#a very negative thing tbh

[big-ball-o-twine]

(original) Ben’s reaction to time travel is so endearing to me. The fact that he was like, wow. That was exhilarating. It’s the closest anyone gets to understanding what Five felt at thirteen, I think.

[pinkieroy]

And another thing (this is the last one, I promise, I will stop going on tags and rabbitholing my way into reading discussions i disagree with)

Another thing I don't know where came from is the idea that the rest of the party doesn't interact with their relationship, that it is something isolated and that the others don't comment or interfere with, that it's kept apart from the group, because that is simply not true?

I'm too lazy to look for exact quotes right now, but in episode 65 Ashton was the one, after Laudna's outburst, that insisted for her to go somewhere to reconnect with Imogen, sure Imogen kept saying she would be with Laudna, but Ashton very clearly knew that some time alone with Imogen could make her feel better.

But you also have other things sprinkled out through the campaign like the "are you staring because you are jealous?" From Fearne during the dusk arc, FCG after getting the share dream spell suggesting numerous times to use with them, FCG getting Imogen to kiss Laudna's forehead for the ritual, Orym comparing Imogen's loss to his own six years before, "that dead lady's got a lot of love in her heart", Ashton and FCG helping Laudna on the gift shop, Fearne trying to to help in episode 65 telling Laudna Imogen was thinking about her the whole time.

My point is the party is not alienated from them, they have private moments, sure, but some post I read was talking about how the party doesn't interfere with the "stagnation" of their relationship, which just sounds so weird to me? Where exactly do they need to interfere? Unless one of them was having trouble and was asking for advice (which is something that, ya know, happened) I don't see why they need to interject, unless you want their relationship/dynamic to change, because it is not your cup of tea, so it isn't that the other characters don't interact with their relationship is that you want the interaction to be different (which is valid, I disagree but everyone has their taste in shipping and fiction in general), but trying to say that they keep their relationship far removed from the others is not really true is it?

[thedreadvampy]

btw about Neil Gaiman I periodically agree with the 'Neil Gaiman is annoying' stuff bc I feel like both he and Amanda Palmer seem like people who I would go insane stuck in a room with bc we have very different ideas about art and suchlike. and I also do think that the career trajectory he's on lately is cynically redoing his greatest hits and pretending that was the dream all along when it clearly was not. which is at best meh.

having said which

as far as I can tell by far the most common complaint about Neil Gaiman is "Snow, Glass, Apples is problematic/gross/it's got incest and rape and frames the child as the aggressor"

which strikes me as a weird complaint to pull out of a 40 year body of work tbh when that short story is pretty clearly coming from a place of 'how far can I push this'. like you don't have to like the story. I don't really like the story. but it is. a horror story.

like and this is the thing with particularly 90s alt horror right? a lot of the interest is in transgression and sitting in the worst possible perspective and seeing what happens if you pull those strings. like I really like Clive Barker for example but there's a good chunk of his short stories that I'm like I'm not picking up what you're putting down Clive this seems Kinda Off. but that willingness to write some trite or Bad Message horror fiction that doesn't land is imo a side effect of being willing to try writing uncomfortable and unpleasant fiction at all. which is what horror is for, among other things, it's for creating discomfort as a form of catharsis or engagement.

like I am not a huge fan of the type of sex-horror that pops up in a lot of Gaiman's work and other contemporary horror writers - to me I don't find it upsetting or horny it just ends up feeling kind of edgy and tryhard - but I'm also a bit like. it does seem like a lot of people's beef with Neil Gaiman is that In The 90s He Was A Horror Writer

and this approach to Problematic Horror in Snow, Glass, Apples I find kind of microcosmic of how The Discourse often approaches art in this kind of 1:1 way. if you write a story which seems to line up with rape apologia it can only be because you agree with it. if you write a story about transphobia you're a transphobe. if you write a story that makes me genuinely uncomfortable you're attacking me.

but artwork, especially art like horror that's not necessarily trying to provoke enjoyment as its main response, is necessarily hit and miss. and if what you're shooting for is discomfort then whether it works, falls flat or goes too far incredibly depends on your audience. and making good art - as in art that makes its audience think, art that opens the audience up to discomfort and catharsis and sticks with them and changes them - requires the space to experiment and tbh the space to fuck up. like they aren't all going to be winners and they certainly aren't all going to work for you as a singular audience.

personally I don't see the appeal of Snow, Glass, Apples, less cause it's nasty and more cause it's hack. ooh an edgy monstrous version of a fairy tale where there's lots of rape and cannibalism? you're soooo original Neil. but like. that's fine. I don't really vibe with like 70% of Neil Gaiman stuff I've read but I still like Neil Gaiman because the stuff that works for me really works for me.

idk I think there's a lot of folk on this website who shouldn't interact with horror cause they clearly aren't interested in being horrified. that's not everyone who dislikes Snow, Glass, Apples, but it's a real undercurrent to a lot of the criticism and tbh this kinda vibe is shit for art. making standout art What Is Good also requires being ready to make art which stands out for the wrong reasons. sometimes they'll be the same art to different people.

