#what do i fucking tag this lol

[permian-tropos]

metropolis, an essay

today in the new york metropolitan area, the sky is getting chalky overhead again, due to wildfire smoke spreading from canada. while the west coast has been pummeled by wildfire smoke year after year, the east coast finally gets its fair share of the most aesthetically consonant part of the climate crisis—where the sky turns scary apocalyptic colors and the air tastes like ash. two things are on my mind: that the wealth hoarders who used their power to delay critical action against climate change deserve rage, and that the rising ride of global fascism is poised to co-opt that rage and then drive us all into hell. 

I’m gonna write a little essay about it, most of the facts off the top of my head, I hope my memory is correct about everything. it’s about the most impactful movie of my life, that is also my ideological nemesis.

one of the first films I ever watched (first time I was like, two years old) that stuck in my mind was fritz lang’s metropolis, and I’ve revisited it over and over throughout the years and I have a tendency to shove it and my analysis of it down people’s throats every chance I get. because it is gorgeous and striking and very worth watching—if you have the extremely important context that the co-writer of the film, fritz lang’s wife thea von harbou, joined the nazi party, while fritz lang divorced her and fled germany, evading the nazis’ attempts to recruit him into their propaganda machine.

metropolis is very dear to my heart because visually it was extremely inspired by new york city, and I cannot help but think of the german expressionist haze over the skyscrapers when I see pictures of downtown manhattan consumed by wildfire smoke. 

it is a nazi film that was directed by a man seemingly who did not realize he was making a nazi film, because it didn’t aggressively scapegoat anyone or promote german nationalism or call for militarism and conquest. that is why I perversely love this film; it so aptly demonstrates fascism sneakily corrupting a socialistic message long before people have been tricked into racial hatred. it shows you the seed of bad ideology.

metropolis tells the story of a deeply unequal society of upper and lower classes, where the proletariat labors in a hellscape under the city while those on the surface enjoy high culture and luxury while managing those below. 

I’m not going to discuss the main character of the film much but he is a rich ass boy whose call to adventure is that he goes down and sees how badly the workers are treated and compares their toil to victims being sacrificed to a barbaric god (european capitalists be like: what are we a bunch of indigenous people? but okay sure, mechanistic rather than religiously-motivated human sacrifice is normalized in capitalist society, is a point I’ll gladly make) 

blaaaaaaarghh look at that guy. it’s moloch!! the devil himself. eating the shit out of the working class. 

there are two characters who propose solutions to the workers, and fittingly one is the doppelganger of the other. the saintly maria promises the workers that a savior will come to resolve the class contradictions between the “head” (upper class, management) and the “hands” (laborers). he will be the “heart” and this sounds nice but you have to remember this is nazi shit so what I see is that this abstract idea of a city/state/nation’s “heart” is the seed of fascism

not to mention, that people have been sorted into “head” and “hands” is treated as a fact of nature. the proletariat will always be the dumb brutish power and those who manage them will always be the brains behind society. the only way to resolve the contradiction is to... <3 bring them together in love and peace and harmony <3 

and QUITE INTERESTINGLY TO ME, there is a total omission of any sort of enforcement of class inequality by a police force. there is like, one character who is a bit of a henchman/secret police hired by the protagonist’s father, the city ruler, but other than that, no cops are putting the working class in their place. state brutality is not needed to convince the proles to stay in their place. just their intrinsic understanding of their place in the world

fascist propaganda pretends that the world runs the way it does on natural inherent distinctions between human beings, and that no enforcement is needed, while it actually is the most cop ass ideology of all time. 

so what is the “heart” that unites the national bourgeois ruling class and the proletariat without eliminating the class distinctions between them and simply causing them to be equal human beings...? if you remember this is a nazi film you may guess the real answer (hating scapegoated minorities), but the film skillfully avoids specificity because it was co-written by a nazi and a possibly unsuspecting non-nazi. there are no villainous subhuman groups in the film. just... well... a nonhuman villain and the single bad guy who creates her. 

presenting the alternative to maria’s pacifism is the glorious ~robot maria~ who is famous for inspiring george lucas in his design of c-3po and doctor who in its design of the cybermen. 

