#were enough

[yungbowtie]

for some reason watching movies reading books listening to music writing drawing is not enough. you have to * shudders * talk to people

[fellhellion]

Can’t think too much about Gabriel becuz he hits too close lmao

[kaurwreck]

Not only can he sense the Agency members within the influence of All Men Are Created Equal, we only know this because he was certain Kunikida hadn't died after leaping from a helicopter, tackling Tetchou, and unpinning a grenade. In other words, he knows this because Kunikida was okay before, even in impossible circumstances.

While drafting the post above, I was caught on the spider's silk imagery precisely because although delicate in appearance, spider's silk is, pound for pound, can withstand more force than some types of steel. Its tehensile strength (amount of stress a material is capable of withstanding before breaking) and ductility (stretchiness/ability to be pulled without breaking) means it can absorb 3x as much force as Kevlar.

Kunikida measures himself by his limitations and is hyperaware of his own sensitivity. In Osamu Dazai's Entrance Exam, he acknowledges that his skill, while "versatile and highly valuable... doesn't quite exceed the realm of convenience." To Sasaki, he admits, "...The first time someone died on the job, I cried so much that I couldn't get out of bed. I couldn't even call the Agency to tell them I wasn't coming in. I thought I would never recover."

Then, crucially, he reflects, "And yet, now I don't even shed a single tear. That's why I come here instead. I feel like I need to do something so that the victims can rest in peace."

This urge he has to strive within and not against reality is why Ranpo notes after Fyodor sought to break Kunikida by stoking children into such terror, they forced Kunikida to incapacitate them with and amid gunfire and killed themselves when he sought to soothe them:

Although Kunikida considers his skill to be merely convenient, his ingenuity, tenacity, and expansive mind allowed him to prevail over Akutagawa, whose skill is nearly if not already transcendent, such that Akutagawa admitted, "Looks like I was wrong about the Armed Detective Agency.... This is wonderful. Truly wonderful."

Dazai said, "Kunikida, people who believe there is a right and a wrong—people who believe in the existence of an ideal world—they're the ones who end up resenting the world and hurting those around them when things don't go the way they want.... When those ideals and beliefs are carried out, the victims are the weak and defenseless. A cry for righteousness is like a sword. Just as it may harm the weak, it will also never be able to protect and save them."

Dazai is thinking of several people, but I imagine among them is Mori. Mori believes he can carve order from chaos and does so through violence so vicious it cuts those he loves. Dazai is correct in his assessment that there is a rage that simmers beneath idealism.

But he doesn't yet know Kunikida well enough to recognize that Kunikida does not believe in an ideal world, and he knows better than to impose rights and wrongs where they have no bearing on reality. He looks at the American intelligent agent who favors torture and acknowledges that criminals are not the only ones who break the law and violate ethical standards, but further that, "a foreign secret intelligence agency won't change their ways, regardless of how a nobody like myself might feel about it." When he knows Sasaki for who she is and considers her and Rokuzo's death, he gazes out into a "decaying garden" to watch the "crimson spider lilies sway," and when he closes his eyes, the flowers are still there, but so is a trace of Sasaki's smile.

Kunikida does not mistake the world for ideal. He does not live in black and white. He sees only what could be and yet knows his own limitations enough to recognize where he might nurture that potential and where his effort would be wasted. He does not force the world into the shape it should be. He confronts it as it is and loves it not for its most ideal possibilities but for the trace of beauty that persists in its decay. When he says in the anime, "But did she have to die?" it wasn't because he could not see her for who she was, but because in who she was, there was someone who might have been reached had she not exhausted herself trying to bend the world to what she thought it should be.

Kunikida does not seek to change others. He knows he can't, and it's that path that feeds the rage of an idealist who can't understand why others would so callously fail to act within their romanticized expectations of what the world should be. Instead, he seeks righteousness in himself, he seeks to bend so that he won't break, to exist humbly and within his humanity. He grapples with a ravenous hunger for self-improvement, which may never be satiated but also which he carefully contains within himself such that he does not devour others in his fervor. In doing so, in remaining so conscious of his limitations, he fixes his gaze on the reality in which he cultivates his ideals— once which is capable of more than it is, but because of what it is, rather than what it isn't.

