Quantum Superimposition

Prejudice and toilet rolls should be over. Safe travels, my lovelies. (She/her/hers, 34)

[gingerblivet]

Things I will not judge you for: •Sexuality •Religion •Race •Clothing choices Things I will judge you for: •Not signalling while driving •How you treat wait staff •Which way you think the toilet roll goes

[counttwinkula]

hey did you know that uhh

i. the monster's body is a cultural body

ii. the monster always escapes

iii. the monster is the harbinger of category crisis

iv. the monster dwells at the gates of difference

v. the monster polices the borders of the possible

vi. fear of the monster is really a kind of desire

vii. the monster stands at the threshold… of becoming

[counttwinkula]

oh shit i didn't expect this to actually get notes lmao

these are all direct quotes from jeffrey jerome cohen's "monster culture (seven theses)" (full pdf linked) i highly encourage you to read it yourself!

that said, while i think cohen's writing is evocative, it can be a little dense, so while i'm here, here's my capsule summary (you can also hear me talk about this in the first episode of my podcast) (listen to @ghostswerepeopletoo)

i. the monster's body is a cultural body - The monster is a work of fiction to be analyzed through tools of literary and sociological theory.

ii. the monster always escapes - As long as the cultural fear from which the monster stems persists, the monster will reappear in retellings, reimaginings, and sequels.

iii. the monster is the harbinger of category crisis - Monsters defy binaries and challenge easy comprehension or categorization.

iv. the monster dwells at the gates of difference - The monster represents the Other.

v. the monster polices the borders of the possible - Tales of the monster exist to discourage unacceptable or taboo behaviors.

vi. fear of the monster is really a kind of desire - Subjects can vicariously participate in the disruption of the social order through the monster.

vii. the monster stands at the threshold… of becoming - Within the monster we find information about the self.

[tpwrtrmnky]

"Block this ad" isn't good enough, I need a feature that directly tells the company "this was so shit that it lowered my opinion of your product"

[blanketfortarchitect]

I want this to happen to the CEO every time I click “not interested”

[todaysbird]

i really love this piece - bird window collision deterrents should absolutely be mandatory for large buildings not only in NY, but nationwide. designing architecture to not kill the world around us should be the norm.

[todaysbird]

don’t leave this in the comments!

[ceevee5]

[quasi-normalcy]

I fear a fresh wave of the plague

[sarcasmgal-blog]

Update from twitter

[brunhiddensmusings]

i want to explain to people- the lower bit is accurate you probably pay way more in taxes/rent then a medieval peasants well as have less time off of work

[amaditalks]

One of the most important things to unpack and unlearn when you’re part of a white supremacy saturated society (i.e. the global north) and especially if you were raised in an intensified form of it (evangelicism, right wing politics, explicit racism) is the urge to punish and take revenge.

It manifests in our lives all the time and it is inherently destructive. It makes relationships and interactions adversarial for no good reason. It undermines cooperation and good civic order. It worsens some types of crime. It creates trauma, especially in children.

Imagine approaching unexpected or unacceptable behavior from a perspective of "how can this be stopped, and prevented" instead of "you’re going to regret this!”

Imagine dealing with a problem or conflict from the perspective of “how can this be solved in a way that is just and restorative” instead of “the people who caused this are going to pay.”

How much would that change you? How much would that have changed for you?

[oldearthaccretionist]

Please.

[autumn-clover]

[apathetic-revenant]

love how much of Aragorn’s initial interactions with the hobbits is just telling them not to say things

[apathetic-revenant]

aragorn: could you stop casually invoking the dread name of the ancient and terrible evil that even now follows at our very heels for FIVE MINUTES

[apathetic-revenant]

aragorn: hey I gotta take a breather can you take over the hobbit duties for a bit

gandalf: no worries got you covered

[apathetic-revenant]

Aragorn’s given up

[apathetic-revenant]

elrond: hey you can’t say that here

gandalf: you can’t tell me what to say, do I look like a hobbit to you

[elodieunderglass]

The film repositions this for comedy, but in Return of the King, there’s this scene:

Gandalf, outside the door: oh hang on, just a sec. for reasons I won’t explain; this is about to get super geopolitical. Try not to spill too many beans in front of Denethor.

Pippin: Do I have that many of them?

Denethor: right, you ignorant child! Under my skilled interrogation I shall force you to spill the beans.

Pippin: I know three things about beans and will share them (under skilled interrogation, discourses for a full hour on beans, the preparation thereof, the cultivation thereof, and the Shire’s various thoughts on beans in general)

Gandalf: (pretends to be annoyed) denethor if you wanted SENSIBLE discourse on geopolitical beans I am RIGHT HERE

Denethor, fascinated: no! I already know everything you’re about to say and I’m NOT accepting criticism at this time. And I genuinely have no idea what this guy’s going to say next - do you have ANY idea how fun that is for me

Pippin: now the classic market share of baked beans inna tin belongs to Heinz, but I myself am a Branston man, because - referencing my previous statements - if you want beans, you do NOT need to faff about with a tin opener. The decision to retain the pop-top -

Gandalf: this is unbelievable. denethor, can we -

Denethor: BZT! ✋ let him cook

(Later)

Pippin: are you mad at me for talking about beans for an hour

Gandalf: it was, in a weird way, the best move on the chessboard, and so politically savvy that it furthered three of my agendas, and was also really funny to listen to. Denethor has the long sight; he is accustomed to reading the minds and hearts of men at a long distance, these long years. Actually, maybe this has jaded him as much as anything else. To meet a mind whose umwelt, whose very nature, he has not already fully plumbed is not just an act of political obfuscation on our part; for Denethor himself, could such fresh provocation burst his stagnant social bubble, and save him from being so terminally fucking online? Might we have uncovered the potential of a Theoden thematic parallel? Much to ponder. The only unfortunate bit was that you kept freezing up and looking guilty when Denethor asked you about containers

Pippin: you said not to spill any beans and I was worried he’d trip me up

Gandalf: it is, as ever, like talking to a fucking genie with you people

[draconym]

I just saw an acquaintance use "👖🛝" in place of the word genocide and. like. at what point are we going to decide that this kind of self-censorship is too degrading to abide anymore.

