#not sure if anyone else has noticed

[ladamedusoif]

Hi Rose!

In your list of 5 topics you could speak for an hour on with no preparation, one stands out to me as quite different from the rest…

Apollo 11

How did that fascination start? What about the Apollo 11 mission interests you most? Any fun facts I may not know? (I will warn you that I have spent family vacations the past three years at various air and space museums lol)

*stretches, flexes fingers*

KAT. What a great ask. And yes, my love of the Apollo 11 mission - and the entire space race in general - is probably a little at odds with most of my special interests. I'm also very aware of the inherent problems in the space program, as Gil Scott Heron so beautifully articulated at the time in 'Whitey On The Moon'. But it absolutely fascinates me. Warning: nerding out incoming.

I was always aware of little things about the race for space - I share a birthday with poor Laika's ill-fated launch, so all the 'on this day' stuff I devoured as a kid on my birthday involved a poor little Russian dog going off into space and not returning. Definitely not traumatising or weird. (I have a Laika brooch and fridge magnet, though, as a little nod to this.) And I saw Apollo 13 in cinemas, and was always fascinated by the aesthetic of the program.

With the fiftieth anniversary of the Moon landing in 2019 the BBC launched an utterly brilliant podcast series called Thirteen Minutes to the Moon, which had me hooked. (They did a sequel about Apollo 13, too - highly recommended). I found the narrative fascinating and compelling - not a straightforward tale of heroism and American triumph, nor of absolute loathing of their Soviet cosmonaut rivals and colleagues. (A favourite Apollo 11 detail is that Armstrong and Aldrin left a commemorative medal on the surface of the moon for Yuri Gagarin, first man in space, and Vladimir Komarov, another Soviet space pioneer who died tragically young. Hardly the actions of hardcore Cold Warriors...)

After that I read everything I could lay my hands on about the mission and the space program in general. Michael Collins's extraordinary memoir Carrying the Fire confirmed him as my absolute favourite astronaut: erudite, a Francophile, utterly hilarious (he had a tendency to use slang terms like "that cat" and "baby" casually in his communications during the mission) and with a really insightful understanding of his colleagues. He also designed the initial concept for their mission badge - notably refusing the inclusion of their names, as this would have erased the contribution of so many others, and insisting on the olive branch in the eagle's claws as a sign of peace and goodwill for all mankind.

I also adore Andrew Chaikin's A Man on the Moon, which covers the entirety of the Apollo missions. The Smithsonian/Air and Space Museum (of which Collins was the first director!) also made available countless digitised and scanned items linked to the missions, including these natty purses in the shape of the command module from Apollo 11 that were gifted to the wives of the crew. (Yes, I want one.)

The final thing that hooked me? Todd Douglas Miller's beautiful, powerful Apollo 11 documentary, with a score by Matt Morton that is still on my go-to writing soundtracks list. I can't recommend it enough if you haven't seen it. It's an extraordinary piece of work, one that blends the humanity of the people involved with the epic scale of what was being undertaken.

And I think that's what appeals or interests me about it: the risks, the fears, the hopes, the criticisms, the sense of a world waiting and watching to see how this would play out. And that's why I've got a full Saturn V rocket Lego model on top of one of my bookshelves and a Lunar Lander set waiting to be built...

Thank you so much for asking - and apologies for all this nerding out! (I'm guessing you've seen For All Mankind on Apple + - if not, it's a great counterfactual telling of the story.)

