#i don't think this made sense idk

[oh-lacy]

this old family friend gave me this handmade necklace and bracelet for my fifth birthday and i just found it and cried. i loved those pieces of jewelry so much. i wore them everywhere i could, they were my prized possessions. and i don't know, something about the fact that the represent a period of time in my life when i was so carefree and happy and my biggest problem in life was i still counted on my fingers to do math just made me so emotional. the necklace barely fits me anymore, it's more of a choker, but best believe i'm gonna put it on and wear it everywhere i can.

[r0b1ee]

🍀 Guess I'm the fool // with her arms out like an angel through the car sunroof 🍀

[Bend It Like Beckham // Good Luck, Babe! - Chappell Roan]

[what-is-it-to-be-pk-esque]

Ok I know I'm heavily biased here but like I kinda love that Astarion's romance is one of the few in this type of video game where you basically end up canonically unmarried and childfree in his "good" ending? Just travelling the world??

Like it's honestly the millennial dream lmfaoo cannot believe i chose what would undoubtedly be my favorite option, first try

[lesbiancarat]

want to give my two cents on the AI usage in the maestro trailer--

i think seventeen doing a whole concept that is anti-AI is very cool, especially as creatives themselves i think it's good that they're speaking up against it and i hope it gets more ppl talking about the issue. i also understand on a surface level the artistic choice (whether it was made by the members, the mv director, or whoever else), to directly use AI in contrast to real, human-made visuals and music in order to criticize it. i also appreciate that they clearly stated the intention of the use of AI at the beginning of the video

however, although i understand it to an extent, i do not agree with the choice to use AI to critique AI. one of the main ethical concerns with generative AI is that it is trained on other artists' work without their knowledge, consent, or compensation. and even when AI generated images are being used to critique AI, it still does not negate this particular ethical concern

the use of AI to critique also does not negate the fact that this is work that could have been done by an actual artist. i have seen some people argue that it's okay in this context because it's a critique specifically about AI, and it is content that never would have been done by a real artist anyway because it doesn't make sense for the story they're trying to tell. but i disagree. i think you can still tell the exact same story without using AI

and in fact, i would argue that it would make the anti-AI message stronger if they HAD paid an artist to draw/animate the scenes that are supposed to represent AI generated images. wouldn't it just be proof that humans can create images that are just as bad and nonsensical and soulless as AI, but that AI can't replicate the creativity and beauty and basic fucking anatomy that's in human-made art?

it feels very obvious this was not just a way to cut corners and costs like a lot of scummy people are using AI for. ultimately it was a very intentional creative decision, i just personally think it was a very poor one. and even if some ethical considerations were taken into account before this decision, i certainly don't think all of them were. at the very least i feel like the decision undermines the message they want to convey

i would also like to recognize that i myself am not an artist, and i have seen some artists that are totally on board with the use of AI in this specific context, so clearly this is not a topic that is cut and dry. but generative AI is still new, and i think it's important to keep having these conversations

[businesstiramisu]

For an American with an internet connection, I manage to grow up with some pretty big gaps in my pop cultural awareness, and one of those was DC superheroes (Marvel too, until the MCU became a thing when I was in high school)

Like, I was aware that Superman and Batman are characters, and even that they live in the cities of Metropolis and Gotham. I just always assumed that those were fictional analogues for New York City and Chicago, respectively. (As the two Big US Cities, and I guess as a kid I thought Chicago was really dark and gloomy? which visiting it as an adult hasn't really been my experience but w/e).

But last month i got into batfam fanfic and learned that no, NYC and Chicago totally exist in the DC universe, and Metropolis and Gotham (plus a bunch of others with boring names) are entirely fictional with no real world geographic counterpart. Also I was entirely wrong about their approximate locations.

Gotham is in New Jersey, which, sure, explains why it's so cursed.

But Metropolis? IT'S IN FUCKING DELAWARE

most famous on here for tumblr collectively refusing to believe it's a real state?!?!

IRL it's mostly relevant as a corporate tax shelter!

I just can't wrap my head around the concept of Delaware having any important cities. IRL its biggest town is Wilmington, population just under 70k. Which, like, not tiny, but still smaller than every city i've ever lived in. (It's basically a surburb of Philly that just happens to be across the state border.)

Placing Metropolis in Delaware automatically downgrades it in my mind from "important enough city to be the stage for alien invasions" to "what the fuck is Lex Luthor doing there, why doesn't he take the tax break and put his HQ in a real city like a normal billionaire"

[freaky-flawless]

If you reblog, put in the notes what color you would call it.

[mildcicada]

[diseaseriddencube]

Alastor Has NPD Because I Said So: A Shitty Analysis

Grandiose sense of self-importance. Overestimating their capabilities or holding themselves to unreasonably high standards. Bragging or exaggerating their achievements.

It's pretty clear he thinks highly of himself. I like to think that not only does he love radio, but, being The Radio Demon, he believes himself to be heavily associated with it as if it's part of him. So when he gloats about radio being a superior medium of self expression, he's speaking about himself as well.

He was gone for seven years, and it's pretty blatant that he expects everyone else to care about that. Even if he would most certainly not give a true answer had he been acknowledged, he's desperate for that "where have you been" attention, and gets pissed when it's not received. He just naturally assumes he's important enough that other overlords would be concerned about his absence.

Assuming his smile is something he chooses to do (ignoring the stitch mark theories), it's a very visible high standard he holds himself to, and according to Viv, it's something he judges others for as well. Even alone, he refuses to drop his smile.

Frequent fantasies about having or deserving success

The finale song showcases this well, as he outright states that he wants power/control, to be "holding all the strings"

Belief in superiority. Thinking they’re special or unique. Believing they should associate only with those they see as worthy.

This goes pretty hand in hand with what I wrote in point one tbh. It seems evident that he's picky about who he's friends with as well, for example he only associates with Charlie for power.

Need for admiration. Fragile self-esteem. Frequent self-doubt, self-criticism or emptiness. Preoccupation with knowing what others think of them. Fishing for compliments.

This is more of an internal thing, which can be hard to see in a character that hides his emotions so heavily. But you can see hints of it in his reaction when his commercial is criticized, he's proud and asks for feedback, and immediately reacts negatively and gets defensive upon criticism.

He had a breakdown over the thought of his image being tainted for saving his 'friends', he's less worried about his actual injury and rather the humiliation of being defeated over something so uncharacteristic of him.

Entitlement. Inflated sense of self-worth. Expecting favorable treatment (to an unreasonable degree). Anger when people don’t cater to or appease them.

The first point is basically what I already spoke about, I don't think he really expects favorable treatment (perhaps internally, but he doesn't demand it)

That last point can be showcased with how he reacts to Lucifer, who didn't acknowledge him at all and criticized his work. He was obviously pretty openly pissed when Lucifer wasn't sucking up to him and his work.

Willingness to exploit others. Consciously or unconsciously using others. Forming friendships or relationships with people who boost their self-esteem or status. Deliberately taking advantage of others for selfish reasons.

Do I need to say more than Charlie :/ and also like everyone ever that he interacts with 😭

Lack of empathy. Saying things that might hurt others. Seeing the feelings, needs or desires of others as a sign of weakness. Not returning kindness or interest that others show.

Yeah I don't think the guy who hurts people for a living cares too much about hurting others-

And of course back to the smile thing, he sees anyone who doesn't mask as heavily he does as weak, he looks down on those who display their emotions so openly.

Frequent envy. Feeling envious of others, especially when others are successful. Expecting envy from others. Belittling or diminishing the achievements of others.

I don't actually see too much of this symptom in him, though I think it's more of an internal thing for the most part.

Arrogance. Patronizing behavior. Behaving in a way that’s snobby or disdainful. Talking down or acting condescendingly.

He seems to act most condescendingly around Vaggie, especially in the pilot, he's downright disrespectful. His interactions with Charlie upon trying to cheer her up comes off as very patronizing too.

[tanadrin]

Israelis and Palestinians learning to live cheek-by-jowl in one harmonious state like South Africa or Northern Ireland or Bosnia-Herzegovina (for, y'know, a pretty generous definition of "harmonious" in all three cases) would of course be really nice. But AFAICT the first one required political actors who could be trusted to deal in good faith and who had strong legitimacy in their respective communities, plus a long, difficult peace process; the second is still kinda janky and was premised on making future Irish reunification possible, plus involved two states that had disputed the territory between them coming together; the third is still very janky, involves a UN viceroy having a veto over all legislation, and was preceded by pretty hideous war.

So--in each case pretty historically and politically contingent. There aren't a lot of universal lessons you can draw here. And it's really, really hard to imagine anybody in the current leadership of either Israel or the PNA going for it, which would be a minimum precondition.

