#Scale House Discourse

[scale-house-discourse]

What... Why? What do you do?

I'm here because I want to educate people about one of the lesser known tasks of a farmer- processing and logging crops on a large scale.

Also I'm exhausted and waiting for trucks of wheat can be boring/ I have office tasks that can be pretty tedious although important.

I'm in FFA, and do a lot of work with my local chapter and my extended family that runs the farm. But I like memes too much not to make my job one.

[imawriternotamagican]

Opinions on farming?

@scale-house-discourse

Yuhhh

It's pretty awesome and honestly that blog up there is like cool cuz it's abt farming but chill.

[beemovieerotica]

sorry to start discourse again but I'm going to keep making the comparison between maleness and whiteness when other transmascs try to genuinely argue that they're being discriminated against because they're male, until it sinks in

conversation that just happened: guy acknowledged that society is set up to let men succeed, and minorities are upset about this. sometimes they direct their frustration at individual men for being complicit in the system. guy argues that this is something that needs to be addressed and we need to fight back against anti-male hatred.

conversation that is also happening amongst white people: society is set up to let white people succeed, and minorities are upset about this. sometimes they direct their frustration at individual white people for being complicit in the system. white people also argue that "hatred toward white people" is a substantial problem that needs to be addressed.

what's the difference? both are reactions to immense structural power, and the perceived aggressors are acting on isolated impulse without societal support. they face consequences for challenging someone who has maleness / whiteness on their side and are fighting upward against embedded cultural pressures. for all intents and purposes, the hatred is occurring in smaller communities outside the mainstream, where those expressing animosity do not determine the material conditions of the recipient, e.g. access to housing, job opportunities, etc.

there are intersections with each of these identities that will alter the circumstances, but with all other things being equal, two people expressing animosity toward each other who differ on one of these axes will experience the asymmetry of societal / institutional power. society will favor a white able bodied trans man over a white able bodied trans woman. society will favor a white nonbinary autistic person over a brown nonbinary autistic person. you can qualify your specific experience with other facets of your identity but you cannot outright negate the benefits ascribed to you by maleness and/or whiteness, no matter the level of attachment you feel toward that label.

does it suck to have people dislike you? sure does. does it suck to have people assume you're part of the problem when you're doing your best not to? of course. does this warrant a response on the level of "I'm facing *discrimination* for being white/male"? no, and I'm sorry that people in your community are being rude. but you need to understand that using terms that allude to widescale inequalities for something that is happening to you on an interpersonal level is at best naive, and at worst minimizing the constant struggle that other marginalized people go through on the other side of the axis - and someone's occasional lapse in composure when they say something harsh to you in response to their daily confrontation with mind-numbing bigotry is not the point.

this equally goes for measures meant to correct for historical institutional & social inequalities: if you are genuinely looking at support services and opportunities for women and thinking that it's a point of discrimination that you're not allowed to access these now that you're a man, please also consider the majority opinion in this country where white people believe that colleges reserving spots for black people is unfairly discriminating against them. the reactions to institutional inequalities, and the efforts to re-balance the scales, are not themselves discrimination warranting your contempt.

[prototypesteve]

Valid. With or without validation. (A before there was an A.)

Asexuals, aromantics, and everyone else on the aspec are valid, and were valid even before we had a name for what we were.

In May of 1971, I was born different. There wasn’t a name for it. (The committee who wrote the Asexual Manifesto wouldn’t even form for another year and four months.) I was valid, but there wasn’t even a way to say what about me was valid.

In June of 1989, I graduated from High School. I was barely 18. I was still different. But in all those years, I’d never encountered the words aromantic or asexual. (Instead, I heard words like frigid, weird, secret f-g, psycho, virgin, and sheltered). In Career And Life Management class, where sex education was a brief module, they didn’t even mention X on the Kinsey Scale. We were told it was 1 to 6. Period. (I didn’t check, because I was X on the Kinsey Scale, which meant I didn’t care about things like the Kinsey Scale.) They managed to find a way to invalidate me without even naming the things they were invalidating!

By April of 1993, I graduated from college, still different. Now I was hearing kinder guess-names for what I was: Busy, focused, fussy, pure, a late-bloomer, and undecided. But I still hadn’t heard words like aromantic or asexual. I was at an art school. I heard all the other words. I saw people living all the other words. I saw bi couples, I had gay and lesbian friends and instructors, I had a pansexual classmate, and knew someone who was almost certainly pre-transition trans. I was aromantic and asexual but I had no way of finding those words, or being rescued from my confusion by those words. By this point, I didn’t even need validation, anymore. I just wanted understanding.

But I got sent out into the world, to go start my career, and figure out apartments, cars, taxes, utilities, setting up a business, and a million other adult things that took “housed-or-homeless” priority over “figuring out what was ‘wrong’ with me”. So, even though there were murmurs on the right talk shows, or screeds in the right ink-and-paper offline zines about asexuality and aromanticism, they weren’t in mainstream or sidestream discourse. I had to settle for “different, busy, and single-minded about his career”.

It would take until late 2022—over 29 years after I left college and 51 years after I was born—before I started noticing social media posts about “aroace” characters who didn’t feel love.

Now I had a name for my difference.

I knew exactly what I was, because everything I read about asexuality and aromanticism perfectly matched and explained the experiences I’d had, and the feelings I’d felt, since I first noticed I was different at age 12!

I’d been valid all that time. I saw the other posts saying we didn’t belong in this or that community, and the names should be broken up into more categories, and we were taking up space at pride festivals, and this was a made up thing that didn’t exist prior to… oh, fuck it, it didn’t matter. I was aromantic and asexual on the day I was born in 1971; before those two words were available to ordinary people. I was real, I was who I was, and I was valid, and even though I wasn’t allowed to know what I was for another five decades full of trauma and loss and hurt, I always was who I was, and so I always was valid, regardless of whether or not anyone else agreed.

And so are you.

[wingedshadowfan]

saying "your people hunt us like animals" ekko wouldn't have agreed with what the hellfire squad did in zaun if he'd been down there, that he'd hate/fight caitlyn (or even vi) or attack piltover for gassing zaun up when his next line was literally "silco pays them to do it" is CRAZY WORK considering the hellfire squad, caitlyn's (and the only suggested) alternative to a full scale armed invasion, were selectively using the grey and targeting the remaining chem barrons and silco goons - that's all ekko had been doing forever and his original reason to despise jinx so why would he care!

he obv doesn't like the enforcers and recognizes piltover's disregard for the undercity but the firelights don't go out of their way to attack them bcuz that's not what they're there for... i didn't know the mischaracterization of caitlyn trickled down to ekko lol (and how ik this discourse was started bcuz y'all hate caitlyn is bcuz nobody said anything abt ekko, or anyone, being mad when jayce and vi attacked that shimmer factory resulting in renni's son dying in s1)

the way i understood it, the firelights' main goal isn't and has never been to be opposed to piltover/enforcers or to free the undercity (unlike silco, sevika and the jinxers, which is why it was hard for sevika to rally the firelights up after silco's death), they're a faction aimed at dismantling shimmer, rehabilitating and housing the people whose lives it's ruined, working internally to heal and help the average person make it by, not at starting grand revolutions and revolts

silco and the chem barrons were a much closer and more imminent threat to the firelights' and their commune's safety, bcuz they directly profited (monetarily, and by gaining influence) from zaunites' shimmer addictions, and therefore have a strong incentive to eliminate the firelights, who in turn attack their shipments and save/protect their potential buyers victims

[centrally-unplanned]

The Swing Won't Save You

The "mainstream" account of the election results is one I generally endorse. Elections are thermostatic in the sense that they bounce around an equilibrium - these days the incumbent has a disadvantage, being blamed for the problems but not credited for the successes. Democrats lost because of things like the 2021-2023 inflation spike, or the immigration surge, and the next administration will be blamed for whatever problems the cycle of history throws upon us on top of the consequences of their own actions. That is just How It Be, and it isn't something internal reform can change.

This account is probably true, but this does not lead to some of the conclusions one is hoping it will. I see many taking this as a sort of dismal c'est la vie, assuming that you can just ride it out and win next time, then do good when you do. That therefore there really isn't any need to change all that much in the Dem party structure.

The miss here is that there are fundamental inequalities in the two parties. We just went through, quite handily, the most progressive democratic administration in decades. One that was maximally committed to the idea of "FDR reborn". And it did some good stuff! But I don't really think it lived up to the name, not even close. The democratic "win" - which occurred at the peak of the Covid Crisis in an era of nigh-unprecedented discontent against an incumbent president who was deeply unpopular - delivered a razor thin margin in the House and a literal tiebreaker Senate, itself only after a series of special elections.

