#i know this post is kind of facetious | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

decolonize-the-left · 9 months

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.....does anyone else get the vibe that the limitless expanse of the internet, media, and consequent ability to interact politically, spiritually, and apathetically with people locally and globally maybe had an influence not only on the individual's relation to the collective but also their ability to participate in it and see their significance to it?

Can we talk about it?

Like I feel like as some who was a frontline activist and now is a disabled social activist who dabbles in radicalizing liberals... The wall I and my peers continuously keep running into is the collective feeling that someone else will do it.

"it" being whatever action.

For me it's signing a petition, protesting, donating, community organizing (both online and offline).

We get tons of interest on stuff. Interest which very rarely translates to doing more than showing a poster to the friend theyre with before trashing it, reblogging a post, or hitting "interested" or like when we post local events.

And on All these platforms posts gets to a point of "enough" responses where ppl just stop responding and sharing, too.

On Tumblr you see this a lot with donation posts and people constantly having to make new ones. Cuz they're getting notes, but not tangible assistance that will help them. And the reblogs stop because there are so many notes that ppl start assuming that the goal was met or will be met soon.

But that isn't what's happening. And like I said this isn't just with donation posts or money so the answer isn't "well ppl are broke" which would be an easy and sensible answer.

Honestly, I've been thinking that with so Many people easily accessible online with so many opinions and varying levels of popularity and followers that it's easy to lose yourself in them. Especially now when so much of life takes place online.

It's so easy to think you're just one of those many people. ....So surely nobody would notice if you were being a little facetious, right?

Gonna be real, it seems a lot to me like a lot of people are trying to hide their lack of integrity through the anonymity offered online.

And like sure maybe nobody would notice if it was just a few people being facetious about supporting something but it's SO MANY (in my experience? Upwards of a thousand once) and Everywhere. Online, offline, and apps.

And the thing that makes it weird is that every one is assuming that people are being more helpful than they are. That more people are showing up.... Even though they themselves are not showing up either. Like I said reblogs for donations stop, shares stop, and only a handful of ppl show up to events irl. You can literally compare reblogs to the signatures when a petition is being shared.

Wanting to show up isn't the same as showing up.

"People" are not coming to change or show up to the revolution. It's you. You are the people. You are the people that need to show up. Not just as a notification on my screen but actually, because you think someone else will have enough integrity to show up for you but they don't.

Your integrity matters.

You matter so much. I don't know what it is behind this mass behavior that has y'all acting otherwise but I'm telling y'all right now that YOU and the choices that YOU make matter. The events that you choose to spend your time at and how you spend your energy and protecting your rights matters!

That isn't some "im just another drop fighting an endless battle in the ocean" kind of deal.

I'm telling you from experience: there is no ocean! We are in a fucking drought and every drop matters.

Show up. Nobody else is doing it on your behalf.

.......or is it just me? Has anyone else noticed this

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bao3bei4 · 10 months

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ON THE TSHIRT METHOD TO WRITING ESSAYS IN YOUR OWN TIME:

i have had a couple people mention to me that they would like to write essays too, but they are a little out of practice. so i thought i should gather some scattered thoughts into one place. this is not a systematic guide. i am young and inexperienced and still working out things for myself, but this is my basic process and some things that have helped me, summarized.

my biggest single piece of advice is to write with your proverbial pussy. you are not writing for a grade so don't act like it. forget rigor, forget academic style, etc. read what you're interested in, and write following up on the threads that you're interested in. don’t sweat the details. just do you.

if you still need more advice..... here’s a long winded post.

step zero: if you have no clue what you want to say yet

read. and read a lot.

but be realistic. be kind to yourself. your attention is a precious resource, and it is getting eaten up by shit out of your control all the time. if you’ve had a busy day, you may still have the brain power left to read. i almost never do. lol. so make sure to carve out time on a day off, if possible. otherwise you might end up completely fried, reading the same sentence over and over, and ending up scrolling on your phone LMAO. <-- painful lesson also to this end, if you haven’t picked up a denser book in a while, start with shorter articles, especially ones written more recently. if your attention wanders, try getting a physical book instead. the most important thing is just starting things you’ll actually read. i’ve seen a lot of people (and been that person) who was like. “oh i’m going to start with THE canonical text in a subject i’m interested in” which makes sense right? but that book is inevitably long and dense and convoluted and boring. you can come back to it later. this shouldn’t feel like a chore!

genuinely this is the most helpful thing you can do is just. read anything. it may be difficult at first (or always), but it is still the easiest way to engage with the foremost experts from around the world and the entirety of written history on any subject you are interested in. there’s not really a substitute to this.

note: you may say that people can and do come up with brilliant ideas independently of their access to written works. this is true! but if you are one of them, you should skip this section/post, because you already know what you want to say. okay that was a little too facetious. let me revise: when i say that, without reading, it will be hard to come up with more complex ideas than what you have now, that isn’t necessarily pejorative. maybe your current ideas and impulses are original and meaningful and complex. if they aren’t, however, you don’t have to resign yourself to it. your experiences in real life are the most valuable thing you can bring to the table, but it can be very difficult to articulate and contextualize them without community—whether that be irl, or the simple textual company of other writers. you can let other people help you and teach you. basically, this is a long winded way of saying something extremely simple: reading is not the only way to gain knowledge, or even the best. but it is an extremely consistent and relatively egalitarian way.** **scihub and libgen and sometimes the public library are your friends. (my local library’s book coverage is spotty) who cares about piracy. LMAO.

you may surprise yourself by how nicely you fall into little spirals. you read one thing. and you are enamored with the way the author approaches their subject. so you end up reading everything else they’ve written, and then you start on the authors they list that inspire them in their interviews. maybe you just read one article that’s a little dry but it cites something else that seems far more interesting. read that next. and so on.

if you are struggling to read that’s okay. you have options. start a book club (or just get a friend who also wants to read more). if that sounds like too much work, pick a friend to keep updated on all your new facts. you just want to get used to reading something, and telling someone your favorite parts again. skim books. skip the boring parts. drop them entirely and find a more interesting one. no one’s going to quiz you. this is for your own enjoyment.

also important here: read books that make you want to write. sometimes this is because the methods and/or prose of the author are so exciting, you want to do something just like that. sometimes it’s because the content is so exciting, you want to say something about that too. sometimes they speak so powerfully to your own life, you want to tell people this is me!! i see this!! there are books i just enjoy reading, sure, and i do read them. but you know how, like, a good movie makes you want to tell stories too? good theory should do that too, in my opinion.

step one: you have some ideas now.

these ideas don’t have to be set in stone. but you should have an idea now of what you might talk about. personally, for me, i have two interconnected types of essay ideas.

interventions. this is like [tumblr voice] Why Is Nobody Talking About This. i see some sort of hole. maybe i know how to fill it, maybe i don’t.

free associations. basically i read one thing, or some analysis of one thing. and then it reminded me of another thing. and i’m like. i want to tease apart their connections, their similarities, and their differences.

there are more types of ideas, i’m sure. but these are the ones i consistently have. with me, the second kind is more common. very rarely do i find that my thoughts are that original. rather, i’ve found that one of my strengths as a writer is being able to make connections that other people haven’t made, or haven’t made in depth before. IN MY OPINION.

so i find it quite flexible. maybe i watch a movie, and it reminds me of my own life, because i think two women in the movie could be sad queer freaks. and i’m a sad queer freak. or it could be that i think scum villain could be analyzed through the framework of freudian psychoanalysis. you get the idea.

at this stage of the process, i don’t have a thesis, necessarily. but i have a couple phrases i’m drawn to. i have a bullet point or two. i have vibes.

