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[sleepytimegal777]

1. A Primer for the Small Weird Loves - Richard Siken / 2. The Crane Wife - CJ Hauser / 3. Automat - Edward Hopper / 4. Red Doc> - Anne Carson / 5. Melancholy - Edvard Munch / 6. The Village (2004) / 7. So We Must Meet Apart - Gabrielle Bates and Jennifer S. Cheng

[ozempicofficial]

[millennial-review-deactivated20]

[nattousan]

ASK AND YE SHALL RECEIVE 

[sword-of-stardust]

Artemis II

[Minecraft End Poem, photos and screenshots from Artemis II mission and NASA livestream]

[ravioliet]

god's weakest soldier is scrolling tumblr instead of being productive or participating in any of their hobbies

[ravioliet]

to everyone in the notes saying this is mean or rude or a callout, this post was autobiographical. we're in this together. take my paw

[absurdmuse604]

[echoesofsaturn]

as my final act of love, I will swallow every "please stay" and turn it into silence so you don't feel trapped by my ache

[electronicmail]

to me this is just thomas jefferson's birthday

[shushaby]

to me its just my birthday

[shushaby]

Item: The Memory Squeegee Rarity: ⏶ Common

What game would you erase from your memory just to experience it for the first time again?

Feed your dashboard by answering my question, blogger.

hello creature. undertale would be fun to go through blind

[sushi1056]

deactivated

So thoroughly nuked that there isn’t even any record of their original blog url

[ivys-garden]

The Forbidden Knowledge

[bisexual-engineer-girl]

not even any notes. I feel like I’ve stumbled upon a plot-advancing skeleton’s notebook

[draconym]

Bothers me when the distinction between Witch and Wizard is drawn according to gender. The Witch/Wizard distinction is one of class. Wizards live in towers and have cursed artifacts. Witches live in shacks and have crooked teeth.

[draconym]

Both witches and wizards can be evil, of course. But when a witch is evil they turn you into a frog. When a wizard is evil they try to tear a hole in reality or raise an undead army. You don't see witches doing that shit because they're working class.

[ecoeschatologist]

The witch is looked down upon because they are competition to the hierarchical work of wizardry; they present an alternative to state monopoly on magic.

[draconym]

Absolutely. Witches perform folk magic--you'd never catch a wizard getting overly preoccupied with practical magic like soothing ulcers or curing the flu, but witches are always brewing up stuff for those kinds of reasons.

Magic is like programming. When it's seen as practical and tedious, it's "women's work." When it's seen as academic and intellectual, you get a huge salary and an audience with the king.

[draconym]

"so why aren't there female wizards" because of sexism, duh. Women have been shut out of magical academia the same way they have been shut out of so many other kinds of academia.

Maleficent was absolutely an evil wizard. She has a castle. She has a staff. She shouts "FOOLS" in an especially wizardly way.

Mad Madam Mim was every bit as magical as Merlin, but she didn't have ambitions of--or access to--power. She's a witch.

[autumngracy]

Another distinction is that witches work with, and draw a substantial amount of their power, from nature, while wizards specialize in a sort of magical science that doesn't rely on and frequently flies in the face of nature.

Witches have respect for and rely on the land, life, and history around them, while wizards do almost exactly the opposite, treating nature and life as mere subjects for experimentation, and and frequently trying to "outdo" or "overcome" them (as well as history).

On the scale of vibes, witches are more akin to druids, priestesses, and creatures of folklore, and wizards are like the magical equivalent of mad scientists and sleep deprived university students surviving off chemical concoctions to keep them awake until their next breakthrough. One is inexorably tied to nature and tradition, and the other is trying their best to completely ignore and move past them.

Wizards are somewhat obsessed with being remembered for something, discovering something, gaining fame, gaining power, etc. Witches are content to stay in their lane and will frequently punish those who start getting a little too big for their britches.

[shushaby]

heres how I've always sorta thought of it (super long ver under cut):

wizards– individualist learning, work, big capitalism vibes (ie academics, upper-"middle" class)

witches– community learning, embrace, almost always the oppressed (ie women, POC (esp. black people), queer people, true middle class)

sorcerers– inherent talent, responsibility, often privilege or discounting achievement (ie 'gifted' kids, generational wealth, upper class)

warlocks– stolen talent, choice, easy way out or only way out (ie cheating, folly, worst-case scenario, loss of self, lower-class and incarcerated people)

