#I Just Have A Lot Of Thoughts

[rayleeschobel]

I made a linocut from sketch to carved in one day

The other day, I sat down to work at 2:30pm, feeling guilty about starting my work day so late. I got into the flow state for the first time in a while though, and next thing I knew, it was almost 11. In two sittings (took a break to eat dinner), I went from sketch to totally carved print.

It got me thinking about how I always feel guilty for starting later in the day, although I still do plenty of work. It's not like there's anything wrong with having a schedule that's not 9-5, especially when my most productive hours are mid-afternoon. Also I know I shouldn't feel like I need to do 8 hours of work daily, but hey that's what I get for growing up with a workaholic dad.

But more so it made me a bit introspective about the whole process of artmaking. Like, in the span of about 8 hours, I created something that otherwise wouldn't exist. It's such a basic but overwhelming idea. That I sat down, took an idea I had, and made it into something physical. I often think about why I make things- because I love the process of printmaking and learning- but I don't often think about the bigger picture of being able to transform something as abstract and far from reality as a thought into something that can be observed, held, and shared. Even trying to put the feeling into words doesn't feel like it can do it justice. It feels like something ethereal, made more amazing by the idea that anybody can create something. I guess it makes perfect sense that something so foundational to being a human would also make me feel so connected to myself and the universe.

Anyway, here's the linoleum carving and it printed on fabric and newsprint :)

[qaey]

okay i’m thinking about fhsy in the context of fhjy because it is SO wild that kipperlily sees the bad kids as being favored when i always felt like the very premise of sophomore year especially was created by unfairness. they were forced to spend their BREAK on a PASS/FAIL project that was worth so much of their grade that failing it meant failing the year no matter how much effort they had put in up to that point. like that is not a favor

[theanxiousbookdevourer]

I love learning all these little, weird things about the characters in Disco Elysium. Like, is Bird's Nest Roy not one of the weirdest little guys you've ever met?

He doesn't like beaches.

He doesn't like music...

... but he records random sounds...

... including the Col Do Ma Ma Daqua.

He also spends about 10% of any given interaction spacing out.

But to get a little more serious, I think there's a lot more to him. I even think it's possible to draw parallels between Bird's Nest Roy and Lt. Kim Kitsuragi.

He, like Lt. Kitsuragi with the RCM, was part of a voluntary clean-up organization...

... despite knowing it wouldn't do much good.

He's also very willing to look away and distance himself from things of which he doesn't approve or doesn't want to get entangled.

In this very same exchange, you can see Lt. Kitsuragi try to distance himself from your bad decisions in the same way, if you choose to take Pyrholidion.

I think the biggest difference between Bird's Nest Roy and Lt. Kitsuragi is that Bird's Nest Roy acts like he's a cynic...

... but the fact that he tried to help with the People's Pile makes me think he's not.

In fact, he likes imagining, losing himself in his own thoughts, more than anything real.

Did you see that? Did you get what he's saying?

The Man from Hjelmdall may not have been real before the stories were written and read, but he's real now, because he's in the stories.

I don't think Lt. Kitsuragi agrees with that.

But I do.

And if you're reading this post, I bet you do too. You had no idea who Bird's Nest Roy or Lt. Kim Kitsuragi or Raphaël Ambrosius Costeau was.

But you do now.

[semperamans]

i think benny aches to be accepted :( that's why the club means to much to him :( that's why johnny means so much to him :( that's why you mean so much to him :( he just wants to be accepted n'he knows he doesn't have much to offer - his childhood fucked 'em up - n'he doesn't really know how to be part of a functioning society but he wants to try. you give him the courage to try because if someone so good and so pure and so perfect can give him a chance, maybe, just maybe, he's worth fightin' for. maybe he's got somethin' to offer and so you tell him every single day that he's so so worthy of love. so worthy of staying. so worthy of creating a worthwhile life for himself :( you tell 'em you love 'em and you hold 'em extra tight on nights when it's hard and you refuse to let go because benny is worth it. you accept him in all forms of the word n’you’re gonna love him til the world falls apart.

[spametc123]

The phrase “maybe the curtains were just blue” is genuinely so harmful to media literacy as a whole. Yes, things can just be the way they are, but almost everything exists with context. Do you exist or do you exist because of everything that has happened in the world? Your parents met, you didn’t die that one time when you were eight, you’re the person you are because of that awful haircut you had in seventh grade. You exist because of all of that.

So, nothing pisses me off more than when someone uses an incomplete quote. “A jack of all trades is a master of none” without the second half: “but oftentimes better than a master of one” (everyone say thank you Shakespeare) has an entirely different meaning. The first half by itself is utilized to shame people into ignoring things they love or are interested in; meanwhile the full quote praises people interested in a variety of things. Ignoring context literally erodes the meaning behind anything. Machiavelli said “it’s better to be feared than to be loved.” Wrong. Loud incorrect buzzer. Kind of. As Malcolm Gladwell writes, “it’s not wrong, exactly, it’s just incomplete.” (Or something like that anyways.) Yes, Machiavelli did write that. Congrats! But you forgot a kinda, semi, VERY FUCKING IMPORTANT component of that quote. “It is better to be feared than to be loved if one cannot have both.” It should be common sense right? I wish. Ask anyone about their opinion on the incomplete quote and see how many of them think they’re revolutionary when they say “oh I’d rather have both!” If the full quote doesn’t seem to make a difference in your mind, great! But there’s still more context that you need to know to actually understand it (let alone teach it (Mr. History teacher that is NOT a philosophy teacher and should not try to be one)). The quote is from The Prince, a writing in which Machiavelli talks about what makes a good leader. In his opinion, The Prince should know when to utilize love and fear to his advantage. Be loved by your people and feared by your enemies. Seem more trusting than you are so you can see who is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. He says that one should prefer to be feared than to be loved in time sensitive situations, not sustainably. That when things need immediate change being feared makes a stronger and more effective leader (which is unequivocally correct and I’m tried of hearing otherwise). So again, without context: a random quote that no one agrees with or really understands at all, whatsoever vs. with context: the assertion that in times of need it is better to be respected and feared than it is to be loved. Or, a personal favorite “dubito, ergo cogito, ergo sum.” I doubt, therefore I think, therefore I am. Oh wow! So cool, he thinks therefore he is - being capable of thought means I exist, how neat! Not wrong, sure, but lacking context. What makes the philosophy so powerful is the fact that it’s a paradox. You doubt your existence, therefore you are capable of thought, therefore you exist. Because you doubt your existence, you prove that you exist. But if you are then confident you exist, do you no longer exist anymore? And now you doubt it again. Without context, it’s just words on a page, nothing notable or interesting. Without looking for the context it’s yet another thing people will complain about having to learn because “why does it even matter?”

It’s the same with characters. Armand is batshit fucking insane, yes, but he only is that way because of who he is. The tv show fails his character when they age him up, because even with some of his backstory, he is the way he is mainly because he’s eternally trapped in the body of a 17 year old. ____ is too trusting! Maybe in different circumstances, yes, but that character is the way they are because of the life experiences they’ve had. ____ is the right amount of trusting for the life they’ve lived.w

It’s the same for people too!!! Please find it within you to have basic human empathy! Someone is the way they are because of their life experiences. You can’t have something happen to you, good or bad, and not be affected by it. Someone can only change if their experiences change. No, it’s not your responsibility to change someone’s behavior or to tolerate it, but it is your responsibility to try to understand why someone is the way they are.

Empathy and media literacy are so clearly intertwined it’s would be comical if it wasn’t depressing. Read between the lines, try to understand things that you don’t get immediately. The curtains aren’t just blue. It doesn’t matter if it’s to represent sadness or just because it’s the author’s favorite color or even because the author was so indecisive they made someone else pick it, there’s still a reason. Anti-intellectualism is the curse that keeps on dooming us all.

[rotating-hyperfixations]

Masc Lesbian Jackie Taylor Head Canons

Masc Lesbian Jackie Taylor fic incoming, with the head-canons that got us to this point.