[draconym]

"grape" "sui-slide" "the panini" I feel like I'm surrounded by Rugrats who overheard the grown ups talking about the news.

[magiccarpetman]

This is mean, but when I’m in a safe context to do so, I love pretending I don’t understand what they mean and forcing them to explain in plain language.

[draconym]

It's not mean. You are so normal. If someone uses these terms when speaking to me directly I'm going to end up on the news.

[ajeckaea]

I call this collection of screenshots "idiots of /r/whatsthatbook".

And finally, my go-to example for Tiktokese/ridiculous unnecessary self-censoring:

[mckitterick]

[rip-quizilla]

[gumi-megpoidd]

I am whatever gender has the shortest line at the bathroom

[gumi-megpoidd]

No need I think

[maxi-is-not-well]

​I see this one going places

[gumi-megpoidd]

Yeah. The bathroom

[im-a-vertebrate]

ah but which bathroom

[gumi-megpoidd]

the one with the shortest line did you not read the post

[animentality]

[beautifulterriblequeen]

A sign to tap

[grissomesque]

"If you're still having fun in your 30s you're functionally brain damaged" sure is a take.

[worst-egirl]

weirdly enough i think it's easier to accept non sexual nudity if you're a bit of a a pervert. like people think "boobs are too sexy, people can't be normal about them", and it seems like a compelling argument, boobs are sexy. but when you realise that other things are sexy as well, things like stomachs, thighs, feet, back muscles, and you can normal about them in a non sexual context, so there's no reason anyone can't be normal about any other part of the body.

[udntnome]

Actually we need to have everyone cover everything. With body suits and gasmasks we will finally be free from perverts and their kinks

[sashaforthewin]

Every time I see someone being weird about a human body being shown, I suggest they try out a figure drawing class. Nothing normalizes the human body more than staring at a naked person for hours while trying to get proportions right. You go to enough of these and even in sexual situations you'll be thinking ooh this would be fun to try to draw, I love the swoop of that curve over there, look at that delicate arch, I must capture it on paper

[miiilowo]

having anti role models is a beautiful thing. it's not easy to live up to someone else's behavior but it is easy to lasso yourself into behaving right when you realize you're reminding yourself of the worst person youve ever met in your entire life

[kominfyrirkattarnef]

Have you guys noticed how much the internet/technology just does not listen to you anymore? I click “don’t show this artist” on Spotify and I get recommended a music video by them on the front page. I click “skip this update” on a pop up every time I open a file organization app and it’s right back there every time. I click unsubscribe on a newsletter and it keeps showing up in my inbox!! I click “delete my account” and the next time I open the website they suggest I “reactivate”.

[sophia-helix]

hey you know those jokes about finding a good new author and all their old AO3 works are hockey rpf? guess what Heated Rivalry fandom you are about to be blessed by hundreds of talented authors who have been training for this very moment

[sophia-helix]

😈😈😈🏒

[aphel1on]

completely personal preference obviously but i hate when there's a time travel fix-it and everything goes smoothly and the protagonist is just cool and confident with all their knowledge of the ruined future. nooo shut up. what is even the point if they're not an emotionally traumatized mess frantically trying to fix things and fucking up as they do so, keeping secrets and alienating their loved ones, causing new and interesting problems and barely scraping through to an eventual better ending

[mikkeneko]

My preferred outcome is for them to avoid the problems in the original timeline only to face a whole host of new, unforeseen consequences because reality is fuckin complicated and you can't control all the factors in the world no matter how hard you try <3

[whetstonefires]

i particularly like when they're managing the whole power fantasy handling everything more or less smoothly due to the power of hindsight and having leveled up for like a third of the story, and then get bodied by the unexpected consequences.

[mysteryteacup]

The best regressors are at least 50% visibly cracking at the seams because of the situation. 🥰

[mysteryteacup]

More seriously, though: the reason this tends to be contentous in fandoms is because there are two very different fantasies at play in the time-travel fix-it genre.

The first is the optimiser's fantasy: figuring out how to run the optimal version of the scenario. This tends to be big with video game mechanic stories because it's not really about people, it's a resource management based thought experiment in story form.

The second is the dramatist's fantasy: going back and dealing with all the trauma and seeking closure. This tends to lean into the Butterfly Effect and have things go wrong, because it is about ✨Drama!✨at heart.

Which is why the two camps often hate each other's stories. 😅

[sunderwight]

The reconciliation is to have the optimizer require multiple runs during which things go horribly wrong before they can figure out how to groundhog day their way to the optimal scenario. Usually with the caveat that they've optimized this scenario, but reality of course will contain many more once they're out of the loop.

[orcposts]

do not go gentle into that good night

[orcposts]

be a bit of a bitch about it

[transbian-uprising]

can't in good conscience leave this out