This is why he has a yin and yang pin, why he layers black and khaki over and beside one another, why he is constrained by the size of his notebook. It's also why he can fall apart and nevertheless rise again, why he can contain hunger and fury without allowing either to devour him, why he can welcome Atsushi into his devotion despite having lost Rokuzo, why he can see what he can't change and instead focus his energy on that which he can, and why his rigid schedule can be broken without ever deterring him from his relentless pursuit.

He yearns for ideals, but he also strives for them. He exists in a constant state of transformation. This is why he can smile through yet another one.

So, while I contemplated Fukuzawa's grief above, I know that when spiders' meticulous and geometrically exact webs nevertheless snap beneath the weight of the reality in which they've woven it, they adjust around the information that they cannot change and begin again crafting that which they can.

Kunikida may die, but he knows, and perhaps in this way he might remind Fukuzawa, too, that while reality may not bend to what must be just and righteous, there is meaning in our capacity to yearn for those things, and there is something just a bit wonderful about striving towards them.

Natsume told Oda that people live to save themselves, and Oda acknowledged it's something people realize right before they die. Kunikida, I think, realized that too. In a journal entry, Kunikida wrote, "The simplest path in life is being satisfied with each day for what it is... The truth does not move people because living and dying are constants, regardless of any such truths. Nobody knows these truths, for we cannot see them."

But, in his final moment, Kunikida smiled and murmured, "Fantastic," because, perhaps, right before he died, he finally realized and could see some of those truths. He strove for his ideals to save himself. And he could be satisfied, knowing that, that was, in of itself, just a little bit wonderful, wasn't it?

oh god, fukuzawa is already curled fetal in his grief under a pile of rubble. did he feel the thread of kunikida plucked taut before delicately snapping like spider's silk, loss rippling the geometry of his consciousness? or did it feel like being gutted, like an organ slipping, hot and viscous, from the gaping wound left in him by fukuchi to smack wetly on the ground?

can fukuzawa feel an aperture where there was once posterity, or is he choking on the fullness of how much he still has left to lose?

[problemnyatic]

the steven universe hate is insane bc people are (or at least were) more upset that fictional war criminals got fictional hugs than they recognize that it singlehandedly advanced queer rep in children's media by lightyears and then straight up ate heavy retaliation for the nerve.

It does have real flaws that are worth discussing, but it also put their male protagonist in dresses and skirts and played it straight and even empowering, they aired a lesbian wedding on television, it was a genuinely queer, genuinely diverse piece of media through and through. It did a lot of real good for the real world.

But also the fictional characters caused fictional harm to other fictional characters, and didn't get an onscreen firing squad sentence. So, you know, it's basically ontologically evil in real life.

[kedreeva]

There's some dude (derogatory) on FB who is PISSED people are pricing their farm fresh eggs at $2 and $3 a dozen instead of $4+, saying it's "disrespectful" and "undignified" and "I'm trying to feed my kids" like Sir, you are on a Facebook group page bitching about your neighbors egg prices because your pet chickens aren't earning you a living wage and you think it's your neighbors' fault, you do not have a leg to stand on here wrt dignity.

Also half the answers are like "I give them to friends and family free" or "I donate them to food banks" or "I'm making them affordable to folks who might not otherwise be able to get them now that they're so expensive in the store" and "if you think you're going to turn a profit keeping backyard chickens you have been wildly misled" and so on, and so forth, and I'm so living for it.

and I can tell you right now, he did NOT like my answer of "if you're trying to feed your kids, I hear eggs are edible."

[endusviolence]

Rowling isn't denying holocaust. She just pointed out that burning of transgender health books is a lie as that form of cosmetic surgery didn't exist. But of course you knew that already, didn't you?

I was thinking I'd probably see one of you! You're wrong :) Let's review the history a bit, shall we?

In this case, what we're talking about is the Institut für Sexualwissenschaft, or in English, The Institute of Sexology. This Institute was founded and headed by a gay Jewish sexologist named Magnus Hirschfeld. It was founded in July of 1919 as the first sexology research clinic in the world, and was run as a private, non-profit clinic. Hirschfeld and the researchers who worked there would give out consultations, medical advice, and even treatments for free to their poorer clientele, as well as give thousands of lectures and build a unique library full of books on gender, sexuality, and eroticism. Of course, being a gay man, Hirschfeld focused a lot on the gay community and proving that homosexuality was natural and could not be "cured".