Cried as a baby and toddler whenever her parents put her in a dress for nice events

Had to be bribed with toys and or candy to not throw a fit wearing a dress by her parents

Mulan made her oddly emotional, she won’t unpack that until she comes to terms with her sexuality

Shauna has a dedicated pile of clothes for Jackie to wear at her house, it’s most old graphic tee shirts that she doesn’t wear anymore or grew out of. They call it the Jackie Shipman wardrobe

In middle school after one too many arguments to her parents about what she wears and how she acts, Jackie throws herself into being the perfect daughter to try and fix the relationship with her parents.

Kisses Shauna during a game of truth or dare at a soccer team sleepover and freaks out and has her mom pick her up immediately. She starts dating Jeff by the end of the week.

Lays eyes on Van the first day of high school and immediately wants to be her. Admires her from a far and finally comes around to telling her that she wants to be like her by the end of junior year.

Van’s the first person Jackie confides in about her sexuality and gender expression. Van takes the opportunity to become her gay yoda and immediately takes her shopping so they can make a proper “butch” out of Jackie.

Sheds a few tears the first time she shops in the men’s department and buys a shirt that she actually likes.

Starts buying little items that won’t raise any flags by her parents, certain shirts or pants that when styled could do either way. Sometimes she outright just changes in the car or a bathroom at school if it’s something she can’t sneak out of the house.

Comes out to Shauna drunk as hell at a party. It’s taken a lot of work with Van and subsequently Tai to get her to this point, and she thinks she’s ruined everything when she blurts it out in the middle of a party. They talk it over in the morning and start dating by the first day of senior year.

Wears a dress to both of her proms, it makes her want to light herself on fire, but she doesn’t have it in her to fight with her parents. Senior year, Shauna promises they’ll only stay for an hour before they head to the after prom house that they rented courtesy of Lottie so Jackie can change.

Comes out to her parents once she’s graduating college, she has a job and a place with Shauna so she’s not financially dependent on them anymore, so she feels Iike it’s safe to come out. They do not take it well, but Jackie doesn’t really care because she’s just so tired at this point.

Struggles for a bit to find her aesthetic after college after mostly wearing graphic tee shirts and athletic wear for so long.

Accidentally matches with the men she works with on multiple occasions and makes them take pictures together so she can show Shauna.

Big fan of suspenders

Van takes her suit shopping for her wedding and walks her down the aisle when she gets married to Shauna. Van is also her best man.

[glindafication]

I have been having a lot of thoughts about Glinda's costuming (specifically in the movie) and I NEED to talk about it right now so here goes. (This is specifically about the clothes Glinda wears at Shiz)

So I have seen quite a few people pointing out how Glinda doesn't follow the Shiz uniform (where all the other characters are in white/blue/orange besides her and Elphaba and kind of Fiyero) and I have a lot of mixed opinions on this.

First off I think it makes perfect sense for Elphaba because in the movie we are told that she wasn't originally going to study at Shiz and also we do see her wearing some of the uniform pieces (for example she wears the same blue fabric wrap thingy as the other students in the sports scene while Glinda doesn't), so it makes sense that she wouldn't have the time and/or money to buy the proper uniform pieces. But for Glinda, I am kind of conflicted. On the one hand, she is very used to getting her way and very focused on her looks, so it could be argued that it is in character for her to flagrantly ignore the uniform policy for the sake of her aesthetic. On the other hand, I feel like it is a bit of a missed opportunity to establish the more conformist aspect of Glinda's character. Showing that Glinda is unwilling to break the rules is important because it makes her choice to join the Wizard and Morrible despite not wanting to make more sense. This also feels like a bit of a missed opportunity to better establish Fiyero's character as they could have had Glinda follow the uniform while Fiyero doesn't. This would have further established that Fiyero is more willing to actively break the rules than Glinda, which could help to explain why Elphaba trusts him. This is still established through dancing through life and with the Ozdust ballroom being stated to be illegal in the movie, but I feel this could've been another good opportunity.

There is of course the out of universe reason for this which is that it helps to Glinda to visually stand out. This is extremely common where uniforms are used as costumes as having everyone wear the same/similar things while the main characters wear something different is a very easy way to tell the audience who to focus on. However this is done differently in the musical, where the main Shiz uniform is a mixture of navy and white while Elphaba wears exclusively navy and Glinda wears exclusively white. (With small amounts of blue/navy in her shirt). This still visually distinguishes our main characters from the ensemble (and from each other with the use of contrast) without having it feel like they're just choosing to ignore the uniform. It is conscievably possible that the Shiz uniform allows students to pick from a selection of white and navy options and Glinda simply chose all of the white ones while Elphaba chose all of the navy ones.

