#the songs and themes and perspectives and narratives

[viir-tanadhal]

no no listen i see the vision

what were the other ones then

[scionshtola]

category 5 corishtola moments happening in my brain but i’m at work and can’t do anything about it

[lordmushroomkat]

Was just thinking about shadowpeach and I remembered a line from a song that fits them so well in the way that it absolutely cuts to the bone.

So anyway here's the lyrics to Elsa's Song by The Amazing Devil so you can think about it with me.

I can hear the cannons calling as though across a dream

And I can smell the smoke of hell in every stitch and seam

And like flowers, the bodies tumble around this muddied lot

I cannot hear them scream, "Forget me not",

Your voice, it carries over the hubbub and the hum

And it paints the sky and circles high like the beating of a drum

You will scream, "I won't forget you, " but I'll cover my cold ears

It cannot be a lie if no one hears

'Cause although you say good day to me, I know I don't belong

And although you hold my hand and say, "I love you, " you are wrong

Because love does not exist here, in this garden, there's no feeling

And you say the words so often that I barely know the meaning

And when all the flowers are rotten and all the cannons shot

I'll scream, but you won't hear, "Forget me not"

And in years to come, you'll wander to the place up on our hill

And then you'll cry to our painted sky, "I loved him then, I love him still!"

And you'll strew some sage and lilies and roses where I rot

Of all the flowers you picked, I knew you would forget

Forget-me-nots

Just. The war with heaven, the loss, the separation, the death, the mourning, the coming back to life but still feeling dead, the distance, the love that was real but hadn't mattered when it needed to, the grief.

I'm gonna cry, I swear to the gods. If someone doesn't make an animatic for this I'm gonna be so upset. It's perfect!! (I guess I could try??? Ugh I have too many projects already, I don't need this!)

[gagliandi]

From Idea to Lyrics

From Idea to Lyrics

From Idea to Lyrics: How to Structure Your Song(Inspired by Jack Perricone’s Great Songwriting Techniques)After you’ve decided on a title or central idea, it’s crucial to clarify what you want to say and how you want to say it. This involves choosing your perspective (who’s speaking, and to whom) and developing a concept that ties every lyric element together.The Power of a ‘Concept’A general…

[ohithankyou]

tommy has really penetrated and seeped into the foundation of all of buck’s spaces. we know they spent quite a bit of time together in buck’s loft when they were dating; a space that only began to feel warm, lived-in, and homey after buck started dating tommy. and then buck moved—which could’ve been a fresh start, something new, moving on and moving forward from the past (his relationship with tommy)—and yet, the first night he spends there—the first night that he’s able to sleep there—is with tommy (who’s now his ex) and that too after a night of the most electric, passionate, playful, and physically and emotionally fulfilling sex. and then on top of that, there’s the added detail of the background music: “come home and be with your man” playing during the dinner scene in season seven where buck comes home to tommy after a long, emotionally exhausting day and tommy’s there, a shoulder to lean on in whatever way buck needs or wants (a scene very important in their journey/story). and recently; “below”—a song which has a theme of home and finding home (specifically the repetitive lyric ‘never found home’) playing in the background of an arguably even more significant scene in their journey: their hook up and temporary reconciliation in which, as mentioned above, buck is able to, for the first time, sleep in his new house and shortly after, start the process in making it feel like a home (or one could say, finding home). and this is directly attributed to tommy.

all in all, i just find it interesting from a narrative perspective that tommy’s presence is embedded into buck’s living spaces as well as the symbolic idea of home, especially now, after their breakup. and knowing that they will meet again makes me quite positive and hopeful that this is a deliberate choice and buck will, in the end, find home in/with tommy and tommy in/with buck.

[lina-studen]

"something floral": literature student blabbering about the usage of flower symbolism in "nevermore", how it ties to the theme of insanity and a little bit (a lot) about shakespeare.

from lenore's perspective, flowers are closely associated with isolation caused by her trauma and supposed "hysteria". floral pattern wallpaper accompanied her loneliness for days, months, even years. image of the flowers signaled that lenore's position would remain unchanged, that she was stuck, that she would continue to slowly loosing the clarity of her mind.

having torn the wallpaper off the walls, lenore believes that she will never see this image again, but flowers continue to accompanying her. lenore sees them again during her first meeting with annabel lee. and during the last one, too. she may have managed to get out of her lonely room, gain more strength in her legs, find a new friend, but lenore is still trapped. she's the daughter disowned by her parents, a stain on the family reputation that must be hidden forever. the image of flowers doesn't let her forget about it.

similar symbolism is also not alien to annabel lee. episode 66 is interesting in particular, because it directly quotes ophelia's monologue. I'm a big fan of shakespeare, it was he who instilled in me an interest in floral symbolism. a year ago, for a conference on foreign literature, I wrote an article about flower language of "hamlet". it's not available in english, but I'll list down some points that I considered relevant regarding "nevermore".

• rosemary can serve as a keepsake between lovers and also between the dead and the living. it could be seen at both weddings and funerals. in the old days it was also believed to be helpful in mental illnesses treatment.

• pansies, just like violets, symbolize innocence and devotion. ophelia doesn't consider the people around her worthy of violets, since she blames them for the death of her father.

• rue is a symbol of eternal suffering; grieving over her murdered father and the loss of her beloved hamlet, ophelia leaves some of the flowers for herself.

• the image of daisies has a close connection with the concepts of innocence, fidelity and eternal love. in shakespeare's tragedy, this symbol is overshadowed by the fact that in the world around ophelia there's no place for these beautiful things. for "nevermore" the symbol is also not so positive, since the readers are already familiar with daisies. they were on that wallpaper in lenore's room.

it's impossible not to note that annabel lee recites the monologue while in the bath, in the water. ophelia decides not to resist the river flow. her life turned into a tragedy: she was left without a father, her lover has seemingly lost his mind. her own sanity is also called into question. ophelia sings cryptic songs, goes into the field to weave a wreath, gives flowers to other characters. in the eyes of those around them, hamlet and ophelia seem crazy, while being the only sane and honest people among them. there's no place for tender, innocent ophelia in a cruel, deceitful world, so she drowns.

annabel lee also reflects on how both she and lenore are considered madwomen. her meeting with "leo" is accompanied by floral pattern on the annabel's dress. their madness is contextual, they both are perfectly sane, but don't fit into the system that could be leading to real madness with time. "all madwomen die twice. at least twice".

now about the arboretum. it obviously has a lot of flowers, but in my opinion this place is interesting in a different context. lenore and annabel visited the arboretum twice to discuss upcoming plans and such, and there are many parallels, both visual and narrative. not much time has passed since last time, but their situation has changed. they seem to look on their past selves from the upper level, having their conflict more acute now. I'll make a more detailed post about it later.

and now I'll just focus on how the characters in this arboretum full of roses behave as lost and confused as in the phobia-inducing flower labyrinth from earlier episodes. “the closer you get to beautiful flowers, the closer you get to their thorns,” says duke in episode 38. the flower imagery haunting the main characters doesn't let them forget that their sanity is always on a verge of slipping. and once a flower falls from its stem, it cannot be fixed.

p.s. guess which writer’s works I chose for a new article this year?

[keepingsecretstokeepyoutk]

This is going to be very long and sound a little crazy at first, and maybe a little mean but please hear me out…

I’m convinced that Taylor sometimes purposefully includes one line or multiple lines of poorly written or clunky lyrics in specific songs to make a point.

