Welp-- I'm awake and I shouldn't be, and I'll definitely be asleep by the time the season 2 finale of OFMD drops, so-- FUCK IT LET'S DROP SOME PREDICTIONS:
Stede throws some STARK REVELATIONS at someone (preferably Ricky)
Stede and Ed are back together by the end of the ep but our blond blorbo is still not actually, like, okay (gotta save some trauma resolution for season 3 shenanigans)
POSSIBLY they're back together in a relationshippy manner, but the episode ends with them deciding to split up and regroup later for tactical reasons
Ed = Disney's Little Mermaid, now a human girl, good for u babe, love that journey for u
Ed reads one of Stede's bottle letters and it's somehow the Sweet Weirdo He Fell In Love With (and possibly also finally tells his trauma background, because it's easier to write about than say)
Extremely timely seagull attack
Izzy kisses someone (and it's Definitely Queer)
Izzy doesn't die, but he gets seriously wounded and his survival is left as a cliffhanger
Maybe a big damn album-cover shot at the end of our remaining pirate gang: Spanish Jackie, Ed, Stede, Zheng Yi Sao, plus background folk
Episode ends with a threat to Those We Thought Left Safe Behind in season 1 (Ed's mom? Stede's family? Jim's brother? SURE) -- gotta prepare for the upswing of "oh shit" forward plot momentum toward the final season
One last Big Damn Kiss (gotta follow our rule of three vibes, we've only had two, cmon now)
...................STEDE DOES SOMETHING WEIRD WITH TOUCH
at some point it's just like. do they even fucking like the thing they're asking AI to make? "oh we'll just use AI for all the scripts" "we'll just use AI for art" "no worries AI can write this book" "oh, AI could easily design this"
like... it's so clear they've never stood in the middle of an art museum and felt like crying, looking at a piece that somehow cuts into your marrow even though the artist and you are separated by space and time. they've never looked at a poem - once, twice, three times - just because the words feel like a fired gun, something too-close, clanging behind your eyes. they've never gotten to the end of the movie and had to arrive, blinking, back into their body, laughing a little because they were holding their breath without realizing.
"oh AI can mimic style" "AI can mimic emotion" "AI can mimic you and your job is almost gone, kid."
... how do i explain to you - you can make AI that does a perfect job of imitating me. you could disseminate it through the entire world and make so much money, using my works and my ideas and my everything.
and i'd still keep writing.
i don't know there's a word for it. in high school, we become aware that the way we feel about our artform is a cliche - it's like breathing. over and over, artists all feel the same thing. "i write because i need to" and "my music is how i speak" and "i make art because it's either that or i stop existing." it is such a common experience, the violence and immediacy we mean behind it is like breathing to me - comes out like a useless understatement. it's a cliche because we all feel it, not because the experience isn't actually persistent. so many of us have this ... fluttering urgency behind our ribs.
i'm not doing it for the money. for a star on the ground in some city i've never visited. i am doing it because when i was seven i started taking notebooks with me on walks. i am doing it because in second grade i wrote a poem and stood up in front of my whole class to read it out while i shook with nerves. i am doing it because i spent high school scribbling all my feelings down. i am doing it for the 16 year old me and the 18 year old me and the today-me, how we can never put the pen down. you can take me down to a subatomic layer, eviscerate me - and never find the source of it; it is of me. when i was 19 i named this blog inkskinned because i was dramatic and lonely and it felt like the only thing that was actually permanently-true about me was that this is what is inside of me, that the words come up over everything, coat everything, bloom their little twilight arias into every nook and corner and alley
"we're gonna replace you". that is okay. you think that i am writing to fill a space. that someone said JOB OPENING: Writer Needed, and i wrote to answer. you think one raindrop replaces another, and i think they're both just falling. you think art has a place, that is simply arrives on walls when it is needed, that is only ever on demand, perfect, easily requested. you see "audience spending" and "marketability" and "multi-line merch opportunity"
and i see a kid drowning. i am writing to make her a boat. i am writing because what used to be a river raft has long become a fully-rigged ship. i am writing because you can fucking rip this out of my cold dead clammy hands and i will still come back as a ghost and i will still be penning poems about it.
it isn't even love. the word we use the most i think is "passion". devotion, obsession, necessity. my favorite little fact about the magic of artists - "abracadabra" means i create as i speak. we make because it sluices out of us. because we look down and our hands are somehow already busy. because it was the first thing we knew and it is our backbone and heartbreak and everything. because we have given up well-paying jobs and a "real life" and the approval of our parents. we create because - the cliche again. it's like breathing. we create because we must.
okay but like. I just had the weirdest thought about that ‘don’t look I’m naked’ comic. Which is that that’s essentially the same thing Adam and Eve did after they ate the fruit of knowledge of good&evil. So I feel like the theological implications of that could kneecap Gabe if he doesn’t think V1 is a being with free will.
yeah ok. i dunno man. is this anything
((side note. this isn’t necessarily meant to be in-character or story-accurate or take place at any particular point in time, just a way to explore some Thoughts. i was also imagining more that V1’s words aren't actually spoken, more like Gabriel’s more articulate interpretation of whatever garbled mechanical noise V1 is using to communicate. I think an angel could do that.))
is the amount of people who think Seaglass is ‘defective’ based on....very normal (in universe) features she has.
