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[image id: a four-page comic. it is titled “immortality” after the poem by clare harner (more popularly known as “do not stand at my grave and weep”). the first page shows paleontologists digging up fossils at a dig. it reads, “do not stand at my grave and weep. i am not there. i do not sleep.” page two features several prehistoric creatures living in the wild. not featured but notable, each have modern descendants: horses, cetaceans, horsetail plants, and crocodilians. it reads, “i am a thousand winds that blow. i am the diamond glints on snow. i am the sunlight on ripened grain. i am the gentle autumn rain.” the third page shows archaeopteryx in the treetops and the skies, then a modern museum-goer reading the placard on a fossil display. it reads, “when you awaken in the morning’s hush, i am the swift uplifting rush, of quiet birds in circled flight. i am the soft stars that shine at night. do not stand at my grave and cry.” the fourth page shows a chicken in a field. it reads, “i am not there. i did not die” / end id]

a comic i made in about 15 hours for my school’s comic anthology. the theme was “evolution”

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I know it’s not much in the face of everything but I have been finding hope & resilience in palestinian poetry these past few weeks and I created a google drive file of poetry collections by palestinian poets that I will keep updating as I keep on reading. I also recommend checking out @fiercynn’s palestinian poets series for more poets + poetry available online

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oh OOOOOOH their deaths mirror each other. Tamerlane and Leo are both driven to what looks like suicide chasing hallucinations around an apartment that architecturally represents their psyche (as they destroy it), shortly after leaving/planning to leave their loving partner. (Both of them invite her in, at first. Both of them want her there. But now she's in the mirrors. She's in the walls.)

Vic and Camille are both killed/driven to death by Vic's experiments, their rivalry leading to both their deaths (Camille to prove it doesn't work, Vic to prove it does), immediately after they get left by people they are using in professional/personal ways - Camille hires Toby and Tina to sleep with them, Vic dates Ali to get her to work with her on the heart mesh.

Perry and Frederick both die in the same warehouse, looking at the ceiling, waiting for death to come to them - Perry with a look of ecstasy, Frederick in terror. Both of them are in that warehouse because they've been humiliated by Roderick and are now determined to prove themselves. Both get led here by drugs. Both involve the mutilation of an innocent, Morrie. Both of them see Verna not as another character, but something like her true self. And there's the parallel between all the mercy that Verna offers Perry - the most she offers any of them, other than Lenore - and her glee in explaining to Roderick exactly why he deserves to die like this.

And then you get the final pairing/quartet of deaths - Eliza Usher + William Longfellow vs Madeline and Roderick which is obvious but oh my god. oh my god you guys. Eliza's wall of crucifixes and clinging to Christian faith and the sanctity of pain as a way of hoping for reward after death vs Roderick putting Madeline through the agony of vivisection to 'honour' her + grant her Egyptian immortality. Both William and Roderick eat their young. Fuck.

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ok so i know that a lot of people heard verna tell madeline and roderick that their family would never face legal ramifications for their crimes as part of their deal and then just threw out pym’s involvement as a throw away character protected only by a supernatural shield. they just went “oh ok so he was only a ‘good lawyer’ because they were divinely shielded from consequences so he wasn’t really worth shit” or whatever but how has nobody come to the very possible conclusion that arthur pym IS the divine protection??

verna could have sent him to the ushers *as* the protection from the law. because hes worth six or seven lawyers and he knows how to get shit done. she admits to having admired him for a long while. i think hes the first human she meets when she decides to go to earth to watch the humans? roderick himself tells this to auguste dupin when they recount arthurs ability to make shit disappear and find people who can’t be found.

arthur gordon pym was the divine intervention that protected the ushers for all those decades. he was aided by verna and benefited from his proximity to the family, sure, but his success (lets call it what it is, he succeeded) shouldn’t be written off as something that just “happened” and he took the credit for. he is the credit. he is the protection. he willingly goes to jail and confesses his crimes and refuses vernas offer to make a deal after it becomes clear the ushers are doomed, its his choice. its not the shield being lifted and unable to protect without the ushers around, its pym not having anyone to protect anymore. he says it himself, he doesn’t have any collateral. why not repent at that point?

anyway all this to say i love arthur pym and i dont think his character should be diminished at all by the revelation of the usher twins deal with the raven. also mark hamill crushed it

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When life hands you lemons... Make lemonade? No.

The Fall of the House of Usher

Murder in the Rue Morgue

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Man, this was staring me right in my face, but Usher's critique of people who sell their children's future for a more luxurious present isn't just like, the stuff of fairytales and bartering your first born to Rumplestiltskin.... it's literally what capitalists actually do.

Plenty of them *KNOW* what they're peddling is harmful, but their various poisons are slow acting enough that many of them figured THEY wouldn't have to reckon with the consequences in their lifetime ... no, leave that to burden the next generation with.

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The Fall of the House of Usher episode titles and the Edgar Allan Poe works they were taken from

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I too wish to be perpetually cast as a lesbian, gay or bisexual in a project by Mike Flanagan; like to charge, reblog to cast

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THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER (Netflix, 2023)

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it never ends

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you've all heard of "it's rotten work." "not to me. not if it's you."

on unconditional love.

(sources either on pictures or unknown)

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shoutout to nonbinary/agender/otherwise gender nonconforming people who choose to wear cultural clothing typically associated with a certain gender!

jews who wear kippot, muslims who wear hijabs and burqas and niqābs and jilbābs and kimars, sihks who wear turbans, just to name a few!

whether you're wearing these because you have a connection to the gender associated with the article of clothing, or if you wear them because you want to challenge gender roles, or if youre just used to wearing them and don't think your gender should stop you from continuing, or any other reason, i think you all rule!!! im actually a nonbinary jew who wears kippot :] rock on!

and to those who are forced to wear these things, i hope one day you all are in a place where you can have the freedom of choice

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A COMPREHENSIVE SEX-ED GUIDE

All resources linked were vetted by me, general resources are queer and disability inclusive, and cover the topic of abuse. Intersex resources are labelled by topic.

Text Resources

Scarleteen is a great youth focused platform, with everything from the basics to kink ed. Easy to navigate with an excellent search function.

For Planned Parenthood's sex-ed resources you can go to the LEARN menu.

Video Resources

AMAZE is a comprehensive catalogue of video resources.

Dr. Lindsey Doe runs the YouTube Channel Sexplanations, I have recommended her before and will continue to do so, also here on Tumblr @tumblingdoe

Pup Amp and Mr Christopher present Watts The Safeword, they tackle lgbtq+ sex ed and kink education/safety. If it's queer or kinky they have likely covered it.

Intersex Specific Resource

Intersex Human Rights Australia

some information may be region specific, but IHRA are the organisation I'm familiar with and that I trust

What is Intersex?

Intersex Youth

Intersex for Allies

Intersex people and Covid 19

Intersex for Parents

Bodily Integrity

Genomics and Genetic Selection (Eugenics)

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Finally some good fucking food

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📚🏳️‍🌈 Pride Book Earrings by ShinyStuffCreations

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