#metaphors and analogies

[capricorn-0mnikorn]

Are you grumpy? Try cleaning your glasses.

Seriously. You can take that either literally (if you wear glasses) or metaphorically (in a "rose colored glasses" sense). Personally, I've found it works either way.

It's amazing how quickly a near invisible film of sweat, and tears, and fingerprint smears can accumulate on your lenses, if you haven't taken the time to clean them recently.

That build up is gradual, and you may not noticing it happening, but it still makes it harder to focus on every day things, and it makes the whole world seem a little grey and dingy, and that might end up being the one-straw-too-many that's breaking your back.

[wellhealthhub]

Beyond Sight: The Art of Elaborate Self-Description and the Power of Language

How would you describe yourself to someone who can’t see you? In the intricate and multifaceted realm of human interaction, visual perception assumes an undeniable significance as it serves as the primary conduit through which we understand, appreciate, and connect with others. However, consider a rather thought-provoking scenario wherein the sense of sight, an indispensable medium of discerning…

[aroaceleovaldez]

reminder that the only reason the "ADHD is actually demigod BATTLE STRATEGIES" and "dyslexia is DEMIGOD BRAINS HARDWIRED FOR ANCIENT GREEK" things exist in the PJO universe is because it's a very direct reference to early 2000s teaching/parenting techniques for neurodiverse and disabled children, which aimed to frame childrens' disabilities and hardships as a "superpower" or strength so that the children would feel more positively about their disabilities or situations. This technique has fallen out of favor since then for the most part since more often than not it just results in kids feeling as though their struggles are not being seen or taken seriously.

Yes, demigods are adhd/dyslexic (and sometimes autistic-coded) in the series. This is extremely important and trying to remove it or not acknowledge it makes the entire series fall apart because it is such a core concept. Yes, canon claims that their adhd/dyslexia is tied to some innate abilities, which is based on an outdated methodology. It's important to acknowledge that and understand where it comes from! But please stop trying to apply it to other pantheons in the series like "oh, the romans have dyscalculia because of roman numerals!" or "the norse demigods have dysgraphia for reasons!" - it's distasteful at best.

A better option is to acknowledge the meta inspiration for why that exists in the series, such as explaining potentially that Chiron was utilizing that same teaching methodology to try and help demigods feel more comfortable with their disabilities and they aren't literal powers. In fact, especially given Frank, there's implication that being adhd/dyslexic isn't a guaranteed demigod trait, which means it's more likely to be normally inherited from their godly parent/divine ancestor as a general trait, not a power, and further supports the whole "ADHD is battle strategy" thing being non-literal. It also implies the entire greco-roman pantheon in their universe is canonically adhd/dyslexic - and that actually fits very well with the themes of the first series. The entire central conflict of the first series fits perfectly as an allegory about neurodiverse/disabled children and their relationships with their undiagnosed neurodiverse/disabled parents and trying to find solutions together with their shared disability/disabilities that the kid inherited instead of becoming distant from each other (and this makes claiming equivalent to getting a diagnosis which is a fascinating allegory! not to mention the symbolism of demigods inheriting legacies and legends and powers from their parents and everything that comes with that being equivalent to inheriting traits, neurodiversity, and disabilities from your parents).

anyways neurodiversity and disability and the contexts in which the series utilizes representation of those experiences particularly during the 2000s symbolically within the narrative is incredibly important to the first series and the understanding of what themes it means to represent. also if i see one more "the romans have dyscalculia instead of dyslexia" post in 2023 i'm gonna walk into the ocean.

[myfandomrealitea]

Pre-emptively blocking people is good for everyone.

Seriously. The amount of times I see people whining or laughing about being blocked when they 'haven't even done anything' just tells me that not many of you know its actually a really good way to properly curate your online space, and its not something to be offended over.

Blocking is a form of protection. Its also a form of mutual protection.

Especially on websites that don't offer more extensive or usable filtering, tagging and avoidance options. Twitter, for example.

Blocking isn't some personal insult. Its a method of saying; hey, we clearly shouldn't interact, so I'm gonna build this soundproof wall between us to make sure we can't.

To use The Salmon Analogy, if I run a restaurant based on salmon as the main ingredient, and you're allergic or or severely dislike salmon, me refusing to serve you isn't a personal sleight. Its me recognising that you can't or really don't want to eat salmon, and its me protecting you from an unpleasant experience and myself from you inevitably screaming at me for serving salmon.

If you are someone who enjoys 'objectionable' content, such as gore, and you stumble across an extremely anti-gore blog, its absolutely a viable option to pre-emptively block them. Maybe your paths never would've crossed, but its better to ensure they don't than potentially wind up the victim or hate or harassment.

Blocking is an absolute sure-fire way to ensure that you do not see something you do not want to. It should be used as liberally as you want to.

[elder-millennial-of-zion]

Tell me if I’m reaching here guys, but I think the Holocaust could serve as an analogy for the persecution of Jews.

[redconsumerism]

TO CONSUME IS (not) TO LOVE

cannibalism in romance novels

Cannibalism is like a parallax. For once it exists as a ‘philia’, characterized by the desire of eating another. And we find that it exists in the opposite spectrum, in the form of a ‘phobia’, which speaks of the fear of being eaten or partaking unknowingly or forcefully in the act of eating another. To vore is adjacent to love in most cases, both feared and desired. Because to love someone is (apparently) to want to consume them. 