Ever since I’ve introduced her, I’ve repeatedly gotten comments on my posts and in my inbox that read to the effect of:
“CG is really small. Is she defective?”
“CG only has one eye. Is she off color?”
and even
“Hey, I noticed that she has a tooth gap, does that mean something is wrong with her?”
And I always find this really confusing, because all of the ‘evidence’ listed for the theory that she’s somehow ‘wrong’ is just.... things that make her unique! But none of them are bad.
We have SEEN small gems in the show.
We have SEEN gems with only one eye in the show.
And we have SEEN gems with tooth gaps!
...a feature which, by the way, is merely a small variation of how our mouth bones grow together, and is in no way indicative of there being something ‘wrong’ with you.
To top it all off........ Seaglass is a gem I invented! There is no canonical shape for a Seaglass type gem in the show. Indeed, not really even a standard Glass gem exists!
If I had based her on some existing type of gem and changed up her features, I could understand people wondering about WHY those were unique.
But to look at a gem that has no prior design and to immediately suspect that there MUST be something ‘defective’ about her based on absolutely arbitrary features.................. is a little odd, I must admit.
Indeed, it smells an awful lot like Homeworld thinking - ANY variation must immediately be scrutinized for ‘wrongness’ and set upon with the suspicion dedicated to something harmful.
And if this was only about a cartoon, I’d probably shrug it off.
But the reality is..... this is some top-tier level middle school mentality.
Scrutinizing people for ‘flaws’ first and asking questions second is an extremely unfair way to interact with others.
And I want you guys (especially the younger peeps reading my comic) to understand that if this was YOUR kneejerk reaction to Seaglass......maybe that’s not the healthiest thing?
Why did you assume that something unique automatically meant ‘defective’? Why did you theorize that she came out ‘wrong’ simply because she was a little different from the rest of the cast? (And not even extremely so.) And most importantly:
Have you ever done this to a real human being?
Anyway, the point is - people are sometimes born different. That doesn’t necessarily mean they are ‘defective‘. Try not to assume that brokenness is the ONLY alternative to total assimilation.
IM SO IN LOVE WITH VAMPIRES!! and boy do i love THE SUCKENING!! VERY excited to see the misadventures of sad wet cat, sharp angry cat, and the COOLEST cat i ever did see
it’s embarrassing how quickly I went from “oh this max jagerman dude straight up sucks” to having a shit eating grin on my face every time he appears in the musical. I was not immune to his vocals in Literal Monster. I was NOT immune to his choreography in DIRTY GIRL
Cellbit comparing himself to Frodo from LOTR for like ten minutes in a desperate analogy to let Bad know he’s being blackmailed by the federation, then at the end of it all going “yknow, Frodo is gay. Like really gay. Absolutely gay” he’s so real for that
oh you know it's all latestage capitalism but the thing is. how are you supposed to be a person inside of this. a person trying to be a better version of yourself.
oh, you started working young, which was kind of hard, but it's just the way stuff works sometimes. and it was 2008 and your family couldn't afford heat. but it's fine, you grow a spine and get used to the professional world and besides it was the suburbs we're talking about here, like, your life could have been actually hard, so what if your father lost his job and you can't afford to move or turn the lights back on. and once you start making money, it's good. you keep doing that. because now they're relying on you. so you have to do that.
oh you were in thousands of dollars of debt at 17 years old so that you could go to school, because you have to go to school if you want to get a "real" job. you even did it "right", you worked parttime and attended community college before you transferred to a public school. you were under so many merit scholarships.
which is fine. you pick yourself up and you say like, okay. i graduated college. i'm holding down a job. i'm doing the Adult Thing, which looks and acts like this, according to all the books i've read. you start with the shitty job and then you climb that corporate ladder.
but the shitty job doesn't cover rent and you stretch yourself too-thin so you get sick. good luck with that. the shitty job no longer pays for your meals. everyone asks why you don't just move, but there's nowhere to move to. and with what money are you going to be moving? and then the loans come back, because they were never going to forgive them, because you were 17 and trying to do the right thing, which was stupid. people are now saying you shouldn't have even gone to school.
which is fine. but because you have no other option, so you do the shitty job, and you apply every day for like 5 new ones, and despite the fact everyone says "there's no one who wants to work!" it's actually just that nobody is fucking hiring so you can either work for 13 dollars an hour in the shitty place you know (where at least you have a passingly friendly relationship with the manager) or you can start from scratch again with a different 13 dollars an hour without knowing how much abuse from the new job you'll be taking.
and if you quit you lose your insurance. if you quit you lose your housing. if you quit, you'll be another burnout kid. the lazy ones. these assholes, look at them!