wizards: everything in this post, with the addition of the fact that some can be wizards without being privileged, but its incredibly difficult and societies are usually against them doing so the more Proper form of magic, wizards are much less helpful because most stick to the book to the point of no experimentation (and those who do are only building off of preexisting concepts in order to gain power) they're far more solitary due to that ambition, with most connections either being the High Fancy Cool Wizard Group or Mentor and Mentee most importantly, a wizard thinks they're more deserving of magic because of the whole "pull yourselves up by your bootstraps" mythology of it: anyone can become a wizard if they just study hard enough (and get into a prestigious school or apprenticeship and have enough money to pay for the expensive ingredients/knowledge)

witches: everything in this thread, with an emphasis on community. It's very obvious that practically everything about witches is based on real-life historical oppression (from just misogyny to queerphobia to antiblackness), and thats why covens are such an important part of it. its the epitome of oppressed peoples coming together in order to create safe spaces, share knowledge, keep culture and traditions alive, and then subsequently being demonized for it. I could go on forever about the billion connections between witches and just. everything in history ever. but I think for the sake of this, witches generally represent social, accepting, adapting groups.

sorcerers: I feel like sorcerers get cast off a lot for having natural-born magic, and thus being jerks, but I think they're far more representative of talent. they're pretty fluid of a concept, less of a clear grouping like witches/wizards and more an indication of that power or talent. a particularly talented wizard could be called a sorcerer, same as a powerful witch. the very word invokes a sense of pure magic, of raw power. the term "sorcerer" can be used as a– catchall for magic-users, title, descriptor, or even insult. unlike the other terms, it focuses on amplitude rather than process or lifestyle. of course, this is why a sorcerer is thought of as someone with natural talent being their only source of magic. it implies somebody who never had to work for their magic, because otherwise that work would define them. I think this is also why sorcerer is a more common term for idealized foreign cultures (as opposed to witch for demonized foreign cultures)– think the common Asian stereotype of being 'naturally talented at math'– it discounts work with pretextual 'talent'. (which is why wizards are more anti-sorcerer than witches, as it feels 'unfair') A witch calling you a sorcerer is calling out a rich kid A wizard calling you a sorcerer is depersonalization (either you don't deserve it or you're the epitome of all magic and perfect) these terms describe paths to magic more than usage, thus a sorcerer (just a sorcerer) means the path was inherent. (ie, witches in TOH are sorcerers, but Luz is not and is just a witch) lowkey magic-system's eugenics stand in sometimes

warlocks: ohhh warlocks I love you so. if wizards got their power from individualist work/society, witches from community knowledge/nature, and sorcerers got it inherently, then warlocks got their power through sacrifice. the foil to sorcerers in that they inherently didn't have power pre-deal, warlocks are the most demonized because of the same concept of 'unfairness'. if sorcerers got lucky, warlocks cheated. the core of the evilness of warlocks is the fact that they are perceived to either have stolen the power they wield or sacrificed something for it (a thing that almost always is perceived as too far). warlocks are tragic because they embody the worst extremes of witches and wizards. A wizard grown too ambitious may become a warlock– the equivalent of cheating on a test. A witch without a coven may become a warlock– bitterness or desperation leading to looking for power where one shouldn't. of course, this parallels the real world an awful amount. a starving orphan who sells their soul will be mocked for their foolishness– but truly, warlocks represent the cautionary tale. the criminal. that family member you don't want to turn out like. the one who has nothing left to lose. they're the boogiemen, the warning, the worst-case scenario. and we love them because sometimes, we wish we could take the easy way out– or worse, we have to.

also theyre cool

[dateamonster]

can we send up a quick thank you to pdf uploaders, torrent seeders, copy sharers, scanlators, fansubbers, digitizers, paywall dodgers, and various other internet archivers for making niche art and information more accessible in a media landscape where all but the most profitable mainstream are often tossed aside and left to rot

[deerlybeloveddd]

Logic/Logan Sanders Animation — Typical Me 🍊💙

guess what fandom I got back into after the new episode dropped. sigh

[radioactive-yuri]

god. janus sanders really is a character of all time, just in terms of concept. when you were a little kid, you did something wrong, and you got so scared of getting in trouble that another little guy was born inside you. and he loves you. and he wants you to stay safe. so he tells you to lie now, take care of yourself now, keep yourself safe. but all the other little guys inside you hate him. he's too mean, too selfish. the little guy that was born from your desire to do good and be good hates him the most, because you're a little catholic boy, and lying is bad. and you're a good boy. so everything inside you that isn't good has to be shut away.

he knows he's not wanted. he creates his own place to stay, a hidden corner where he can't hurt you. because all the others say that he'll end up hurting you, and he can see how scared you are of being a liar, so he lets himself be forgotten. hidden away. this is how he shows his love: by hiding himself, and every subsequent unwanted part that grows inside you, from you. if knowing about their existence is too difficult for you, then he'll hide them all. he loves you. you don't even know his name.