I am also mildly frustrated with the decision to relegate movie Glinda to a tiny sliver of the colour wheel in general, as I have said before. She only wears pink once in the muscial so having her in almost exclusively pink in the movie despite her having more costumes is a bit annoying. Especially since I have the sneaking suspicion that part of the reason they did this was because building a strong association between Glinda and the colour pink would allow them to make Glinda themed merch by simply making something pink instead of making something with a more meaningful link to her character.

I will say that I am not trying to hate on Glinda's movie costumes by any means. A lot of them are very technically impressive and visually gorgeous (her Ozdust dress is absolutely stunning and I want one). I have no doubt that a lot of time, effort and thought went into these costumes. These are just my personal thoughts as a huge fan of the musical and of the costumes used in it

(Some pictures to explain what I am referring to, top two are musical costumes, bottom two are movie costumes)

[dangerouslypassiveaggressive]

A Terribly Organized Almost-Essay About Suzanne Collins and Why I Think She Writes

Lukewarm take because it's been years, but here it goes: if there's anything I've learned over the years, it's that Suzanne Collins is not a people pleaser. (The author, at least. I don't know her personally lol). And she be pleasing the people, that's not what I mean! I just kept hearing the same question being asked over and over again. "Why Snow? Why him?? Why not anybody else? Really?? A prequel about HIM??" It really made me think.

And don't get me wrong! I'd slash someone's tires for a Finnick prequel just like the next person (Suzanne please!), but that has never been the point of her writing. The Hunger Games novels, and by extension, the prequel book The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, aren't just fun fiction reads. Yeah, they're gripping. The world-building is superb. Young people are at the center of it. And all these characteristics are great, but the thing that draws us in, that keeps us consuming her media like hungry little caterpillars, is that they are, time and time again, a captivating and accurate criticism, analysis, and deconstruction of the broken systems society experiences in the real world. I can only speak from my own experience as a Mexican American woman in the United States, so take all of this with a grain of salt.

The Capitol is colorful and fun and interesting and horrible and sadistic. And it is all those things because it is a symbol of our own real-world 1%, except our own glittering Capitol members here in the real world feed us the hope that we may reach their status if we only work hard enough for long enough. The Hunger Games system never makes that claim. In fact, they are fed the narrative that the system only works because they're stuck where they are. Suzanne Collins is taking everything one step further in her writing because it is a type of satire, a critique of the things we already know. So as an author, she blows it out of proportion so that her reader will say "look at this! How ridiculous! How would someone let the system treat them this way!" And it is ridiculous, it's downright laughable that an entire society, an entire country, would let itself be oppressed in such a cruel way by just a few people in charge instead of rising up and- oh wow, yeah, I see it. She wrote about us.

Suzanne Collins just organized everything neatly into boxes- well, districts. Because every district comes with some form of product that they manufacture, but much more importantly: a class. We go in order from 1-13. District 1 manufactures luxury items and District 2 makes weapons (but mostly trains Peacekeepers), so they have the most privilege and wealth. On the other end, Districts 11 and 12 are the agricultural and coal mining districts, respectively. That's back-breaking work. Not to mention District 11 puts kids as young as 12 to work, and District 12 is poverty-stricken and starving. "But what about District 13?" You may ask, "They make nuclear weapons! Why aren't they up there with 2?" Fantastic question. If we know, and the people of Panem know, that the hierarchy is very clearly set by literal number order, why would one of the most powerful and competent districts be given more power and be put at the top? Placing them at the end lets them believe that they aren't powerful or competent. I mean, jeez, look at 12 and they're before 13? I wouldn't believe I could make it on my own either. (We know now that's not how things go down, but it's a clever power move regardless.)

But after all this, would it hurt Suzanne to give us a single book just for fun?

