s past is coming back to him again, he’s finally accepting it all but he’s still clinging on, asking his partner, or Sleep, if they still remember it all.

Further, rain often carries symbolic meanings, such as renewal, cleansing, as well as melancholy. The question is more of a ‘Will you remember me now that I’ve changed? Am I still good enough for you?’

“And do you still believe nothing else matters?” → This line is a callback to Bloodsport’s "tangled with what I never said, and you say it doesn’t matter".

It also brings up change again. At the start of the song, Vessel is afraid of change, changing out of the mindset he’s been in for so long, but now he’s asking his partner if they’re still the same as before. If loving them is still a blood sport.

“For me, it’s still the autumn leaves” → Autumn symbolises change and is the in-between of summer and winter. The middle of constant sunlight and constant darkness; it’s twilight. It displays a long-awaited change and finally, the acceptance of it.

“These ancient canopies that we used to lay beneath” → As autumn arrives, the canopies of the trees change yet again. The trees Vessel his partner used to lay beneath become ancient with all the autumns that have passed. Eventually, his partner becomes an ancient bygone to him.

“No, by now, the night belongs to you” → Direct callback to TNDNBTG from Sundowning. The Night, lore-wise, is presented as something holy. It is their duty, as Vessels of Sleep, to constantly stay awake because the night belongs to Sleep; no one else. Vessel is rebuking against Sleep, stating that the night no longer comes down like Heaven, like he once believed, and belongs to someone entirely human now. It belongs to him. It belongs to us.

“This bough has broken through” → Direct callback to WTBB from One. When the bough breaks is an idiom meaning ‘when a situation has reached the point of no return’. In WTBB, this is in reference to how Vessel and his partner ignore how toxic their relationship has gone because neither of them wants to be alone in their suffering. The bough has broken through because Vessel has left this person, and he has changed. He has overcome the fear of being alone and has changed for the better.

“I must be someone new” → This is a direct statement of how Vessel must change if he wants to continue on. He must find a way to become human again while being a Vessel of Sleep. He has to get over his past.

The bridge then repeats the previous two verses, almost as if Vessel is trying to nail in his final point. He hasn’t got anything more to say, so he’s repeating all he’s said.

Finally, the fourth and final verse is a repetition of the second verse of TNDNBTG. The produced album trilogy, the loop, finishes here. As the listener, we are sent right back to where we first began; in a state of suffering and struggling to accept our new form, to accept our humanity. But, if you run it back, listen to albums again, you’ll be right back at Euclid. You’ll be back to facing the fact of change and guess what? Time has passed again. Could be a couple of hours. Could be a couple of days. Could be a month! But time has passed as you have revisited the past on an empty ceiling and you, as the listener, are faced with change again.

Euclid, in the end, lyrically, becomes the question of have you accepted it yet? Will you allow time to sew your wounds shut, or do you need to go back one more time? Go back to where your atoms stopped fusing, to where it was blue light over murder, or, do you want to face the inevitable?

[nightswatchdisbandmentera]

As far as character progression goes, I'd argue that the most important aspect of the RLJ reveal isn't just Jon learning that he isn't Ned's son. The most important part is him learning that he isn't Ned Stark's bastard son. He's spent all his life chasing after Ned's shadow, trying to prove to himself and to the world that he is worthy of being Ned Stark's son, "let them say that Eddard Stark had fathered four sons not three", “he was not a Stark but he could die like one” and all that. He's internalized the shame of being the one stain on honorable Ned Starks' reputation

“But it’s a lie,” Jon insisted. How could they think his father was a traitor, had they all gone mad? Lord Eddard Stark would never dishonor himself … would he? He fathered a bastard, a small voice whispered inside him. Where was the honor in that? And your mother, what of her? He will not even speak her name.

So it's important for him to finally stop chasing after that elusive shadow. It's important for him to understand that Ned's dishonor was a deliberate choice that he made by himself, and it's thus no fault of his own. Once Jon internalizes that, then he can finally move on and ask himself, who am I? What do I want for myself? What can I be in this world, just as I am? So far, he's been unable to do that successfully because he still has an incomplete (and false) understanding of who he is.

[poisonousquinzel]

"a dude in Texas legally changed his name to "Literally Anyone Else" and he's attempting to run for President against Biden & Trump" [source]

okay, but putting aside the comedic aspect of this, it is concerning the amount of people who are prompted to vote for candidates just because it's funny. I'm not the biggest fan of how his policy about the boarder sounds [Site], but I do implore anyone who is able to vote in the 2024 US election to please research other candidates.

The media is only going to continue pushing the idea it's inevitably going to be Trump vs Biden 2.0 and we have no other options, that we have to vote for Biden again because of Project 2025. Is that whole thing terrifying?

Yeah, fucking absolutely.

But voting for Biden will not solidify our safety from that. Biden is exactly like the rest of them. He always has been. You can't make the lesser of two evils argument when they're both just plain evil.

You cannot say that Biden is even mildly a better choice than Trump when he is currently directly involved in a genocide. That is not some little fucking thing. That in and of itself disqualifies him as a lesser evil. Biden is just as bad as him and he will not save us because he doesn't fucking care.

Cornel West [Site] is an Independent candidate running for President in the 2024 Election. [Policies]

Claudia De la Cruz and Karina Garcia [Site] are running for President and Vice-President as the candidates of the Party for Socialism and Liberation in the 2024 Election. [Policies]

There are options.

There are people trying to change the corrupt foundation our system is built on, but we have to help amplify them because the mainstream media will not.

[unlimitedsupplies]

meanwhile, in the background of My New Boss Is Goofy

and how could i not instantly recognize

[whitestnoise]

[petewentzisblack1312]

hey yall its your apparently biannual 'please be nice to me because ive just suffered a sudden loss' post. so please be nice to me because ive just suffered a sudden loss.