he watches you grow, still unaware of his existence. the others make their presence known, felt. you let them take the reigns, most of the time. he sneaks in his own little influence here and there; small, harmless lies, only when necessary, so you won't even notice. and in the meantime, he acts as a herder of sorts for all the other parts of yourself that you've subconsciously cast away. he keeps them in line. he sympathizes with them, yes, he knows what it's like to be unwanted. but letting you see them would hurt you, and he loves you. so he keeps them there, in the shadow, unknown and unseen, just like him.

one of them, one of his little dark, unwanted things, doesn't want to be hated anymore. he wants to make himself known. he wants a seat at the table. and, in an ultimate slap to the face for janus, he gets it. virgil gets everything that janus was denied from the start. acceptance. power. control. his effort is acknowledged, his necessity is embraced. he gets a seat at the table. he doesn't have to hide anymore. and janus can't help but resent him for that. maybe it's a good thing, then, that the hatred is mutual. not even his own cattle, the ones he kept safe, the ones he kept out of thomas' way, can stand his presence. fine. none of it matters. as long as you're safe, it was all worth it. he loves you. you still don't even know his name.

janus was always thomas' protector. even when none of it was ever seen or acknowledged.

i find his mixed motif really interesting too, because before we knew his name, we only knew him as deceit. the snake. the ancient serpent deceiver, the biblical snake of eden. but then we hear his name. janus. ianus bifrons, two-faced janus, god of beginnings, passage, transitions. i think that his name being revealed was very much the start of thomas beginning to see janus for who he actually is, instead of the heavily modified version of him that he's been seeing, courtesy of his catholic upbringing.

[schlarklezyaoi]

did i really never make a post about how kiibo doesn’t even work in-universe as the audience stand-in. because i literally think about that all the time

[schlarklezyaoi]

out of all the stupid final-act twists kiibo being the audience stand-in is by far one of my least favorite because like. outside of his “inside voice”. nothing is ever Done with it. and nothing being done about it on story standpoint makes it even more stupid in-universe.

because kiibo doesn’t really. do anything. it never actually feels like the audience is speaking through/influencing him. sure, we’re told that, but the only thing that changes is him suddenly going hard against despair. (except kiibo was already a very obviously hope-driven person, so??? this isn’t anything new.) he’s a horrible cameraman and more of a passive force than anything else with the One Obvious Exception.

he’s alone during the entirety of the first blood quirk, only leaving his room when the body discovery announcement goes off. the audience gets nothing for two fucking days. we get attached to kaede because we play as her. the first trial twist is such a big thing because we’ve gotten to know and trust her. the audience, though? they’ve barely even met her. this happens again with kaito’s sacrifice and maki’s response imo because the audience was not there for the training sessions and therefore never experienced kaito and maki’s relationship grow the way it did. the emotional impact is so much lesser because kiibo is just there.

and it continues like that for a lot of the game. the cinematic shot of the fish tank getting smashed is just a blurry mess because kiibo’s the one getting thrown. there’s no seance because kiibo’s place is switched out for shuichi. with the exception of trial three’s camera function, he doesn’t really do much for class trials. maybe the coolest thing the audience gets is the hydraulic press moment? i guess? and maybe his destruction, if the antenna breaking didn’t sever his visual connection too. (he doesn’t even get to see motherkuma! the whole turning point of proving who the mastermind is! the audience has no fucking idea!)

you’d think if the audience was really allowed to have their own stand-in for the first time ever, they’d go ballistic. hell, it’s what we do with the protagonists. we take charge and get shit done and are (mostly) given the things we need to know to solve the case right off the bat. kiibo’s gimmick would’ve worked a lot better on a character like kaito or maki or kokichi—characters who have stuff they’re hiding from the main cast and the audience is given special privileges to see, characters who continuously actively push things forward and challenge the narrative. the concept of kiibo is completely ruined by the fact that he isn’t the actual game’s protagonist. it’s stupid!

having had a character who challenges and interacts with the narrative, maybe even tries to sabotage class trials, who we hate because of their behavior, only to learn it wasn’t their actions but those of an outside audience? an outside audience the game is already trying to vilify and have you turn against? that’d have been so much cooler. and yet.

[leikeliscomet]

'Asexuals write the best smut' Not me I'm here to write critical analysis like the hater I am

[lovelybrooke]

Not an actual post, just me ranting about Asexual representation in fandoms (specifically fanfiction), or the lack thereof.

Tw for: discussion of the eraser of asexual and aromantic identities, discussions of sex and romance.