[starrysharks]

hotel manager

[redr0sewrites]

i will forever defend these two- NOT to start discourse but they are both so heavily mischaracterized by the fandom its INSANE like omg yes they are flawed but they are also trying their best PLEASE leave them alone 🙏🙏🙏

as usual im yapping in the tags if anyone cares

[batsplat]

do you have a favorite bit of motogp gossip that you either want to know is it’s true, or you just enjoy as a stand alone piece, no need for further investigation?

one of those where I initially stared at and like. lost all motogp knowledge in my brain. and then stuff did come back to me. this is all very much low hanging fruit and I'll add to it when I remember more interesting/quirky ones. BUT here are some things I want to know:

y'know how casey randomly suggests in his autobiography that valentino was sabotaged in the 2006 title decider? so, personally, I don't really buy this, because 'why' and also 'casey girl you are SO paranoid' - though, sure, if given the option I'd like to double check if valentino had a dud tyre (completely plausible) and also if somebody really deliberately gave him one (?? casey idk about this one). but what I'm REALLY curious about is... there's a change in his autobiography?? like I've seen this book excerpt float around online and the text is different from what's in my book!! mine's from the paperback version so I assume there may have been some edits for that, so that would make it the newer version... but like. this is a real editorial change. check this out:

version posted on the internet, from the hard cover edition???

version in my book, first paragraph is the same

But as soon as the lights went out Valentino was in trouble. I was one of six riders to pass him on the first lap and if you watch the footage you can see how much he is struggling to even keep up with us. His rear and front tyres were just not working together and on lap five the front inexplicably folded and he went down, right behind me. I couldn't help but wonder how he could be having such problems with his tyres. Could he really have been stitched up? It seemed so improbable, but I remember watching that race back in the motorhome that evening and thinking, Welcome to my world, mate.

this isn't 'gossip' because I haven't found anyone else who has spotted this, but like? that's a substantive change? if my one really is the newer one? ...?

let's set aside the fascinating insight you get into casey's knotty and at times bizarre valentino rossi complex with him adding the line "welcome to my world, mate" (oh my god. please just take him to dinner. I will crowd fund this I literally just need to be able to listen in. casey come on CALL him I NEED you to do the dinner thing, YOU suggested it not me). like we're not going to even touch that. but if my version really is the updated one, then he's kinda softened his stance, no?? "convinced he was stitched up" to "could he really have been stitched up"

what happened?? who wanted this change? casey? an editor? did dorna give casey a call? did some poor bloke from pr have to politely ask whether casey could please not state in his autobiography that the most popular rider ever had had a title stolen from him by the establishment?

(casey was talking about valentino's stolen tenth BEFORE it was popular. he did it even before valentino did, bless)

"there are a lot of commercial interests in the sport" also didn't make the jump to the 'new version', mind you. did Big America get to casey

come on you guys have to admit this is an odd change?? does nobody else thing this is weird??

okay fine moving on

Did Valentino Literally Curse Sete

(like. not literally as in did he curse curse sete, literally as in did he say it)

(though if he did literally literally curse curse sete, I suppose I'd also like to know that bit)

the commentators in 2003 brno say so and I'm inclined to believe them, but I need to double check whether sete and valentino really were partying on ibiza together right after that very painful valentino loss at the sachsenring. such a fascinating little detail, that's not something post-2004 valentino does I reckon

I mean, look, obviously a bunch of things from that time period I want to have fact checked. including valentino's friend hearing sete say in late 2003 that valentino wasn't going to be smiling so much after joining yamaha. classic bit of gossip, did it actually happen though

I've referenced this a few times before, but y'know how valentino said that marc's manager alzamora told him after sepang 2015 that marc had been angry at valentino for killing his title charge? I just want. to know. if this conversation actually happened. I don't think valentino would pluck a lie like that out of thin air, especially something so specific about somebody on marc's team, and he has known alzamora for decades but like. maybe almazora just said something valentino misinterpreted? I just find this such a bonkers thing from alzamora if it's true that I would like it confirmed for my own sanity, you know?

yeah look I would like to know if marc really did get casey kicked out of honda, obviously I've discussed this before and it's very he said she said but yeah it'd be fun to know the truth

this is literally peak gossip because I can't find a source for it but I swear a journalist did say it: the rumour is that marc blocked joan mir from joining honda in 2019. like, I'm only including this because I was explicitly asked for gossip as I just cannot find where it was said... but it is something that is. out there. and... again, just curious. like I buy it, but also it could be bullshit!

on a similar note, did he ever make clear to honda he didn't want either vinales or rinsy on his team circa 2016? was it just a vibe in the paddock or was this an actual demand from marc?