to use an example from this blog, one of my friends hui once mentioned that that one fan image was going around again. we were going ughhh it’s victorian not chinese! together and they said “you should write a meta on it.” i wasn’t sure quite yet what i had to say. but i knew a couple things.

this is, incidentally, because i had done some research into chinoiserie before, because i had cited the zuroski book for a paper i had to write for an english class some years before on pride and prejudice and its use of descriptions of material culture, an essay that in turn was inspired by my random yet deeply felt conviction that jane austen hated me personally and wanted to kill me. this is why i encourage reading a lot. i think.

to work on this stage, make lists. lots of them. i have a .txt file where i keep every essay idea i have. a lot of them are a sentence. or they're lists of books or theorists i think i could make something out of. or they're theses that feel true, but i’m not sure why yet.

it took me a while to get to this point. just like with writing fic, there was a period when i first started where i was like. i only have one idea. i’m going to write it, and then i’m never going to write again. and then i had just one more idea. after a while. eventually you will find you have so many ideas and the world is full of possibilities. it’s a muscle you have to flex. like reading. and telling people about what you’re reading.

actually, i feel like there was a step 0.5 here that i completely skipped.

step zero point five that i skipped: how to generate ideas

my very truly complete “first time writing something semi-academic that was original” (with a loose definition of the word original) was literally just me reading literary criticism of one book, and saying “i think this author’s thoughts can be applied to this other book” and found some textual evidence that supported that the process could be replicated.

this is like, writing with training wheels on. eventually i got better at it (see aforementioned chinoiserie essay. i hope you agree.). but that was a good place to start for me. it made the proverbial blank page less intimidating, knowing i had a scaffolding.

i suggest trying this. see how it goes for you. read around until you find some piece of criticism, or just some theory about how something works, that you like. and using your newfound hammer, go look for some nails.

note: i know this expression is meant to like. be a negative thing. but you do have to start somewhere. it’s okay if it sucks. it’s just for your practice and your enjoyment.

be cautious of stances. weak writing (in my OPINIONNNN) tries to unilaterally defend or condemn a behavior. what you need to do is treat your writing as a bit. and then you need to run with it. you need to take it farther than what is reasonable. if this bit is truly actually deeply true, then what does it mean about yourself? it’s like using a new set of pronouns as a joke or something. you know what i mean? (that was an example of what i’m trying to communicate here)

what else is key to look out for... look for oppositional pairs or tensions. look for perverse incentives and vicious circles. look for embarrassing ideas. that is, what would be extremely embarrassing if it was true? (or to admit that it was true) you may go—tshirt, here you’re just describing things that are sexy. yes, exactly, that’s the point. you want things that thrill.

just keep reading and making notes until everything echoes with something else. now you’re ready for step two.

step two: refine your ideas further.

let me do this by demonstration. once more extending my earlier example of my chinoiserie essay, i knew that i really wanted to take zuroski’s points and basically... steal them. this is called “citation,” i guess. but i thought the following insights were useful to me:

british women were invested in chinese material objects

they incorporated them into their own subjectivity

past a certain point, they no longer “consumed” these signifiers, but these signifers became theirs

critique of one was able to stand in for critique of the other

and from being on fandom twitter, i already had the following insights:

people deliberately blurred the lines between china and england when it came to fans and tea

people also liked talking about victorian modesty when it came to china

so it seemed like victorian england and china had a privileged relationship, in a lot of people’s minds in fandom.

so it didn’t really seem a stretch to say... how can we look at one history, and apply it to our present?

it was a bit of the combo of the two: i saw something i didn’t see people were talking about, and it reminded me of something else i’d read before.

something that helps me a lot is tweeting about my essay ideas. if you have me on my private account, you already know this. it forces me to explain myself to someone who doesn’t know what i’m talking about in a very succinct way. oftentimes, i tweet something out while i’m brainstorming, and then i steal the phrasing back into my essay. see? tweets can be writing too.

this is microdosing on step zero’s “read something and practice telling a friend about it.” now you’re writing something and telling a friend about it.

step three: okay now you can like. open a google doc

make an outline. i know i know i know. i’m sorry. you can start just barfing thoughts if you want, but eventually everything that was on the top of your head will be out. and now you can start thinking about structure. the reason the outline is important is because it makes clear the logical progression from one idea to the next.

i know i usually bounce around in my writing (a tendency which has been magnified here because this is so casual LMAO), but i always want to make sure that my points are substantiated. if we want to talk about how a causes b, we should prove a, we should prove the causal link, and only then can we infer b, for instance. it doesn’t really matter what order that happens in (or even that we set about it that way), but the more complicated your idea is, the longer checklist you need. it’s just a checklist. that’s all.

as you start writing, you’ll probably need to read some more. you’re going to want to say something you think is true, but you’re going to realize that you haven’t proved it (or you can’t). go look to see if someone else has proved it.

maybe you’re right. add that evidence in. maybe you’re wrong. now your essay has a new direction. there is a living thing beneath you. actually, on that idea—

i tend to structure my outlines (if i’m not sure yet what my point is) by pasting a bunch of quotes in a document, and reorganizing them until they make sense, they seem to flow. and then i start explaining why, until i realized i have begun to walk off in a new direction. always embrace that new direction. eventually you will find that you have not been taking twists and turns, but actually you were dizzily walking along a straight path. (unless you have been unfocused and you are trying to say too many things at once. ask a friend to read your essay if you’re not sure which is the case.)

quotes are the smallest unit of your analysis. work with evidence. or, at least, i do. it makes writing an essay like solving a mystery. the idea of just spontaneously generating something new fills me with terror. rather, i want to autopsy something, trace its steps, and then discover how it came to be dead. this may not be true for you. but it’s true for meeeee and this is my post.

tl;dr

0. read something and tell someone about it/post it out

0.5. come up with a bit and run with it

1. think "why is no one talking about this" or start free associating

2. come up with weird connections and tell someone about it/post it out

3. collect all of your posts and ideas into a gdoc and organize them.

anyway i like reading posts like this because i’m incredibly nosy. so i tried to write out the sort of thing i like to read from other people. i don’t suggest you actually try to replicate it (if anyone would even want to.) practically basically i just encourage you to try any single part of this that you think was interesting or relatable or helpful. personally, i suggest reading a book and posting your favorite lines from it. if you do this a couple times, i think you will find the seeds of an essay waiting for you in your own posts.

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triassictriserratops · 2 days

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31 whole years of age and your actually writing about 17 year old clits wild couldnt be me

In response to this post.

Do...do you know how old Suzanne Collins was when she wrote the series? The series that has children killing each other, a romance strategy, a "love triangle", etc? Do you know the ages of the creators of literally all the media you consume? (DO YOU KNOW THE AGES OF THE PEOPLE THAT WRITE A MAJORITY OF THE FANFIC YOU READ?! Because I PROMISE you most of those are written by 40-year-olds with children of their own.) People don't just...stop writing or reading about the ages they grow out of. I was 17 when I started the series. Was I just supposed to put it down at 18 like I aged out of the reaping or something? Like??? ELI5 If human sexuality was only allowed to be written by, or explored in art by, the appropriately aged people you'd lose out on every coming of age story. Every young, queer experience novel. Every exploration of self, identity, sexuality, etc. All gone. Because most of them are written by, get this, PREVIOUSLY TEENAGED PEOPLE. Expecting adults to stay away from these stories is a dangerous thing to intimate and a dangerous path to go down. I can understand where you're coming from but i don't recommend it and I think it would be a good idea to maybe listen to other ideas about these kinds of topics, even if you don't end up agreeing. It's good for you!

