#and we may only know one of those things

[dogsliampaynedoesntinstagram]

I’m wondering what you think about Harry’s public image right now. The way he is seen by the fandom, especially non-het Harries (larries or harries who don’t think he’s straight) and the non-fandom is so strikingly different. I’ve been reading comments on different sites, primarily Reddit and some Twitter/tiktok right now about Harry, and so many are saying he’s queerbaiting. I’ve seen comments that say the only thing interesting about him is the speculation around his sexuality and that’s why he ‘queerbaits’, I’ve seen comments that say without the speculation he would be boring like Shawn Mendes, I’ve seen comments that literally say his outfits are queerbaiting, that he’s straight and playing up the “LGBT” angle for promo. I’ve seen people say that “the straights” eat up Harry’s public image of ambiguity but gay people are tired of it. To me these comments just seem preposterous and almost homophobic. I’m not going to get into a discussion of whether or not real people can queerbait in this ask, but it’s just glaringly obvious to me that Harry isn’t straight but for whatever combination of reasons is not going to fully come out anytime soon, that most likely he enjoys wearing more feminine or out-there outfits and if they also help his promo, that adds to it, and that his public image is carefully crafted to help him maintain a sense of privacy. But that’s how I see it as someone in the fandom. I feel like some people outside of the fandom are getting fed up with him; they’re essentially calling him fake and super calculated. I’m wondering if you think his team should take any steps to mitigate people thinking this way, and what they should do.

So a couple of things - I don't think very on-line queer people discoursing about Harry is his public image. I think it's worth thinking and talking about, but shouldn't be blown out of proportion. I suspect that this group is numerically as small as hard core fans, if not smaller.

I do think the fact that Harry is so vehemently seen as straight by a particular subset of queer people is really interesting. And there are lots of different things you could say (and I was making some of those points earlier).

But generally to me it shows the power of compulsory heterosexuality - the aura that Harry has sex with women is very powerful.

***********

But the question about what Harry and his team should do is a really interesting one. I think it's impossible to answer - because we don't know what the restrictions are (and I think in general 1D fandom is very willing to speculate about what should happen, without thinking about what the restrictions might be).

To me the big question is what is Harry prepared to do, and what is the record label prepared for Harry to do.

It'd be very reasonable if Harry didn't want to talk about his sexuality at all, or only wanted to do it in certain terms. And the record label has invested a lot of money and probably has a very conservative idea of what's needed to protect the fantasy boyfriend audience.

The obvious answer of what Harry could do is to make it just one notch more specific that he was attracted to men. He could have said 'I'm asked about my sexuality more than I should be and I don't want to talk about it directly.' And then covered Charlie XCX's boys (perhaps that would be too many notches, but you get the idea). Or he could have done carpool karaoke with James Corden and James could have said that he was attracted to men and then asked if Harry had ever thought of hooking up with James. There would be options to be explicit that he's attracted to men, without ruffling the fantasy boyfriend audience, and not giving any space for follow up (or even requiring Harry to use words).

But that approach may well be vetoed either by Harry, or people he's working with.

For me the question then becomes - whose advice is Harry taking on this. Because Harry Lambert could give him good advice about how he was seen in queer scenes and how to avoid being seen as queerbaiting. But I don't know if he's in those meetings, or if his influence is restricted to clothes. I'd be worried if Harry was only getting straight people's advice about how to navigate all this.

And one reason I think that might have happened is that we haven't seen the Late Night Talking video yet. Now there are lots of reasons for that (particularly the success of As It Was) so I'm not leaping to conclusions. But one possibility I'm considering at the moment is that the backlash to Harry's comments in Better Home and Gardens took them by surprise, and that there's an attempt to figure out how to mitigate the response in a reactionary sort of way. And that the way they respond to the criticism will be to be less queer. Rather than to be explicit enough in a way that people will understand.

I think it'd be a real shame if that happened (although obviously it's all speculation at this point). And I do think that sort of reactionary response would come from the advice of straight people. But I think it's worth saying that Harry's decision making team does seem to be full of straight people, and that's very much a decision he's made. If he makes decisions based on bad advice because of it, that's ultimately on him.

#Super interesting #like I've said before #I don't feel likewe can know much #until we know if the rumours about the video are true #and if it's going to be released #and we may only know one of those things

[swordheld]

hi! your blog is one of my favourites and i absolutely adore reading your thoughts. my grandfather recently passed away and it feels like i lost myself with him. how do i continue living after this? there is this constant weight on my chest and it feels like an emptiness has made a home inside of me. how do i go on when it feels like the world crashed on my shoulders?

hello, love! this is so very sweet and kind of you, and i hope you're treating yourself gently and kindly right now - there aren't words for a loss like this. that heaviness is difficult, and hard, and painful. it's okay if things don't feel okay, right now, or even soon - i think that's something that a lot of the people i know that have gone through similar grief feel: like they should be able to get back to a relative 'normal' in a [insert far too short period of time].

but it's okay if it hurts. that's where i'd like to start. you're allowed to feel that emptiness, that world-crashed feeling that goes beyond words, beyond time. don't feel like you have to rush this to feel some sort of better. things get easier with time, i promise you this, but sometimes painful feelings are important to feel, too. cry, scream, feel your emotions. they're a part of you. grieve.

it's perhaps a little silly, but when i think about death i always think about a couple of space songs: mainly drops of jupiter by train and saturn by sleeping at last. there are perhaps others that speak to the emotions better, but these two have always hit something a little deeper for me, and are popular for a wide-reaching reason.

and while personally i don't know much about grief like this, i do know a lot about love; and i think they're a lot of the same thing.

the people we love are a part of us, and this is why it takes from us so deeply when we lose them, because it does feel like we've lost a part of ourselves in the wake of it. but it's because they were so central to our experiences of living - our lives, that the separation introduces a hollowness - a place where they used to be. a home that now goes unlived in.

an emptiness, like you said.

but just because they're not here physically, doesn't mean he's not still there, in your heart, in your life, your memory. you can hold him close in smaller ways, as well: steal a sweater, or cologne/scent for something a little more physical and long lasting for remembering. hold onto the memories you cherish, the things that made you laugh, the ease of slow mornings and gentle nights. write them all down, slide a few photographs in there, go through it and add more when you miss him. keep them all close, keep them in your heart.

you're not alone, in this. he's still there, with you, it's just - in the little things.

he's with you in the way you see and go about your daily life, in doing what he liked to do, in the ways he interacted with the world that you shared with him. the memories you recall fondly when the night is late or the moment is right and something calls it into you like a melody, an old bell, laughter you'd recognize anywhere.

but i think, perhaps most importantly above all others - talk about him. with your family, your friends, his friends, strangers; stories are how we keep the people we love alive. the connections they've made, the legacies and experiences they've left behind, and so, so many stories.

how lucky, we are - to love so much it takes a piece of us when they go. grief is the other side of the coin, but it does not mean our love goes away. it lives in you. it lives in everyone who knew him, in the smallest pieces of our lives.

the people we love never really leave us, like this: they're in how we cook and the way we fold our newspapers, our laundry, in the radio stations we tune in to and the way we decorate our walls, our photo albums. they're in the way we store our mail, organize our closets, the scribbled notes in the indexes of our books. the meals we love and the drinks we mix, the way we spend time with one another. they've been passed down for generations, for longer than history - and we are all the luckier for it.

think about what you shared with him, and do it intentionally. bring him into your life, like this, again. whether it's crosswords or poetry or sports or anything else. if one doesn't help, try another. something might click.

i hope things feel a little easier for you, as they tend to do only with time. i hope you find joy in your grief, even if it is small and hard to grasp at first. know that your hurt stems from so much love that there isn't a place to put it properly, and that it is something so meaningful and hurting poets and storytellers have been struggling to put it into words and sounds that feel like the fit right for eons, and that it is also just simply yours. sometimes things don't have to make sense. sometimes they just are - unable to be put into words or neat little sentiments, as unfair and tragic as they come.

but i promise it will not feel like this forever. your love is real. and perhaps, on where to begin on from here - i think it's less on finding where to begin and just beginning. and you've already started. you've taken the most important and crucial step: the first one. wherever you go, after that, from here? you'll figure it out. you always have, and you always do. it'll come, as things always do. love leads us, as does light - and you're never alone in your hurt. in your grief, your missing something dear to you. i think if you talk about it with others, you'll find they have ways of helping you cope as well - and they have so much love of their own to spare, too.

as an aside, here is the song (northern star by dom fera) i was listening to when i wrote this, for no other reason more than it makes me think of connections, and love, and how we hold onto the people we love and how they change us, wonderfully and intrinsically. it's a little more joyous than the others i've mentioned, and plays like a story, and it made me think of what is at the core of this, love and stories and i am here with you, and maybe it'll bring you some joy, if you'd like it. wishing you all my love and ease 💛

#q&a. #birdsong. #wishing u gentle ease; the death of a loved one is near inexplicable to put into words and i hope you take care of yourself gently <3 #i hope this will make u laugh: when i was a tiny child in middle school there were times i would go outside in my tiny suburban cul de sac- #in the rain and sing along to my lil ipod nano and i only remember doing this to drops of jupiter. can you imagine going out to get the mai #after a long day of work and you just hear this kid singing train in the streets. in the RAIN.... it makes me laugh like i really. #i really thought i was so cool and deep and emotional ghjkd but i find it v funny that i only remember it w/ that one train track. #and saturn just. it's my fav s.a.l. song for a reason. that slow violin opening? the piano coming in gentle and easy? #it feels like light. like hope. like something new - a dawn after the long dark. that beautiful things can begin again even where #it hurts. and there is nothing more human than a sentiment like that. #how rare and beautiful it is to truly exist. what it is to be alive and get to be here and live with other people. with those we love. #i think your grandfather was so lucky to be able to know you. to have you in his life for the time you had together. #i'm no spiritual person; but i like to believe when you're thinking about him? he's thinking about you too. #the second law of thermodynamics (physics nerd mode) is that no energy has ever been created/destroyed since the beginning of the universe. #so it has to go somewhere - it's that carl sagan quote of 'we're all made of stardust'. because we are. we used to be stars; planets; etc. #i think it's why i think of these space songs - because they're a part of everything; once more; when they go. us and everything else.

[springlock-suits]

Fnaf-tober | Day 27: FNAF Movie

The fnaf movie was so good you guys!!!!!!! DEFINITELY going to draw more Steve Raglan in the future, so for this prompt I decided to go for something that I probably won't draw in the future. Enjoy a bb and my very silly little theory

Fnaf-tober by Miiilowo

#my art #fnaf movie #five nights at freddy's movie #fnaf movie spoilers #five nights at freddy's movie spoilers #balloon boy #i do definitely think garret was the one who said come find me. bb may be a stretch tho #bc like. Garrett was the only kid we never saw. we dont know what happened to him at all #another guess would be springtrap #due to sl mike saying he was going to find his father. but i believe the garrett more #esp since the letters like that are a kids souls thing #cpuld also be the puppet. for sure #those are the 3 main options i think #i hope its garrett i want to see what happened to him #fnaf #five nights at freddy's #eye contact #edit: good call on my end to draw this now. because ive already debunked it for myself 👍. 'come find me' was absolutely the puppet #probs still could be garret tho. who knows

[vv-ispy]

also also I know everyone likes to talk about how good of an archon Venti is because he left mondstadt to do its own thing and hey look Zhongli's doing the same now with his retirement but I also like how the story shows it isn't without flaws, with so much freedom in the city it's all too easy to take control with power, Mondstadt's people may be free but they also don't have a god to actually uphold the ideal they stand for and how personal freedoms conflict, discrimination(eg. against Eula and her clan) is allowed because the people are free to do whatever they want, the fatui really wormed their way into mondstadt during the webtoon + nearly did with Davalin bc the people of mondstadt do whatever they want so Jean is overworked and the knights are ineffective(according to Diluc), and how mondstadt might have been the least free place for the common people during the Lawrences rule despite being the region governed by the archon of freedom

Zhongli at least first tested his people were ready before retiring, Venti kinda acended, organized a bunch of celebrations for his people, then left them to have fun with their newfound freedom only interveining when things get really bad

#to be fair zhongli's only left his people for a couple of years so who knows maybe if he left them for long enough #despite honing his nation on honesty and contracts things would delve into chaos too #or a capitalistic mess and we all know what it's like to live in one of those #now if liyue didn't have plot-armour-due-to-chinese-region-in-a-chinese-game............ #my thoughts on liyue are 'god i wish its story was actually about the common folk common folk #but what i know of the chinese government is the communist party represents the common folk #so in reality it's more like common-folk-party-does-so-good-for-the-common-folk see????' #i really like liyue and its environment too! #wish they explored its flaws too and didn't present it as perfect due to china-chinese-media-relationship! #all of liyue's plots are like 'it's the time of the common folk i want to tell stories about the common people' #'(but also hold on to tradition and respect the traditions which are represented by the adepti)' #can we pls have some actual flaws like the rigidity of contracts and lack of change and rule of tradition #instead of 'contracts are good and honest and also change as the times change for the good of the people' #like yes zhongli at least tested his people before implementing that big change of stepping down #but also if the game didn't have to put china in a positive light tbh idk if he would have done that #as it might be more interesting to explore his archonhood ideal in both its good and its bad #and may have focused more on liyue's difficulting in changing and adapting to the modern tiemes #if venti is the god of freedom and is too free at times then zhongli the god of contracts is too stagnant at times #i have. complicated feelings about liyue due to my complicated feelings about being raised chinese #so mondstadt my fav for representing and giving people freedom #genshin talk

[unopenablebox]

look. most people on tumblr, like most people everywhere, are just kind of innumerate, at least in slightly unexpected cases theyre asked to discuss on polls. they can't demonstrate an understanding of probability and they also don't understand compound interest. this is bad, but we can't fix it by explaining on the polls at length why they are wrong, because people on tumblr, in a specific manner but also still pretty much like people everywhere, think you are a fun-ruining evil stemlord who automatically loses the argument and should be put to death as the oppressor if you try to explain math to them

#i have noted those of you who are vexed by the interest one but acted like people were being dickhead killjoys about the probability one #and may i just say: yeah it's actually very frustrating isn't it. you can sort of see why i was pissy about it previously. #sorry you're now getting got. as we all will be got. in time. #it does also make sense to me that not everyone would respond to both because the probability one was only implicitly a math question #and had a great big ''who's ready to get cancelled for arguing that magic isn't real'' diversion attached #which. alters one's instincts. in various directions. #box opener #and conversely i actually found the interest thing mildly unintuitive until after i'd sat down with a calculator and contemplated what i #know about interest rates. so like. if you're not going to do that on a tumblr poll. and you don't think a lot about orders of magnitude #maybe you just say whatever sounds plausible and never think about it again #(until the hideous stemlords emerge forcing you to double down on the intrinsic moral rectitude of daily payments of course. but that #is not central to the point.)

[daz4i]

ik it's not good to latch onto a mental illness as your defining trait but also. babe i don't have much else going on or any other sense of identity beyond it

#''you don't want to heal from depression bc you don't know who you are without it'' yeah no shit. if there's no depression there's no me #also i got the no sense of identity disorder!!!! so!!!! said disorder is just my only identity ig!!!!!! #ik this is why ppl look for labels and i am no different but all my labels hinge on being vague so like . not very helpful #others i know latch onto their nationality/religion/heritage etc. but i definitely don't feel pride in any of those #dare i even say i feel disgust. i am more defined by my disdain for being jewish than my actual judaism #ppl say to let what you love define you. but. i don't love. i mean i love my cat but i don't think that can define me #also maybe I'm just autistic but i don't really get how one can even be defined by what they love 🤔 #and this whole thing is so weird. bc in so many people's head there is this very firm image #and people tell me i seem confident and like i know how i am and that I'm being myself in an honest way #girl i don't even know what myself is!!!! i am more defined by my lack of definition than anything 😭😭😭 #or my worse traits like stubbornness and hypocrisy and obsession #wouldja look at that we just circled back to my bpd. see what I'm saying? #vent #ask to tag #sorry for all the vents today 🫡 i am at my worst actually and i fear i may lose it at any moment ✨️

[araneitela]