speaking of!! the whole thing about alzamora basically rigging the moto3 teammate situation between rinsy and alex marquez to ensure the latter won the title that year. what was that all about, how far did they go there

switching to valentino now. this doesn't quite fit the remit of the question because it IS something I've investigated. and my conclusion is basically a big *shrug*

did valentino block casey from joining yamaha in either 2005 or 2006, and did he attempt to block jorge?

there are completely contradictory sources on the timeline here that do make me feel like there's a chance yamaha was just fucking with casey at the very least in 2006 and valentino had fuck all to do with it, which a recent interview from casey did actually hint at too... he made it sound like maybe yamaha was just using him to try to drive down the price of another rider (which would then presumably be jorge)

I just want to know! and the thing is, it was a matter of open paddock discussion that valentino blocked casey (jorge explicitly references it in in 2007), but something doesn't quite add up between what jorge, casey, colin edwards, articles from the time and lin jarvis have said on the subject! my current pet theory is that valentino blocked casey in 2005 from joining the satellite yamaha team in 2006 (weirdly casey doesn't really imply valentino was responsible for this one in his autobiography, but whatever) but NOT in 2006 (casey does imply valentino was responsible here, you see my problem). and yamaha was fucking around with all four of valentino, casey, jorge and edwards in late 2006/2007. but. yeah. I have unanswered questions

the entire 'alex marquez blocked from yamaha' situation.... again. something is off there. you know the story from late last year about how he was blocked in 2019 from joining the petronas team in 2021? this completely threw me, because there was an entirely different story about this YEARS back in 2018!! I initially assumed the two stories were about the same event, but it can't have been! one's him being blocked in 2019 for 2021, one's him being blocked in 2018 for 2019

from the descriptions of both there's also no confusing them. the 2018 story has to be about the 2018 contract cycle because that's quite literally when it was published, and the 2023 story has to be about the 2019 contract cycle because it explicitly references the space fabio would create by moving to the factory team for 2021, which obviously wouldn't make sense before fabio's actual rookie season. like they have to be about different stories

and in that same 2018 story, marc said that back in 2016 lin jarvis told him no marquez would be joining yamaha:

again, this was in 2018!!

plus, he did say back in 2016 that he'd spoken to jarvis, which kinda backs up this is a conversation that did happen and marc isn't just misremembering the timeline/lying (the notion of marc joining yamaha in 2017 is fantastic, what an absolutely horrendous idea):

now what marc says in 2018 about his conversation with lin jarvis is very similar to petronas yamaha boss razali saying in 2023 that he'd been told by yamaha no marquez was allowed at yamaha. suggests that this is a thing that did happen!!

but again... razali was told that in 2019... after marc had already been told the same thing three years before that, and the exact same deal had already been blocked one year earlier... does nobody else think this is weird?? like, I'm not saying yamaha hq covered themselves in glory here, but is it not a little strange the satellite yamaha squad had basically almost signed a contract with the younger marquez again without checking in with yamaha, just ONE YEAR after this same contract had already been blocked???

again this isn't actually gossip because I'm apparently the only person going ?? about this but I'll say it: ??

kinda been annoying me since december last year, like I know it doesn't matter but I'm just curious about it! why's nobody else talking about the 2018 story!

idk my best guess here is that petronas yamaha was faffing about and playing weird games with the factory team, that the deal was never as likely to happen as they made it sound to the marquez camp. zero proof, that's me spreading rumours yeah... time to create some of my own unfounded gossip

(also of course I'm curious if valentino did have any actual involvement in this. like if lin jarvis was telling marc this in the year of our lord 2016, I'm assuming valentino didn't have to explicitly say to jarvis that 'inviting marc to the team for 2017' wasn't exactly high on his christmas wish list. it is interesting that marc frames it as jarvis making this about. like. all the marquez's way back in 2016, and again, would this really have been on valentino's radar at the time? that feels a bit...? alex marquez was thirteenth in that moto2 season? would certainly be very... thorough for valentino to already have had that particular talk with jarvis)