[flowerbloom-arts]

- Secret of the Hattifatteners, Tales From Moominvalley.

I really really really need you all to know how much of a wife guy Moominpappa is actually, like even if they're not super outwardly affectionate in the books, Moominmamma trusts Moominpappa very deeply and Moominpappa's definition of "home" always links back to Moominmamma. He is the waves and she is the shore.

(excerpts of Moominpappa thinking about Moominmamma and only Moominmamma whenever he gets reminded of home v)

He went back to the boat, shaking his paws like a cat. Some of the spiders had crawled on to him, and he thought it very unpleasant.

They soon found the painter also and started to crawl along it in a thin red procession, and from there further along the gunwale.

Moominpappa seated himself as far astern as possible.

This is something one dreams, he thought. And then one awakens with a jerk to tell Moominmamma: ‘You can’t imagine how horrible, dearest, such a lot of spiders, you never…’

And she awakens too and replies: ‘Oh, poor Pappa – that was a dream, there aren’t any spiders here…’

(...)

It was a small scroll of birch-bark, of the sort the sea likes to curl up and throw ashore. Nothing else. You can unroll them like documents: inside they’re white and silk-smooth, and as soon as they’re released they curl shut again. Exactly like a small fist clasped about a secret. Moominmamma used to keep one around the handle of her tea-kettle.

(...)

Moominpappa had laid himself on his back and was staring up at the pale green leaves around him. Light, delicate leaves against a dark sky. In his easy-chair at home he had a cushion embroidered with fern leaves by Moominmamma. Pale green leaves against black felt. It was very beautiful.

[daz4i]

let me preface this by clarifying i am not anti therapy in any way whatsoever and in fact encourage people to get therapy if they can and even go the extra step to help friends find the right type of therapy that may help them

ok now that that's out of the way.

therapy is bullshit man you go to a therapist saying "hey. i wanna kill myself. can you help me stop wanting to kill myself somehow?" and they go "sure! first step, stop wanting to kill yourself" and you say "well i can't. that's why i came to you. bc i don't know. how to stop wanting to kill myself" and they'll say "that's a shame. i can't help you if you want to kill yourself. that'll be 125$ please"

[acealistair]

just a heads up i am going to be unapologetically and unironically excited for da4

[justworthlessreblogs]

no cause you’re so right for naming Kirakira in that potential canon post, I could name every character in that show and make arguments for each one, villain and cure alike. the characters were too ambitious for the show! like, don’t just reinforce that Akira cares a shitton about people, tell us why! Ichika feels that she has to put a smile on her face no matter what, show us more! Noir and Lumière are probably meant to be an allegory for abusive relationships, please elaborate!

THANK YOUUUUU i'm so glad to hear others feel the same way, it makes me feel better knowing that it's not just me overthinking things. i am actually in the process of writing a mini essay/reflection on the characters (will not be published until i finish the series) and it's funny that you mention ichika feeling like she has to smile no matter what because i actually bring it up in the analysis. i think they definitely had the foundations for a good arc where ichika learns that it's okay to cry sometimes and i'm so mad that they just ignored it and went with "ichika learns she has to put precure duties before her personal wants and needs" when that conflict had literally never come up before. with regard to akira i really think she has potential and i love her caring nature but they never actually Do Anything with it and it's frustrating. while i haven't actually gotten to the noir&lumiere backstory episode yet i do know what happens courtesy of being in this fandom for 6 years and yeah. i definitely think they could have done way more with it

[violet-amet]

twitter is a bit of a cesspool, but then, its a large social media platform. anyways, im being self-conscious again, and its not helping my mental state.

art in general is subjective, and i get that. and i must admit, i dont think i write well, or write good stories. my grammar is shaky, and there isnt an excuse for that. i just feel bad about it.

but idk. this is more of a problem i feel like i need to fix, and i can only do that by myself. i just feel bad in general myself. like, i shouldnt do anything, because im not good at anything. so whats the point in doing anything at all?

but that sort of thinking is toxic. and i am trying to get better. i want to. its just a hard thing to pull through, imo. ah. and i dont want to drag others into my mess or mindset. its a very unhealthy thing.

esp since my own friends do care about me, and i dont want to put them down either. its still a me problem, but i am glad that i am not entirely alone about this. i just gotta do my best, whatever my best is, not others. hm.