don’t worry, those beams of light give her a pretty face so she can pass as an adult human female and trick those gullible workers and bougies alike into wanting to have fuck with her  

she is essentially a golem, created by a rather jewish-coded villain (I recall the doors in his lair have stars on them, albeit five pointed, not six), who wants to undermine society by inciting it into violent revolution. but he’s not literally jewish, so that could fly under the radar. he’s just a mean and nasty magician-scientist with a grudge against the city’s ruler and lust for his dead wife. but instead of recreating the dead wife, the city’s ruler commands him to make the robot into maria so she can be discredited to the workers because even her liberal ass bullshit is too much for him.

the inventor lets his robot loose on the underworld and she riles the workers into a frenzy and calls upon them to smash their machines, rise up to the surface, and destroy the city. in the meantime she also puts on a hot sexy dress and dazzles the bourgeois with cabaret or whatever basically it’s decadence the movie is portraying decadent degenerate lust as distracting the bougies from what’s going on below

this is the cultural marxist agenda: sexy ladee. but of course the movie itself IS this very spectacle embodied, you get to look at this sexy robot while shaking your head and going I don’t agree with that

anyway the workers, because they are very stupid, make a critical mistake in their revolution: they forget about their children and leave them behind in the underground as it is being flooded because they’ve destroyed the critical infrastructure keeping it un-flooded. 

because the working class would never rise up for the sake of their children’s future! no they don’t care about that they’re just yknow selfishly trying to escape a horrific life of toil in a literal hell, because an evil robot tricked them into being angry and also noticing there are no fucking cops in this city so who’s stopping them from revolting 

anyway thanks to the brave actions of rich boy and pacifist liberal maria, the future of white working class children is secured. rich boy is declared to be that savior and “heart” of metropolis (oh yeah and that big machine they smashed earlier was called the heart machine).  

I feel like I’ve made my point clear enough throughout this essay, but in conclusion: metropolis promises to resolve class contradictions by simply granting an idea of a nation or of some nebulous “heart” to the bourgeois and proletariat alike. it does not ask society to be restructured, it does not question the unequal state of things, it simply says: we need a savior to make people feel unified. 

and so it presents the nazi vision without once promoting genocide or imperialism. once you’ve been coaxed into ignoring the role that state oppression plays in maintaining class, once you’ve been convinced through lies of omission that the working class is made of humans who are inherently workers and the owner/ruler/manager class is full of inherent brainlords who were born to manage and dictate, you will start to be pulled down the road to fascism. 

and it’s still a beautiful movie. I never forget that, I never try to pretend it is ugly or does not move me. I’m just aware of the games it’s playing and how its message eventually leads into the genocide of my ancestors. 

finally: we stan robot maria, who is mother af, and is trans jewish golem coded to me, and also right

[inkskinned]

i got rickrolled today but it didn't work because i have adblocker installed, so youtube just told me i violated the terms of service. yesterday i was trying to edit a picture as a joke for my girlfriend, and google made me check a box to prove i'm human because i wasn't "searching normally".

it isn't just that capitalism is killing fun and whimsy, it is that any element of entertainment or joy is being fed upon by this mosquito body, one that will suck you dry at any vulnerability.

do you want to meet new friends in your city? download this app, visit our website, sign up for our email list. pay for this class on making a terrarium, on candlemaking, on cooking. it will be 90 dollars a session. you can go to group fitness, but only under our specific gym membership. solve the puzzle, sign up for our puzzle-of-the-month-club. what is a club if not just a paid opportunity - you are all paying for the same thing, which makes you a community.

but you're like me, i know it - you're careful, you try the library meetings and the stuff at the local school and all of that. the problem is that you kind of want really specific opportunities that used to exist. you are so grateful for libraries and the publicly-funded things: they are, however, an exception - and everything they have, they've fought tooth-and-nail to protect. you read a headline about how in many other states, libraries have virtually nothing left.

do you want to meet up with your friends afterwards? gift your friends the discord app. you can choose to go to a cafe (buy a coffee, at least), a bar (money, alcohol) or you can all stay in and catch a movie (streaming) or you can all stay in bed (rent. don't get me started) and scream (noise complaint. ticket at least).

you want to read a new book, but the book has to have 124 buzzwords from tiktok readers that are, like, weirdly horny. you can purchase this audiobook on audible! your podcast isn't on spotify, it's on its own server, pay for a different site. fuck, at least you're supporting artists you like. the art museum just raised their ticket price. once, they had a temporary exhibit that acknowledged that ~85% of their permanent art galleries were from cis white men, and that they had thousands of works by women (even famous women, like frida! georgia o'keefe!) just rotting in their basement. that exhibit lasted for 3 months and then they put everything away again.