(mind u there's a fun moment in a 2019 presser where valentino is sitting between the two marquez brothers and the younger marquez is being asked about his contract situation, the implication being he'd had a motogp deal and no longer had a motogp deal. and he's answering and marc's doing his freak stare and valentino is Right There sitting between them... I <3 mess)

man did valentino actually ever fucking block anyone from joining his manufacturer #notmygoat. I still think he didn't know about jorge until the deal was basically done, had nothing to do with the younger marquez, at most blocked casey the one time but then yamaha wasn't actually seriously intending on signing casey in 2006 and was just using it as a play in their jorge negotiations, which.... idk. bit disappointing if true icl. I hope he blocked someone, I'll say it

(also. okay. I don't want to sound awful here because I do have a lot of sympathy for baby!casey but. ignoring the morality for a second, I do LOVE the idea that valentino blocked casey from getting a satellite yamaha seat fresh off his 250cc runner up season because it would conclusively prove valentino did ABSOLUTELY rate casey!! like he didn't even want casey to come close to being his teammate!! not even a sniff at his data!!) (genuinely this is the rumour I'm choosing to believe, I know there's a chance valentino didn't successfully block anyone and was just a complete flop but I want the 2005 one to be true. it really adds something to the rivalry idk... like ugh valentino saw how dangerous casey was proper early when much of the paddock wasn't yet convinced... cute)

moving on

there was a rumour in 2015 that valentino approached dani after aragon to complain about how sturdy his defence was, like moaning about denying him points and shit. now, there's exactly one article about this in marca that is the sole origin point for the rumour, and it says that valentino also interrupted a honda party after phillip island to complain to marc. this does not match up at all with anything either marc or valentino have said since then - and would mean you have to believe that marc wasn't actually blindsided by that presser... also feels a bit unlikely we would have heard NOTHING from any other source if vale was really gatecrashing a honda party

of course, neither dani nor valentino have spoken about this supposed post-aragon 2015 meeting either, not even when dani was kinda accusing valentino of hypocrisy during sepang 2015, but I suppose you could say maybe dani's just not the type of guy to bring it up again. however.... I do reckon occam's razor kinda applies here and if one of these stories is bullshit then they probably both are, plus it's not like marca is exactly a neutral source. still would love to be certain!! instinctively I don't really think that's valentino's style at all, but of course it'd be intriguing if the story were true because it'd be a sign of how 2015 kinda messed with him. but I still feel 2015 is more about him falling back on past tools he'd mostly discarded - rather than, like, acting wildly out of character, which again... well, this brings us back to how that kind of behaviour isn't really valentino's style. basically, I don't buy it, but that's kinda why I am so curious about it? because I feel like it would be really interesting and quirky if he had actually done that. does this make any sense

speaking of, again this doesn't really count because I did kinda investigate it last year.... but you know when valentino in that podcast referenced a conversation with marc around the time of sepang 2015, where marc stared blankly at him? I have a hunch about when that conversation happened, want to know if it's right. this also isn't really 'gossip' because this is a conversation I'm having with myself but

y'know when bez was injured on the ranch late-ish last year? a bunch of journalists pointed out how hush hush they were about what actually happened to bez - like they repeatedly drew attention to that because god knows THEY love some gossip lol. which probably means nothing, but I'm curious what the journalists' theory here is, like do they think it was an embarrassing injury?? OR. look. I suppose the conspiracy theory would be that pecco caused it (obviously accidentally!!) and everyone at the ranch knew it'd be a terrible look if they admitted that because of the whole title fight situation. call me casey stoner because those dots are not real and definitely have not been connected

okay, you know how there were rumours in the spanish tabloids bez said some real ugly stuff to marc at valencia last year, and bez didn't directly address it but freaked a little and did a sort of blanket denial that he'd said anything that bad? I don't actually think he did tbh, but again. would just like to check!

