i was just talking about this after being wrecked by the discovery that the little elf-goblin fellows my parents/family used to tell me warnings and stories about as a little kid are regionally specific, and that you can trace people's geographic origins by what word they use for "little spirit-fellows who live in your house". no matter what you call them (domovoi, kobolde, brownies, so on); for purposes of this post henceforth "little guys"
i think one of the things that i find frustrating about like, idk, modern animist revivalist movements is that very few of them ime spend a lot of time romanticising and spiritualizing human habitation. obviously, we as a culture need to think more about protecting and defending nature/the earth/so on, but like.
if you don't have room in your heart for making up a little guy who lives in the water heater, or who squats under your stove and makes it run 15 degrees off the programmed temperature, and thinking of him with the same kind of respect/affection as you do for the spirits (or whatever) of the wildlife you interact with like.
genuinely: what are you even doing. you are removing a source of richness and fun and whimsy from your life! like, pip @creekfiend made up the concept of "little guys who live in an airport (and are the reason it's so shitty to be in an airport)" and i already like airports like 30% more just knowing it's the little airport inconvenience guys doing that.
more importantly, like. genuinely: interrogate what parts of the world seem ~rich with spiritual meaning~ to you. what parts of the world are "wild"? what does that make the rest of the world - a chore? a burden? who has to carry that burden?
we're never going to like, "return to nature", because that's nothing and the concept of untouched nature is also nothing; we're always going to have some sort of human habitation and interaction and cultivation with nature. if you can't extend grace and whimsy and genuine and sincere meaning to human habitation, including its inconveniences and annoyances, you are making your own lived experience duller!
notably, most of these kinds of little-guy-spirits historically exist in the parts of human habitation that are partially abandoned, partially removed: haylofts, inside the walls, under the house, in the bathhouse, behind the furnace... i've been thinking a lot about urban wildlife lately, and the animals who make space for themselves in and around human habitation. the "natural" and the "wild" persist inside and around the edges of the "tame" and always, always have. if you have a crawlspace, there's a little spirit who lives there and he's the reason the dryer always eats your socks.
LIVE WHIMSICALLY.
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Again the sickness speaking but here's something that has been going through my mind since forever:
I feel like a good way to mitigate a lot of discontent with the doa arc ending and in general the whole Dazai-being-flawless issue bsd has going on is by comparing bsd to Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle. Please bear with me for two minutes.
When Sherlock Holmes was being published, people were intrigued and enamoured by Holmes' brilliant and charming, crimes-solving figure. People read the stories for the pure joy of being left gaping at his superhuman wits again and again; they didn't want to see him fail, they wanted to be shocked and amazed by his genius. When Holmes died and then came back, nobody lamented it being unrealistic, because realism was not what people were reading the books for! They were reading to be impressed, to cheer for the hero and then take satisfaction in seeing him turn out victorious. That's the author-reader deal that was made there: to impress and to enjoy being impressed.
As of recently I feel like we've been asking from bsd something it never promised us in the first place. Maybe it's just not that kind of series! Maybe it's more about surprising the reader with how the hero is going to make it and less about highlighting his flaws and insecurities. And like, that's okay! That's why Dazai getting away with it isn't it him getting away with it “again”, it's just how bsd is; in a way, it's what makes bsd bsd.
I think it really clicked with me like it never did before when I watched the last episode of season 5; because the arc ending felt so shocking and unpredictable, very deus-ex-machina trope, a little underwhelming in its lowering the stakes that were there the whole time, and yet so extremely on brand with bsd, I didn't even have it in me to be disappointed. It was so similar to the Guild's arc ending and even more to the Cannibalism arc ending, and maybe it really is just a pattern, maybe it really is what bsd aspires to be, and that's okay too.
Also, I can't stretch this enough: if it's not your cup of tea, that's fine. I can't say it's mine either. But I feel like criticizing bsd now for how it's always been falls quite short, because it really feels like demanding from it what it never promised to deliver in the first place. That's just as far as my current perception of the series goes, though, so feel free to disagree with me on this.
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[rubs my hands together and slaps my hand on her back]
this bad girl can fit so much ruthlessness within her
ahahahah anyways… [proceeds to get mauled]
i actually spent like half an hour looking for the best name, here’s some info on it:
vanina means "brings good news" in spanish and portuguese
it is also an alternate spelling of vania (latin): pet form of evangelina
i thought it would be funny to name her like that and she’s like “i bring good news; i killed 20 people :D”
also nina is a cute nickname
oh and her left eye is non functional due to carelessness whoops
Nina is a cutie pie and I'd absolutely allow her to crush my skull.
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Alright, I have to admit I have not kept up at all with the Carnage/Flash side of Venom comic verse these past few years, so - who is Aria? The few issues I've read centered on Flash during these wacky symbiote times did not contain her, and the Marvel comics wiki gives me nothing. But you have me curious.
Hey there, friend! You wanna know who Aria is? Well, that's exactly what I'm here for. You're right, though - I'm not sure she even has a wiki article yet. She doesn't even have a last name! But I'm all for those underappreciated characters, so, let's go.
(All the following panels will be by Gronbekk/Perez from Carnage 2023.)
(Carnage #1)
We first meet Aria as the bartender at the very on-the-nose-named "Pour Decisions" bar. "Wait, isn't Flash an alcoholic?" Well... yeah. But Aria doesn't know that. And As you can see by the narration, it doesn't have the same effect on him that it used to. But, you'll see this is just another demon he has to battle.
Aria is clearly familiar with Flash - he's become a regular by this point. He's also a bit of a loner but he still knows how to put on the charm. But also, Aria understandably shows some concerns about him.
Flash is seeking purpose in his life, but he's not finding it. Aria knows he's well-meaning, but as always, Flash sometimes gets himself into trouble when he tries to help. It's too bad!
Because Flash is the best, he does apologize for his ill-timed heroics, and like, honestly, who can stay mad at him? Not Aria, even with her perfect hair. (I love her hair.)
(Carnage #2)
She also calls him out on looking like a damn mess.
She's SO into him though and it's so cute. I'm gonna cry. She wants to take that boy home and [redacted/saved for fanfic].
Aria unfortunately vanishes for most of the rest of the series, but since we're appreciating women, let's appreciate Liz for a second here too, after she and Flash take down Carnage.
(Carnage #8)
I'm always giggling at this. Flash doesn't get why there are so many damn symbiotes these days, either.
So even though Aria saw Flash initially as a mess (which he was)...
...after nearly dying at Carnage's hand multiple times/almost losing his mom/being trapped in the Darkforce Cube etc etc, he decides he's got to put himself back together. I do like the panel of him fixing one of his prostheses a lot. It's a nice touch we haven't seen the likes of since Space Knight. (Nice job, Gronbekk & Perez!)
I love this scene where she makes him a mocktail. A fruity little drink. And he does love it. Because who wouldn't.
Like, oh my God, even Liz sees it. She's definitely hinting that if Flash doesn't snatch up Aria, she will.
And then my most FAVOURITE Flash/Aria scene... that truly solidifies that maybe possibly there's a chance for them??? MAYBE??
THAT BOY IS GETTING LAAAAAAAAAAAID ahem. Anyways.
I just, I really love this! It's spot-on with the fact that when Flash is really into someone, he's kind of awkward! But he's soooo sincere and Aria is SO into it. He's taking active interest in what she's into! He's pulling himself together! He's living again!
I want Flash/Aria to happen so badly like, you don't even know. I want them to go jogging in crop tops together. I want them watching birds and getting coffee and her giving him That Look fifteen more times. I want him to treat her RIGHT and for this to be his best relationship since Betty.
But mostly, I just want Aria to survive the next goddamn event.
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Here’s a self portrait i did the other day
As some of you (or none of you) may may noticed, ive changed the pronouns in my bio form he/him to she/any. I dont think it’s something i need to do, but i just want to talk about it for a moment so i can get it out into the void. I was a man for somewhere near 6 years, i dont think it was a mistake, just an exploration that took me back to the beginning again. I loved and hated the time i spent as a guy, but at the end of the day im just a raging dyke who confused my masculinity with actually being a man, who confused dysmorphia with dysphoria, who now loves herself and who they are for the first time in a hot minuet.
Aint no one gonna read all that
Tl;dr i have boobs again lol
Anyways, here’s some lesbians since im stepping away from drawing mlm stuff for obvious reasons
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What didn't gel for you with the ritual? Was it how Delilah is still... kinda around? Or how the characters reacted?
The Delilah thing has me concerned but I felt it was an overall positive for Laudna, and I'm just curious of your thoughts!
oh I'm actually elated delilah is still around, if she were perma-gone I would've honestly had more problems with it 💀
not because it isn't a wonderful thing for laudna! it is! I'm so happy she has more control over her life and choices!! she deserves it so much!!
but. as someone deeply invested in that narrative. that its been built up for about 100 episodes (I believe it was 4, when delilah was first officially revealed?) and was (semi-)concluded in a ritual that took less than an hour to complete, that they discovered less than a full game ago, and that they proceeded to then not talk about at all in any significant way was deeply disappointing. a culmination that should have been this massive emotional upheaval fell overall flat to me bc of how rushed it felt.
But that's just me! and some of it was my own expectations and my own distaste for the pinion as a solution since well before they realized that's what it could be. but at least she's still there! so it's not truly over yet!
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tyyy @tinhcam for tagging me!!
rules: put your music library on shuffle, then list the first five songs that come up in a poll to let people vote for which one they like the most!
I used my 5968 liked songs lol I need to go thru them probably..
I tag: @revelations-mp3 @girlwithfish @valentinism @foxholes @grlfriends @applepreserves @yellowwperil n any1 else interested in doing this! 💕 if u don't wanna do it or were already tagged feel free to ignore sryyy 🫡
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