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Books read in September
Babel, Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution R.F. Kuang 🎵 read by Chris Lew Kum and Billie Fulford-Brown I loved this book so much that the second I finished listening to it from the library I went and bought a paperback copy. Magic schools and anti-colonialism, what's not to love? Everyone should read this book.
The Faceless Old Woman Who Secretly Lives in Your Home Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor 🎵 read by Mara Wilson A tragic meditation on revenge. I love that they were able to give us her backstory in detail while still allowing the Faceless Old Woman to remain mysterious.
How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse K. Eason 🎵 read by Nicole Poole An interesting twist on classic fairy tales. It is the fifth multiversal fairy tale novel I've read this year, and the only one purposefully chosen for that unintentional theme.
Lords and Ladies Terry Pratchett 📖 I always enjoy a Discworld Witches book. Probably would be funnier if I was better versed in Shakespeare. Also a multiversal fairy tale novel.
Paved Paradise: How Parking Explains the World Henry Grabar 🎵 read by Rob Shapiro Let's get rid of free parking and street parking!
#rf kuang#babel an arcane history#the faceless old woman who secretly lives in your home#joseph fink#jeffrey cranor#how rory thorne destroyed the multiverse#k eason#lords and ladies#terry pratchett#paved paradise#henry grabar#review#completed read#fantasy
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Genuinely, what happened to “feminism is for everyone”?
That’s the feminism I grew up with: encouraging people to recognize that fighting sexism and restrictive gender roles helps folks of every gender. We’d push back on the idea that feminists hate men, pointing to inclusive feminist literature and how many men are feminists.
Now, there are so many people insisting that the solution to patriarchy is to openly hate and ostracize men no matter what. Why? What is the benefit? It’s certainly not effective in fighting oppressive structures to exclude half the population from your cause on the basis of immutable traits. It may feel cathartic to say horrible things about men and try to punish them for your frustrations with patriarchy. But the only actual effect I see is the increasing right-wing radicalization of young men, who are being told that the left hates them for the way they were born and presented with an abundance of proof that it’s true.
Why are we going back to treating men and women as different species? It doesn’t fix things to say “well women are the good gender and men are the bad one” this time. If you sincerely want to dismantle sexism, you’re going to have to unpack and let go of all sex and gender essentialism—even that which considers women inherently pure and men inherently immoral.
#read bell hooks read bell hooks I’ll say it 1000x more please read bell hooks#with the u.s. election I’ve been seeing so much about how young men are becoming more & more radicalized by ‘manosphere’ right-wingers#but people’s response instead of ‘let’s work to deradicalize/reduce radicalization’ has been ?? ‘let’s get more radical too’????#as in to stop talking to/having relationships with men entirely. who does that actually help? what effect are you wanting to see?#others say to let men ‘figure themselves out.’ what???? how do you think radicalization and deradicalization work????#intersectional feminism#sexism#transandrophobia#<I have absolutely seen these sentiments be inclusive of trans men completely ignoring that they don’t equally benefit from patriarchy#mine
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this is actually so funny. imagining garth quipping and contributing to the conversation in his head cause he forgot the rest of the teen titans can't pick up on his telepathy
#garth: makes useful comments about the mission#(is completely ignored cause no one can hear him)#garth: damn they hate my ass 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭#garth of shayeris#teen titans#dc#dc comics#can u tell ive been reading teen titans volume 1#the audience letters are my favorite bit#garth: wow ok so u guys hate my jokes#wally: we have been standing in silence for the last 8 minutes
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#i’m reading the complete peanuts collection so if you see random comic strips you’re welcome#peanuts#snoopy
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since I've seen it talked about in several places recently:
if you are going to do a whump- or kink- or ANY-tober or other similar challenges please please please don't post them as one fic with 31 chapters unless it actually is one coherent fic. if they're 31 completely separate fics or ficlets then please just make a collection for them or just post them as separate fics. it doesn't matter if they're only 100 words or if you think they're too small or insignificant to post alone, they're not.