And, anon, at the end of the day? I'm here to enjoy myself and have fun with others over a piece of media we all love and find meaningful in different ways. I'm sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable in any way but you're also completely welcome to choose to block me and not interract with me. And I don't say that facetiously. I truly mean it. I wouldn't be upset about it! You get to cultivate your fandom experence just as much as I get to! (As everyone gets to.)

#thg #the hunger games #thg series #hunger games headcanon #thg headcanons #thg nonsense #hunger games nonsense #everlark #katniss everdeen #peeta mellark #everlark pearl #peeta's pearl #flicking the pearl #rubbing the pearl

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o-uncle-newt · 3 months

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A guide to John Finnemore (in particular his Double Acts) for the Good Omens S2 lovers, haters, and everyone in between (I promise, there's something for all of you!)

Found this in my drafts recently and honestly, I feel this is evergreen, so here y'all go:

As I mentioned semi-facetiously in my previous post, I don't care whether you loved or hated Good Omens S2- you're probably sleeping on John Finnemore. He's a super talented writer and while he's collaborated with other writers like Mitchell and Webb and Armando Iannucci before, I still think his best stuff is his solo stuff.

But where to start? Behold! I shall now recommend a different Double Act (that is, a different episode of his radio series of excellent half-hour two-hander comedies) for every kind of person who has reacted in literally any kind of way to Good Omens.

If you love stories about two people working on opposite sides in a conflict who over time break down each other's defenses to become valued friends despite the continued conflict between their sides, with some queer undertones: Unquestionably you want S2 E4, Penguin Diplomacy

If you loved Good Omens S2 because it's quiet, gentle, and romantic: S1 E6, Hot Desk

If you like quiet, gentle and romantic in principle but wish there was a bit more plot structure: Still Hot Desk

If you like quiet, gentle and romantic but watched Good Omens S2 and were like "this is quiet, gentle and romantic?!?!": DEFINITELY still Hot Desk

If you hate quiet, gentle and romantic and want something darker and more cynical: S1 E3, Red Handed

If you were meh on S2 but did find yourself enjoying the Job minisode: FREE ROLL! You can choose any Double Act at random and will probably enjoy it.

If you loved Good Omens S2 because you love characters who give off vibes of being dim yet helpful: Well, really you want to meet Arthur in Cabin Pressure, but from Double Acts you'll do great with S2 E5, Here's What We Do, and in a very different way S2 E2, Mercy Dash

If you loved Good Omens S2 because lesbians: S2 E3, The Rebel Alliance

If you like lesbians in theory but wish that Good Omens S2 had maybe sketched out theirs a bit more: Still try Rebel Alliance

If you were annoyed by the minisodes because there wasn't enough old-timey dialogue in the olden-day bits: S1 E4, The Goliath Window

If you like the Victorian minisode because you like the era: check out S2 E1, The Queen's Speech, which literally has Queen Victoria in it

If you think that Crowley making gentle fun of Aziraphale's magic tricks is entertaining: try S2 E6, The Wroxton Box

If you like relationship dynamics where one half is trying/pretending to be cool and the other one has absolutely no interest in it and likes the first half just how they are: try Here's What We Do

If you enjoy the whole corporate-nonsense aspect of Good Omens: give S1 E2, WYSINNWYG a whirl

If you think that one of the main flaws of S2 was that it didn't have Mr Young in it anymore: S1 E1, A Flock of Tigers

If you like Good Omens because you like fandom and fanfic: S1 E5, English for Pony Lovers

And, if you love the idea of a cliffhanger but also want the satisfaction of knowing there's an amazing ending coming: Wait on Double Acts and just listen to Cabin Pressure. And when you get to the end of Yverdon-les-Bains, before you move on to Zurich just take a moment to remember all of us who nearly died for two years waiting for the finale.

Anyway, happy listening!

#john finnemore #john finnemore's double acts #double acts #jfda #cabin pressure #good omens #good omens 2 #good omens s2 #good omens series 2 #if anyone is wondering #my personal favorites are #penguin diplomacy #hot desk #and #goliath window #and i've mentioned many times that i have a soft spot for #here's what we do #both because i think it's super sweet and fun #and because i'm 99% sure that jf got the idea for a central plot point from dorothy sayers's superlative novel gaudy night

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wisp-enclosure · 21 days

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So Wisp, what's this about the Catrats being in love?

Let me preface this all by saying that Lucasta and Kudo are very good friends.

This isn't me being facetious by the way, it's a fundamental part (to me, because I'm delusional) of their 10+ year slowburn. All this elder dragon nonsense might have forced them into proximity, but it's NOT what's keeping them together.

The catrats' interests overlap; Lu's rune crafting and Kudo's research into practical magitech often go hand in hand. Kudo admires (and honestly envies) Lu's tendency towards out of the box thinking, and thinks she's brilliant. Lu, meanwhile, knows that Kudo is a certified genius and thinks that absolutely sick, and values his insight.

And it goes further than that. Kudo appreciates how kind and caring Lu is (even though he worries she sometimes goes overboard at the cost of her own comfort). Lu finds Kudo very sweet and selfless (even though him doing things for HER instead of the other way 'round makes her antsy). Kudo appreciates her unwavering support, Lu appreciates his seemingly infinite patience with her intricacies. They're similar in many ways and perfectly complement each other when they aren't.

They're both shut-ins that hate leaving the house and just want to talk about their projects together, basically.

What else?

Well, turns out they're broken in the same way too.

Kudo's destiny was never his own to write. He was going to be Kudu or he was going to be Snaff; if anything, being Kudo was more of a temporary state of being. A blank slate for other people to mold. He isn't sure there's anything to him. At least, nothing good.

Lu was born to serve. Her Legion, her father, whatever mate was picked out for her. Lu wasn't afforded the chance to find out who she was because it didn't matter. What she's supposed to be is useful. That's it.

Neither of the catrats have a solid sense of self. Different circumstances, but same core issue. And becoming commanders at such young ages certainly didn't help. They can't see who they are deep down.

But they can see each other. And they love what they see.

Lucasta and Kudo might not be sure in their own identities, but they recognize the other as clear as day. There is an unspoken understanding. It sucks, but there is a certain amount of comfort in having someone by your side that's just as lost and confused as you are.

They can't see what the other sees in them, but they do paint such a beautiful picture of it.

So when does this all happen?

Well, that depends on how you define "when" and "happen". And "this". Arguably the first time their blossoming romance starts to bubble to the surface is during HoT.

Where they're fighting for basically half the expac.

The specifics of the fight are for another lore post, but it culminates in a big blowout argument in Tarir and ends with Kudo pleading with Lu to share her burdens (both commander-related and emotional) because he cares about her dammit! Lu can't put her finger on it, but she starts to see Kudo in a slightly different light after that.

LWS3 is when things become much more obvious, because that's when the crush Kudo's unknowingly been nursing reaches its peak. He's still oblivious, of course, but he does recognize that SOMETHING is happening to him. Why is he so frustrated and jealous when Lu gets flirted with? Why does he keep staring at her when she isn't doing anything? Why is his heart racing? Is he dying? Must be.

PoF is THE BIG ONE. Arguably the most important catrat expac just by virtue of how it affects their relationship. Kudo dies. But you knew that I'm sure.

But he dies FOR LU. And as she cradles his lifeless body 300 realizations hit her at once, but they all lead to the same conclusion: she loves him. She loves him and now he's gone. It took her this long and now it's too late.

Kudo meanwhile is having his fun little field trip in the ghost zone and comes to the same realization at roughly the same time as Lu. Sacrificing yourself will do that I guess.

Okay so what's the hold up?

Me. :} Just kidding. Sort of.

You'll notice that PoF takes place halfway through the story and as of EoD they're STILL not together, what gives?

The problem is twofold.

Lu, ever reluctant to share her negative feelings at the risk of being a burden, had started to open up to Kudo after that fight in HoT. By PoF and onward he is her emotional anchor and confidant. It felt so good to not have to hide or lock up her feelings in front of someone. But that's also sort of the issue. Lu is being open but she still feels like a burden when she does it. Every time she comes to him for comfort she feels so so guilty to put him in that situation. Like a liability.

To Lu, telling Kudo how she feels is yet another of her problems he'll have to shoulder, on top of everything else he's dealing with. It's selfish. And she's not even useful to him, has nothing to offer; why would he ever love her? Not to mention the whole "different species" thing.

Kudo has his own laundry list of reasons why he's not confessing to her either. Most pressing though is that time he almost killed her. He still feels so agonizingly guilty over the whole incident years later that it makes him sick. Haunts his dreams. In what world could she possibly feel the same? He doesn't deserve her love.

So they're both stupid, basically.

#catrat lore

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jasonscaramel · 7 months

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i guess only the stars would know the truth - chapter one - jason todd x reader

series summary: there's something going on in gotham. you transfer into gotham university's journalism program. simultaneously, people are going missing in gotham at record rates. it's only a matter of time before your curiosity gets the best of you.

words: 1.8k

cross-posted on ao3 | series masterlist

Gotham is a welcome change in scenery from your small town in the south.

Sure, it rains nearly every day, and there’s the fact that there are supervillains that terrorize the city like clockwork. But having never lived in a big city before, it has a certain charm you don’t see yourself getting over any time soon. Everything is open late, the streets never seem to quiet down… it’s been eye-opening, to say the least.

You moved here more for the convenience, so it’s only a plus that you enjoy city life too. Gotham University is home to one of the best journalism professors—and in turn, programs—in the country. With affordable tuition, and the cost of living in Gotham being nearly pennies on the dollar, it was a no-brainer to transfer here.

So here you are. Making your way through the winding, labyrinthian halls, you wonder if you’re ever going to get used to how large this place is compared to your old… everything. A small community college on the outskirts of an even smaller town has nothing on the pure expansiveness of Gotham University, and in turn, Gotham City.

The first class to start off the semester is Marketing. You have a hard time putting together how it’ll help you in journalism, but maybe it will be more helpful than you think. By the time you arrive, the class is already sparsely populated, so you find a spot with the most amount of empty chairs and begin to unpack your things.

As you’re logging into your computer, a bag slams on the table beside you, making you jump.

“Sorry! I forgot how heavy those books are.” You look up to see a man, probably about your age, smiling down at you in an apology. “I’m Tim. Mind if I sit here?”

You shake your head with a smile, “Of course not. It’s about time to make friends.” You give him your name as he sits down, and he gives you a smile of his own.

“Oh, are you new here?”

“Yeah, I just transferred. The journalism program is incredible.”

Tim smiles in agreement, but it seems a bit facetious. “Sorry, it’s just—I’m not used to people moving to Gotham. You are… aware of everything, right?”

You snort. “The pros outweighed the cons. Can’t exactly do much journalism work when all there is to report on is cattle.” You flash him a smile that he returns easily.

“You know, that would make sense—”

Tim was cut off by the professor beginning his lecture. The first day is always a bunch of syllabus talk, so you only half pay attention while looking through the Gotham Gazette website. You bookmark a couple of the articles you find, especially the ones that say MISSING PERSONS. Why is there so many?

The professor is kind enough to release the class 15 minutes early. It feels like the universe blessing you because you have no idea where to go for your next class, and you’re sure with the small amount of time in between the classes, you’d get lost and be late. Your old college was barely half the size of this place—you wonder if you’ll ever be confident in navigating it.

“You have any other classes after this?” Tim asks as you both pack up your belongings, and you nod. “I don’t, so if you need help navigating…?”

“Oh, Tim, you’re my hero. Thank you.” You throw your bag over your shoulder and follow him out of the classroom, having to walk a bit quicker to keep up with his strides. “I was honestly worried even with the extra time that I’d be late.”

He gives you that same kind, tired smile. “Don’t worry about it. Where are we headed?”

After you tell him the room number, Tim leads you up a few flights of stairs before leading you to a classroom door. You go to thank him, but you’re cut off by someone yelling his name. It’s a man, Tim’s age, running up to him and encircling him in a hug.

“Hi, babe. New friend?” You smile back at the man, finding it adorable how Tim’s hands immediately cover the other man’s. Tim introduces you and tells you that this is his boyfriend, Bernard.

“It’s their first day, they transferred here.”

“Oh, that’s awesome! We’re happy to have you.” Bernard finally unwraps himself from around Tim to stand at his full height. “If you ever need anything, just let us know.”

“Thank you. I appreciate it. See you Wednesday, Tim!”

“See you then!”

Your next class was more of the same, though you could already tell you wouldn’t have the same ease of social interaction here. Everyone seems to already know everyone else, groups of women in twos and threes with the occasional bro sprinkled in here and there. It’s a surprisingly small class, and thankfully your lack of bravery is also met with no one sitting beside you, so you don’t have to try and make conversation.

It doesn’t help that you can tell that you’re a few years older than everyone else in this classroom. Normally, it doesn’t bother you, but you’re not so sure this group will be as easy to crack as Tim was.

By the time both of your classes are over, you’re exhausted. It’s only 6 p.m., but with the constant rain and gloomy skies, combined with the hours of lecture you just sat through, you could probably go to bed and sleep through the night.

Before sleep, though, you need food. And instead of trekking through the pouring rain, you opt for the dining hall. You’re not expecting anything gourmet, but you do have some free dining dollars to spend, so it all evens out. As you make your way to the dining hall you keep your eyes out for Tim and Bernard, but you don’t see them anywhere. Just another endless sea of faces you don’t recognize.

It’s fine, really. You’ve got headphones and YouTube, so you’ll just have to be an iPad kid for today. Totally fine, and really not anything you aren’t used to. You set up shop in the corner, nibbling on an over-priced, over-greased piece of pizza you had to wait nearly thirty minutes on while you watch another reaction to another Cut video.

The walk home to your apartment isn’t the romanticized walk through the city that you’re used to seeing in the movies. It’s wet, despite the umbrella and the waterproof boots, and it’s really dark for the time of day. Regardless, it gives you time to think. First about taking the subway next time, and then about Tim and Bernard. You wonder if they were just being nice, pitying the new kid on their first day—or if you could actually be their friend. You hope for the latter. Making friends had never been an easy feat for you, and while you didn’t know much about either of them, you had a good feeling.

Which was immediately eclipsed by a very, very bad feeling as you watched a shadowed figure run across the rooftops of the buildings next to you.

Sure, you were fully aware that the shadowed figure you see is probably running toward the danger instead of going to cause it, but the threat of danger at all gives you pause. You knew what you were getting into coming here. The Joker, TwoFace… Gotham is nothing like where you’re from, and despite knowing that, it doesn’t make the reality any easier to digest.

Especially when you see what you’re pretty sure is Batman and Robin following not too far behind the first shadowed figure. Headed in the direction of your apartment.

Cool. Well, you had to have your vigilante v-card punched at some point, right? Might as well be your first night here.

You pick up your pace a bit since your building is within sight. It sure doesn’t sound like the fight is anywhere near your apartment, so you feel a bit safer as you scan your key and enter the building. The hallways are more reminiscent of a doctor’s office than an apartment building—sterile in places that should be homey, clinical in only a way someone so detached from living this way could create. You wonder if it's Bruce Wayne’s fault or Lex Luthor’s.

