Belle's Blog

Memes, kobolds, cute art. No promises, guarantees, or refunds.

[the-prairies-calling-out]

"Why do you buy books when the library is right there?"

Because publishing houses will not continue printing paper books if libraries are their only customers.

Also, I like being able to read at my leisure and generally have books at hand.

[its-the-blob]

#public libraries are good because they let people access books they might never otherwise read#private book ownership is good because it's Yours#physical books are good because they last a long time and again it's Yours#ebooks are good because you can fit a whole library into the physical space of a single book and they're cheaper to produce#audiobooks are good because they're accessible to people with eyesight or visual reading issues and leave your hands free#in conclusion: all books are good and people should enjoy them however and whenever they can#(lest it be misunderstood I agree with you completely OP I just also really like books in general and it got away from me)

YES. all books. every kind

[achesspiece]

i got captured so it'd be really cool if my god promoted a pawn to bring me back to life but i know he'd just bring back his bitch dead wife as usual :/

[achesspiece]

you'll never guess what just happened

[achesspiece]

[worstgirleva]

Male socialization is such an evil rhetoric. Yeah I guess not transitioning at the age of 5 is my fault and I'm evil for it. Yeah I guess not having the childhood I wish I did means I'm a danger and I should perpetually apologize for it

[zedogica]

"The fact that socialization is a specious argument became obvious to me during an exchange I had with a trans-woman-exclusionist who insisted that my being raised male was the sole reason in her mind for me to be disqualified from entering women-only spaces. So I asked her if she was open to allowing trans women who are anatomically male but who have been socialized female — something that’s not all that uncommon for MTF children these days. She admitted to having concerns about their attending. Then, I asked how she would feel about a person who was born female yet raised male against her will, and who, after a lifetime of pretending to be male in order to survive, finally reclaimed her female identity upon reaching adulthood. After being confronted with this scenario, the woman conceded that she would be inclined to let this person enter women-only space, thus demonstrating that her argument about male socialization was really an argument about biology after all. In fact, after being pressed a bit further, she admitted that the scenario of a young girl who was forced against her will into boyhood made her realize how traumatic and dehumanizing male socialization could be for someone who was female-identified. This, of course, is exactly how many trans women experience their own childhoods."

---

Julia Serano, "Whipping Girl"

pg. 184

[blumineck]

When your blacksmith buddy says “hey man do you want a bardiche?”, the answer is always yes!

I have a website now!

[vampirejuno]

This might be a hot take but, I'm convinced that Carrot wouldn't be the one to take over command of the watch after Vimes retires. It'd be Angua. She and Vimes are so similar, both in temperament and worldview, and just the way they handle police-related problems.

Like. That's such a Vimes way of looking at things. And much like him, she doesn't let her cynicism stop her from doing her job, she uses it as fuel. She doesn't have the same ties to Ankh-Morpork that Vimes does, but she's fiercely loyal to Carrot, who effectively *is* the city.

And the bit at the end of men at arms where Carrot himself explains to Vetinari why it shouldn't be him commanding the watch - people should follow orders because they're given by a commanding officer, not because they're given by Carrot. Angua doesn't have that charisma that makes people like her and do what she says; she just has intelligence and willpower and a good, disillusioned understanding of how people work. Not to mention all the thematic parallels we see between her and vimes and their struggles with restraining their inner beast (literal or metaphorical).

Idk, it seems such an obvious choice to me. I think if Vimes ever managed to actually retire, the only person in whose hands (paws?) he'd be comfortable leaving the watch would be her.

(also the post of commander comes with the title of Knight and "sir Angua" would be hot as fuck)

[chekhovs-raygun]

can you fuckin imagine how RELIEVED carrot would be for his girlfriend to finally outrank him. i think he'd propose. like i think he's genuinely been waiting this whole time to propose marriage because he can't while he's her superior officer but once she's HIS boss he's free to see if she wants that to be a permanent situation or what.

[glowstickhaloboy]

GOD the ending of the martian (the movie) makes me so fucking mad compared to the ending of the martian (the book)

the martian the movie: i am the professor of badassery. you yourself can be badass too if only you learn to be completely self-reliant and say fuck you to everything

the martian the book: i am on a ship home. i am on a ship home because the entire world cared about me when by all rights i should have been a lost cause. long-standing borders were ERASED so teams of people who had never met could do EVERYTHING possible to save one solitary member of their species instead of leaving me to die where i should have been unreachable. it wasnt even anybody’s fault that i got stuck. they had every excuse to abandon me. instead, BECAUSE WE ARE A COMMUNITY…. maybe we do really deserve to be here among the stars

[fictionadventurer]

The Phantom of the Opera: I was born with facial deformities that are so horrific that even my own mother couldn't bear to look at me.

Me: So that's why you have to live as an outcast in the basements of the opera house?

The Phantom, who has been an admired performer, palace architect, royal executioner, and chief contractor of the opera house who is able to go out in public with no alteration to his face except a false nose and mustache: No, that's a separate choice that I've made.

[demaparbat-hp]

Looking (dis)honorably

[sinistra-orlok]

[snek1046]

It’s June

[bees-official]

[bakugames-deactivated20210814]

Pokémon emerald (2004)

[rudavoidish]

YOU DON'T NEED A MORAL REASON TO DISLIKE A SHIP. SOMETIMES YOU CAN JUST BE A LITTLE HATER. IT'S OK TO BE A LITTLE HATER. I PROMISE.

[mack-mod]

You hear that, Etoile? Fuck you!

[epicsause-official]

d*mn!

[achesspiece]

perhaps my greatest win yet

[achesspiece]

this is killing me

[electronicdelusionstarlight]

Anyway, shout out to Terry Pratchett to not only have legalized, completely safe sex work in his books, but also have one of the prominent figures of the Seamstresses’ Guild be a major positive supporting character in Night Watch, as well as general helpfulness of the guild to board single, vulnerable women in their establishments without expecting almost anything in exchange from them.

Like, is used mostly as a joke some times, yes, like changing Free Love with Reasonably Priced Love, but is never a joke directed at the sex workers themselves. It could be more, but is honestly more than you would expect from a fanstasy series nowadays really.

[vbartilucci]

“Ladies of negotiable hospitality” is the single best term for “sex worker” in the history of humanity.

Also, the delightful fact that Madam Palm’s house also contains one young lady whose profession is sewing and fabric work, as every so often they get a confused man with a torn pair of trousers looking for a…you know…seamstress.

[procrastinatingfeminist]

I can name exactly one other book that has a positive description of sex work and it is a barely known outside of Russia (and, to be honest, nowadays probably also barely known inside Russia, since it was written by a russian sci-fi author who lived like a hundred years ago). And it is so galling. Not even Firefly had all that positive view of sex work, and with its Companions guild it was by fare much more progressive.

[swimmingblue]

For me, the Seamstresses’ Guild is part of Pterry’s acknowledgement that people are ….well, people.

Like, the Discworld is full of very good characters (who aren’t always good people), who act like real people. So Ankh-Morpork, like all great cities, has a lot of people looking for sex. So there will be things to fill that need - prostitutes, and condoms, and whorehouses, and gay clubs (there’s a gay club specifically mentioned in canon), and places that make sex toys and accessories, and so on.

[asparklethatisblue]

i just want to add that one of the most prude characters in the series, Granny Weatherwax, is shown to be friends with the Seamstress Guild and stays at one of their houses each time she is in Ankh Morpork. She gets to stay for free and offers her usual witch services to the women when she’s there. She seems completely unbothered by any of it, to the surprise of her friends

also “free love” being replaced with “reasonably priced love”

I haven’t seen sex workers discuss the books or how the Seamstresses are written, but it does feel about as respectful (if not more so) as Pterry describes any profession

[jackironsides]

For me, the revolutionary thing isn’t that he acknowledges that sex workers are part of a functional society, the revolutionary part is that he treats them like actual people.

[dinodoggie]

Heres some more Project Hail Mary comics, just for fun!

Its a long way to Erid so like they got alot of time to do whatever, i think theyd have to talk about pokemon at SOME point at least! XD

i hope you enjoy, and have an AWESOME day!!!

[chipzle]

Yippee!

[penguinipasta]

Maomao MD

[cryoverkiltmilk]

POV: you are a rare herb, or perhaps a bug.

[nebulations]

[ID copied from alt: A digital illustration of the apothecary diaries based off of the one House MD poster where they all stare at you from around what is presumably an operating table. Clockwise starting from the top are suirei, shisui, gaoshun, maomao, guen, and jinshi. End ID]