I'm writing, finally, but this thread made me want to leave a little note on the dash about the topic of affection/care in my portrayal of Kafka, because I don't want any assumptions made about what you can expect on this little blog of mine. Any way, I think that I've made it abundantly clear that I don't shy away from touching on the more emotion-driven aspects of her character (1, 2, to note just two quick examples) that tell me there's a deep-rooted capacity in Kafka to care, despite her confirmed lack of fear. While I respect that people may play into the concept of a 'numbness' across the spectrum of emotions for her as a whole, it's important to note for my end and on this blog (and this isn't any sort of jab at anyone, truly), that I do not play into this same take. This'll be a larger meta soon, but I wanted to add two specific 'little' things as a bit of a driving force alongside these numerous scenes, so that people may know where I'm coming from until I actually write this meta. This is from her SQ (Letter from a Strange Woman):

Trailblazer: Why did you join the Stellaron Hunters? (If Kafka says the truth) Kafka: Because I wanted to change myself. Kafka: I have no mechanism for "fear". There's an empty space in my mind and my heart, but I'm unable to perceive it. Changing that part of myself isn't something I can do alone. Kafka: Elio can help me, if I follow his instructions.

It has always struck me ever since the confirmation in this story quest, that 'feeling fear' is something that she actively wants to find and more so, seeks to obtain. Fear isn't just any random emotion, it's one of the most deep-rooted emotions that we have, and it is the one thing that we use to not only actively instinctively protect ourselves, both physically and emotionally; but fear is a fundamental part to attributing value to something or someone. And the reason why I bring up the latter, is because of Blade's line in the same quest:

Blade: Every Stellaron Hunter has a deal with Elio. I do not know the nature of those deals, but I do know that Kafka and I agreed to take orders from Elio. She must have sought something extraordinary. Everything she does comes at a great cost. Blade: She will have done many things to keep you alive until now, young one.

How do you measure 'great cost' if there is a lack of emotion, and therefore investment? If there is a void across the board, then does anything ever, truly, come at a great cost? Of course, one can claim that Blade is an unreliable narrator, but he is arguably, likely, the one who's known her longest after Elio, and then Sam.

#[ mini study. ] she must have sought something extraordinary. everything she does comes at a great cost. #[ it's one of those things of-- i respect that we don't all firmly agree on this and that's perfectly fine. but i know /my/ take here is.. #[ less common. and so i want to ensure that people know not only that i /don't/ follow the same route for her. but also note /why/. ] #[ so that it may also kind of resonate with everything i write and whatnot. ripple effect if you will! ] #[ instead of going 'this is it'; i want to say 'this is why' so that people /understand/ how i got here. you know? ]

[kateis-cakeis]

I'm curious more than anything, but why did fanon decide that Aithusa is female?

I mean, it's never 100% completely confirmed that Aithusa is male either. Yes, Kilgharrah said "'you named him", but he also said that Aithusa "bodes well for Albion, for you and Arthur, and for the land that you will build together."

So Kilgharrah can be wrong.

But! I wanna know if anyone has a good starting point of how this part of fanon came about. I tried to search, but nothing was really coming up for it.

Though, I do know with fanon sometimes things just start and nobody knows how they started or when exactly, so I understand if this is one of those cases :P

#bbc merlin #merlin #aithusa #the wiki does say Katie McGrath said for her that Aithusa is female is that how it started sdhfghsdfg #It's so interesting because we only get one pronoun for Aithusa with 'him' #maybe all dragons go by he/him :P #i know this is maybe also one of those things where everyone could have just made a decision back in the day in 2011 #completely forgetting about the episode saying him because unless people got dvds it's not like things were easy to rewatch back then #I mean bbc iplayer used to yeet things off in 7 days #thank goodness it has all the episodes to watch now for what seems like may be forever #because some of my dvds got scratched :( and i never even used them and somehow they still broke sighsss

[todayisafridaynight]

i dont get how daigo could be bitchy and moody while wearing a puffer like . my brother in christ do you even know how silly you look rn trying to be emo in a puffer

#snap chats #looked at myself for too long and was about to have my Daily Required Evil Monologue but i just look too goofy with this thing on LMAO #its cold as hell. all the time. if i draw daigo in his puffer at some point this will be why #but yeah bro i cant sulk when i look like the michelin man like cmon #thats how i know daigo aint been around a mirror in Ever...... #ough i wanna play gaiden now wait. coliseum calls to me...... #i should eat tho UGH i dont know what to eat tho. #my heart always tells me to go with the pork floss onigiri but i already had one today #technically i eat two a day so i colud make another one but it'd feel weird only eating One.. #but then i'd have had three rice balls and i dont like the number three... do we see my overly-convoluted dilemma... #ill prob cave and make two anyway. if im so tbh. #Come What May tomorrow my kirby onigiri case is coming in :) oh yeah i bought one of those. after being influenced. by bestie </3 #OK BYE what the fuck am i gonna do oho my god i wanted to draw but now coliseum but now food bu

[caterpillarinacave]

So you choose not to step through the door, after all why mess with nonsense when you're already in nonsense? You check the items in your pockets, your phone you shut off to conserve power, the dog tag, key and top clink together but offer no help, and when you fiddle with the walkie-talkie you manage to get it to turn on, excitedly you call out to the void but only static responds, which is disappointing but predictable, so you put the items away and hunker down for the night, looking at the sky you can see that the stars seem strange, though you're no expert, and the moon seems to have a second smaller moon near it which looks pretty cool but is a stark reminder of how not on your own world your predicament has landed you.

In the morning you begin looking through the nearby bushes and plant life taking note of anything strange, you notice the berries you had been picking before you stepped through the door are also growing around here, they look and taste the same, and some other plants seem pretty similar to the forest from before as well, although the further away from the door you go the more unfamiliar plants you come across (of course that may just be your lack of familiarity with plants) and the few animals you have noticed are bizarre in a way that you can't explain, like the people from town, they seem almost perfectly familiar, just a little off and the noises they make have you thinking they wouldn't be able to communicate with their counterparts either, brushing aside another branch you come across a strange funnel made of metal which you pocket and what looks to be a regular whistle, you wipe it down and blow but hear nothing aside from the air going through, you consider it is either broken or maybe a dog whistle, as you go to put it away you hear something big running in your direction, before you can decide how to react a large creature storms out of the bushes and stops in the clearing before you, it's huge as a horse with paws and sharp teeth it licks as it looks around and spots you, it shakes its head again reminding you of a horse, then steps closer before turning and staring expectantly, you get the feeling it's waiting on you, impatiently, and you realize it seems to expect you to get on its back. Do you get on?

Yes.

#I am a terrible terrible Irish child #Clearly all those folk tales whose only moral was “don’t climb on the strange horse” were lost on me. Technically not a horse though. So. H #Uh please don’t run into the bog with my on your back strange horse thing. #…This may be one of my worse ideas #On one hand moving away from what appears to be the only connection my world doesn’t sound like a great idea #Back through the door is logically the the best bet. However I’ve already explored the area #The only thing to do would be to just sit there for hours and that will get me nowhere. The things that do have leads like the walkie- #Sputtering are things to pay attention to but not things that are likely to change if I don’t move. The whistle is the newest thing- #And let’s be real I’ve been in the bramble for like 14 hours without the neurospicy meds I am teetering on dangerously antsy #Probably better to get on the horse before I come up with something more stupid #It’s interesting my world flora seems to surround the door. I wish I’d payed more attention before I stepped through #If the nearby flora on the other side seemed like it would come from this world it would suggest that the door just leaks between universes #In two ways. If it’s earths flora then it’s either only leaking one way which we could no from one step through #Or - which we will not know but should pay attention for if we step into some other world - if the earths flora shows up around EVERY porta #Which would suggest earth is the base in some way #It might be beneficial to climb a tree to try and see farther out #Though I don’t exactly get many opurtunited to haul myself up a tree so I would put to much stock in a)my upper body strength #And b) my ability to chose a tree that won’t kill me #It’s defintley worth taking in as much info as possible. I’ll try and notice things like different winds gravity tempature ect #What should i tag this all. Help I got lost in a blackberry bush? Anon who takes me to alternate planes of reality? #I know #Guys I got lost in a bush #That’s a good one. Nothing weird there at all. #FINE I’ll rage it “guys I got lost in a blackberry bush” #I wonder what makes things so familiar. Perhaps this world exists very closely to the other. Perhaps they’ve crossed paths before. #Perhaps they’ve shown up in our dreams. Perhaps I have bad memory and my brain gaslights itself into thinking everything’s familiar #I wonder maybe the horse is a horse/dog thing- that would explain the likeness to the dog whistle (?) #This can’t get any worse I say doing something that could very much make it worse #Eh what’s the worst that can happen. At least I don’t have to pay taxes in this world #Guys I got lost in a black berry bush

[simgerale]

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN ; 1/3

TRANSCRIPT:

Some Nights Ago...

magdalena: [whispering] Your highness, why on earth did you drag me out here at this hour?

luca: Well, your majesty, I was laying in my bed, deep in thought—

m: Of course.

l: —when I realized that I never got a dance with you at your ball.

m: And?

l: And I plan on remedying that. May I have this dance, fair lady? ...Please?

m: …[lets out a lengthy sigh] Oh, alright.

. . .

m: Speaking of the ball… Will you finally admit how you recognized me?

l: Simple—the mark on your neck. I am the one who gave it to you.

m: What mark?! You gave me no such thing! I would surely remember—

l: [grins] The scar, your majesty.

m: Oh.

l: When we were children, the last summer before the war, we visited your family. Here, at this castle.

m: Yes… I remember now. You were quite the nuisance, even at that age.

l: And you were quite the prissy little girl.

m: [furrows brows] Touché.

l: Still, I developed a crush the moment you looked me in the eyes. I tried to impress you, of course, which only led to you liking me even less. So I found a dusty sword to show off my sparring skills.

m: [gasps lightly] It was you!

l: Indeed. There I was, practicing in the maze, and then there you were, skipping past my hedge.

m: You could have killed me!

l: I could have, and that is why I dropped the sword and ran. Luckily for me, all I did was cut your hair and a small section of the back of your neck.

m: …I was distraught over losing my long hair, you know.

l: But was it not impressive that it was a clean cut?

m: Luca!

l: [snickering]

#regal #ts4 story #thank you morri for making me sword poses for bby luca <3333 #finally an explanation of how luca knew who magdalena was in the very beginning lol #how he only cut her hair and gave her a tiny cut on the back of her neck.................... the world may never know #✨ precision ✨ #it's barely noticeable so it hasn't been a big thing ever in one of my posts #but of course luca would see it #as he was the culprit lol #maggie barely thinks about it because it was such a weird thing that she never had an answer to #didn't even really make a big deal about it #her parents thought she had cut her own hair (^: #it's hilarious to me that maggie thought luca was talking about a LOVEBITE #like............................................................. girl what goes through your head secretly #anywhoooooooooo #i wrote this scene as sort of a break from the absolute nightmare that maggie is going through right now #but it's something she is thinking about while sitting at his bedside so it's relevant #one those 'only a few days ago we were talking and smiling and dancing...' type things

[yuelun]

Have I stated that I love Guizhong (Haagentus) of Liyue yet today? Because I do, more than I can say in normal and coherent words. I don't know why adding 'of Liyue' got me feelings extra things, it's okay.