Though cannibalism might seem like a barbaric and horrific concept, it is said to be one of the most intense demostrations of love that exist in both classic and contemporary literature. The gruesome gesture reminds the lecturer of the intensity of love and its lunacy. As Mercedes Abad stated in spanish newsletter ‘el tiempo’ on May 21st, 1995 ‘There is no doubt that love and sex are feasts where, to a greater or lesser extent, we all become anthropophagi who would surely find it quite difficult to answer the question of whether there is greater pleasure in phagocytosing the other or in being phagocytosed.’ Because Cannibalism as a metaphor for love in romance novels, as it is in our day to day, is more about the blind consumerism of it rather than the pureness of it. One example of blind consumerism of love would be in Salvador Dali's Autobiography, where it is mentioned how Gala cooked their pet rabbit because of how much they loved it, in front of the woman’s refusal to the idea of leaving the rabbit with the maids.

To love is to consume, but to consume is to devour and transform in reusable energy. Like a vampire would when consuming someone’s blood, so they can continue living at the other’s cause. You live off the love you take, but if you devour that love, the other cannot live. The truth is cannibalism has a double connotation, and consuming the other’s otherness is three dimensional. Which means it isn’t always about love, or the lack thereof, but more so about the act of possessing. Cannibalism isn’t only one of the greatest manifestations of tenderness (for many), but also the irrevocably selfishness of an individual blinded by desire - in front of the morbid contemplation of the lover giving themselves so the other can survive -. The amorous-sexual instincts that resurface from a deep sense of infatuation together with those of hunger - a basic instinct - that create an irrational longing, unite in cannibalism as an analogy for that which we wish to become one with. It leaves you to question if the love narrated is but an act of survival for starved people.

‘Love is only a prologue to two cannibals struggling to take a bite of each other.’ - La Oscuridad, Ignacio Ferrando Perez (2014.) Cannibalism is, then, the imposture of love, and the obscure craving of something bigger than yourself without any understanding of it. 

[lucascsinclairs]

Lucas Sinclair in Stranger Things 2 | Chapter Eight: The Mind Flayer

"We are talking about the destruction of our world as we know it!"

[makemeabiggraycloud]

the roadkill/breakup analogy in Abstract (Psychopomp) is excellent. makes me want to eat dirt :)

[rainingmbappe]

Yk. Taylor swift is literally paul atreides to the stilgar swifties

[capricorn-0mnikorn]

One of "Well, Actually"'s that I find most annoying:

We shouldn't use the Heart as the icon of emotions, because all those lovey-dovey Feelings come from the Brain (I'm very smart and got an 'A' in high school biology)

Look: The Brain is like a super reclusive genius, whose job it is to make sure The Household remains safe, and functioning. They are locked away in a garret, somewhere at the top of labyrinthine stairs. No one has ever heard their voice, and no one's even allowed to knock on their chamber door.

But three floors down, in a corridor around the corner to the left, there's a whopping, great, glowing monitor. And if the genius at the top of the stairs wants to send a Very Important Message to the inhabitants of the House, that message will appear on that screen.

Which part of the house do you think the Inhabitants come to associate with Important Truths, that must not be ignored -- the locked door at the top of the stairs (that most have never seen), or the glowing monitor with flashing lights that sometimes wakes them up in the middle of the night?

That glowing monitor is The Heart.

[carpe-noctem-bitchess]

it was supposed to be a friendly game of chess, but I suppose that made me forget we were still on the opposite sides of the board. you played a queen's gambit, and did win in the end, but failed to realize that entailed losing your queen too, until it was too late.

[myfandomrealitea]

In case it wasn't clear:

Yes. Even as a proshipper, I firmly believe every single person creating content that has the potential to be unpleasant, triggering or upsetting should be responsible for making sure it can't be seen as much as they have the right to spaces where it can be seen.

It is your personal choice not to bother with things like tags or applying content markers.

But then you lose the right to be angry or upset when people complain about being exposed to your content with limited or no ways to avoid it.

Again. The Salmon Analogy.

You don't have to eat the salmon.

But its in both our best interests for me to be blatant about which dishes contain salmon specifically so you don't eat the salmon.

(And its in everyone's best interests to start bullying websites and services into giving us better tools to make sure this symbiotic relationship works.)

[emeraldhazeart]

Listen.

That WIP isn't dead.

We've just put it out to pasture.

Yeah, we could tell it just wasn't feeling it's usual self this season, so we've decided to give it a rest to take the pressure off.

When will it be back? We don't know. Rest and recuperation takes time. It'll tell us when it's ready to return.

And hey, if it ends up having to retire, that's fine too. We've had a good run with this WIP. Would be a shame to work it into the ground if it's really not a doer. Not all WIPs are born to be winners, after all.

And there's always the possibility of producing a new WIP from it. Who knows, its offspring could just go on to be the next big thing.

[mudmushrooms]

*crying actual crocodile tears* that ending,,, was so ass,,,,

[buggbuzz]

lemonade leak just updated so we are celebrating with another bit of art!!! i was gonna wait to post til my account got unshadowbanned but screw it here we go

(fanart of the lemonade leak by @turtleinsoup!!!)

[dyrewrites]

I realized today (something all of you probably already figured out, but forgive me I'm slow) that I don't write human stories.

Even the ones that have humans in them, that are all about them, they are likely dead, dying, soon to be dead, or transforming into some kind of monster.

I don't do the other way around.

You won't find monsters being made human here. My thing seems to be writing stories where a monster is accepted for being itself, loved more for it even. If they soften at all through the story, it is because they started as an asshole, not because they started as a monster.

Now, we can dig into why that is and the parallels of feeling like an other and how being an outcast and 'weirdo' throughout ones life can make them sympathize with monsters...

But we wont!

Instead, I'll say that I loves monsters and stories about monsters and I will never, ever, ever stop writing about them.

So I hope you guys like these stories because I have a lot in my noggin and you'll all probably see them before anyone else does. >.>