moonstruckmelancholic

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Jeanette Winterson, from "Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal," publ. in 2011

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smiling at you btw. loving you btw. liking you btw. enjoying our time together btw.

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Else Fitzgerald, from "Everything Feels Like the End of The World," publ. in 2022

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hello vampire sickos, particularly dracula sickos, let's talk about medieval manuscripts. I'm not sure how familiar bram stoker would have been with late gothic religious movements and popular worship, but in the latter portion of the middle ages there was a big, widely practiced, and officially ecclesiastically endorsed push for lay people and the clergy to form personal emotional connections with christ and the virgin by just getting like stupidly horny about them. you've got personal devotional texts with illustrations of a completely nude christ displaying his long willowy limbs and coquettishly asking a nun to penetrate his side wound with her huge fuck-off spear, you've got monks imagining sculptures of the crucifixion coming to life to make out with them and christ our lord liking it so much that he opens his mouth to add a little tongue action, it was a great time to be a freak.

this is relevant to dracula because the intense love of mary for her sensual maternality transferred somewhat onto jesus, and people began to view him not just as an aspect of god the father but also as god the mother, nurturing and ever loving. if jesus died on the cross for our sake, then his body can be seen as nourishment for humanity, his blood being not unlike her breast milk, and I know what you're thinking right now, you're thinking "marina, the sacrament of the eucharist and the idea of drinking christ's blood through wine is obviously vampiric, you aren't saying anything revelatory, this is entry level vampire freakism and not particularly relevant to dracula," but I would like to show you this illumination of saint catherine of siena's vision of drinking from christ's side wound:

(life of saint catherine of siena, fifteenth century, german)

which is a pose that I think should maybe be ringing some bells for dracula likers

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There's a post in the Jane Eyre tag that says "Charlotte Brontë really wrote a whole book that's just I'm not like other girls."

Of all the complaints I've ever read about Jane Eyre, that's one I don't think I've ever read before!

The entire subject of "not like other girls" discourse surrounding many fictional characters is one I've often thought of lately and want to discuss in depth. I've already reblogged some posts about the discourse as it applies to real life, which point out that while, yes, internalized misogyny is bad and "I'm not like other girls" is an unhealthy attitude, it often doesn't originate from a sense of superiority, but from having been rejected and bullied for failing to conform to a certain model of femininity.

It's fair to criticize Jane Eyre's repeated portrayal of traditionally pretty and/or wealthy women as mean, shallow, or both, and to be annoyed by the fact that Rochester never knew a woman he could respect as an intellectual equal until he met Jane.

But first of all, in no way, shape or form does the book pit Jane against all other women and girls or try to make her look better than they are! What about Miss Temple? What about Helen Burns? What about Diana and Mary Rivers?

Secondly, and maybe more importantly, we shouldn't forget about Jane's time, place and context, or her author's.

In Victorian literature, plain-looking, prickly, outspoken, intellectual heroines weren't a dime a dozen the way they are today. Nor was there any 20th-21st century mainstream feminist movement to hold up that kind of heroine as a role model. Not only is Jane discriminated against within the story for being homely, for being a poor orphan-turned-governess, for lacking the naturally sweet, charming demeanor expected of a young Victorian girl, and for rebelling against authority, but early critics of the book lambasted her for being "coarse and unfeminine" and even "anti-Christian."

It's especially worthwhile to remember how rare it was for a heroine not to be pretty. Even Emily and Anne Brontë, despite their own books' fantastic three-dimensional female characters and social commentary on women's issues, at least initially believed that all literary heroines needed to be beautiful. Jane Eyre allegedly had its origins in a friendly debate between the sisters that ended with Charlotte setting out to prove Emily and Anne wrong by creating a plain yet compelling heroine.

This leads to the fact that Charlotte Brontë struggled very much with her homely appearance, with the hardships of being a governess or a teacher when there were so few other ways for an unmarried woman with no fortune to survive, and with the sense that her own personality was sinful and unseemly. Her letters from her time as a teacher at Roe Head school are especially heartbreaking portraits of depression and self-loathing.

