#just for the love of god

[joeythefrog]

here is your daily reminder that Racetrack Higgins is on no accounts stupid.

It's a pretty common thing to see Race as the dumbass of the group, comedic relief or generally not taken seriously. Don't get me wrong- Race is a hot mess. But he's a smart hot mess.

You think Jack was leading the strategy of Manhattan? I love Jack but you saw him organising and strategising the strike -he was struggling. Yet Manhattan is still one of the more powerful cities, how? Race.

Race who figured out how to manipulate his way into Spot Colon's good graces so he could worm his way into a selling spot at the sheepshead races -guaranteed foot traffic, plus idiots who are either winning money or think they will. They can and will spare a penny for a paper. That is a good spot. One of the better ones in the city.

And you think Race is unaware of that? NO. He did that entirely on purpose. He knows Brooklyn's economy is doing a little better than Manhattans, he knows the factors of a good spot and he knows the angles he can offer.

Race is often known for winning every game thrown at him, you think he can do that without strategy? People who don't characterise him as smart are blatantly mischaracterising him.

Race wants to be known as dumb. He wants to be underestimated. It gives him infinitely better odds. Nobody pays attention to the 'dumb twink with no common sense' they turn their heads towards heavy hitters like Spot. He plays it up, he knows damn well what he's doing but he does it anyways.

Usually it's fun and he gets a kick out of the adrenaline. But the best part is people dismiss him. And Race is always playing the long game.

So anyways this has been your PSA that Racetrack Higgins is in fact smart and incredibly strategic.

[propertyofwhitney67]

*twirling my hair and kicking my feet* I love when people accurately tag their posts

[kochei0]

I turn to Ares.

Thanks to Tyler Miles Lockett who allowed me to draw inspiration from his ARES piece for page 2! Look at his etsy page it's SICK

⚔️ If you want to read some queer retelling of arturian legends have a look at my webtoon

[churroach]

Full of Desires

[slavicafire]

sobbing into my plate after overhearing a conversation between a mom and her tiny daughter in this shopping centre food court

[transmansplainer]

Yeah, so, PhD in English Literature chiming in here.

I wrote my dissertation on Victorian literature and the birth of science fiction. I have a pedigree, credentials, 24 conferences, and over 20 classes taught under my belt.

So when I tell you that fanfic is real art and absolutely fucking based, I know exactly what the fuck I am talking about.

First, fanfic is old... like, stupid old. We can talk about derivative literature, or get into all the stories which are just reframing mythological narratives. We could talk about how Frankenstein is Paradise Lost but better, or how much "art" is derived from popular narrative. But pretty much as long as we've been telling stories, we've been listening to them and thinking, "huh... I wonder what would happen if...?" And boom! Fanworks.

Second, if you wanna be a real asshole, we could get into what "art" is and how it isn't real at all but is rather a concept that we share among us like a kind of collective fever dream, and that it is, therefore, a constantly moving signifier for which there is no signified... but I would also like to keep this thing short so I'll just say that my bibliography is bigger than yours and leave it at that.

Third, and most importantly, ALL ART IS REAL ART and fanfic, fanart, and adaptation have been around since AT LEAST the birth of the novel.

What makes fanwork unique (and I'll limit myself here to fic bc it's what I know best) is that it an inherently communal and anticapitalist form of creation, which bars it from more traditional markers of legitimacy. It cannot be credited to a single person, so cannot contribute to the cult of the "author" or buy into our dumb creationist mythology of how all great things must derive from a single mind. It also cannot be sold, and therefore lacks both the "aura"* of more traditional forms and the acrural of capital that we use as benchmarks of "success".**

This doesn't mean it isn't "real art"-- only that it openly and purposefully defies the markers of that category. It is an exploration of a shared imaginative space which allows individuals to dream as a collective. It is rhizomatic, with new tropes and head-canons emerging organically among a disjointed, non-hierarchical, polythestic community. It is an inherently blasphemous space which can only be so by both taking the source material very seriously while denying the authority of the Author-God and daring to rewrite it.***

How many times do fic writers take a source text so much more seriously that the showrunners or networks, or actors? How much more do we know about these characters as characters than the people who own them?

This is serious work. It is real art. Even when it is bad, or silly, or stupid, or yes-- racist and bigoted and gross. It is still art.

Unpublished writing is art. Scribbles on paper are art. A drawing o lr a digital sketch or a poem are art.

Because what makes art real isn't some external validation of value and existence by the Other, it is an experience which we go through in its creation, and it is the experience which we have when we encounter it.****

In short-- gatekeeping is fucking stupid, and it sucks hard-core when it comes to the subject of art. How many of us have killed our own dreams because they weren't "good enough"? How many of us have thrown aside our paints because we're not "real artists"?

And how many of us have had to fight our way back to a place of healing where we can be brave and write the damn thing? Or paint the damn thing? Or just put the fear of God into some oil pastels?

So yeah, that's my story and I'm sticking to it. If you want good theory, hmu, otherwise, it is late and god speed and good luck.

