#just an observer

[josiebelladonna]

hm. well, let’s see…

-my fics got more autobiographical while fusing worlds of fantasy, i.e., wrote/began writing some of my best work while saturn was in aqua

-my art got a lot honest, too. part of it being i’m working mostly by hand rather than digitization: i still do digital art but i’m having to be wise about it with the rise of ai and everything

-two very sexy men named joey and alex (joey at 0° degrees aquarius, alex at 4°)

-befriended amazing people

-started vocalizing more questions

-started “seeing things as they are”, i.e., people who are all talk and no walk, “fake it til you make it” is bullshit always has been and always will be, and things that are too good to be true, but also good people coming from all walks of life and small miracles in the strangest of places like bowls of soup or the twinkle in alex’s eyes or the way a cloud looks

-started standing up for things i believe in (supporting art and artists, supporting science at its root, taking care of your body, lgbtq+ rights and all things pertaining to sexuality, supporting people from different backgrounds, supporting men as well as women because there’s way too much cartoon “feminism” that’s just an excuse for people to be dickheads to boys and men while acting like girls and women are perfect in every way)

-started becoming really bored and disenchanted with “rockism” and i began paying more attention to smaller acts, weirder shit, and different genres without being all like “why isn’t this more popular?” out the gate in junction with the basic stuff because it’s buried in the same way diamonds are buried

-realized that i’m only a small part of an even bigger thing

-animals began warming up to me more (they always have but it was especially the case then; lots of cats and dogs, but also lots of birds, reptiles, horses, fish, billy goats, deer, elk, and even a couple of foxes?)

-gained 40+ pounds as of my writing this (30 in 2021, 17 last year, and i lost a couple so far this year: 40 pounds is still 40 pounds, and i can barely see my toes anymore when i look down 😅) and figured that it’s actually been a lifelong dream of mine to be very chubby, like i’ve always felt it in hindsight, from looking at my belly in the mirror and wishing it was fat to wanting dessert in a restaurant when my parents refused it. but i also want to stay healthy, like… i like wendy’s, arby’s, dairy queen, jersey mike’s, jack in the box, dutch bros., chili’s, el pollo loco, in n’ out, and outback steakhouse as much as the next fat girl but i actually prefer eating at home, and i eat mainly whole food at that, too—i like foreign food, too, mainly your asian stuff like japanese and vietnamese food. i’ve repressed a lot of desire out of fear of being judged for my weight (pluto is going to make me extra chubby? i’m kinda down 😆😋)

-shit got really erotic with me, like… more so than when saturn was in capricorn because it was all me in aquarius

-with my weight gain, i’ve grown very strong, like i don’t think i would have been able to shovel a pathway through 2-foot snow drifts for my mom, my dog, and myself without having this big, round “mountaineer woman” belly on me. i’m also way more flexible than i was in high school, too (i do miss riding my bike from home to the cafe nearby for coffee and pie, though)

-i’ve grown very disillusioned and displeased with mainstream culture, be it on tv or the internet, and i’ve just decided to go with my heart and what i like and i don’t care if i’m alone in it, too

-my intuition got absurdly sharp during that transit, too, like things would manifest to me after i talked about it in throwaway fashion or thought about it in fleeting detail

-been traveling a lot, usually to the beach or down to l.a., or even just doing “common people” type stuff like going to the movies or to a nice restaurant

-returned to things i loved as a kid that i sort of had to give up during my teen years like meteorology and comics and cartoons i grew up watching and horror and eating whatever i feel like (i had one of those little pies you get at walmart, blueberry of course + a piece of cake the other day: 8 year old me was in bliss!)

-discovered my heritage after not really knowing my whole life (i’m two parts latin, two parts from the british isles, one part scandinavian, and a tablespoon of baltic states: i always thought i was native american and german)

-my mom’s got saturn in aquarius, too, and during her own return, she picked up more hobbies like those diamond paintings, legos, and sewing (she and i are also big on funko pops, rocks, gardening, and books)

-she and i also got into a discussion about dreams in life a couple of times during that transit, how i want to make a comic book someday and go back into ceramics and art glass and working with my hands, while she wants to write and publish a novel and get more into carpentry

-problems with the house came up, too, like my stepdad dying and ownership of the house going into limbo, the septic backing up, the place being ungodly cold in the winter and hotter than holy fuck in the summer, and recently, losing the internet for four days

-saw a lot of weather during that transit, too, like… california is pretty much known for having nice day after nice day after nice day after nice day to the point of monotony, but i saw… snowstorms, the thickest fog i’ve ever seen, the brightest rainbows i’ve ever seen, awful heat waves, monsoon flows, hail, a couple of bomb cyclones, floods, hydrological outlooks, sleet, a shitload of rain, stupidly high winds, whatever tf was happening last spring when i didn’t put my winter clothes and warm blankets away until the end of june, snow up to my hip, the place actually looking like anchorage alaska at one point, and even funnel clouds

-the big thing is “acab” (all cops are bastards)… you know what’s really weird is i actually met a lot of cool cops during that transit, guys who were really good guys, like they were actually doing justice in front of me, a heavyset woman of mixed race. social justice should never be trendy, either: you stand for something because it feels right to you, not because it’s expected of you.

-i’ve also always known the power of lurking, just observing behavior, but saturn in aquarius really made me love doing that. there’s so much power in just watching people and seeing how they behave, especially when they think you aren’t around.

i should also mention that saturn was in my 8th house and conjunct my moon at one point, and i had my saturn return last month on the 17th, too! those transits get way too of a bad wrap, imo: questioning my sexuality and gender to the point of feeling overwhelmed and completely lost aside, saturn in the 8th is actually pretty cool at some points—in some cases, fun. and the saturn return can actually be the best thing to happen to you, too. saturn on the moon was kind of tough, though, like i often felt really robotic during that.

[stil-lindigo]

Bisan is calling for another global strike!

I saw some posts just outlining Jan 21st, and wanted to clarify that Bisan has called for a full seven days of action.

What a global strike would look like is:

calling in sick to work

purchasing bare essentials ahead of the week so you can observe the general boycott of goods / buying as little as you genuinely can

putting in a concerted effort to elevate Palestinian voices and make it clear that this strike is in support of a permanent ceasefire!

For those who will have to purchase necessary goods during this time, please observe the brands that the BDS movement is asking us to boycott!

♢♢♢

Right now is also a good time to mention some better uses for your money during this week.

Available e-sims in Gaza are running low!!

Mirna El Helbawi and her team are working round the clock to continue to connect Palestinians as Israel does its best to cut them off from the rest of the world.

You can learn how to purchase and send e-sims here, and below you’ll find a list of what is currently needed (the areas in brackets indicate what region you should select to buy e-sims in).

--

CareforGaza is an organisation that does verifiably good work, distributing supplies directly to Palestinian families.

They have a Gofundme set up at the moment, but because of Gofundme’s poor track record regarding refusing to transfer funds to Palestinians, I’d recommend continuing to donate directly to their PayPal here.

Good luck to all of you. Don't turn away from Palestine!

[elodieunderglass]

changes and trends in horror-genre films are linked to the anxieties of the culture in its time and place. Vampires are the manifestation of grappling with sexuality; aliens, of foreign influence. Horror from the Cold War is about apathy and annihilation; classic Japanese horror is characterised by “nature’s revenge”; psychological horror plays with anxieties that absorbed its audience, like pregnancy/abortion, mental illness, femininity. Some horror presses on the bruise of being trapped in a situation with upsetting tasks to complete, especially ones that compromise you as a person - reflecting the horrors and anxieties of capitalism etc etc etc. Cosmic horror is slightly out of fashion because our culture is more comfortable with, even wistful for, “the unknown.” Monster horror now has to be aware of itself, as a contingent of people now live in the freedom and comfort of saying “I would willingly, gladly, even preferentially fuck that monster.” But I don’t know much about films or genres: that ground has been covered by cleverer people.

I don’t actually like horror or movies. What interests me at the moment is how horror of the 2020s has an element of perception and paying attention.

Multiple movies in one year discussed monsters that killed you if you perceived them. There are monsters you can’t look at; monsters that kill you instantly if you get their attention. Monsters where you have to be silent, look down, hold still: pray that they pass over you. M Zombies have changed from a hand-waved virus that covers extras in splashy gore, to insidious spores. A disaster film is called Don’t Look Up, a horror film is called Nope. Even trashy nun horror sets up strange premises of keeping your eyes fixed on something as the devil GETS you.

No idea if this is anything. (I haven’t seen any of these things because, unfortunately, I hate them.) Someone who understands better than me could say something clever here, and I hope they do.