[russenoire]

one thing that strikes me about mob psycho 100 is how closely it hews to shigeo's direct emotional experience. depending on your tastes in worldbuilding and characterization, this can either be a strength... or a weakness.

the only characters fleshed out somewhat are those shigeo is truly close to; almost everyone else is painted with just enough detail to make them feel like people. but not much more... not unlike real-life acquaintances. this rings mostly true for events in the story, too. MP100 also shines very little light on what strangers think of its protagonist, in part because he doesn't notice or care all that much.

and even those people who matter most to him? shigeo doesn't really ask about anyone's inner lives, so we only get to know others at a 'surface' level. what's ON that surface is still rich AF, but it's mostly free of backstory: we get impressionistic flashes of who reigen, and dimple, and ritsu, and teru are almost entirely from what their lives are like in the present. as a result, the story is a very autistic (and for me, relatable) headspace to walk around in.

the mutual bond ritsu and shigeo share would not feel as strong without ONE letting us rummage around inside the younger kageyama brother's head for a bit, of course. shigeo loves his little brother more than anyone else in the world, but he isn't even privy to ritsu's emotional landscape until ritsu lashes out at him in an alley one day.

and we wear reigen's skin the longest, apart from shigeo's, because the boy spends most of his free time at spirits and such. but who was he before shigeo shyly opened his office door in search of empathy? surely he was more than a bored salesman everydude looking for something to give his life meaning, but this is all that we are shown clearly. unfortunately reigen's inner life is terra incognita to shigeo: he doesn't share it with the boy and shigeo doesn't even begin to ask until the story is nearly over.

shigeo in turn shares so little of his inner life with reigen that the man isn't even aware the child has friends his own age. and his immense, map-redrawing destructive capabilities frighten reigen all the more because shigeo never fully trusted him with that knowledge. the wrath of shigeo's shadow self is as ruinous as it is because shigeo couldn't trust anyone with his emotional insides, either.

how well do we really know those we love? how well can we know them?

how well can we know anyone?

[keepthetension]

still stuck on mhok's trauma, unsurprisingly. i keep thinking about the opening scenes of this show, showing us day losing his sight, and mhok losing rung. i really thought that the show would spend equal time and care on both

my first post about this show was pointing out that the first shot of day is a close up of his eyes, and the first time we see mhok, he's holding something in his mouth. and i thought it was so interesting that we see mhok gagged, because society generally doesn't care what people who've been incarcerated have to say. or poor people. and by and large, it doesn't care about the voices of traumatized people, either

and i was so curious to see what the show was going to do with that. i can't believe the show itself was never really interested in what mhok has to say

and i'm stuck on mhok's time in hawaii. the show highlighted over and over again how poor he is, and we know that he didn't like studying. what are his english skills like? we saw singha there, and i think one other thai person. was that the extent of his social circle? he seemed pretty happy to leave hawaii behind, so did he make no new friends? did he spend his days off just sitting in his room by himself, the way day did when he went to songkla with mhok?

i assume he and porjai were still in touch, but he moved abroad at a time when his ptsd was getting worse, and in the wake of a terrible breakup, and he just walked all of that off? alone???

feeling overly protective and over-responsible is absolutely an understandable trauma response for mhok, but you know what else is? losing a relationship, and feeling like you HAVE to go back and fix it, and that if you can just get a do-over, you'll be able to do everything perfectly this time, and you'll get everything right, and everything will be okay! this makes more sense to me in the final episode than the idea of mhok and day having a happily ever after does

[iscariotapologist]

my hot take is that the trinity is not that hard to understand. it's a clover/egg/water/mystery/etc like we've been over this

[distortedmoondisc]

I think we as a fandom don't talk enough about Aira being Hiiro's fan—y'know, as an idol.

It might be because most people don't read the main story, or because it's not blatantly stated in there like other things, but it's something I think is a very unique facet about their relationship.

As we know, Aira separates his professional life and his personal life a lot. He will wait in line to shake hands with Hiyori Tomoe and buy a dozen CDs just to have a couple of extra minutes just talk to him, even though he can do this at any time since they're both idols living in the ES dorms and friends from the same circle.

And while this is admittedly silly from Aira's part, he truly sees this something serious and actually, he's kind of justified in thinking this way? He takes pride in being an idol otaku, and he wants to play as fair as possible with fellow fans, he doesn't want to take advantage of the fact that he's living and working alongside these super stars, and in my eyes that just shows how pure-hearted and honest he is.

