#so that's not surprising

[dolphin1812]

Poor Théodule.

I think the way his aunt frames him in this chapter (“such as one sees in books. For Marius, read Théodule.”) is hilarious. On the one hand, it's a gentle dig at this novel and, by extension, Hugo himself; he used this exact framing to introduce Courfeyrac ("for Courfeyrac, see Tholomyès), so Les Misérables is the "book" that uses this style. If this line of thinking is supposedly unrealistic because it's how one thinks in a book, then Courfeyrac is the less realistic counterpart to Marius. At the same time, the parallel between these lines reveals just how wrong Mlle Gillenormand is. Courfeyrac and Tholomyès are compared, but in reality, the main thing they share is that they're well-off law students with a thriving social life. Their characters are completely different, both to the reader and to everyone around them, just as Théodule just doesn`t work as a Marius replacement. To us, they're too different in personality (Théodule is fun, but he can't really be substituted for his almost-too-contemplative, withdrawn cousin; he's too shallow and open for that). To M Gillenormand, Théodule just doesn't matter. He only cares about Marius. Even his rant happens because he's imagining that Marius is one of the students deliberating!

A brief note on M Gillenormand's rant:

"Just see whither Jacobinism leads. I will bet anything you like, a million against a counter, that there will be no one there but returned convicts and released galley-slaves. The Republicans and the galley-slaves,—they form but one nose and one handkerchief."

His royalism as a whole is rooted in his commitment to a specific social order (a king governs without the feedback of the people, and the people are strictly divided by birth), but this particular comment is notable for its references to the galleys. Gillenormand's "nightmarish Republic" is one where everyone, including ex-convicts and those who served in the galleys, are equal participants. To him, this suggests that republicans are inherently criminal (and/or willing to work with criminals to reach their goals). To us, his "nightmare" is just Jean Valjean having rights as Valjean, not as one of his alter egos. Valjean himself is one of the less political characters (yes, he's literally governed before, but he doesn't express political allegiances), and that might be because he can't risk exposing himself by being too active. A world where his drive to make sure others don't suffer like he did has political influence actually sounds pretty great (Montrueil-sur-Mer was nice, even if still flawed). It's just Gillenormand's fear of letting anyone other than the aristocrats govern - especially the lower classes - that makes this so horrific to him.

Another joke in the rant:

"He’s a Republican, he’s a romantic. What does that mean, romantic? Do me the favor to tell me what it is. All possible follies. A year ago, they ran to Hernani. Now, I just ask you, Hernani! antitheses! abominations which are not even written in French!"

Hugo wrote Hernani. Having Gillenormand hate it so vociferously is a way of praising the work by insulting it (if Gillenormand despises something, that makes it seem better).

There's a lot of anger towards Marius in the specifics, too. One of Gillenormand's criticisms is this:

"They give themselves a scar with the address of thou as citizens, in order to get themselves called, eventually, Monsieur le Comte. Monsieur le Comte as big as my arm, assassins of September."

M le Comte isn't that far off from "M le Baron," and to Gillenormand, Bonapartists and republicans are all just different versions of the same evil, so this dig at titles in a supposedly egalitarian system may be a reference to Marius' own title.

[zytes]

this manatee looks like it’s in a skyrim loading screen

[churroach]

Full of Desires

[mothwriter]

[kimdokjas]

though the movie might be cancelled, yuri on ice will live forever in our hearts. thank you yoi fandom, it's been real ♡

[talaricula]

Things I've seen tumblr memeing about James Somerton doing à la "How did no one see how bigoted he was!" as if those things haven't been a significant part of tumblr culture for over a decade :

Presenting untrue and bordering on conspiratorial versions of (queer or otherwise marginalised) history without any sources

Completely disregarding and disrespecting any expertise on socio-cultural topics/humanities and distrusting academics and historians (incl. acting as if no academics or historians could be queer or marginalised)

Downplaying the role misogyny played in the historical oppression of queer women and concluding that queer men must have been more oppressed than queer women

Bi women are, at best, not as queer as "real" queer ppl, and at worst, simply equivalent to straight women

Despite nominal trans inclusivity, transmasculine ppl are functionally women when convenient (combined with the above, bi transmascs are functionally straight women)

