#decadence philosophy

[ghoulierstudio]

I could no longer resist the urge to make an altoid tin shrine for my inspirations. It long feels overdue

[a-typical]

— On Palestine, Noam Chomsky, Ilan Pappé (2015)

[meanlikeachild]

“Alicent was poisoning viserys!!” Yea idk if it’d take two decades for her to poison and murder him. Also, did you not watch the scenes of her bathing (ew) and giving viserys milk of the poppy and tucking him in bed (also ew), the milk of the poppy certainly made him weaker but he always was, so. She literally took care of him whilst his daughter ran off to dragonstone and married her murderous uncle, who viserys literally disinherited and named rhaenyra as heir to keep daemon away from the throne bc it doesn’t take einstein’s iq to know that daemon would be a shit ass ruler. And while we’re on the topic, “The maesters were poisoning the targaryen’s and their dragons!!!” rumor, don’t make me laugh. Again, I don’t think it would’ve took them three hundred years to kill the targaryens off, especially during viserys reign, it would’ve been very easy to, since viserys eliminated Aemma himself, simply trick daemon into a brothel by putting an “underage girls in here” sign on top, rhaenyra would probably be following him so it’d be killing two birds with one stone, with rhaenys she’d obv go back to the capital on corlys’s advice and simply outnumber the velayrons. Personally i don’t think it’d be difficult considering that entire family is full of alcoholics. And poisoning the dragons? Now how the hell would have that had happened if the dragons were guarded by the dragon keepers who main purpose were to look after them 24/7 🤦‍♀️ even if the maesters got some how physically close enough to the dragons, how would they poison them? inserting poison to the hard ass dragon eggs with their non existence syringes? or with their elaborate secret mission impossible spy plan of sneaking into the dragon pit and feeding the dragons poisoned food? and that is if the dragons didn’t notice them and burn them alive.

[katchwreck]

Hi comrades, itʼs been a minute. Sorry for being inactive on here over the past months, but I thought I would share something here that I wrote two years ago on this day.

🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹

The ever so misanthropic and cynical arrogance of the petty-bourgeoisie is a universal class trait spun from the intensified monopolizing tendency of capitalism.

*Why did not the lousy serf chose to become a noble? The sub-human deserves no dignity nor affection in their own miserableness. It is not I who have made it the way society functions; it is their own faults for not being capable to determine her own desire.*

... Such is the rotten and mischievous mindset of the dissonantly deflecting oppressor, who steadily is on the hunt to advance in itʼs own economic, and thus hierarchical societal ranks of sorts.

Fear and trickery is constantly used as inducement by the oppressing part (again)st the oppressed part.

Capitalism is, by no (but also every) means, different than feudalism in this regard. It is only the material circumstances and structures that has developed, mainly due to the variousness of technological advancements throughout, and mainly so in the imperialist cores by the extraction and transfer of resources and labour power, which produces both value and, moreover; abundance and scarcity.

As Karl Marx described it when he so eloquently detailed the result of the increased antagonism between two conflicted, yet inbound, poles:

“Accumulation of wealth at one pole is, therefore, at the same time accumulation of misery, agony of toil slavery, ignorance, brutality, mental degradation, at the opposite pole, i.e., on the side of the class that produces its own product in the form of capital.”

Let me be perfectly clear to you who may read this: the ongoing treats and attacks against the proletariat across the bourgeois states by the capitalist class – behaviorally and rhetorically as individuals, or from the state power itself, whether it comes to austerity-packed reforms or state police and military brutality and repression — is ONLY going to intensify (grow worse and, with that, more obvious) unless the working class study to become class-conscious (awareness means vigilance) of the systematic dependency and thereafter organize, and fight back to put an end to the perpetual spiral of exploitation that is both in- and out of control.

The ruling class perpetualizes the status quo, and they hold on to it by every and any tool possible; from mass media to manufacturing consent through education and various of everyday material and holding of means of communications to productions, to mass-surveillance, to commercially glamorous nothingness, to parlamentarism to manufacturing and determining monetary value and societal laws, norms and abnorms, thus what “is” and what feels right and “is” and what feels wrong, passionate passivity, social alienation, division, wars, meaningless conflicts, better versus worse, competitions, appropriations, corruption, controlled linguistics, receptions, meaning... our very existences.

[mathysphere]

Science Humanities Minis: Philosophy

A little jaunt over to celebrate some of the humanities with two friends sitting and debating the day away 🤍

This was inspired by the HD rerelease of the classic flash game Socrates Jones: Pro Philosopher. It's a beautiful little gem of a game, perfect for anyone who likes indie games or philosophy or Ace Attorney-style visual novels. You can get it for free on Steam today!