while we're already on bez, there was one report that the switch to aprilia was partly motivated by marc to factory ducati. again, not entirely sure I buy that this would factor into his thinking beyond the obvious 'this means the route to that factory ducati seat looks even more closed than it already did' angle'.... it's very much down my list of priorities but I'd quickly confirm/deny it if given the chance yeah

that's all for now lol

[pocketramblr]

Au where quirks exist ever since the beginning of humanity but thought the last 200 years they started becoming rarer for no explainable reason

"for no explainable reason"? Not "because someone born two hundred years ago started eating them all"? Well, both can be true I suppose

1- humans have always had quirks so just go ahead and disabuse yourself of the idea that world history looks anything like ours now. Any boundaries humans have drawn between themselves or their spaces are totally different. Anyway, our story is set on the island nation of Akitsuba, which has begun to receive reports of children who are born without quirks- it seems impossible, but apparently the child born in Canton Province to two glowing parents but had no light himself was not the result of an affair. He is genetically both his parents child - just, without any unique plus alpha factor at all.

2- when the news breaks, Setsuji looks over at his twin brother. The two stay in a group home, and on the record, they have a spike quirk, just like their mother did before she died at their birth. In truth, Setsuji can take others quirks. He assumes he took his brother's in infancy, which why the boy can't use them, but now he wonders if his brother was in fact simply born without. He doesn't say anything, but his brother does- whispering it at night, apologizing for assuming his brother took it all this years ago and refused to even try to return it, but there's simply nothing to return, is there?

3- more people are born quirkless over time, and more people lose their quirk to AfO over time. Ujiko theorizes that quirks would get too strong, so both quirklessness and AfO are evolutions to prevent plus alpha self destruction. That is, sadly, a generous view- quirklessness is largely viewed as a horrible strange disability, and suddenly quirks become more important. Few people before had jobs that specifically used their quirks, but now no one wants to be mistaken for not having one. Many people campaign to treat and 'fix' quirklessness, trying to force activate one, study and prevent it, etc. Just go ahead and assume all the terrible things that can happen with this mindset, it all happened.

4- by the time of canon, however, quirklessness has been around for two hundred years, and it isn't going away- clearly the opposite. about half the population of the world has no quirk, and the number's hanging around 45% in Akitsuba when our main character, Akatani Mikumo is born. He's quirkless, and lives in the capitol of Higakyou, as schools there are required by law now to no longer require certain or any quirks. It's an election year, so his first semester of high school all anyone can do is talk about the candidates- especially Yagi Toshinori, a bit of a symbol for quirkless politicians and one people thought would run years ago. Mikumo, who helped Yagi carry groceries home one day and didn't recognize him outside of the bright suit, camera lights, and makeup, makes friends with a few kids at school. (Ochako, and the twins Tokoyami Fumikage and Kuroei- while the latter has a quirk, the former does not).

5- Then one day, Yagi is kidnapped, vanishing on live tv through a smokey warp. Mikumo doesn't know what to think about that, until he runs into the man on his way home from school- clearly in bad shape, with strange dark eyes that glow with some quirk he shouldn't have. Mikumo helps Yagi hide, and asks what happens, and how he can help. (AfO decided to end Yagi's use as a symbol by forcing a quirk on him and controlling him, but one of his brother's successors managed to break Yagi out first and give him his brother's quirk, allowing him to fight against AfO's quirk and withstand them safely. As for what Mikumo can do to help... he's done far more than he should already, a kind boy, but that answer isn't going to be good enough for him- he's determined to do more anyway.)

[cocoabubbelle-newblog]

Hello…again.

This is Cocoa Bubbelle, for anyone who may recognize this blog below:

If anyone has been wondering where I have been, I will keep this brief:

For some reason, the email I’ve always used for this app became invalid, making it impossible for me to sign back into my original account. Despite messaging Tumblr and going through the proper steps to attempt to regain access, it was determined for prevention of potential risk that my request for help was denied.

Rather than waste time being frustrated over now no longer having access to content I created, liked, drafted up, and reblogged for about 2 years and developing connections with those of you who followed me (thanks so much, btw!), I am going to attempt to start anew.