With that in mind, it would be obvious to conclude that Aira would be a fan of his unitmates. He's definitely a fan of Tatsumi and Mayoi, but it's explicitly said in the MS that Aira is a fan of Hiiro.

This is from episode 89, "Grace"

(this episode may or may have not changed my brain chemistry forever lol)

Here, Aira makes the statement that he wants to protect Hiiro as an idol.

Hiiro is new to this world; he's a rookie, he's unpolished, far from perfect, but he's brimming with potential and he shines brightly on stage regardless of his imperfections — especially to Aira's eyes, and Aira wants to protect that, he wants to keep Hiiro's shine, and to help him grow and become the great idol Aira sees in him.

And I just can't express how much this means to me??? To their relationship??? This is why I can't understand people who say Aira doesn't care about Hiiro (these are opinions I've read way too often on twitter...), when Aira more than anyone wants to protect him not only as a person (like when he comforts him, cheers him up and motivates him after Rinne disowns him), but also as an idol. Aira trusts in Hiiro the idol. He sees his potential and he admires him deeply — not only as a fellow idol or as a friend, but as a fan.

And what gets me is the wording Aira uses here. He talks about wanting to protect Hiiro, to defend him. This is stated in another chapter and I don't remember exactly where (I believe it's one of the last episodes of the MS, but please correct me if I'm mistaken), but Aira states that he wants to protect Hiiro's purity — and this can be interpreted many ways, be it in that he wants to protect Hiiro's innocence as in his personality trait (his endearing naivety, his trusting and friendly nature, his endless curiosity, his earnestness and sincerity), or his purity as an idol, in the sense that because Hiiro is an idol, he has an appearance to keep, he has to be shining and to be pure and beautiful all the time (because that's the image idols give to the world, to their fans; the image that gives countless of people like Aira hope); this can include protecting Hiiro from the darker sides of the industry, such as toxic fans, unhealthy relationships with fame, corrupted producers or people from the industry, among other things. Aira seems to be aware of these issues (as he mentions in the second chapter of the main story, see below), so it makes sense that he wants to shield Hiiro, who knows absolutely nothing about this industry or the city, from those things.

Episode 24, "Suspicious"

And personally, I think Aira means both. He wants to protect Hiiro's purity as a person: he wants to protect the cheerful and positive Hiiro he knows and loves and admires (Aira himself states this. Multiple times. So much so that Aira often comments about how uncomfortable he feels when Hiiro is gloomy or troubled, that he is always the first to ask what is wrong or if something is bothering him.... but talking about Aira's high perceptiveness for Hiiro's emotions is a topic for another day) — but he also wants to protect Hiiro as an idol, wants to protect the immaculate image he gives to the world and to his fans, because Aira loves him, the same way he loves an idol from a fan standpoint. And he hopes that by protecting this purity, Hiiro will grow to be the talented and shining idol Aira knows he can be.

And what gets me is that after thinking of Hiiro this way, Aira snaps out of his self-deprecating thoughts and decides to give his best in the Ullambana (episode 89). Aira literally overcame his insecurities because of Hiiro. Thinking of having to do his best and keep working hard in order to keep up with him and with Alkaloid gave him the strength he needed to stop spiraling down his own insecurities and focus his efforts into something that was worth it: in keeping Alkaloid alive, and keeping Hiiro The Idol alive, because Aira believes he will become an idol that will soothe, delight and captivate hearts of many like Aira in the future — and Aira has to become an accomplished idol and a strong person if he is to be next to him on stage to protect him and to help him grow.

-

I say a lot, mostly jokingly between my friends, that Aira is the biggest HiiroP... but after writing this whole post, I realize I'm not so far off from this assumption. Aira loves Hiiro as a friend, we all know and understand that, but what is often overlooked is that Aira—who divides his professional and personal life so strictly—recognizes the rookie, unpolished, but talented Hiiro as an idol, and he wants to see him grow and succeed not only as his friend and unitmate, but also as a fan. Hiiro is so shining and wonderful on stage that it awakens the idol-ota instinct on Aira, it brings him back to his roots where he watched and admired idols from afar and inspired and soothed his lonely heart. And honestly? I think this is terribly wholesome, if not incredibly beautiful, and I'm getting emotional over hiiai once again, so I'm going to finish the essay here. Thanks for reading ahdjfk