We all have seen some version of this with bearding songs like London Boy, a simple bop whose lyrics were immediately detected as sounding disingenuous, even with the general population (the locations she was signing about were the most touristy and too far away from each other to visit on the same day, etc, basically implying that she doesn’t actually have a long term local bf there that she spends a bunch of time with exploring the city with, etc).

But just like everything else on the album, I think she’s doing maybe a more in your face version of that. No holds barred.

So High School is an obvious example of this, with all of the early 2000’s hs imagery, she seems pretty blatantly to be mocking the idea the public has of her “living out every American girl’s high school fantasy” of dating the tall popular football player. With lyrics like “touch me while your friends play grand theft auto” (barf), etc, shes being clear enough that this is not a serious song.

This is the possibly controversial part, but I’m so curious to see what others think about this - I think another iteration of this on this album is the title track, The Tortured Poets Department. Hear me out.

(First, I want to reassure you that there are lines in this song that I really like and think are well written, like: “you’re in self-sabotage mode/throwing spikes down on the road” and “but you awaken with dread/pounding nails in your head/but I’ve read this one/where you come undone/I chose this cyclone with you”. And I fully agree with the idea that these sentiments are from Karlie’s perspective. Basically, when you take out the chunks I’m about to talk about this song makes way more sense and has a beautiful sentiment of undying love behind it - which makes the following parts stick out that much more!)

The first time I listened through the album, and this was the second song, I got terrified because I didn’t understand its place in the whole narrative and when I heard the first clunky line “scratch your head like a tattooed golden retriever” I got the ick. Then the bridge with no structure and no wit and no clever turns of phrase, no metaphor, just “you put my ring on the finger people put wedding rings on” and “that was the closest I’ve ever been to my heart exploding”. So over simplified and cheesy, and doesn’t sound anything like her writing, especially the caliber of her recent lyrics

I know art is largely subjective, but I insist there is no way that the same person who wrote Cowboy Like Me wrote these lines into her title track if she didn’t have a reason and a point to make. To make it clear that this isn’t a matter of genre personal taste, because I know CLM is a very specific sound and a style that music snobs often take more seriously - I love SO many of her candy pop bangers, they are infinitely more clever, articulate, and overall works of art by a true wordsmith than this. Karma, The Very First Night, etc are all a master classes in clever words and tight writing being tucked into an “unserious” pop song.

The lyrics I cited above to me sound like what haters believe her writing sounds like, even fans who make little jokey TikTok’s about her and make up a spoofy something to sing while in character - that’s what these lyrics sound like.

Im worried im being too harsh, but please stay with me because the more I think about the more genius I think it actually is.

In the context of the themes of rest of the album, (her being trapped, miserable, manipulated, ready to burn it all down, screaming to be seen) this theory became clear to me. I think she’s leaning into her public persona (in more ways than one, we’ve already seen it with the stunting), in a way setting a “trap” for her fans and the public, that will essentially call them all out on how they ignored the real her in favor of her pr narrative, making the album about paternity tests, etc, all of which I’m guessing will become very clear in retrospect, possibly after she comes out? (Of course it’s already clear to us now, which is another purpose of the beard songs including clunky writing - to signal to us that these are not serious and that she knows that we know that she knows (like Phoebe on friends lol))

Ultimately, this is (along with So Highschool) a classic beard song. When she writes in this voice, she embodies the most extreme versions of her public persona, not just the one she has cultivated on purpose, but also the one that people have of her that don’t know her (as she did in Blank Space), including those that don’t take her seriously - because her identity as a boy crazy psycho ex girlfriend is directly tied to people dismissing her art as vapid because, they’ve only ever heard her singles, they don’t know the full her.

That voice is the straightest, the most boy crazy, the most one note, and sometimes the most unsophisticated writer version of her that people have in their minds, including her fans - the fans that refuse to see her as a whole person, the real, that believe she is head over heals for big football boy, that believe “he knows how to ball, I know Aristotle” is a romantic line about how opposites attract, the fans that say they don’t “get” some of her most beautiful and well-written songs, the fans that don’t see her and haven’t been seeing her.

They didn’t see giant Taylor on the eras tour, they refuse to see all of her queer signaling, etc, and I think she’s making the bearding songs obvious to underscore the difference between her Taylor(TM) and Taylor(person) personas.

She knows that despite the fact that the lyrics don’t even come close to measuring up to the rest of the album, the public, and many of her fans, will make this song one of the most listened to simply because they are looking for evidence of her relationships from the past year. We’ve all commented on how insane it is that this layered, complex, devastating album is being reduced to the usual paternity tests. This is currently one of the top songs precisely because it is “about Matty”. And of course, So High School is one of the tops songs along with it because it’s “about Travis”.

The juxtaposition of the bearding songs alongside her beautifully written poetry of Prophecy, Peter, Whose Afraid of Little Old Me, Cassandra, How did it end, The Albatross, etc mirrors the juxtaposition of her two selves during the Midnights era.

She has proven the point that if they think she wrote every line of this song completely in earnest, then they see her largely no differently than her haters do, as a subpar writer who writes absurdly cheesy love songs praising trashy to mediocre, problematic men. By eating it up they tell her that’s what she’s good for, for being the subject of tabloids and warring fans who make this entire album about two (purposefully) mediocre songs and the men who “inspired” them.

She has proven her point - that a subset of her fans will be distracted by a lesser song simply because they think it’s about one of the greasy men that’s she been seen holding hands with. That they will ignore once again all of her pleas to be seen, that she’s in pain and caged, and has been driven insane by their willful ignorance. That they don’t appreciate her full potential and talent, that they don’t even see it, and just want to be confirmed in their ideation of her.

This song is essentially the “forget him(her)” pill at the beginning of the fortnight mv, but it’s a sedative for the fans, who are addicted to her straight narrative. Similar to Willow’s 13 chants of “that’s my man” that started off evermore, casting a spell of heteronormativity over everyone who wanted it, so that they could choose to just completely ignore the following 14 gayest songs ever written. Don’t pay no mind to her singing directly about women with zero male perspective - she said “that’s my man!” We’re good! She’s still straight!

Taylor in the fortnight mv had to a take a sedative to be able to go into the next room and write her bearding songs - ie she self medicates to deal with keeping up the straight persona and to get through having to release dumbed down songs to feed the masses. (I also see the pill as something forced on her, I think it represents both layers)

From the first time I watched the music video I thought the writing Taylor looked so miserable and the bearding songs are why.

In this room she’s trapped, churning out the songs that her fans expect of her, the songs that make her team money, the songs that make her money, but that she has to compromise her truth to create.

But when she frees herself she’ll burn the stories that weren’t true, the filler that doesn’t represent her.

I’m curious to hear other’s thoughts on this - have you ever felt like Taylor purposefully inserts off-sounding lyrics that are written in a different voice to make a point?

I want to reiterate that it’s not the entirety of either song that I think is terrible, I genuinely love bopping along to both So High School and TTPD (track). Like I said above, when you remove the clunky lines from ttpd (track), the song has another layer and likely gives voice to some Karlie insight that is beautiful and tragically profound. It’s the red herrings, the pieces specifically meant to tie this song to a bearding narrative, that I’m dissing, and the only reason they are suspicious in the first place is because I know how gifted Taylor is with the written word.

Taylor is such a skilled writer that she can embody the voice of the bad writer that dismissive ignorant idiots believe her to be, just to make a point!

I even wonder if maybe there is a second version of this song locked away in one of those drawers in the fortnight writing room that leaves out the red herrings and is a thousand times better than the bearding version we got.

I hope one day we get to hear it.

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Writing Notes: Modernist Literature

Influenced by worldwide industrialization and the first World War, literary modernism was an emotional and experimental style of prose and poetry that occurred in the late 19th and early 20th century literature.