The Biden administration spent its political capital on macroeconomic stabilization, one authentic Dem priority in the IRA bill, and then otherwise spent much of its time on a series of rearguard actions and failed attempts to appease coalition partners like unions (who broke away from Dems in record numbers in 2024). Bad policy ideas like student debt relief were themselves undone by the courts. They had four years to prosecute Trump for a blatantly obvious mountain of crimes, and could not get a single one of them across the finish line. And meanwhile, due to awful polling numbers, they felt forced to pursue a number of policies they didn't even really agree with to stave off future defeat. Which they, of course, did somewhat badly, for many reasons but "not really believing in them" is certainly a factor.

Meanwhile surveying the Republican Party's incoming administration, I of course cannot say what they will do with their probable quadfecta, so this is speculative. But through the dice of death they handily control the courts. More importantly, they play the dice to control the courts - we already have discourse on getting the two oldest Republican jurors in the SC to retire. Republican plans include debates around say abolishing the NLRB as unconstitutional, or mass scale deportations, and more you have certainly heard of. They will not do all of them, of course not. But "winning a court case to dismantle a regulatory capacity" is far, far easier than passing a congressional bill to reinstate it. You are not "un-deporting" anybody. The entire Republican agenda is structurally easier to pursue - tearing down is just easier than building up.

And meanwhile, the levers of power are themselves biased. The Supreme Court, of course, but more importantly the Senate, which has an awful map for the Dems. Even when you give Dems their best case scenarios where they win every competitive upcoming election, you are talking 52-48 seats up through ~2032. Meanwhile, the Republican ceiling is 60-40, and is not likely to dip out of the majority.

No one can predict the future of course - I just don't think this scenario and reality is getting the proper attention. A "swing" model where Dems win in 2028 at the same margins they won in say 2020, and then it swings back and so on, is a defeat for Democrats. Republicans will likely achieve X% of their agenda over the next two years, solidify court control, and then Dems will achieve X/2% or worse and otherwise play defense on their turn. It almost certainly isn't the apocalypse, it most likely is not the end of democracy - if you don't wanna care about politics, you don't have to, go live your life. But if you are trying to win at politics, if that is your goal - which for a political party it should be - this just ain't it.

The debate I see is over whether or not this election should be a "wake-up call" for Dems. Which is the wrong question, to me - the Biden administration should be a wake up call for Dems. Even if Harris squeaked out a win, it is a defeat to the party that they found themselves running a decaying man with sub-40 approval ratings for President, or found themselves taking a former senator in the top 1% of the leftwing voting record and running her as a centrist. It should be shameful that they took literally years to act on a "border crisis" that once they did act they found themselves perfectly capable of addressing, not because they authentically believed in increasing immigration and wanted to spend capital on that agenda (which they did not do), but because they were scared of the blowback that happened anyway. It is beyond the pale that Trump is not in jail because they think "politicizing the judicial branch" is somehow not their literal jobs as political actors. It is embarrassing that solidly blue Democratic cities are hemorrhaging population to purple and red states because the Democratic party is failing to govern them.

And I know, I am in the grand, august, tiresome tradition of using an election to repeat the same shit I always say. I have been on this beat since at least 2019. But it being tiresome doesn't mean it's wrong. It might not be right! Maybe Republicans will truly collapse into squabbling infighting and get nothing much done beyond tax cuts, their truest love. I don't know. But I think the odds matrix here is pretty ruthless - the opportunities to be a better party barely have downsides. They implement bad policy half the time even when they win! There is a fundamental disconnect between "what do we want to achieve as a party" and "how are we going to achieve that", a strategy void that infighting, paralysis, and special interest spoils-grabbing fills.

I am less confident on the solution for all this - at minimum we don't even have all the post-election data, that will take time. But the problem such solutions should be solving is that the Dems have been losing for 8 years. "Thermostatic swing in 2028" is not going to change that.

[thunderfrommyheart]

breaking down the misinformation in @afronerdism post about me.

Debunked by Stuart Semple himself. 

I’ve taken the time to do this because nobody wants mis-information bouncing around the internet. 

The key thing to know - in the artworld rich people have access to processes and companies that most artists don’t. That’s how they get to create giant beans which cost $20million. At the top the rich get richer, and at the bottom artists struggle to make their mark with what they’ve got. 

Vantablack is an example of a group of rich, entitled people getting together to pat themselves on the back, whilst the rest of the world watched horrified at the tone-deafness of the whole thing.

it's also worth noting whilst OP is clearly educated and understands politics they are not in any way an expert in the artworld, art discourse. I however have been in the artworld for 25 years, have written for the guardian, art of england and vogue. I have presented art programs for the BBC and have a properly published book on art history - it's out in June called 'Make Art or Die Trying'. I have studied art and art history and spoken at Oxford University, The ICA, Denver Art Msueum, Dublin Art Museum and at Frieze. I have lectured at the Royal College of Art in London. I have curated over 20 contemporary art exhibitions internationally, I have directed two galleries. I am by definition an expert.

MY BREAKDOWN: OP is @afronerdism - I've gone below them point by point

A: What Vantablack is not: a pigment. A paint. Vantablack is not something that you were supposed to use to paint with. 

SS: CORRECT - However nor is glass, chrome, powder coating, sandblasting, booze casting, tar, concrete or steel yet they are used by artists everyday. 

Whether the material/process is a paint or pigment or not doesn’t matter. 

A: Who creates and distributes Vantablack: an engineering company named Surrey NanoSystems.

SS: True. And many artists work with engineering companies every day, notable examples are Jeff Koons and Damien Hirst. Lots of artists collaborate with industry to get their work made, that is what fabrication is.  You go to Surrey NanoSystems - not to buy paint but for them to coat your work in Vantablack. 

A: Who does not do those things: an art house. A distribution company. Any kind of company that creates and distributes pigments on a massive, artistic scale. 

SS: Which is totally true and fine. However they do coat things in Vantablack for a series of clients in many different industries including fashion designers, jewelers, brands, car companies, and watch companies. They will coat anything for anyone who has the money unless they are an artist. They only accept work from Anish Kapoor as he has an exclusive license with them for art. 

A: Who was Vantablack made for: Vanta Black was made by aerospace engineers for aerospace engineers, looking for something to coat the insides of massive NASA telescopes. 

SS: Initially, but quickly was used by a lot of other industries including architects, fashion designers, bands, brands, car companies and even a deodorant. 

They are able to make it in quantities large enough to coat whole buildings as we saw when architect Asif Khan used it to coat a whole pavilion during the Pyeongchang Winter Olympic Games. 

(If had told Surrey nanoSytems he was an artist - not an architect, this would never have happened)

A: Who it was not made for: artists.

SS: Except the one with the license. (Anish Kapoor)

———————————-——————————————

A: Hopefully already just by understanding what Vantablack is, what it was made for, and who it’s made by you and other people are beginning to see what the problem is with Stuart simples narrative around Vanta black. 

SS: It’s Semple not simple. 

SS: The narrative was not created by Semple as for a few months before he shared his pink the world media was criticizing Kapoor for his Monopoly with major articles in the Guardian, Daily Mail, and BBC news. Each featured reactions from a broad spectrum of artists who spoke about the unnecessary license and the elitism in the artworld. 

A:  But you may be wondering if Vanta black is a highly toxic unstable substance made out of carbon nano tubes by aerospace engineers for aerospace engineers, working in space, then how did we get here? well, Vanta, black 2.0, if you will was created in such a way that it could be sprayed onto substances in a certain way meaning that theoretically it could be used artistically.

SS: Yes VBX2 can be sprayed, and Surrey Nanosystems have training days where they teach in-house teams how to do that. The VBX2, however, arrived quite late in the story and Kapoor’s rights started with the first version. 

A: Surround nanosystems held an exhibition where they displayed Vanta black and when artist saw this, they were inundated with calls from artist, wanting to use it in their work. 

SS:

Surrey nano systems (not surround)

They actually debut it at an airshow in England, it was all over the world media, many artists saw it. They then went on a massive PR mission and the material was seen on CNN etc. 

Kapoor became aware of it and approached them to see if he could use it in his work. 

Together they struck up an exclusive deal which would mean if any artist asked them to coat a piece of work with the stuff they would be turned away. 

That deal was something Surrey and Kapoor were initially proud of. They couldn’t see the inherent elitism in the exclusivity so they went on another PR pr to tell he world Kapoor was signed up to use it. 

It was then the artists of the world really became aware of it, and sure enough, when any of them wrote to Surrey - even really huge ones with plenty of money, they were turned away. These artists including Christian Furr and Ron Arad, amongst others were all featured across the media. =

A: But as we’ve already established surrey nanosystems is not a distribution company. They’re an engineering company. And they made the decision that they could only work with one artist, because they simply did not have the physical ability to produce Vantablack at a scale that allowed them to work with more than one person. 