and you come home to a family dinner and you hear from your father the same old thing. how he worked hard at his job and yes it sucked for a while but he was able to provide for the family and then the house and the dog and the rest of barbie's dream vacation. how the insurance did cover some of it. how you just really need to start speaking up more in manager conversations so they know you're a go-getter. you want to tell him - did you know we're actually doing more now hourly than any previous generation? - but you can't remember where you heard that statistic, and you're far too tired for the fucking argument. and then he starts in on his usual bit. where's the house? where's your kids? where's your ambition.
the same job the same money the same hours doesn't do it anymore. the same nose-to-the-grindstone now just shreds your face off. there's no such thing as upwards mobility, not really. and as far as you're aware, the money certainly is not trickling. you do the soulless stupid shit you signed up for because you fucking have to or else you literally risk your life (food, the apartment, the insurance), but it's not getting you anything. you download the stupid "save more" app and you budget and you do every right thing and then the price of eggs is 7 dollars and you say - oh great! another thing i have to fucking worry about now!
and you go to your stupid job and everyone in your father's generation just tells you to be better about being an adult. they have their homes and their savings account and their bailout and they say. well have you tried not drinking starbucks. well your generation just spends too much on clothing. well you might just be too addicted to travelling. and you - because you need the job - you bite your tongue and don't say i am being held prisoner and you're suggesting i stop pacing my cell if i don't like the scenery and you don't say what the fuck do you think i've been doing with my money and you don't say i haven't spent a cent on something nice in literally forever much less coffee you arrogant asshole. you open and close your bank app and check your loans and check your credit score and check fucking zillow and ziprecruiter and apartments.com just one time more. and still they give you that demeaning little grin and say - see, what you need is -
what you need is for your meds to stop being so fucking expensive. what you need is for the housing bubble to explode into dust. what you need is for billionaires to choke on their wealth. what you need is actual help. what you will get is more economic advice from people who are older-and-wiser.
and above you, almost in a glimmer, you can see the wedged smile of your debt getting toothier, wider.
hey roach, no answer needed, but i'd value your perspective. i was talking to a friend about gender, and we got stuck. he said that statistically men are more common in certain manual jobs due to physiological differences - differences that are important to acknowledge in the effort towards true equality. i said that men and women are more alike than not, and if we focus on the differences that's all we see. is there anything you'd add to this? i respect your opinion, is all. have a lovely day!
men are more common in certain manual jobs largely due to HISTORICAL AND PRESENT DAY DISCRIMINATION AND RAMPANT UNCHECKED SEXUAL ABUSE OF THE WOMEN THAT DO SHOW UP.
like, yes, there's certainly a lot of women's jobs that don't involve manual labor, and arguably a lot of women work jobs that don't involve manual labor. but like so do finance jobs, programming, engineering, trucking, data entry, being a fucking CEO? which are male dominated, but are mostly done sitting down.
there's a lot of jobs thought of as feminine, like nursing and waitressing, that involve hauling ass all fucking day, and this is not thought of as hard manual labor, because women do them. similarly, keeping house? cooking, cleaning, caring for children, getting groceries, running errands: these are not sedentary tasks for weak little ladies. this is exercise.
it's like the low pay. women don't take low paying jobs. women are paid less than men, regardless of the job they take. women don't take 'easy' jobs that 'aren't physical'. they're considered to have easy, non-physical jobs because they are seen as weak.
i gained a lot of weight and muscle going into welding, because HRT made it faster and easier for me to get the benefit of the strength training i was deliberately putting myself through. if i had stayed a girl, i would still have become just as strong. it would simply have taken me longer. even now, five or six years in, i don't have the skeletal build for pronounced upper body strength, but i have the ass of a dump truck, and the thighs of two more dump trucks. i can lift whatever i need as long as i can use core strength to heft it, no manly biceps necessary. there's no reason i couldn't be doing the same thing as a woman. one of my friends who is a nurse hauls people around all day and they can pick ME up without trying and they've never done T at all.
tl;dr: women are seen as weak and therefore their jobs are seen as easy. neither perception is actually true.
gotta be quick, body decided to ring in the new year by shedding endometrium and the 1st day cramps are vicious talk about starting the new year with a clean slate AH HAAAA ba dum tss
i know the tags are hateful and I would never have fit this next bit in them so:
the painful Wade-Giles translation (pinyin gang sends its regards) aside, the “měi” (with a caron) character was written with the hanzi for beautiful but (despite the different tones and most regular people don’t include accent marks when transcribing) “mei” could also be with an acute,”méi” 梅 plum.
Plum as in part of the 3 Friends of Winter (plum, pine, bamboo); plum as in a symbol of perseverance in the face of adversity, a common lunar new year motif also.
tl;dr she may not have many iterations but it’s starting and my baby deserves after a 25 year winter.
okay thassit basically, i’mma go curl into a fetal position, c u nxt yr make good life choices byeeeeeeeeee