Literary modernism - allowed writers to express themselves in more experimental ways than in the past.

Modernist works often contain non-linear narratives and free-flowing interior monologues that emphasize the experiences and emotions of the individual.

Writers of modernist literature include Franz Kafka, D. H. Lawrence, Virginia Woolf, T.S. Eliot, Gertrude Stein, Joseph Conrad, Samuel Beckett, William Carlos Williams, and W.B. Yeats.

Characteristics of Modernist Literature

Here are a few distinguishing characteristics of modernist literature.

Experimentation: Modernist literature employed a number of different experimental writing techniques that broke the conventional rules of storytelling. Some of those techniques include blended imagery and themes, absurdism, nonlinear narratives, and stream of consciousness—which is a free flowing inner monologue.

Individualism: Modernist literature typically focuses on the individual, rather than society as a whole. Stories follow characters as they adapt to a changing world, often dealing with difficult circumstances and challenges.

Multiple perspectives: Many modernist writers wrote in the first person perspective with multiple characters to emphasize the subjectivity of each character, and add depth to the story by presenting a variety of viewpoints.

Free verse: Many modernist poets rejected the traditional structure of poetry and opted for free verse, which lacks a consistent rhyme scheme, metrical pattern, or musical form.

Literary devices: Many modernist writers rely on literary devices like symbolism and imagery to help the reader understand the writing, and to create a stronger connection between the text and the reader.

Notable Modernist Writers

There have been many writers responsible for some of the greatest American modernist works, such as:

D.H. Lawrence: The novels of David Herbert Lawrence explore the disillusionment that came with the aftermath of industrialization. His novels like Women in Love (1920) and Lady Chatterley’s Lover (1928) focused on the interiority of their female protagonists, tying in strong themes of sexuality that challenged the mores of the time.

Franz Kafka: Franz Kafka’s work is often grounded in reality and takes fantastical or surrealist terms. One of his most famous works, The Metamorphosis, follows an ordinary man who transforms into a beetle.

Gertrude Stein: Often considered the “mother of modernism,” Gertrude Stein was a feminist poet whose work incorporated stream-of-consciousness and experimental narrative techniques. One of her most famous works is the collection of poems “Tender Buttons,” which uses the sounds of words and fragmented phrases to deliver a particular image to the reader.

T. S. Eliot: T.S. Eliot was a British poet, literary critic, essayist, and editor. Two of his most significant poems are “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” (1915)—his first work, which made liberal use of literary allusions to Shakespeare— and “The Wasteland” (1922)—which provides a dark and introspective look at human nature.

Ezra Pound: Poet Ezra Pound championed free verse and allusion, and is considered the one of first writers in modernist poetry to use imagism—a style that conveyed imagery in sharp, unadorned language. Some of Pound’s notable works include “In a Station of the Metro” (1913), “The Seafarer” (1911), and “The Return” (1917).

Virginia Woolf: Late Victorian novelist Virginia Woolf is responsible for novels like Mrs. Dalloway (1925) and To The Lighthouse (1927). Woolf incorporated stream of consciousness style into her texts, infusing the character’s interior monologue with emotion and complexity.

James Joyce: Modernist author James Joyce is known for telling small, slice-of-life tales in experimental and evocative ways. Dubliners (1914), a collection of 15 short stories, discusses Irish middle-class life in the early twentieth century. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1916) was Joyce’s first published novel, which delves into the themes of identity and intellectual enlightenment. Ulysses (1922) is one of Joyce’s most famous novels, the events of which all take place in a single day, and serves as a modern parallel to Homer’s Odyssey.

William Faulkner: William Faulkner is known for his Southern Gothic tales that incorporate unreliable narrators, multiple perspectives, symbolism, and nonlinear narratives. Some of his best-known works include As I Lay Dying (1929)—which follows the quest of a Southern family to bury their deceased mother in her hometown—and The Sound and the Fury (1930)—which tells the story of a Southern aristocratic family’s fall from grace through multiple perspectives.

E. E. Cummings: E.E. Cummings was an avant-garde writer who incorporated a number of different styles in his texts, and was known for his non-traditional format and approach to poetry and novels. Cummings wrote almost 3,000 poems in his life, including “[i carry your heart with me(i carry it in]” (1952) and “may i feel said he” (1935).

Ernest Hemingway: Author Ernest Hemingway is one of the most famous authors in American literature, known for his novels and short stories that make economical use of adjectives, and matter-of-fact observations. His short stories “Indian Camp” (1924) and “Hills Like White Elephants” (1927) both exemplify Hemingway’s modernist style.

Katherine Mansfield: Short story author Katherine Mansfield was influenced by visual art and psychoanalysis, and many of her stories contained epiphanies or important revelations about the main character. Some of her well-known stories include “Daughters of the Late Colonel” (1920) and “The Garden Party” (1922).

Marianne Moore: Marianne Moore was an innovative, modernist poet known for her irony and literary precision. Her notable works include “Poetry” (1919), “Nevertheless” (1944), and “A Face” (1949).

Modernist vs. Postmodernist Literature

Modernist literature focused on science, philosophy, art, and a variety of creative elements to examine the human experience.

Postmodernism, however, eschews absolute meaning and instead emphasizes play, fragmentation, metafiction, and intertextuality.

The postmodern literature movement in the mid-20th century was a reaction to the literary style of the modernist period, earlier in the century.

Postmodernism embodied the disenchantment of the post-World War II era, rejecting the idea of absolute truth, avoiding deep analysis, and a focusing on subjective beliefs rather than science.

Source ⚜ More: Writing Notes & References ⚜ Writing Resources PDFs

[thewertsearch]

@manorinthewoods asked: Vriska and Eridan have now killed one person each. Tavros and Feferi's respective moons have been destroyed; as such, they cannot be revived via dream selves or the moon-crypt slabs. What do you think will happen now? ~LOSS (18/5/24) @manorinthewoods asked: Welcome to Murderstuck, aka Homestuck's version of Canaan House. Who do you think's going to survive this? ~LOSS (22/5/24) Anonymous asked: tavros and feferi are D----EAD! do you think they'll stay dead? you've already stated your opinion that there are death flags like crazy all over vriska, so do you think anyone else will die? if so, who? Anonymous asked: Now that the bodies have started to hit the floor, what's your prediction for who's gonna survive to meet the humans?

I'm actually doing to do something a little different this time, and analyze the situation primarily from an author's perspective, rather than an in-universe one. I had a lot of fun doing that with yesterday's Kanaya post, so I want to try it again.

Let's enumerate the remaining trolls, in ascending order of how likely I think they are to kick the bucket (😳) during Murderstuck.

There's no chance whatsoever that Sollux will die. His Doom prophecy is fulfilled, and if he were to die a third time, it would break his long-established duality theme. Plus, he'd have predicted it, and would have been complaining about it since Hivebent. He's fine.

Death flag score: 0/10.

We just got Aradia back. She's not even involved in Murderstuck, seemingly travelling to the Furthest Ring after being resurrected, so none of the murderers can touch her anyway.

Aradia is a powerful time manipulator who can freeze even the most dangerous enemies. It would take a lot more than Eridan and Gamzee to defeat someone who can stalemate Perfect Jack, and I predict that she'll survive the rest of the Act with ease.

Plus, killing her again so soon would feel really cheap. Been there, done that.

Death flag score = 0.5/10

Karkat and Terezi are too important to die.