SS: They did say that, but a lot later. They were always a fabrication / engineering place and there was never an idea that they would distribute the material. That’s not the problem any artists ever had with it, they all fully understood what the material was. The issue was that even if the artist had the money and could ship their work to Surrey, they would not coat the object with it, but they would serve other industries. This is seen as deeply prejudicial towards artists. 

A: (To this day, vanta Black has to be distributed by a specialized robotic arm that creates it in painfully small amounts in an enclosed box that can then be given to someone in a lab. ) 

SS: This is untrue - the arm is used to spray the objects that Surrey have agreed to coat. 

It does not make the material. The material is made by growing carbon nano tubes on a surface. 

And the spray version contains nano particles. The robot arm is used for precision when coating. 

You often see a robot arm spray cars for example. The arm is used like this. 

A: Enter Anish Kapoor: Anish Kapoor, at this time was already a world, renowned artist, and the creator of many public facing pieces, such as cloud gate, a.k.a. the Chicago Bean. His entire life‘s work was dedicated to how light is refracted and interplays with the void, making him not only the perfect person to be chosen because of prestige but also because his life‘s work spoke to the engineers who created Vanta black.

SS: Whist as an artist he has dealt with reflection and the void at length, it’s a stretch to claim his entire life’s work is dedicated to it. 

SS: It is true that as a figurehead for Vantablack he is a good choice, he’s very rich, extremely famous, he’s a Sir (i.e knighted by the queen and a turner prize winner). Plus he makes work that would look good in Vantablack. 

SS: None of this means that he needed exclusivity to do it, the company could simply have collaborated with him and if any other artist asked to have something coated, they could have easily said they were too busy or didn’t have enough of the material. 

SS: The issue is the way they couldn’t see the prejudice, elitism and lack of access in the exclusivity. 

A: Now this should’ve been seen as an incredible accomplishment and honor for this Indian artist to be chosen as the soul licensor of Vantablack as this company was only able to choose one person and people were really excited about this for him and that’s where the story ends, right? Right? Right? 

SS: It’s unclear why his race matters. He is one of the richest, most well known, most famous artists in the world. The fact he has exclusive access to a material/process like this is not a reason for people to be excited for him, people are free to be excited or not. This is purely your opinion not a fact. 

A: Enter Stuart Semple: Stuart simple was a 25-year-old man in the UK living with his mother when she came into his room and told him about Vantablack. 

SS: Stuart was born in 1980, which would make him 36 at the time. 

SS: He was not living with his mother, in fact he was living in London with his own family. 

SS: His mother did not come into his room however on a phone call she spoke to him about an article she had read in the guardian about how artists were upset by Kapoor having Vantablack. 

SS: Stuart was (and is) a well-known contemporary artist, very embedded int hat world. He has had over 20 solo exhibitions dedicated to his work all over the world and his pieces are in major collections and museums. He’s not in the league of Kapoor but in the artworld is well known as an artist. 

A: As an artist himself, Stewart simple wanted to try Vanta Black, and was told by the company that he could not.

SS: This is untrue - Stuart did not want to use the colour, nor did he approach the company. 

A:  It was then that he discovered the only person on earth licensed to use Vantablack was Anish Kapoor. 

SS: This is untrue, he was aware of this when his mother told him what she had read in the newspaper. 

A: Please keep in mind that Vantablack is not a paint, and it is so difficult to work with that Anish Kapoor has only ever produced one singular piece of art with Vantablack. 

SS: This is untrue. Tens of thousands of items have now been coated in VantaBlack, from soda cans to watches. Initially, Kapoor used his rights to create a series of limited edition wrist watches that sold for $100,000 each, and then went on to create a whole series of large sculptures that were initially shown at a huge palazzo in Venice that Kapoor bought, during the Venice Biennale, and then at an exhibition at the Lisson in NYC where there works were for sale with an average price of $500,000USD.

A: So like a child who has just been told by their mom that they can’t use something, Stewart simple decided to throw a hissy fit. 

SS: It’s Stuart Semple (not stewart simple) - and there is no evidence of any kind of Hissy Fit. However he did create a piece of internet performance art, where he put a jar of pinkest pink paint on the internet, humorously, and asked anyone who bought the paint to sign an agreement that they ‘weren’t Anish Kapoor and Associate of Kapoor and that to the best of their knowledge information and belief, the material would not make its way into the hands of Anish Kapoor’. Semple has always explained it was a tongue-in-cheek piece of performance art, and that he was never expecting anyone would actually buy any pink. The best source for this is an article in Wired in which the journalist concludes with the piece being a powerful piece of online performance art. Bearing in mind Semple is an artist who works with performance, that is extremely likely. 

A: He created a pink pigment that he conditionally said everyone could use except Anish Kapoor and then launch this pigment with the hashtag #ShareTheBlack. 

SS: He created the pink pigment in 2010 - and has made his own paints to use in his own work since he was a child. It was not made in response to Kapoor. However he did not make them public they were for his own use, and the Kapoor situation made him question his own exclusivity in keeping the materials he was making for himself. He decided to share his pink as a gesture and a piece of art in it's own right.

A: This caught the attention of the news media, and when asked about this situation, that was previously relatively unheard of, Stuart simple,

SS: Neither Stuart nor the Vantablack situation were unheard of. The media was already reporting on the controversy around vantablack long before Stuart put the pink up. Stuart was also well known which is why the media wanted to talk to him about it. 

When GQ came to do a 5 page feature on him they were clear it was because he was an established and well-known artist in his own right. 

He had already been hosting art shows for the BBC, had written for the guardian and Huffington post and had collaborated with major musicians. 

A: went onto describe Anish Kapoor as this tyrannical elitist who “banned“ the use of Vantablack to keep other artists from using it. 

SS: There’s no evidence that Semple said that, however, he was critical of the exclusive license and did feel the story opened up a well-needed discussion about access to art and the trend in which those with the money could afford to have works fabricated when others couldn’t. He is at heart an egalitarian and has made free art studios, his Designs for humanity charity, his creative therapies fund at Mind (a mental health charity) etc.. and a major free art gallery in his hometown that shows some of the biggest living artists. So Semple’s opinion is allowed, to him Kapoor epitomizes an elitism that is dominated by the super-rich, after all, Kapoor is getting close to being a billionaire. 

A: But hopefully you can already see how that is Literally not true. Anish Kapoor does not make Vanta black. Anish Kapoor cannot sell Vanta black. Anish Kapoor cannot give you permission to use Vanta black. And Vanta black is not even a paint. 

SS: He does not make it, but he does hold the exclusive right to use it in art. 

SS: No other material or process has been exclusively licensed by one artist in the history of the world. 

SS: Jeff Koons does not make his own giant steel sculptures, a factory does. Jeff can’t book your work into the factory, and steel is not a paint either. He doesn't have an exclusive agreement with the steel fabricators. If they aren't too busy with Jeff, and you've got the cash, they'll make something for you too. This is standard with art fabrication.

SS: I didn't physically make the giant steel and foam smiley sculpture of mine for the city of Denver, fabricators helped with that, and engineers. They work with several artists.

SS: This makes no sense given it is understood vantablack is a material and a process of application. 

SS: However Kapoor could surrender his exclusive right and Surrey would then be able to take bookings from artists. 

A: meanwhile Stuart has launched an entire very lucrative career around slandering and smearing Anish Kapoor 

SS: Untrue, Semple had a very successful career and his day job is as a contemporary artist. Actually speaking up about elitism in the artworld is a risky move for someone who relies on that artworld to pay his bills. 

A: when Anish Kapoor literally never did anything but be qualified enough to be the one person chosen by a company that is literally only able to work with one person at a time. 

SS: He did do something, he signed an exclusive agreement and he felt he was entirely justified in doing so. He also went out in the media and with surrey nono systems and gloated about it.

SS: They can’t only work with one person at a time, we have seen whole buildings covered in vantback, jewellery, cars and soda cans and many sculptures by Kapoor. Surrey have collaborated with thousands of brands, designers, architects and companies. 

A: The fact remains Stewart simple, very intentionally allows this narrative to continue because it makes him money. 

SS: It is unclear how it makes him money as the pink was sold for $3 which was what it cost to make, and his website which researches and distributes cutting edge materials is a non profit that collaborates with artists. They even did a crowd funder to make Black 3.0 - a super black acrylic that any artist can use. It's also unclear how he is perpetuating this narrative, when he's clearly moved on to other projects many years ago and rarely mentions it. In Semple's world it's a very small thing.