and why this?
because if you post all 31 of them in one fic the tagging is absolutely useless. if I look for things to read on ao3 I'm gonna look at the tags, and if the tags include something that's a dealbreaker for me, i won't even click on the fic. I might not even SEE the fic because I've filtered out the nope-tag! so I'm gonna lose out on reading 30 perfectly nice fics because of one fic that my nope-tag applied to.
ao3 is about archiving. it's about clear tagging and being informative. there is nothing informative about it if the tags in the fic apply to random chapters while others have nothing to do with it. it makes so much more sense to have each work as an individual fic with its own individual tags and warnings, so readers can make informed choices.
of course, you do you. I can't police what other people decide to do. but personally, I find it incredibly frustrating to weed through 31 chapters to find the ones I actually want to read. so I don't. I automatically scroll past all works posted like that. and I know some others do, too.
there is absolutely no shame in posting short things on ao3. there is no minimum word count. no one is going to look at you funny if you post a small ficlet on its own, I promise. it's just going to make some readers very happy when they can actually find the things they want to read.
so, please. at least consider the upsides of posting each work as their own fic.
signed, one very frustrated fandom grandma.
#ao3#fanfic#fandom#I'm not trying to dictate what others do#so if you still wanna keep posting#completely unrelated works as chapters of one thing#then go for it#i'm not your mom#but please at least consider the alternative#and how much easier it'll be for people to#both find it and to make informed choices#of what they want to read
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you put up with what you think you deserve, and the things you want you resent
#baldur's gate 3#wyllstarion#I've been completely normal about wyll and astarion for about 2 weeks. maybe more#if you read the things they say about each other canonically you would be too#f
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tshirt that says NO LIVE ORGANISM CAN CONTINUE FOR LONG TO EXIST SANELY UNDER CONDITIONS OF ABSOLUTE REALITY
#i literally JUST finished hill house a few days ago and i already want to reread. Badly. it's sooo so so soo sooooooooo good <33333!!!!!#also completely enamored by shirley jackson's writing style i NEED to read everything she has written ever like right now..#opening lines of ALL TIME btw 👆❗❗❗#r.txt#the haunting of hill house#ALSO i've seen commentary videos on the tv show they made of hill house but from what i remember of it it's SO different from the book???#i think they were all siblings in the show which is??????? like why would you change that part?? i love sibling relationships as much as the#next guy but i feel like the fact that none of them knew each other was such an essential part of the story like why would u change it....#also eleanor was like. an entirely different character who was also already dead in the show i believe??? and dr. montague doesn't exist??#hill house could've been really good as a show idk why they changed it up like that...like was the original story not interesting enough for#you or something?? WHO decided to make that change i just wanna talk 🤨
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It's crazy how Dungeon Meshi's manga can feel more cinematic and emotional than the anime to me, even when they're practically the same. Compared to the anime, this moment is such a heartbreaking gut-drop. The way Kui uses negative space and flat compositions to create a sense of horrific stillness is so key.
The way the text (Senshi's monologue) is sequestered to an empty corner of a panel or huddled away from the edge of its text box is not only a great way of showing Senshi's headspace (fearful, isolated, dissociating), but creates a visual representation of pause, as if you hold your breathe after each line. The first panel puts us directly in Senshi's perspective too (compared to in the anime, which puts us as an outside observer over Senshi's shoulder). The detail of the door and bricks so effectively implies that he stared at it for so long, waiting and hoping, that its image is burned in his memory. The wood grain, the brick arch, the number of rivets. The lack of dialogue in the second panel shows a moment of realization too –– "he's dead" (also a great example of the Kuleshov effect). And it's that pause that creates a beat and sets a great rhythm to his headspace, like a music rest: "He never came back." (oh god.) "I'm all alone." Finally, the third panel's negative space, cropping Senshi, shows how truly alone he feels. Without his family, the world ceases to exists. Under shock, he traps himself in a 1-foot radius, too scared to even perceive a world outside its boundaries; a world that can hurt him, kill him, make him disappear with it. There is only his body, the stone beneath his feet and against his back, his thoughts, and that awful bowl of soup.
Even though they're a series of flat images, there's an implicit reading of silence in Senshi's realization and horror. Kui influences your experience to slow down and take your time.
Compare this to the anime, which fills every shot with dialogue. The pacing is fast; we never get to sit in silence like we do with the manga. The horizontal frame allowed the boarders to add Senshi, turning the composition into an over-the-shoulder shot, which takes us out of Senshi's POV. They also added a zoom-out in shot one, which adds unnecessary energy to a very somber scene. The tightening on Senshi as a close-up reaction shot also dulls the moment. In the original panel, Senshi stares ahead at the empty space to his left as a shadow surrounds his mind. It not only shows how Senshi's senses are dulling and his world is shrinking (setting up panel three), but shows how terrified Senshi is of what's in front of him, how the air itself becomes pitch black and opaque, how Senshi is surrendering himself to fear. The pacing is understandable and necessary; this episode packed a lot of story content together. It's just a shame because it really (imo) deflated one of the most nauseating moments in Dungeon Meshi.
#dungeon meshi#senshi#analysis#personal#long post#not art#because comics are inherently more abstract and rule-breaky the format thrives off show don't tell#i think trigger is doing a great job overall but they missed the mark on this scene#for me cinematic storytelling will prioritize rhythm; tension; and silence over plot. that's why the manga feels more “cinematic”#if you've been enjoying the anime i cannot recommend also reading the manga enough. it's a completely different experience with much more#subtext and emotion to draw from
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cursed construction core hi vis bra that came to me in a dream
In the dream I saw it in the window display of a hardware/DIY/trade shop, implying it was meant to be a practical garment designed for actual female constructions workers in a Female Armour level missed-the-brief attempt at gender inclusion
The practical support from the visible underwire combined with the hi vis implying it’s not meant to be worn as an undergarment, I just-
I blame my binge-reading ND Stevenson’s gender comics talking abt masculinity and femininity incl the one abt Victoria’s Secret lingerie yesterday for this monstrosity x’D
#construction core#I am legitimately tempted to make this irl#just like as a commentary art piece on failed attempts at inclusion that completely missed the point#but alas I lack the booba these days to make it for myself so I'll need someone else to fit it to to enable my shenanigans#maybe someday#in the dream I met finnster in the next shop and was like dude you should go buy it for the meme lolll you could wear it on a stream#so uuuhhh- finn if you're reading this (I know you've seen my tumblr before we have video evidence) and you want this I'll make it for you#for manly man construction times#just let me know x'D#to the transmascs reading this: read the linked comics they're highly relatable#you can lose a whole morning to them#like me#have fun
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out of the frying pan and into the fire and into another frying pan that's also on fire
[id in alt text]
#dungeon meshi#dungeon meshi spoilers#dunmeshi#this past year i decided to get into some of the manga i hear people really rave about#and dunmeshi was the first one i read and i adore it so much i don't have the words#gosh ryoko kui is such a huge inspiration.. i hope i can save up and get physical copies of the manga some day#ohh and daydream hour if it ever releases in english...#and sorry toshiro doesn't have his armor. i always remember him in his disheveled casual arc#fan art#my art#i think i've just completely stopped trying to do a clean flat style... i've just started painting over my sketches now#it looks a little messy but it's so much more fun#this was the first time in awhile i looked forward to continuing a drawing
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Books read in 2023
(*pictured are the ones I own)
*Horizon by Andrew Wildman (January)
Pyramids by Terry Pratchett (January)
*The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon (March)
Iron Man (movie novelization) (March)
A Big Important Art Book by Danielle Krysa (March)
*The Annual Migration of Clouds by Premee Mohamed (April)
The Aquanaut by Dan Santat (May)
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (May)
*Gemma Bovery by Posy Simmonds (May)
*Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett (June)
*Tehanu by Ursula K le Guin (June)
I am Legend by Richard Matheson (July)
*Tales from Earthsea by Ursula K le Guin (July)
Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan (September)
*Heart of the Sun Warrior by Sue Lynn Tan (October)
*The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton (October)
Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett (October)
Extra Bold: a feminist inclusive anti-racist non-binary field guide for graphic designers (October)
What We Talk About When We Talk About Fat by Aubrey Gordon (December)
Improv Quilting: Dancing with the Wall by Irene Roderick (December)
The Making of a Museum by Judith Nasby (December)
Death in the Clouds by Agatha Christie (December)
#read in 2023#book list#discworld#earthsea#the priory of the orange tree#heart of the sun warrior#the seven deaths of evelyn hardcastle#the annual migration of clouds#tehanu#andrew wildman#gemma bovery#tales from earthsea#comic#dragons#book stack#completed read#book photo#photo
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It took me a while to read chapter 70 of Mistakes on mistakes until because I can't just. Youknow. read it. I have to be a total maniac and sketch everything I like as I read, so this whole chapter took me an absurd amount of time ahahaha
#maccadam#transformers#jazz#prowl#jazzprowl#momu fanart#fic fanart#THEYRE TOGETHER AGAIN YEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSS#Don’t get me wrong I love reading about them doing solo missions#But when they’re toheteher#OH the DYNAMIC#ALSO AHAHAHAH#I love when Prowl gets involved because I feel the strong connection to him whenever Jazz does…anything#Prowl is SO damn confused and I like the feeling of being not the only one who is confused ahahaha#but unlike me Prowler has a super computer inside his head so he eventually figures stuff out#while I’m just can’t stop making completely wrong assumptions👌#gosh I love this fic so much#this feeling of reading a story that is smarter than you~
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the thing is there's like, a point of oversaturation for everything, and it's why so many things get dropped after a few minutes. and we act like millennials or gen z kids "have short attention spans" but... that's not quite it. it's more like - we did like it. you just ruined it.
capitalism sees product A having moderate success, and then everything has to come out with their "own version" of product A (which is often exactly the same). and they dump extreme amounts of money and environmental waste into each horrible simulacrum they trot out each season.
now it's not just tiktokkers making videos; it's that instagram and even fucking tumblr both think you want live feeds and video-first programming. and it helps them, because videos are easier to sneak native ads into. the books coming out all have to have 78 buzzwords in them for SEO, or otherwise they don't get published. they are making a live-action remake of moana. i haven't googled it, but there's probably another marvel or starwars something coming out, no matter when you're reading this post.
and we are like "hi, this clone of project A completely misses the point of the original. it is soulless and colorless and miserable." and the company nods and says "yes totally. here is a different clone, but special." and we look at clone 2 and we say "nope, this one is still flat and bad, y'all" and they're like "no, totally, we hear you," and then they make another clone but this time it's, like, a joyless prequel. and by the time they've successfully rolled out "clone 89", the market is incredibly oversaturated, and the consumer is blamed because the company isn't turning a profit.
and like - take even something digital like the tumblr "live streaming" function i just mentioned. that has to take up server space and some amount of carbon footprint; just so this brokenass blue hellsite can roll out a feature that literally none of its userbase actually wants. the thing that's the kicker here: even something that doesn't have a physical production plant still impacts the environment.
and it all just feels like it's rolling out of control because like, you watch companies pour hundreds of thousands of dollars into a remake of a remake of something nobody wants anymore and you're like, not able to afford eggs anymore. and you tell the company that really what you want is a good story about survival and they say "okay so you mean a YA white protagonist has some kind of 'spicy' love triangle" and you're like - hey man i think you're misunderstanding the point of storytelling but they've already printed 76 versions of "city of blood and magic" and "queen of diamond rule" and spent literally millions of dollars on the movie "Candy Crush Killer: Coming to Eat You".
it's like being stuck in a room with a clown that keeps telling the same joke over and over but it's worse every time. and that would be fine but he keeps fucking charging you 6.99. and you keep being like "no, i know it made me laugh the first time, but that's because it was different and new" and the clown is just aggressively sitting there saying "well! plenty of people like my jokes! the reason you're bored of this is because maybe there's something wrong with you!"
#this was much longer i had to cut it down for legibility#but i do want to say i am aware this post doesnt touch on human rights violations as a result of fast fashion#that is because it deserves its own post with a completely different tone#i am an environmental educator#so that's what i know the most about. it wouldn't be appropriate of me to mention off-hand the real and legitimate suffering#that people are going through#without doing my research and providing real ways to help#this is a vent post about a thing i'm watching happen; not a call to action. it would be INCREDIBLY demeaning#to all those affected by the fast fashion industry to pretend that a post like this could speak to their suffering#unfortunately one of the horrible things about latestage capitalism as an activist is that SO many things are linked to this#and i WANT to talk about all of them but it would be a book in its own right. in fact there ARE books about each level of this#and i encourage you to seek them out and read them!!! i am not an expert on that i am just a person on tumblr doing my favorite activity#(complaining)#and it's like - this is the individual versus the industry problem again right because im blaming myself#for being an expert on environmental disaster (which is fucking important) but not knowing EVERYTHING about fast fashion#i'm blaming myself for not covering the many layers of this incredibly complicated problem im pointing out#rather than being like. yeah so actually the fault here lies with the billion dollar industries actually.#my failure to be able to condense an incredibly immense problem that is BOOK-LENGTH into a single text post that i post for free#is not in ANY fucking way the same amount of harm as. you know. the ACTUAL COMPANIES doing this ACTUAL THING for ACTUAL MONEY.#anyway im gonna go donate money while i'm thinking about it. maybe you can too. we can both just agree - well i fuckin tried didn't i#which is more than their CEOs can say
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e.e. cummings, from “in time of daffodils(who know” (in 95 Poems), Complete Poems: 1904-1962
[Text ID: “In time of daffodils(who know the goal of living is to grow)”]
#q#lit#quotes#poetry#e.e. cummings#in time of daffodils who know#the complete poems of ee cummings#life everlasting#and still i rise#reading#typography#m#x
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I was poking fun at how unexpectedly silly the CHB kids looked in armour in the first two episodes of the PJO show (acting like an almighty army and all) and then it hit me. This is exactly how some of them will look like when they will be dying in the final battle. Silly. Tiny. Literal children
#i'm sorry i always knew that they were children but#when i read books the characters' ages. idk. don't really register completely#maybe it's because i know their internal pov and don't hear their voices or see them#but these are. 12 y/os#fighting things#and only now that i see an actual live action rendition of pjo do i realize the weight of it all#they're so young oh my god#percy jackson#pjo#pjo tv show#lonely thoughts
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(Accidentally mis-clicked enter on my last ask. Here's the full "ask")
What he says...
VS What I read...
("us" as in him and WWX, not the spider just to be clear)
They should make an adaptation called 'The Unfiltered', where Lan Wangji says exactly what's on his mind.
#poorly drawn mdzs#mdzs#lan wangji#wei wuxian#ask#So glad you came back and resent the ask with the completed joke. Thank you; the punchline is fantastic.#A fairly significant part of LWJ's character is that he *does not* say what he truly wants to.#Frankly he spends a significant part of his life not having the words to describe his feelings and wants.#And when he finally does know what he wants...it is too late to say anything at all.#He is a character that struggles to read between the lines who also needs to be read between the lines.#What a great trait to apply to a character in a series about the harms of taking the world at face value.#Lan Wangji you have my sincerest apologies. In the past I considered you mid. You were the olive of my character charcuterie.#My palate has expanded to appreciate the complexities and necessity of your traits.#Go get 'em. You salty and bitter (+ fruity) king. Those flavours rule. People love you enough to get very mad on polls on your behalf.
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