This doesn't always guarantee a character's survival - A Song of Ice and Fire comes to mind - but ASOIAF kind of proves my point, doesn't it? Martin can throw all the Red Weddings he likes at us, but everyone still kind of knows that the really important characters aren't going to die until their arcs are complete. If A Dream of Spring ever actually comes out, Daenerys will still be around, and you can take that to the bank.

So no, I don't think Karkat and Terezi will be going anywhere. Now that Kanaya appears to be dead, they're undeniably the most important trolls remaining, alongside Vriska. And we'll get to Vriska.

Death flag score: 1/10.

I know it's weird to predict that an already deceased character won't die, but I wrote an entire post last night about why I believe this to be the case.

tl;dr: it doesn't make narrative sense for Kanaya to stay dead.

Death flag score: 2/10.

Now, we're onto the characters who I think might actually die.

Gamzee's still alive at the end of the countdown, so he'll at least survive the next couple of hours.

Certainly, his position seems rather precarious. His stated intent to wipe out the entire Veil will make him a lot of enemies very quickly - and based on the image above, he clearly gets into some sort of trouble. That scratch almost looks like it could be the work of Jack's sword.

However, I have a hard time believing the Most Important Character In Homestuck is going to die less than halfway through Homestuck. He's been saying all sorts of cryptic nonsense lately, and he strikes me as someone whose role in the story will expand even more than it already has. Gamzee is the one character on this list we know will stay relevant for the entire comic.

I don't think he's going to achieve his murder mission, of course. I think he'll probably be 'defeated' somehow, and expelled from the Veil by the surviving trolls, only to pop up again sometime later. There's still a chance that he'll be killed - but if he is, I'm 100% sure that he'll return in some form. Gamzeesprite would be even worse than Calsprite, in my opinion.

Death flag score: 3/10.

Yes, I still believe Vriska will die - but I don't know if she'll die in Murderstuck.

Scratch positioned her as someone who will perpetuate a monumental, large-scale mistake, and I don't think there's anything she could do on the Veil that fits the bill.

However, Vriska is more imaginative than I am. She could easily pull a trick out from up her sleeve that I didn't see coming - some terrible, horrible idea that earns all of Scratch's foreshadowing in one fell swoop. Vriska is known for her Incidents, and you never know when the next one is on the horizon.

Death flag score: 4/10.

There's not a lot tying Equius and Nepeta to the Veil, is there?

They don't have strong relationships any of the remaining trolls, and even among the B-team, they've barely had any prominence since we've left Alternia. Killing one or both of them would up the stakes of Murderstuck without introducing the narrative issues that, say, a dead Karkat would cause.

Plus, if one of them dies, then the other would immediately gain an incredibly strong motivation, and become a more prominent character overnight. I already like Nepeta - but a heartbroken, vengeful Nepeta hunting Eridan down across time and space? That's a fucking arc.

They could also both die, and return to the story from another direction. It hasn't escaped my notice that almost all the 'important' trolls are Prospit Dreamers, and the two Furthest Ring explorers are Derse girls. I've been wondering for a while now if the solution to the Veil's bloated cast is to split the trolls back into the Red and Blue Teams, with the Red Team joining the kids outside the session, and the Blue Team joining Aradia in the Ring for some secondary mission. I guess that implies Tavros will be resurrected, but there do seem to be hints that that might happen.

I don't want either of these two to die, but... well, killing them would raise a lot of interesting possibilities.

Death flag score (both of them together): 6/10

Death flag score (one of them) : 7.5/10.

Eridan is screwed.

Neither the story nor the trolls can allow him to ally with Jack and lead him to the Veil, and they'll do anything they can to stop him. I don't think anyone's inclined to show him mercy, either - Kanaya and Feferi were very popular.

I don't really see any way out for him. He has no allies, he can't Hopesplode everyone at once, and he's never shown himself to be particularly resourceful. I think if there's one troll practically guaranteed to be Murderstucked, it's him.

Death flag score: 9/10.

[sbk-prompt-week]

☁️Welcome to skyblock kingdom’s prompt week event! This will be running from January 19th to January 25th, 2025. Modded by @in-the-multiverse

☁️Use #sbkpromptweek to participate

☁️Below the cut are FAQ (please read through them) and a little ramble about each prompt to spark ideas or inspiration (optional to read). Have fun creating! :D

What is a prompt week?

It’s a scheduled fandom event dedicated to characters, ships, or fandoms in general— usually with a list of prompts or themes to inspire and encourage fanworks. They’re announced in advance and fanworks are posted on the corresponding days of the week. In this case, it’s for the sbk fandom as a whole! This blog will be archiving all creations submitted as long as they follow the guidelines

Is this limited to fanart and fanfiction?

Nope. You’re more than welcome to make moodboards, stimboards, song playlists, edits, cosplay and the likes! Additionally, there’s no art requirements or minimum/maximum word count. Anything ai generated is disallowed.

What type of content is allowed?

If it’s within a creator’s boundaries, it’s allowed (this information can be found in #member-info on the SBK Community discord). Tag accordingly for shipping or content warnings if your works contain them. Make use of the tumblr blacklist for topics you don’t want to see. If you don’t like something, don’t engage. Be respectful. And please be patient to those who haven’t stated what they are/aren’t ok with.

Can I post something late?

Absolutely! This isn’t an event with a hard set deadline.

Do I have to make something for every day?

Nah, you can make as little or as much as you’d like, at whatever pace you’re comfortable with.

I have a fanwork I’m already creating, can I submit it to this event?

If it fits within the prompts provided, yep!

Can I combine prompts?

Sure, just mention which ones you’re combining when you post.

Why isn’t my post reblogged?

If I miss something a week after the event is over, please reach out in an ask and I’ll archive it here. Late entries may take more time to be reblogged as I’ll be monitoring the tag less frequently.

☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️👑☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️

Bond

Have a pair or group of people you enjoy seeing together, or would like to depict together? This goes for friendships, romantic pairings, queer platonic relationships, familial bonds, etc. Is it unconditional love? Complicated? Yearning? Or perhaps something more abstract?

In a different world

AUs, crossovers, homelands that weren’t 99% void, we imagine them in a different setting! Maybe you’d like to add a fic or fanart to an AU that already exists, or maybe you’d like to come up with one of your own. Want to explore how the sbkers would react to being in a different mcyt series? Or meet other characters? Whatever your imagination compels you to create, go for it!

Fashion

Casual modern clothing? Royal outfits? Goth? Punk? Catmaid? Cottagecore? Let’s stylize those cubitos! Or maybe you’d like to spin this prompt another way. Does it extend into world building? Is it kingdom specific? The possibilities are up to you!

Horror vs. Fantasy

Wanna put a blorbo through the horrors? Are they the horrors? Or would you rather create something more whimsical? Depict fantasies of certain characters? Wanna do both? The canvas and/or keyboard is all yours.

Retrospect

What happened this season that you’d like to revisit? A fond memory, favourite bit, nostalgic beginnings, something that’s been spinning around in your brain since it happened. Or perhaps you’d like to retell a moment from a different perspective: through another character’s eyes, another narrative lens, etc.

Meme redraw / Crackfic

We get silly with it! Have a reaction image or funny stock photo you’d like to redraw the sbkers in? Maybe a show screenshot or random internet image? Or how ‘bout throwing these guys in scenarios where you don’t have to worry about getting Serious writing it? We’re cringe and free >:3

Free Day

You’re more than welcome to come up with your own prompt. Whatever you feel drawn to, whatever gets your gears going, have fun creating it!