A: He has made a ton of money off of slandering Anish Kapoor as if Anish Kapoor is the reason he can’t use Vanta black when the reason he can’t use Vanta black is because no one can use Vanta black, and the only person who might be able to use it is Anish Kapoor and that is not Anish Kapoor‘s fault. 

SS: There’s no evidence at all that he’s slandered Kapoor. Kapoor being extremely wealthy, and the level of media that covered the story back in 2016 would never have allowed it. It would have been a legal nightmare. All the publications who write about the story GQ, BBC, The Guardian, Wired, have journalistic laws and it would not have happened. 

SS: There’s no evidence that Semple has made a ton of money. 

A: It is not lost on me that there are racial connotations to the story as well. There are actual companies and artists in the world who have trademarks around certain colors that they do not allow other people to use in public showcases. 

SS: There are colour marks or if you like 'trademarked colours'. The public showcases point doesn't make sense in this context - colours are protected in classes i.e certain uses on Serbian products are prohibited. EG - Tiffany blue cannot be used on jewellery boxes. 

A: But we really as a community allowed this white man to smear and slander an Indian artist,

SS: Again it’s unclear what the ethnicity of the artists has to do with the core issue. 

SS: It’s a little bit of a leap given Semple has also liberated Klein Blue (made by a white French man), Barbie Pink (owned by Mattel a corporation), and created the Brightest White. 

 A: based entirely off of misinformation, and to this day people jump on the Internet, saying fuck Anish Kapoor because of it. 

SS: Kapoor secured the rights to the blackest material ever made. Everyone else who can afford to, can use it, unless they identify as an artist. 

SS: Many people feel like that is wrong. 

A: Now, Anish Kapoor is not some struggling person. He is probably a multibajillionaire 

SS: He’s worth about 800 million according to Forbes, he’s within the top 5 most wealthy living artists.

A: And doesn’t necessarily need our sympathy. But I think the story of Vantablack is a really good case study of how misinformation spreads, and how people never bother to question the framework of a story. 

SS: In my opinion, your post is misinformation, that has been spread unquestioningly. 

[communistkenobi]

i’d love to get your take on the physical geography/human geography “divide”. we spent a lot of time debating the merits of having both in my first year phd course and in my opinion as a physical geographer the opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration far outweigh any of the issues with housing physical and social scientists together

my familiarity with this debate primarily comes from the academic discourse around the concept of the “Anthropocene” (ie the period in Earth’s history where human beings have made a measurable, global impact on the environment, almost always spoken about in the context of climate change). The way I’ve seen this term used is to argue that the period of the Anthropocene is collapsing the physical/human geography divide, that even if we could separate these disciplines in the past, we can no longer partition the environmental from the social.

I’m partial to critical interventions in this discourse (which is how I will answer your question) - that the ‘human impact’ we’re talking about is actually a function of colonialism, imperialism, and capitalism, not some abstract universal ‘human impact’. Modern human beings have existed on Earth for nearly two hundred thousand years, and human-made climate change has only occurred in roughly the last two centuries - a microscopic timeframe when talking about Earth’s climate. People in the Global South, in imperialized countries, and indigenous and Black peoples in settler colonies are not the classes who produce industrial levels of carbon emissions or wreak industrial-scale environmental devastation - that is the ruling class & the imperial states of the world. Hoelle & Kawa (2021) argue in Placing the Anthropos in Anthropocene that we should call it the plantationocene or capitalocene, because human-made climate change is a function of specific historical and material processes, not some generalized, ahistorical "human impact." Likewise, "human impact" is an imprecise and colonial definition of human involvement with the environment, which dismisses Indigenous peoples' complex and highly sophisticated relationships with what are understood by the Western world to be "pristine environs" (arising from the doctrine of terra nullius, or empty land, which justified colonial expansion into the American continent because there was "no civilization there") such as the Amazon Rainforest, which should be understood as a human-made ecological system the same way we understand farmlands to be human-made (see Roosevelt's 2014 The Amazon and the Anthropocene: 13,000 Years of Human Influence in a Tropical Rainforest).

therefore I think it's productive to think of the divide between the physical and the human geographies as a colonial framework, or at least one that is deeply implicated in colonial thinking - it positions the environment as an ‘object’ terrain that ‘subjects’ are situated on top of, as opposed to understanding human beings as part of nature. This is part of the logic that relegates Indigenous people to the status of animals ("savages"), as "part of" nature, while human 'subjects', ie white bourgeois Europeans, are separated from nature (see Quijano's 2000 Coloniality of Power, Eurocentrism, and Latin America). This type of thinking is attributed to climate change-denialism in fascist circles (see Acker's 2020 What Could Carbofascism Look Like?), whose denialism is premised on a settler colonial understanding of the environment as a resource to be dominated and extracted from - the environment has no agency in this framework, no ability to react to the violence of colonial extraction, it is a purely inert economic resource. Likewise, this psychical/human divide obfuscates the fact that historical processes like colonialism are also environmental processes. In North America, the genocides of indigenous peoples carried out by European settlers over the past five centuries have been so monumental that the resulting reduction in carbon dioxide output by human bodies is measurable in the geological record (see Hoelle & Kawa again). The environmental devastation of silver mining in South America led by Spanish colonizers, and the resulting misery inflicted on colonized peoples forced to conduct this mining (see Galeano's 1971 The Open Veins of Latin America) was foundational to the forming of the modern Spanish nation-state, who imported so much stolen silver into Europe that they crashed their own economy (see chapter 3 of Perry Anderson’s 1974 Lineages of the Absolutist State).

Likewise, efforts at environmental protections from Indigenous nations has resulted in unique advancements in the law, such as enshrining legal personhood on rivers, as was the case with the Whanganui River in Aotearoa (see Brierly et al's 2018 A geomorphic perspective on the rights of the river in Aotearoa New Zealand), or the forsaking of sovereign mining rights by the state in order to protect indigenous land claims for environmental protection, as was the case in Ecuador (see Gümplova's 2019 Yasuní ITT Initiative and the reinventing of sovereignty over natural resources). These are social, political, and legal efforts at environmental protection, done with an eye towards decolonization (or at the very least, decolonial policy regimes), and separating the environmental from the social in trying to understand this subject would be absurd.

And so the question of discipline specificity is obviously bound up in these debates, and the academic production of environmental scientists on the one hand and geographic social scientists on the other is part of the maintenance of that divide. Environmental protection policy requires specialised knowledge of the environments being protected, and that specialised knowledge likewise requires expertise in how state policy functions. And it has required decades and centuries of resistance and legal challenges for Indigenous people to be involved in these respective sites of knowledge production - all of this is bound up in debates about if we should keep the physical and human geographies separated. I think the example of medical doctors talking about “shit life syndrome” (ie the medical problems faced by people as a result of poverty and inequality) speaks to a consequence of the debates around disciplinary divides - most medical doctors are not social policy experts, it’s not their job to write legislation or policy programs, their job is to provide medical services to people, but they are nonetheless identifying in their supposedly separate discipline of medicine and human biology the harmful social outputs of capitalist societies, which is intense systemic poverty

[germanpostwarmodern]

Already for centuries the book is a primary means for architects to present their work and ideas about architecture. Accordingly there literally are thousands and thousands of architecture books spanning centuries and styles. In 2016 architect and researcher André Tavares published his fabled book „The Anatomy of the Architectural Book“ with Lars Müller Publishers who have recently published the second edition of the long out of print book.

In line with the book’s title it isn’t a history of the architecture book but an exploration of its anatomy as a reflection of architecture. Beginning with two case studies, namely the 1851 Chrystal Palace exhibition in London and Sigfried Giedion’s „Befreites Wohnen“ from 1929, Tavares showcases how in the first example chromolithography allowed color illustrations and involved the publication in the contemporary discourse about the appropriate use of color in architecture. The second example in turn represents an object in its own right with which Giedion supported his arguments for modern housing.

In part two of the book Tavares dives deeper into the anatomy of the architectural book by analyzing a wealth of books. On basis of the five characteristics texture, surface, rhythm, structure and scale he examines books by the likes of Giovanni Battista da Sangallo, Gottfried Semper, Le Corbusier, Frank Lloyd Wright, Walter Gropius and Erich Mendelsohn. The latter’s book „Amerika“ from 1926 is one of the examples in the rhythm section: as Tavares explains, Mendelsohn translated his experience of the perceptual dynamism in the USA to the book by organizing the its pages cinematically. This means that he immerses the reader in the American city and its architecture by gradually moving from piercing contrasts to sequences of street views to make the reader aware of its physical qualities.

Although the previous example represents just one of the three methods of organization showcased by the author it demonstrates his in-depth analyses of the architecture book’s development over time. This amalgam of book, architectural and media history makes Tavares’ publication a fantastic read that is highly recommended!