It’s not like your actual apartment is much better. There are the beginnings of a warm, inviting space here, but without the proper time and funds, it’s more sparse than anything else. The living room consists of a TV on an old side table and a couch sitting across from it, but you’re more than happy to plop onto the lumpy thing and click on the TV.

The gorgeous news anchor speaks, her voice melodic despite the situation at hand. “This is the fourth disappearance in Gotham in the past two weeks.” You sit up straighter at that, turning the volume up a few notches. The screen changes from the news anchor’s face to a graphic of the four missing people.

MISSING:

CRYSTAL JORDAN - 25

JAMES HEATH - 64

HOPE LEIGH - 32

HARLAN MAXTON - 43

IF YOU HAVE ANY INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT GCPD.

Huh. Four people have gone missing, and they don’t seem to have anything in common. You skim each missing poster: grad student, grandfather, stay-at-home mom, businessman. You’re no criminal justice major, but that’s not typical… is it? It’s not like that many people went missing back home, but you’re sure this is odd.

“We have been told to urge the public to be cautious. Each of the missing persons was taken from a different area of Gotham, so there isn’t one place to look out for. If you see anything suspicious—”

You turn off the TV, but your mind just won’t follow suit. Four people in two weeks. That must be high, even for Gotham’s standards. You pull your laptop from your bag, determined to find more information. Google doesn’t give you much other than the locations these people were taken from, and statements from their families, but you save them into a folder on your desktop regardless.

You keep scrolling, desperate to find something. A way to keep yourself safe, or a way to dig deeper into this, you weren’t sure. You land on a photo of Crystal, gazing perfectly into the lens of the camera—only a little older than you, wearing a Gotham University hoodie. You can’t help but see yourself in her; you can’t help but see everyone you saw today in her.

As you slam your laptop closed, you pray to whatever god is out there that those four people come home safe. That it’s some stupid Joker stunt to catch Batman’s attention, and they’ll be returned to their families.

Deep down, though, as you settle into your bed, nesting into your covers, you feel a sickening feeling in your bones that only feels like dread.

#jason todd x reader #jason todd fanfiction #red hood x reader #red hood x you #jason todd x you #batfam #batfamily

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rollercoasterwords · 9 months

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hi! thank you for the kind words, i'm happy you're enjoying the fic. but i also want to use this message as an opportunity to talk about something/set a boundary that i haven't really known how to discuss, and i've blocked out your name because even though i'm not angry or upset with you, i want to make sure i'm not sending any hate back your way.

i know that this message is well-intentioned, and i know you likely think it's nothing but a compliment to ask me to write more--after all, you're only asking me to write more because you enjoy the story so much! shouldn't that be a nice thing for me to hear?

and like. i think that's why this is difficult for me to talk about. i don't want to come across as ungrateful or overly sensitive or like i don't appreciate the compliments, because i do. but at the same time, hearing someone say, "please write more of this fic for me, i love your writing so much!" is still hearing someone say "please write more of this fic for me!" like. 300,000 words is incredibly long. most novels are between 70k-100k words. a 300k word book usually takes years to write--years, and hundreds of hours of labor. maybe you chose that number randomly, or you're exaggerating for emphasis; but no matter how nicely you're phrasing it or how facetious you're being, ultimately this sort of message still puts pressure on me to produce a massive amount of writing in a short period of time. and even if you meant it as a compliment, it doesn't feel nice to me. being pressured to churn out hundreds of thousands of words makes me feel as though i'm being seen as a content-creation machine for the entertainment of others, and i don't like that. writing is a labor of love for me, but it is still labor--hours of time and effort that i'm putting into these works which i share for free, with no expectations of anything in return except maybe a few kind words from those who feel like reaching out. when i get messages or comments like this pushing me to write more, to write faster, it makes me feel as though my time and labor are not respected at all; as if there's absolutely no consideration for the amount of effort it takes to write the stories. which, again, makes me feel like i'm being viewed as some sort of fic-writing machine that can just pump out hundreds of thousands of words on demand for others' entertainment.

and none of this is helped by the tongue-in-cheek comment about how you're "suffering" waiting for updates. again, i understand that this was well-intended and maybe even a playful exaggeration that's supposed to be complimentary. but there are ways to tell me you enjoy my writing and eagerly wait for updates without telling me how much you dislike waiting between chapters. posting once a week is already a difficult schedule for me to maintain, and it's entirely possible that i'll need to take another break in the future or skip a week or something. i've been very clear about the fact that my update schedule is subject to change since i started writing the fic; that's just part of reading a wip. but when i get messages or comments like these with people telling me how they don't like waiting for updates, or comments directly asking me to post more than once a week, or--back when i did take a break--comments begging me not to take a break, it all adds together and builds up and creates this pressure to write more, write faster, post the new ch now now now. if you were the only person making this type of comment, it probably wouldn't bother me and i'd just respond and go "thanks lol" and move on. but the problem is that you aren't the only one--since more people have started reading the fic, i've consistently been getting comments like these, where the backhanded pressure to write more or write faster is couched in compliments. it's just so hard to wait for updates because i love your writing so much! i just want you to write more and post now and write faster because i love your writing so much! i know it's all well-intended, but none of it makes me feel good. it just makes me feel a mounting pressure to produce produce produce.

i feel like there are so many conversations happening in this fandom about how we need to treat writers better, where people go "the fandom is so shitty" and everyone goes "yeah!" but no one ever thinks they're part of the problem. and i think it's because everyone thinks the problem is like...really blatantly rude and entitled messages. and like, i get those too--people telling me they don't like a certain characterization and asking me to rewrite the fic; people repeatedly demanding that i write a certain fic for them; people just outright shitting on things i've written because they don't like it and for some reason think i want to know that. but none of that is super common. what is super common is the steady stream of comments and messages like this one, where they are so well-intended and don't see anything wrong with what they're saying because they think they're giving me a compliment. but all these "compliments" build up and create this pressure that hangs over my head to be constantly producing and writing, which is ultimately what leads to burnout and also makes me feel like i'm not being seen as a person so much as a machine.

so like. idk. i'm not gonna try to speak for every writer in the fandom; maybe there are people out there who do appreciate this kind of message, who feel like it motivates them to write. but for me, i want to make it clear: i really don't appreciate being asked to write more or write faster or to write a certain trope/ship/etc; i am not a waiter taking your order at a restaurant. writing fic is not a service i'm providing for you that you pay me for in comments or kudos or messages or any sort of attention, because i am not writing for that attention in the first place. so when it comes to interacting with me, i'd ask that you reevaluate the way you give compliments and think about what sort of pressure you're putting on me, regardless of how well-intentioned your message is. again, no hard feelings towards you--like i said, this message probably wouldn't even register as pressuring to me if not for the fact that i get so many little comments like it, all from equally well-intentioned people who think they're just giving a compliment, all of which builds up together.

anyway. all that being said. to answer your question: the fic will likely be four parts, not three as i originally intended. it will probably end up somewhere between 100-200k words based on the fact that we're already at 80k and i've only just started part iii, but i am not going to put pressure on myself to write a certain amount of words or hit a certain length. i'm just going to write what i want to write when i want to write, and share it as i want to share it. i'm happy to have you along if you want to be here, but if the cliffhangers or waiting for updates becomes too unenjoyable for you then there's no pressure for you to stay, yknow? no hard feelings on my end either way :•)

#have been talking w a few friends abt this recently and just. felt like it was getting to a point where i need 2 set a boundary lol #like again don't want to come across as ungrateful bc i DO appreciate the kind words and i love talking abt my writing w people #but those kind words and conversation are not the reason i write in the first place. i write in the first place purely for the fun + joy #of writing a story that i want to read #so as much as i appreciate the compliments etc #people being nice to me about my writing does not then entitle those people to make requests or demands about the way i write #yknow?#feel like its hard to phrase this without sounding cunty lol but like. it is simply the truth #anyway. like i said no hard feelings towards the person who sent this message truly #i just picked this as an opportunity to respond to allll the comments + messages like it #might put a note at the end of the next ch or something bc this type of thing happens in the comments moreso than tumblr messages #which is part of why i usually just ignore and move on but. it builds up guys #and it's only been increasing so. feel like i need to be firm abt setting expectations etc #ask #wfrau #ranting and raving

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adarkrainbow · 7 days

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As I have been reblogging and looking back at Sleeping Beauty stuff around the Internet, I realized the thing that is bothering me a bit... When it comes to the you know "original" format of Sleeping Beauty.

Everywhere on the Internet you have these posts and videos and whatnot about "The dark truth behind Sleeping Beauty" or "The Horrifying Origins of Sleeping Beauty!", and they all refer to the fact that in the "original" version of the tale, she got raped in her sleep. This is the "dark fact" everybody LOVES to spread around and talk about. Except... Except the version they refer to is Basile's "Sun, Moon and Thalia".

Why does that matter? I'll explain.

Everybody depicts "Sun, Moon and Thalia" as this sort of dark, horrifying tale of a grim and gruesome crime. They will have in their video a dark background, and creepy illustrations, and they will take an ominous horror movie voice and whatnot.

But there's a big problem with that. Basile's stories were all except serious. They were humoristic tales. Or more precisely, they were farcical stories. Farces. There's a reason its "twin compilation", Straparola's fairytale collection, is called "Facetious Nights". So the very idea of presenting these stories as if they were meant to be taken seriously is completely misreading the story's tone. Yes there was a rape - but if you extract this from the entire context and storytelling, you make this tale sound like something it is absolutely not.

"Sun, Moon and Thalia" is not meant to be a horror story. It was not meant to be read as "serious" story. It has nothing to do with either the Grimm or Perrault fairytales. The entirety of the "Pentamerone" is basically a folk-sex comedy. If such a thing can exist.

Every fairytale of the Pentamerone is opened by a small recap of the story announcing what it will be about - and already from the get-go the very two lines opening this recap give the humoristic nature of the tale away. "Thalia dies because of a splinter". I mean come on - the joke is obvious. A girl gets a splinter, she dies. And if this wasn't enough the rest of the sentence can be translated as following: "she is left in a room where the son of the king penetrates and makes her two children". The choice of the word "penetrate" is to highlight the pun in the original line where the prince entering Thalia's bedroom and the prince entering Thalia's body is resumed in one same verb.

For more breakdown of the jokes of the story, see below the cut:

As I said before from the get-go the "curse" is treated as a joke. You have this king that summons scholars to make his daughter's horoscope, right? And what does it say. "She is in great danger... BECAUSE OF A SPLINTER!". This is literaly the killer rabbit of the Monty Pythons.

In this story, what does the little old woman that offered the princess the spindle does, once the princess falls dead? (Because she is dead in this version, a magical death, but dead still). Does she warns everybody and cries for help as in Perrault's version? No! "She was quick to find back the stairs [from which she came in]" and she runs as fast away as she can without warning everybody, because she's not going to get into trouble because of some random girl that wanted to see how to spin.

The whole arrival of the prince is very, VERY unprincely and part of the joke. (Well it is a king here but I'm going to call him "prince" so as to not lose people). So he is hunting, right, and his hunting falcon enters the countryside building in which the king locked up his daughter's corpse. The prince wants to get back his bird, so he knocks - because he believes the house is inhabited. And since nobody answers and he REALLY wants his bird back, he fetches a ladder and is forced to climb up a window like a vulgar thief. And he is royalty, remember.

What is the prince's first interaction with the dead Thalia? Believing she is asleep, he starts talking to her. And since she doesn't answer he kind of shakes her around in trying to wake her up. And then suddenly, realizing she kind of looks good (an that she is visibly not alive anymore), he "does his little business" and promptly puts her back where he found her and leaves. Because he is, like most men in the Pentamerone a stupid horny dog without much morals that has the most sudden and bizarre bursts of sexual desire. Cause again the Pentamerone is a sex comedy.

In fact, in the story of "Sun, Moon and Thalia", the prince is MEANT to come off as quite stupid. He is stupid. First off he didn't get that Thalia was dead when he saw her. Then, as soon as he leaves the funeral-house, it is said he "forgot all about this adventure". Like literaly, he forgets all about it - and only suddenly remembers it randomly when Thalia wakes up. (The narration itself highlights the randomness of the events - the fact the prince remembers Thalia is random and for no reason, and in the same way there are two fairies that randomly appear out of nowhere to take care of the two babies and we are never explained anything about them - they even frighten poor awakened Thalia because she doesn't know who brings her magically food every day). When he sees back Thalia, he is all joyful and happy and he is like "Let's start a family! I'm a dad, woohoo!" ; and then the narration drops the bomb that nothing had foreshadowed: "Now, his wife was waiting for him back at the palace." The randomness of dropping the fact he has a wife is meant to be the joke, since we were led to believe he was a bachelor. But given the prince's tendency to forgetfulness it is very likely that he simply forgot he had a wife.

More of the prince's obvious stupidity and air-headedness. On one side how he betrays Thalia and her children's names to his wife - because he just can't stop repeating and singing their names out loud, day and night, even when eating or sleeping, due to how silly-happy he is. On the other, the reason why he is absent while his wife tortures Thalia: he got angry at a comment of hers, and because he was furious, he literaly had to go to ANOTHER LAND just to vent his anger. Literaly, he leaves his palace and moves to another of his domain just because he got pissy. And why did he get pissy? Because his wife kept ironically singing to him "Eat, because what you eat belongs to you" when she served him his "children" - and the stupid prince, unable to understand what she meant, literaly answers "Of course it belongs to me: I'm the bread-winner of the family, while you're doing nothing and bringing nothing to the house". [Which by the way, highlights the fact that in this couple, the wife is depicted as profiting off the king's wealth and power].

Speaking of the dinner around the fake "children": this meal is another sex joke. Because the two of them, the wife and husband, are "panting with desire" around the dishes, and keep singing stuff like "Oh that's good, oh that's good!" and "Come on, eat, come on eat!" making it all an erotic scene. A ridiculous, grotesque, perverse erotic scene around what one character believes to be a cannibalistic meal, while the other just very loudly appreciates good meat.

When the queen tries to have Thalia killed, Thalia tries to defend herself by the fact she didn't know of the queen's existence, and that any sexual thing that happened between her and the prince was in her sleep - which the queen of course does not believe because of how ridiculous it all seems. I mean you catch who you believe is your husband's lasting extra-marital mistress and what is her excuse? "Oh no you see, he made me my kids when I was asleep. Well kind of dead. I didn't know. No he did not wake me up. I didn't wake up either when the kids were born. I'm a really deep sleeper. And it was because of a splinter you see..." Literaly, imagine yourself in the place of the jealous queen hearing all that.

Thalia gains time on her execution by asking the permission to remove her clothes, and the queen accepts, but as a joke she accepts out of greed because she literaly wants to take back Thalia's dress and jewels for herself. And each time Thalia removes a piece of her clothes, she screams. She screams in hope of alerting the prince. But since the prince is far away, he doesn't hear until the very last scream. Meaning that Thalia literaly strips herself in front of the queen, while screaming every time she takes off a piece of clothing, to visibly no effect (which must leave the poor queen quite confused), and it is only when Thalia gets naked and pushes the final scream that the prince suddenly arrive. You can imagine Thalia going: "FINALLY! I've been screaming for hours now!" (especially when you consider how much pieces of clothing princesses wore at the time).