I will reblog as much of my original content as I can for those of you that found me through them.

I will also try to make my blog more coherent and organized now that I have a slightly better understanding of how Tumblr works.

It will definitely take time for me to rebuild this blog again, but I will make sure it is worth it!

(Warning: will involve a little bit of reblogging, a little bit of reposting, and a whole lot of shenanigans)

Again, thank you all who have followed, liked, and reblogged my content!

I have no idea how I can reach out to and reconnect with you all again, and I am truly sorry if the last post I have ever made will be the last you will have heard of me. I sadly am not able to recover all notifications and information of who follows me to alert of my new situation.

For anyone who does manage to find me, feel free to reblog this post to anyone who might be interested or you know do follow!

PS. Bonus Scogue pic I was working on before I got kicked out!

@withjust-a-bite @xlander @marvelshipper @nervouscolordeputypeach @flareonfury @therogue704 @light-miracles ( + everyone else I have not directly mentioned I promise it’s not bc I appreciate you less! I just currently do not have the mental capacity to find you all 😭) I will singlehandedly message my original posts if it is the last thing I do so my presence may be revived and that you can find me again mwahahaha)

[maaaxx]

dont get me wrong i am more excited for this atla remake and the inevitable renaissance part 2 than i have ever been for anything in my life. however im also terrified of what changes this is going to bring to the fandom. Obviously the 2020 renaissance brought a lot of new and good things (zukka, a ton of amazing fics, etc). But more people joining the fandom means new people joining ao3 and interacting with fics and authors and artists too. Even in the few years that i've been active in fandom i've noticed a dramatic shift in how people interact with artists and authors especially. And I can't see this not getting worse as more people whose main social media experiences include tik tok and instagram coming to ao3 and tumblr. Like these people are used to content creators who revolve their content around what their audience wants because its their job, and I know this isnt going to translate well to the culture around ao3 writers especially when unconsolidated comments and 'advise' is already a problem for a ton of authors. And for people who dont understand that fics and fanart are supposed be transactional in the sense that you need to leave comments and kudos and reblog stuff when they're used to simply liking something *maybe* being enough. Idk whats going on with other fandoms, but I do know that these things have been an ongoing issue for the atla fandom and like I said, I can't imagine having another 'renaissance' and this stuff not getting worse.

[twpsyn-who]

Today on "Another JeanMarco Soulmate AU absolutely no one asked for" I present to you -

Soulmate AU in which you stop seeing colors when your soulmate dies, the only exception being your soulmate. Now cue to Jean who just found Marco's, his best friend's, body. And you know, there's the shock of finding out Marco's dead. The pain and confusion and guilt. But there's also the revelation, because despite everything he can still see Marco like nothing took place at all- yes, half of his face is missing and his body is straight up lifeless, but Jean can still make out the color of his eye ; see that light shade of brown perfectly, remember all the times he has found himself looking at them while listening to Marco talk. He can still make out the colors of his uniform, see the same shade of black his hair has always had, practically see. Despite being dead, Marco was the only piece of color left in his life.

And there's denial for a moment because there's no way Marco was his soulmate. But that goes away fast, getting replaced by guilt. By the fact that he hasn't been there to save him, that Marco has to die all alone without anyone being there for him.

And that was worse than the simple fact that he could no longer see colors ; because Marco was there when Jean needed him, but he failed to do the same. And not only he lost his best friend that day, but his other half too.

[werebutch]

dude my dad telling 13 yo me that getting my tube in (that ended up drastically improving my health and quality of life) would give me a huge nasty scar (true!), and that my partners would think im ugly and leave me. and that i would be unlovable for the rest of my life. like genuinely those exact words came out of his mouth. to his extremely sick, scared young child about the only thing that would help me get better. okay !