[targtowerxstark]

A Northern promise

Cregan Stark X Targtower Reader

Requested by Anon💌. Thank you so much for the requests. Requests are open!!

summary: The princess has to travel north to propose a marriage pact but finds Cregan is away at war. At castle black Cregan and his men are fighting hard to slay the wildings but all hope seems lost, until they hear a dauntingly loud roar in the distance….

In the dimly lit council chambers, the air was thick with tension as the princess sat among her family, and other members of the kings council, their expressions grave and determined. They discussed strategies to bolster their support for the impending war, voices rising and falling as ideas were exchanged.

Finally, an idea was settled upon: sending the princess to the North to engage Lord Stark in political discourse. The notion of a marriage pact was floated, a potential alliance that could strengthen their position and secure vital support against their enemies.

"We need to secure Lord Stark's support," her mother declared, her voice steady but laced with tension. "A marriage pact could solidify our alliance."

As she listened, the weight of the responsibility settled on her shoulders, knowing that her journey could alter the course of their fate.

The princess felt a flutter of apprehension in her stomach. The idea of marrying a man she barely knew was daunting, yet she understood the gravity of their situation.

"Mother, do you truly believe this is the best course of action?" she asked, trying to mask the uncertainty in her voice.

Her mother nodded, her expression resolute. "It’s not just about you, my dear. It’s about the future of our house. The North is strong, and their loyalty could turn the tide in our favor."

Her brother Aemond chimed in

“Although i long for you to stay in the capital sweet sister, mother is right. The Norths population is almost as big as the other six kingdoms put together, it is powerful and we need to secure an alliance with them, although mother i do think it is unbefitting of a Targaryen princess to be marrying some dog rather than someone who shares her blood, like myself.

Your mother quickly replied. “Aemond you mustn’t degrade the lords of the kingdoms like such, and as for marriages we shall need you to secure alliances to further strengthen your brothers claim to the throne, I will hear no more of the matter.”

As the council debated the logistics, y/n’s mind raced. Could she charm Lord Stark and persuade him to join their cause? What would it mean to leave her home and step into a world so different from her own? She took a deep breath, knowing that her duty was clear and she has no choice.

"If it is for the good of our house, I will go," she finally said, her voice firm despite the uncertainty swirling within her. The decision was made, and she felt the weight of her family's hopes resting on her shoulders.

As the princess made her way to the dragon pit, the cool evening air wrapped around her, a stark contrast to the warmth of the council chambers. With each step, she could feel the weight of her choice pressing down on her, but the thought of soaring through the skies on her dragon filled her with a sense of purpose. The massive stone structure loomed ahead, its entrance adorned with intricate carvings of dragons, a reminder of her family's legacy. Upon entering, the familiar scent of warm stone and the faint sound of her dragon’s low rumble greeted her. She approached her dragon, a magnificent creature with shimmering emerald scales that glinted in the dim light. Climbing onto its back, she felt a rush of exhilaration as the dragon unfurled its wings, stretching them wide. With a powerful leap, they took to the skies, the ground falling away beneath them.

As they flew northward, the wind whipped through her hair, and she closed her eyes for a moment, embracing the freedom and the daunting journey ahead, determined to secure the alliance that could change everything. The green fields below her quickly turned white with heavy snows and the sights of animals and children below became scarce as it is only a dead man’s wish to be out in this cold.

As the princess dismounted her dragon, her boots thudded softly against the frost-kissed ground of Winterfell. The castle loomed before her, its ancient stones weathered by time, a stark contrast to the smooth, polished walls of her own home. She took a moment to absorb her surroundings—tall, rugged trees stood sentinel around the fortress, their branches heavy with snow, and the air was crisp, carrying a hint of woodsmoke from the hearths within.

Approaching the gates, she felt a mix of excitement and trepidation. Just then, a maester clad in thick furs stepped forward, his expression solemn.

"My Princess,it is an honour to greet you, I am the maester of Winterfell, what brings you here?" he inquired, his voice deep and cold.

"I must speak with Lord Stark on behalf of my father, the king. I am a royal guest why has Lord Stark not received me himself"

she replied trying to hide that she felt insulted. A person of her status should be received by the Lord of the castle not an old man.

The master shook his head, his brow furrowing.

"I am sorry princess, I’m afraid he is away at the Wall, fighting against the wildlings. They’ve breached the defenses and are through castle black. The battle will be a long one and i don’t believe Lord Stark will return with even half the men he travelled there with, Winter is coming Princess and it will be as cold and fierce as ever."

A chill ran down her spine at the thought of such danger. As she glanced around, she noticed the northern people bustling about, their faces hardened by the cold and their expressions serious. They moved with a sense of purpose, their attire practical and sturdy, unlike the more ornate garments of the south. She couldn’t help but admire their resilience; they seemed shaped by the harshness of their land, and she felt a pang of respect for their strength.

As she stood at the gates of Winterfell, she realized that while the north was daunting, it also held a raw beauty and a fierce spirit that was unlike anything she had known back home but this will soon be her home should everything go in her favour. The challenges ahead would be great, but perhaps, just perhaps, she could learn from these people and their unwavering resolve.

“Castle Black you say?” she replied

“yes princess, I do believe you will be waiting a moon or so before our Lord returns, I shall have the guest quarters prepared immediately.” he explained

A mischievous look came over her face. Y/n is an impatient woman, she grew up in the red keep you would expect as much from a Targaryen princess. She wanted to talk with Cregan Stark and she wanted to do it now. “Your Lord will be back to you sooner than you think, I shall not be staying I am needed North of here but thank you for your kindness.”

And with that the princess retuned to her dragon and mounted it, taking off into the skies. If she wanted a Northern Man she would have to show she is for the North and will do anything to protect it. If one thing was known it is that Starks value loyalty and she will prove just how loyal she is willing to be in exchange for what she wants.

As she travelled north of winterfell the air became colder and the sound of clashing steel and the cries of men echoed through the air as she rode closer to the battlefield, her heart pounding with a mix of fear and determination. The sight that greeted her was one of chaos; men fought valiantly, their faces smeared with dirt and blood, the ground beneath them soaked in the remnants of a desperate struggle. Cregan stood at the forefront, a formidable figure, his dark hair matted with sweat and grime, his expression a mask of fierce resolve, and ice, the ancestral sword was visible even from the skies.

The battle was certainly not going in the Norths favour, for every man of Lord starks there must’ve been 20 wildings y/n thought.

Just as despair began to creep into the hearts of the Northmen, a distant roar broke through the din of battle—a sound unlike any other, powerful and commanding.

"What in the gods' names was that?" one of the lords exclaimed, his eyes wide with disbelief.

Cregan's expression shifted, a spark of hope igniting within him. "It could be our salvation," he murmured, turning to his men. "If it is what I think it is, we may yet turn the tide."

With a shared glance, the men knew the significance of that roar. It was a call to arms, a promise of aid. As the sound grew closer, the ground trembled beneath them, and the enemy faltered, confusion washing over their ranks.

"Get ready!" Cregan commanded, rallying his men. "We fight for our homes! We fight for the North!"

As the roar crescendoed into a thunderous presence, a massive figure emerged from the shadows—an enormous dragon, its scales glimmering like emeralds in the fading light with y/n on its back guiding it through the skies her silver hair shining all the way from the sky. The battlefield fell silent, the sight of the creature and the princess was both awe-inspiring and terrifying.

"By the gods!" one of the lords gasped, his voice barely above a whisper.

Cregan's eyes widened, a grin breaking through his stoic demeanor. "It seems the South has sent a princess to aid us. We shall not fall this day!"

“A Southern princess in the North? The men back home won’t believe this, she won’t know what to do once she sees this battle up close my lord” one of the men began, this caused a domino affect of other men shouting and laughing amongst themselves while continuing to fight.

“I hear they have maids waiting by their side to wipe their arse when they use their chamber pot”

“Stuck up their own arse is all they are, the lot of them”

“Now Lads, One of them very Southerners is here in the North to aid us in this battle before we speak anymore we shall give her a chance to prove herself and show us what southerners are really made of”

the men erupted in laughter as they jested but they could not deny the presence of the princess has provided a new sense of hope when all seemed lost.

With renewed vigor, the Northmen surged forward, bolstered by the arrival of the dragon and the fierce determination of their lord by their side and their princess above them in the sky. Y/n felt the thrill of battle surge through her veins, her heart racing with the realization that this moment would forever change the course of her life—and perhaps the fate of the realm itself.

