A Successful Catastrophe

Lexi here. I like Homestuck, MLP, Steven Universe and a bunch of other things. Check out my about me page for more info.

[sentennial]

sometimes the only thing standing between humanity and the apocalypse is an unethical girlboss and her woke dog

individual shitposts under the cut (i just liked how this canvas turned out all together lol) ->

really proud of grace’s second expression here. that’s all. it was a pain in my cojones but i think i got it

do russians wear cargo shorts? lmk. it felt right to me that dmitri would wear cargo shorts but im open to discourse on the subject.

[aurpiment]

“It’s easy to assume”: someone’s misconception is about to be amiably corrected

“It’s tempting to assume”: someone’s assumption is about to be criticized

“It’s comforting to assume”: someone’s assumption is going to be read for filth

[chonklatez]

@21st-century-minutiae something for your blog?

[21st-century-minutiae]

The above is explaining three semantically similar statements with different connotations, in decreasing order of prevalence. In the early twenty-first century, native English speakers would understand the connotations implicitly, and would not need the detailed explanation of the above, which draws from the pattern.

In all cases, these statements serve as the prologue to some correction for a mistaken assumption, as explained above.

In the first case, the word "easy" is used to emphasize that the mistake is common, natural, and understandable, and that there is no shame for being mistaken on the given matter of topic. This is a very common turn of phrase.

In the second case, the word "tempting" is used to emphasize that the mistake is born out of some desirable motive. The biases that caused one to form the mistaken assumption as potentially sympathetic to the corrector. This is an less common, but known, turn of phrase, implying a harsher critique.

In the third case, the word "comforting" is used to emphasize that that the only reason someone is making an assumption is because they are coddling their own biases, even though any attempt at thinking things through would prove it irrational. It is the equivalent of accusing someone of sticking their head in the sand, like an allegorical ostrich. "Read for filth" is an idiomatic expression meaning to offer full, unfiltered criticism of something, ripping it apart. This is even less common to use, but the point would be understood as being a prelude to the harshest criticism of the three.

[catastrophic-success]

I read “Project Hail Mary” by Andy Weir

(Spoilers in this one.)

First of all, wow what a departure from the previous two in terms of tone! Everything feels far more hopeless in a world where the sun isn’t bright enough. Dr. Ryland Grace is a breath of fresh air compared to his predecessors Mark Watney and Jazz Bashara.

While those two from “The Martian” and “Artemis” respectively are snarky, oversure of themselves, and at times come across as corny, Ryland is far more grounded in reality.

PHM is excellent but I genuinely found myself disappointed twice at the writing glossing over certain parts that feel like critical points to narrate. The first time, I believe, was during the “montage” of Taumoeba breeding. I was hoping for some more details, as the science and bonding between Dr. Grace and Rocky was the highlight of those chapters. The second time I was disappointed was the jump from the end of chapter 29 to the beginning of Chapter 30. I found the time skip to be a bit cheap. In my opinion, there are still so many things that can go wrong during the trip to Erid from Tau Ceti that I can’t possibly be satisfied with a time skip that sums it up with “it was hard but we did it”.

Aside from those moments of disappointment I genuinely loved this story and found it to be the best of Weir’s books. I cried when Rocky was surprised that Dr. Grace came back to save him, so I know the movie version is going to make me cry even harder.

Once again I very much look forward to comparing this one with its film adaptation.

BYE, I LOVE YOU!

[catastrophic-success]

I read “Artemis” by Andy Weir

Many reviews said it was bad and that the first few chapters were unreadable. I found those reviews to be hyperbolic.

The book was fine, great even, with a few caveats that I vehemently disagree with its portrayal of benevolent billionaires. I actually found the plot more interesting than “The Martian”, and really liked the relationships between characters. Jazz is an interesting MC and I think she was written well, even if she was basically the same kind of character as Mark Watney. Her emotional range was quite similar of course but she distinctly felt more like a character to me than the caricature I had been warned about.