[arthrobug]

Rewatching Dr. Stone for the third time and I gotta say:

Although Senku is ten billion percent aroace,

He and Taiju have such an insane amount of homoerotic lines and low-key gay thoughts about each other

"I waited for you for 3'700 years, what's a few more months?" Sir you two will never kiss but in your hearts you two have minecraft beds that are so close together they can be considered one giant bed

[his-tamine]

this is random and doesn’t apply to you specifically, you just seem chill and one of the most active peoples. Is there a reason comments aren’t used often and most people just reblog? Is that just a thing cause that’s what people do with no real reasoning, or is rebloging easier or better somehow? I’m just new here and I have the brain of an algorithm that’s like “but it seems more efficient to do this not that. So why are people doing that?”. Typing this out I realize there probably isn’t a reason, but ima still ask.

Well first of all, thankyouu,, I’m always glad when people perceive me or my blog as being nice or chill,, I always worry that I’m annoying people because I’m someone who couldn’t stfu if his life depended on it lol

And no, because that’s a really good question! 🤔

I’m still relatively new to snzblr— & tumblr in general— having just started this blog in March of this year, and tbh, I have absolutely no idea either.

I’ve just been copying how I’ve seen everyone else communicating for the most part, so I honestly could not tell ya’. There doesn’t appear to be any strict pattern, as I’ve seen people do both or either just because, but I usually comment under someone’s post if I want to talk directly to that person, and reblog if I wanna add on to the post.

For example, if I saw a personal post— someone going thru something difficult in their real life or someone having achieved something big in their real life, etc. and they decided to share/vent here— I’d comment, wanting to keep their post specific to their page & not take any attention away from their voice, but still offer support.

Or hey, if I saw a really hot snz prompt and don’t have anything specific to add but want to express how much I love it, I’d probably usually comment, saying something like “omg THIS!!! 👀👀” yk?

But if I saw a really hot snz prompt and wanted to add something, I'd reblog saying like “This is sooo [character]-coded” or “THIS, but add [whatever you wanted to add/ think pairs well with whatever scenario it is]” if that makes any sense.

Tbh, I really usually just sit back and observe how people communicate, and then try my best to match it to a degree that wouldn’t be off putting if I can help it 😭

most of the time, it’s really just a shot in the dark and the only “rules” for these things there are, are the kind I’ve made up in my head based on my own observations. (i.e. “normal conversation with someone you’re not super close with, limit yourself to 1-2 emojis if any” or something silly like that.)

Sorry ab this answer being so damn long I def got carried away, but hey, if there is a genuine answer to this, I do hope you— AND me tbh— find it someday, because it’s something I’ve noticed too, you’re definitely not nuts lol,, But in conclusion, as far as I’m aware, there isn’t just a simple answer

[completeoveranalysis]

[3]

I really just want to appreciate the grumpy little cat on Watanuki’s apron. 

Also those last two panels are such a relatable mood. Like when you find your cat on the kitchen bench. Except for Watanuki it’s obviously because his your boyfriend is CHEWING TOO LOUDLY??

WATANUKI YOU HAVE THE EARS OF AN ANGEL HOW DO YOU EVEN HEAR THAT FROM THE NEXT ROOM OVER

I can’t even put my finger on exactly what delights me so much about this but it might just be everything. That Kohane is friends with Doumeki now. That she can just ask him around when she wants to. That he obviously comes without even telling Watanuki. That Watanuki will instantly stop complaining if Kohane says she wanted it. That perhaps Watanuki didn’t even know Doumeki was here yet, BUT COULD HEAR THE CRUNCHING AND JUST K N E W IT WAS HIM. 

There’s a lot to love here.

[knights-unwelcommentary]

I like the idea of Karkat ordering Equius to relinquish leadership on the blue team after Eridan went out of his way to duel Sollux

Something like "If you can't keep your trolls in fucking line you're clearly not cut out for this. I'll take it from here, you can go fellate a robot horse or whatever you do when you're not being complete dog shit at running a team." And Equius got so scandalized he kind of shut down for a bit and just let the takeover happen

[obsessedmaggiemay]

I need to share this information, it’s literally taking over my brain: I cannot explain how Buddie coded Ben Platt’s songs are. Like it’s insane.

