#Prioritizing Experiences

[wickedzeevyln]

Less is More

Daily writing promptWhat could you do less of?View all responses I could care less. I could care less about the things I can’t control and more accommodating of the things I could. I could do less of atrociously punishing myself with stress and reduce cortisol levels on my body instead induce more dopamine by relishing every second I could squeeze out of the clock and wade in a pool of warmth…

[bixels]

It's crazy how Dungeon Meshi's manga can feel more cinematic and emotional than the anime to me, even when they're practically the same. Compared to the anime, this moment is such a heartbreaking gut-drop. The way Kui uses negative space and flat compositions to create a sense of horrific stillness is so key.

The way the text (Senshi's monologue) is sequestered to an empty corner of a panel or huddled away from the edge of its text box is not only a great way of showing Senshi's headspace (fearful, isolated, dissociating), but creates a visual representation of pause, as if you hold your breathe after each line. The first panel puts us directly in Senshi's perspective too (compared to in the anime, which puts us as an outside observer over Senshi's shoulder). The detail of the door and bricks so effectively implies that he stared at it for so long, waiting and hoping, that its image is burned in his memory. The wood grain, the brick arch, the number of rivets. The lack of dialogue in the second panel shows a moment of realization too –– "he's dead" (also a great example of the Kuleshov effect). And it's that pause that creates a beat and sets a great rhythm to his headspace, like a music rest: "He never came back." (oh god.) "I'm all alone." Finally, the third panel's negative space, cropping Senshi, shows how truly alone he feels. Without his family, the world ceases to exists. Under shock, he traps himself in a 1-foot radius, too scared to even perceive a world outside its boundaries; a world that can hurt him, kill him, make him disappear with it. There is only his body, the stone beneath his feet and against his back, his thoughts, and that awful bowl of soup.

Even though they're a series of flat images, there's an implicit reading of silence in Senshi's realization and horror. Kui influences your experience to slow down and take your time.

Compare this to the anime, which fills every shot with dialogue. The pacing is fast; we never get to sit in silence like we do with the manga. The horizontal frame allowed the boarders to add Senshi, turning the composition into an over-the-shoulder shot, which takes us out of Senshi's POV. They also added a zoom-out in shot one, which adds unnecessary energy to a very somber scene. The tightening on Senshi as a close-up reaction shot also dulls the moment. In the original panel, Senshi stares ahead at the empty space to his left as a shadow surrounds his mind. It not only shows how Senshi's senses are dulling and his world is shrinking (setting up panel three), but shows how terrified Senshi is of what's in front of him, how the air itself becomes pitch black and opaque, how Senshi is surrendering himself to fear. The pacing is understandable and necessary; this episode packed a lot of story content together. It's just a shame because it really (imo) deflated one of the most nauseating moments in Dungeon Meshi.

[agendercryptidlev]

Thinking about how Riz is the one who first used he/him pronouns for Baron & what it's like being AroAce is a queer space. Thinking about Riz seeing the kinship that Raugh and Kristen formed over both being gay and wanting that connection, that sense of community, but holding himself back because while he wasn't "normal" he also wasn't like them. When you're gay you're family and when you're straight you fit in but what happens when you're neither? How do you categorize that.

Riz isn't afraid of his orientation because he's different by societal standards. It's not being queer that scares him no, it's the isolation of not knowing if anyone else feels the way he does. He knows that if he were gay or bi or pan his friends would understand, he'd be like them and be surrounded by people like him. But he's not like them, he is different in a way that seems entirely unique to himself.

So maybe he kind of wished he was gay, and that Baron existed because that was what he was afraid to admit. It'd be a lot less lonely than the truth.

[hoaxghost]

They're both so insane for different reasons but it results in the same outcome

[xxplastic-cubexx]

had a wanda in my game ask me how to effectively use meteor m like my beautiful daughter i havent the slightest clue. also round starts in five seconds.

[qiu-yan]

based on this poll it seems we don't want lan wangji as chief cultivator

someone help him he's too morally good for politics :(

[thepoisonroom]

'I flirted with the idea that instead of being trans that I was just a cross-dresser (a quirk, I thought, that could be quietly folded into an otherwise average life) and that my dysphoria was sexual in nature, and sexual only. And if my feelings were only sexual, then, I wondered, perhaps I wasn’t actually trans.

I had read about a book called The Man Who Would Be Queen, by a Northwestern University professor who believed that transwomen who were attracted to women were really confused fetishists, they wanted to be women to satisfy an autogynephilia. And though I first read about this book in the context of its debunkment and disparagement, I thought about the electricity of slipping on those tights, zipping up those boots, and a stream of guilt followed. Maybe this professor was right, and maybe I was only a fetishist. Not trans, just a misguided boy.

About a year later, on the Internet, I come across a transwoman who added a unique message to the crowd refuting this professor. Oh, I wish I remember who this woman was, and I wish even more that I could do better than paraphrase her, but I remember her saying something like this: “Well, of course I feel sexy putting on women’s clothing and having a woman’s body. If you feel comfortable in your body for the first time, won’t that probably mean it’ll be the first time you feel comfortable, too, with delighting in your body as a sexual thing?”'

-Casey Plett, Consciousness

[mhevarujta]

At the end of Nosferatu (2024) Ellen is supposed to stare at Orlok in reckoning and in victory. Thrice is the idea of Ellen redeeming her city through consummating herself mentioned. She makes a redemptive sacrifice and yet she and women like her cannot ultimately exist in this society. Such women can only find peace in death.

When Eggers explores a genre or adapts a story, he's a purist and I LOVE his purism to an extent. I love his attention to detail, to historical accuracy, his interest in the occult and in people's real beliefs. The authenticity is part of what makes his movies so good. At the same time I feel that in terms of the feminist themes in Nosferatu (2024) Eggers is just one more man who chose to tackle female sexuality but does the bare minimum and calls it a day. But he STILL wants to have an answer to the critique that he KNOWS he will receive. He is very aware of the problems and tries to sugar-coat the outcome by giving Ellen this 'power' and 'peace' but he still chooses to not engage with them on a deeper level.

In choosing to adapt Nosferatu his love for the genre and the motifs simply exceeded his regard for the themes. While he was very much aware of the existence of A LOT of literary criticism about endings like the very one he chose to maintain, he just went ahead and found feminist critique that is not as critical of the motif to be able to have a ready answer that gives SOME validity to his decision. This feels like a very performative approach to me.

[faggottonystark]

idont believe in jinxing or fate or whatever but i want to be confident for my test ive been working hard despite being sick for the past week but im scared if i get Too confident then im probably gonna fail😭Its not bad to harbor a degree of skepticism on what the test will be like. i just hope there isnt any insane curveballs. all of the previous final exams seem relatively easy comparatively. im still studying my ass off for at least 6 hours tomorrow. wish i could get to sleep rn but my insomniac ass is not having it so instead of reading fics for 3 hours i got in some more studying but my brain is frying. Exam is at 4pm tomorrow i believe but im gonna leave around 2 or 2:30 so i can get to the building on time. My biggest fear is that ill get stupid hungry mid exam and lose my ability to think coherently. So im gonna have to srsly try and get 2 full meals in before the test. we’ll see if i actually accomplish this😭😭

[alienheartattack]

Welp, back to scrolling Tumblr because other white people set my country on fire again.

I am probably going to be okay. I was okay the last time this asshole was in office thanks to my luck and privilege and the fact that I live in an extremely liberal part of the country. But my heart hurts and I am so scared for those who will be chewed up and spat out by the fascist machine, even the people who were duped into voting for this demented, amoral, corrupt piece of shit.

[altschmerzes]

out there doing the lord’s work (headcanoning characters as aromantic and Not interested in romantic relationships at all actually, alienating one fandom at a time but having a fantastic blast with it all the while, which is really all that matters)

[vexahlla]

and THIS is when ed realizes what the audience has known for a while at this point—that oswald isn't selfish when it comes to ed. that he wouldn't sacrifice "anyone" to get what he wants. ed's been so down bad for oswald this entire time, every decision he's made has been in response to thinking that oswald would betray him or use him, he's been protecting himself from that even to the point of self destruction.

[everybody-hit-the-pyro-cue]

specialized education and gifted children programs are so fucked up I see the purpose but the execution and expectations are genuinely horrific I've yet to meet a single one of us that's doing okay besides from those who just reached their breaking point and chose to stop caring

[mxwhore]

mutuals we are struggling

[doedipus]

if I manage to keep up the pace of finishing one chapter roughly every six months maybe I'll even be able to push this thing out the door by the end of the decade

[yorkiegregg]

My disconnect from the modern therian & nonhuman communities as a whole is so frustrating. So much of it is so focused on discourse and regurgitated talk of who is a “true therian” or not through things like the whole “tiktok therian” talk, and so much of it is just misanthropy and misinformation and hate. I’m still trying to be active in community discussions but I have no connection with the widespread community really. I still like to post about my personal experiences, but sometimes I just have absolutely no motivation to because of how discourse-hungry all of this shit is.

I’m just upset I guess.