#good questions merri!

[thoughtfulfangirling]

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

So! What did you already know about the book when you started. Did something take you book surprise? Do you think the book aged well or is the moral/theme not relevant to today’s society? — @merriblu

I really didn't know very much at all about To Kill a Mockingbird before I read it. I didn't have it assigned in high school, and I feel like it is through other fiction referencing it that I had any idea that it was an early century historical take on the south. I think the one thing I remembered in particular when I started the book was that it was praised for accurately depicting a small town southern community and perspective.

It wasn't until we really got introduced to our narrator that I remembered the POV character was a little girl. I had assumed—as I tend to about most older pieces of media—that the book was going to be pretty much all boys. So I was pleasantly surprised that Scout was a girl. I guess that counts for being taken by surprise. I did also find the use of the n word jarring to start. Not out of judgement of Harper Lee but because a) I am no particularly used to hearing the word in my media or day to day life and b) I actively somewhat tend to avoid hearing the word in large part because I have both a mimicry personality with language sometimes and because almost all my thoughts are sentences I essentially 'hear' in my head and not pictures or fragments, and the first step to trying to avoid saying things I don't want to say is not to let it into my internal dialogue.

I think this is the only area where I'd be hesitant to just go ahead and recommend anyone and everyone read it as I think it's aged pretty well. The books has picked a very particular point in time to depict and comment on, and so it's a little more immune to 'poor aging' than a lot of other works of fiction, but the themes and ideas still hold up incredibly well in my opinion.

As a coming of age story, it is still super well done. In some ways, I think better than a lot of other coming of age stories, who can have a tendency leaving off their characters in a way that suggest "and then they grew up." I didn't feel that way with Jean Louise. By the end of the book, she's done a lot of growing up, but she's still got a lot of growing up to do, and I really love that as a point to stop. Because we never stop growing up! Not really. And this is portrayed so well with Scout by showing us a lot of progress but still realizing we're looking at a young girl who acts and thinks like a young girl.

The way community is depicted in this also holds up so so well. It's complicated. Atticus in particular seems absolutely community driven, and we watch him pass this along to his children. He encourages them to show greater compassion than they find innate for their eccentric and invisible neighbor, he encourages them to spend time with the gardner neighbor across the street, and he commissions them to be there for a cranky old lady who is dying and just needs some extra attention and kindness before she passes. He does his duty to the community even when it costs him and his peace of mind and esteem, and he impresses that on his children when they start dealing with the consequences of this. He is willing to swallow his own pride for another when the other needs that moment more. He impresses upon the kids about putting up with people they don't like and not to hate them because they're humans and they're community, and you never know when you'll need each other. This was probably my favorite aspect of the book and absolutely is a large part of what goes into and is taken away from the trial and it's results.

But of course the trial is more about prejudices. One of my perhaps favorite moments in the book is when Scout's teacher is condemning Hitler and praising America for being a democracy where prejudices don't happen like they were in Germany. And sure, this is obviously not a one to one comparison, but Scout questions her brother about this. This teacher was happy to see the clearly innocent Tom Robinson found guilty just to get things done and over with, and this is rightly confusing for Scout. How can America really be as democratic and egalitarian as the teacher asserted when everyone could see that the man was innocent but because of who he was and the way their world worked, that his guilt was assumed against all evidence and sense of justice.

And that is absolutely relevant in today's world. How many people, when you get down to it, absolutely do recognize on some level that single payer healthcare is the only realistically human way to provide healthcare to a country but keep insisting on the way US is now simply because that's all they've ever known? I've spoken to people who I'm fairly certain would vehemently deny that single payer healthcare is what we need, but wholeheartedly will agree with me when I've said to them, "You know, it's scary that the first thing to go when someone is sick is their ability to work, but it's through their ability to work that provides them health insurance." That's how 'paying for healthcare' works though! Whether you get your insurance from your workplace or pay out of pocket.

And that's very much what it felt like when the jury returned their guilty verdict on Tom Robinson. The way the world worked, you did not pronounce a white man wrong when opposed by a Black man. The length of their deliberation proved that they thought about it though, and at least some of them knew that while it was The Way Things Were, it wasn't how they should be.

Sadly, I have a feeling that will be relevant for a long, long time to come.

Such a good read! I do wish this had been assigned in high school, but at least I've read it now, and I'm very glad I have.

[puppetmaster13u]

Prompt 283

Now Jason would like it known that there was no mpreg situation going on. He isn’t even sure where people got that idea in the first place. Sure, he had taken a few Cores from the goons-in-white who had dared to set up in his turf. 

And sure maybe the excess energy from the pit (no wonder he’d been so irritable) was what said baby halfas (Okay, so they’re half human? Alright) had used to reform. And maybe the oldest is visibly less than a year old. 

But there Was No Mpreg Situation! He is this close to shooting someone! It was annoying (and slightly amusing) when it was just his goons, but now the Bats have seemingly got it in their heads! Dear Gotham it’s a good thing he’s not planning on like, ever revealing who he is because he would never be able to live this rumor down. 

[Winged Ghosts Au too, that seems to be getting lost in reblogs when it's just in the tags lol]

[allastoredeer]

Love your comic! Do you have any alastor whump headcanons or predictions ?

Okay, so, like I have SO many Alastor whump headcanons, predictions, and concepts, and I think about them near constantly, but the minute someones asks me about them, WHOOSH, they're gone.

I really need to start writing them down instead of cycling them through my head.

I guess one headcanon I can think of is that Alastor is way more chill about homosexual relationships than people realize, even when he was alive.

He lived in the 1900's, sure, but queer people still existed back then AND had their own spaces. Spaces that I think Alastor frequented, partly because the parties were GREAT and partly because his 'lack of wife or girlfriend' wasn't questioned there.

Back in 1900's New Orleans, the French Quarter (a place a LOT of Creole/Cajun/POC lived at the time, and was most likely where Alastor lived too) was also the core of gay life in New Orleans. They built homosexual communities there. They still had to be careful, of course, being gay wasn't an "acceptable lifestyle" but it still thrived in its own spaces.

Not only that, but Mardi Gras alone had always included gender fluidity and ambiguous sexuality during its carnival and celebrations. It was a time where people COULD be more open and flaunting those sort of things without serious repercussions.

I think Alastor was a hell of a lot more accepting of homosexual people, not just because he grew up around them, but also because he just...did not give a shit. He never really felt any attraction to men, but he also never really felt any attraction to woman. He didn't see the big deal about people of the same sex sleeping with each other. He could not give a fuck who anybody else was fucking so long as he wasn't being pressured into doing anything.

When Alastor went to Hell, he wasn't put off by people being sexual or homosexual, he was more put off that they were doing it right in front of his salad. He's trying to eat, take that somewhere else, please and thank you.

As Hell started growing and becoming more modern, people gave less and less of a shit of who was fucking who. Since Alastor never moved on from his 1900's radio-host persona, a lot of people assume that he's homophobic, and are genuinely surprised when he's actually supportive of people getting to be more open about who they love. It's one of the few things about modern times that he can actually appreciate, though he could do without people constantly fucking where he can see it--again, not because he thinks that's something that has to be kept a secret, behind closed doors, but because he's trying to have a nice stroll through the park, can you please stop grinding on each other in the bushes, it's hard to stop and smell the roses when all he can hear is moaning.

So yeah, it's not really a WHUMP headcanon, but it's an Alastor headcanon. He's a lot more tolerant and supportive of homosexual relationships than people think, and could not give a flying fuck who they're sleeping with so long as he's not getting roped into it. He gives a giant middle finger to societal norms and will be the first in line when it comes to breaking the status quo.

[fightwing]

the implication some version of animated teen tita.ns vaguely like ttg exists in comic canon.... i desperately need to know who in dick's life is a die hard show fan and how many times he rants he's 'not like that'

[caliburn-the-sword]

other than the entire adultery plotline, the only thing i would retcon in the entire season 1 of ouat is the fairies are cursed to become nuns in storybrooke. WHAT EVEN WAS THAT??? so many characters became their exact opposites, so why was blue the exact same stuffy woman both as a fairy and in storybrooke? in my mind, the fairies became a giant lesbian commune (so essentially what they already were in the enchanted forest) living on the outskirts of town. and because storybrooke shouldn't have any contact with the outside world, the fairies collectively own a farm that sources most of the food for all of storybrooke. when the curse broke they were like hey actually this is pretty good. and kept being a giant lesbian commune.

[twoleafclover50777]

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO EVERYONE WHO CELEBRATES!!!!

Question for Tumblr: What was your favorite gift? Were you given something funny? I'd love to know!!

My weirdest gift was this "I eat kids" tapestry 😭

[persephoneflouwers]

-

[meownotgood]

mags, i'm so normal...the morning after aki gets laid for the first time, he's in such a good mood. aki doesn't even notice it. he's just lighter on his feet and can tolerate power and denji a lil bit more maybe cooking a fancier breakfast. i think power and denji would be like "what the fuck is up with him...."

YES. IT'S TOO TRUE... I CAN'T

aki would be in such good spirits all of the sudden... he has good dreams for the first time in forever, he's waking up way earlier than he normally does and getting ready for work quickly so he can make a nice big breakfast. all the aches and tiredness in his muscles have miraculously gone away too, somehow.

the whole day he's unusually cheery, he does all his work 2x faster, he doesn't even need a single cigarette. power and denji ask if they can have some of his money to go to the arcade and he actually says yes? not only that, but he gives them a whole 1000 yen bill? is he sick or something????

[mittysins]

Three white claws in I’m VIBING

[mymanymerrymuses]

Things I want for my muses tonight, in no particular order:

-Vox getting to be the messed up simp that he is

-Kagari teaching someone sign language

-Viktor getting to talk about science and possibly get somebody involved in a minor explosion or two

[leftsharkhypocrite]

Hello there, Vincent here

   I've had this blog for six years now and I've realized that I've never talked much. I still feel bad that I deleted so many things. Most people probably don't even remember why they followed me. It's supposedly better this year. I'm more stable with content (mentality still suck but shsh) but I still achieved a little

  So here's my question: What should I improve? What it's wrong with my works? Etc. If you want you can write there or ask.

Go roast me

[astralcat]

where has my dignity gone

[re-discover-communication]

how was your xmas??

It was quiet, just my parents and brother, but overall okay, it's like this every year. We even played Unstable Unicorns and Taboo in the evening. But I also spent the better part of the afternoon napping because of some drowsiness that lowkey killed me for three hours or so. I put some 90's sea life documentaries in the background to listen to something while waiting to fall asleep. And yesterday a little after midnight some of my friends texted me Merry Christmas, which I was not expecting at all from them... that was really good. Yeah it's been a very okay Christmas.

[suzysils]

since the 2020 version is back on my dash here is this year’s poster 

(i’m 67 apparantly)

[merrilark]

started doctor who bc I saw you post about and I was like "Merri normally has good taste, sure." I AM 4 MINUTES IN (2005 version bc if I miss any lore I'll start crying on the ground) AND MANNEQUINS ARE MOVING AND MAKING WEIRD PLASTIC-Y UNSETTLING NOISES WHILE THEY DO SO...what have you convinced me to watch 😦

LOL. The first episode is rough, but I swear it gets better! It's delightfully campy and the Ninth Doctor is one of my top favorites. I would give it a few episodes. c:

No need to come off anon if you don't want to, but I'd love to hear your thoughts as you go!

[kirain]

My favourite bit of BG3 lore is that Withers is legitimately responsible for the Dead Three, but he's probably too embarrassed to tell you, so every time you ask him to elaborate he just gives you a very stern, "Noooo."

I also love that the reason he's responsible for their uprising is because he got bored. He literally got bored of his position as Lord of the Dead and wanted to retire, so when these three morally questionable humans came looking for godhood he was like, "Hmmm. Yes, okay. Here. Take my portfolios. Fight over them. I don't care. I quit."

So after bowling with skulls in a friendly competition to decide who would get what portfolio, they took up his powers and wreaked havoc on the world. Only at that moment did Jergal, AKA Withers, AKA our precious Bone Daddy think, "I'm just now, internally, asking myself, in quite a worried way, whether I might've made an error."

So he joins your merry band and watches your escapades, calmly twiddling his fingers while you clean up his mess. He's happy to lend his aid, even to the point that he'll bring Durge back to life if they reject Bhaal, even though he technically shouldn't. But he's Withers. The rules don't apply to him. If Ao doesn't like it, he can descend from the Heavens and say it to his rotting face.

And the reason he saves Durge isn't necessarily because he likes them or because he's a morally good entity (though one certainly could make that argument), but because he wants to add insult to injury. He steals Bhaal's child with a big smile on his face, dubs them his Chosen, and praises them for rejecting all the power they were promised. But of course, he still doesn't tell them who he is—or rather who he was.

Then, when all is said and done, he throws Tav and their companions a cute little party. No one knows it's probably half a thank you party and half a "Withers is bored again" party. And if anyone misbehaves, he'll get irritated and whisk them away. Because how dare they? He put a lot of work into that.

And at the end of it all, he walks up to a mural of the Dead Three and basically goes, "Lmao. Thou didst fuck around, and thou didst find out." Just savagely roasting them.

And then poof!

He waves them into non-existence.