‘Older’ ?? This is all about trying not to grow up too fast or trying to grow up right and wishing your life away, and plus the bit about an old man telling him? it’s Buck cm on we all know

‘In Case You Don’t Live Forever?’ imagine Buck singing this (bear with me I know he can’t sing just shshhh) to Bobbie…. Like… or Maddie?? It’s so perfect I could cry

‘Share your address?’ Buck might as well scream this at Eddie let’s be real, or actually visa versa

And the pièce de résistance????? ‘Everything I Did To Get To You’ please if you’ve never heard this song I swear you won’t regret it literally every single fucking lyric is about Buck and Eddie you cannot convince me otherwise, blood and bruises and parties and love and finding each other and being willing to do it again and again because it brought you that person I cAnt-

There’s definitely more, I mean I have a whole playlist dedicated to it but these are the ones that make me wanna throw myself against a wall so :)

[the-commonplace-book]

Replying to @lesbiansforboromir's comment on this post about LDS (Mormon) dog whistles in Season 2 of Rings of Power.

I've only watched the first two episodes so far (watching episode 3 tonight), but here's what me and @runawaymun have picked up on so far:

Sauron in a stigmata position with a halo of blood after his Caesar-style execution

Sauron turning away from what he believes to be his calling and attempting to flee in the opposite direction via boat, only to be intercepted by a great sea creature/storm and subsequently the very attempt at escaping his calling resulted in him falling directly into it. Jonah symbolism all over that thing

Sauron and Gandalf being presented as a false savior and a true savior, the show cutting back and forth between Sauron as The Deceiver and Gandalf as the real deal. The particular way that the show cuts back and forth between Sauron performing false miracles meant to bring himself glory and then cutting to Gandalf performing true miracles in humility. Sauron wanting to do things his own way and fix the world through totalitarian control. Gandalf trusting the Valar and following in their esoteric plan. (more on the Valar later). One of the most blatant examples of this is cutting from a Sauron scene directly to Gandalf in the desert and going to draw fruit from a barren tree (big Jesus thing). This is rather distinctly LDS. In mainstream Christianity Jesus is God and Satan is a fallen angel (honestly small potatoes). Not even remotely on the same playing field. In LDS theology Jesus and Satan and both sons of God and Satan's folly was trying to be a false savior for the world because he believed he knew better than his dad and wanted to eliminate free will.

The Annatar reveal scene (stunning for the most part but...) with that one goofy shot of him with the golden clouds on the mountain peak. Straight up Lucifer imagery. Though also has some strange commonalities with paintings of Moroni and LDS Jesus

Re: the golden clouds. This was also evident in season 1 with the representation of the gates of Valinor being so intensely similar to LDS depictions of the gates of Heaven

The particular wording in the way Gil-Galad talks about Sauron's particular form of manipulation, the fear of letting him in even the smallest bit because a little evil paves the way for total corruption, is precisely the kind of LDS teachings that are used in regards to the perils of sin

Cirdan telling Elrond to simply trust in authority and trust that the "one who judges" will judge those over him is so very very LDS

The Valar being treated as gods who are worshiped within the narrative and, again, the whole treating Sauron and Gandalf as a kind of false savior and true savior of unspecified divinity. Rather than the Valar being deities-of-sorts who are tangible in the word and oversee various aspects of nature. With Tolkien explicitly saying on multiple occasions that there was no religion around them (except for Morgoth but that was part of his problem). And the Maiar being essentially angels.

I'll see if there's more as I watch more episodes. I would see a lot of this as the showrunner's worldview coincidentally seeping into their interpretation of the text, except that they explicitly said back before season 1 that they believe there were a lot of similarities between Tolkien's work and Mormon theology. That's not to discredit the parts of this show that are good! Again, I do love this show. The costumes, sets, and music are stunning. The actors are all perfect. The production overall is stunning and the writing even has its shining moments. It's just unfortunately also chocked full of LDS religious allegory if you are familiar with LDS theology (which I am, despite not being Mormon myself)

[californiaquail]

me psychically to the other 2-4 people in the walmart wearing masks