But the thing I’m thinking about is what this will look like to the future, as the Victorian sex vampires and Cold War anxieties look to us. I think they’ll have a little sympathy, but they probably won’t. You poor little prey animals, the kids will say, you were awfully afraid of facing up to things, weren’t you?

[beachsideufo]

a strange internet phenomenon 2

[ear-motif]

fanfic is so good bc the premise of some genres of fic are just inherently funny. I want these two grizzled crime drama protagonists to have some fucking fun for once, so they go to a water park. I dont care how i have to logic my way into them going there i dont care who has to drag them Theyre Going

[terracottakore]

new groundbreaking discoveries on etho's setup

[bixels]

Just gonna have to wait and see, right? Just wait and see! Just gotta wait and see! Who knows, we'll just have to wait and see! It's anybody's guess, we'll just have to wait and see! The future is exciting, we just gotta wait and see!

[writeouswriter]

Broke: Acknowledging that a character who is an objectively terrible person is also a complex and intentionally well thought out individual with different levels of nuance you can empathize with in some ways while not in others is immediately “woobifying” or “poor little meow meowifying” them.

Woke: “This character is a bad person” and “this character is still a person” are two statements that can, should and do coexist and admitting that they exhibit nuance and depth and are more than just their bad actions doesn’t immediately excuse or condone their bad actions or mean that you’re ignoring or trying to soften the canonical version of the character.

Bespoke: That’s the whole point, that’s always been the point, to be made to empathize with horrible people so you can understand that they can be anyone, that bad people can be likeable, can be interesting, can be human, are human, and it’s scary to think about all the ways they’re just like you and all the ways they’re just like everything you hate, forcing the use of critical skills in media analysis, forcing a confrontation of the duality of man.

Whatever Level is Above Bespoke: But sometimes, yeah, sure, maybe they are a poor little meow meow, what are you gonna do, get a lawyer

[creatureimages]

double wourm day yesterday. the mountain abounds with them

[astronomodome]

iskall calling the ravagers ‘boys’ vs. zedaph calling the ravagers ’gentlemen’

[adamcytryn]

Someone has probably already pointed it out, but I absolutely love the detail of how Hades is touching Persephone, but his other hand, the one next to Zagreus is just kind of there, not entirely making contact. It shows really well that even though their relationship and things between them are better they're still not perfect (and probably never will be)

[semisolidmind]

Does DogDay have romantic feelings for your sona or is it more platonic? The way you draw him I wouldnt mind if it was the first- 👀

(theyre not a sona, just a standard y/n insert. im not much of a self shipper. the y/ns are their own characters in a way)

and as far as feelings go…

there’s affection on both sides...but perhaps something more from our favorite dog.

[kettlefire]

Justice League & The Observants

The first time The Observants appeared before the Justice League, they were met with resistance. The JL was more than apprehensive when it came to working with the beings.

A new side of their world was exposed to them. Since the day those things showed up at the watchtower, everywhere the JL turned, there was a new spooky thing to learn about.

The strange beings didn't say much. Appearing in the room through a swirling portal, took a look at the heroes and gave them a mission.

A mission. Like suddenly the Justice League works for them. Something that rubbed all the heroes the wrong way.

Yet, they had to take it. They couldn't let a town get absolutely destroyed and leveled just because they disliked the creatures that told them about it.

It kept happening.

Batman pulls out all the stops to learn more about these so called "Observants". Everything he could find.

It takes him down a rabbit hole. Finding out more and more about the world those beings came from. The Zone.

No one could really complain. The visits from the Observants were always short and to the point. A new problem has arise in the time line and they needed to fix it.

That was until the first time it wasn't one of those things stepping out of the portal.

This time it was a kid. Or something that looked like a kid, and this kid looked pissed.

He demands to know everything that the Observants had asked the league to do. Demands to be filled in.

The anger isn't directed at the JL. No, no. It's directed at the Observants. It seems the league aren't the only ones that despise those all-seeing beings.

He's a king. The kid is a King.

Not what anyone had expected, and it seemed the complication only grew more. The king, Phantom, informs them not to trust the Observants.

The Justice League takes it all in surprising strides. Confirms that they have done nothing wrong, and they haven't. It was simply that the Observants cared more of their own opinions than the betterment of the world.

However, it gets a little harder to keep a straight face when they are introduced to the God of Time.

Made even worse when the God, Clockwork, is a child. If they thought Phantom was a kid, this was a baby.

Except in almost a blink of an eye, Clockwork was an old man.

Things just kept getting more complicating and intriguing.

