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“Cuteness is a way of aestheticizing powerlessness. It hinges on a sentimental attitude toward the diminutive and/or weak, which is why cute objects—formally simple or noncomplex, and deeply associated with the infantile, the feminine, and the unthreatening—get even cuter when perceived as injured or disabled. So there’s a sadistic side to this tender emotion, as people like Daniel Harris have noted. The prototypically cute object is the child’s toy or stuffed animal. Cuteness is also a commodity aesthetic, with close ties to the pleasures of domesticity and easy consumption. As Walter Benjamin put it: “If the soul of the commodity which Marx occasionally mentions in jest existed, it would be the most empathetic ever encountered in the realm of souls, for it would have to see in everyone the buyer in whose hand and house it wants to nestle.” Cuteness could also be thought of as a kind of pastoral or romance, in that it indexes the paradoxical complexity of our desire for a simpler relation to our commodities, one that tries in a utopian fashion to recover their qualitative dimension as use.”

— Sianne Ngai, Our Aesthetic Categories: An Interview with Sianne Ngai

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Pallas's Cats (x)

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No matter how progressive or well-read you are, there are always going to be moments in your life where somebody pushes back against something that's so culturally ingrained you never even considered it before. And you'll say "Huh, it never occurred to me to challenge this but you're right" and that doesn't mean you were "morally toxic" before, it means you're a non-omniscient human capable of growth.

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A lot of people genuinely believe that permanent disability isn't a thing that happens to good people who work hard and make responsible choices. A lot of people genuinely think that we get the life we work for and deserve. And this is definitely part of the explanation for why ableism is so prevalent

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Hello! I made a dress from scratch for the Renaissance Faire. It took me six months to make the chemise, hoop skirt, under skirt, over skirts, French knot embroidered bodice, crown and jewelry. I am very excited to wear it this year despite how serious I look in the photos!

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Shit is bad, but today, I learned that California's kelp forests have made a major comeback with the help of scientists, fishermen, and hammer wielding volunteers.

It's a win for habitat restoration. It's a win for marine life. It's a win for all of the people who helped make it happen.

It's a fucking win and it makes me happier than words can describe.

Edit: now with video and link.

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Photography: Taras Kuščynskyj, 1971

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DragonCon 2025

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Where's the African mythology?

The Kickstarter is live now!

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I am gently taking your hands and begging you, BEGGING YOU, to understand that humans are not inherently harmful to the planet. We are animals who are part of the ecosystem. We belong here. This is our home. We belong here. You belong here. Yes, you belong here.

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by dimda_

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DONATE TO THE SAMEER PROJECT 🕊️

Mosab Emad Ali, part of the heart of the Sameer Project, was also martyred recently. The organizers could use all the support they can get right now.

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A billion years surrounded by books sounds like heaven.

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what? oh sweetheart no, you're not weirding me out at all. you're weirding me in. keep talking, freak

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How Stories Can Save Us – The Philosophy of The Fall