#personal stuff etc

[crystaltoa]

Had to say goodbye to my dog Bruce yesterday.

I'm a wreck.

But reaching the age of nine and succumbing to natural causes (degradation of his spinal tissue) was nothing short of miraculous given that over the course of his life, he had

Eaten rat poison

Had a heated argument with a scorpion

Fought at least two venomous snakes and won

Had to be prevented from fighting a feral cow

Escaped the yard of a friend who was dogsitting him, skipped town and was found two months later living in an off-grid shack with a hardcore survivalist guy who hunts camels with a bow and arrow and is known to have eaten his own dog at least once.

Escaped from a yard with an eight foot barbed wire fence (not a scratch on him)

Developed a habit of licking cane toads to get high off the poison

One time just straight up swallowed a cane toad whole (puked it up and had Tummy Hurt for a day, no other apparent side effects)

TORE A LIGHT SWITCH PANEL OUT OF THE WALL (Electrician was simultaneously horrified and impressed, it left scorch marks on the wall but Bruce seemed unfazed and unscathed by the experience)

Now, don't get me wrong, he was a sweet boy and a generally laid back chill kinda guy. Everyone liked him. But he sure had his "hold my beer" moments.

Goodbye, old friend. Despite your best efforts, you lived long enough to have your first grey hairs. You've probably given me a few along the way too.

...Nine years still seems too short.

I will measure your life in stories instead.

[mamawasatesttube]

BTW... PSA.... even if we arent mutuals if youre in my notes regularly theres a Very high chance i am still fond of you. yes im vaguing someones tags on the compliment the person u rbed this from post. but like. positive vaguing? THE POINT IS im weird abt following ppl but IM STILL SENDING U FOND VIBES...

[corpsentry]

pick your battles

[paranormeow7]

tired of nonbinary people being pressured to be thin hairless elf like pretty and always depicted as white afab skinny kids with blue hair, of course only using they/them. give me nonbinary people who are heavily fem/masc aligned!! give me nonbinary people who use neopronouns and xenogenders!! give me fat nonbinary people!! hairy nonbinary people!! nonbinary POC!! amab nonbinary people!! disabled nonbinary people!! nonbinary people who wear crazy clothes, or nonbinary people who don’t stand out and don’t feel the need to!! nonbinary people with names like Moss or Socks, or nonbinary people with “regular” names like Susan or James or something!! Give me every flavor of nonbinary people, and stop trying to make it into yet ANOTHER gender binary!! Nonbinary can be anything, not just a third gender to adhere to!!

[yukipri]

For curiosity's sake...

[lazycranberrydoodles]

i think the barbie movie would have a profound psychological impact on hua cheng

prev comic / next comic / follow for still more hualian barbie movie content because i am not done

bonus angsty version 🎉 i hate love expressions just a couple tiny lines on the mouth and eyebrows and it goes from silly to sad

:(

[bixels]

WIP I whipped up in class yesterday. We'll see how far Tulli and I get on this.

[icewindandboringhorror]

I made a few new wax seal stamps out of clay (like the ones I did for my worldbuilding stuff forever ago), this time just of random symbols that I thought might look good done in the style of painting over the raised part of the wax or etc. :0c Some of them aren't carved deep enough to really show up that well, but overall they worked okay for being clay lol

[gobstoppr]

Tetris Fanart.

I've been playing tetris while listening to horror podcasts. and yeah

[samble-movedd]

"homura is an evil abuser who wants to control madoka and hates their friends" tired trope, canonically untrue, congrats on falling for the facade put up by a middle schooler.

"homura sees herself as inherently evil and abusive due to her upbringing, past actions, and status as a witch, which is still ongoing even at the end of rebellion" fresh, new, actually closer to canon, doesn't demonize a child for being mentally ill.

[transgendercastiel]

idk if anyones ever spoken about this before, but when I watch community I’m kind of under the assumption that Abed, while much more in touch with the narrative than the average character, isn’t actually capable of seeing the show as it happens or truly breaking the 4th wall. While that’s super interesting as a perspective to use while watching, I do think that he is doing the on screen equivalent of someone irl “looking into the camera”. As in, he loves television and uses it as his major method of interacting with the world, and acting like he’s in a tv show is something he does because it helps him, not because he knows he’s in a tv show. In fact, when we see Abed’s version of “community” it’s a multi camera sitcom with a laugh track, not an accurate representation of the real thing. In contemporary American poultry, Abed asks Jeff not to do a “special episode” about him, apparently not aware that he’s already the focus of the episode. It always felt to me that Abed acts like he’s in a television show because he wants to and it just happens to line up with the show sometimes (eg when he “lays low for an episode”). Obviously there’s nuance here, and he obviously has as much if not more influence over the show’s actual presentation as Jeff, but I think it might be diminishing to say that he’s truly aware of the narrative he’s in.

