#themes and variations

[capricorn-0mnikorn]

Thinking about the intersection of Disability & Queer Identities

This variation of the Disability Pride Flag popped into my head:

Taking inspiration from the Queer Chevron Flag (also originating here on Tumblr):

Queer Chevron Flag entry on the Pride Flag Fandom Wiki.

[geraniumdormouse]

See also this post

it's been said before and i'm sure said better than i can phrase it. but really, really - if you like making "i'm going to kill myself" jokes, please try switching to being ironically conceited instead.

anytime something goes wrong, say things like "ah well at least i'm beautiful and charming and everyone loves me." when you forget something, try "my big huge brain is so smart and thinking about too many other very big wizardly thoughts you wouldn't even understand." when you're frustrated by one of your symptoms, start talking like you're in My Immortal. "Life has come for me but my eyes are beautiful pools of gorgeous fire and my hair is amazing. I stuck my middle finger up at life and told it to fuck off and it did."

just... try it for a month or two. try saying the most absurdly self-congratulatory shit you can think of.

i know it's tempting to make suicide or self-harm jokes. and for me at least, a decade ago (!) when someone suggested i stop making those kinds of jokes, i was kind of at a loss for what to replace them with. i wanted to make light of these moments, but genuinely (at the time) my first thought really was suicidal ideation. there was a part of me that even felt like ... i was kind of "making light" of that voice. that if i could say i want to die lol, it would help take the sting out of that genuine (albeit passive) desire. like i could turn my illness into a joke.

when i started complimenting myself instead, it felt awkward and stupid. it felt really, really ironic. what i was actually saying was nobody would ever think this stuff about me, that's what makes it so fucking funny.

but. the effect was immediate. first thing i noticed was the people around me. when i dropped a glass and said ah my skin is too beautiful and sleek the glass has swooned and broken for me, other people were suddenly overjoyed to jump in with the joke. rather than making an awkward moment, we'd both start cracking up. ah princess sleek hands, i've heard of you.

i was 19. i hadn't noticed i'd been making others tense when i said i want it all to end. i know now that it's incredibly hard to know how to walk that moment - do you talk to them about your concern? do you potentially make them uncomfortable by asking if they're okay? do you ignore the situation? do you help them pick up the glass, or do they need to do it by themselves? are they genuinely made suicidal over this small moment? and most importantly, how do you - without professional training or supplies - actually help?

most people want to help you pick up the glass in your life, they just have no fucking idea how to do it. they don't want to make anything worse. they don't want to make assumptions about you. they love you, they're scared for you - and being scared makes people kind of freeze up. it's not because they don't love you. it's because they do.

now when something bad happens, my first thought is how can i make a stupid joke about this. it isn't my brain saying you're a dumb fucking bitch. i spend more time laughing. i spend more time being gentle with myself. i spend more time feeling good.

and the thing is - what's kind of funny - is that you'd be surprised by how many people agree with you. the first time i said i'm too pretty to understand that, someone else said to be fair you're the prettiest person in this room. i promise - you really don't know how kindly your friends see you. but they love you for a reason. they sort of reverse-velveteen-rabbit you. your weird and ugly spots fade away and you just become... the love they want to give you.

go love yourself ironically. the worst thing that happens is that you end up tricking your reflection into actually loving you.

[hawberries]

dungeon stack!

[luxmoogle]

A menace. But a cute one.

[luciuscodedswedeboy]

[wildbeautifuldamned]

FORNASETTI RARE Purple Art Silk Tie ITALY 62 3.7 EC ebay Luxury Ties and Much More

[mayasaura]

Protesilaus' body went into the incinerator headless. That fragment of a tooth Ianthe gifted to Palamedes is all that remains of the remains of Dulcinea. This is the closest they ever come to touching. If anyone needs me, I'll be at the bottom of the nearest well.

[eyrieofsynapses]

ok, fiction podcast/audio drama fans, new game: put in the tags the last fiction podcast you listened to, the song stuck in your head right now, and your favorite beverage. go

[foldmorepaper]

[pepper-ratings]

”epics”, with things like space operas, epic fantasy where people seem larger-than-life and do heroics, maybe the epic of Gilgamesh or some Greek myths or Arthurian legends

Solarpunk — Glass and Garden has two anthologies, one for winter and one for summer. There are also three Everything Change anthologies, which are free, though those are more cli-fi than solarpunk (or you could just change the theme to ‘cli-fi’). If you want novels rather than short story collections, New York 2140 is lauded as cli-fi, and Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Children of Time series could fit either theme. Same author wrote Firewalkers, which iirc is shorter (more novella-length, if the coworkers prefer shorter works). Neal Shusterman’s Dry books are cli-fi.

Living Creations or something — something about a creator making something that comes to life and has a will of its own. Frankenstein is the classic one, Isaac Asimov’s robot short stories are great, maybe “I have no mouth and I must scream”, “do androids dream of electric sheep”, or even Bunny, though you didn’t like that one. But maybe the coworkers would want to discuss it.

Intelligence/Espionage — Code Girls is nonfiction, about women in code-breaking operations in WWII. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is, of course, a classic; Scalzi’s Starter Villain could also work.

Love — all about love by bell hooks, maybe an unconventional romance, or a conventional one with discussion material (Book Lovers does have a list of discussion questions at the end so you wouldn’t have to come up with your own, and it feels relevant for a book club), and maybe something that focuses on platonic love or familial love.

Bible fanfiction — okay, don’t actually call it that. But it could be interesting to read Paradise Lost or Dante’s Inferno; something by C.S. Lewis (Narnia or the Screwtape Letters); maybe Sign Here or something modern that involves hell/demons; and maybe some other retelling. Dracula could even be relevant, since Catholicism is canonically powerful there, which could be interesting to discuss.

Literary feuds — Mark Twain hated Jane Austen, so maybe a book by each. Hemingway and Fitzgerald were friends-ish, but they also had a weird rivalry going on. Stuff like that.

Doomed characters — Othello, You (Charles Benoit), The Hunger Games trilogy. A Girl Like That (Tanaz Bhathena).

Booklr Help Needed!

Ok, I know I've been completely absent, I have no excuse, I've just not been very focused the last few months. I'm going to catch up and get back on track!

But right now, I need Book Club help!! I run the book club at work, and we've been going for almost a year, but I'm running out of ideas for monthly themes.

We have a theme for each meeting, and then the members get to vote on three books that all match that theme.

Previous themes we've done are: Horror, Criminal Minds, Dark Academia, Murder Mystery, Star-Cross'd, Autobiography, Greek Mythology, Sci-Fi, Classic Lit, Hauntings, "Fae"bruary, Wanderlust.

Booklr blogs, I'd love some recommendations on themes, and some books that fit with them! Go wild - the more I have, the better!

Also, if anyone has any advice on writing discussion guides, I'd appreciate that as well - I find that really tricky!

[alzheimersparrotroute]

Some Egghead outfit swaps, purely for my amusement

[flowersforthemachines]

Useless Veilguard fact of the day: Day 87

Taash and Harding are the only companions who have two distinct variations of their personal quest themes (Taash theme A & Taash theme B and Harding theme A & Harding theme B respectively).

Check out the tag for more useless facts: #useless davg fact of the day!

[hawberries]

I can't take it anymore. I'll never get sick of Baizhu. I try to play Alhaitham, Baizhu can heal me. I try to play Furina, Baizhu can heal me. I try to play Tighnari, Cyno – Baizhu can heal me. He takes me by the wrist to check my pulse. I forage for him. I craft five copies of Prototype Amber for him. He's satisfied. "This gives me a good amount of both HP and energy" he says. "I don't need any field time to full heal your entire team." I want to pull the Jadefall's Splendour but I can't, I don't have enough primogems. He shakes his head gently and puts my credit card away to be used on something more important. "This is not the end. You're taking a turn for the better." There is no hint of malice in Changsheng's eyes. Nothing but pure, instant, teamwide healing with no circle impact or energy hunting. What a kind world.

[markscherz]

Why are lizards and salamanders so similar in shape?

That’s just what peak performance looks like

[rocks-in-space]

Kudos to these storytellers for absolutely destroying me in every universe.

[Image ID: A meme edited to read, "Died 1981 (but came back to life out of a sense of obligation and curiosity) with the official art of Tula from Burrow's End underneath on the left side and "Died 2024 (but came back to life out of a sense of obligation and hopefully something more) with the official art of Evan Kelmp from Misfits and Magic 2 underneath on the right side. Underneath that, it says "welcome back Tula." end ID]

[casperlover]

Blue-ish rentry frame!

f2u - credit isn't needed .. dividers f2u..

sharing bcz im proud <3 example using this can be found here

IMAGE HIGHLIGHT, SINCE YOU MIGHT MISS THE SECOND IMAGE: