[jcehaenna]

I’m really happy right now. Nothing happened the way I thought it would, but I’m so glad it didn’t.

[agirlwithadiary]

When Morpheus said "I am hope" and golden light crept through the background onto both the characters and Morpheus stood to his feet to look the ruler of hell in the eyes.........

[jcehaenna]

I had to rewatch this moment a few times.

[detectiveinthehat]

There’s a lot of posts circulating with pictures of angry reviews saying there’s too many queer characters in the Sandman, and yes it’s funny to laugh at homophobes inadvertently promoting the show to queer people, but it’s also really made me think seriously about what makes the representation in the Sandman so good. 

The idea that queer characters were somehow shoehorned into the story to fit a contemporary queer "agenda" is laughably wrong to anyone who’s read the comics. Lucifer is genderless in the comics, and so are any angels that will appear later. Desire has been non-binary from the beginning, even in the 80s and 90s when Neil didn’t have the language we have now to describe gender identity. The Corinthian was always interested in men (though that rarely ends well for men). Judy in the diner in the comics was still trying to get in touch with Donna after a fight, she just didn’t have a cell phone. Hal/Dolly in the comics was also a fabulous queen longing to get out of Florida. There are so many more characters, but I won’t keep listing them because this post is long enough already. The queerness of these characters wasn’t “added,” it is an integral part of what makes them who they are. At the same time, their characters are not reducible to “being queer” because as complex people (or anthropomorphic personifications, or nightmares…) they’re not defined by a single trait. 

So I would tell the people in the reviews (though I know they aren’t here on tumblr reading this) to take a look at the comics. The queer characters were already there, and there’s more coming. Way more. They are an essential part of the story, not something you can put in or take out. You wouldn’t have the Sandman we know and love without them.

[alchemisoul]

[msshan]

Me when Dream said, "But to say dreams have no power in Hell. Tell me, Lucifer Morningstar, what power would Hell have if those here imprisoned were not able to dream of Heaven?"

[tekehu]

The challenger is Dream, once the Master of the Realm of Sleep; as the challenged, the Ruler of Hell, Lucifer Morningstar; in a contest of skill, confidence and transformation. The oldest game.

[catwingsthespatula]

My sister puts glasses away upside down.

Because our mother does,

Because her mother did,

Because her mother lived through the Dust Bowl.

One day my father sat me down and told me about epigenetics.

How the trauma he went through

As a child in an abusive home

Wrote itself into his DNA

And, in turn, into mine.

How he and his brothers,

In various ways,

Are all sick from it.

How I might be too, someday,

And I’m not sure I’m not.

I hear people say,

When will we get back to normal?

And I think of a woman born in the twenty-first century

Who puts her glasses away differently

Because of what her great-grandmother endured

Ninety years before.

[ghiblicottage]

“I would come for you,” he said, and when he saw the wary look she shot him, he said it again. “I would come for you. And if I couldn’t walk, I’d crawl to you, and no matter how broken we were, we’d fight our way out together—knives drawn, pistols blazing. Because that’s what we do. We never stop fighting.” - “Crooked Kingdom”, L. Bardugo

[quotemadness]

People like you hold their loved ones above ideals. They’ll do anything to protect them, no matter what it costs.

Aimée Carter (via quotemadness)

[mrsseverussnape]

Hii baby can I request a moodboard for Ben Barnes’ latest show character in Shadow&Bone? I really love your style😘😘

Hello babe🌝 of course you can, i cannot say no to this handsome face😏❤️‍🔥 and thank you, same goes for you❣️😽 and i am adding a song that fits the character in my opinion.

~The Darkling slumped back in his chair. “Fine,” he said with a weary shrug. “Make me your villain.”~

[dhaaruni]

Look, say what you will about James Carville, but given that Carville got Bill Clinton, the trailer trash born and raised former governor of Arkansas (and his uppity liberal lawyer wife that made $203,172 of their family's reported $290,697 income as per their 1992 tax returns), into the White House with 370 electoral votes (379 in 1996), when we were actively plummeting into 16 straight years of Republican control, I'm going to give him more credit for winning elections than I'm giving pretty every single one of his critics who are pressed that he informed Democrats that the deck (aka the structure of the Senate and electoral college) is institutionally stacked against us, and if we don't want to get blown out of the water, we have to adapt our messaging.