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[cityofmeliora]

notes / thoughts on the Papas' (lack of) involvement in the songwriting process and their connections to the concepts / themes of their albums

thanks for the kind words and thanks for the ask! these were great questions and really enjoyed writing this response. your questions really made me think! (and when i start thinking i always think too hard and take forever to answer– sorry this took so long!)

i'm putting these questions together because i feel they are closely related. this is a topic i've recently been thinking about a lot, actually.

A Ghoul Writer was first mentioned in that 2010 interview with Primo. the Ghoul Writer is Special Ghoul, the Nameless Ghoul character who gave interviews in Eras 2 and 3. in interviews with him, either he himself or the interviewers would usually mention he's the Writer. i'm not linking anything specific here because you can find this happening in pretty much any Era 2 / 3 interview. (though there's one Era 2 Nameless Ghoul interview that refers to the Writer as a separate character.)

the only Papa who wrote his own music was Nihil. the music video for The Future Is A Foreign Land shows that he and his Nameless Ghouls wrote the song together, and he's credited as a writer on Seven Inches Of Satanic Panic. (pic: back of the SIOSP record)

after Nihil, none of the Papas were involved in the songwriting process. everything after Nihil was written by A Ghoul Writer.

PITCHFORK: On the new album, the songs/lyrics are credited to "A Ghoul Writer." Are you this "Ghoul Writer"? If so, what inspired the words? PAPA EMERITUS: I am not the Ghoul Writer. Pitchfork (April 2013)

Does Papa contribute to the composing process? NAMELESS GHOUL: No, Papa doesn’t contribute to the song-writing. Metal Paths (August 2015)

so the later Papas were interpreters of the music, not writers.

as for the question of whether the Papas embody the sins of society or criticize the sins of society by parodying them, i think it's a bit of both– and i think it depends on which perspective we're looking from.

obviously from a real-world perspective, Ghost as a whole is meant to criticize and parody the issues the music is about, and the personality and characterization of each Papa is closely tied to the themes of his album.

from an in-universe lore perspective, as interpreters of the music, each Papa has his own relationship with the themes of his album. i think the Ghoul Writer writes each album for / about the Papa who's going to perform it. however, this is not necessarily a positive gesture.

here are my notes / thoughts on how each Papa relates to the themes of his album:

(trigger warning for mentions of misogynistic violence / rape / forced pregnancy)

Opus Eponymous and Primo: Primo refuses to comment on his interpretation of Opus Eponymous, but it's pretty clear what he thinks. Primo is a misanthrope who believes humans are “vermin” that have doomed themselves due to their “intellectual decline”. in his eyes, humanity is unworthy of life and will eventually be destroyed. Opus Eponymous has been described as an "orthodox devil-worshipping" album, and it is a very violent album, which is great for Primo because he's an orthodox devil worshiper and he loves violence and murder and wants everyone to die. 'Elizabeth' celebrates an alleged serial killer who is said to have killed hundreds of women / girls. 'Stand By Him' is about a woman being raped by a priest, who then accuses her of witchcraft and has her burned at the stake in order to cover up the assault. and the overall narrative of Opus Eponymous is about a woman being raped and forced to carry + birth the Antichrist, which will eventually kill her. this is something Primo thinks is good and anticipates happening because he believes in the cult very literally and agrees with its message / mission of human extinction. Primo is definitely a villain.

Infestissumam and Secondo: interestingly, there is actually an instance of Papa telling us about his interpretation of this album. in Secondo's own words, "the new album is about the presence of the Devil. The title, Infestissumam, means 'the biggest threat' and refers literally to the arrival of the Antichrist, but what it is also is about is what man has traditionally regarded as diabolical presence– namely female form and swagger." Infestissumam is about how humanity can connect to the presence of the Devil, both physically and spiritually. i think this theme really shows through Secondo. to him, all the things traditionally regarded as sin –especially sexuality– are good things. to him, Satan is the way to freedom and enlightenment. on the flipside, all the things promoted by christianity –holiness and virtue and repression– are stupid and stifling. Secondo is a jerk and he loves to have sex and party and he just doesn't care. Secondo, more than any other Papa, is dedicated to indulging in sin and saying "fuck you" to christianity.

Meliora and Terzo: it's complicated. i don't want to give a detailed explanation right now because i already have a separate post in my drafts about my analysis of Terzo's relationship with the themes of Meliora (it will be long). for now, this is what i'll say: Meliora is about the absence of god, and it's described as futuristic and "pre-apocalyptic." the title "Meliora" means "for the pursuit of better", but it's meant to be ironic. it's about the mistakes people make / the bad things people do in pursuit of better. so as your ask states, it criticizes ambition, greed, and abuse of power. i think Terzo wants to criticize those sins. but i think that he also embodies them, to a certain extent, and i think Meliora is also criticizing him.

Prequelle and Cardinal Copia: we don't really have any canon material that indicates Cardi's personal opinions on the album, but there is certainly a connection between the character and the concept / themes of the album. Prequelle is described as a "positive" album about the plague. it's an album about society falling apart during the apocalypse. it's also an album about celebration and survival in spite of being faced with the inevitability of death. i think Cardi certainly embodies this. Cardi is surrounded by death. Prequelle Era begins with Papas I, II, and III being murdered in order to promote Cardi's success, and it ends with Papa Nihil dying, which allows Cardi to ascend and become Papa IV. in a way, Cardi is both a plague rat and a survivor. it's not his fault they died. he didn't ask for them to be killed, and he was not their killer. but he is the herald and the carrier of the true killer, the actual driving force behind everything (Sister Imperator). through all this, Cardi is having a good time! he's dancing the night away! he's glad everyone standing in his way has dropped dead! he is a rising star and he feels invincible! and he is certain he will survive this.

IMPERA and Papa Emeritus IV: the main themes of IMPERA are "spiritual annihilation", reactionary sentiment, and regression. it's about how people who fear progress are afraid of losing their sense of meaning / purpose and their place in the world, so they turn to misogyny, violence, religious dogma, and fascism. they cling to the idea of having a cause to fight for. i think Cardi is certainly criticizing these issues. he doesn't agree with any of this at all. however, there's still a connection between the narrative of IMPERA and Cardi's character arc in this Era. narratively, IMPERA is a concentrated / condensed version of the apocalyptic narrative that plays out through the first 4 albums. it's about the cyclical nature of the rise and fall of empires. IMPERA Era begins with Cardi ascending to the title of Papa. but after the feeling of triumph wore off, Cardi became very aware of and very fearful of his own inevitable end. he knew that no matter how great his achievements were, he would be forced to step down so his successor could take his place, just like his predecessors had for him. Rite Here Rite Now is about Cardi struggling to make peace with this idea. as a side note: i really like the irony of the fact that Cardi was never actually the leader of his own empire– he was a puppet emperor who got his marching orders from his mother. it connects to IMPERA's theme of political manipulation.

[darklightsworld]

So, about the new BeruBara movie in detail. I rushed to watch it, because the visitor present was the above genga copy <333 Pretty amazing, because even the exhibition last summer did not have genga copies in the goods corner (aside from the very expensive ones). In this sense I consider the price of the ticket well spent. It is shrunken to A4 (from B4), so I can even use it in class. Until now I only had a B4 original and several B5/A3 copies, and it isn't convenient to bring those to the uni. Anyway, I hope they will announce the week 3 present soon. I'm not so keen on the Fersen-Antoinette genga next week, but I would get that if the others aren't genga anymore.

This was the good, now onto the bad. It was bad, I was oscillating between cringing and secondhand embarrassment for a good part of the movie. One of the reasons in kind of subjective, but the bigger reasons are objective. First about the subjective: I don't like musicals. I already suspected from the trailer that they might go into that direction, because the theme song screams "musical song™️." That song is so bad too, and it also showcases the typical "let's throw English phrases into the lyrics, because they sound cool" attitude. But the thing is, Berubara takes place in France ^^; Anyway, I guess they might have gone into this direction, because Berubara has been a longstanding success with Takarazuka. Also something I'm not touching with a ten-foot pole. I'm not sure how Takarazuka fans liked the movie, but from an anime perspective, it was weird. This isn't Disney, anime rarely crosses over into musical, and even those instances aren't successful (I don't mean idol series, that's something else). Even this movie isn't actually a full-fledged musical, often it's like image/character songs sung by the cast added for certain reasons. This latter is also questionable, not all of the cast are nice to listen to... (see singer vs. seiyuu made to sing). The opening/theme song resurfaces more than once, and it becomes ridiculous when the uprising Parisians start to sing the same song used to welcome Antoinette in the beginning in a different arrangement. The song inserts are often used to rush through or gloss over things, but I will come back to this later. The symbolism used in some of these scenes is a mess too: art nouveau motifs for a rococo story... or the underwater imagery ^^;;;

Now, about the objective faults. This is not a well-made anime:

Visually, there are some/several money shots, but otherwise the sakuga is a lackluster. They clearly did not have enough money to make it movie quality. The visual style of the manga is old-fashioned, seen as kind of cheesy, and it has its fair share of parodies. It was a question whether the anime can honor this style without turning into its own parody. I don't think it always succeeded, hence my secondhand embarrassment. The musical parts also used a lot of bank shots in the name of "memories," so I guess those were also meant to save money.

The biggest issue is, however, the narrative. You could already see in the trailer that they would cover the whole story. Seeing that Berubara is a 10+ volume long series with 30+ years passing in the story, the movie was... ambitious, to say the least. Unfortunately the movie did not succeed to make it a coherent story. I blame the director too, because even though I think such a approach was bound to fail, it could have been better even among these circumstances.

The movie feels like a summary, or maybe a highlights reel, and I'm afraid it isn't understandable to those who don't know the story beforehand. Quite often the scenes are disjointed without any transition. Many subplots are only visually mentioned, and not even spoken about: the Dubarry issue appears during an image song, the gambling-Polignac-necklace affair during a narration (not mentioned by name), Jeanne does not appear. Rosalie appears in one scene, Bernard as well. Bernard gets named, but you may wonder why, because he does not become important for the plot. Robespierre is a single image too. I think they could have completely erased these, if they were reducing them to these mentions. They kind of feel like sending a message to fans that yeah, we know there's more to the story, but we don't have time to deal with them, so here, have some bullet points. I would have preferred a coherent plot instead... Btw, he noble thief plot is erased, André loses his vision in a different way. Girodelle asking for Oscar's hand seems so out of the blue, like, who were you again? ^^; Fersen is also dropped after they get together with Antoinette (except for a moment mentioned below). It is really bewildering.

As a fan you know what happens in-between, but if you don't know the story, it is difficult to understand the whys and hows. Btw, one of the worst gloss-overs is the Oscar in a dress scene (see above genga). Based on the movie it is already difficult to see where those feeling came from, but when she starts to dance with Fersen it turns into an image song of the four mains, and the unsuspecting viewer has no idea what happened there ^^;;; As mentioned, the musical parts had many repetitions, and with so little time to unfold any plot, they felt a waste of the little available time.

The characters feel very superficial because of rushing through the plot. If you don't know the story, you can only ask why this or that happened. Like, when did Oscar develop feeling for Fersen? And then for André? And so on. There is no show, only tell, and often not even that. Antoinette also loses later character development, and seems to be the selfish queen the French people paint her as. The plot starts to become more coherent after Oscar leaves the court, but even though there is character development for her, most of the political issues that influence her earn barely a mention. So yeah, superficial.

The story ends at the storm of the Bastille (iykyk), and the rest of the history is only narrated in etching style. I would have loved anime style illustrations.

These were the main issues I can remember off the top of my head. I think making a single movie out of this long story was an impossible undertaking to begin with, but it also could have been way better than this. More money for quality animation would have been necessary, also a coherent plot with more nuanced characters.

[shepscapades]

Hiii Shep! I've started finally listening to your DBHC playlists and I have a couple reactions for you! The first is that I should let Derivakat change my brain chemistry, actually. And CG5. And everyone involved with Panorama. And—*gets shaken*

Ahem. Second is that villain songs are always the best, and apparently that extends to villain playlists, because I have NOT stopped playing 24's playlist repeatedly since I first listened to it, and I will not stop anytime soon, thank you. It scratches my brain so good <3

Third is that aside from Panorama, Xisuma and Android 24 also share Breathe by Mother Mother and Ego by daysormay. I can see why 24 gets Ego, but can I ask why Xisuma also gets it? And do why they share Breathe? Or do they both have it for separate reasons? (Like, perhaps, when 24 got sent into a coughing fit on April Fools ….)

Tldr; thank you for making these playlists because they are so good and they've reactivated the writing itch in my brain. I'm having a lot of fun listening to them :D

Hi!! I’m so glad you’ve been enjoying the playlists!! :D

First of all, LOOOVVE cg5, he was my top artist last year and it totally shows <3 derivakat also has some bangers—I often find myself falling in love with an artist, going through their discography, and just dealing out songs to various dbhc playlists LOL. And in some cases, there are some groups that really just fit the vibe for certain characters :D (like, joywave for etho, polite fiction for xisuma, jhariah for both x and 24… and then bands like cg5, saint motel, everything everything, half alive, etc just kinda end up everywhere :)

Secondly, I TOTALLY AGREE, 24’S PLAYLIST IS LITERALLY BANGER AFTER BANGER. It’s 100% one of my favorite playlists to just put on for the sake of enjoying the songs <3 glad this resonates with you too =w=

Lastly, regarding the doubled songs across playlists—this began as something I actually tried to avoid, bc i didn’t want to associate totally different characters/moments/emotions into the same song, but more recently I’ve actually really enjoyed weaving meaning into those doubles, for multiple reasons! For example, X and 24 share a lot of the same songs (not always but often) because they spend a lot of season 8 together or interacting with each other. Panorama is the representation of the start of s8, for the both of them, and if I were to do an animatic to this song, it would focus just as much on xisuma as it would on 24, and so for that reason, I put it on both playlists because I think it’s important for them both. It kind of ties both characters’ timelines together in that moment, if that makes sense. It’s a good marker for time, like, hey! This is where the season 8 begins on the timeline of this chronological playlist (for both of them)!