Yes, I believe it would, that's the whole point. We're not meant to fall for the Peeta/Katniss/Gale love triangle. We're not meant to be interested in Finnick's secrets and early life. We're not meant to want to know the morbid details of how Haymitch won his Games (with double the contestants! Ooh. Aah.) We're meant to be horrified at every turn, at every story. We're meant to ask ourselves how things got so bad, how anyone let this happen. Suzanne Collins has written wonderfully fleshed out characters that grip us and make us want to know more, but the point has never been them or even their loved ones. It was never about Katniss or Prim or Peeta or Finnick or Annie. It's always been about the systems that let this story happen, and where Suzanne got her inspiration: the very real lives we lead. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes shows us the same thing.

So why Coriolanus Snow? Because he is the catalyst to a broken system that only serves the powerful. If Suzanne were to write a novel about any of our much more beloved characters, then she would be writing the exact same book over and over about the same oppression happening in the same system. She does not write for the sake of bringing her very well-written characters to life, but to flesh out the poverty, the starvation, the power struggles, the horrors they experience. We know this because she writes a lot of her characters as symbols. (Coin, for instance, as the symbol for a power-hungry figurehead, or Prim as the innocent during war.)

Snow is living in a slightly different biome than what we know from The Hunger Games series. He has to make sacrifices and decisions for him and his family, but it's different. It is a view and critique from the inside looking in. This is not Katniss getting to experience the Capitol for the first time and understanding just how terribly unfair everything is. This is someone who is very aware of the way things work and playing the game to stay in power and keep their privilege. Not only that, but it's someone who feels entitled to all of it. In this novel, Suzanne plays around with power and people's position in it. What if a mad scientist was in charge? What if the creator of the thing that brought a semblance of peace was just as horrified as the reader? How far is one person willing to go for power? What if we saw the dawn of a world we're already familiar with?

So I hope she keeps writing, because I love seeing our world through her eyes and the parallels she writes from our world to hers of the injustices happening every day. Even though we'll probably never get the stories we crave, but that's okay. Keep putting those kids through hell, Suzanne.

[fallenjello]

Nil from @zeddyzi's Pine Point!!! New jake art, now with less clothe folds!!!!!!! i know i always overdo it BUT I CANT HELP IT GUYS,,,, Hes a lil dirty,,, or perhaps hes,,, The Dirty Nil,,, GET IT!!! HAHA!!!!! Anyway, idk if the effect in the second one is cringe but i was messing with the smudge tool and that came out of it and i thought it looked cool (also ignore his hand i got lazayyy)

Theres also this

I dont know what this is

[nasty-bog-boy]

not to post about persuasion again but i have so much to say.

one thing i really love about persuasion and that makes it feel so very true to life is Wentworth's bitterness towards Anne and his subsequent forgiveness. he's a flawed guy!!!

Wentworth loved someone, proposed to her and then found that she was not confident in her love for him and so rejected him out of fear and weakness. he put himself on the line for her and was essentially told by the woman he loved he isn't good enough.

of course I love Anne Elliot. she was vulnerable and pursued by someone older and wiser who she looked up to. and honestly Lady Russell isn't completely wrong. Wentworth was in the navy and just as likely to die and leave Anne a penniless widow as become a rich and respected captain.

but Wentworth's resentment towards Anne just serves to make him an equally flawed yet admirable character. his character arc involves him learning to forgive Anne for her actions when she was younger and allow himself to love her again, both for who she was when they were young but also for the older woman she is now. he has to recognise the changes in her and her new strength of character and resolve.

both Anne and Wentworth must admit to themselves where their faults are and change over the course of the novel, because if they don't they won't be able to confess their feelings to each other again.

Wentworth has to be a bigger person and let go of his very justified anger. he loved Anne and she broke his heart, but she's different now and he must admit to himself how he never truly stopped loving her and comparing all other women to her. he has to acknowledge the pain her mistakes caused her and forgive her, as otherwise he would never be able to get her back.

there's just something so beautiful about persuasion featuring two leads who carry very complicated feelings towards each other from their pasts having to reckon with that. they have to forgive each other and move past the very real hurt that was caused in order to have another chance at happiness

its something we can do! its a lesson! we can resolve to act as Anne and do and seek to improve ourselves, to move through the world with grace and forgiveness!

[redvanillabee]

Today we are thinking about Jack (tbh in this house when are we not?)

What did Jack do with the medal in the years that followed?

Because if he holds on to it and he goes on to become one of the founders of SHIELD, he would have been given absolutely ✨glowing✨ chapters in the history books. We know that the real US Navy has named ships after Navy Cross holders who fought in Okinawa in WWII (look up USS Chung Woon. Couldn't escape that story for about three days when they had an encounter with the Chinese two years ago).

So does he ever come clean about what happened? Does the government know? Does he return the medal? How would he live with this lie if he never comes clean about it? Knowing that he goes down in history with all this heroic praise that he doesn't deserve?

[wildflower-ramblings]

Do people mind when you add your thoughts on to their post?

Because I realise I've done a lot of that today and now my brain is convinced I'm annoying everyone 🫣

[murdertrashbabyrat]

the way I do be writing Mickey 17/18/Nasha got me like yeah I have always been the person who would fuck their own clone this all checks out

[fleetsparrow]

Thinking about Dick and Roy as kind of parallels to each other.

Both taken in by heroes. Both raised as sidekicks and partners but not quite sons. Both ended up coming of age with distance between them and their mentors.

But then things start to differ as adults.

(Correct me if I'm wrong on anything with Roy, because I only know pieces and I'd love to know more.)

Dick is constantly pulled back into Bruce's orbit by force or by choice. Roy seems to have a more... active role in deciding when to let Oliver back into his life.

Roy raises Lian, getting to have her as a center of his world, and establishes himself as his own hero.

Dick is a bit more stuck in the shadow of Batman. Every marriage attempt gets destroyed. Every new balance found gets toppled by catastrophe.

Roy actually gets a life outside being a hero. Dick's whole world revolves around the superhero community.

It's just very interesting that the things DC seems so eager to erase from Roy's story are the things that let him grow up and become his own person.

Which, now that I'm thinking about it, also maps onto Dick. Every time he gets Free of Gotham’s everything, something pulls him back into it. Like an unwilling or unknowing Peter Pan, he's not allowed to grow up, not really.

And after all the reboots and retcons and resets, their relationship gets lost, too.

Idk, man. I miss when things for "adults" also meant growth and maturity. Not just tits and senseless violence.

[veggiehomosapien]

another niche overlap thing i wanna say about severance and orphan black:

one thing i loved in orphan black is how we got to see the incredible tatiana portray one clone impersonating the other, and how you could see minor body language/mannerisms/accent slips come through the impersonations. how like when she was sarah as krystal she had the general "valley girl" accent and vibe but her voice was lower (as sarah's was), and sometimes you could hear the british vowel sounds come through when she was speaking.

what i love so much in severance is we're getting to see similar things with the innies vs outies and their mannerisms/body language/tone of voice. the obvious example here is with helena vs helly - we all know the "helly walk" and how (especially with the recent ep) we can see the subtle difference in how she carries herself. how helly is headstrong and bold and waltz's right in to a room, shoulders hunched but powering forward, where helena is more reserved and smug, shoulders back and controlled, like she knows she has all the power and nobody can say no to her (which is true).

britt's minor expression changes too, like when she was helena impersonating helly and she had that confrontation with irv in the tent. he kept pressing her and she was backed into a corner and didn't know what else to do to convince him so she resorted to reprimanding him, in a scary tone like a mean parent would to a child, and her face minutely changed to that cold expression. AH god. i love that shit!!! it's so good. i could literally talk about this for hours lol

[sceletaflores]

guys i’ve gone off the deep end and decided to start writing fanfics again. i couldn’t ignore all the thirst under my recent posts i just had to do something about it!

i’m a pretty josh hutcherson centric blog right now and even though mike schmidt is my #1 gf i’ll still write for any of his characters! if they happen to get requested of course, but i have a feeling mike is going to be in high demand right now lmao

some notes :)

- mike schmidt is my main bitch so keep that in mind

- i might write smut if i get really inspired by an ask but it’s not my forte so bear with me

- i’m a college girlie (shoutout all my fellow women in stem) so it might take a bit for requests to get posted but i’ll try my very best to be on time

- i want to write short stuff but i tend to ramble so we’ll see

if i think of anything else i’ll post it but yeah!

my ask box is wide open as of right now! don’t be scared xoxo