As the clash of steel echoed across the snowy battlefield, Cregan Stark stood resolute among his men, the air thick with the scent of smoke and the cries of war. Above them, the princess soared on her dragon. With a fierce roar, the dragon arched its neck, and the sky seemed to darken as it unleashed a torrent of fire, a brilliant stream of orange and gold that cascaded down upon the wildlings below. The flames engulfed the enemy, illuminating the stark landscape and sending a wave of heat that contrasted sharply with the biting cold. Cregan watched in awe as the dragon's fire danced through the air, consuming the wildling horde, their battle cries turning to screams as chaos erupted around them. The sight of the dragon, a symbol of power and hope, filled him with renewed strength. He rallied his men, urging them forward, knowing that with the princess and her dragon fighting by their side, victory was within reach. The wildlings faltered, their ranks breaking under the combined might of the Northmen and the dragon's fiery wrath.

Together, they fought, a united front against the chaos, and in that crucible of war, a bond began to form—one forged in the fires of battle and the promise of a shared future.

With the princesses arrival the battle was over quickly. The wildings were slayed and those who survived fled.

As the smoke cleared and the last echoes of battle faded, Cregan Stark stood at the edge of the battlefield, his armor still glinting in the pale sunlight. He felt a mix of exhaustion and elation, but his heart quickened as he spotted the princess dismounting her dragon nearby. Her presence was striking, the way she carried herself with a blend of grace and strength, her hair catching the light like spun gold.

Y/n dismounted her dragon and remained by its side, feeling slightly awkward on the battlefield she felt safe with her dragon. Lord Stark saw her by the beast and contemplated his next move. He owed the lives of his men to the princess and she was owed thanks but to approach her with such a large beast beside her would be a death wish.

Yet Lord Stark understood what was required of a man in his position so he cautiously made his way over to the princess.

"Princess," he said, bowing slightly, his voice steady despite the flutter in his chest. "Your bravery in battle was unmatched. We owe you our victory."

She smiled, her eyes sparkling with mischief. "I must admit, it was thrilling to watch you lead your men. You have the spirit of a true Stark."

Cregan chuckled, feeling the weight of her gaze. "And you, a true dragon rider. I suppose we make quite the team."

"Indeed," she replied, a playful glint in her eye. "Though I think my dragon might have done most of my heavy lifting."

He stepped closer, the air between them charged with unspoken attraction. "Perhaps, but it was your courage that inspired us all. I am grateful for your aid."

The princess tilted her head, her smile softening. "Gratitude is a fine thing, Lord Stark, but it seems we are both bound by duty. A Stark and a princess... such alliances are often in favour of all those involved."

Cregan nodded, understanding the weight of their titles. "True, but perhaps we can find moments of levity amidst our responsibilities Princess."

"Moments of levity?”she teased, her laughter light and infectious. "You mean to say I should bring my dragon to every meeting Lord Stark?"

"Only if you promise to keep it from roasting my bannermen," he replied, his grin widening.

They both spoke in a formal manner as their status required but their age was prevalent as they exchanged playful banter, both felt the undeniable connection, aware of the path their lives were set upon. Yet, in that moment, amidst the remnants of war, they found solace in each other's company, a flicker of hope amidst the expectations of their worlds.

Later on as the sounds of laughter and celebration echoed through the clearing, the atmosphere was alive with the spirit of victory. The men of Winterfell raised their swords, toasting to their triumph on the battlefield. The princess, however, found herself drawn away from the revelry, tending to her dragon. She meticulously cleaned the ash off the creature's scales, her mind wandering as she worked.

Glancing up, she noticed Lord Stark leaning against a nearby tree, his sword glinting in the sunlight as he cleaned it with careful precision. There was an air of calm about him that intrigued her, a stark contrast to the chaos of the festivities. Taking a deep breath, she decided to approach him, her heart racing with anticipation.

“Lord Stark,” she greeted, her voice steady despite the flutter in her chest. “May I join you?”

He looked up, his expression shifting from concentration to surprise. “Princess,” he replied, bowing slightly. “Of course, I would be honored.”

As she stepped closer, she felt the weight of the moment. “I wanted to speak with you about something important,” she began, her tone serious yet inviting. “I’ve been sent to the North to propose a marriage pact between us. on behalf of the crown.”

His brow raised slightly, a mixture of curiosity and caution in his gaze. “A marriage pact? That is a significant proposal, my lady. May I ask what your thoughts are on the matter”

“I think it is a clever alliance Lord Stark. It would strengthen my brothers claim to the throne should my father ever change his heir and it would do the North good to have a dragon protecting it”

“I believe you have taken me up wrong princess, forgive me princess but I want to know what you think of the alliance, not what your parents have told you to believe, is this what you want?” Lord Starks heart began to race, he needed to know her thoughts on the matter, it would slightly hurt him to believe she wants no part in the alliance only she is being forced to accept.

She hesitated for a moment, gathering her thoughts. “When I saw you on the battlefield, taking charge and leading your men with such strength, I realized you would make a good husband and an excellent father. You are able to take charge and that’s a good trait in w man. The stories I’ve heard about you are impressive,your swordsmanship and your honour but it was your presence in that moment that truly convinced me.”

He studied her for a moment, the tension between them palpable. “Before I answer your proposal, I would like to know your thoughts when the small council first suggested this idea. Were you in favor of it, or was it merely a duty you felt obliged to consider Princess ?”

Her gaze dropped for a moment as she reflected. “To be honest, I was unsure. The idea of a marriage pact felt like a political maneuver at first. But after seeing you, I realized there is more to you than just a title. You have a heart that leads you, and that is what I want in a partner.”

Lord Stark’s lips curled into a faint smile, a glimmer of warmth in his eyes. “You speak with such conviction. It’s refreshing. I have heard tales of your beauty and kindness, and they don’t do you justice my lady. I would feel honoured to take your hand in marriage and it seems we both are in favour of this alliance.”

“Indeed,��� she replied, her heart swelling with hope. “I believe we could forge a future together, one built on mutual respect and understanding.”

After a moment of contemplation, he finally spoke. “Then I will accept your proposal. Who would I be to deny such an offer? I am but a lord, and you are a princess. I should be the one impressing you, not the other way around.”

She chuckled softly, the playful banter easing the formality of their conversation. “You underestimate the power of kindness, Lord Stark. Perhaps you should consider a more personal approach to impress me.”

He raised an eyebrow, intrigued. “And what might that be?”

She leaned in slightly, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. “Perhaps a kind act, something that shows your character beyond the battlefield.”

He nodded, a spark of mischief in his eyes. “Very well. I will think of a worthy act to prove my intentions. But until then, I ask that you forget about the pact, just for a moment. Allow me the chance to show you who I am beyond titles and expectations.”

“Agreed,” she replied, a smile breaking across her face. “But I will hold you to that promise, Lord Stark.”

As they exchanged playful glances, he took a step back, a thoughtful expression crossing his face. “I shall begin my quest for your favor by ensuring the next feast is one to remember. I will have the finest meats and wines brought forth, and I will personally ensure that every guest is entertained.”

“Now that is a noble endeavor,” she teased, her eyes sparkling with delight. “But it will take more than a feast to win my heart.”

“Challenge accepted,” he said, a grin spreading across his face. “I will find a way to impress you, Princess. Just you wait.”

As they continued to banter, the warmth of their connection grew, the initial formality giving way to a budding friendship.

Later on as the princess was admiring castle black she found Lord Stark stood in her view, he had a bouquet of wild northern flowers cradled gently in his hands, he felt the weight of the moment. The vibrant colors of the blooms contrasted sharply with the darkening sky, a reminder of the beauty that could exist even in the harshest of landscapes. He took a deep breath, steadying himself as he approached the princess.

“Princess,” he began, his voice steady yet filled with emotion. She turned to him, her eyes wide with curiosity. “I have collected these for you.” He extended the bouquet, the delicate petals brushing against her fingers as she accepted it.

“They are beautiful,” she said, a hint of surprise in her voice. “But what is this for, my lord?” she said with a slight smirk on her face knowing what was coming next.

With a mixture of determination and vulnerability, Lord Stark stepped closer, the air between them charged with unspoken feelings. “I wish to ask you something of great importance,” he said, his heart pounding in his chest. “Will you marry me?”

The princess blinked, her expression shifting from surprise to contemplation. The weight of his words hung in the air, and for a moment, the world around them faded away

As the words lingered between them, the princess's breath caught in her throat. She looked deeply into Lord Stark's eyes, searching for sincerity, for the truth behind his bold proposal. The tension in the air was palpable, a mix of hope and uncertainty.

In that moment, the world around them seemed to fade into a gentle silence, the rustling leaves and distant sounds of the castle becoming mere whispers. Lord Stark took a cautious step closer, drawn by an invisible force. His heart raced as he reached up, brushing a stray hair from her face, his fingers lingering on her cheek. She stared back at him, noticing the small stains of blood he had on his face and then those eyes, those deep grey eyes, she couldn’t look away. She was captivated by him.

“y/n,” he whispered, using her name for the first time, a name that felt like a promise.

“Cregan”

With a soft smile, she leaned in, closing the distance between them. The warmth of her presence enveloped him, and in that instant, he knew he could not wait any longer. He leaned down, capturing her lips with his in a tender kiss, a sweet mingling of hope and longing.

Time stood still as they shared that moment, the wildflowers forgotten in the background, blooming in harmony with the blossoming feelings between them. It was a kiss that spoke of new beginnings, of promises yet to be fulfilled, and the unbreakable bond that was forming in the heart of the North.

[atopvisenyashill]

do u think we can discourse about the lack of suicide in this series. the only out and out suicides we really get in the main series ashara dayne. i think you could argue that arys oakheart commits suicide, in a sort of suicide-via-cop way (or well, suicide via bodyguard) as well. possibly you can include qhorin halfhand although thats an interesting case given it’s not the “typical” suicide - he IS effectively killing himself here but it’s to help keep jon alive, who has a real shot at escaping, when qhorin himself does not. and while i think it’s left vague for a reason (reason being george likes several options & the ultimate answer is not important but fun to speculate about) there is the idea that maegor killed himself rather than being murdered. but that’s it iirc. in f&b and twoiaf there are a few more - helaena, gael, aelora, and tess. notable to me that (probably) like ashara, helaena kills herself (probably) over her grief from the loss of her children via jumping. tess & gael both drown themselves, and gael, like ashara & helaena, does so after losing a child. aelora is an unknown. all of these characters added are women. and of the characters - aelora, tess, helaena, gael, ashara, arys, qhorin, maybe maegor - only arys & qhorin are men and they both kill themselves in a fight.

i think that’s just kind of weird & interesting when you think not only about how bleak things get but also the way suicide is almost like, idk, industrialized in the series? there’s the house of black and white, where anyone of any faith and any background can go to kill themselves and then the northern concept of the old and disabled going south to fight that the winter wolves demonstrate. in the house of black and white, there’s set up - it’s a whole operation really, where you can have a final prayer before being given a way to quickly kill your self and know that your body will be disposed of properly (rather than leaving it for your family to find, for instance). and with the winter wolves, it’s part of a custom, practically a policy in the north - when there’s not enough to go around, you find somewhere else to die so your family doesn’t have to bare the burden of caring for you. i think this is interesting when you factor in qhorin - he essentially does just this, kills himself so jon can last and live to fight another day.

two instances of suicide on a rather grand scale and yet actual named characters that kill themselves? you can count them on one hand!

[scale-house-discourse]

Me, in near tears as the protein tester from 1982 malfunctions and stops scanning samples: Please. Please just work. Please. I sold part of my soul to the old gods just to get you to turn on. I'll sell the rest if you just let me finish this one sample I've got so many trucks to do-

The grain truck driver I've known for about two days: Haha um r u ok

[teojira]

[ᴍᴏɴꜱᴛᴇʀ ᴡʜᴏ ᴀᴛᴇ ᴀ ꜱᴛᴀʀ]

ᴛᴇᴏᴊɪʀᴀ (ᴇꜱᴛ 2ᴋ24)

《Introduction》 +

《! Please read me !》

¤ Hi! My name is Teddy and this blog as it says on the tin, is a multifandom blog! I'm into a wide range of characters and interests, so I'm sure I have something that'll strike your fancy!

¤ This is an 18+ blog. This is to keep me and you safe should you be a minor. Please stay away! I can't police you, but use common sense.

¤ I will not deal with discourse here, don't like what I write or who I write for? Block me and move on, I don't care.

¤ I am a woman person of color, no hatred towards ANY group is tolerated here. It will end in an IP address block.

¤ My interests fluctuates alot, I have severe adhd and some characters will get special treatment depending on which mood I am in!

¤ I'm always down to chat and make conversation but please remember I'm human and I have a job outside of tumblr, this is just a hobby for me! Please be kind and understanding.

《RULES/GUIDELINES》

¤ Every character I will write romantic ideas for must be of age. Any minor will ONLY be platonic. (Exception being the tmnt brothers, they are aged up accordingly.)

¤I write comfort, fluff, angst, pretty much anything tbh.

¤ My own rule of thumb is that if a furry character is sentient, can consent and is of age, and speaks/thinks/acts like a human, it is akin to monster loving. (Harkness scale pretty much). I don't care for your take on it, block me if you disagree!

¤ I will not write nsfw if you are on anon, your age must be somewhere on your blog. I will delete it from my askbox.

¤ A please and a thank you go a long way!

¤ I usually write with she/her pronouns or gender neutral pronouns.

¤ I am not looking for critique, this is all for fun. This is a heavy boundary, I will block if you do this.

¤ NSFW will be tagged accordingly so you can black list, if I forget to tag something, kindly let me know. I am not responsible for your experience beyond that, act accordingly if I write something you don't like.

¤ Please include some details with your requests, such as character and a general idea on what you'd like me to write! Please don't write an essay in my ask box.

¤ Things I will not write: Pregnancy, Underage, harder kinks (Scat/Noncon/vore/piss), Character harming reader physically, Parenthood, character x character.

Not sure if I write something? Just shoot me a text!

¤ Do NOT share my writing anywhere else (Quotev, Ao3, wattpad, Tiktok). A Simple reblog is appreciated here and only on tumblr.

¤ Comments and reblogs are greatly appreciated! It's nice to know something I wrote was loved!

And finally what we've all been waiting for, put your hands together for the :

《 Fandoms I write for》

Genshin impact

Honkai Star rail

Transformers

Tmnt

Monsterverse (platonic only for the Kaijus)

Planet of the apes (remake) (NO nsfw)

My hero academia (Dabi and Tomura only)

Demon slayer

Overwatch

Twisted wonderland

Devil may cry

Apex legends (Revenant only)

Fire emblem three houses

Puss in boots: the last wish (Death only)

Stranger things (Eddie Munson only)

Red dead redemption 2

The Wolf among us (Bigby only)

Five nights at freddys: Security Breach

Sonic (platonic for everyone except Shadow)

DC comics/ DCEU

Horror icons/slashers

Countless other video game characters probably lmao.

Though I write for many fandoms, I'm more comfortable with specific characters so I'll let you know if I'm comfortable enough to write for them!

Don't see a character you're sweet on? No worries, shoot me a text and I'll see if I know anything about them to whip something up for ya!

ᴛʜᴀɴᴋ ʏᴏᴜ ᴠᴇʀʏ ᴍᴜᴄʜ ꜰᴏʀ ʀᴇ��ᴅɪɴɢ ᴀɴᴅ ɪ ʜᴏᴘᴇ ᴛᴏ ʜᴇᴀʀ ꜰʀᴏᴍ ʏᴏᴜ ꜱᴏᴏɴ!

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

[matt0044]

Why does Indie Animation lend itself to such intense discourse?

If I had to speculate from my own observations (feel free to call me out on an overgeneralizations), it would be that the harsh turn against any given indie project would be akin to a mother scolding a child with, "I expected this from your sibling but you?!"

See also the "We were rooting for you" gif often tossed around.

Indie Animation be it from a small studio or crowdfunded is seen as bypassing the hoops and hurdles of getting your foot in the door of the highly corporatized entertainment industry. With the likes of Disney or Nick or any given streaming service, creator driven projects are subject to the whims of the company who holds the IP.

And those whims are often to said IP's detriment. It'll more often than not be willfully neglected at best or treated as just something to fill a time slot or shove onto a streaming platform as "content." Enough may be allowed to flourish but their either uncerimoniously cut short at best or being dragged out as a franchise at worst.

To keep from going on about the whole Legend of Korra vs. Spongebob thing (I was there people, there was an LoK fandom believe it or not), indie animation has often been seen as small scale but also within the creator's general control since they control how long it goes or how it's written.

Many cartoons like Gravity Falls, Owl House and Amphibia have talked about trying to get their vision across while contending with a lot of Standards and Practices. Their story which had a "kids and adults alike" target audience would have the top brass insist on something more just for the former category.

While they find work arounds, often to stick their tongue out at the FCC, this can be a hard reminder of who has the final say despite it being what you want. Indie animation is seen as an answer to "What if Alex Hirsch didn't have to comprimise elements of Gravity Falls for the FCC?" or "What if Dana Terrence could just blaze her own trail with The Owl House with little to no notes?"

Especially when it comes to animation with queer characters. Animation made to be "fit for kids" have it tough enough even today but adult animation has to "play it for laughs" since comedies have been the defacto standard for that type of cartoon.

However... a show being creator driven or creative team driven comes as a double edged sword for the fandoms they form. Not all stories that play out across multiple episodes of varying lengths are going in the direction YOU might want to.

