#I'm doing this for fun

[monaetheworldsdestroyer]

why villain by mj apanay so Erik Lehnsherr coded tho

[hurlumerlu]

Worst thing about translating a poem is that I am trying to stay as close to the text as possible, but that means the rhythm is off, and if you'd just let me tweak a few things then the rhythm wouldn't be off and wouldn't that be nicer? If the poem's rhythm wasn't off? You know it would be~

[getlostsqdwrd]

Hellooooo friends, I don't know if anyone remembers me or if anyone is still around, but I'm trying to revive this account. I miss writing here & my marvel/dc muse has been preeetty high.

[lobsterplush]

Macre-May season is here!

Macre-May is an art challenge I'm giving myself for the month of May where I post every other day about macrame knots and patterns, with drawings and photos of examples or past projects.

I have three themes for three years in mind:

Basics and intro to 3D projects

Funky designs and playing with color

Challenge designs

Keep in mind that this is more an art challenge where I get to share a hobby of mine and less professional instructions; there's plenty of places online that will tell you how to start and finish a particular project along with cord type and length. What I want to do is give options and inspiration so you can mix and match your own projects.

I tend to make jewelry because I like the long skinny repetitive format, but I also like to use macrame to build 3D objects. So I'm giving myself this art challenge to push me to try out new methods I haven't tried out before but also so I can post instructions for complicated projects and hopefully people can follow the diagram in my art style.

If my instructions are a little too vague or confusing, free-macrame-patterns.com and youtube tutorials are nice places to look up knots and projects, from people who probably have a better camera than I do lol.

Also if anyone makes anything following my instructions, please tag me!!! I would love to see them! <3

[jue-jack]

Kirby is a star!!!

[rioblitzle]

working retail

[ladybugboots]

distant past

[egophiliac]

missed the mark by (looks at calendar) uhhh. hm. but I really wanted to do something for the 5th anniversary! happy five years to these idiots 🎉

[symphonyofsilence]

Let the poor man rest.

[what-the-floofin]

- Spooky games night -

Jazz might not be a horror game enthusiast but she's all for the sibling bonding

It's her that gets Danny more than the actual jumpscares though

(also ghost eyeshine? ghost eyeshine.)

--

Inspired by these tags bc they're so brained and correct

[geezmarty]

(bellara/taash) nerd/jocks lovers rise up

[singswan-springswan]

In a happy world where Jason is legally resurrected and gets to go to college like he's always dreamed of

[sakushamishou]

They don't tell you in English class (or literature or whatever you call it) that the author rarely smacks you upside the head and says something like "human lives are cheaper than technology" or "technology can only do so much on its own" (both themes in recent Adrian Tchaikovsky books, but I digress). These themes may be intentional or an unintentional result of personal beliefs such as rj blain writing about unequal access to healthcare vs some of rowlings choices that point to her own beliefs in her series such as werewolf aids. Even in works meant to entertain, our biases, ideas about the world, and critiques sneak in (see media like the hunger games movie or uglies TV series which blatantly miss the mark on what the author was trying to say and wind up a bizarre and unintentional parody).

And there's good reason not to just smack someone upside the head with a theme and then beat them with it, it's an ineffective way to persuade someone. You can more effectively persuade someone by making an argument demonstrating your beliefs. For example, you can sing slavery is evil from the rooftops, but reading a fictional account and empathizing with the character is a more effective way to persuade someone that slavery is inhumane and evil. This is because it humanizes what is otherwise a largely abstract concept, especially if you've never seen or experienced something first hand. It's part of the reason books like Uncle Tom's Cabin and To Kill a Mockingbird were so controversial. It's also a large part of the reason why books are banned. If you're not introduced to a concept or experience outside your own, it's that much easier to make it alien or other. And humanity fears that which is other.

Harking back to the Tchaikovsky examples, Alien Clay both explicitly and more subtly decries the devaluation of human life through "acceptable wastage." The main character is a revolutionary, albeit an ineffective one, and goes on at length about the casual cruelty of the work camp, but it's the example tank and the death of his colleague on the fragmentation barge that make the most impact as to how little their world values human life or later when the team is abandoned to die in the wilds of kiln. You can say human life is cheaper than machine, but demonstrating it tends to make a bigger impact. Similarly, by demonstrating the fallibility of robotic systems again and again in Service Model, it comments on how over reliance on technology will lead to problems because, at least initially, none of these systems can break their operating parameters, leading to comically exaggerated negative results that are a result of the fallible machines.

Looking at the types of literature examined in class, we can say war is terrible and not at all the glorious thing that people were led to believe prior to WWI. However, the literature that came out of the era uses themes and different tactics to portray the horrors of war that they experienced, as well as the aftermath. Chronicles of Narnia famously portrays the difficulty of adjusting to the routine of normal life after returning from the front (Narnia), among other themes. More specifically, returning from the front (being an adult) and being expected to go to dances, flirt, and socialize as though nothing had happened (returning to a child's body). By using themes, metaphor, and other literary devices, we can peel back the veil on the author's views and experiences. And by deliberately analyzing them we can understand how the author is trying to influence us.

Subtle themes can also tell us quite a bit about the author's views on the subject. Back to the Rowlings example, while the comparison of the whole werewolf thing to the aids epidemic is homophobic in the extreme, even before she took to twitter or without looking at her twitter, by looking closely at her work, we can see some of the opinions that drive her beliefs. This can include the blatantly racist depictions of minority characters when some little research would have made them more interesting and approachable, more akin to real people as opposed to token representation of the social makeup of the modern British Isles. By contrast, Long Live Evil deliberately interacts with tropes of the fantasy genre to discuss things like women's role in society. Rae/Rahela and Lia are foils and allude to two different feminine tropes and by utilizing them (and Rae's understanding of them), we are given an absolutely brilliant examination of femininity/feminine roles in fiction. We know Rowling isn't interacting with these stereotypes in a meaningful way because nothing is done with these characters, they serve their purpose and are hustled off screen, whereas Rae has meaningful interactions with both characters that challenge her understandings of the tropes leading to greater understanding.

And this examination of fiction for deeper truths added consciously or unconsciously (some of which we'll never know the truth of), can allow us to then better understand and critically examine non-fiction works. What kind of biases a newscaster or documentary presenter might have towards the material, for example. And those biases inform how they present the information. A pro-ukraine newscaster or station is going to present the war with russia very differently than one that's pro-russia. This of course extends to any possible media or new topic one might examine. And this is why media literacy is so important. Understanding WHY the curtains are blue gives us a framework to understand what the author's trying to say without beating us over the head with it. And this in turn allows us to interpret other media beyond just the book with the blue curtains. It allows us to begin to identify, oh, this author isn't just writing a fun story about a revolution. The social issues there mirror and comment on those in our own world or may say something else entirely. It also allows us to say, wow, this newspaper is pretty biased on this topic, what might they not be saying?

[kwadlayns]

talk to me in french, talk to me in spanish 🍒

[forgettable-au]

But that's dessert!

I FINALLY FINISHED THIS THING LET'S GOOO

I hope u all like it

[owlpero]

I never wanted to go to a school dance until you showed up.