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me getting five notes from my regular mutuals on any given post

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The allegations surfacing about Neil Gaiman's conduct are troubling to say the very least. As a survivor myself, it's especially heartbreaking to know that the creator of many of my favorite works doesn't "walk the talk" that aligns with his public advocacy for feminism and women's safety. At the very least, we have all learned more about Neil's private life than at least I'd prefer to ever have known. Even if it's not found that he did anything illegal, it's hard (impossible?) to see him the same way.

It's difficult to reconcile the fact that Neil Gaiman's works have played such a huge role in my personal development- Ocean at the End of the Lane in particular got me through one of the hardest times in my life- with this new knowledge. The decision to "separate the art from the artist" is one that's difficult for everyone. I can't undo the amount of influence Neil's work has had on me as a writer, an artist, as a human being. At the same time, I feel the way I interact with his work has to change.

I am not an investigative journalist, a lawyer, or a judge, I don't have answers about what really happened. At this time there is only one outlet sharing primary information and a lot of it is behind a paywall. If Tortoise's primary aim is to advocate for justice and awareness rather than to profit from outrage, I believe they should make this full story accessible for free.

I don't plan to delete content on my blog related to his works that I made prior to these allegations surfacing. I don't plan on sharing any more of my thoughts on this until we have more information.

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Thesis: the rise of fanwank and anti culture correlates directly with diminished understanding of what “romantic”, in a literary sense, actually means.

It doesn’t mean “this is ideal or healthy or even realistic”. It means “this is beautiful, this is tragic, this is grotesque, this stirs emotion”, even if it’s not, as @starryroom puts it, something you would be comfortable seeing play out in front of you at Taco Bell. It’s about grandiosity and mythology and heroism writ large. It’s about playing with the id, as beautiful and terrible as it can be. 

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speculative fiction writers i am going to give you a really urgent piece of advice: don't say numbers. don't give your readers any numbers. how heavy is the sword? lots. how old is that city? plenty. how big is the fort? massive. how fast is the spaceship? not very, it's secondhand.

the minute you say a number your readers can check your math and you cannot do math better than your most autistic critic. i guarantee. don't let your readers do any math. when did something happen? awhile ago. how many bullets can that gun fire? trick question, it shoots lasers, and it shoots em HARD.

you are lying to people for fun. if you let them do math at you the lie collapses and it's no fun anymore.

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If you could relive any of your memories, which would it be?

I have a lot of vivid memories that I recall fairly often. If I could go back in time and relive anything, though, it would be the time I treated myself to a business class flight back to London from Austria.

It wasn't that much more expensive than economy, and I had had a rough week. I flew out to interview for a teaching job in Austria that seemed to go well, but never heard back. I decided to make a holiday of it, given that it was early December and there were so many fun things to do.

I got to see the Krampuslauf in Salzburg- absolutely spectacular for those who love strange folklore and creepy things- and took a train to Budapest for a few days before I had to go back to the UK. The holiday markets in both cities were overflowing with delicious treats and beautiful trinkets.

I filled my bag with chocolate incense and wooden carvings in Salzburg, and filled my stomach with cakes and candies.

In Budapest, there were blacksmiths and glass blowers that made things that looked like they came from another world- including a glass snowdrop (iykyk) that I would have sold a kidney to have. The sweet old lady who made it sold it to me for much less than it was worth, and gave me my change in the hungarian equivalent of pennies. Given that I had enjoyed plenty of mulled wine and warm mead by that point, I was incredibly amused by this.

All that is to say, I had turned a boring business trip into something special, and the gravity of my experiences didn't hit me until that flight. The plane took off from the Salzburg airport at sunset, and the first fifteen minutes of the flight were spent above the snowy Alps. I was overcome with gratitude that I had the means and the courage to seek such an experience on my own. I felt brave.

My bag was filled with treasure and treats, the meal on the plane was delicious, and the flight crew were angels. What really got me though, was the approach to London. I saw the city in a new light, and it really felt like home for the first time. Looking down at the curves of the Thames, the lights on Primose Hill, everything, I was a tearful mess. I don't think I've ever been happier than in that moment.

So yeah. That one.

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Hello please reblog this if you’re okay with people sending you random asks to get to know you better

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addams family my beloved

pick one you bald genderless idiot

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Neil how are you doing this with your eyes? is it an eyebrow thing? pls elaborate

When I was a small boy, having seen Spock raise one eyebrow, I would stand in front of a bathroom mirror working out how to raise each eyebrow in turn, for hour after hour. So yes. Mad pirate look mostly happens in the eyebrows.

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im the prettiest canary in this mine

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“you support gay rights so you must be gay”

i support animal rights do i look like a fucking alpaca to you

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I'm so normal about my interests (so excited thinking about it I'm on the verge of throwing up)

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DO IT FOR HER

(her being you )

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Bees are wonderful little creatures, deserving of our respect. We owe them for virtually all of our food supply. Even vegans benefit from the exploitation of bees unfortunately, it's quite literally impossible to separate them from our food chain. More people should know about this so we can fix it.

vegans making honey a bee labour issue is the funniest thing imaginable because like, you picked the one animal that has already unionised