Creators might tire of a certain direction or formula and mix things up with things that come to mind almost on the spot. Even with a solid plan, the status quo will get a shake up that can and will alienate those who fell in love from episode one.

Indie Pilots spark the imagination something fierce. There's theories as to what any little detail could mean going forward and speculation on what a character's arc could be. These go wild because Fandom is all about the hypothetical, the unknown, the what could've/should've/would've been. Whole phenomenon would be dead in the water otherwise.

Thing is that not all theories will be proven right if any at all. The creators aren't mind readers and even if it isn't a legality like in corporate, they don't read fanfics if only because they don't want their vision to be totally compromised. Any good creator knows not to just give fans what they want. However... trampling over all these fanfics and theories makes it feel like any given fan had their "child" dragged into the streets to be shot.

A harsh phrasing but that's how a lot of fans act when continuing episode bump up against initial impression of this character or that storyline. It was their creation but new lore, new backstory or what have you is liable to override them. It's been an occupational hazard of being a member of fandom for ages yet it's become the center of a lot of discourse now more than ever. Say thank you to social media for creating such a combative environment everybody.

It's this... feeling of ownership that has existed in fandoms of other shows owned by corporations but amplied by the smaller scale of it, how creators seem more... approachable. And THIS is how the YouTube "critic" scene comes in to capitalize.

So... yeah.

[palomahasenteredthechat]

I've seen the rant post by Luna, I read some of it to get the gist of what she was saying here but I am lost..was she referring to JQ? If so, why?

WHIP AROUND THE SEA BEING PULLED IN WHATEVER DIRECTION THEIR AGENTS WANT THEM TOO INSTEAD OF HAVING AN OPINION THEMSELVES, ITS THE ARE YOU A PERFORMER OR A STAR OR BOTH DILEMMA THAT THE TRUTH IS MOST OF THE NOW WOULD RATHER BE THE LATER HAVE PERFUME DEALS, BECOME FIRST SEAT FACES OF FASHION HOUSES AND HAVE THESE CLEAN POLISHED NON-OPINIONATED 2D GREY SCALED BOREDOMS OF THEMSELVES MOLDED BY THEIR COLLAR PULLING AGENTS THAT GET THEM TO THE HEIGHT THEY FEEL THEY DESERVE THAT ALL OF YOUR FAVES THE PEOPLE YOU STAN, IDOLISE ADORE WON'T EVEN DARE SPEAK OF ON GOING GENOCIDES OR OBSCENITIES IN THE INDUSTRY IF IT MEANS THEY WILL HAVE A BRAND DEAL DEATH 2 CELEBRITY N' WEAK UNCUNTY RUNTS, THEY BECOME UTTER CARICATURES OF THEMSELVES ANYWAY IT GIRLS THEY WISH HUNKS WITH BOOKS IN BACK POCKETS I CHUNDER, VOMITING US THEIR 30 SECOND TIKTOKS OF HOW UNFUNNY THEY ARE IN THEIR CLANS OF POPULARITY FILLED WITH DESIGNER SCHMOOZE AREN'T WE BORED? AREN'T WE BORED OF THE SAME 5 FACES RECYCLED? ARENT WE BORED OF EVERYONE TRYING TO BE THESE AUTOMATED OVERTLY WHOLESOME OR TIN CAN LAUGHING VERSIONS OF THEMSELVES WITH LASER SKIN TREATMENTS TO MATCH, VENEERED FADS FACE OF SKIN CREAMS? OR PERHAPS THEY AREN'T INTERESTING OR WELL VERSED IN THE FIRST PLACE OF WHO THEY ARE OR COME FROM REAL VERSIONS OF LIFE THAT THE MOST OF US KNOW IN FACT THEY PROBABLY STUDIED SANSKRIT OR SOME ANCIENT LANGUAGE IN THEIR FEE PAYING SCHOOL THAT ALLOWED THEM TO FEEL EVER SO SPECIAL LIKE IT'S ALL FOR THE TAKING IN THE FIRST PLACE FROM THE MOMENT THEY STARTED SAYING GOO GOO GAGA IN SOME ANCIENT SYNTAX WHICH IS WHY THEY ARE SO EASILY MARIONETTED INTO ADVERTISEMENTS YAWN THEN WE ARE FORCED TO SEE THEM EVERYWHERE

The stuff in bold seems pretty specific, especially if you have been following the fandom discourse around him for the past two months.

The book in back pocket: spot on.

The perfume ad, private schooling, laser treatments (so that's why he looked so young at the Oscars!), etc. It's about UK talent as a whole but she's using very specific examples because she knows about them specifically in relation to him.

'they become utter caricatures of themselves'. She names what many have seen.

The why is the question, Nonny. Looking at this again I wonder if she reached out for him to do more about Gaza, since she was involved in the first charity event.

Also noting 'obscenities' - is this a dig at DC?

LUNA COME HAVE TEA WITH US

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

The streets are alive again. Banners wave, voices roar, and the air stinks of overpriced street food and righteous fury. America is throwing itself another full-scale political tantrum, and honestly, it feels like home. The Donald has barely been back in office for two weeks, and already the country is cracking open like a cheap piñata, spilling outrage, chaos, and enough executive orders to turn the Constitution into a bar napkin with “NO WOKE STUFF” scribbled in Sharpie.

The man is signing orders like he’s trying to speedrun fascism. His latest masterpiece? The aggressively named “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” executive order, which is not at all a subtle title and makes it sound like he’s personally tackling trans athletes at the starting line. It rewrites Title IX into a conservative fever dream and threatens schools with legal Armageddon if they let a trans girl onto the field hockey team. Somewhere in the White House, Stephen Miller is probably jerking off to the printed document.

And then there’s Elon Musk. Because of course, there’s Elon Musk. Just when we thought this country couldn’t possibly be any more of a dystopian hellscape, Trump handed him the reins to something called the Department of Government Efficiency—which sounds like something straight out of a rejected 1984 fanfic. Now, the man who ruined Twitter has read-only access to Treasury data, which, according to the government, is totally fine and not at all a reason to panic. Never mind that the guy can’t run a website without accidentally locking himself out of his own account—now he’s poking around the U.S. financial system like a bored raccoon in a dumpster.

The result? Protests in every goddamn state. This isn’t 2017, with its polite pink-hat marches and Hamilton cast speeches. No, this is something darker, louder, and more unhinged, like the entire country just realized it’s trapped in a Black Mirror episode and no one knows where the pause button is.

In Columbus, Ohio, a woman summed up the mood perfectly: “I’m appalled by democracy’s changes in the last, well, specifically two weeks—but it started a long time ago.” Translation: The wheels have been falling off this clown car for years, but now the engine’s on fire and the driver is a 78-year-old man who thinks windmills cause cancer.

Austin, Texas, saw massive demonstrations, because of course it did. Protesters swarmed the Capitol, trying to drown out the Moms for Liberty crowd, who, if left unchecked, will eventually push for mandatory daily prayers to Ronald Reagan. Meanwhile, in Atlanta, marchers made their way from Centennial Olympic Park, probably reminiscing about the good old days when the biggest political controversy in town was the Falcons choking in the Super Bowl.

But the gold medal for protest slogans goes to Phoenix, where activists decided to cut through the noise with the brutally efficient “DEPORT ELON.” Say what you want about modern discourse, but that? That’s art.

Over in Jefferson City, Missouri, protest signs went after Musk’s government infiltration with the blunt “DOGE IS NOT LEGIT.” We are officially at a point where American democracy is being debated using the same terminology as a Reddit crypto scam. Perfect.

Meanwhile, in freezing Lansing, Michigan, hundreds braved the cold to scream into the void. One woman held up a Democratic campaign sign she had altered to read “Harris Walz Were Right”, which is the saddest I told you so in political history.

And what does Trump think of all this? He loves it. He lives for this. If there’s one thing Trump enjoys more than a well-done steak drowned in ketchup, it’s chaos. Every angry protester, every screaming headline, every panicked liberal on MSNBC is a gift to him. He is the internet troll who made it to the Oval Office, a human YouTube comment section with nuclear codes, and he feeds on this kind of outrage.

But this time, the resistance isn’t rolling over. Not after Roe. Not after J6. Not after four years of watching democracy dangle off a cliff while half the country cheered for gravity. So here we are, two weeks into 2025, and it already feels like we’re speeding toward some kind of grand national breakdown, with Trump setting fire to the rulebook, Musk fumbling around government systems like an overcaffeinated IT guy, and the streets filling up with people who have had just about enough.

How does this all end? Nobody knows. But if history has taught us anything, it’s that America doesn’t go down quietly.

[Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail]