#but it's interesting nonetheless

[deaths-accountant]

There's a group I'm adjacent to of people who love arguing about politics and philosophy and education, and have a sense of humor about it, and are very science- and physics-inclined.

To anyone in that circle, I cannot recommend Dr. Fatima's Youtube channel highly enough. Her videos are very funny, vary in seriousness, and don't dumb down the subject matter - typically about the social realities of science research, and philosophy around it. They seem very well-researched, and she knows what she's talking about. They are invariably interesting.

[platoapproved]

What was that you said about memory? "A monster," was it?

[dragonwysper]

Also consider that fetishes in their most simplified definition place meaning onto things which otherwise have no meaning. Someone with a shoe fetish would find a footwear catalog erotic. That was never meant to be fetish material, but it is to this person.

In the same vein, as the original anon said, yes, someone can make fetish work that doesn't strike someone else as being fetishistic at all. That same shoe fetishist can make their own footwear catalog, and unless it's overwhelmingly obviously sexual, a lot of folks would be none the wiser. Fetishes are just highly personal like that.

I will disagree with the idea that applying meaning to something devoid of it is fetishism. Maybe I'm misunderstanding what you mean, or you're running under an alternate definition of fetishism, but I don't think your run of the mill symbolism is fetishism. Romanticism? Sure. Anthropomorphism? Probably. But fetishism? I don't think so. I think that only really comes into play if the interpretation is sexual.

I feel like Fear and Hunger is a work where the argument of whether the gore and SA stuff in it is meant to be for horror or for fetishy reasons is constantly talked about, but people never consider the possibility that it's both. A peron can absolutely make their work full of content that makes them horny, but be aware that for most people it's awful and shocking without much or any difference in presentation.

now this may be a reductive opinion, but I'm of the mind that you can't really separate those two categories anyway. the idea that fetishistic violence is cleanly divided from a theoretical neutral violence in art has always struck me as more of "something you convince yourself to feel better as a reader/writer" than a meaningful belief

even applying meaning to violence in the first place is fetishism, which is why people stumble over themselves when pressed about it. by its nature, you step into the gradient the moment you begin to create, calling thresholds as you feel them and assuming they must come from a uniting "common sense"

which is a very rambly way of saying that I agree with you! I just kind of simplified my thoughts in the other post because I don't personally believe the intent was to create a straightforwardly erotic work

[noerixo]

[luxurystark-jackson]

only on spn can you get the 6’4 muscle boy getting jumped and almost killed by a gandhi impersonator

bonus: the other muscle boy gets jumped and tied to a tree by paris hilton

[the-judicial-assistants-notebook]

not enough discussion about the gavins' complicated relationship with feminine-coded/beauty products, i don't think.

[ojbrush]

I find OJ and Papers mischaracterization in the fandom really saddening. Its a main reason im not a big fan of payjay myself— Paper isnt a soft, uwu boy or whatever people call it. Shes shown to be physically strong (withstanding things being thrown at her, carrying a piano, etc.) and mentally strong. She's awkward and anxious but it doesnt make her a baby that needs to be protected? And don't even get me started on OJ. Sure , i do enjoy whenever people push his flaws and recognize them and incorporate them in his relationships with others (trust me, i do the same. I exaggerate them sometimes, even.) BUT its either they make him the most EVIL and Abusive guy ever, or they make him absolutely one-note with no personality. It makes me really upset.

I know its bound to happen in a fandom, especially with a ship and characters THIS old, and their fanon appearances are going to stick forever (I've done the same thing with both of these characters when i was younger) but i just wish there was some improvement on the understanding of their characters. And maybe some appreciation of them without the other. Let them have time to breathe by themselves. Not all paper content has to be with OJ, and not all OJ content has to be with Paper.

Thats just my little thought on it all, i suppose. It's just something I've noticed over the years

[immunorabbit]

jordyn-mae thomas - extremely common surname in general, both given name and surname are mostly found in the US

kairi herring - japanese given name, surname also mostly found in the US. kairi is also often seen in india, estonia and many african countries

tahira rashid - both given name and surname are of arabic origin. both are pretty common but are mostly seen in countries like pakistan, bangladesh and india

freyja maria mendoza - icelandic given name, but surname is hyspanic and the middle name also suggests the same. maria is extremely common so it's hard to say, but mendoza is most often seen in mexico, venezuela and peru

nora qu - name really common in the US while qu is a common chinese surname. also seen in taiwan

morgan moretti - same as above name is really common in the US, surname also found in the US but it's of italian origin where it's also most common

mayra tikuna - given name is mostly seen in mexico, but both seem to be mostly common in brazil. surname seems to be quite rare though. might also be related to the indigenous people ticuna (also sometimes spelled tikuna) and since mayra is 2spirit i thought it was worth mentioning

joy sinclair - given name is pretty common but most common in nigeria and kenya. surname is most common in the US and jamaica

nataana nchoko - both given name and surname seem to be very rare. both are most common in kenya. interesting how the girl with the least info also has a name that's hard to find info on...

and of course.

xiomara huapaya - not as common as the others (minus nataana). surname seems to be most common in peru and costa rica, while given name is mostly seen in cuba, nicaragua, and some other central american countries

[rinisdrawing]

the golden princess & the sorcerer prince

[canisalbus]

as a 16th century clergyman what does machete think of the printing press

I think by the time he was born the printing press had been around for almost a century and a half, so I'd reckon the society as a whole was largely past it's initial novelty and controversy. Machete himself is bookish and nerdy, he's very invested in gathering knowledge about various topics and trying to piece together a good picture of how the world works. Getting access to reading material would be a lot harder if every book was still copied individually by hand. His standards are pretty high though, there's a lot of poorly translated, shoddily printed and flimsily bound books around and he's prone to scrunching his nose at them.

[farshootergotme]

https://www.tumblr.com/ruestheday/765956792656265216/one-of-the-biggest-lies-the-fandom-will-tell-you

Opinions on this post?

I'd say that I agree with what this person is saying. As much as I give Bruce shit for his parental skills (which are flawed and shouldn't be overlooked, don't get me wrong), we can say Alfred is partially one of the main reasons why Bruce is the way he is.

I won't say anything about "Alfred should've/could've taken Bruce to therapy" because then we gotta consider a lot of things about the decade when Alfred was introduced and his age in-universe, as Alfred might've not lived in a period in which therapy was widely accepted and even recommended. But I won't dwell too much on that.

Now, I don't think Alfred is necessarily an evil person, but he can be quite selfish and a coward when it comes to facing consequences (which he rarely gets, if ever).

When shit hits the fan, he's the first one to back out. Why should he be responsible? He's only a mere butler (until he goes and calls Bruce "his son").

He's always detached just enough from the situation that nobody will look at him when looking for someone to blame for a problem that Alfred was most likely involved in.

Bruce might be the Batman, but it's Alfred who works from the shadows and leaves the responsibility of his decisions to the rest.

Does he do this on purpose?

Hard to say. I think he's in a way aware of his cowardice and harmful tendencies, but he doesn't have an active intention of hurting others. However, lack of intention does not mean lack of action, and despite whatever he might feel or believe, he does many things that end up in someone's hurt and even death.

And don't many consider it, but to me it doesn't come as a surprise that Bruce is so emotionally constipated and an unavailable father when he never had someone to learn from about proper parental skills.

Bruce never knew where he stood with Alfred, and Alfred didn't help to make it clear. At first, Bruce was just his master. A responsibility left behind by his parents, but still with the authority to order around the person who's supposed to be his caretaker. And Alfred? We know how much of an enabler he is, but also how inconsistent he can be when it comes to letting Bruce get away with things. And how confusing that must've been for a child? To never have clear boundaries to respect, rules to follow and his behavior corrected.

Kids learn from habit and patterns, and I don't believe he'd see much of that with Alfred, who jumps from his role as a father to his position as a butler way too often for a young mind to fully comprehend. Add to that the fact Bruce already had a position as a rich kid, which would've led to even more people forgetting to set boundaries with him due to his influence.

Now it's not so weird to see him getting away with his toxic behavior towards his children instead of confronting his mistakes like a parent should, right? But I digress.

So, moving onto the next point: child soldiers.

The post you sent mentions Alfred's involvement in the later creation of Robins. But how can he normalize sending kids out there to fight a war that isn't theirs? Well, that's when you remember Alfred joined the army at quite a young age, and there he must've seen even younger kids working as soldiers. What are the chances he has a messed up view on what children should and shouldn't (have to) do?

Subconsciously, he must've internalized this idea of children fighting for their country, and when he saw Robin for the first time, it might've brought back that idea and so he allowed this child to fight for a city that was not even his yet. And then came Jason, then Tim, then Steph, Cass, Damian, Duke... They just kept coming, and Alfred kept pushing this idea.

Jason died? That's a shame, but war is unrelenting, and soldiers are expected to die. It doesn't mean the rest should stop fighting, right?

"Jason Todd, a good soldier".

On top of all that, Robin is good for Batman. Robin is the light Batman needs. Robin can help Bruce, his boy. His son. And who's Alfred if not a messed up man? He'll put the children at risk if it means helping the boy he failed to help before. And when he gets attached to said children, it'll be too late to try pull them out, and then they'll be just another repetition of what Batman came to be when he allowed Bruce to leave.

As for Julia Pennyworth, Alfred was separated from Marie—his then partner—due to war, and found out about Julia's existence only two years after she was born. Their relationship had been distant since then. Julia didn't know about Alfred, but he requested a friend to take care of her and kept sending money all the years to come after making his friend promise not to tell Julia about him, his real father. Why didn't he ever go to see her? That's because, according to Alfred, he was afraid to disrupt her life. But if I'm being honest, I think he also didn't feel ready for the responsibility. And when he became Bruce's guardian, he still was not ready, but Martha and Thomas were his friends, so there must've been a sense of responsibility and guilt influencing his decision.

To summarize, Alfred Pennyworth is an extremely flawed individual and he should not be absolved from any of his mistakes.

[meteortrails]

deeply deeply important to me that the guard dog dynamic between momo and okarun isn’t just coming from okarun’s side - as protective and subservient as he is, she’s just as possessive and prone to taking the lead in return. like okarun would maim someone for her and she’d absolutely have the balls to ask him to, yknow?

[mswyrr]

After twenty years, the thing I still don't get is that everything cruel that can be said and has been said against Zutara romance can also be said against their friendship--and Zuko's friendships with the other characters!--and yet somehow friendship is always good and pure but romance would immediately make their healthy friendship dynamic bad and abusive???

But that's not how relationships work. If they can have a healthy friendship, then they could have a healthy romance. If any romance is inherently unhealthy, then the friendship must be inherently unhealthy too.

You've got the original writers saying women who think that Katara and Zuko should be together will forever have "failed relationships"... and then, at the same time, those same writers are like yay let's write them bonding and building a friendship.

People calling a brutally abused child who went on a redemption arc and turned against his father's ways a "colo/nizer" when it's a romance, but when it's friendship it's all good somehow. If lips never touch, it's not possible for a relationship to be toxic??? But if lips DO touch, then a healthy friendship based on mutual respect immediately becomes a Lifetime movie about toxic boyfriends...

The only way this logic works is if you think romantic love immediately "corrupts" or "taints" in a way friend love doesn't. And that's an incredibly ugly, sad idea to push.

[sysig]

Caughtcha, gotcha, not letting go ♥ (Patreon)

[opbackgrounds]

Robin knows

[thunderstomm]

What’s with the Wells siblings and falling into fountains with their best friends?