Maybe this is kinda obvious, but each song on dbhc playlists usually represents either a specific moment for that character, their perspective of an emotion, or kind of a longer period of time/arc/montage, and usually for moments that are shared by characters, I’ll find multiple songs that represent each side of that moment/event/emotion to fit each character respectively? But for some moments (like the start of s8/the evil empire), it’s cool to be able to say “this song represents both of them equally” and represents the same point in time on each of their playlists. Ego by daysormay is another such example of this—It’s an important event/moment X and 24 ‘share,’ and it stamps a marker onto their timelines at the same time, significant to their story and honestly kind of a turning point in their narrative, without saying too much! (I’mnormali’mnormali’mnorm

In other cases where I use the same song on multiple playlists, it’s more… uh, symbolic? I suppose? Of similar themes b/w two characters, and that’s more of what Breathe my Mother Mother represents for them. It’s not the same event—if I remember correctly, i believe Breathe is placed at drastically different parts of X and 24s playlists respectively—but rather the repetition of the song is kind of meant to be ironic? I guess. I can’t really go into exaaactly why Breathe is particularly significant for 24 (though ur definitely on the right track and I’m winking at you)—or really, why it’s ironic that they both share that song—but iirc, I put Breathe on Xisuma’s playlist as a representation of the moment immediately following Don’t Let it Reach the Heart! <3 So yeah I honestly love that pick for the both of them even though their playlists aren’t done :D

ANYWAY! I’ve rambled enough, it makes me soooo happy you’re enjoying the playlists!! Thank you for sharing :DDDD

(reminder for those who aren’t aware: Etho’s Playlist is the only officially finished and posted DBHC au playlist, but if you go to my profile from that playlist, you’ll see WIP versions of playlists for lots of other dbhc characters! They’re all at various stages of completion, but some are more fleshed out than others, and you’re welcome to go root around and take a peak at any playlist you like! <3)

[floating--goblin]

"Whites of your eyes" AKA Sleep Talking

AKA the trilogy starts with a call and ends with an answer

So by now we know that, while most songs are from Vessel's perspective, some stand out as being weirdly out of character and/or not fitting in this whole narrative the band's constructed unless they're someone else's words-- Sleep's. Some examples are Sugar, Jaws, Jericho and even Nazareth; these POV switches were a lot more prevalent in the first era, but we've seen a possible one as recently as TMBTE with Are You Really Okay?

One other notable thing about ST's catalogue is that there tend to be some running themes or phrases that are weirdly specific or otherwise unique. The one that stood out to me from the start has been "the whites of your eyes", which is used three times: in Jaws, in TNDNBTG, and then in Euclid's reprise of TNDNBTG.

Another detail is the use of darkness-- when a song mentions dark places or the night, it's generally safe to assume they're talking about a difficult period, mental strain, etc. The first album being called Sundowning makes reference to sundown syndrome, a condition which afflicts dementia patients, where they become more disoriented after sunset. Less tethered to reality, as it were.

That is likely why Sleep was given that name as well; an entity that encompasses all that lurks in the dark, one step away from death, paralysis incarnate.

Now that we got that down, back to "the whites of your eyes". Its first appearance is in Jaws, which is pretty widely accepted to be Sleep's POV, which means there's a non-zero chance the other occurrences are too. In Euclid that particular passage is backing vocals, detached from Vessel; it can be interpreted as another speaker. That leaves TNDNBTG, which means that this

Was spoken by Sleep, not Vessel as we'd thought until now. Sleep is the one begging for a little time with the object of its fixation.

It makes sense in context, given what "the night" represents-- the lowest time in Vessel's life, when he is at his worst and weakest, is the only time he's attached enough to his misery to stay trapped in it. To stay with Sleep.

The phrase also originated in military contexts, specifically ones in which ammunition was in very short supply; to avoid wasting ammo, soldiers would be commanded "don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes", meaning essentially "we're low on ammo, so don't shoot your gun until you're close enough to be positive that your bullet will hit". And themes of predation and love as physical attacks are common in ST tracks--

So it has connotations of physical closeness, but specifically physical closeness so that you can accurately attack someone when you have limited opportunity to do so. Jaws and Take Aim also create a sort of dialogue, in that they both paint the other party as the hunter and the speaker as the hunted, which lines up with the TMBTE poem-- "I am hunting something, and in turn, that same thing is hunting me."

Another such dialogue exists in TNDNBTG and Higher:

Essentially Sleep saying "You're lucid enough to stay away from me until you relapse again, then you come back to this comfortable misery" and Vessel saying "You remember not to take me for granted only when I start getting better and I no longer let you consume me."

And if TNDNBTG is Sleep's perspective, it also means that Are You Really Okay? is the last time we hear Sleep speak-- at least in the trilogy-- and it stands as a look back on their shared journey and the horrors they've endured,

Accepting that the cycle they're trapped in cannot sustain Vessel anymore,

And checking in one last time before Vessel takes his leave.

Overall a fond goodbye, to which Vessel finally responds to that first summons three albums ago with

Acknowledging that his misery has consumed him for years but that he holds no grudges; that he'll give Sleep-- however many things it represents, the darkest parts of him, the stupidest things he's done, his lowest moments and what he romanticized of all of it-- the time it's claimed, but that he must move on now. To better things.

[moonlitrogue]

.𖥔 ݁ 🪐Cosmic Slow-burn~

࣪𖤐.ᐟ read for your sun + rising sign and move one back for post-january.

𖤐.ᐟ please only take what resonates as this is an intuitive reading meant for the collective

𖤐.ᐟ all music related puns are accidental or coincidental*

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⋆｡ﾟ☁︎｡⋆｡ ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡⋆ a little perspective to navigate Mars Retrograde in Leo-Cancer (Dec 06, 2024 - Feb 23, 2025) ⋆｡ﾟ☁︎｡⋆｡ ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡⋆

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✦ General Themes ✦ ego-death, family triggers, reassessing friendships, associations and attitudes towards creativity + drawing boundaries

✮⋆˙🪐 Leo - *lights out*

okay i have a lot of metaphors for this section. you had a wild night out, you come back home and you look into the mirror. WHO THE HELL IS THAT?! imagine a power cut during a live gig. *bites lips like michael scott from the office.* here’s another one, you play the same song every night and the very next gig you can’t recall the lyrics. all the notes fall flat. this crack in your superstar aura is just… a call to redefine your vibe. NO IMPULSIVE MAKEOVERS. just, redefine. your. vibe. you may have forgotten your authenticity in the rut, forgetting what you’re projecting, pushing through the room forcefully. so, here you are right now. questioning every “cool” move you’ve ever made, your every choice and the charisma you thought you had, basically your confidence is slowly waning. you now have the oppurtunity to rebuild it on your terms. more real, more genuine and more YOU.

✮⋆˙🪐 Virgo - *subconscious soundscapes*

this is the closing track - the deep introspective ballad, the fading chord as you battle your inner demons under the midnight sky. shadow work beckons you to the shadows. nightmares about past regrets may hit you. you’re being asked to revisit any past healing practices and modalities which may have helped you. it’s time to release old wounds and let in spiritual renewal. don’t mistake your loneliness to mean abandonment. you’re only becoming aware of the stale energy and narratives which are holding you up, in a private space. let them go. something lighter, clearer and more connected will settle into their place. this isn’t the final track after all, it’s the interlude to your freedom anthem.

✮⋆˙🪐 Libra - *feedback and static*

you’re in a crowded room and no one's listening, you try to sing with them, but your voice is being drowned out. the vibes are not vibing. you’re facing a noticeable shift in the groups you’re part of, your communities and goals. this slow-down offers you the space to re-evaluate your forward momentum. however, this is not the time to form new alliances. you may reconnect with old acquaintances, or causes that reignite the spark in you. and there’s always the old karaoke room for one. jam out and be in the moment.

✮⋆˙🪐 Scorpio - *headliner on hold*

the spotlight moved away just before you hit the stage. your ambition may have gotten tangled in some red tape. your promotion may be delayed. and you’re asking yourself, am I really the headliner I was promised I'd be? the opening act may not always be the main act, keep in mind that these delays are a vital pause for you. tweak your strategy, sharpen your skills. your authenticity is your spotlight, reconnect with people who have always believed in your potential. this is not the time to retreat. you're in the middle of filming your behind-the-scenes documentary on your rise. buckle down, rockstar.

✮⋆˙🪐Sagittarius - *dreams and detours*

your adventure has been delayed. but the real odyssey is figuring out what you’re running from - or toward. there’s magic in the detour. your inner landscape calls for a deep exploration. an old mentor may return with fresh insight. if you’re drained from academic pursuits, see where the connect is missing between your experience and your evolving truth. this isn’t about abandoning your pursuit (atleast, to some of you), it’s about deepening the bond and reason for your vision.

