///

Ellis, they/them

[cantarella-cookies]

Adolescence of Utena as a sequel to RGU is such a brilliant tackling of how Anthy navigates the fallout of leaving behind the abusive world of her brother.

Her brother is dead. Her abuser is gone. The specter of him infects her world though. Anthy seeks out Utena. She brings the people Utena knows and loves into a miraculous school, and she goes to meet Utena, but then the moment is ruined. Utena does not remember Anthy. Even worse, Utena wears the Rose Seal.

In a world void of her abuser, Anthy realizes she does not know how to desire or be desired as anyone other than the Rose Bride. So she falls back into the role. She tries to seduce Utena as the Rose Bride. She tries to fit herself and Utena into a dynamic she is familiar: the naive Prince and the attentive Rose Bride. It doesn't work, and the body of Anthy's trauma rots beneath the roses until it's dug up.

I've always been confused about why Utena was so fixated on Touga in the movie, but on my most recent rewatch, it clicked. In the original series, Utena misremembers Touga as her Prince. In the movie, she is misremembering Touga once more, attributing to him promises and emotions she actually felt for Anthy. Touga is the violence Utena experienced in Akio's world and then forgot once she entered Anthy's world. It's another body Anthy did not account for.

When Utena has her breakdown in the rose garden, she acts in a way familiar to Anthy. She tackles Anthy and shoves her to the ground. White butterflies, associated with sexual violence, flutter in the background and Anthy gives into it willingly. She swears this is what she wants: to be Utena's even if it means being Utena's Rose Bride. But Utena surprises Anthy again. She doesn't hurt Anthy, she just mourns the fact that she never got to see the stars with Touga. And this brings directly to mind their most precious promise from the series: Someday, together, we'll shine.

Utena falls asleep, and Anthy is able to act against the role of the Rose Bride for Utena's sake. She stands, and she destroys her rose garden so that Utena can see the stars.

When Utena confesses what she wants, Anthy does the impossible for Utena: she becomes a Rose Bride without roses. It's another step in Anthy and Utena's long and difficult journey of navigating the effects of the trauma they've experienced, and, like the series, it affirms that the agency required to recover from abuse is in the hands of the victim.

[kurozu501]

My read on the Touga thing is that its there to fuel Utena's character development a step further then the show. Show Utena's final line is her lamenting that she failed to become a prince: she still hasn't accepted that the ideal of the prince is an impossible standard no one can achieve.

The movie being simultaneously reboot and sequel gives her this childhood bond with touga, plus her seeing him as her prince, so that when he drowns it shatters that ideal for her for good. She tries to repress the revelation, but ultimately accepts it. Movie Utena says "The prince never existed in the first place" and moves on, giving up her obsession with the toxic masculine ideal and embracing her new life with Anthy.

Obviously that still fits with it being a sequel to the anime, but the specific way Ikuhara designed this new backstory relationship with Touga to develop Utena's character in this way makes it feel to me like its not as simple as the whole thing just being fake memories.

[notanotherfandombloge]

#big yes to everything you said about anthy also#i really love how much more agency she has and develops in the film#everyone jokes about the car sequence but i love how utena literally becomes the vehicle of anthy's liberation#and the way the entire focus is on anthy and her agency and choices#her having the final confrontation with akio is so fitting and perfect#its essentially the final duel of the series and anthy is finally the one fighting. for herself.#no better way for the series to end

[apolladay]

Did you work during any of the Covid lockdowns?

yes outside the home

yes but from home

yes to both of the above

no but I wasn't/couldn't/didn't work anyway

no Covid stopped my job at some point

nuance/other/results

Voting ended onJun 24

[havingrevelations-deactivated20]

the thing about having hope is that it is so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so difficult. but you have to do it anyway

[kairithemang0]

Last day of May!!!

I have no idea where I found this but I’ve had it on my camera for like 9 months

[mmmmmmmvbb-deactivated20250804]

[transmascmarypoppins]

why is this post completely broken in every way imaginable

[worldheritagepostorganization]

World Heritage Post

[olowan-waphiya]

Hawaii island to phase out thousands of short-term rentals

!!!

[partisan-by-default]

Introduced in May 2024 by Mayor Richard Bissen, Bill 9 aims to increase the availability of long-term housing for local families amid a housing crisis that was exacerbated by the Lahaina wildfire, which destroyed more than 2,200 structures and displaced over 12,000 people.

Units in West Maui will need to be phased out by Jan. 1, 2029, with those in South Maui by Jan. 1, 2031. The units are part of the Minatoya List, which consists of transient vacation rentals located in apartment-zoned areas. These properties were built before 1989 and are grandfathered in under a permit exemption. Generally, TVRs are only permitted to operate in hotel-zoned areas.

“Rebalancing our housing market means we must return apartment-zoned housing to local families and residents—and that principle has guided our approach to Bill 9 from the very beginning,” said Mayor Bissen in a news release. 

The move does not eliminate all of Maui’s short-term rentals. About 6,500 TVR parcels will still operate, alongside thousands of units in hotels, time-shares and bed-and-breakfasts, according to Maui County’s Real Property Tax Division. (sfgate)

[duskydestra]

Happy birthday to AO3 🎂🎉

[kaiasky]

listen up chucklefucks, i just gotta say. I'm not defending zir, but I'm sad zie deactivated. Like, i get that trauma lasts a long time and the good stuff is maybe easy to forget?? so maybe it's just like that. And my beloved mutual @/pompeyspuppygirl made a post about zir clout chasing behavior, which is pretty shitty behavior if it's true (and if we're canceling someone it had better be pretty severe). anyways now that zie's gone pompeyspuppygirl said it was okay to make this post (again, thanks ppg everyone go follow her --really everyone in this whole drama is worth a follow)

ANYways yeah zie was my mutual and like, reblogged a lot my smaller posts. (that isn't to discredit what my mutual pompeyspuppygirl is saying about zie clout chasing ofc). AND idk zie was always reblogging art from new and undiscovered artists and reblogging donation posts (which if you don't know is really bad if you're trying to clout chase...) (again, though, ppg is my mutual i believe her.) and like, remember on valentines day i tried to blaze zir posts and zie told me to stop because zie didn't want the posts to go viral? (but again ppg is my mutual and has a lot of proof in the Google doc I'm not trying to disprove that I'm just saying what else I know)

Idk, like i feel like a lot of people loved zir's blog a while back, bc like zie DID make some good posts?? So idk why everybody's acting like they aren't even a little bit sad.,. like ngl this feels like maybe all the reasonable people left to Twitter and all the Twitter refugees who love drama came here??? shdfhhdhdhdhdh haha but idk...look idk, i just, julie i do miss you. idk. more thoughts later sorry I'm getting worked up shshs

[zetabrarian]

Here's the original text because honestly this is impressive and I don't think it fully hits unless you know the Shakespeare.

Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears;

I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.

The evil that men do lives after them;

The good is oft interred with their bones;

So let it be with Caesar. The noble Brutus

Hath told you Caesar was ambitious:

If it were so, it was a grievous fault,

And grievously hath Caesar answer’d it.

Here, under leave of Brutus and the rest–

For Brutus is an honourable man;

So are they all, all honourable men–

Come I to speak in Caesar’s funeral.

He was my friend, faithful and just to me:

But Brutus says he was ambitious;

And Brutus is an honourable man.

He hath brought many captives home to Rome

Whose ransoms did the general coffers fill:

Did this in Caesar seem ambitious?

When that the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept:

Ambition should be made of sterner stuff:

Yet Brutus says he was ambitious;

And Brutus is an honourable man.

You all did see that on the Lupercal

I thrice presented him a kingly crown,

Which he did thrice refuse: was this ambition?

Yet Brutus says he was ambitious;

And, sure, he is an honourable man.

I speak not to disprove what Brutus spoke,

But here I am to speak what I do know.

You all did love him once, not without cause:

What cause withholds you then, to mourn for him?

O judgment! thou art fled to brutish beasts,

And men have lost their reason. Bear with me;

My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar,

And I must pause till it come back to me.

[ruffboi-mags]

I am losing my mind laughing THANK YOU SO MUCH OP

[lightheartedsuggestion]

Stop convincing yourself you’re wasting your life away. The time you’ve spent resting and healing was and is necessary. You’re not a waste of a person if you find yourself struggling right now. Healing, recovering, sitting with your pain is foundational. It’s not a waste. You are still whole.

[astraltrickster]

This post is your reminder that you are not obligated to blog about current events.

Things are bad. Really bad. Do not let people guilt trip you into tormenting yourself even further over the fact that things are bad. Doomscrolling is not activism.

If you're just on tumblr to blorbopost or reblog pretty pictures, you are not harming people by inaction.

You are not a bad person for not dedicating every aspect of your life and leisure space to whatever disgusting mask-off attack on human life and dignity some government has decided to enact.

Take action where you can, but don't confuse doomscrolling and digital self harm for action.

If you need to lose yourself in blorboposting, go for it.

If you need to log off for the day, whether it's to take irl action or to protect what little sanity any of us have left over the past 7 years, then by all means, do.

Morale is important. Hope is important. Small joys keep us from burning out completely in times like this. Do not let any "if you don't reblog this I'm judging you" guilt trip convince you otherwise.

[astraltrickster]

This is not to say that if you do choose to blog about it, you're just self-harming and you need to stop that right now. Social media IS how a lot of attention is brought to these things, lots of people are 100% capable of running mixed fun and serious blogs without it becoming a problem for themselves or their followers, and even on a personal level, screaming about it can be cathartic for some.

But a few individuals bowing out of the news sharing to protect their mental health will not stop those news articles or resource masterposts from reaching anyone they need to reach. Unless you're an actual celebrity, there is no one who needs that information following you and ONLY you.

Know yourself. Do what is best for yourself, because at times like this, we need every scrap of hope we can get, whether that comes from feebly swinging a stick at the problem or retreating from whatever tries to steal those scraps from you.

[astraltrickster]

This attitude doesn't become any more fair or any less of a joke when you're applying the standard to yourself.

[creepymutelilbugger]

everything else migjt suck but at least we have a perfectly shaped february to anticipate halfheartedly

[creepymutelilbugger]

[bluepeets]

https://twitter.com/coff33detective/status/1271463582312673281

“make yourselves impossible to ignore. 10,000 signatures on twitter is a lot but 10 unique personal emails is enough to derail an entire council session.”

[starlightomatic]

I was in a city council meeting last week about defunding the police and one of the council members mentioned multiple times that she’d been inundated with calls and emails all that day saying to defund the police.

[to-transcribe]

[ID: Two screenshots of a twitter thread by alex flanigan, anti-fascist @Coff33Detective from June 12, 2020 beginning at 11:25 AM that reads: hi! i work in local government and community management, and i’m here to tell you a secret: it is like, really, really easy to overwhelm the people who work in your local government. especially right now. especially on things they can actionably do or impact.

you may not know this, but i bet your city or town or municipality has a website. i bet that website has some contact forms or email addresses on it. i bet you can use them to put together a message in about 5 minutes! i bet it’s almost as easy as signing a national petition.

which is to say: i’m noticing, like most other people, that the national level discussion on really important and long overdue issues is flagging. but the internet and news cycle is not the only battleground, and you will be pleasantly surprised by how easy it is to—

—fight those battles at home, on your own turf, with much more immediate impact, and they are so, so important.

I am begging you: make my job, and the jobs of people like me, difficult right now. flood us with demands. make yourselves impossible to ignore. 10,000 signatures on twitter is a lot but 10 unique personal emails is enough to derail an entire council session. End ID]

[corpsebrigadier-deactivated2025]

I’ve been a city council observer with the League of Women Voters for nearly a year, and I have witnessed the following:

A few guys voicing their anxiety about speeding on a street where their children play and suggesting a radar speed sign. Despite catching all of two meetings where this was mentioned, I walked back home one day and–yep–there was a radar speed sign up.

A persistent force of 3-5ish loud residents coming to zoning and council meetings because they did not want a drive through style restaurant moving into a particular area where there were already major issues with traffic congestion and safety. This eventually resulted in a Chik-fil-a having its planning proposal shot down by council such that the lot is now likely to house an Aldi. I am getting low cost groceries instead of bigotry chicken in my neighborhood because of a D&D party’s worth of regular speakers.

A turnout of residents shouting down an attempt to reduce the amount of funding for the community Juneteenth celebration until Council backed down. One meeting. Roughly a dozen people + their kids speaking about the significance of the holiday. The celebration ended up having its full funding restored.

In my experience, it is incredibly easy to bully local politicians and get some sort of results, especially in small municipalities. If you have something that you want to see happen at the local level, seriously try to contact your local officials and see what you can make happen.

[sleepycatmama]

I single-handedly got them to double the number of chickens you are allowed to keep in my former town.

[weshallbekind]

You genuinely don’t even always have to go to a meeting btw. If you have a Facebook, those council members are in your local Facebook groups.Do you know how easy it is to tag your mayor and go “hey what are you gonna do about this?” over everything? Do you know how often that WORKS?