For Jane Eyre to portray its "poor, obscure, plain and little" heroine, who lacks traditional ladylike charms as well as beauty, as being morally and intellectually superior to her social "betters" (both women and men), and to show her finding love with a man who prefers her virtue and intellect to beauty and refinement, is social commentary. It's an assertion of self-worth from a woman who was so often made to feel worthless. It most certainly doesn't stem from a smug sense of superiority over other women. Especially because Jane has close bonds with various women and girls whom she deeply respects, as did Charlotte Brontë with her sisters and her female friends.

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"I abandon here my love."

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Jeanette Winterson, from "Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal," publ. in 2011

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I don't know about you guys but i really miss seeing "high fantasy" dragons in media, high fantasy dragons are like Smaug (The Hobbit), Draco (DragonHeart), Saphira (Eragon) and Spyro (Spyro the Dragon games franchise) for example, they have their own free will and cannot be controlled, they are highly intelligent and capable of speaking and even writing or drawing. It seems the version of dragons that has taken over is the animalistic and realistic version, that are basically huge dogs that can breath fire, bring back intellectual dragons that like to make riddles to fool intruders, bring back grumpy dragons that live isolated from everyone but they are actually lonely and in need of a friend, bring back the loyal and brave dragons that are willing to sacrifice themselves to save the ones they love, dragons that will talk to you about the mysteries of the world and the universe, JUST BRING BACK HIGH FANTASY DRAGONS GODDAMIT

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we need to make using chatgpt embarrassing bc sorry it really is. what do you mean you can’t write an email

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blumarine ss06

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a whole bunch of gazan mutual aid projects and nonprofits. if the decision of which individual fundraiser to give to feels too daunting, or if you just want to help as many people as possible in one go, these are great initiatives to support.

care for gaza - focuses on providing food and essential supplies. donate here or here.

connecting humanity - securing internet access via donations of virtual sim cards (esims). if you can't afford a whole plan yourself, crips for esims is a communal pool that will use your donation to purchase and maintain esims

gaza soup kitchen - provides food, medical care, and classes for children. also has a gofundme

glia gaza medical support initiative - provides medical care through field clinics and tents at hospitals. donations can also be sent through their website.

ele elna elak - provides clean water, food, clothing, and shelter. they also have a gofundme

life for gaza - raising money for the gaza municipality to repair water and waste management infrastructure

taawon - partners with local civil organizations to provide food, water, medical care, shelter, and basic supplies

the sameer project - running various initiatives providing tents, medical care, and necessities. they have their own encampment project focused on sheltering families with children, sick and disabled members, or members in need of perinatal care

islamic relief worldwide's gaza emergency appeal - provides food, water, hygiene kits, medical supplies, and psychological support

baitulmaal - provides a variety of necessities, including food, water, shelter, and medical supplies

gaza mutual aid fund - distributes food, hygiene products, water, and other essential supplies, including financial support. run by @/el-shab-hussein's amazing friend Mona. updates can be found on her instagram.

hygiene kits for gaza - provides hygiene supplies including menstrual products, wipes, and toothbrushes/toothpaste

anera - provides a variety of necessities, including food, water, hygiene supplies, medicine, blankets and mattresses, and psychological care

palestine children's relief fund - provides supplies and support with a focus on children. also has an initiative for lebanon

dahnoun mutual aid - provides water, food, tents, baby supplies, financial support, and other necessities. updates can be found through their instagram

certainly this is not an exhaustive list, so please feel free to add on other projects or organizations that i didn't include. and as always, please take the time to donate if you can and share. it truly makes all the difference.

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Puritanism is getting worse around the globe and conservatives and fascists will absolutely be first going harder against porn, then use that against queer people. You HAVE to realise this and oppose anti porn measures and laws, be in solidarity with sex workers, and listen to them when they call this shit out. It's going to be vitally important.

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love the word “rapscallion”. like not only are you a rascal but you’re also kind of spring onion about it too

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if i was a vampire i would be so scared to shapeshift into a swarm of bats because what if i get stuck like that

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I think it'd be funny to start replacing the phrase "on steroids" with "on estrogen". dude you gotta try this game it's like dark souls on estrogen