Taking Cartoons Too Seriously

[amaltheafan]

Orangutan Jungle School

[amaltheafan]

Orangutan Jungle School

[annabelle--cane]

one of The Many problems with how the general public conceptualizes addiction and recovery is that "rock bottom" makes a really good narrative beat, it's a nice and dramatic second act low point in your classic three act structure to give a character something to make them reevaluate and get their life in order, and the human brain sure likes holding on to Fun Narratives, so even well-intentioned people who don't consider themselves to believe in punitive measures get it stuck into their heads that thee way that people get sober is by experiencing some kind of reckoning of harsh consequences (losing a job or home, overdosing, being rejected by loved ones, getting desperate and feeling driven to do something really awful to keep using, etc). when, if you think about it for like two seconds, basically no one in the world is going to juuust about survive their own personal worst case scenario and think "wow, now would be a really great time to give up my only coping mechanism and voluntarily induce a medical emergency for the next several weeks," that kind of thing is far more likely to just immediately make everything Much worse.

[annabelle--cane]

I once saw a parenting blog or something that was written with a very earnest and measured tone seriously give the advice "if your teen is struggling with addiction and won't respond to anything you do then your best move would be to kick them out and cut them off so they run out of other options more quickly" and I just sat there in a kind of mute horror for a few minutes afterwards. like. no that's actually how you kill people. if a child is already in the midst of a mental health crisis, and you then deliberately engineer the situation to give them a second crisis, that is how you kill someone. I cannot stress this enough.

[annabelle--cane]

basically:

To expect an addict to give up her drug is like asking the average person to imagine living without all his social skills, support networks, emotional stability, and sense of physical and psychological comfort. Those are the qualities that drugs, in their illusory and evanescent way, give the addict. People like Serena and Celia and the others whose portraits have appeared in this book perceive their drugs as their “rock and salvation.” Thus, for all the valid reasons we have for wanting the addict to “just say no,” we first need to offer her something to which she can say “yes.” We must provide that island of relief. We have to demonstrate that esteem, acceptance, love, and humane interaction are realities in this world, contrary to what the addict has learned all his life. It is impossible to create that island for people unless they can feel secure that their substance dependency will be satisfied as long as they need it.

gabor maté, "chapter 27: toward an enlightened social policy on drugs," in the realm of hungry ghosts

[lenbryant]

Women in Shakespeare

[orangebitters]

Also like to point out that when her mother says “I was your mother much upon these years that you are now a maid,” (translation: I had you when I was your age) you have to remember her father’s words: “earth hath swallowed all my hopes but she,” (translation: all the other children died.)  The whole plot point of Juliet being an only child is explained by her mother being a Margaret Beaufort type who had her first child too young and it damaged her past the point of being able to bear more children.

[beatrice-otter]

Margaret Beaufort died in 1509. She was a major player in the Wars of the Roses, the swirling on-again-off-again civil wars that consumed England from 1455-1487. Romeo and Juliet was written and first performed in the early 1590s. Your average English person of Shakespeare’s day would probably have had at least a vague understanding of who she was and what happened to her, because she was a key figure in recent history and was still getting passed around as a cautionary tale.

There are two great problems with what happened to Margaret (and that her parents are trying to do to Juliet). One is easy for modern people to spot (but was also a common response back in her own day). And that’s the moral implications of what was done to her. She was too young to be married, and it was horrifying that she was forced into it so young. Every one of the adults around her either acted immorally or failed to protect her. They were wrong. This is what modern people see, and it’s important to remember that people back in her day mostly agreed with it. You’re supposed to think it’s fucked up! When girls were married that young (and it didn’t happen often!) it was a formality 99% of the time. It was for dynastic or financial reasons (the girl has lots of money and/or land and/or a title that her husband wants), but the “couple” don’t consummate their marriage for years. And it’s not just that they would have separate bedrooms. They might not even live in the same country until the girl was in her late teens and physically and mentally mature enough to bear and raise kids. Hell, a lot of times they didn’t even meet until the girl was older! They had this thing called “proxy marriage” where you would have two separate ceremonies, in two separate places, with each party saying their vows separately, one in one city and the other in a different one. So, yeah, sure, the girl was technically married at 12, but she didn’t actually meet her “husband” in person until she was 17 and they didn’t start sleeping together until she was 20. That was a thing they did.

The other problem, the one that modern people don’t notice, is dynastic. See, marriage wasn’t generally because you loved someone. It was because you had the resources to support a family, and you or your family wanted to pool those resources with someone. It’s about “our family has these resources, and we want that to continue.” It’s about continuity across generations. It’s about making sure that your children and grandchildren have the best possible resources to survive and thrive, whether those resources are land or a trade or a title or money or whatever. In order for this to work, you have to have kids! The family and the family’s resources depend on the married couple having children. If the couple doesn’t have children, the marriage is a failure. And that failure affects not only the couple, but both families. This is a really big problem. And you can’t have just one kid to pass on the family name, because half of all kids die in early childhood. If you want to be safe, you need several kids, to be sure at least one will survive to adulthood (when they can marry and pass on the family name and resources.