✮⋆˙🪐 Capricorn - *secrets and smokescreens*

you tried to hide some stuff in the b-sides didn’t you? well they’re going on the comeback tour i’m afraid. it’s not easy being vulnerable and confronting your fears. whatever your secret is, embrace it with honesty. this cosmic audit also shines a spot light on your shared resources. feel for the spaces in between the pain, fear or lack of trust. this isn’t destruction, dear one. it’s just the false falling apart. you will emerge wiser and more authentic.

✮⋆˙🪐 Aquarius - *duets and discord*

relationships may have hit a minor key. if you’re in a relationship, your partner may want some space. there may be some tension that forces you to renegotiate the terms of your partnership. if you’re single, some old emotional chapters may have reopened. you get a chance to work through your love related wounds and let it not feed any bad behaviors. i have no puns for this section. it’s serious folks.

✮⋆♪🪐 Pisces - *work, sweat and setlists*

what’s that smoke? oh right. you’re burning the midnight oil. but you know what happens when you inhale too much of the smoke, right? if your grind has gone glitchy, please consider slowing down. the spotlight and the applause will be waiting for you. just like it is important to tune your guitar before the next gig - figure out a sustainable routine, balance rest with work and tune your self.

✮⋆˙🪐Aries - *lovers and late-night lyrics*

creativity? has gone for a smoke break. this is the time you can revisit and refine creative projects, rewrite the script, dive back into your previous drafts instead of forcing an encore. your love life? may feel like a song stuck on the same heart-breaking line. old flames may reappear but don’t get fooled, nostalgia is a tricky muse. maybe you’ll find a new ending to that draft after all.

✮⋆˙🪐 Taurus - *the greatest hits*

not the enjoyable one, but the one of your family arguments at the dinner table. umm. this could be an emotionally volatile period for you. it’s not easy facing family related wounds and trauma. and you don’t have to! look for your safety first. take back your emotional space, be open and assertive with the things you can control. don’t be confrontative nor pay attention to triggering encounters. if it’s a safer space then express your emotions that honors both your needs and dynamics of your home life. renovate your living space, and that’s the most external action that’s required of you during this transit, indulge yourself really! if you’re taking up therapy or guidance then this is a good time to release old trauma patterns and identities that you’ve had to take up. if you feel like you’re losing connection with yourself due to family or home related priorities, look into that. create boundaries and conserve your energy on the family front.

✮⋆˙🪐 Gemini - *lost in translation*

it’s definitely not your delivery. it’s the timing. i get it, it’s frustrating as heck. you’re constantly misinterpreted. your witty remarks and comebacks miss the beat. and what’s more, any short trips or daily commute may feel bumpy. a usually smooth ride has ended up in you taking frustrating detours. add to that, some old dispute between a neighbor or your sibling flares up. this isn’t an easy time for you, dear one. remember you can always inject back clarity into these frustrating developments. since it’s not wise to resist this slow pace of things, make good use of all that time to be intentional in your communication, and be gentle with anything else that may push you towards the edge. things will fall back into place in time. this is your invitation to be more refined and go analog.

✮⋆˙🪐 Cancer - *your greens don't go with the blues*

that limited edition record you just bought, was it worth it? im not guilting you about buying things or chasing fleeting highs. we all deserve some treats to get through this life. but maybe it’s time to invest in something that pays you back. this energy refocuses your attention on your internal pursuits. how does money affect your self-worth and security? things that are valuable may not always be of value. it’s time to revisit your financial habits. and also that art/skill/relationship which had long-term emotional value and nurtured you in return. and do hold onto that vinyl. it was expensive as *heck*.

──────‧₊˚ 🪐 ‧₊──────

[agentrouka-blog]

What made you first interested in Jonsa? I really want to love Jonsa. Which may sound strange. But hear me out. I’ve read all the metas and from a metatextual level I really agree with and believe in Jonsa. But I have trouble actually enjoying it and I think maybe it’s because so much content seems to focus on Jon pining over Sansa. I’d much prefer to see things from Sansa’s perspective where she sees the hero in him and sees that maybe all the songs aren’t lies after all as opposed to him “winning her over.” I feel I have been inundated my whole life with stories of outcast men pining over beautiful women they see as out of their league and “winning them over” and I honestly find the trope tiring because it’s so male perspective focused and doesn’t give Sansa the agency of choosing her lover, instead, making her something to be won or earned. If you have any suggestions for Jonsa content that focuses heavily on Sansa’s point of view, on her falling for Jon first (or at least falling for each other at the same time without realizing it) I’d love to hear them! And I’d love to hear what makes Jonsa appeal to you on a personal non-meta level!

Hi there!

I too draw a difference between Jonsa as a theory and shipping it for entertainment.

I've drifted quite a bit away from what you describe as "content", which is fanworks, art and fanfiction. My tastes are very narrow and that puts me outside the target audience for a lot of what is being shared by creators. Plus, I get a great deal more personal enjoyment out of just interpreting the canon text. I enjoy what the couple represents in the narrative more than I necessarily enjoy immersing myself in different non-canonical variants.

And there's a lot of variants. You have two similar but also very different canon-sources (books and tv show) and within those two sources very different takes on the couple. For as many "Jon pines for higborn Sansa" approaches you get an equal amount of "Sansa jealously pines for her brother's oblivious best friend" modern au's. What we enjoy in recreational reading is extremely personal and subjective.

That said, for fear of disappointing you, I don't particular enjoy the "Sansa falls first" scenarios because what I like about the couple especially is the idea of Sansa finally being appreciated for who she is. Canon offers us plenty of examples of Sansa extending affection and crushes on other characters. They are never truly reciprocated, and they join in on a theme of Sansa going unappreciated for her qualities by the world around her. She is disregarded, mocked, criticized, belittled, humiliated. So much so that a large part of the fandom considers this to be justified and educational for her. She has given up on being loved for herself, but she will not sacrifice her values as a consequence. So someone falling in love with her is to me a very compelling and cathartic validation of Sansa as a person. Of course, this only works if the person falling for Sansa is actually attractive to her and embodies the things we know she has been looking for all this time. But specifically the idea that Sansa falls first fails my personal taste because it contains a sense of lacking reciprocation that we've already seen multiple times in her story. She's been not-loved-in-return a lot already.

I do enjoy the concept of Jon being loved by Sansa, too, because it validated aspects of him he usually keeps close to his chest. Things that touch on his specific mixed sense of identity as a nobly-raised bastard. He has soft sensibilities, a romantic disposition, pedestrian dreams of family and home, and highly idealistic and emotional ideals surrounding leadership that center on duty and honor. But he is generally not appreciated for those specific things. He is appreciated for his brains and his abilities, his bravery, his pragmatism, his loyalty to his friends and duties - but not for the boy who wants to be Lord of Winterfell with a lady wife and babies, who wants to be a hero from the songs, Florian the Fool, Ryam Redwyne. It's a lovely and very specific recognition of a very private part of Jon, to be loved for his secret soft self.

But it's not my primary focus because unlike Sansa, Jon still receives a lot of validation and love in the source material. It's just not the specific kind he wants. So that makes it comparatively less compelling to me.

That doesn't mean that Sansa primarily falling in love with Jon isn't an equally valid thing to enjoy! It's just that I can't make you any good recommendations on this subject specifically because it's not my specific favorite flavor of jonsa.

I wish you good luck though!