Literaly one of the threats the prince gives to his wife is "Get ready to go fatten up the broccolli". As a metaphor for being dead and buried underground. Tip-top manly threat. In fact the prince is here quite proficient in ridiculous poetic metaphors: when the cook reveals he saved his children, the prince says "Get ready to move out of the small kitchen of my castle to the vast kitchen of my heart."

And of course the final "moral" of the story is also part of the entire farcical joke that is this story. "People who are lucky receive good fortune, even in their sleep". You literaly have a girl who is randomly raped in her sleep and gives birth to children in her dead-sleep, and then is almost murdered by the rapist' wife... And THAT'S the moral of the story? If you take it all literaly, then you are a fool. Or at least Basile would have called you a fool.

Again, people tend to forget that when it comes to literary fairytales (but also a lot of folk-fairytales) there is a TONE that is important. It is the brothers Grimm and other collectors after them that imposed the idea that fairytales were meant to be read "seriously". A lot, LOT of fairytales were originally humoristic - even going into dark humor or sex comedy. And whenever you go by Straparola or Basile, you HAVE to look at them under the angle of a joke or humor, and search for the puns and caricatures and ridiculousness within these tales. Because these books were meant to be read as such. They are like Rabelais' Gargantua or Shakespeare's comedies. You can of course reinterpret them as "serious" tales... But it won't remove the fact the original was humoristic.

#sleeping beauty #dark fairytale #thalia the sun and the moon #sun moon and thalia #thalia sun and moon #basile #pentamerone #italian fairytales #fairytale history #humoristic fairytale #sex jokes #sexuality in fairytales

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39oa · 11 months

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Roope/Robo for the ship ask

A MOST BELOVED DOCUMENT. (sry anon for this insane reply pls feel free to stop reading after this first paragraph ahlsdfkh) basically 2124 are my favorite stars ship even though it's generally difficult to articulate what makes them so intriguing, but i also think that That in itself is why i enjoy them so much haha. imo the more subtle and unsurfaced and laborious to construct narratives for the better!

i spend possibly too much time contemplating robo's character and i know that we (or i guess i...) often talk about his Just A Guyisms, which i do believe are an effective assessment of his general demeanor but alsoooo 2124 is just so rifeeee with introspective potential that it krills me every single time i think about it. as @kitnita perfectly put it in this post getting to "work backwards from pre-existing intimacy" is what makes them so much fun, because they have arguably nothing that connects them off-ice and yet demonstrate an almost automatic complementary style on-ice. and the fact is that unlike pavs and robo who play within a similarly restrictive framework, the entire ethos of how 2124 play together is that roope's strengths lie in the negative space of robo's, and it's not so much just the inherent beauty of Your Line Is The Only One I've Ever Known (places hand on chest. this is of course a large part of it as well!) but really actionably that robo plays in such a tactical fashion that allows him to effectively activate roope's motor. and i think roope is the kind of guy who sees that and is like... This is what binds us together 4 life. and it's really like... the ultimate marriage of skillsets which is also what makes the way they eschew any journalistic effusiveness (esp roop although obviously part of that is language-barrier related) so fascinating. like top line hold themselves to an extremely high standard and i think robo is extremeelyyyy aware of the weight of his responsibility as a goal scorer, but they're also both reticent about overcommunicating the importance of their "chemistry" to the media and i feel like that makes it... even more delicious???

i don't know if any of this makes sense but tl;dr To Me the ultimate romance is when two people play beautiful hockey together :) and in my head i also like to live in a world where that's roope's biggest philosophy as well. like roope talks about his connectivity to the home crowd and how he feeds off that energy and although it's not like... necessarily evident, i love characterizing 2124 as basically: despite roope being the most complete player on the team and appearing more mysterious or withdrawn compared to robo's pr capabilities, robo is very much the one who hyperfocuses on singular, self-reflective assessments while roope is more inclined to contemplate his chemistry with robo. and i love seeing it as the Roope_Confessional being "i know that I Don't Need You to play good hockey but it's always better when you're here so why would i want to change any of that?" whereas idk whether robo is prone to the same sentimentalism. and that's what makes them fascinatingggg! like all these weird little unexpected nuanced reversals to Roope being obviously the "cooler" and fashionable one, but also frankly the sort of cringe diehard loyalist "soulbonded to the spirit of the aac" guy whose greatest joy is Buying Miro New Clothes, who cares in very bleeding-heart understated ways etc. all of that really lends dimension to their dynamic despite robo being seen as the antithesis to pretty much all his interests.

i also find their cultural context quite interesting but maybe that's for another day because this is already a ridiculous post.... but briefly something that really informs a lot of their dynamic both in practice and in fic is obviously the existence of finnmaf and roope and miro functioning as the heartbeat of it, and we have moments of robo facetiously referencing them and essentially picking up Spare Euros (aka swedes aka petey and nils) on the side and existing on the outskirts of their friendship. and robo is someone who's moved around a lot and has a pretty varied background and he's talked about how he didn't really recognize the weight of that until he became a public figure and grew into the responsibility of his professional role, and that shows a lot in how he carries himself and interacts with media. and with roope being an "unknown" quantity in some aspects with the language barrier and being from finland i loooveeee any potential fic/narrative that kind of peels back all those little cultural layers or even flips their situations (e.g. post-retirement fic set in finland, soulbonding with the ability to speak/understand finnish—but also Not Understanding and finding comfort in that is part of the appeal so there are a lot of places to take this... etc. etc.).

i will stop here but beloved ao3 user murkya truly does a wonderful job of capturing them and probably in a more entertaining and digestible manner than anything i said here does :')

#ship stuff /#a

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slyandthefamilybook · 5 months

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I hate this post so much

It is CATEGORICALLY IMPOSSIBLE for people of color to be racist towards white people in the same way white people are racist to people of color. Yes, people of color can say mean things to or about white people, but that's not the kind of racism we're dealing with. Racism as leftists understand it is a system of oppression, a top-down hierarchy. No amount of calling white people "cracker" is going to reverse that hierarchy. Therefore, accusations of "reverse racism" that pit "calling me white boy" against "Jim Crow" are always frivolous

In a similar vein, it is CATEGORICALLY IMPOSSIBLE for women to oppress men in the same way men have oppressed women for tens of thousands of years. Therefore, accusations of "man hating" that pit "patriarchy sucks" against "women should be seen and not heard" are always frivolous

it is EMINENTLY POSSIBLE to be antisemitic in your Pro-Palestine activism. We see it all the time. And yes, right-wing Zionists and racist Israelis will often accuse people of being antisemitic for supporting Palestine, even when they're not

But that's not what this tweet says. It only identifies a vague "oppressor", which is, by their definition, "someone who is telling you you're being antisemitic". By comparing accusations of antisemitism to accusations of reverse racism or man-hating, this tweet is priming people to categorically dismiss those accusations as unserious and facetious. When Jews tell you you're being antisemitic, we're not "claiming victimhood". Antisemitism as an idea is not "manipulating the language of the oppressed". It is the language of the oppressed (well not entirely because the word itself was invented by a Jew-hater but you know what i mean)

I assume the oppressor they're talking about, the one who "justifies their violence as self-defense" are Israelis. But the people telling feminists that they're man-haters are men. The people accusing people of. color of reverse racism are white people. Unless you live in Israel or Gaza, Israel is not committing violence against you. They're not oppressing you, at least not directly. The people who are telling you your activism is antisemitic are largely, in my experience at least, just regular Jews. Some of us are right-wing, some of us are left-wing. You should take the words of both equally seriously, just like how you would take the word of a Republican woman who said she was assaulted, or take the word of a Black Trump supporter who said they were attacked with racial slurs, or take the word of a conservative trans woman who said she was misgendered.