[Pattern here] [Series here] [🏛️Socrates Jones here🏛️]

[thegirlwholied]

retcons. they're a writing tool. they're not fundamentally a bad tool. though I greet them more often with an "ugh, retcon" than a "nice, retcon"-

and that's often because they're overwrites. sometimes carelessly so, the 'didn't pay enough attention to what came before'/'guess I changed it' route. And sometimes retcons are the 'that's not the story I want to tell now or I can do better than that' route.

Andor is doing the second type of retcon, and interestingly so, because there wasn't a whole lot there to retcon *and yet* they are managing to do that.

When Rogue One came out, Disney dropped a bunch of expanded universe material. The NEW expanded universe, because they'd already ditched the old one, to avoid conflicts; this new one could be consistent (ha, ha, ha).

In those 2016 detail books we got the facts on Cassian Andor's backstory: from the planet Fest (clearly carefully chosen for its old EU history), father killed during a protest against militarization on Imperial Academy planet Carida (another world with EU history), involved with a Separatist cell from age 6 on...

Anddd anyone who'd read those extended materials knew Andor the show was ditching that backstory within seconds of him dropping the name 'Kenari' in context that was immediately clear it was his home planet. I appreciated at least getting a nod to the backstory we had since 2016 with dropping that his 'cover story' planet was Fest. They definitely were aware and chose not to go that route. And that's OK! they have a story they want to tell, they're digging into some interesting themes and meanings and...

Well. Either way it's a retcon. A minor one that 97% of the audience will never notice or care about. And yes they're still keeping to the spirit of that key line in Rogue One-

"I've been in this fight since I was six years old"

- clearly the mining disaster on Kenari presumably happened when Cassian was six years old. So his childhood was ruined by the Empire then and he's been resisting them ever since, it's not that it renders it untrue it's just-

it's just that he's pulling a moral high ground with that line over Jyn whose life was also ruined by the Empire at eight years old and was raised as a child soldier by Saw Gerrera, a character whose very name is designed to evoke guerilla warfare...?

I mean a Cassian who's already been in prison and is scrapping by and sticking it to the Imperials all he can, drawing those character parallels between them even closer then are we, but the whole crux of that (excellently written & filmed I'm still not over it) argument hinges on Cassian's relationship with/committment to the Rebellion above all else. The show's retcon has just... shortened that relationship. By quite quite a bit.

And there is now some unintentional irony, from this retcon, if Jyn was actually (via Saw's cell) part of the Rebellion longer than Cassian.

...it's fine, it's fine, tbh watch them retcon Jyn's backstory soon enough, it's a very minor retcon and maybe future episodes will reveal Cassian has been doing more actual rebelling than it seems and... nonetheless. Ugh retcon.

[54prowl]

spent the weekend with friends life is good life is so good

[themortuatorium]

The Nice and Presumptive Observations of Me (Fan)

Hi there, we’ve never met. I’m definitely not new to me, but I’m new to you. I first read Good Omens ~2007. When the first season of the show came out, I wasn’t really floating around in its fandom space; now, on the approaching dawn of season two prompting a fourth rewatch (and third reread) out of me, I’ve decided to show up fashionably late and turn in an essay nobody asked for discussing probably nothing new to you, but new to me.

All of what I have to say deals with the first half of episode 3, sorry. It just does so much, laying the groundwork for Aziraphale and Crowley’s relationship. I’m dying to talk about it.

If you’re interested, or are just looking for anything to procrastinate with, then I hope I’ve at least made a discourse[1] that’s compelling to look at. It certainly is long.

[1] The philosophical essay kind.

ST JAMES PARK (1862) -

What gets to me most about this scene, in particular, is the layers of implication surrounding the word “insurance” coming from Crowley. I think it’s an incredible use of subtly (if intentional). Because insurance against demons, sure, we as the audience are informed of this knowledge based on context clues elsewhere or from having read the book. They both understand what they’re doing is incredibly frowned upon. It is more than that. He’s looking for proof that Aziraphale would stick his neck out for him.

Up to that point, it’s always been Crowley going through the trouble for Aziraphale. Even when making suggestions to benefit the both of them, it’s considerate of Aziraphale. Including cut scenes from the script book, Crowley goes blatantly out of his way to protect Aziraphale twice (Paris, and the 1800’s bookshop scene). Intentionally, I would hope, we don’t see any instances outright of Aziraphale doing the same thing for Crowley because it’s meant to make a point about what sort of dance the two are fighting with. While it would be ridiculous to assume Aziraphale has never done anything to help Crowley in all that time; during a waltz, someone has to lead.

So, it’s centuries already of Crowley treating it like a mutual relationship, certainly in some way aware of the imbalance, and it culminates with the request for holy water. He wants insurance from Aziraphale that he views their relationship the same way. Something mutual, unique to them, “their side”.

If you even wanted to view it as something poetic, gentle, even romantic, it wouldn’t be far-fetched to assume Crowley might be looking for proof their time together meant something human. They both clearly believe that to be human carries a greater value to being ethereal. The idea that time is so precious to humans, because a human lifespan is so limited, turns the concept of time into a metaphorical effigy of one’s love and dedication for having given it.

It’s what makes the boiling of their relationship down to the word “fraternizing” so genuinely painful; not because it’s a rude and blatant disregard for the dance they’ve been engaged in all these years, because it says to Crowley even after all this time (to 1862) Aziraphale doesn’t understand him as well as he understands Aziraphale.

As well as he believes he understands Aziraphale.

[MOSTLY] PARIS (1793) -

Science has proven at least one angel can dance, because he’s been taught.

“They said I’d performed too many frivolous miracles” addresses what the audience would also be wondering in that moment. On its own, it can even serve as a funny joke about the bureaucratic structure of a capitalistic Heaven, where the motto is “miracles are what we do”[2]. It also prompts one to ask “why”, what does a frivolous amount of miracles mean to represent?

Interpreting it as an expression of guilt has larger implications about Aziraphale as a whole. One establishing his character as being surreptitious, especially when contextualizing the guilt next to his and Crowley’s Arrangement.

Because it doesn’t take 1250 years[3] to convince an angel the signature on the paperwork is all that separates a miracle from a temptation. That’s a ridiculous amount of time to spend on what would basically be asking to carpool, and would be strange to feel guilty about on its own.

They both know – the show knows – it’s more intimate than that. In an unspoken language they began creating in 33AD, Aziraphale understands the Arrangement is Crowley’s offer of insight into a perspective he himself cannot have without falling. Aziraphale is, continuously, one of the most compelling angels Crowley has met – on Earth, of yet – and he doesn’t want that aspect of him to change. He actively seeks out Aziraphale’s company for it. Being given the opportunity of the Arrangement, and yet still occupying a seat among the spheres, must be something Aziraphale recognizes as unfair. To humanity; to Crowley.

When Aziraphale used his wing to shield Crowley from the oncoming rain, there was enough room to cover Adam and Eve in the distance. All four of them aligned equally against the horizon.

[2] Perhaps not in any official capacity, but in a Mean Girl’s “fetch” kind of way.

[3] I presume, inferring the gap of 537AD to anytime nearly before 1601 was primarily spent chipping away at Aziraphale’s resolve. The extra 200 years is from 1601 to 1793.

THE BLITZ (1941) -

Reading in the stage directions how Aziraphale and Crowley haven’t spoken since St. James is enough to make a guy[4] write a three page analytic, placing it at the climax. Aziraphale “realizing they’re still friends”, at the same time, has the same guy appreciating the work done setting this moment up. If it wasn’t meant to be symbolic of a marriage between their ideologies after all this time, then I’m fresh out of other rationale for putting it in the church to begin with.

Especially when done how it was: Crowley arriving late to essentially his own wedding, with the opposite of cold feet. Making it the one time, albeit unwittingly, Aziraphale is the first to show up for their relationship. In character, it’s all unintentionally. Artistically, they are two people eager to move their relationship along in this moment. When the bomb drops on the church, it’s a metaphorical leveling of the playing field between them[5]. A separation of themselves from their former identities, a closure of the ceremony. By dressing them nearly identical, in the aftermath of the church, they are equal.

Crowley first reinvented his identity in 33AD, as both he and Aziraphale stand in reverence of the crucifixion’s magnitude. Though the use of the crucifix props as church rubble was a practical decision made for budget reasons, it’s a beautiful coincidence that a significant moment of Crowley’s growth, so inextricably tied to Aziraphale, made itself relevant to Aziraphale during the Blitz.

It reinforces – by coincidence – the interpretation of their conversation in 33AD being what alters their dichotomy in 41AD, where Aziraphale is first to pursue Crowley’s companionship. It rationalizes his ongoing commitment in learning how to dance.

He doesn’t fall in love[6] with Crowley over saving the books; he falls in love with the idea of them.

Or just falling in love with how metal it is to kill nazi’s as part of your metaphorical wedding symbology, why complicate it.

[4] Me, I’m the guy.

[5] In addition to being historically accurate.

[6] According to Michael Sheen; hard for me to disagree, either. I kept trying, and by the time I got to this point in the essay it was fucking impossible.

SOHO (1967) – THE LAST POINT TO THE REST OF THIS POST

“After everything you said” is only an odd comment to make at someone, who never said much to begin with, until you give “fraternizing” the weight of a 6000 year old mountain.

“You go too fast for me” is only a double entendre when taking the time to consider that Crowley approached their conversation in 1862 as someone who’s been in both their shoes before, unaware of how inconsiderate to Aziraphale’s unique position he’d been with his proposal.

A 70 year long silent treatment shows how little someone still understands you, how little you understand yourself, when neither can’t tell you’re obsessed at the idea of losing them, despite saying it so clearly in your unspoken language. A worry that won’t change for as long as Crowley remains a demon.

Holy water is still a threat on the most important thing in the world to Aziraphale when he finally decides to hand it over. The difference now, to then, is he gets it after everything during the Blitz. That is kind of the whole point episode three built up to. The holy water is their relationship: a potential threat, against everything they’re trying to maintain. If neither of them is perfectly careful, their relationship could eternally wipe away the chance to share each other’s time, and bring themselves closer to being human.

It’s an agreement that their relationship can’t, and won’t, destroy what’s important to them by nature of just existing.

They literally just need to learn how to dance.

AFTERWORD -

Did you know this was needlessly long? Three whole pages. It’s a soliloquy on how my love for what the series adds to Aziraphale and Crowley by deviating from the book, I had no other reason for writing it. Nothing prompted this deluge of personal sentiment. I just wanted to see the conversation get had in 2023 and I’m better at analytical essays than I am at fanfic.

Isn’t that remarkable? We live in a world where anyone can go on a three page, unprompted college dissertation about whatever kind of love it is two eternal beings express in the dumbest ways possible towards each other, and it’s time well spent. Season 2 could happen any day now and invalidate half my points made, who cares, nobody wants that to happen more than me, actually.

Thanks for reading! No clue who would, but I like to think sometimes words get read on the internet. The place is full of them, after all.

[muninnhuginn]

trigun (talking original anime not stampede/manga here as I can’t comment on those yet) is actually genuinely really solid in terms of themes and repeating imagery. the way the very setting of a desert with the associated resource scarcity plays into it all. you get monopolies over water where one family holds everything whilst the surrounding areas are left to rot. but then you have small patches of greenery that could have amounted to nothing but due to years of nurturing they’ve grown up into forests. it’s about what you do with what you’re given and what you choose to pass on to others.

[lokh]

unfortunately i still write the exact same way i did at approximately age 13

[ghoulierstudio]

I just bought this book on eBay so somewhat blindly because I wanted more Baudelaire in my life than the Flowers of Evil/Paris Spleen compilation book provided. This is such a lovely blurb. Most posthumous blurbs are usually shrewd but this is so reverent ❤️

[paunchsalazar]

he is still the most fucked up looking girl I know

[lilydvoratrelundar]

IT'S MY LAST EXAM TOMORROW

[katyspersonal]

One of the struggles of setting Bloodborne’s timeline and headcanons is having the limited points of ‘Lore Fault’ that you have to distribute between characters in a way that will make the best story outline. Like you can put all Fault points into Laurence but that will ignore important things about Willem and sap from autonomy of those like Logarius, you can share some Fault points with Ludwig thus making him a bit guilty for insisting on his fanatism rather than being completely brainwashed, you can put all Fault points into Micolash but this makes the story a bit imbalanced etc...

Like, you just have to distribute Fault points between characters in a way that will be better than blaming only one character for everything, but also will be more emotionally appealing than ‘everyone did wrong and it is too complex to be mad at anyone’. And it is so much fun

[mormorando]

two dates with a singing class in between today... the plan is white clinging top, thin white blouse overtop, pearl jewellery, simple dark jeans, glossy raspberry lips and flora by gucci. this in the background even though i'm in europe on a bus:

[pixelkind413]

Today I have discovered that when I forget the correct word for something I will reflexively, and almost spitefully, cobble together an approximation of what I mean from the active worst words I can think of. Denotation purist, connotation rebel.

During a family dinner I forgot "prior engagement" and ended up with "premeditated other things to do" and honestly I feel like I'm keeping this one.