#thoughts musings

[whisperairwatchmebloom]

There’s this dichotomy in Inferno where Virgil or Dante explains that the people in hell have no remorse and that’s precisely why they’re in hell because of you feel remorse, you can repent and be saved by the light of salvation. So to me with so much repetition in the album between dark and light, “so much of our life is discovered through the dark” “like I’ve lived my whole life before the first light” “true colors shine in darkness and in secrecy” even in Francesca towards the end when he just repeats over and over again “heaven means nothing to me now,” it’s almost a rebuttal of the whole idea of having to be saved by light or salvation. He’s saying look at us we’re in darkness fumbling around trying to figure it all out and that’s what makes us human. It’s who we are and it’s why we live our whole lives before the first light, because there is beauty in all the mistakes we make more so in the strive for perfection.

[septemberkisses]

the fact that i'm no longer the same age as the protagonists of novels and films i once connected to is so heartbreaking. there was a time when I looked forward to turning their age. i did. and i also outgrew them. i continue to age, but they don't; never will. the immortality of fiction is beautiful, but cruel.

[lambofmoss]

being weird and full of love can save you

and it might save those around you, too

[mascula-sappho]

Aren't plushies beautiful? They were created so a sick child had something to hold. They were created so an adult living alone might have a friend to keep them company. They were created for a teenager to clutch to her chest as she cries. They were created to accompany a college student to his geology classes. They were created not for any material benefit, they don't change tires, but to be loved.

They were created for the purpose of love.

[inkpressedpetals]

[returntosunder]

The artist <3

I've been having fun with his design lately

[nothatsmi]

The foxhole court, chapter five

First books monsters were something really.

On an aftg reread, which is very useful to survive school these days. Currently into the raven king, i'll make more fanart cause this brings me so much joy (which - idk what it tells about my mental state). If you have suggestions on what I should draw next I'm taking em.

[leonardospoetry]

[lipikkawrites]

A lot will go wrong before everything goes right.

Keep moving forward.

-@lipikkawrites

[ariconditioner]

so is no one going to talk about how bdubs, my lovely minecraft builder content creator, genuinely considered sending joel a pipe bomb

[quiidam]

I think that all of the Batkids get a different version of Bruce as a father. But I think part of what makes his relationship with Dick so unique is that he was almost like a teen dad when he raised him. Yes, he was well into his late twenties early thirties but this man had never had a pet let alone been responsible for another life when he started raising Dick. He knew nothing about children. So of course he let Dick drink coffee and pull all nighters with him, started teaching him how to drive at eight years old, let him bulk up on protein shakes instead of eating regular meals and read any kind of book he could get his hands on. He vents about his life to Dick, no real boundary of parent and child. He’s the reason Dick climbs and jumps from every high point in the Manor— he’s a flying Grayson, he can handle himself. Until Alfred steps in starts explaining to Bruce that children need boundaries, that children are fragile. Dick still jokes about some of the things he was allowed to do as a child, Bruce still cringes.

[angrybubbles]

Old Man Daniel being a survivor of the AIDS epidemic means so much to me.

Like

Here is this grumpy old man who is dismissive of his queer experiences. It was a place to get high. Fulfilling the social contract. An excuse, that's all. He's into counter cultures after all.

But Louis and Armand changed his life forever.

Should Devil's Minion have happened in the past, that crosses into the AIDS epidemic. San Francisco, the beating heart of the gay community in America in the 70s, a ghost town in the 80s. That's where we run into Daniel. He would get into a relationship that meant death for so many. Running away from the monster that he loves that could symbolize his own sexuality. Finally embracing it when he realizes the monster is what he finds fascinating. The fear is what makes it worth it. The only relationship he dedicated himself to a man, the one that would have convinced him he loved men too. That it wasn't just for the high.

In the books, Daniel didn't make it. He was sick, and dying. Could he have died of AIDS? In the arms of his male lover? It's open to interpretation. He was turned, stuck forever in his early 30s and a ghost of his former self.

But Old Man Daniel? Who wrote a book called The Shadow on The Skin about the crisis because those were his people. The people he knew, even if now he could pretend he was never a part of it. He can claim he was just an observer.

But if vampirism is a metaphor for queerness... if Devil's Minion did happen... this is an queer elder. One who survived because they were shoved in the closet by the one who loved them. Because they loved them alive more than dead. Because some of the people who made it did so because they were there for support, because the fear was too much.

Rolin Jones you have the opportunity of a lifetime.

[lucabyte]

even dogs pass the mirror test

[ph-cutie]

(pretty much) all the character concept arts from tha art book. because im the compiler

[inkpressedpetals]

[owlbelly]

so. i understand where the sentiment "listening to an audiobook is the same thing as reading the book" is coming from - i mean, yes, the bottom line is you are taking in the same words in what is possibly a more accessible (or maybe just more enjoyable) format for you! and i'm 100% in agreement that "book snobs" who say "no you didn't really read it" if you listened to the audiobook are full of shit. ofc you should engage with stories in whatever way works for you, there is no moral or intellectual superiority to reading words off a page vs. listening to them

but it also is different? an audiobook is a performance. choices a narrator makes about line readings can drastically influence the meaning of the lines. even just different voices, accents, etc. - there are creative choices being made by the person delivering the words to you, and that affects your experience of the story in a different way than if you were making those choices in your own head. it might even change the way you visualize what's going on!

this isn't a bad thing it's just An Actual Thing & i think it's worth talking about. it rubs me the wrong way when people act like accommodations (and for many people audiobooks are an accommodation) always result in a completely identical experience, or even that they should, & if you suggest that people accessing media in different ways are having different experiences it's somehow ableist

anyway on rare occasions i really enjoy audiobooks but mostly they are much less accessible to me than words on a page (i need to be able to reread, flip back and forth, go at my own pace) & i also just really strongly prefer to encounter a text on my own before hearing someone else's performance of it, if possible! again i don't think it's "better" to read a physical book i just think it is a Distinct form of experiencing a story & acting like the two things are entirely the same is sort of doing a disservice to both