You know what happens when a girl has her first pregnancy too young? She is very likely to either die in childbirth, or have complications that destroy her future fertility. Just like Margaret Beaufort. Just like Juliet’s mother. In other words, the marriage is a failure, not just for her, but also for her family, and her husband (who can’t divorce her, it’s not allowed except in extremely rare circumstances), and her husband’s family. So even the people who didn’t have a moral problem with adult men having sex with pubescent girls had a practical problem with girls married too young because you are very likely to destroy the entire purpose of the marriage by doing it. As Shakespeare reminds us in the play through Juliet’s mother having been married too young and only having one child.

Shakespeare is telling us “yeah, this is fucked up. but even if you’re the kind of awful person who doesn’t think girls marrying too young is morally wrong, it’s also a problem for practical and dynastic reasons, don’t forget that by doing this wrong thing you are very likely to destroy what you most want out of it.”

[asmodeauxx]

chapter 5 drawings and an older chapter 2 page when 3 & 4 came out

[darkeeveeanimatesus]

Little prince Julian found a friend!

Stupid little baby aye-aye gets adopted by stupid little baby ringtail

[amaltheafan]

Orangutan Jungle School

[amaltheafan]

Orangutan Jungle School

[amaltheafan]

Orangutan Jungle School

[hotchocolatefanfics]

Pretty pretty PLEASE give me a au where Koba , getting lost in his PTSD yelling “HUMAN WORK”

And when Ceasar stances up this time? (If he does?) perhaps Koba gets a bit emotional- and gets consoled like he needed in the moment instead-

(If Ceasar and Koba were that close it’s what should’ve been done 😭)

Sorry for the late reply, I really wanted to write this out! :D

"Human Work"

The banging of rock against metal did nothing to comfort him. Even as he watched Rocket and Ash destroy the guns, all Koba could think about what was those weapons meant. What they could do to the apes. 

Being shot by those things would be a quick and merciful death…But humans could do far worse than killing an ape…

…Cages…Bright rooms…Needles…Blood…

Grey, who was sitting next to him, was trying to get his attention but Koba didn’t notice. Despite being close to a fire, the bonobo felt cold all over. Just like he did all those years ago. 

The longer he sat, the more he thought and the longer he thought, the sicker he felt… 

…Something in his mouth…Vomit…He couldn’t breathe!

He couldn’t take it anymore! Koba got up and made his way over to Caesar. That sick feeling in his stomach giving way to frustration at the ape king. He knows what the humans could do to the apes, HE SAW them kill apes! Hurt apes! But he gives them a chance anyway?!

“If they get power, they’ll be more dangerous!” Koba blinked and he was now standing in front of Caesar. Signing angrily at him but somehow still coherently.“Why help them?!”

“They seem desperate.” Caesar replied simply. Koba had to stop himself from scoffing at him. “If we make them go, they’ll attack.”

They’ll attack anyway, you fool!

“Let. Them.” Koba said out loud before quickly signing. “We’ll destroy them while they’re weak.”

They could do it. The humans were stronger when they escaped and they still defeated them. Sure, the goal was to escape rather than kill but they still fought the humans. 

The image of Jacobs falling into the ocean came to his mind. One of them many humans that made his life miserable. Koba had killed him. He was gone now. He could no longer hurt him, or any other ape, ever again.

That memory usually gave the bonobo a sense of peace and relief, but it did nothing for what he currently felt. 

And it was only made worse by the frown on Caesar’s face. “And how many apes will die?”

His words stuck with Koba. Apes would die anyway, regardless of how and when humans attacked, but that did not mean the bonobo didn’t care. 

He just did not want anyone to suffer. Not like he had suffered.

Caesar might not have meant it that way, but the implication that he didn’t care if the apes died made a lump form in Koba’s throat. 

“We have one chance for peace…” Caesar went on. “Let them do their human work. Then they’ll go.”

Human work.

That cold, horrible feeling came rushing back. All his life Koba struggled to understand what was happening to him but Caesar, unknowingly, just summed it up in two words.

“Human. Work?” He asked.

Caesar didn’t respond. Which Koba took to mean that he didn’t care. The thought that he didn’t would have cut deep into his soul but Koba couldn’t focus on that. One moment he was here at the Ape Village, the next in a cage. 

“Human work.” He pointed at the scar behind his ear. Both of his ears felt hot right now. Why was it getting hard to breathe again? He felt as if something was covering his whole nose and mouth, preventing him from getting any air. 

“Human work!” His voice was a little louder when he pointed at the scar on his arm. The sharp pain he felt came rushing back to him. How they strapped him down on the table. Their shiny objects cutting into his skin! 

Blood. HIS blood, just spilling everywhere! 

“HUMAN! WORK! HUMAN WORK! HUMAN WORK! HUMAN WORK!” 

The scar on his face and his blind eye, the ones Tommy caused. Humans in the labs messed with his eyes too. Blurred vision. It stinging to blink…

His whole body was covered in scars. His back, his legs, his stomach! All the ways they mutilated him, destroyed him. He wasn’t in the village anymore. He wasn’t in the forest at all. He was back on that table. Ripped and torn open and bleeding and humans standing over him. 