[skunkes]

unsure how to word this but there is something about having ocs with unsavory events happening in their past where it's like. talking about it, even when asked, seems almost gratuitous and inappropriate. and i'd much rather describe it through the oc themself and/or draw Them saying it. which is like. fitting for the subject matter? like of course its weird to talk about somebody else's business...!

and falls back into humanizing em/exploratory writing and development where u consider the impact of words said/words unsaid/HOW those words are said etc etc

[trollex-is-gay]

I had an interesting conversation earlier with a friend about the movie, because they didn't understand why I was so intrigued by velvets character "when she's obviously just a villain"

Because that isn't how these movies work and both of the green noodles are stressed out TEENAGERS.

And I love Veneer, he's a sweet heart, but he was also part in using Floyd's essence to make his job easier.

There is obivous issues from home coming in to play with the twins (?wasn't clear) plans to further their career.

And based on their suits..... I wouldn't be surprised if what they where doing was COMMON among musicians of their people.

Because trolls aren't considered a major anything in their universe, listening to their arrest charges, it made it sound like they got arrest for PET abuse and substance violations

Oh no yeah I was thinking abt that a lot, literally in the middle of writing a post about them for the au as we speak lol. I am CONSTANTLY thinking about how the bergens treated trolls as nothing but little animals for god knows how long, EATING THEM every year, keeping them trapped there...and those guys made peace with the trolls. The trolls LOVE the bergens now! And it hasn't even been that long! But Velvet and Veener have the hammer dropped on them SO hard for doing something very similar to one troll. Sure, they were frauds, and sure, they hurt Floyd and what they did WAS incredibly wrong...but the same time they're teenagers. Like. 16 at the oldest. And their parents are NOWHERE to be seen in current day. If they're alive, they clearly don't give a shit about their kids. It wasn't even jail they got sent to, it was prison, which is much harsher in comparison. Veneer is a sweet guy, a very soft-hearted kid who is a very good character as well. But like you said, he participated. SOMETHING had to be up with their upbringing. Veneer hardly spoke and looked panicked when Velvet flipped the table...and Velvet, who was probably what, 10? 9 maybe considering how small they looked? She flipped an ENTIRE TABLE with THINGS ON IT by herself. There had to be so many events leading up to that even at such a young age to cause her to have that massive of a reaction to a question as simple as "how was school today?" Like no way they had good parents when Veneer is obviously afraid of speaking out and Velvet has a whole airport full of emotional baggage that turned her into the person she is now. And they're not even 18 yet! What the fuck! Someone help these poor kids!

[lord-squiggletits]

Speaking of Tyrest. A lot of people forget that he treated Pharma with absolute disdain, not only using him as a test subject for a clearly painful mass murder machine, but talking to Pharma like he saw him as nothing but some henchman to order around that was nothing more than a 'diseased cripple' if Tyrest hadn't come to rescue him.

Like it really is an interesting background dynamic with some curious implications, but when you look at fandom posts from around that issue/the years after, for some reason people just saw "Pharma worked with Tyrest" and concluded Pharma is a card carrying bigot ksjfnskxkd. Like yeah Pharma didn't do anything to stop Tyrest but it seems his main beef with the Autobots was with Ratchet in particular and maybe a general disdain for his ex-comrades. As well as continuing to hate Decepticons which like, not even the "good Autobots" are immune to (even in Pharma's introduction, First Aid says in his journal something like "yeah we all hate Decepticons, but Pharma REALLY hates them"). And despite what fandom likes to construe there's really no evidence in IDW1 that Autobots and Decepticons are different "races" or "types" of Cybertronians, so Pharma hating Decepticons really isn't a bigotry/robot racism thing. And instead probably has something to do with, idk, the 4 million year long galaxy-spanning blood feud war, or maybe being blackmailed and tortured into insanity by the Biggest and Most Decepticon-y of Decepticons.

Tyrest treated Pharma like trash, the other Decepticons working for Tyrest (how come no one ever brings that up btw) also hated him, so if anything it seems that Pharma was more of a rogue element only staying with Tyrest bc he was his best option and probably had no way to even escape.

I'm glad that at least in recent years the fandom has acquired a keen reading eye and good taste to finally recognize Pharma as the (accidentally) complex character he is instead of making him some posh, racist Starscream clone SHSJDGSGDH