In the third chapter of the SxF manga, when the Forgers visit the opera, we get that short panel:
Though we don't get a music staff, the notes I circled in red include what we call "ledger lines" (aka lines above or below the staff). As you can see, the notes with ledger lines in the panel are the same with the ones in the actual sheet music I added, and their duration is the same.
It's a presentation of the actual sheet music. Endo (if he was the one who drew that particular panel) drew an opera singer in a costume and makeup fitting the Queen of the Night from Mozart's Die Zauberflöte, and then drew notes from the actual sheet music of that role's most famous aria, Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen (yes, that's the one aria that goes incredibly high, and those notes are from that specific passage you probably know of).
THIS IS BRILLIANT AND THIS CLASSICALLY TRAINED MUSICIAN ADMIRES THE DEDICATION 👏👏
Blades is so funny if you never get any of the mage skills. MC finds out they can do magic and they just... pass. No thank you. None of that for me, actually.
ESPECIALLY funny if you play as an orc. Bestie found out they have a skill that makes them rarer than one in TEN THOUSAND and they essentially go:
idkidk it’s hard for me to sufficiently emphasise just how deeply plagiarism has affected me and the way I post. I think for anyone who has dealt with plagiarism or had their ideas lifted, there is a bit of a bruise that never really goes away? it can totally sap the joy out of not only writing but engaging in the community—having similar concepts is not a crime and can be a great way to connect with others. now it just makes me extremely wary and stirs up a lot of unpleasant feelings. I know it’s nice to have two cakes and you’ll all eat it happily but if the other person has used the exact same recipe I’m going to feel a bit shit. hell the other person might feel shit about it too idk 💀 this is poorly articulated ksksks
it's actually so fascinating to me that Brennan has created a character that maintains a pretty relaxed and mild-mannered demeanor and has said multiple times that the absolute Core of her is "FEAR" and how often we see this Fear manifest specifically in Avoidance; it really nails a relationship to that mentality where your brain fully Stops recognizing the emotion properly out of like, sheer self-defense from the stress of having to carry it all the time
I think this is also perfectly showcased in the way we tend to see Tula swing so suddenly from 'level and steady' to 'snarling Panic' and then back again - Just because your brain has detached itself from the Conscious Recognition of the emotion doesn't mean it can Actually stop itself from experiencing it. So the Fear is always there and always acting as a stressor, but because of that inability to Identify it there's no way to recognize or address it before that final straw hits and your bodymind jumps Straight into Full Meltdown Mode; but then once again, once you drop even a Little bit below that Peak Terror your brain ceases to process the emotion; it's like the most exhausting form of Poor Object Permanence in the world
And even if Tula is aware of this happening to her, that doesn't really make it any easier to deal with / address. Even if you're able to spot the symptoms Around the emotion -- chest pain, irritation, nausea, whatever -- because the Emotion Itself is basically impossible to find, you can't really Successfully Pin Down what the problem is OR a way to cope with it. If you can't figure out That You Are Anxious, then figuring out What Is Making You Anxious is impossible, which makes Find A Way To Make Peace With That incomprehensible. That's where the Avoidance comes in: you can no longer identify what might be a Dangerous Situation, which means that Anything New has a big potential to be Really Bad in a variety of ways (ranging "I don't Feel Good" to "Fully Lashing Out bc you've entered Fight/Flight and can't get out of it" to "Actual Outside Danger This Time") and that means the Only Way you know how to be Safe is to just Avoid Doing Anything New and Only stick to Familiar Situations, because anything unfamiliar is a monster of a gamble you don't know how to prepare for or cope with
there comes a beautiful time in life where i have to ask myselg th question, "did i accidentally project too hard onto the character that i only relate to a little bit and in doing so hugely missed this one entire aspect/interpretation of the characters . am i stupid"
I went roller skating with the Road 96 soundtrack and I have some Thoughts
I swear it was created in a lab to be perfect for listening while travelling in one way or another. It was designed by the best scientists and presumably god to reach into your soul and shake it with excitement or drench it in melancholy. And the placement of the tracks is perfect for a workout (like skating) too, the high energy songs are spread out between calmer songs, so I could rush as fast as my body allows for a moment, and then rest and absorb the atmosphere. Or, you know, pretend I'm skating on a sunny beach in Miami lol. Overall it was great and I just wish I had the strength to skate through the entire soundtrack, but my body isn't really made for an hour and a half of being active lmao
I just realized Kafka is named after Franz Kafka which could in kind of a roundabout way be a reference to another famous Franz, Franz Mesmer, the dude who as far as I know like invented hypnotism and was the literal origin of the word "mesmerize"
It's no secret that Google has far overstepped what any company has a right to in terms of its end users personal information and data, but I'm ready to finally make the switch.
Fuck google, they're tracking you way more than you even think they are. And fuck them even more for helping to erode privacy and an individual's right to it as a concept. Privacy is the sort of thing you don't mind giving up until one day you wish you hadn't. I'm not waiting to find out when that is.