Annawry

Polyfanarous.

[annawry]

On AO3 as Annawry. FF7 stuff @eaymtb Australian. Old enough to remember livejournal fondly. Queer. AuDHD. Agoraphobic (working on it) and generally riddled with anxiety and depression.

Only semi-active, and currently obsessed with FF7.

[derinthescarletpescatarian]

I'm watching this guy watch Madoka Magica ans it's quite amusing because it's becoming more and more apparent that he has absolutely zero familiarity with the magical girl genre. And I don't just meant 'guy who never watched Sailor Moon'; I never watched Sailor Moon. I mean he hasn't even absorbed the basics via cultural osmosis and he's totally unfamiliar with even the concepts that the show is addressing. So he is just. Confused the whole damn time. Like he's following the plot just fine (it's a good show) but every time something new happens it's like totally random to him. He's just constantly blindsided by normal tropes and it's hilarious to see.

He hasn't so much as briefly mentioned any other magical girl anime or manga, I think this might genuinely be his introduction to the very concept of a magical girl. He's like "why do they magically change clothes before they fight?" level of outside this.

[derinthescarletpescatarian]

#look pmmm is good but i genuinely think it is better if you have at least context of other magical girl shows#sailor moon or even better precure would be the ideal first course

I wasn't allowed to watch fiction as a young kid so I never got into Sailor Moon. I think my first magical girl property was Cardcaptor Sakura (manga not anime), which I read in uni I think? It's also a decent introduction.

[mxtomituck]

…isn’t Cardcaptor Sakura the first-ever magical girl? At least formally? Wouldn’t it be a good introduction itself?

Also, on the topic of anime tropes, my mother watched my sister and I watching through Apothecary Diaries (another good anime that I recommend), and she kept asking why Maomao was just a cat sometimes. She also mentioned how confused she was that everyone’s heads and faces were changing shape and color every so often.

We had to (try to) give her a crash course on manga expressions and tropes but to no avail…

[derinthescarletpescatarian]

Sakura isn't even close to the first magical girl. Sally the Witch is very frequently credited as being the first magical girl, though it's a little fuzzy depending on which specific tropes you need before it counts as a magical girl series; on personal taste, you could go earlier or later than Sally the Witch. Sally the Witch came out about 30 years before Cardcaptor Sakura.

Even if you want to be more strict on the tropes and discount Sally, Sailor Moon predates Cardcaptor Sakura by several years, and anybody who claims that Sailor Fucking Moon isn't a magical girl series is just having a completely different conversation.

[derinthescarletpescatarian]

#Sakura also isn't even a classical magical girl#shes a girl with magic but she doesnt have magic outfit transformations#which is pretty crucial to the magical girl genre#shes got all the other stuff tho

She does but it's not magic it's literally her putting on some cute outfit that her clothing designer friend with a very obvious crush on her put together for the fight because she wants to see her do magical stuff in cute outfits

[southernsolarpunk-deactivated20]

Original

[chicorystreetcoffee]

[hagiomoto]

I don't think this is an appropriate response to an article about South Asian farmers losing their teeth because temperatures are now reaching 45 Celcius.

[hagiomoto]

The average Tumblr blogger has such poor manners that even a pig would be embarrassed to bring them home to its mother.

[bagofdrymice]

When the Heat Steals Your Smile

After I suspected a climate connection to tooth decay, I conducted systematic saliva pH testing across my patient population and documented

okay so i think i found the article op's (and me in my tags) talking about. being exposed to over 40 celsius (120 farenheit or so) for the whole day means youre sweating a LOT (the article says rashid- the farmer at the centre of the text- drinks around 17 liters a Day. humans usually only need 3, so i presume the rest is mostly used for sweat). so much so that the organizm reroutes water from other parts of itself to not die of heatstroke - salivary glands included, which means that 1. they have very little saliva in comparison to a healthy human being 2. what little their bodies DO produce is incredibly acidic, falling to ~5.5 ph from the ideal of 7ph. Teeth dissolve. Quickly. There's a mention of someone losing 8 teeth in two years

im not reading the whole article now (headache -_-), but later on the author of the article says about 30 million people (employed in agriculture) are at risk for extreme dental health problems. 30 million people at risk of not being able to eat solid food. 30 million people at risk of not being able to find work. being able to marry. being able to be part of their community. being able to speak clearly

this is. fucking horrible feels like an understatement, but it is the best i have. this exceptionally, terribly inhumane, and the pakistan goverment's lack of a plan to adress this is embarassing

[yet-another-heathen]

[worst-roommates-ever]

i think americans should have to put a banner above their post that says U.S. CENTRIC ADVICE/INFORMATION. i think political posts should clarify that they are giving protest/societal/class information relevant only to the USA i think i would like to stop getting halfway through a post with really good information and then realising it is not widespread advice and is only applicable in the united states of america

[worst-roommates-ever]

for the love of GOD can we PLEASE stop treating us-centric advice as applicable to the whole entire world. Please. beyond anything else, i do not think you guys understand how difficult it makes it for young people to interact with and learn information relevant to them.

at a certain point, treating us-american advice as universally applicable borders on misinformation. i am not saying that it is done maliciously, but it is dangerous at worst. i do not want younger people going around assuming that certain laws do/do not apply to them and getting in trouble because of it. i worry about what 'fundamental/constitutional/labour rights' are only legally defensible in the USA. i worry about kids who do not know yet to wonder where the advice is for, and take it as fact because a post that reads "EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW THIS" begins with "EVERYONE".

[worst-roommates-ever]

okay yes all the tags are very very good points but i would like to point out the main reason i made this post, which is that

if you are non-american then it can be dangerous to hold beliefs about your rights that are only applicable in the US.

i am australian and i have seen young australians have completely us-american perceptions on the rights they hold (or do not hold) in regards to protest, police officers, self-defense, medical care, higher education, debt, and legal proceedings. i am not talking about "boooo americans" i am talking about the genuine danger it might present to have us-centric assumptions in high-stakes situations

(please do not chalk this up to 'if you don't do research then you are stupid'. i made this post with young people in mind. that being said i am willing to bet it also applies to others, ie those who are newer to non-local internet, older folks, or those escaping high-control environments.)

[liarsblade]

there's this weird thing people fall into online a lot, where people assume that if the [perceived-to-be-inferior] version of [activity] is discouraged then people will, naturally, do [perceived-to-be-superior] version of [activity] instead. When really it's just as (or more) likely that if [perceived-to-be-inferior] version of [activity] is discouraged people just won't do it at all.

[liarsblade]

audiobook listeners are not necessarily people who would otherwise do a lot of traditional reading if audiobooks did not exist, many are people who simply would experience zero books. Booktok romance readers would not necessarily be reading the classics if booktok did not exist, many of them would simply not read. Fanfiction writers would not necessarily be novelists if fanfic wasn't an option, many would just be people who didn't write. You know?

[penandinkprincess]

so wildly obnoxious when you agree with the starting point of someone's stance only for them to hard turn into things you DON'T agree with and now you have to defend the thing that was originally annoying you

"too many authors in the current market are focusing on selling 'spice' instead of telling interesting stories"

"oh yeah, i agree. i started reading one that i heard a lot about and it just wasn't-"

"and it's all of these women reading their fucking mommy porn out in public like FREAKS"

*through gritted teeth* "people should be allowed to read whatever they want, and actually these books should be left alone and you should shut up about it"

[literaryroses]

[mini-moss]

Brief encounters 🐾

Tip jar | Wallpapers | Prints | Twitter | Bluesky

[nellasbookplanet]

Book recs: classic queer sff

For simplicity's sake, I'm categorizing anything published before the turn of the millennium as a classic.

Further reading: you may also be interested in this database!

A note: keep in mind that these are older titles, and the vocabulary used to discuss queerness is sometimes one which would be considered out of date or problematic today.