Back to his cage. Back to being his cage! Maybe he never left it. Maybe this whole time he was dreaming. 

Pain. There is just no escaping it. 

They restrained him. Holding him tighter and tighter. His arms, his legs, his whole body. Keeping him still, preventing him from thrashing around. Any moment now, one of them will stick him with a needle or cut him open again and-and-!

“Koba! Koba! Koba!” 

Caesar’s voice cut into it. Slowly, what he thought were straps that held him down became arms. Fury, strong arms. Despite the warmth around him, Koba was shaking and his teeth chattering. His throat hurt from yelling so much. 

Blinking, the world began to stop spinning. He was back at the village, as if he always had been. He had never left. 

And Caesar was holding him. Not just hugging him, but had his arms wrapped tightly around the bonobo. When Koba looked at him, his frown was gone. The expression on the chimpanzee’s face was softer, gentler. Worried. 

“I’m sorry, Koba.” Caesar signed with one hand. He knew Koba was the least likely ape to trust the humans but he had failed to think beyond that fact. It made sense that Koba’s trauma would show itself, with everything going on. Not helped at all that the humans were within their territory.

But he saw it now. Koba wasn’t just angry at the humans. He was scared of them.

Caesar put his hand on the scarred bonobo’s cheek. He was still shaking but he seemed calmer now. 

“I promise.” He looked Koba in the eyes. “I will not. Let them. Hurt you again.” 

He wouldn’t let the humans harm any of the apes but Caesar knew Koba especially needed to hear this. To know that he was safe.

Koba blinked and felt something roll down his cheeks. It came in waves and only slightly blurred his vision. He wrapped his own arms around Caesar and laid his head on his chest. His soft sobs muffled by the chimp’s fur. 

All he was feeling before. All the anger, the hate, the frustration, and panic. And all the pain. It all came out in the form of tears. Koba would normally find openly crying like this embarrassing, an awkward and clear sign of weakness but he couldn’t stop even if he wanted to. 

He couldn’t even tell if he was crying for himself, for all the pain he felt in his life, or for the intense and freeing relief he felt in his chest. Relief that Caesar did care. That he will protect him despite him never asking him to. 

The apes had been watching this whole time but, out of respect for the scarred bonobo, went back to whatever they had been doing before. Staring with Rocket continuing to slam a rock into a gun and Maurice assuring anyone who asked that Koba was ok. 

Only Blue Eyes kept watching Koba. Though the young prince had never seen his honorary uncle in such a state before, he didn’t think less of him for it. Rather, seeing him like this made Blue Eyes realize how much his past affect him. 

Koba always seemed so strong to him. Untouchable, like his father. He took pride in his scars but the circumstances of how he got them still caused him pain and Blue Eyes never knew that until now.

Caesar once told him that Koba only learned hate from humans but Blue Eyes disagreed with that. Hate wasn’t the only thing. Humans also taught Koba that he was nothing. That he had no control, not even of his own body. The he was just an object for them to destroy, manipulate, and break apart.

…That he was broken.

He felt so sad for his honorary uncle. Sad and horrified that he went through all that.

Sniffling, Blue Eyes crept over to them and wrapped his arms around the two. He still loved and respected Koba and he would make that clear to the bonobo everyday from now on. 

Koba hardly noticed Blue Eyes joining them. The feeling that overwhelmed him now only growing as he got lost in the comforting embrace of his friend. 

That he was safe. Finally, at long last, Koba felt truly safe. Maybe even loved if he dared to believe it.

[cryptic-forge]

some time ago i thrifted a decorative pillowcase specifically because it had cranes with pretty wings on it. the other day while going through my patterned fabrics i came across one that had these big flowers with a matching style -> paired the two fabrics to make this kind of drawn-looking cute little outfit. and because i don't like patterning, any time i make a cute little outfit i need to make an entire doll to sew & glue it on.

[foundonpluto]

human susie :3

[ink-the-artist]

"Oh, my son... they were only slaves."

[quasi-normalcy]

I find this fascinating because C.S. Lewis has this whole theological argument about the pure and simple faith of children; and then it turns out that, when you show a movie based on a Bible story to kids who weren't raised in that tradition...they just end up thinking that God is a monster.

(Prince of Egypt still has banger songs though, obviously)

[toastradamus-deactivated2022111]

haters will see you ressurect and be like “he cant afford a funeral”

[amaltheafan]

ohh was the rent on the tomb too much. is that why jesus did that.

[sleepy-bebby]

Shedding 🐍

[peachypupp]

@is-the-snake-video-cute

What breed are they?

[is-the-snake-video-cute]

Children's python! They can be a little hard to find outside Australia, but they're amazing pets.

[cephalopodvictorious]

He looks like a knight and I couldn’t help myself

[zoesandzeldas]

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Get Dat Fetus, Kill Dat Fetus - Sextina Aquafina (Official Audio)

Bojack Horseman (Music from the Netflix Original Series) is available now. iTunes - Amazon