[dduane]

Pay attention to this.

Government From Above looks easy. Command your followers to do shit and they do it, right?

Except when they don’t. Because all of a sudden their neighbors get in their faces.

Then the whole thing comes apart.

It’s easy for people to think Their Boy and their way of thinking has won, beating the Evil Other Side. They think they can then go back to arguing with their HOA and worrying about the price of eggs.

Teach them otherwise!

Turn up at local political meetings and have those people understand that you’re not just going to roll over and let them have their way. Yell at them. (In words bigger than they were equipped to understand, if you feel that’s the way to go.) Give them to understand that they are not right, and you will be back again to get up their ill-prepared noses about this. And again. And again. (Because they’ll never really be ready for opposition. No one’s taught them that. They’re just cannon fodder, poor things. They were never meant to go into battle.)

People hate looking stupid repeatedly in front of other people. You can tire them out. You can make them give up. You can make them feel there’s no point in it.

Don’t talk yourself out of this. The Goddess of Justice must descend from great heights to effect herself into the works of human beings. Don’t talk yourself out of “your turn in the barrel.” (As some humans have been known to call it.) It won’t last that long. Almost none of your opponents have any staying power. (Remember Punched-in-The-Face-Nazi guy? He had a huge online presence. It took one punch to make him dig a hole and crawl in.)

Let the folks you’re opposing understand that you’re going to keep on doing this every time they show up. Let them get the sense that you’re willing to be unreasonable about this. They’ve been thinking they’re the “sane” ones in this discourse. Teach them that they may possibly be incorrect.

Be persistent. Some of them will never have seen persistence in their lives. (As opposed to repeating somebody else’s talking points over and over again, which isn’t the same thing at all.) True persistence requires creativity! Every day, make a new way to come at them. They will never be able to keep up with you.

If enough of us do this… we can take whole legislative structures back: from the bottom up.

Just from being annoying. :)

[reallyreallyreallytrying]

“average person eats 3 spiders a year” factoid actualy just statistical error. average person eats 0 spiders per year. Spiders Georg, who lives in cave & eats over 10,000 each day, is an outlier adn should not have been counted

[doubleca5t]

An actual World Heritage Post

[dykecosette]

how does this post not have a million notes but anyone online can quote it

[definitelynotlazav]

one week until ten years of Spiders Georg

[yd12k]

[thefallling]

WHERES THAT POST FUCK YOU PEOPLE WHO DONT CELEBRATE FICTION CHARACTERS BIRTHDAY

HAPPY 11th BIRTHDAY SPIDERS GEORG!!!!

[stuckinapril]

i hope that in 2025 u get to take more walks, read more books, connect with more people whom u love and who love u, achieve ur goals (even if ur goals are having no goals and just living in the moment), exercise fun hobbies, move from a place of self-direction, and weave together a beguiling assortment of beautiful little moments. remember that no feeling lasts forever. love u

[stuckinapril]

and i actually hope u learn to forgive urself a little more and operate from self compassion rather than self flagellation. this is ur first time living - there is no rehearsal to any of this. u will live and u will learn. drink lots of water in the morning and dance to ur favorite music first thing. u are not uniquely horrible, but just learning how to live. u got this <3

[lakecountylibrary]

LIBRARY WRAPPED

You checked out... probably some stuff? Thanks for doing that :)

Used our wifi maybe? For something?

Look we actually don't know what genres you read or how many times you renewed Gender Queer.

We don't want to know.

Our gift to you is privacy.

Take it.

Be free.

[paper-mario-wiki]

hey here's a website for downloading any video or image from any website.

works w/ youtube, soundcloud, twitch, twitter (gifs and videos), tumblr (video and audio), and most other websites you're probably lookin to download stuff off of.

[paper-mario-wiki]

for anyone wondering about privacy and whatnot, i'm happy to say that the developers are pretty committed to have 0 trackers and 0 data retention. you can read more in their "about" section, but here's the basic important stuff:

[wukker]

COBALT MENTIONED OUTSIDE OF TWITTER???

[paper-mario-wiki]

^ (one of the lead devs that made cobalt)

thank you for your thingy, it's real useful 🙏

[whatjanesays]

I went in the code again and saw the new Boop paws were vectors this time, so I converted them into some good sized pngs that are a little easier to work.

Save and share to boop your people later!

EDIT - if you're looking for the original svg files I posted them [here]