I am so sick and tired of seeing characters that are heavily considered to be Asexual by not only their creator but their fandoms, have their asexuality completely erased in favor of having heteronormative smut written about them.

Now before I get too deep into ranting, I want to preface this by saying that fanfiction, at its purest form, is wish fulfillment. It's not always complete, in-depth, looks into characters or fictional worlds or an evaluation of certain characters morals. While it can be that, fanfiction at the end of the day is meant to make people happy, and that sometimes means having OOC characters or characters that are completely different than how the creator made them.

However, that argument really only applies when a small part of a character is erased. This is why erasing things like sexuality from a character doesn't work as well because 99% of the time, sexuality is a huge part of the character.

This is why it annoys me when I see so many Asexual, Aromantic, Bisexual, and Transgender characters have those invaluable parts of their identities erased, almost always so that the fanfic author can put them in heteronormative situations, smut being the most common.

I am Asexual, and I've seen this happen to so many characters that are heavily considered to be asexual. The best examples I have is L Lawliet from Death Note and Roman Roy from Succession. The creator of Death Note literally said that he couldn't imagine L having sex, and the closest thing Roman has to a sexual relationship was him masturbating in a bathroom while Gerri dominated him through a door.

While L's asexuality doesn't play a huge role to his character, Roman's does. Roman literally refuses sex multiple times to the point that it causes problems in his relationships, his father thinks there is something wrong with him, and the only way he almost had sex with Tabitha, one of his girlfriends, is if she pretended to be dead. Everything points to him hating sexual intimacy, but for some reason people still write him as if he is some dominate fuckboy who going to bend you over his desk the moment he can.

News flash, Roman wouldn't fuck you, because he'd think it's gross. And if he did, it would not be in the heteronormative "Man dominate, woman submissive" type of way. The most that would happen is Roman beating off while you say mean things about him and then pretend like it didn't happen.

This works with other characters and situations as well. While I haven't watched it a ton, from my knowledge, Saiki Kusuo from the anime Saiki K, is heavily considered to be Aroace. He uses his powers to stop people from confessing to him, he says multiple times he doesn't understand the point of dating/romance, and only goes on dates if it means he gets food. But for some reason, I see so many fanfics writing him as if he'd be this perfect boyfriend for you and only you. That for some reason, you'd be the one that makes him realize that relationships are great, and that romance is for him.

You see the problems with these examples? In both cases with Roman and Saiki, major parts of their character are just washed away by fanfic authors so they can be put in straight coded relationships, sexual or otherwise (I say coded because not all of them are fem reader/oc, only really the smut are).

What people don't understand is that is continues to push this narrative that asexual and aromantic identities don't exists and are not as important as heteronormative one. Whether or not this is intentional is not something I can say, but it doesn't change the outcome.

And before I get people telling me that I should just, "let people write what they want to write" and "fanfiction is just that, fiction. It's not meant to be taken seriously." I know for a fact that if I took a character that was either canonically gay or heavily considered to be gay and totally ignored that so I could write smut where the fuck someone of the opposite sex, people would be fucking livid, and they wouldn't except those excuses. But for some reason, that doesn't apply to Asexuality.

And I know people are going to try and say, "well asexuality is a spectrum and some asexual actually enjoy sex. Same with some Aromantics." Yes, you are correct, both are spectrums. But with most of these characters, including the two I used as examples, both are completely shown to be either romance or sex repulsed. Using the "asexuality/aromantic is a spectrum" argument doesn't work when you put them in heteronormative situations and completely ignore their identity, because even if they enjoy sex/romance, they're still asexual/aromantic.

I'm also willing to acknowledge that the fault mainly lies in the creator of these characters. Because a lot of these characters are never explicitly said to be asexual, creators can get away with capitalizing off of asexuals and their idealities while also never saying if they actually are asexual so that their media will still be consumed by straight people. This isn't a new concept; it's happened a lot with bisexuals, but it doesn't make the action any more okay. It's tiring as an asexual to see the very few bits of representation I've seen be taken away from me just to favor straight audiences. And it's even more tiring to see fanfic authors play into it by not acknowledging something that is so integral to a character.

I don't want to discourage fanfic writers from writings what they want to write, but please at least attempt to acknowledge asexuals and their identities. Try understanding why they seem so hellbent on insisting a certain character is ace before you write them as some dominate fuck boy or some submissive baby.

And if you're someone who is reading this and is getting mad at me for criticizing the way you or your favorite author writes a character, please try and see things from my point to view. I'm tired of seeing the same smut/romance fics written about L, Roman, Alastor, Yeleana, Jughead, Saiki, and many, many other characters where they're written to fit a straight, heteronormative mold. It's fucking annoying.