walmart proudly supports this strip of land by the street! here are some flowers with wilting leaves. its employees have to pay out-of-pocket for their uniforms. my friend once got fined by the city because she organized a community pick-up of the riverfront, which was technically private property.

no, you cannot afford to take that dance class, neither can i. by the way - i'm a teacher. i'm absolutely not saying "educators shouldn't be paid fairly." i'm saying that when i taught classes, renting a studio went from 20 bucks an hour to 180 in the span of 6 months. no significant changes to the studio were made, except they now list the place as updated and friendly. the heat still doesn't work in the building. i have literally never seen the landlord who ignores my emails. recently they've been renting it out at night as an "unusual nightclub; a once-in-a-lifetime close-knit party." they spent some of those 180 dollars on LEDs and called it renovating. the high heels they invite in have been ruining the marley.

do you want to experience the old internet? do you want to play flash games or get back the temporary joy of club penguin? you can, you just need to pay for it. i have a weird, neurodivergent obsession with occasionally checking in to watch the downfall and NFT-ification of neopets. if i'm honest with you all - i never got into webkins, my family didn't have the money to buy me a pointless elephant. people forget that "being poor" can mean literally "if i buy you that toy, i can't afford rent."

you and i don't have time to make good food, and we don't have the budget for it. we are not gonna be able to host dinner parties, we're not made of money, kid. do you want some kind of 3rd space? a space that isn't home or work or school? you could try being online, but - what places actually exist for you? tiktok counts as social media because you see other people on it, not because they actually talk to you.

there was a local winter tradition of sledding down the hill at my school. kids would use pizza boxes and jackets and whatever worked, howling and laughing. back in september, they made a big announcement that this time, rules were changing, and everyone must pay 10 dollars to participate. when im not scared shitless, i kind of appreciate the environmental irony - it hasn't gone below 40. so much for snow & joyriding.

i saw a bulletin for a local dogwalking group and, nervous about making a good first impression, showed up early. the first guy there grimaced at me. "sorry," he said. "there's a 30-dollar buy-in fee." i thought he was joking. wait. for what? the group doesn't offer anything except friendship and people with whom to walk around the city.

he didn't know the answer. just shrugged at me. "you know," he said. "these days, everything costs money."

[stellarspecter]

@pscentral event 20: antagonists ↳ THE LORDS IN BLACK in NERDY PRUDES MUST DIE

[yanderespamton78]

Edit since a lot of people seem confused - your "real" name is the name that you want to be referred to in real life. It doesn't have to be your legal name. So if you're trans and you have a different name to whats on your birth certificate, even if not many people call you by the name, it still counts as your real name.

Edit 2 : Holy shit guys please stop reblogging this post my poor inbox im getting like 20 notifs an hour asjfhkajshdkh /lh /srs

[bacchuschucklefuck]

soon it'll be dawn again

transcript under the cut ⏬

page 01

Fig: no way? - you're still up?

Riz: Wh– yes?

Riz: Why'd I not be.

page 02

Fig: I me~~ean - that took.

Fig: whole day.

Riz: Yeah?

Fig: 'm beat.

Riz: you should sleep.

page 03

Fig: nah. my guy's still up

Fig: I wanna hang out.

page 04

Riz: That's really nice.

Fig: Hah! - Nobody ever expects an Archdevil rockstar to be nice.

Riz: … yeah. - 's just budget work tho. (the stuff I'm working on) - I've heard it's boring.

page 05

Fig: yeah, but you do it…

Riz: It keeps things going, right? - Nothing happens if nobody sits down and - does the thing.

Fig: That's right… - though. Yeah.

page 06

Fig: sometimes it's someone else who - doesn't want the same thing to happen.

Riz: … - mm.

page 07

Riz (off screen): …It took me a long time to get that not everyone likes doing what I do. - 's probably because you guys are so nice– - or. - kind.

Riz (off screen): to anyone too, not just. - the people you /love/.

page 08

Riz: that's not how it is elsewhere. - The world's– not. hostile. - but 's not like it's kind.

Riz: So I'm doing as much as I can now… 

page 09

Fig: Hey.

Riz: ?

Fig: Go dig some dirt with me.

page 10

Riz: [blank speech bubble] - oh you meant like - actual dirt. (not incriminating information)

Fig: o yea.

