flameraven

[flameraven]

(Seen here)

[flameraven]

the people on tiktok filming a blob-like strawberry and saying it's a GMO one...fucking fake strawberry fans...they literally can grow naturally like this

it's just the strawberries growing together. do not speak lies of these beautiful freaks ever again

[flameraven]

(also feel free in the tags to clarify Why you made the choice you made!! :0c)

[flameraven]

Thank you for the confirmation on the bustle thing. I recently listened to a podcast on Sara Baartman (who I had not previously heard of) and they mentioned the bustle connection, and I went "hang on, Sara died in 1815 and bustles weren't the dominant fashion until like the 1870s, over 50 years later. Seems highly unlikely that was the cause." But I didn't know enough to confirm or deny the connection.

I'm here with a vote of solidarity in the world of directness=bad tone. I seem to run headfirst into it left and right and am often so confused. I figured I'd let you know how much I love your blog and your tone. So many of your posts have delighted me with reminders that history is written by biased people with a bias and that Ancient Egypt was pretty darn cool all on its own, no need to invent other things. And I love your depth of knowledge!!

Know that there's at least one person who'll thoroughly enjoy reading whatever info you'd like to dump onto this space, no matter how related or not it is to Egypt.

Thank you! I try my best to mitigate it, but y'know sometimes I'm just going to fall into that trap without knowing it and I wish people would be a little more forgiving.

I want people to see Ancient Egypt as it is, a wonderful and complex but deeply flawed civilisation, rather than the sanitised 'they loved everything and worshipped animals and did all these weird things wow so kooky amirite?' version that's so often presented.

My main issue has always been getting past people's instinct to react to new information with curiosity rather than outright rejecting it. I'd really like to cure the kneejerk 'well I read this book' response to an Egyptologist saying 'yeah it doesn't work like that' because 99% of the time they last read that book when they were 7 years old and that book dressed up some weird hearsay as fact. And I get it. Ancient Egypt is the one everyone liked to read about as a kid, so they've got this idea stuck in their heads about it. You don't get that for other areas of history quite so much. But then it becomes a nightmare for Egyptologists to do scicomm because all those people immediately think they know better than you. It's like a weird switch gets thrown and you're contantly battling the urge to say 'no, honey, please. I'm literally very educated in this and I promise you, I know more about this than you do.' but you you don't because that's a dick move. I still think it every time though. I wish it happened less often because it wouldn't be quite so difficult if people could accept that perhaps what they thought they knew was actually wrong. I mean you'll accept it from some guy with a fast moving, wildly racist tiktok presentation, why not me?

[flameraven]

A sticker i drew! A tearful gryphon........ This will go in as part of my Patreon art-in-the-mail bundle next month.

If you'd like to sign up and support my Patreon, you can! 🌿 patreon.com/sfemonster

[flameraven]

fascinating that when you tell people "you have to learn the rules to break them" when talking about drawing/painting etc everyone nods and agrees but the second you say "you have to read books if you want to write better" there's a horde of contrarians begging to be the wrongest people ever all of a sudden

[flameraven]

April 20, Beijing, China, National Museum of China/中国国家博物馆 (Part 1 - Dehua white porcelain exhibition/德化白瓷展):

Aaand finally, the National Museum of China/中国国家博物馆! I was lucky enough to see the famed Dehua white porcelain exhibition/德化白瓷展 here. Some of you may recognize some of these pieces already, since pictures and shorts of them have been circulating online way before I went on this trip, but there are many many other pieces too. The pieces I post here are only a small portion of the entire exhibition, so if you ever get a chance to see the exhibition elsewhere in person, don't hesitate. This stuff is amazing.

First up is one of the two that has been gaining popularity online, the piece named 神话 or "Legend".

The first time I saw a porcelain piece like this, I thought that the clothing part was made with paper? But no, the light fabric of the clothing, the hair, it's all porcelain. Keep in mind when looking through these pictures: every part of every piece is porcelain.

This piece is the other one that was becoming popular, the piece named simply 纸, or "Paper". If you don't look up close and see the glossy surface, you can't tell it's actually porcelain. I cannot for the life of me imagine the kind of magic that was used to turn clay into this

Anyway, this is a good point to introduce Dehua porcelain a little bit. Dehua porcelain is a regional specialty of Dehua/德化, which is located in Fujian province, and is known for its expressiveness and white color. For this reason it's also known in the West as "Blanc de Chine" (French: "white of China"), and this should be the reason why this exhibition is named 中国白, which basically means the same thing. The history of Dehua porcelain goes back to Song dynasty (960 - 1279), and it is still being produced today. Many of the pieces I'm posting here are modern pieces.

But Dehua white porcelain can be colored too (I imagine the color must be painted on later, because the white comes from the clay itself), and when it is colored, it looks like it came right out of a painting

This piece is especially amazing to me. Look at the texture, look at those details. Zoom in and you will find that there are actually a bunch of porcelain ants on this porcelain tree stump. Porcelain ants. I never expected to use porcelain as an adjective when describing ants. Wtf. It's like a manifestation of a scene from an older animated movie.

Peanuts are called 花生 in Chinese, which literally means "flower grow", and because it also has a long shelf life, it symbolizes longevity and a happy marriage. Also a fun fact: because Watson of Sherlock Holmes is usually phoenetically translated as 华生 (huá shēng) in Chinese and sounds similar to 花生 (hu�� shēng), you will find that many in the Chinese SH fandom refers to Watson as "peanut".

This piece is titled 春色满园, or "garden filled with spring scenery". This is also a common 4-character word used to describe gardens in spring. I'm guessing the figure depicted here is one of the flower gods. It is one of my personal favorites because of its superb depiction of movement, it's as if the flower god will really fly away on clouds at any moment

More depictions of traditional Chinese deities, specifically Chang'e/嫦娥, the moon goddess. That moon rabbit is too cute.

Depictions of what I'm assuming is the Four Heavenly Kings/四大天王, based on the items they are holding. The Four Heavenly Kings are Buddhist deities.

Look at her clothing! That porcelain is so thin it's almost see-through! Also is it depicting Li Qingzhao/李清照, the famous female poet from Song dynasty? She does have a famous ci poem that's about paddling a boat in a lake full of lotuses while drunk

The piece titled 锦绣前程, or "future as vibrant and prosperous as silk brocade". This is also a common 4-character word used in well wishing. The figure in this piece is holding a xiuqiu/绣球, a ball made of silk, which was usually seen as a token of love

Somewhat more modern-themed pieces:

Among the hundreds of amazing pieces, this one caught my attention for its unique texture. When everyone else was trying to turn the clay into these thin sheets representing fabric or paper or flower petals, this artist took the noodle approach. Not many visitors seemed to like it, but I think it's pretty cool

Piece titled 运势如虹, or "fortune like the rainbow", also a 4-character word used in well wishing. Traditionally horses symbolize vitality and success, hence why many people use the words 马到成功 ("horse's arrival brings success") and 龙马精神 ("vitality of dragons and horses") in well wishes during Year of the Horse

Stay tuned for Part 2 of the Dehua white porcelain exhibition!

[flameraven]

From the comments, it seems to be a variation on "first come, first served" or "the early bird gets the worm." First in the store gets the best outfits?? I guess??

Also please tell me where you're from, cos I hear on Tumblr that this phrase is Aussie but I'm Aussie and it doesn't sound fucking Aussie to me. Do foreigners know this? This just seems like a normal fucking sentence.

[flameraven]

April 20, Beijing, China, National Museum of China/中国国家博物馆 (Part 1 - Dehua white porcelain exhibition/德化白瓷展):

Aaand finally, the National Museum of China/中国国家博物馆! I was lucky enough to see the famed Dehua white porcelain exhibition/德化白瓷展 here. Some of you may recognize some of these pieces already, since pictures and shorts of them have been circulating online way before I went on this trip, but there are many many other pieces too. The pieces I post here are only a small portion of the entire exhibition, so if you ever get a chance to see the exhibition elsewhere in person, don't hesitate. This stuff is amazing.

First up is one of the two that has been gaining popularity online, the piece named 神话 or "Legend".

The first time I saw a porcelain piece like this, I thought that the clothing part was made with paper? But no, the light fabric of the clothing, the hair, it's all porcelain. Keep in mind when looking through these pictures: every part of every piece is porcelain.

This piece is the other one that was becoming popular, the piece named simply 纸, or "Paper". If you don't look up close and see the glossy surface, you can't tell it's actually porcelain. I cannot for the life of me imagine the kind of magic that was used to turn clay into this

Anyway, this is a good point to introduce Dehua porcelain a little bit. Dehua porcelain is a regional specialty of Dehua/德化, which is located in Fujian province, and is known for its expressiveness and white color. For this reason it's also known in the West as "Blanc de Chine" (French: "white of China"), and this should be the reason why this exhibition is named 中国白, which basically means the same thing. The history of Dehua porcelain goes back to Song dynasty (960 - 1279), and it is still being produced today. Many of the pieces I'm posting here are modern pieces.

But Dehua white porcelain can be colored too (I imagine the color must be painted on later, because the white comes from the clay itself), and when it is colored, it looks like it came right out of a painting

This piece is especially amazing to me. Look at the texture, look at those details. Zoom in and you will find that there are actually a bunch of porcelain ants on this porcelain tree stump. Porcelain ants. I never expected to use porcelain as an adjective when describing ants. Wtf. It's like a manifestation of a scene from an older animated movie.

Peanuts are called 花生 in Chinese, which literally means "flower grow", and because it also has a long shelf life, it symbolizes longevity and a happy marriage. Also a fun fact: because Watson of Sherlock Holmes is usually phoenetically translated as 华生 (huá shēng) in Chinese and sounds similar to 花生 (huā shēng), you will find that many in the Chinese SH fandom refers to Watson as "peanut".

This piece is titled 春色满园, or "garden filled with spring scenery". This is also a common 4-character word used to describe gardens in spring. I'm guessing the figure depicted here is one of the flower gods. It is one of my personal favorites because of its superb depiction of movement, it's as if the flower god will really fly away on clouds at any moment

More depictions of traditional Chinese deities, specifically Chang'e/嫦娥, the moon goddess. That moon rabbit is too cute.

Depictions of what I'm assuming is the Four Heavenly Kings/四大天王, based on the items they are holding. The Four Heavenly Kings are Buddhist deities.

Look at her clothing! That porcelain is so thin it's almost see-through! Also is it depicting Li Qingzhao/李清照, the famous female poet from Song dynasty? She does have a famous ci poem that's about paddling a boat in a lake full of lotuses while drunk

The piece titled 锦绣前程, or "future as vibrant and prosperous as silk brocade". This is also a common 4-character word used in well wishing. The figure in this piece is holding a xiuqiu/绣球, a ball made of silk, which was usually seen as a token of love

Somewhat more modern-themed pieces:

Among the hundreds of amazing pieces, this one caught my attention for its unique texture. When everyone else was trying to turn the clay into these thin sheets representing fabric or paper or flower petals, this artist took the noodle approach. Not many visitors seemed to like it, but I think it's pretty cool

Piece titled 运势如虹, or "fortune like the rainbow", also a 4-character word used in well wishing. Traditionally horses symbolize vitality and success, hence why many people use the words 马到成功 ("horse's arrival brings success") and 龙马精神 ("vitality of dragons and horses") in well wishes during Year of the Horse

Stay tuned for Part 2 of the Dehua white porcelain exhibition!

[flameraven]

im entering my magic the gathering era

[flameraven]

“Instead of letting labels like romantic and platonic (or friend versus partner) guide actions and expectations, it is possible for the desires themselves to guide actions and expectations. More effective than relying on labels to provide instruction is skipping directly to asking for what we want—around time, touch, commitment, and so on as David Jay wrote—regardless of whether those desires confuse hardline ideas of what these two categories are supposed to look like. When the desires don’t fit the labels, it is often the labels that should be adjusted or discarded, not the desires. If everyone is behaving ethically, it doesn’t matter if a relationship doesn’t fit into a preconceived social role, if it feels neither platonic nor romantic or if it feels like both at the same time.”

Angela Chen, Ace: What Asexuality Reveals About Desire, Society, and the Meaning of Sex

[flameraven]

[flameraven]

fuck it

had to eliminate some more specific ones for space, shout out to “intelligent alien species have not developed advanced technologies”

[flameraven]

a lot of stories treat romance like it makes the relationship between two characters self explanatory and to be honest it doesn’t

[flameraven]

You're welcome! I am also a GO fic writer and wanted this for my own reference, so I figured I might as well share :D

Good Omens S2 Transcripts

Been working on these for a few weeks now, and they're finally done!

I really missed having the Script Book to refer to, especially when writing fic, so I made the next best thing, which is some transcripts (+minor descriptions)

PDFs:

EPISODE ONE

EPISODE TWO

EPISODE THREE

EPISODE FOUR

EPISODE FIVE

EPISODE SIX

UPDATE: Google docs links below:

Episode One

Episode Two

Episode Three

Episode Four

Episode Five

Episode Six

[flameraven]

there’s nothing wrong with overly self-indulgent shit like honestly

make that fuckin beauty and the beast au with your otp

draw your favorite character broken and bloody for no reason

make a self-insert that’s super important and powerful

write porn of that obscure ship centered entirely around your personal kinks

headcanon your faves as your sexuality, gender, etc

have fun man

i mean in the past i’ve made fun of all these things but i’ve grown up and chilled out and honestly? fiction is your platform to go nuts. have a great time. do what you want to

just respect other people’s boundaries and don’t go forcing your headcanons down other people’s throats, because they deserve to have a good time too

enjoy fiction however you want to and don’t let other people tell you how it’s supposed to be enjoyed

[flameraven]

I’m turning into a cartoon wolf and making train whistle noises