For details on the titles, continue below the readmore. My personal favorites are marked with an *. For more rec lists, take a look at my masterpost!

Gossamer Axe by Gael Baudino, 1990

Centuries ago in Ireland, Chairiste Ní Cummen was trained in the secrets of music and magic. But her pride was her downfall, trapping her and her lover in the land of the Sidh. Only Chairiste escaped, hoping to one day win her lover's freedom in musical battle with the fairy that holds her captive. Now she is Christa Cruitare, harp teacher in the modern world and all but resigned to her loss. Until she comes across a great new music: heavy metal. Taking one last chance to win her lover's freedom, Christa sets out to gather other skilled musicians and bring them with her in her final battle. Sapphic main character.

Shadow Man by Melissa Scott, 1995

As an effect of an FTL drug, intersex births increased, resulting in five separate genders among humans: men, women, mems, fems, and herms. But on the planet Hara, people cling to the old two gender system, forcing intersex individuals to pick one of the two and generally refusing to recognize their existence and needs. As conflict on the planet broils, Warreven, a Haran advocate and herm, and Tatian, an off-worlder, find themselves dragged into a struggle for equality.

The Gilda Stories by Jewelle Gomez, 1991

Having escaped slavery in the 1850s, a young girl stumbles into the care of two mysterious women running a brothel. In them, the girl sees her chance at obtaining true freedom. Taking on the name Gilda and being invited to share in their secret of vampiric immortality, the girl begins a centuries long journey of finding a place to call home and people to call family. Lesbian main character; interconnected series of novellas, featuring snapshots of Gilda's long life.

Sing the Four Quarters by Tanya Huff, 1994*

Though a royal by birth, princess Annice renounced her throne to become a bard, a musician who through training can Sing elemental spirits to do her bidding. Ten years later, she goes on the run for two counts of treason, first by imperiling the succession order by becoming pregnant, second by helping her ex, and the father of her child, escape the palace dungeons and a death sentence. When I first read this book I described it as, and I quote, 'a fucking delight', and I stand by that. Bisexual main character in a sapphic relationship.

Alien vs. Predator by Steve & S.D. Perry, 1994*

On desert planet Ryushi, business woman Machiko Noguchi is about to take over the leading position in a small human colony. Her job is made infinitely harder when the colony comes under attack on two fronts as two species of vicious aliens choose it as their battle ground. You may already know of the movie by the same name; while sharing some general plot points, the book is overall wildly different. No romance, but features a married f/f couple as major side characters.

Mission Child by Maureen F. McHugh, 1998*

Humanity has spread to the stars, and Janna's world in one of the planets they have settled on. For centuries, the colonized planet has been left to develop on its own; when "offworlders" return, it leads to societal upheaval and eventually the fall of Janna's small hometown. Having lost near everything, Janna becomes Jan and ventures on a journey to find a new home. Ambigously genderqueer protagonist.

The Dyke and the Dybbuk by Ellen Galford, 1993

Kokos is a dybbuk and she loves her job, happy to haunt and possess people and have them make fools of themselves. But after getting caught up in an exorcism and trapped in a tree for two centuries, she has a lot of catching up to do. Her job of haunting an entire bloodline for several generations is still active, as one member of the family is still alive: Rainbow Rosenbloom, London taxi driver, film critic, and out and proud lesbian. How is Kokos supposed to ruin the credibility of a woman who's already a disaster?

The Membranes by Chi Ta-Wei, 1995

In a climate ravaged future, humanity has fled to city domes on the bottom of the ocean, where they are protected from the dangerous sun rays. Here, Momo is the most celebrated dermal care technician in all of T city. She can count her clients among the most famous and wealthy, but she despite this prefers to keep to herself, with little time spent on building relationships with other people. This includes her own mother, with whom she's had little contact since childhood. After a rare visit from her mother, Momo finds herself reliving memories of her past, in an exploration of what her true identity really is.

The Temple at Landfall by Jane Fletcher, 1999

As a chosen Imprinter of Celaeno, Lynn is afforded little freedoms despite her rare gift of creating new life. If anything, she feels like a prisoner, not allowed to even venture outdoors. When news arrives that she is to be moved from another temple, Lynn looks forward to the journey; at least it will allow her a chance at seeing more of the world before being locked up again. During her travels, she gets to know the free spirited ranger Kim, with whom she strikes up a connection. But Lynn's future is seemingly set in stone, wherein romance of any kind is forbidden - will she ever have the chance to choose her own future?

The Fortunate Fall by Cameron Reed, 1996

Maya Andreyeva isn't just a reporter, she's a "camera". Thanks to virtual-reality-broadcasting equipment implanted into her brain, what she sees and feels can be broadcasted directly to millions of viewers. In the near future Russia that is her home, no mind is safe, and as she begins unraveling the cover-up of a massacre, she must also confront the memories and desires carved out of her own brain, taken from her by an AI-controlled thought police for a crime she no longer remembers.

Halfway Human by Carolyn Ives Gilman, 1998*

When Val, expert in alien cultures, gets called in to help handle the strange Tedla after a suicide attempt, she is let in on a secret decades in the making. Tedla is neither male nor female, an asexual person from an isolated planet where a genderless class of ‘blands’ are exploited as a work force. As knowledge of Tedla’s presence away from its home begins to spread, so does the attention of various parties wanting to use it for their own ends, including its old masters. As Val works to unravel the history of how Tedla came to leave its world, the pressure builds - what is to become of Tedla? Content warning for themes such as suicidal ideation, slavery, and child sexual abuse.

Ammonite by Nicola Griffith, 1992

Centuries ago, the first settlement on the planet Jeep was hit by tragedy: a virus killed off all men, leaving a society of only women behind. Now, the planet has been rediscovered, it’s inhabitants having long forgotten about the rest of humanity. Anthropologist Marghe Taishan is sent by to test out a potential vaccine. If the vaccine succeeds, Jeep and its people would no longer be in forced quarantine, but would also open them up to exploitation.

A Door into the Ocean by Joan Slonczewski, 1986*

On the moon Shora live the Sharers, a nation of women who reproduce via parthenogenesis and have developed highly advanced biological sciences. Leading wholly pacifist lives, the Sharers are threatened when humans from another planet come across their world and decide to develop it for their own gain, no matter what the Sharers themselves think. The Sharer society is openly sapphic, though the main romance is m/f.

Dawn by Octavia E. Butler, 1987*

After a devastating war leaves humanity on the brink of extinction, survivor Lilith finds herself waking up naked and alone in a strange room. She’s been rescued by the Oankali, who have arrived just in time to save the human race. But there’s a price to survival, and it might be humanity itself. Absolutely fucked up I love it I once had to drop the book mid read to stare at the ceiling and exclaim in horror at what was going on. Includes darker examinations of agency and consent, so enter with caution.

Starfarers by Vonda N. McIntyre, 1989

Starfarer is a ship that’s the first of its kind, built to carry a team to, for the first time, find and contact extraterrestrial life. On it gathers scientists and crew members from many different walks of life, all eager to peacefully reach out to new life. But as political tensions rise on Earth, the ethos of Starfarer is threatened, and the crew may have to take drastic action to protect their mission from being usurped by the military. Large cast, three of which are in a polyamorous marriage, as well as an overall very queer friendly world-building. Fairly slow, being more about the characters than the plot.

Silverglass by J.F. Rivkin, 1986

As a sword-for-hire, Corson Brenn Torisk leads a dangerous but exciting life. When she's approached by the beautiful Lady Nyctasia and asked to be a body guard, she's hesitant; Nyctasia is known as a sorceress, and Corson has little patience for magic. But Nyctasia is generous with her money and claiming her reputation is unfairly earned, and Corson is convinced to accompany her. Their journey proves to be a dangerous one, as Nyctasia's enemies are hot on their heals. Both main characters are sapphic, there is f/f as well as f/m romance.

The Demeter Flower by Rochelle Singer, 1980

During a collapse of society, a small group of women in possession of a secret which allows them to procreate without men flee into the wilderness and found their own town. For years, they live there in peace, unaware of just what has happened in the world beyond. But now some of the newer generation is getting restless, wanting to venture into a wider world they have never before set foot in. At the same time, a man and a woman stumble upon the town, jeopardizing its secret.

Ethan of Athos by Lois McMaster Bujold, 1986

For Dr. Ethan Urquhart living on Athos, delivering babies looks a little different: they are "born" from uterine replicators, as Athos is a planet populated entirely by men. But now they're running out of the ovarian cultures that allow them to reproduce. To replace them, Ethan is one of the first of his people to be sent off planet into the wider universe - where there are women, rumored to be an evil and corruptive force. Gay main character.

The Forever War by Joe Haldeman, 1974

William Mandella has been drafted into a war against an inscrutable alien race, taking place light years away from his home on Earth. Flung across space and time, William survives long enough to get to return home - only to find that time dilation has caused decades to pass, and that the society he returns to is alien to what he remembers. Unmoored in time, William returns to the only place he knows: fighting in a seemingly endless war.

A note: recommended with reservations. As the main character is purposefully portrayed as "old fashioned", he is and remains uncomfortable with queer people. Queerness, while never demonized, is portrayed as strange and a little alien, with occasional stereotypes.

Patternmaster by Octavia E. Butler, 1976*

In a future ruled by the psychic patternists, whose power can heal as much as they destroy. The strongest patternist of them all, controlling the entire pattern, is the Patternmaster. But he's getting old, and his son is looking to take over. Having already killed or enslaved all but one potential rival, he now sets out to hunt down his own brother, who's fled into the mutant infested wilderness. One of the main characters is an openly bisexual woman.

A note: while Patternmaster was the first book published in the Patternist series, it isn't the first chronologically and can be confusing if you start with it.

Woman on the Edge of Time by Marge Piercy, 1976

After being forcefully committed into an asylum, Connie Ramos' life is looking bleak. She's being coerced into experimental treatments meant to "cure" her, and no matter what she does no one will believe she's fit to be released. Her only escape are the mysterious visits by a time traveling envoy 2137, who introduces her to a utopian future of sexual and racial equality. But this isn't the only possible future, and Connie herself may be a driving force in what shape the future will take. A very interesting work featuring a mostly gender neutral future, though it does at times feel more like a thought experiment than a narrative.

Don't Bite the Sun by Tanith Lee, 1976*

Four-BEE is a utopian city, in which humans have no responsibilities, are cared for by machines, and few acts cause true consequences as even death has been conquered. Able to change bodies and gender nearly at will, living lives of luxury and hedonism, everything should be perfect; yet the narrator finds him/herself dissatisfied with his/her life. After an impulsive decision leads him/her to break one of the only remaining taboos, he/she is exiled from Four-BEE into the wholly uninhabited desert wilderness outside.

Moonstar Odyssey by David Gerrold, 1977

On the planet of Satlik, humanity have been changed: children are born genderless, and have the ability to choose between male and female during puberty. As a child coming of age, young Jobe finds herself having a hard time choosing what she wants to be, a decision coming into shadow as global disaster looms near. Novella length, focused as much on building up the history and lore of Satlik as it does on the coming of age story. Also an early example of female pronouns being used as default and neutral!

The Ophiuchi Hotline by John Varley, 1977*

In a distant future where humanity, having been chased off Earth by mysterious alien invaders, live among the other planets and moons of the solar system, Lilo is a brilliant geneticist. But after committing the cardinal sin of experimenting on human genetics, she's to be put to death. Awaiting her own execution, Lilo is approached by a powerful man giving her the option of escape, if only she agrees to work under him to fight against the as of yet undefeated invaders. Having little choice, Lilo agrees, but she's not one to let herself be held captive by a vengeful man without putting up a fight.