I am interested in seeing what the planned future adaptation has in store. It is a story I personally would love to take a crack at adapting into film if given the chance, so I hope the people working on it give it their all.

BYE, I LOVE YOU!

[catastrophic-success]

I Started Reading “The Martian” by Andy Weir

I’m having a great time with it, aside from a couple of poor taste jokes that didn’t age well. I can see why people call his writing competencep*rn, it has a certain je ne sais quoi that is reminiscent of how anime like “Reincarnated As A Slime” explain problem solving from the characters’ points of view. But I don’t mind, it’s very engaging and I can’t put it down for too long without diving back into the pages.

I like certain writing choices so far such as dipping into third person omniscient to briefly describe a character’s feelings even if we were following a different character’s POV at the time. And the description of the Hab wall’s production->destruction intermittently interrupting the narrative was such a cinematic description. The countdown to the Iris 1 launch was actually gut wrenchingly good at making me dread what would happen to make it go wrong.

The more I read, however, the worse the casting choice of Matt Damon becomes, and I didn’t even see that movie. If I were allowed to direct an adaptation of this book I would want Mark Watney to be played by Brennan Lee Mulligan or someone similar. You know, someone who could believably play a botanist/engineer/astronaut/d&d cleric with strong opinions on disco and Aquaman’s powers.

I’m over halfway through and I’m looking forward to the finale. I’ll be checking out “Artemis” after this and “Project Hail Mary” after that. I only just learned about the former but it sounds like a great read, and I have been wanting to also watch the movie of the latter. I can’t wait to compare these books to their adaptations. I’m tempted to make a video review about them all.

Okay, that’s it for now, I’ll add more to this later with edits or reblogs.

BYE, I LOVE YOU!

EDIT:

I finished the book. It was an okay ending, and I liked the whole story overall. My original copy was censored to hell and back and included an epilogue that my new uncensored copy does not contain, so I’m gonna do some more research on why that is. I’ll be making separate posts for my thoughts on “Artemis” and “Project Hail Mary”, both of which I binge read between the original post and this edit.

[catastrophic-success]

Did you know you can have rolling panic attacks? I’m so dizzy from the meds to stop them.

[thequeenoftheentiregoddamnworld]

Hey, hey, look me in the eyes when I tell you this okay? The whole "do trans women or trans men have it worse?" debate going on right now is the most obvious CIA bullshit on earth cause honestly we've both got it pretty shitty and fighting each other isn't helping anyone

[razortouched]

Researching right now a post about gendered socialization and how trans people experience it. I'm aware this is a very controversial topic and even the sources I'm finding are polarized.

One small example, is this reddit thread I came across. Two trans women, with completely different views on socialization as a concept.

One trans woman who fully believes she was socialized as a man, and another who believes the concept is entirely made up and that we all absorb the same socialization.

I'm not drawing any big conclusions here, because these are just a couple of reddit comments. But I think its always good to remember that trans people are not a monolith and may have very different relationships to these concepts.

I think its very possible for 2 things to be true. Some trans people may internalize the specific expectations of their assigned gender, and others simply don't. There doesnt have to be one universal truth that applies to all trans people.

[isabellascarlett1]

Gender affirming care is suicide prevention.

Using folks’ correct name and pronouns is suicide prevention

Abortion care is suicide prevention.

Accessibility is suicide prevention.

Birth control is suicide prevention.

Mutual aid is suicide prevention.

Housing is suicide prevention.

Healthcare is suicide prevention.

Climate action is suicide prevention.

Food security is suicide prevention.

Ending imperialism is suicide prevention.

Land back is suicide prevention.

Abolishing borders is suicide prevention.

Police and prison abolition is suicide prevention.

[cerastes]

I don’t think we ought to normalize or justify bullying as a means to keep people from being annoying — a sentiment that in and of itself could make for a whole article’s worth of conversation — but I do think we should make a habit of politely but directly telling people “hey I didn’t like that”, “that wasn’t funny”, “you are mistaken”, and the like if it’s called for, and more importantly, you should be able to take a “that wasn’t funny” for instance without taking it personally, because protecting a polite harmony where no one can criticize each other, not even politely, is also really, really bad.

[mlemblemplem]

I need a "Get Out" style horror-comedy film except it's a teenager coming out to their seemingly progressive family and watching all of them turn their backs on them one by one, before reaching out to their secret aunt, who then comes to rescue them.

[bedupolker]

It feels cool to be "in" on celebrity gossip before anyone else. I ran into Californian Condor V9 and looked her up on the condor lookup website. It says her current mate is dead and she has no kids but I saw her with a new man AND a juvenile.

[taciturn-nerd]

OP I hope you don't mind but I made a tabloid cover out of this

I used two more condor photos by Andrew Orr and Alam Clampitt from peregrinefund.org

Gotta use the skills I learned from making tabloids out of the Jane Austen novels somewhere right?

Great, now I feel like I'm bird shaming. Congrats V9 on your new family!

[animals-with-fan-art]

This is art to me

[cheaphalloweencostume]

just can’t beat a “that was a really weird thing to say, are you alright?” when faced with out of pocket hostility

[bundibird]

I HIGHLY recommend giving compliments to random strangers.

Not, like, fake compliments or randomly giving scrounged up compliments to everyone you pass in the street, but -- say you see someone with an article of clothing you really really like. Cool accessories or a great haircut or something. Tell them.

I told an old woman yesterday that I liked her blouse. It was this super pretty white-at-the-top-floral-at-the-bottom shirt which was really lovely. So i backtracked where I'd walked past her and I said "excuse me - i love your shirt." And this harried, stressed-looking 80-something year old brightened up immediately, and beamed, and then when she and I headed off in separate directions, she had a pep in her step.

This other time I told a woman that I liked her boots. She gave me a company name thats since become my favourite brand of shoes. I told someone else that her scarf was cute and she was like "do you like it? Here, you can have it," and she dropped her scarf in my hands and then got on her train and left. I once saw a woman who had clearly put effort into her outfit that day but was now looking harried and frazzled as she wrangled four children across the road, and I told her that her outfit was gorgeous and she lit up like a christmas tree. I told a gay man that I loved his whole look once and he turned into a smiling, blushing mess as his super delighted and proud boyfriend was like "yea, he DOES look gorgeous doesnt he?"

If you see someone with something compliment-worthy going on, don't hold back. What's the point? Ive never once had a bad response to giving a compliment to a stranger. Everyone to a tee has been absolutely thrilled to receive a surprise compliment about their outfit or their make up or their shoes or their vibe or etc. Give out compliments to random strangers. Its free, and it'll make their whole day.

[catastrophic-success]

congrats

Thanks, anon! I’m assuming this is in relation to me getting married recently.

[elumish]

The core philosophy that I go back to for basically every part of writing is "know what you're doing, and do it on purpose."

This goes from everything from word choice and sentence structure (understand the meaning and connotation of words you're using, be intentional with your word choice, understand grammmar rules and how you may be bending or breaking them) to plot, worldbuilding, and story meaning (know what genre tropes you are invoking or subverting, think through how one part of your worldbuilding relates to another and shape it accordingly, consider the implicit or explicit messages your story may be sending and make sure those messages are the ones you want to be sending).

I've talked about this before with writing advice as a whole, but I'll say it again here: use writing advice that applies to your story, and be intentional with it. Don't follow advice about building reader connections with a character when you are intentionally trying to building distance; don't follow advice about creating epic secondary worlds when that isn't your goal with the story.

Know what you're doing, and do it on purpose.

[torchwood-99]

"I love you but you're doing wrong in a way I cannot condone" and "I hate you but you're being wronged in a way I cannot stomach" are top tier and I need more of them.