Before the Justice League knows it. They are essentially thrusted into the Zone's own problems. An inner war was brewing, and Phantom wanted to do everything he could to stop it.

[ew-selfish-art]

Dp x Dc AU: Jason and Jazz have been dating for a while and... Danny presumes that because he knows about Jason being Red Hood that Jason knows about Phantom. 

Danny got a text randomly in the afternoon from Jazz’s boyfriend. Which was inherently a strange experience considering Jason was typically dead asleep in the afternoon from all his ‘evening shifts’ and Jazz was in class. Stranger, the message just asked if Danny would be free to meet up today for a short chat. Jason doesn’t reply to Danny’s response of “Anything for my sister’s BOO <3.” 

Normally, Jason would start launching into a rant about Danny’s coffee choice being too like his little brother’s when they met at cafes- right now Jason looks deadly serious. 

“Look. I’ll cut to the chase of it all. I want to ask Jazz to marry me and well, your folks are shitty but it feels weird to not ask for permission.” 

“...Okay?” 

“So do I have permission?” Jason asks, a bit of a glare and Danny can see the RedHood’s famous attitude peeking out with the abundance of anxiety Jason must be feeling. 

“I mean, Yeah! She loves you and I know she’s been subliminally messaging you to find your balls and ask her already.” Danny rolls his eyes and laughs. His brother-in-law to be sure was a strange guy, but he liked him all the more because of it. 

Jason sighs in relief and his normal literature nerd, easy going and plucky ‘cool guy’ attitude comes back. They start chatting about the ring he bought for her, how they’re probably going to have to do a small wedding with his family members to appease his grandpa figure. Its all very cute and optimistic. 

“Love it! She mentioned your grandpa’s rose garden before and that’ll be perfect for human family events before the big ceremony.” 

“Big Ceremony?” Jason sounds unsure of where the conversation is going. 

“Yeah, you know. Plus now that I’m thinking about it, it’s probably for the best that you asked me, the observants would totally turn this into like, an interdimensional faux pa or something if I don’t give them a heads up.” Danny laughs at the idea of it causing an incident, but he can see Jason straighten his shoulders and his eyes attempt to pierce through him. 

“Danny. What the fuck are you talking about?” Jason looks more pissed than he looks concerned, and Danny is just confused. 

“Cause... You Know.” 

“If you don’t give me a real answer I’m going to-” At least Jason was taking deep breaths. 

“Hey man, chill out! I guess Jazz keeps it on the DL but my night shift has-” 

“Night shift? You’re an engineer.” Jason cuts him off and the fact sounds accusatory. 

“And I’m the Ghost King? You knew this?” Danny relents, he hated saying it out loud cause it sounded lame, but he’s not sure why Jason is so up in arms all of a sudden. Jason looked like he might have an aneurysm and Danny knows his expression is declaring Jason is the biggest Dumbass in the world. 

“Danny ...what the fuck are you trying to say to me right now?” 

“That you and Jazz have to have a royal wedding in the Infinite Realms or my counsel and advisors will throw an absolute fit.” 

Jason doesn’t reply so Danny decides to add “You know, ‘cause my title translates to the Family’s royal lineage and if you marry Jazz you’ll become a Prince. I guess you don’t technically have to have a big wedding but if you don’t it’ll just mean shit loads of paperwork and a huge fucking headache on my end. Which I can survive but... I’m sensing that you’re frustrated. Let’s call Jazz.” 

“Let’s do that.” Jason sounds like he’s being strangled. Danny thinks it’s a bit dramatic but is excited to help Jazz wedding plan. 

[pratchettquotes]

One of the recurring philosophical questions is:

"Does a falling tree in the forest make a sound when there is no one to hear?"

Which says something about the nature of philosophers, because there is always someone in a forest. It may only be a badger, wondering what that cracking noise was, or a squirrel a bit puzzled by all the scenery going upwards, but someone. At the very least, if it was deep enough in the forest, millions of small gods would have heard it.

Things just happen, one after another. They don't care who knows. But history...ah, history is different. History has to be observed. Otherwise it's not history. It's just...well, things happening one after another.

Terry Pratchett, Small Gods

[cowboythewizard726]

woah-ho-ho-dude don't mean to alarm you or anything but has anyone ever told you that you've got some pretty beautiful majestic gorgeous eyes right there just a pair of completely absolutely striking ocular organs you've got in there man like jesus those are some pretty stunning irises dude like wow man