Babel-17 by Samuel R. Delany, 1966

Rydra Wong is a space captain, linguist and poet who is set on learning to understand Babel-17, a language which is humanity's only clue at the enemy in an interstaller war. But Babel-17 is more than just a language, and studying it may change Rydra forever. Features a major polyamorous throuple.

Venus Plus X by Theodore Sturgeon, 1960*

Charlie Johns is just your average guy, so when he suddenly finds himself pulled into the strange, utopian future of Ledom, he’s shocked. In Ledom, gender is a thing of the past, as is hunger and war. Confused and wanting to return home, Charlie Johns is promised that he will get to go home, but first the people of Ledom want him to tour their society. Charlie Johns agrees, but the more he learns and the better things seem, the more suspicion grows: why is he really here? Published in 1960, Venus Plus X is frankly astoundingly progressive on the topic of gender.

The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin, 1969

Genly Ai is an emissary sent to the planet of Winter, meant to help facilitate Winter’s inclusion in a growing intergalactic civilization. But he’s unprepared for Winter’s citizens, who spend much of their time genderless or switching between genders, making for a culture wildly different from what Genly is used to.

[scribeherself]

There is no drug on earth that can replicate the absolute euphoria of hitting a writing flow state at 2:00 AM. You aren’t even typing anymore. You are a vessel. You are a channel for the gods. The characters are speaking directly into your brain and you’re just the stenographer trying to keep up. You feel like you could fight a bear. You feel like you invented the alphabet

[teaboot]

Not to be rhe ten millionth person to say “USAmerican President Donald Trump Is An Incoherent Public Speaker Whose Train Of Thought Can Be Best Described As Scat Jazz” but I just remembered that when he talks at international events it is several dozen people’s job to translate what he’s saying and what he intends to say to world leaders in real time

And I desperately wish to hear how they do it

[teaboot]

If anyone reading this isn’t fluent enough in English to understand the sentences that man says, please know that he has essentially mixed a number of adjectives and topics together in a hat and is pulling them out at random like a horrible children’s game

[teaboot]

Like that waxy jaundiced bitch will straight up be like “J'étais sur internet l'autre jour – internet, la plus grande invention américaine. Et la Chine a “internet aussi. Pas un bon internet, pas comme le mien, j'ai un internet formidable. Les gens me disent : « Donald, ton internet est génial ! » On adore l'internet de Donald. Mais la Chine… Chine, Chine, Chine… Vous savez qu'ils mangent des oiseaux ? C'est terrible. J'adore les oiseaux. La Chine mange des oiseaux. Pas comme nous. Pas comme mes oiseaux. Mais vous savez, c'est comme ça, et c'est terrible. Mais voilà ce que je vais faire : je vais sauver les oiseaux. Je vais sauver internet et sauver les oiseaux. Tous ces magnifiques oiseaux. Pour l'Amérique. Et la Chine va nous détester pour ça. Ils vont nous détester parce qu'on est les meilleurs sur oiseaux”. And people will lose their minds

[angryraptor13]

International translators have had this problem for A While - if they *don't* clean up what he says to sound coherent, they look like they're doing a bad job.

Why is difficult to translate Donald Trump? Trumpslation explained.

Explore Trump translation challenges, tips for interpreters, and 2025 strategies for accurate political translation and Trumpslation success

[teaboot]

oh my god

[freckles-a-constellation]

There was a scandal in Poland because one translator decided to translate him accurately, tone, vocabulary level and word salad tangents and all. Polish conservatives who don't speak English and previously only heard smoothed out translations that sounded coherent and used big words were up in arms about how the translator was "inserting her political agenda", "mocking him", "exaggerating", "purposefully trying to make him look bad" and "incredibly unprofessional". I listened to the translation in question. It was literally just accurate.