Hirschfeld was unique in his time because he believed that nobody's gender was either one or the other. Rather, he contended that everyone is a mixture of both male and female, with every individual having their own unique mix of traits.

This leads into the Institute's work with transgender patients. Hirschfeld was actually the one to coin the term "transsexual" in 1923, though this word didn't become popular phrasing until 30 years later when Harry Benjamin began expanding his research (I'll just be shortening it to trans for this brief overview.) For the Institute, their revolutionary work with gay men eventually began to attract other members of the LGBTA+, including of course trans people.

Contrary to what Anon says, sex reassignment surgery was first tested in 1912. It'd already being used on humans throughout Europe during the 1920's by the time a doctor at the Institute named Ludwig Levy-Lenz began performing it on patients in 1931. Hirschfeld was at first opposed, but he came around quickly because it lowered the rate of suicide among their trans patients. Not only was reassignment performed at the Institute, but both facial feminization and facial masculization surgery were also done.

The Institute employed some of these patients, gave them therapy to help with other issues, even gave some of the mentioned surgeries for free to this who could not afford it! They spoke out on their behalf to the public, even getting Berlin police to help them create "transvestite passes" to allow people to dress however they wanted without the threat of being arrested. They worked together to fight the law, including trying to strike down Paragraph 175, which made it illegal to be homosexual. The picture below is from their holiday party, Magnus Hirschfeld being the gentleman on the right with the fabulous mustache. Many of the other people in this photo are transgender.

[Image ID: A black and white photo of a group of people. Some are smiling at the camera, others have serious expressions. Either way, they all seem to be happy. On the right side, an older gentleman in glasses- Magnus Hirschfeld- is sitting. He has short hair and a bushy mustache. He is resting one hand on the shoulder of the person in front of him. His other hand is being held by a person to his left. Another person to his right is holding his shoulder.]

There was always push back against the Institute, especially from conservatives who saw all of this as a bad thing. But conservatism can't stop progress without destroying it. They weren't willing to go that far for a good while. It all ended in March of 1933, when a new Chancellor was elected. The Nazis did not like homosexuals for several reasons. Chief among them, we break the boundaries of "normal" society. Shortly after the election, on May 6th, the book burnings began. The Jewish, gay, and obviously liberal Magnus Hirschfeld and his library of boundary-breaking literature was one of the very first targets. Thankfully, Hirschfeld was spared by virtue of being in Paris at the time (he would die in 1935, before the Nazis were able to invade France). His library wasn't so lucky.

This famous picture of the book burnings was taken after the Institute of Sexology had been raided. That's their books. Literature on so much about sexuality, eroticism, and gender, yes including their new work on trans people. This is the trans community's Alexandria. We're incredibly lucky that enough of it survived for Harry Benjamin and everyone who came after him was able to build on the Institute's work.

[Image ID: A black and white photo of the May Nazi book burning of the Institute of Sexology's library. A soldier, back facing the camera, is throwing a stack of books into the fire. In the background of the right side, a crowd is watching.]

As the Holocaust went on, the homosexuals of Germany became a targeted group. This did include transgender people, no matter what you say. To deny this reality is Holocaust denial. JK Rowling and everyone else who tries to pretend like this isn't reality is participating in that evil. You're agreeing with the Nazis.

But of course, you knew that already, didn't you?

Edit: Added image IDs. I apologize to those using screen readers for forgetting them. Please reblog this version instead.

[bajaja-blast]

you dislike Luke Castellan because he disagreed with an oppressive government system and actually took action to change the abusive ways him and his peers have been forced to follow for millennia.

I dislike Luke Castellan because in the Titans Curse he manipulated Annabeth, who he raised as his little sister, into holding up the sky, the FUCKING sky, for over 20 hours and had the audacity to walk away as though he was completely apathetic towards it while she begged and pleaded with him to help her.

we are not the same.

[lena-luthor]

I am The Traveler. I am the Queen of Cups.