[myspacepoet]

been on a binge of everything finn wolfhard has ever been in lately so heres a boris for all my borisheads out there.

[id in alt, do not repost]

[mantisgodiveblog]

"Is it somehow satisfying for you to beat yourself up for things you couldn't be blamed for missing? It's not as though it's obvious - anyone could have missed it. Why do you assume that something like this is a flaw of the self?" I think it's a preference thing, honestly. Sometimes it's more comforting to believe that you are the problem (so it's in control), while sometimes it's more comforting to believe the world is the problem (so it isn't your fault). Sif takes the former to an extreme. Plus the low self esteem.

We know the psychology, in theory, but it's... hmm. Frustrating, we suppose? We've been there, we know how it is to be hurting for control so badly you'll shred yourself to ribbons for a single piece of it, but it's partially that that makes the thought process so damn irritating when it turns up, especially when we sometimes have to play whack-a-mole with it in ourself.

It's a theatre of destruction for no audience. Ripping yourself to shreds in a way that benefits no one and will only hamper you later down the road. You attack your every flaw, and for what? Making yourself fear to try new things for fear of the repercussions that you yourself placed. Making yourself believe you are worse. Sabotaging your own chances just to pretend that you call the shots in a world that never worked in the way you pretend it does.

The more that you do anything, the more it becomes a habit, the more you take the cart down a road that wears and wears until the wheel-ruts are too deep to get out of, and when that habit is something that actively sabotages your chance to get things right, it does nothing but harm you.

Yelling at it isn't productive, either, it gets nothing done, but it is immensely frustrating to watch that go down, because it's an endless mud pit of feeling bad that doesn't even accomplish anything but making everyone in the area feel worse. It's the particular flavor of poor mental health where having experienced it ourself makes us a bit worse at dealing with it, because - well, we've experienced it ourself, and now we have to deal with watching someone dig a pit for themself and we can't even do anything about it because it's the sort of thing that they actuvely have to figure out and take action to handle themself.

[pumpking64]

.

[lunarhobbits]

genuinely don't know what my opinion of betsy joslyn's johanna is yet but i do feel like she stepped out of a gilbert and sullivan show

[appatary8523]

Sorry for complaining in here, I no longer post art or anything, I know. I'm just posting things on my Fortnite blog, but if you're not into that it just makes no sense, and I wanted to keep it separated for a reason, so... Yeah

[cycloplasm]

art tags that are like 'my dumb art/ocs' i am looking at you like this

idk who taught you that self deprecation is 'cool' but the greatest disservice you can ever do to your work is insulting it

[scoobydoozies]

So, you didn't enjoy Scooby-Doo Mystery Incorporated? Btw, I like you blog and I wanted to thank you for reblogging my posts of Scooby-doo comics from Holy-Shit-Comics. You actually saved the blog.

omg :o well no problem, im glad to have helped! and im glad you like my blog ^_^

and yeah i haven't really been liking mystery incorporated :/. to be fair, i haven't finished it, but i've seen most of season 1 and heard a bit about season 2 . i understand the appeal of it and i don't blame anyone for liking it, but for me there's far too much that bothers about it and very little i like 🤷

i was willing to give it the benefit of the doubt for season 1 and stick with it despite a lot of big problems i have w it (velma and shaggy's toxic relationship and the way it was handled, the constant relationship drama, daphnes whole personality revolving around fred, the gang being mean to marcie and calling her 'hot dog water', the show being kind of mean-spirited in general, the writing and mysteries being generally below average of what id expect from scooby-doo esp considering it's probably the most popular show in the fanbase, etc)

but then i got to episode 22 (attack of the headless horror) and the bold-faced racism in that episode that's just kind of treated like a joke and and not condemned at all was the straw that broke the camels back for me... and, insult to injury, fred was my favorite character in sdmi up to that point (the only one i found really likable at all tbh) and they made him hero-worship the racist guy :(

i might still finish it eventually, and im sure there will be some stuff i enjoy if i do, but for me personally, even if i end up really liking season 2 i feel like there's already been too much bad in season 1 for me to end up coming away from it thinking it was a good show overall (and i definitely don't think it's the best scooby-doo show like a lot of people say, not with what's new and be cool as its competitors, which are great from start to finish)

that being said, i enjoy art and media analysis quite a bit and i think if i do finish it, analyzing it and breaking down what i thought it did wrong and what it did right could be a lot of fun and a good learning experience