White people who accuse you of reverse racism are trying to uphold a system of racial dominance and segregation. Jews who accuse you of antisemitism are...what? Trying to uphold a system of Jewish supremacy?

Jews are not your oppressors. We're trying to help you. But we can't do that if you refuse to listen.

#atlas entry #like. to be clear I wouldn't have as much of a problem with this post if they were just more specific #if they just said “right wing Israelis will accuse Palestinians of being antisemitic so they can continue to oppress them”#that's an idea I can get behind !!#but saying “people accusing your Pro-Palestine activism of antisemitism are racist oppressors” is just so open to misinterpretation #and. if you'll allow me. it's often that way by design #I don't know who this person is but if they've seen what I've seen then they know people aren't wearing their critical thinking hats lately #I'm just saying you have to try to be as careful as possible when talking about these tjibgs #things

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duckprintspress · 21 days

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Fandom Lexicon: D and E

Happy Saturday! It’s time for our next Fandom Lexicon post, our first with two letters – there aren’t that many E’s, so here we have it, D + E! All together, I expect the 28 categories for the Lexicon (26 letters, plus numbers and symbols, plus a post of “abbreviations used to refer to specific fandoms”) to be spread across 19 posts – but that includes the ones I’ve already posted.

You can check out all the parts of the lexicon posted so far here.

Spot a mistake? Know a term we missed? Let us know!

Lexicon Entries Beginning with D: (read more)

DA: Abbreviation for “different anon.” When anonymously commenting or sending an anonymous ask, DA or “different anon” will be used to differentiate that a person is not the same anonymous commenter as another anonymous commenter that has already spoken.

DA: Abbreviation for “DeviantArt,” sometimes written dA. A website where artists can host their artwork in galleries, interact with other artists, and participate in different types of challenges. Visit DeviantArt.

Danmei: Chinese media (literature and other types) featuring gay (specifically men) love. Read more about danmei.

Dashcon: A truly terrible Tumblr convention that was held in July of 2014. The feature most often referred to was a very small ball pit; instead of offering refunds for a panel that fell through, the organizers offered disappoint fans “an extra half-hour in the ball pit.” Read more about DashCon.

Dead Dove/Dead Dove: Do Not Eat: A fanwork tag used alongside other tags to indicate absolute truth in advertising; in other words: heed the tags, because they clearly articulate what is within. Most often used for works with darker themes. Name is derived from a scene in the sitcom Arrested Development in which a bag is labeled “Dead Dove: Do Not Eat” and when a character opens the bag, it contains… a dead dove. And he says he’s not sure why he expected anything else. Occasionally abbreviated as DD or DDDNE. Read more about the phrase “Dead Dove: Do Not Eat.”

Disaster Bi: A bisexual person who is deemed to be a “disaster” due to lack of personal awareness, inability to process feelings, struggles with self-acceptance, or well-intended but not well thought out acts of kindness, to name just a few possibilities. If the character is a mess and is also bisexual, they are a disaster bi.

Disc Horse: A facetious way to refer to discourse.

Discord: A chatting platform. Visit Discord.com.

Discourse: Ongoing/circular/repetitive discussion about an actual or perceived problem that some people feel strongly about, and others wish would simply stop. Discourse can either be within a fandom (“there’s discourse about (character name)”) or about more general meta-fandom issues (“time for the annual discourse about kink at Pride”). Read more about the term “discourse.” See also wank (pending).

DL;DR: Abbreviation for “don’t like, don’t read.” 1. A warning to potential readers to pay attention to the tags/synopsis and move along if they don’t like what they see. 2. A reminder to people getting up-in-arms about other people making content they don’t like – “if you don’t like it, you don’t have to read it.” Sometimes abbreviated without the colon. Read more about the term DL;DR.

DM: Abbreviation for “dungeon master.” In many roleplaying games such as Dungeons and Dragons, the DM is the person responsible for creating the overarching story and running the game in accordance with the chosen rule’s systems rules. Read more about DMs.

DM: Abbreviation for “direct message.” On many messaging platforms such as Discord, DMs are the in-platform way of contacting another person directly, without involving other people in a chat. Read more about DMs. See also PM (pending).

DNI: Abbreviation for “do not interact.” An acronym often used alongside a list of characteristics, interests, or other attributes that a social media user does not want to interact with the things they post. Often shared via a Carrd or pinned post. Read more about DNIs.

DNR: Abbreviation for “did not read” or “do not read.” 1. Used on reading sites like Goodreads to indicate that the person chose not to read the book in question and/or does not recommend that others should not, either. 2. A term aimed at a previous poster in a chain of comments/responses on the same, especially one who was long winded, to indicate that a subsequent reader has not read what came before. 3. When someone is opining on a book or article, DNR may be used to indicate that they haven’t read one or more of the works they are referencing.

DNW: Abbreviation for “do not want.” Something a person actively dislikes. Often used in fandom exchanges, where participants are expected to list their “do wants” and “do not wants” as part of guiding their exchange partner in what kind of work they’d most like to receive.

Donghua: Animation/cartoons from China. Read more about donghua.

DP: Abbreviation for many things; in fandom spaces it most often refers to “double penetration.” In pornographic works, DP refers to a person being penetrated in two ways. May refer to penetration in two holes, or double penetration in one, and also may refer to having two penetrating partners, or one penetrating partner using multiple appendages and/or toys.

Drabble: Traditionally a drabble is a piece of fiction that is exactly 100 words long. In more recent use it refers to fiction that is roughly one paragraph in length. Sometimes can now be used to refer to any micro-fic; anyone in fandom over a certain age will fight you if you use it that way, though. Read more about drabbles.

Dubcon : Shortened term for “dubious consent.” Used to refer to situations where it is uncertain whether a sex act is actually consensual. Can be as mild as “someone didn’t ask permission before kissing someone they’ve been dating for months” or as extreme as “well they kind of seem to want it so I went all the way…” Often modified with a word indicating the degree to which the consent is dubious, ranging from “mild dubcon” (like the kiss) through “extremely dubcon.”

DW: Abbreviation for Dreamwidth. A blogging platform build similarly to Livejournal. Visit Dreamwidth.

Lexicon Entries Beginning with E:

Edit: Aside from the obvious definition of “suggested changes made to a written work to improve it’s spelling, grammar, and readability,” referring to something as “an edit” has several meanings in fandom. 1. Used to indicate a post has been edited, and how. For example, “Edit: since I made the original post, I’ve learned…” 2. A video of compiled scenes from a visual media property, set to music of the creator’s choice. See also: AMV, fan edit (below, pending). 3. A video of compiled scenes from a visual media property, arranged to tell a different story than what was seen in the original.

Eeby Deeby: 1. Originally a reference to the sound Twiki the robot makes in Buck Rogers in the 25th Century. Often made into a sex joke. 2. Referenced in a meme with an elevator that says “Eeby Deeby” on the screen. 3. Hell or purgatory. Read more about the term “eeby deeby.”

ETA: Abbreviation for “edited to add.” On platforms where posts can be edited after posting, an ETA may be added and labeled as such if the original poster decides to change the post for any reason. As many platforms include both an original posting date and an “edited on” date, including an ETA is a courtesy way of helping people who see the post quickly understand how it may have been changed since it was posted. See also: edit.

Exchange: A fandom event in which the participants sign up and provide a few examples of things they like and things they don’t like (See DNW), and then are paired up with another participant to create something for that person. Ideally, every participant will get a gift from another participant, and no one will know who is making what for whom until the big reveal at the end when all works are shared out. Sometimes called a “gift exchange.” Read more about exchanges.

#duck prints press #fandom lexicon

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