Despite nominal trans inclusivity (bis), shamelessly attacking, threatening and actively endangering any trans woman who questions them or smth they find important (often by unfairly presenting her as violent or as a threat)

Having absolutely fucking wild and reductive takes about ace ppl, the oppression they face and their place in the queer community

Stating that marriage equality is an assimilationist fight while completely ignoring its direct roots in the horrifying consequences of the AIDS crisis for partners of ppl who died of AIDS

Praising western media creators from the past for queer coding even under censure and in the same breath condemning current non western media creators for being homophobic bc their representation isn't explicit enough

Blaming China for all existing homophobic censoring in western media

Assuming all queer media would be better told by western creators and by western standards

Only out queer ppl get to tell queer stories

Heavily criticising almost all queer media created by women or ppl they see as such (see above points about trans ppl) or involving/starring a significant amount of women for any perceived or real amount of "problematicness", but fawning over and praising and negating criticism of queer media created by and starring mostly or even functionally exclusively men (even when it could be argued that, you know, not involving/seriously sidelining women is a pretty clear example of misogyny which should probably be considered "problematic")

And I'm probably forgetting stuff or there's stuff I have internalised myself and don't recognise as an issue

Like idk but I feel like the takeaway from Hbomberguy and Toddintheshadow's videos should maybe be "be aware of such patterns in your communities bc they definitely exist" and not "this guy is uniquely awful" and I feel like a lot of the discussion I've seen surrounding this has been severely failing at that. Most ppl who've spent any significant amount of time on tumblr prob either have internalised at least one of those thought patterns, have had to de-internalise them, or have had to be extremely vigilant to not internalise them (which is done by, you know, seeking out other sources, which also seemed like an important takeaway from the videos)

[stil-lindigo]

The UNRWA is concerned that if they do not receive more funding they will run out by the end of February please spread this message

in case any of you missed it, despite the ICJ's ruling for Israel to facilitate MORE aid into Gaza, the global west has responded by cutting funding to UNWRA, which is responsible for delivering significant amounts of aid into Gaza, as well as surrounding areas such as Lebanon. The countries cutting funding consist of the US, Australia, the UK, the Netherlands, Swritzerland, Italy, Germany, Finland, Canada and Japan. This was all due to a claim by Israel that members of UNWRA were Hamas-members or sympathisers which, at the end of the day, is a claim that concerns only 12 members in a total of 30,000.

Without proper funding, UNWRA is likely to run out of resources by February of this year (only another month) and urges the countries that have suspended donations to reconsider. This is a blatant move from the colonialist countries of this world to starve Palestinians even further when they are already facing unforeseen levels of famine.

Please take some time out of your day to call your reps, your political leaders and urge them to restart their funding. In the meantime, here is a link to donate to the UNWRA.

[greelin]

people when trauma victims act traumatized especially in a way that is unpalatable to them because it involves lashing out and unpredictable moods and having boundary issues rather than just being demure, sad, and consumable

[luminarai]

hey, hi, I was just on the former bird app and came across this info from a brand new study and now I cannot stop screaming internally??? what the actual fuckkkk

theres' an article from the guardian here and here is the actual study:

[tizzymcwizzy]

so,,, i just read all of dungeon meshi in a week, here are my favs hdhdvdjfg

[xx-sketchy-xx]

LOOOK, LOOK WHAT MY MOTHER MADE FROM CAKE. AAAAAAAAAA-

[squidthusiast]

We know what you are 🫵🏳️‍🌈

[druid-for-hire]

[images ID: three images of a comic titled "one must imagine sisyphus happy" by druid-for-hire. it is a visual narrative beginning with someone with wrist pain (depicted by bright orange nerves) working at a drafting table. the reader is shown the same wrist as the person uses it for many everyday tasks such as carrying a grocery basket, pushing elevator buttons, typing, and doing dishes, until the pain dissolves all the panels into chaos. the person then performs several physical therapy exercises until the pain subsides. they sit back down at a desk with their laptop, sigh, and begin typing. a small spark of pain reappears. end id]

a fun little piece i made during the semester and submitted into our school comic anthology! (which you can buy at the Static Fish table at MoCCAFest in NYC ;] ). it's about artists and injury

[hansoeii]

It's about who.

[ruporas]

your love returns in tragedy (ID in alt)