#[ it's a problem really. an actual problem. ] #[ the last 3 mornings (even yesterday morning when i'd slept only 4 hours) i've been waking up thinking about how-- ] #[ elements reform. her death doesn't get rid of /what she is/. ] #[ it's her corporeal form that is gone. but /she/ isn't. she's still living in each particle of dust that stretches across teyvat. ] #[ dust. ash? we all return to dust? ] #[ 😭😭😭😭] #[ can we just think about that for a moment? she's there-- somehow. not even just her spirit. but /her/. ] #[ who isn't to say she can reform after a very long period of time? could zhongli's gnosis' aid in 'hastening' it? ] #[ not saying that's why he gave it up. but. but. but. ] #[ what if it's just something it /could/ aid in doing. not its main purpose-- but one of the things. ] #[ hell we don't even know the extents of what those gnoses do or are capable of. ] #[ but if they can power something as immense as a vessel for scara-- why couldn't it consolidate energy? elements? ] #[ i'm losing my mind thinking about her potentially being linked to alchemy-- especially alchemy in khaenri'ah where... ] #[ dust is at the very basis of life. LIKE YOU KNOW? ] #[ i was told by two people to go get coffee-- so let me do that. maybe it'll make me more coherent. ] #[ but also-- please remember if you follow me; you'll be subjected to how much i love guizhong. ] #[ and i think that's a rational thing to say. :) ] #[ ooc. ] wherever her spirit may be among the countless grains of sand and specks of dust between the harbor and the mountains…

[lwcina]

the fact that the us government can continue funding and arming a genocide despite massive public opposition really highlights how inherently non-democratic the united states is

#almost like the idea of a representative demcracy is both historically undemocratic and inherently is incapable of being so #by historically i mean that representative democracies have always meant the creation of a category of ‘citizen’ that is above ‘non-citizen #even the civilization where the term democracy comes from was patriarchal and had fucking slavery #not chattel slavery but (hot take) non chattel slavery is still bad. #also fundamentally one person can literally not represent the wishes of a large collection of people who have only geography in common. #theyre going to want different things!!! #now the idea of if democracy is inherently a virtue is like. another topic. but i will say that like seeing the history of like the #popular sovreignty movement wrt to slavery really made me question it. just because a lot of people want something to happen doesnt #actually mean it should happen. white people voted to legalize slavery #kind of where the old ‘minority’ terminology comes in. just by numbers alone in the states that had these votes it wasnt like in the south #where in the south because of plantations the actual population majority in some places was black. #but in those midwestern new states even if everyone person there could have voted. white people would still be the vasy majority. #honestly to a degree pointing out that none of the societies that have claimed to be democracies have truly been democratic is… #i guess the primary value in it is to challenge people who take state mythologies at face level #a very large population that i often forget exists. #the ‘they cant do that its illegal’ types. #anyways. if we consider that every society in documented history has had some type of violence and oppression #and if we believe that people are NOT inherently selfish/violent #it follows that what we need to do is something different than what we have been doing. #not just different from what we are doing right now. but different from what we have been doing for the past centuries #but also i can imagine that societies and ways of living that aren’t legible to the status quo or just went undocumented for other reasons #may have been more egalitarian. and we dont know due to erasure (either intentional or non-intentional) #both erasure and a fundamental inability of historians to comprehend it. similar to how cishet historians who cant fathom the idea of #transness or lesbianism talk about things.

[johnbly]

[obligatory job hunting is hell post]

#i applied for a thing last week that didn't ask for a cover letter #and is just like 'we'll reach out for more if your experience is a good fit etc' #and every day that goes by without word i get more nervous #like i know it's not been a long time but if i don't even get contacted for this one based purely on experience then we have a problem #like maybe i didn't get on the other ones bc my cover letter was bad (i don't think it was) or bc the experience wasn't quite right #but i thought i was a relatively good fit for this one! #and if i'm not then there's not much i can do about that because spoiler alert you need more job to get more experience! #can't really say a rejection isn't a reflection of you as a person if you're rejected purely on your experience #anyways may this post manifest a message from them soon #of course. an initial reach out is only the first step of many to actually getting a job which is a whole other issue isn't it :) #it is one of Those Nights lads #chilly chats

[wonder-worker]

(Dominic Mancini) believed that Edward IV had designated his brother Gloucester as Protector – a statement – a statement which he first introduces with a cautious ‘as they say’, but which then becomes the cornerstone of his argument. In the absence of formal evidence, this claim cannot be checked, but it has always been recognized that the choice of Gloucester to head the government was an obvious possibility for the dying king. If Edward wanted a protector, the duke was, indeed, the inevitable candidate. Gloucester’s position as sole surviving brother of the king, coupled with his outstanding record of service to the crown, would have made it impossible to pass him over, even in a society aware of the dangers which guardianship by a paternal uncle posed to the interests of the heir. But Mancini does not leave the story there. He claims that the council chose to ignore Edward’s wishes, preferring the immediate coronation of the young king to a formal minority. This decision was prompted by fears that a protector might usurp the throne, although Mancini adds that it was supported by the queen’s family, who wanted to prevent power passing to Gloucester. Having carried this initial point, the Woodvilles then proceeded to dig in militarily and financially. The picture is thus one of overt factions, with the Woodvilles manipulating the majority of the council against Gloucester and a small group of councillors who supported the idea of a Protectorate – an element usually identified with the dead king’s friend and chamberlain William Hastings.

…Mancini’s account, for all its overt criticism of the duke, may be based on a version of events originating in the circle around Gloucester. It casts the Woodvilles as the aggressors and Gloucester as the victim of circumstance. [According to this interpretation], the duke was virtually forced into some sort of counter-offensive to protect his own interests, and his seizure of Edward [V] at the end of April could even be justified, although Mancini does not say so, as a return to Edward’s original wishes.

This raises the interesting possibility that Mancini’s insistence that Edward IV wanted his brother to be protector also derives from a version of events put forth by the duke after he had seized the prince and was seeking recognition as protector. Certainly one of the shakiest parts of Mancini’s account is his attempt to explain why, if Edward wanted a protector, the council sought to overturn his wishes. His suggestion that the council feared an usurpation displays the hindsight to be expected from someone writing after June 1483, when Gloucester had indeed used the protectorship as a stepping-stone to the throne. It is difficult to believe that anyone in April seriously feared that Gloucester had designs on the crown. The duke had a record of close cooperation with the Yorkist establishment, something at least as important in the context of 1483 as his much-emphasized loyalty to his brother. He was not an alien, northern magnate from whom anything might be expected, but a key figure in the reconstructed royal authority which now needed to be preserved for the young king.

This weakness in Mancini’s argument has, however, gone unremarked, largely because most commentators have chosen to emphasize Mancini’s second point and argue that the real reason for what happened was Woodville hostility to Gloucester. Mancini himself is clear that there was a long-standing rivalry between the duke and the queen’s family, and this has been accepted by almost every subsequent writer. A clash of interest was therefor inevitable once Gloucester had been chosen protector. But Mancini is here guilty of reading back into Edward IV’s reign the tensions which he observed after the king’s death. There is no contemporary evidence of hostility earlier than the end of April 1483. Although the personal attitudes of the protagonists are unknown, it is clear that their working relationship was one of co-operation.

This does not prelude the possibility that the Woodvilles turned against their former ally and in 1483 and cynically excluded Gloucester from the Protectorship in order to seize more power for themselves. But this would make nonsense of the events at the end of April, when Gloucester was able to seize possession of the (king) from an unsuspecting earl Rivers. The earl, who had apparently dispersed his men before meeting the duke, clearly expected no trouble from Gloucester – confidence which would be incredible if Gloucester had just been the victim of a Woodville coup.

Doubts about Mancini’s version are reinforced when it is compared with the account produced early in 1469 by the anonymous continuator of the Croyland Chronicle. The author was councillor of Edward IV and is in general a far more reliable source than Mancini. His facts (although not always his glosses) cannot be faulted, and he was ideally placed to give the definite account of events after Edward’s death. Although he evidently knew what the king had planned, he nowhere states it explicitly, and his silence has left the field to Mancini’s version. But this very silence casts doubt on Mancini’s central point that the council actually voted down the king’s expressed wishes. As a councillor himself, the author would have surely drawn attention to such a reversal. Instead he allows it to be assumed that the council’s plans for the coronation were in line with the king’s sagax disposito as embodied in the codils of his will. This makes it unlikely that Edward sought a protectorate. The implication instead seems to be that Edward’s ‘wise ordering’ did not envisage a formal protectorate at all, but entailed the immediate succession of his heir for which there was precedent in 1377, when the eleven-year-old Richard II had succeeded his grandfather. This is perhaps also implied by the chronicler’s comment that all the councillors were ‘fully desired the prince to succeed his father in all his glory’.

-Rosemary Horrox, "Richard III: A Study of Service"

*I just want to add that in 1475, when his son was only four years old, Edward IV's extant will did not desire a Protectorate (or regency, or lieutenancy); instead, he named his son 'Keeper of the Realm', placed him under the protection and control of the Queen, and appointed a Great Council to administer the realm. That should be kept in mind when discussing his potentially modified 1483 will, made when his son was twelve.

Simply put: Edward IV's 1483 will has not survived, we do not know what it says, we don't know what his codicils were or if they were even relevant to his son's minority (it could have been related to his children's marriages, for example). The Croyland Continuator mentions that he added codicils yet never claims or emphasizes that he appointed anyone Protector, and strongly implied that moat of his 1475 will remained at full force. We can speculate, but we cannot state anything for certain, and insistent claims to the contrary (almost always to Richard III's benefit and Elizabeth Woodville's denigration) must necessarily be viewed as biased and shallow. Saying that Edward IV could have potentially named his brother Lord Protector is very different from looking at contemporary accounts and evidence to judge whether he actually did - which we ultimately don't know and won't know unless we find the actual will or another contemporary source. Nor does it actually matter on a practical level because neither his council nor his queen were obligated to follow his wishes, which in turn makes Mancini's insistence on the contrary (ie: claiming Rixhard was 'entitled' to the position as per law and his brother's alleged order, which is distinctly untrue: Richard was not entitled to anything on the basis of either of those things) all the more suspect and reinforces Horrox's point about him potentially being influenced by propaganda. I'm just putting this here for the sake of the argument.

#r*chard iii #edward iv #wars of the roses #read it again: ALL the councilors wanted Edward V to succeed his father and be crowned immediately. Even after the Woodvilles were out #of the way they wanted the young king's coronation to happen 'without fail'. #You'd think someone like Hastings (who seems to have disliked the Woodvilles) would argue in favor of a Protectorate - but as per Croyland #he didn't. Nobody did. #It's *Mancini's* account which presents a debate in the council between an immediate coronation and a Protectorate #*Croyland* on the other hand is clear that EVERYONE wanted the young king to be crowned as soon as possible. #What Mancini presents as an argument in the council is what Croyland presents as its unifying factor #Croyland also speaks of Edward IV's will and his deathbed moments as well and nowhere does he mention him appointing a Protector #In 1475 Edward appointed a council of 20 to govern the realm and placed the Keeper under the protection and custody of the Queen #He didn't want a Protector when his son was FOUR. Why would he suddenly want one when his son was TWELVE? #When the only precedent of a Protector during a minority (Humphrey and Henry VI) ended when the king in question was SEVEN? #Moreover Mancini's account IS rather suspect #His notion that Richard's potential appointment to Protector was something he was 'entitled to by law and his brother’s ordinance' #is blatantly wrong. Richard was not 'entitled' to the position by either of those things (and there was no such extant law) #So one wonders where exactly Mancini got the idea from? He himself says 'men say' which may indicate gossip - but even more strongly #indicates propaganda put forth by Richard as A.J Pollard has also suggested #Considering Mancini's account doesn't just speak of Edward giving Richard the position but also the queen denying it to him #Which like Horrox said presents the Woodvilles as the aggressors and Richard as a victim merely defending himself #And believes that Richard was *entitled* to the position ((thus casting the Woodvilles as the wrongdoers) when he certainly wasn't #again: we can't know what exactly Edward wanted unless we find his last will or a well-informed contemporary source #And it doesn't practically matter because neither his council nor his queen were socially or legally obligated to follow his wishes #I'm just putting this here for the sake of the argument

[unproduciblesmackdown]

similar to the greentext stuff - i was visiting with my neighbors and their grandkids were around, and I said to this eight year old, "Hey, you wanna know something cool? I was playing the game when the Endermen came out." and his eyes went wide, like this kid looked like i told him i landed on the moon. His grandma thought it was really funny, and she said she has no idea what i'm talking about, but her grandbabies do, and that's incredible to her.

oh that's fun lmao, when minecraft & that update's existed for more than your whole life, and yknow being that young and like Next Year fr is this huge time scale away, a couple of years is a quarter of your life thus far and like maybe nigh half of the part of your life you actually have longterm memories for....i was checking out this dev's blog's archives about a:tdd's release in 2010 & in one entry they compared the implicitly Roughly concurrent release of Minecraft and i was like hey whoah. forever primarily being a game i've Heard Of more than any more direct exposure so i had no precise sense of [before minecraft release] [after minecraft release] Year 0 there but it's like for sure back in thee day when minecraft was a new thing, huh

#add in that [i also basically Heard Of mass effect but that's a game series w/a 2010 median which i had Any knowledge abt already] #so i have that reference point for a still like [niche video for When You've Played These Games For Sure] there but then like #if you were ten or even 5 yrs younger at the time you May Well Be much more at sea as your starting point there #(but i mean not that much; i didn't know a ton. reread those wikipedia plot summaries myself) #enderman came out? happy pride #shoutout to this one time i crossed paths w/this kid who was at the time probably like late middle school early high school age #who started talking abt pokemon like Clearly A Big Interest and i'm like my only Direct experience is playing pokemon go but i know Some #stuff b/c i was 5 in '99 when it was first making that huge splash lol. can make Some remarks....but also just Listening Attentively To You #Monologue like uh huh go off....i sure remember like the Sense of a couple yr's sagacity like being 9 i think reading a book abt 6th or 7th #graders (i.e. two or three yrs older) like My God They Must Be So Mature.... #and like ofc when skimming passages as an adult it's like omg l'enfants. Both Perspectives Being Accurate respectively lol #my vintage experiences like i've def saved things on the floppy discs of [save icons imagery]. have heard the dialup tones organically.... #but also; say; Home Computers That You Didn't Really Need To Know Much Abt Computers To Use were forever an everyday thing for me #having been born mid '90s....vs like in the '80s being nicher but also like. the programs to amateur code not being As Complex either #like [working on cars] of yore vs more modernly lmao....plus ofc in their designs; opening up a desktop Tower vs what? a tablet?? #ppl my age who had more substantial Online Access earlier than i did maybe having at least picked up some html; which i did not lol #also didn't have too much Gamer Experience ever; what i did largely desktop then laptop pc wasd+mouse style.... #didn't have a smartphone till maybe 5 yrs after they were starting to become more commonplace #vs that again to an 8 yr old of today [commonplacer smartphones] is your whole life basically too. i remember when we flipped those phones. #(i do fr lol. did have one of those first for a good while.) #granpa granpa....mh being fourteen yrs old meaning like the Teen Fans of Today were probably not watching it as it aired lol #whereas i Was that teen fan of those yesteryears. and all my stories for it like fuckin uhhhhhh [crickets chirping] [studio audience laugh] #though You Don't Need The Fans like mh is a long movie ppl can newly discover Whenever that holds up; plus it has bonus lore #mostly what i could even Possibly bring is just the particularly nicher older bonus lore. but like grandpa simpson (the simpsons) for sure #which is to say: humorously irrelevant & perhaps somewhat cantankerous #whilest i'm vaguely aware there may have also been that minecraft resurgence (esp through streaming?) from 2020 on.... #but evidently Like Mh something that continually revives / takes on New Fans / Participants #for sure i might well be playing some tf2 myself if i had the technical capability (i would have the poor personal ability i always did lol #real games of yore but it never gets old also. though i know Of Late there was a bot problem / just neglected maintenance? that get fixed? #These Have Been The Tag Tangents. maxed out thirty tags i know that's right