[kimbureh]

5. Sensitive and Controversial Language Trump’s speeches occasionally contain misogynistic, sexist, or inflammatory language. Japanese interpreter Tsuruta, for example, faced challenges when translating sexualized remarks, ultimately opting for standard terminology to maintain professionalism. Similarly, Chinese translator Kumiko Torikai found certain lewd expressions ethically challenging, ultimately leading to her retirement. Navigating these situations requires skillful balancing of accuracy, professionalism, and cultural sensitivity, ensuring that the translation is appropriate without distorting the original intent.

I don't know why the authors of PoliLingua act as if Trump's verbal misogyny and racism wasn't very much part of his "original intent".

it only now dawns on me that millions of people on this planet think Trump is way smarter than he is because translators have neglected to relate his violent speech accurately out of misunderstood politeness. Make the ape sound like a ape

[cosmogyros]

We had a mini-scandal in the German translation/interpretation community last year about exactly this – the interpreter for the inauguration got sick of Trump's incoherence and made a remark into his mic that was not intended to be heard (here's my post on it).

[regging]

eating disorders and abortions are two things that are like, spoken about in most mainstream discourse as though they are pretty rare and aberrant, but then when you’re actually friends with a lot of women you come to find out that they are extremely extremely common and kind of banal & mundane

[inkskinned]

Every day I handle more money than I will ever make. Every day.

At the start of my employment, my boss showed me videos of people stealing, and we both had a chuckle about it. How silly they were! There was a camera overhead, and it’s not to watch the shoppers. See, we can’t actually stop shoplifters. They get away with it maybe nine out of ten times. But we, who are watched and tallied and witnessed? We are always caught.

At first it was hard to hold one hundred dollars bills. An amount I had never seen before. An amount that didn’t exist in my household. It’s normal now. Here is something that is not for me.

“What the hell, I’ll take another,” says the man, pondering our 200 dollar watches. What the hell. Total comes to 580 and not even a flinch in his face. I have been working for 11 hours today and made only 110 dollars. It will go to my rent. Today I work for free, it feels. When I get my check, I will have 35 dollars left for food and saving.

The six hundreds he hands me go into the cash register. For a moment, I imagine having money. Then I put it away, counting out his change.

I know for a fact we sell our products for double what they are worth. That I could be making commission. That they could hand me those 580 dollars and change my life and not even mark the difference in their checkbooks. He’s not the only sale they make today, but I am the reason they made it. He’s not the only one spending 600 dollars, but if I hadn’t spent two hours with him telling me about his life, he wouldn’t have spent any. I go home. I don’t own a watch.

I have watched and rewatched a video on how to make salmon four ways. My shopping list is always the same. Pasta. Rice. Tuna. If I can afford butter it was a good week. I dream of the world I will never walk in, where I can throw the best fish fillet in the cart with a shrug. I hold hundreds in my hand and look up at the camera. I put them under the cash drawer.

I go to work. I scrap together my savings. I eat my bowl of rice slowly. My manager takes a paid week off from work just for his birthday. He owns a yacht. 

I’m not worth the cost of a watch.

[inkskinned]

i wrote this while i was working at orlando’s walt disney world parks.

i was part of their college program. i moved to the state for it. they legally owned the building i was living in and still charged me rent. i ostensibly was being charged to work for them. it was a 2 bedroom apartment and they placed 6 adult women in it in forced triples.

as many as one in ten disney employees have experienced homelessness while working for the company. despite huge efforts to unionize, strike, or otherwise demand fair treatment; disney has refused to increase employee quality of life.

disney admits publicly that a good portion of their success is because the employees (“cast members”) are dedicated, passionate, and selfless. this is never reflected in pay. even “face” characters (ie those that are princesses etc) make barely above a minimum wage.

at the time that i worked there, i made $8.50 an hour. at one point i was asked to create a human shield around a bag because a bomb dog had alerted to it. for eight fucking dollars an hour.

i now work a very cushy office job. i have bought the salmon and cooked it all four ways.

i go to the store. i am nice to the person behind the counter. she looks up at the camera while she counts out my change. there is nothing fundamentally different about her and i.

we are both worth more than the watch, anyway.