*see Benjamin, "A work of art in the age of mechanical reproduction"

**yes, I know that fanfic has been repackaged and sold, but this Tumblr and not my dissertation defense so you get what you get.

***there is a ton of theory behind all this, but Jenkins and whoever wrote "Cyborg Manifesto" are probably the most blatantly ripped off.

****I'm gesturing vaguely to Foucault here from History of Sexuality, Part 1-- specifically in how in a post-Freudian world the subject must "confess" to the Other and have their confession heard and validated to have access to subjectivity and exist under the Law, but christ it is late and I am not pulling quotes.

I am aware I have died on this hill before but people who really strenuously argue that fanfic isn't "real writing" drive me insane. what do you meeeaaaaannn. besides the fact that any attempt to define "real art" vs "fake art" is inherently reactionary, it just doesn't make any sense. it's Writing. people Write it. what the fuck are you talking about.

[noelledeltarune]

EVERY SINGLE DAY there are MILLIONS of characters in their late 20s who get falsely accused of being father figures to teenagers when in reality the description of "weird older cousin" or "step-sibling that moved out before you were born" is 1000000x more apt

[formulanni]

Roan of Arc

Tag list: @st-leclerc @rubywingsracing @saviour-of-lord @three-days-time @the-wall-is-my-goal @albonoooo @ch3rubd0lls

[xx-k1tsun3-k1d-xx]

the mobile phone museum is a online museum featuring over 2000 types of old and funky phones that’s amazing for seeing old phones and getting info about them for stuff like writing/art or just because they’re so cool and i love them look at them

behold! some of my favourite silly creatures :3

[lilislegacy]

imagine being someone at new rome university and not knowing percy is the same guy as “percy jackson, son of poseidon, two-time hero of olympus, former praetor” because the thought doesn’t even cross your mind. like… he’s percy. he’s a total frat boy. on a normal night, he walks into a party, refers to everyone as bro or dude, socializes with every living (and not-living) person in the room, makes at least 50 sarcastic comments, plays 12 rounds of beer pong, drinks way too much, and then skates around campus on his skateboard yelling “I LOVE NEW YORK” (which makes no sense, because they’re in california) until someone calls his girlfriend to come get him.

and then one day there’s an attack, and frat boy percy is all of a sudden a fighting machine. he’s yelling battle cries alongside the praetors frank zhang and hazel levesque as they lead everyone into battle. (why is he with the praetors? and why…. why in the world do the praetors seem to be following his lead?) his sword slashes through armies of monsters faster than you’ve ever seen. he’s controlling the entire river surrounding the camp, creating huge waves as tall as skyscrapers that crash down all around him, wiping out monsters and causing mass destruction to his enemies’ ranks. the sky is suddenly dark above you, ice-cold water droplets are slashing through the air, and the wind is blowing so aggressively that it’s making it hard to stand up steadily. because he’s somehow created a hurricane.

and he looks terrifying. you can feel the power radiating off of him. he’s like a god. or maybe a monster. it’s hard to tell. you’re a little scared of him, to be honest. but also in total awe, because it’s extraordinary. he’s extraordinary.

frat boy percy is not who you thought he was.

[chososcamgirl]

he ain’t never beating the stalking allegations

art creds @hunnismokah

[sapphic-storm69]

Spiderverse thots

[rosemarygardensblog]

blue eyeshadow ‧₊˚𐙚⋅˚₊‧

[polysyndetonaddictsupportgroup]

I cannot put into mortal words how fucking badly I want that swedish goat to burn. We live in a modern surveillance hellscape and not only is big brother watching you but he’s monitoring your purchase habits so he can sell you a smart refrigerator that will spy on you for the cia. the full weight of modern technology can be rallied to protect that straw monument to human hubris and I want us to burn it anyway. I want the might of modern society to crumple in the face of a drunk swede with a zippo lighter. we can do it just take my hand

[problemnyatic]

when will we talk about the willful helplessness epidemic on here. So many people on this god forsaken website demand to have any and all things that exist outside their personal experiences directly, personally pre-chewed and spoonfed to them. And when you do, they'll then ask for you to swallow for them, too, because, you see, in THEIR experience..,

[petrichara]

‘Love is the one thing that we’re capable of perceiving that transcends dimensions of time and space.’

“Eulogy from a Physicist” by Aaron Freeman, with quotes from Interstellar by Christopher Nolan, and images from NASA, Interstellar, Getty, Petrichara, and Reuters.

1- NASA: GOODS-South.

2- NASA: NGC 1850.

3- NASA: Iberian Peninsula.

4- Christopher Nolan: Interstellar.

5- NASA: From the Earth to the Moon.

6- Hannah La Folette Ryan: Subway Hands.

7- Adams Evans: Heart Nebula.

8- NASA: Exploring the Antennae.

9- NASA: Crescent Moon from the International Space Station.

10- Petrichara.

11- Getty Images.

12- NASA: SMACS 0723.

13- Reuters