[theactualsunshinechild]

I think Aventio and Screwtio shippers shouldn't fight. After all, Ratio has two hands!

That's right. Two hands.

One for his chalk.

One for his codex.

Both of which he's holding in an embarrassed death grip as they chat away with each other about him.

[magnus-rhymes-with-swagness]

OKAY who wants to hear about why i think nimona challenges amatonormativity? you do! 🫵

one of the main ways this is accomplished is through ballister and ambrosius’s relationship. it’s arguable that it doesn’t necessarily fit the traditional model of romance - not only are they a queer interracial couple, and not only is their relationship ambiguous in the book, but there are certain instances, especially in the movie, that subvert traditional ideas of romance and friendship.

one instance that really stands out to me is when the director asks ambrosius what’s on his mind and he goes on his imagined rant about how arm-chopping isn’t a love language - you know the one. when he mentions ballister, he refers to him as “the man i love, my best friend.” and not just one or the other, but both! the man i love, and my best friend. he places equal emphasis on both the romantic and platonic aspects of the relationship, valuing ballister in both a romantic context and a platonic context without treating either one as more important than the other.

and even moments such as the first “i love you” and the kiss manage to subvert tradition. both of these things are generally seen as a pretty big deal, especially in fiction - if the characters are kissing or saying “i love you,” it’s usually a moment in which everything changes. a line is drawn, dividing the story into after and now. sometimes it’s dramatic and climactic, with fireworks and a swell of music, but even when it isn’t it’s still seen as a turning point of sorts. now it’s official, now it’s real. but this isn’t the case in nimona. both moments are certainly significant - they do a good job of showcasing the character development and where ballister and ambrosius are on their respective journeys, and are certainly important in terms of representation - but neither one follows the path that most fictional romance does.

another way in which nimona challenges amatonormativity would be the emphasis on friendship! in the tavern scene (in the movie) when ambrosius suggests killing nimona, ballister disagrees and says “she’s my friend.” ambrosius replies with “aren’t i more than that?”, implying he’s more important than a friend - thus upholding amatonormative ideas. ballister becomes angry at that and leaves - challenging this idea and prioritizing his platonic relationship with nimona over his romantic one with ambrosius, as nimona is the one he wants to defend.

additionally, a big part of this scene is the way ballister deliberately rejects institute values while ambrosius unintentionally upholds them. and because the story challenges homophobia and transphobia (and other forms of bigotry) through the lens of the institute, it would make sense for it to challenge amatonormativity too! it’s something that’s become incredibly normalized, to the point that lots of people don’t even know it exists, and this is reminiscent of the institute brainwashing, especially when it comes to ambrosius - he’s been manipulated his whole life and probably genuinely doesn’t understand the level to which he’s internalized institute beliefs.

ballister prioritizes nimona many times, actually. when he tells ambrosius she’s “smart, kind, and quite sophisticated,” when he’s overjoyed to see her again at the end, when he refuses to kill her and saves her instead. over and over, he proves how much he cares about her, even when this involves directly going against what ambrosius wants - which, of course, is really what the institute wants. a core tenant of amatonormativity is the false notion that romantic relationships are more important or valuable than other types of relationships, but ballister actively goes against this!

to conclude, as a story that at its core is about identity and challenging societal beliefs, nimona defies expectations and traditional ideas of what it should or shouldn’t be. it’s possible that amatonormativity wasn’t what the creators had in mind, but the story still manages to challenge it with grace and elegance. just like its main character, nimona refuses to conform to what others want it to be.

[marsbotz]

maybe its already too late for me

[delicate-sketch]

saw a post about how people want will solace to have a gun because they don’t recognize the value of his healing powers which can be true but also

the whole thing in pjo is that for demigods fighting = autonomy and independence (which is why percy screams at the begging IT SUCKS TO BE A DEMIGOD) the idea is that the camp makes demigods safe (by teaching them how to fight) and any other type of labour isn’t that much valuable because they > don’t teach them that it is < / > they don’t live enough to need them <

The Harpies are the ones cleaning instead of themselves, the Ambrosia will heal instead of actual doctors (which puts a hell of pressure on Will when the ambrosia is not enough because he needs to treat those who are severely injured AND the light injured who already took way too much Ambrosia)

And I don’t think this was on purpose RR was just like “oh shit someone and something needs to do this boring stuff”

I think the camp should have an equilibrium going on like teach those kids valuable life skills (what is safe to eat in a forest how do I cook make themselves clean the dishes how do I treat an injurie without ambrosia ((this one for wills sake too)) how do I guide myself without a gps) and also what kind of fighting suits you because yeah in a world where monsters want to kick your ass you need to know how to defend yourself not because this is what makes you valuable but because it what makes you SURVIVE

[nonbinarylesbianherb]