[alleesaur]

the productivity creatures

[lit-analyses]

I think one of the funniest things about Jane Eyre and Pride and Prejudice is that people act like Jane Eyre and Elizabeth Bennet are complete opposites.

They’re really not.

Yes. On paper, they couldn’t be more different.

Elizabeth is witty. Jane is reserved. Elizabeth grew up surrounded by family. Jane grew up alone. Elizabeth’s story is bright, social, and full of banter. Jane’s is gothic, lonely, and haunted. But underneath all of that, they’re fighting the exact same battle. Neither of them will let someone else decide what their life should look like.

“I refuse to marry someone I do not love wholeheartedly, and I refuse to do something just because society says so.”

Elizabeth refuses Mr. Collins. Not because he’s poor. Not because he’s cruel. But because marrying someone she doesn’t love would mean giving up the right to choose for herself.

Jane refuses St. John. Not because he isn’t respectable. Not because he isn’t kind. But because she knows marrying him would slowly erase who she is. And I think that’s where the two novels quietly agree.

People tend to describe Elizabeth as someone who marries for love. I don’t think that’s entirely true. She marries for respect. Love follows.

The reason she rejects Darcy the first time isn’t because she doesn’t love him. She doesn’t know him well enough to love him. She rejects him because she believes he lacks the qualities she refuses to compromise on. Only after Darcy changes—and only after Elizabeth realizes she judged him unfairly—can they meet as equals.

Jane follows the same pattern. People love talking about Rochester’s redemption. But I don’t think Jane Eyre is actually Rochester’s story.

It’s Jane’s.

Every major choice she makes is a refusal to lose herself. She leaves Gateshead. She leaves Lowood. She leaves Thornfield. Not because she’s running away. Because she refuses to compromise the one quality that defines her. Throughout the novel, Jane is self-affirming even amid the gravest adversities. That quality is impossible to repress. Even when she loves Rochester, she refuses to become his mistress because she knows that love at the cost of her own principles isn’t really love.

That’s what makes both novels feel surprisingly modern.

Neither heroine allows love to become the loss of self.

And I think that’s why both women are constantly described as “stubborn.” It’s funny how literature has a habit of calling women stubborn whenever they insist on having standards. Elizabeth is criticized for rejecting Mr. Collins and initially refusing Darcy. Jane is told she’s foolish for leaving Rochester and later for refusing St. John.

From everyone else’s perspective, they’re throwing away perfectly good futures. Security. Status. Comfort. From theirs, they’re protecting something far more valuable.

Themselves.

Both novels quietly argue that losing yourself is far more dangerous than losing an opportunity.

Maybe that’s why Jane Eyre and Elizabeth Bennet have endured for centuries and are still being shown in media today. Not because they found the perfect man. But because people almost always succumb to peer pressure and allow society to reshape their opinions.

They don’t.

Jane never lets anyone else’s expectations define her conscience. Elizabeth never lets anyone else’s expectations define her judgment. They stay strong and keep to what they believe in, through thick and thin, no matter what.

They don’t become admirable because they fall in love. They become admirable because they refuse to become someone else in order to be loved. And maybe that’s the real romance both novels are trying to defend. Not finding the right person. But refusing to become the wrong version of yourself while looking for them.

[loopylace]

@bethanydelleman thoughts?

[bethanydelleman]

This is beautiful.

[klamv-art]

Carl and Donut sleeping on the couch ✨

I love this books so much, I can't believe this is the first time I'm drawing something about them, should have done it sooner

[monstermonger]

A blazing bright summer!

Itty Bitty Summer Dragon stickers ♡

I'm OFFICIALLY DONE with all the itty bitty seasonal dragons :") thanks everyone for checking them out!! It was such a fun little project to do! All the seasons here:

🍂Autumn | ❄️Winter | 🌱Spring | 🌻 Summer