#faust.doc

[faustandfurious]

My lukewarm take is that one of the greatest privileges of all is the ability to exist as the «default setting», being seen as just a person, and not as a representative of a group of people who share your gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity or cultural/religious background. Which is why the «not all men» pushback against any mention of structural sexism was what it was. Because suddenly people who were used to being the default setting were being made into representatives of their gender, having to prove that they were better than the stereotypes forced upon them. And they did not like that one bit.

[faustandfurious]

Too much focus on the idea of fiction media as a causative agent of real life harmful behaviour, and not enough emphasis on the idea that what you get out of a work of fiction is heavily dependent on how you approach said work of fiction.

I can root for Aragorn to become king of Arnor and Gondor within the parametres of the narrative of LotR, without in any way supporting real life absolute monarchy, because I’m not a real life monarchist, a conclusion I reached at some point in my early teens while also consuming a healthy diet of fantasy fiction where the hero was the long-lost heir to some kingdom. Meanwhile, royalists who glorify the concept of returning to some imagined heroic past in real life are of course going to have their ideas reinforced by LotR, precisely because they seek out narratives that support their preconceived notions. In neither case is LotR the causative agent. Every story is a story, but every story is also a vessel for the reader to fill with their own idea of what the story is saying.

[faustandfurious]

Understatement of a century

[faustandfurious]

What a terrible time to have sinuses

[faustandfurious]

“Diversity reading where you pick books solely based on the minority demographics to which the author belongs very often comes across as self-congratulatory and somewhat insulting towards the authors” and “Some people really need to read a book written by someone from a different demographic than their own” are statements that can coexist

[faustandfurious]

Unfortunately the backlash (justified) against the “opioid epidemic” has involved so much scaremongering about painkillers that people who really really should be taking painkillers (including, but not limited to, opioids) make it a point of pride that they don’t. Sir/Ma’am, you are currently immobilised in bed because of your pain and I cannot help you with it if you refuse to take even 1 g of Paracetamol. “I don’t take any medication” isn’t the flex you think it is when you’re currently in dire need of medication.

[faustandfurious]

Friend: So «hana» is actually Japanese for «flower»

Me: I know

Friend: How do you know that?

Me, not about to explain the concept of hanahaki disease and the things you learn through fandom osmosis: Idk, guess I read it somewhere

[faustandfurious]

Unfortunately, R. F. Kuang keeps writing novels that seem like they should be extremely my kind of thing, but every time I read an excerpt from «Katabasis», I am violently reminded that the execution isn’t going to live up to the potential of the idea. Maybe it’s the dialogue that entirely lacks character, or maybe it’s the way she approaches the genre of fantastic literature with a discourse sledgehammer instead of a sense of wonder.