[ionomycin]

Maiden of Light

[oposssumsaucee]

Listen All Systems Red is so so funny from Gurathins perspective imagine you grew up with Space Socialism and was hired to go help some pal with science but you weren't allowed to go unless you rented AmaTeslas Torment Nexus Alexa Dot and then when you get there you find out a whole continent of people got annihilated by their Tourment Nexus rentals so you take a moment to check yours quickly and find out it already had disengaged its Don't Kill People box, the only thing you've ever been told prevented them from mass homiciding their clients, something that LITERALLY just happened to people you knew a day ago, and when you say to your fellow socialist doctors HEY I think our Tourment Nexus is fucked up and it's files said it killed dozens of people barely a year ago and we should probably get the hell away from it the same doctors are like look at what you're saying. You're hurting the Tourment Nexus' feelings. The Tourment Nexus is just a little construct who likes Netflix Gurathin stop antagonizing it on the plane ride.

[illusioncanthurtme--art]

pls pls heard me out...FIDDLESTAN! <3

ok, i got this ask ten days ago, and I've been thinking about it ever since. Because I got two other asks asking for fiddauthor, and I dON'T KNOW HOW TO LET THEM DOWN LIGHTLY BECAUSE I'M A FIDDLESTAN BITCH THROUGH AND THROUGH 😭😭😭😭 I LOVE THEM SO MUCH!!!!!!

Don't get me wrong, fiddauthor is great and makes sense and everything. But listen. Billford and fiddauthor are multidimensional ships, they are good! But FIDDLESTAN!?!? that shit is the WHAT-THE-HECK-A-HEDRON!!!!!!! Even though it's literally 100% speculation, the implications are FUCKING CRAZY!!!!!!!!! I jumped between three ships so far during this gravity falls thing, each time thinking one is better than the other. I've decided that FIDDLESTAN IS KING!!!!!! I'm sorry. I could rant about them forever. I've been listening to nothing but extended versions of disco music for the past week. (YES THEY HAD A CRAZY ROMANTIC FLING IN VEGAS NO I WILL NOT ELABORATE!!!! (yes i will. I will elaborate at some point. it will be like ten pages or text. or I will draw it. idk.))

Here is a sketchbook doodle from like a week ago. I'm gonna post another fiddlestan thing in a few moments, but my style changes like I'm a completely different artist every week without warning, so I'm gonna leave this by itself!

He comes into YOUR house, he steals YOUR identity, and he fucks YOUR research partner!!! Fuck you!!!!!!!!!!

[blueskittlesart]

i hope everyone in nintendo’s management department dies and goes to hell no matter what and i’m not kidding

[oof-i-did-it-agaaiiin]

Beautiful from Ordinary Days

[lotus-pear]

charm stat at debonair ‼️‼️

[nnobodoodles]

Oh wow, I'm absolutely FLOORED by the response on my Strawhat Screenshot Redraws! Thank you so much, been reading all your lovely tags and smiling SO much!! 💖

Here's Part 2 with requests from Insta plus some. Let me know if there's someone else you'd like to see!

[just-an-enby-lemon]

The thing about jonmartin is that Martin wants to be a romantic, he loves poetry and probably watches romance but for him it is a fantasy, a silly game he plays. Martin is at his core very cynical. Things don't work out for him so he doesn't really belive in romance, it is a pretty dream but that's it. He is pratical and realist. Dating Jon he has to remind himself it is real and he actually struggles with romantic gestures, it is something he has to remind himself to do, to remind himself he can do even and honestly who even has the energy and what if Jon doesn't even like it?

Jon on the other hand wants to be cynical. His first coping mechanism was pretend the things he was afraid of weren't real and goddam if he isn't afraid of love. It didn't really work to him so far so it's easy to pretend he doesn't care. But he is a romantic at heart. He saw love and he read about it and he has enough evidence that it is undeniable. And to be honest Jon was always to much a bunch of mushy feelings hidden in a grumpy (and bitter and afraid) trench coat. Dating Martin he has to hold himself so he isn't too much. He plays the grumpy unromantic guy at first. But he just can't stop giving flowers and planing dates (this is the guy that saw a theme park on a fear domain and considered how he wanted to take Martin to a romantic ferris whell date [until he discovered Martin was afraid of them]) and making all the silly things one does when in love.

TR: Martin is deep down very cynical about love but wants to/pretends to be a romantic and Jon is deep down very romantic but wants to/pretends to be cynical about love.