Fig: there's clay in the backyard soil. - sometimes when I'm sun deficient or something I go touch dirt for a bit.

page 11

Fig: here u go

page 12

Riz: uh

Fig: now we make a thing! - 'm pretty good at freehanding a bowl.

Fig: I'll show u

page 13

Fig: just– yep, flatten that out as evenly as u can, then–! - actually ur nails'd be so good at cutting out the strip. [larger than usual space] wait. - wait. wait u can carve patterns with them! we HAVE to try

Riz: uh - What. do I carve?

Fig: anything!!!

page 14

Fig: and– yep just seal the inside uh. seam?

Fig: yep that works - okay time's up! all contestant hands up

Riz: [blank speech bubble] - okay - wh. what's next?

Fig: haha - watch this.

(sound effect text): FWOO—MP

page 15

Riz: WH– DON'T JUST DO THAT???

Fig: Now it's fired!

Riz: THAT WAS NOT SAFE

Fig: (actually it's just dry. if u add water rn it'll dissolve)

Fig: ok catch!

Riz: [blank speech bubble] - careful!!

Fig: dw no need haha

page 16

Riz (thought bubble): oh - it's warm…

Fig: now I want you to throw this.

page 17

Fig: u gotta do it - c'mon

page 18

Riz: wh– - It's like 3AM right now

Fig: oh it's not /fired/ fired it's not gonna make a loud noise

Riz: And then just? leave a pile out here?

Fig: pour water over it & it'll be gone I told u

Riz: but

page 19

Fig (off screen): RIz.

page 20

Fig: I've done all this before.

Fig: Can you trust that at least?

page 21

Riz: no, I– - I do. - I trust you.

page 23

Riz: okay what happens now

(sound effect text): glob

page 24

Fig: we do it again!

page 25

Riz: wh. [larger than usual space] What do you mean. (this clay's too wet also)

Fig: see! you're already learning

Fig: [blank speech bubble] - there are flows that are futile to fight. - The world changes.

Fig: Things change.

page 26

Fig: I've learned my lessons with "forevers". - But - as an artist

Fig: I can give you one thing: - You can always do it again.

page 27

Fig: most of everything depends on the rest of the world, - but this. - making new. - that's yours as long as you want it.

page 28

Fig: So?

page 29

Riz: Yeah. - Yeah! - let's make another one.

[why-the-heck-not]

me, a responsible being, working on the coding project as I should vs. me, a dysfunctional shithead, getting distracted by reading about brains (once aGAIN damnit (it's my favorite "I need to study my field but bc I should do that it's an impossible unthinkable feat now, so I'm reading about something else to fool my brain I'm still being productive"-topic))

[lucabyte]

Olive Branch

Wrong Move

[aria-greenhoodie]

You see, @localcanadiancryptid22, I’m a motherfucker who LOVES drama, so I fw anything that can create that.

I’m normal. Btw. In case you were wondering.

[reverienco]

what the fuck am i doing. scheduling this at 1am.

[calistra1star]

just this

[gryffindraws]

don't cry because it's over, craft because it happened

@danielhowell @amazingphil

[sharpedgedfool]

Been thinking of other ships that sound fun, I think this polycule could work but they'd probably go on double-dates and end up talking to their friend more lol

Bonus Tails and Omega in the other room (they both think they're babysitting the other)

[xochimillilili]

I just think it'd be really nice to be treated as a princess, even just for one day, it doesn't even have to be sexual, though I wouldn't be opposed to being cooed at softly and petted while I eat someone out. Wouldn't be opposed to my hair being brushed softly and pulled back with a pretty ribbon for me before another round of cumming out our brains– a pretty princess has to look nice, even while ramming it's throbbing cock into your ass

It'd just be really nice to be praised and spoken to softly, reminded I just get to be the sweet princess today over and over with little whispers of "my princess" until I actually believe it. It could even just be for an hour, for the length of a tea party and while getting all dressed up for it. Just cuddles and being an cute empty headed princess... and possibly some very giggly impact play with a pair of cute princessy shoes

[starryarts]

they're bitching about hoffman

[iknowwhereyousnoozeatnight]

tennis

[bacchuschucklefuck]

doing chibi is a good design exercise bc it forces u to think on shapes n essential details, essentially thumbnailing ur designs. its also a terrible design exercise bc it ends up looking cute no matter what