[jcehaenna]

I saw this in an ex’s IG story, and it made me feel some kind of way.

[maisondumepris]

STAY WHO YOU ARE

[thedifferentshadesofblue]

[haecceitism]

20 books everyone needs to read at least once because people will reference them in front of you your entire life:

“the faerie queene,” by edmund spenser. this poem is both an epic and an allegory, written in (mostly) iambic pentameter. it is divided up into six books (plus a little bit of a seventh) which you should read, if for no other reason than the fact that there’s supposedly an exclusive book club at harvard university for the select few people who have finished all six sections

“romeo and juliet,” and “othello,” both by shakespeare. these plays both involve two lovers who die because of communication issues. and they’re both super important to read because there are so many references to them, both in other pieces of classic lit., and in modern culture

“the picture of dorian gray,” by oscar wilde. if you can’t tell, this is my favorite book ever. if you can get past the purple prose, it’s one of the most ‘dark academia’ books ever. it’s got references to other famous pieces of literature (which i’ll include on the list), lots of gay shit, a dramatic young adult who loves shakespeare, and ofc, murder

“the brothers karamazov,” by fyodor dostoevsky. actually started reading this one to impress a boy; i think that perhaps he and i have different concepts of what is considered impressive, but the book has turned out amazing, so i’m happy. it has lots of wonderful philosophical and theological discussions. the one thing you may not like is that Dostoevsky constantly goes off on little tangents (like Herodotus). it simultaneously fascinates me and makes me want to smack him with a stick

“the prince,” by niccolo machiavelli. this isn’t classic literature so much as it is political science, but honestly, so many people talk about ‘machiavellianism’ without ever having read the original Machiavellian treatise, and it would be so much better to just read the book and then be able to cite machiavelli himself at your next political-philosophy discussion.

“the canterbury tales,” by geoffrey chaucer. these are classics. they’re filled to the brim with medieval language and sexual innuendo, but that’s part of what makes them so wonderful. if that’s not enough of a selling point, ‘the tale of the deathly hallows’ from “harry potter” is super similar to ‘the pardoner’s tale’ from this book.

“the divine comedy,” by dante alighieri. includes a crap ton of great history references and some super sick burns directed towards the corrupt people of dante’s time.

“meditations,” by marcus aurelius. the original metaphysical journal. probably the epitome of ‘light academia’ if i’ve ever read one

“the great gatsby,” by f. scott fitzgerald. jay gatsby is low-key super relatable…and so is nick, the third wheel…and so is daisy, who feels like women are forced by society to be ‘beautiful little fools’

“the iliad” and “the odyssey,” by homer. i will never ever be able to read ‘the iliad’ again without sobbing hysterically. :’((

“frankenstein,” by mary shelley. not only is this a great book in terms of philosophical potential, but there are so many great things to debate about in it. and, it’s written by a woman :)

“oedipus rex,” by sophocles. my favorite book in 9th grade, though god knows why my mother let me read it then

“metamorphoses,” by ovid. a collection of my all-time favorite myths, which every single person needs to read because it explains how the ancient romans believed the world operated, from the way the sun rises, to the reason we hear echoes.

“the aeneid,” by virgil. suggested by @catilinas :) the final addition to the holy iliad/odyssey/aeneid trinity, written hundreds of years after the last part, by a different author, and in latin instead of the original greek. chronologically ocurrs at about the same time as the odyssey, although from the trojan perspective.

“1984” (suggested by @alexickotowaffle) and “animal farm,” both by george orwell. i’m sticking them together because although the plots are completely different, they both remind me of today’s culture in rather unfortunate ways. but they’re very well written, and i do adore orwell’s style :)

“don quixote,” by miguel de cervantes. an absolutely hysterical book; i kept laughing out loud the entire time i was reading it. it satirizes getting wrapped up in the world of books, to which i’m sure we can all relate.

“hamlet,” by william shakespeare. finally crossed this off of my “to read” list and i absolutely loved it. hamratio (is that the ship name for hamlet x horatio?) is wonderful, the whole play is excellent, and i would highly recommend it

[gdfalksen]

Chiune Sugihara. This man saved 6000 Jews. He was a Japanese diplomat in Lithuania. When the Nazis began rounding up Jews, Sugihara risked his life to start issuing unlawful travel visas to Jews. He hand-wrote them 18 hrs a day. The day his consulate closed and he had to evacuate, witnesses claim he was STILL writing visas and throwing from the train as he pulled away. He saved 6000 lives. The world didn’t know what he’d done until Israel honored him in 1985, the year before he died.

[bemusedlybespectacled]

Why can’t we have a movie about him?

[elasmata]

He was often called “Sempo”, an alternative reading of the characters of his first name, as that was easier for Westerners to pronounce.

His wife, Yukiko, was also a part of this; she is often credited with suggesting the plan. The Sugihara family was held in a Soviet POW camp for 18 months until the end of the war; within a year of returning home, Sugihara was asked to resign - officially due to downsizing, but most likely because the government disagreed with his actions.

He didn’t simply grant visas - he granted visas against direct orders, after attempting three times to receive permission from the Japanese Foreign Ministry and being turned down each time. He did not “misread” orders; he was in direct violation of them, with the encouragement and support of his wife.

He was honoured as Righteous Among the Nations in 1985, a year before he died in Kamakura; he and his descendants have also been granted permanent Israeli citizenship. He was also posthumously awarded the Life Saving Cross of Lithuania (1993); Commander’s Cross Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland (1996); and the Commander’s Cross with Star of the Order of Polonia Restituta (2007). Though not canonized, some Eastern Orthodox Christians recognize him as a saint.

Sugihara was born in Gifu on the first day of 1900, January 1. He achieved top marks in his schooling; his father wanted him to become a physician, but Sugihara wished to pursue learning English. He deliberately failed the exam by writing only his name and then entered Waseda, where he majored in English. He joined the Foreign Ministry after graduation and worked in the Manchurian Foreign Office in Harbin (where he learned Russian and German; he also converted to the Eastern Orthodox Church during this time). He resigned his post in protest over how the Japanese government treated the local Chinese citizens. He eventually married Yukiko Kikuchi, who would suggest and encourage his acts in Lithuania; they had four sons together. Chiune Sugihara passed away July 31, 1986, at the age of 86. Until her own passing in 2008, Yukiko continued as an ambassador of his legacy.

It is estimated that the Sugiharas saved between 6,000-10,000 Lithuanian and Polish Jewish people.

[returnofthejudai]

It’s a tragedy that the Sugiharas aren’t household names. They are among the greatest heroes of WWII. Is it because they were from an Axis Power? Is it because they aren’t European? I don’t know. But I’ve decided to always reblog them when they come across my dash. If I had the money, I would finance a movie about them.

[westsemiteblues]

He told an interviewer:

You want to know about my motivation, don’t you? Well. It is the kind of sentiments anyone would have when he actually sees refugees face to face, begging with tears in their eyes. He just cannot help but sympathize with them. Among the refugees were the elderly and women. They were so desperate that they went so far as to kiss my shoes, Yes, I actually witnessed such scenes with my own eyes. Also, I felt at that time, that the Japanese government did not have any uniform opinion in Tokyo. Some Japanese military leaders were just scared because of the pressure from the Nazis; while other officials in the Home Ministry were simply ambivalent.

People in Tokyo were not united. I felt it silly to deal with them. So, I made up my mind not to wait for their reply. I knew that somebody would surely complain about me in the future. But, I myself thought this would be the right thing to do. There is nothing wrong in saving many people’s lives….The spirit of humanity, philanthropy…neighborly friendship…with this spirit, I ventured to do what I did, confronting this most difficult situation—and because of this reason, I went ahead with redoubled courage.

He died in nearly complete obscurity in Japan. His neighbors were shocked when people from all over, including Israeli diplomatic personnel, showed up at quiet little Mr. Sugihara’s funeral.

[fahrlight]

I will forever reblog this, I wish more people would know about them!

[rhube]

I liked this before when it had way less information. Thank you, history-sharers.

[mousezilla]

Tucked away in a corner in L.A.’s Little Tokyo is a life-sized statue of Chiune, seated on a bench and smiling gently as he holds out a visa. 

The stone next to him bears a quote from the Talmud; “He who saves one life, saves the entire world.”  

I had no idea it existed until a few weeks ago, but it’s since become one of my favorite pieces of public art. 

[antifainternational]

Chiune Sugihara.  Original antifa.

[agirlinjapan]

PBS made a documentary about Chiune Sugihara in 2005. If you’re interested in him, it’s definitely worth checking out. (The PBS link above even has some interactive information to go along with the film.) Ask your local library if they have a copy/can order you one from another library. You won’t be disappointed!

[cincosechzehn-deactivated201901]

kate beaton wasn’t kidding when she said look him up

[dharmagun]

i am going to find this and take him a present

[jumpingjacktrash]

always reblog mr sugihara

[jcehaenna]

XXX

I turned 30 on January 1, and I don’t feel any different - I guess I’ve felt “older” since I turned 28, like my early-to-mid-20s were of a bygone era spent in a bygone city on the other side of the world (well, country, at least).

I flipped through this Tumblr today out of nostalgia for the days when I was...well, younger, with more energy, surrounded by my best friends in the City that Never Sleeps, and I wish I could tell my younger self-

I am so grateful that you lived up your post-college years in NYC. Thank you for all the people you opened yourself up to because in the process, they became your brothers and sisters for life, and some of them will be standing by my side at my postponed wedding this fall. I’m also grateful you partied 4-5 nights a week and prioritized drunken/drug-hazed nights out with friends over nights in, because I now not only cannot physically handle it anymore but also have a job that’s too taxing and high-stakes to show up to hungover, so thank you for taking advantage of your youth while you could. I can now look back and never feel any fomo. Thank you for also being open to the diversity of the NYC nightlife, arts, culture, dining, theater, and making sure we got to experience the very best that NYC has to offer - from the dying Manhattan clubs and lounges to the burgeoning Brooklyn and Queens warehouses and after-hours to the standup comedy cellars and hipster DIY theaters to hole-in-the-wall noodles to poetry readings and magazine launches and everything in between.

Thank you also for the hundreds of dates you must have gone on - it opened my eyes to the different types of men that exist, made me a damn good flirter, and we had fun and even made a few friends along the way. Thank you even for getting your heart bruised and scratched a few times along the way - I look back now with some embarrassment at the emotions you spent on the men who weren’t worth the time of day, but I’m still glad you did it - it taught us a lot about our own self-worth and allowed me to say yes to the man I am marrying with no hesitation and the unshakeable certainty that I will be okay no matter what.

Thanks for keeping up with your workout regime - one day, you’ll learn to diversify all the cardio with some strength training too, but your sustained workout routines have not only paid off with a continued svelte body but also allowed us to continue to make working out a part of our lifelong habit. I’m learning to also eat better and healthier, but thanks for not counting calories and letting us truly enjoy the full extent of our youthful metabolism while we can.

Thanks for getting your MBA - it was expensive, but it was worth it.

You can’t possibly know this in your moments of self-doubt or fear or loneliness, but you’ll look back as you turn 30, and think “I did everything right - I wouldn’t change a thing.” Not just because you’re someone who doesn’t have regrets, but because you did. You did everything right. So thank you, babe, for everything.

At 30, you’ll be on the other side of the country, in a good job, with a fiance (would have been husband but a global pandemic will postpone your wedding) who you will feel is your life partner and equal, and your life may not be as “exciting” as you might have defined it at 22, but you will be happier than you have ever been. And you’ll know that you got us there.