#what is natural?

[musashi]

i want more nuance to be entered into the discussion of the green girl sorority and how differently cynthia plays elphaba in comparison to those who came before her because while a lot of people are rightfully like "why was elphaba not black from the beginning" and celebrating that she is now being played by a black woman, i think we need to be careful in just writing off all the elphabas of the past as Random White Girls when the role was championed (and often followed/succeeded) by a jewish woman

the pop culture archetype of the Wicked Witch has deep roots in antisemitism stretching faaaar far back. there is a level of reclamation happening in casting idina menzel, a jewish woman, to play the Misunderstood and Maligned young girl who is branded as exactly that. and stage!Elphaba is also written and acted with jewish stereotypes in mind--she is loud, aggressive, no-nonsense, blunt. she is quick to advocate for herself and shut down the discrimination she faces. all of this is very intentional! her personality is abrasive from years of abuse, and that makes propagandizing her easy. this is literally the thesis statement of the musical--it's not about aptitude, it's the way you're viewed.

cynthia's performance of elphaba is fucking INSPIRED despite going in a completely different direction. she's much more reserved, analytical, one of her key character traits is how well she can read people (see her calling out Galinda as insecure/putting on airs in their first scene together, clocking that Fiyero is using his party guy persona as a shield for his own depression) elphaba's attempts to blend in and make herself smaller all fail simply because of her existence, if not that then because she feels empathy so strongly she often struggles to hold back from acting, protecting.

personality wise, though, cynthia's elphaba is very quiet and closed-off, not at all the bullet-to-the-face that she is in the stage show, and... she still gets propagandized and maligned. though this seems to contradict the other interpretation, it tells of the other end of the spectrum of propaganda, one that black women watching (and many, MANY other marginalized folks) are sure to identify with--it does not matter how "nice," how reserved, how small a black woman makes herself. a racist society will still scrutinize her every action for a way to parse ill intent from it, brand her as an angry black woman who is dangerous and wicked, and write off any humanity she has in the process.

these two very different interpretations tell of the lie of assimilation. the fact of the matter is, when you are marginalized, there is no way to sand down your edges enough to make the people oppressing you "accept" you. that is why wicked is a tragedy at its core. whether loud and aggressive or quiet and unimposing, there is nothing elphaba could have done to make the people of Oz see her as anything other than a scapegoat to blame all their problems on.

so while i definitely appreciate that people are excited for black girl era elphaba, i would encourage us all to still show appreciation for what came before--that was not white girl era elphaba. that was jewish girl era elphaba. two houses, both alike in dignity, two stories both worth being told.

[pawsnifferpup]

if you have a transfem lover I do not even know how to begin to explain how important it is that you touch her without her having to ask

[happyheidi]

“𝖨𝗇 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝖲𝖺𝗇 𝖩𝗎𝖺𝗇 𝖬𝗈𝗎𝗇𝗍𝖺𝗂𝗇𝗌 𝗈𝖿 𝖢𝗈𝗅𝗈𝗋𝖺𝖽𝗈, 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝟦𝟦-𝗒𝖾𝖺𝗋 𝗈𝗅𝖽 𝖳𝖾𝗅𝗅𝗎𝗋𝗂𝖽𝖾 𝖬𝗎𝗌𝗁𝗋𝗈𝗈𝗆 𝖥𝖾𝗌𝗍𝗂𝗏𝖺𝗅 𝗂𝗌 𝖺 𝖻𝖾𝗅𝗈𝗏𝖾𝖽 𝖼𝖾𝗅𝖾𝖻𝗋𝖺𝗍𝗂𝗈𝗇 𝗍𝗁𝖺𝗍 𝖽𝗋𝖺𝗐𝗌 𝗆𝗒𝖼𝗈𝗉𝗁𝗂𝗅𝖾𝗌, 𝗇𝖺𝗍𝗎𝗋 𝖾𝗇𝗍𝗁𝗎𝗌𝗂𝖺𝗌𝗍𝗌, 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝖼𝗎𝗅𝗂��𝖺𝗋𝗒 𝖾𝗑𝗉𝗅𝗈𝗋𝖾𝗋𝗌 𝖿𝗋𝗈𝗆 𝖺𝗋𝗈𝗎𝗇𝖽 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗐𝗈𝗋𝗅𝖽 𝗂𝗇 𝗁𝗈𝗇𝗈𝗋 𝗈𝖿 𝖿𝗎𝗇𝗀𝗂.

𝖠𝗍𝗍𝖾𝗇𝖽𝖾𝖾𝗌 𝖽𝗂𝗏𝖾 𝖽𝖾𝖾𝗉 𝗂𝗇𝗍𝗈 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗐𝗈𝗋𝗅𝖽 𝗈𝖿 𝗆𝗒𝖼𝗈𝗅𝗈𝗀𝗒 𝗍𝗁𝗋𝗈𝗎𝗀𝗁 𝗁𝖺𝗇𝖽𝗌-𝗈𝗇 𝖿𝗈𝗋𝖺𝗀𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝖾𝗑𝖼𝗎𝗋𝗌𝗂𝗈𝗇𝗌, 𝖿𝗈𝗈𝖽 𝗐𝗈𝗋𝗄𝗌𝗁𝗈𝗉𝗌; 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗌𝖼𝗂𝖾𝗇𝗍𝗂𝖿𝗂𝖼 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗆𝖾𝖽𝗂𝖼𝗂𝗇𝖺𝗅 𝗅𝖾𝖼𝗍𝗎𝗋𝖾𝗌 𝗈𝗇 𝖼𝗎𝗅𝗍𝗂𝗏𝖺𝗍𝗂𝗈𝗇, 𝗂𝗇𝗍𝗋𝗂𝗀𝗎𝗂𝗇𝗀, 𝗋𝖺𝗋𝖾 𝗌𝗉𝖾𝖼𝗂𝖾𝗌 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗉𝗌𝗒𝖼𝗁𝖾𝖽𝖾𝗅𝗂𝖼𝗌.

𝖳𝗁𝖾 𝖿𝗂𝗏𝖾 𝖽𝖺𝗒 𝖾𝗏𝖾𝗇𝗍 𝖼𝗎𝗅𝗆𝗂𝗇𝖺𝗍𝖾𝖽 𝗂𝗇 𝖺 𝗉𝖺𝗋𝖺𝖽𝖾 𝖽𝗈𝗐𝗇 𝖬𝖺𝗂𝗇 𝖲𝗍𝗋𝖾𝖾𝗍 𝗐𝗁𝖾𝗋𝖾 𝖺𝗍𝗍𝖾𝗇𝖽𝖾𝖾𝗌 𝖽𝗈𝗇 𝖾𝗅𝖺𝖻𝗈𝗋𝖺𝗍𝖾 𝖼𝗈𝗌𝗍𝗎𝗆𝖾𝗌 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝖾𝗇𝖼𝗈𝗆𝗉𝖺𝗌𝗌𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝖺𝗅𝗅 𝗌𝗉𝖾𝖼𝗂𝖾𝗌 𝗈𝖿 𝖿𝗎𝗇𝗀𝗂."

sources: meteoriitta & anniecollinge 🍄‍🟫

[spinejackel]

What are dead man walking tornadoes? :O

it’s a multi-vortex tornado. i dont remember the tribe it originates from (i think it was cherokee), but there’s a native american legend…? saying? that goes “if you see a man in a tornado, you are about to die.”

the most infamous shot of a dead man walking tornado hit jarrell, texas in 1997

it did so much damage to the town it caused the scale that tornados are measured by, the fijita scale, undergo revisions, and it made anchoring buildings in the tornado alley region pretty much mandatory. (it took the entire town off the map. only those who had taken shelter outside of the town or in underground bunkers survived.)

two more examples of dead man walking tornadoes looking like a person are a tornado from 2011 that hit cullman, alabama

and a tornado from 1975 that hit xenia, ohio

edit: it has been brought to my attention that the native american “legend” part of this post was a rumor spread by a documentary.

i have been asked to remove it, but i believe in letting my errors stand because i’m not perfect. i make mistakes

[captainjonnitkessler]

The second you start talking about some mysterious "they" that are controlling society in some fashion, you are engaging in dangerous conspiratorial thinking even if you're being woke about it. "They" did not institute the 40 hour work week specifically so you would be too tired to revolt. "They" did not invent the sleek minimalist aesthetic in order to crush the spirit of art in the common people. "They" are not pushing mediocre media into the mainstream in order to poison people's critical thinking skills.

Your best case scenario after that is you talk to someone who actually knows what the fuck they're talking about and you get embarrassed because you can't answer basic questions about your own ideology because you never learned anything past "the ruling class/capitalists/politicians are making things bad and if we got rid of them the bad things would all go away!"

Your worst case scenario is obviously the woo-to-fascist pipeline and you end up believing Jews are poisoning American food supplies with GMOs in order to turn us all into beta cucks, so like . . . maybe just stop blaming "them" before you fall down that route.

Obligatory round of disclaimers: Yes, sometimes people do bad things. Be specific about exactly who is doing what instead of ascribing it to some vague group of shadowy elites. Yes, sometimes things in society are bad. Learn to identify the root causes of complex social issues instead of assuming that they're actually extremely simple to fix and we're just not doing it because of some vague group of shadowy elites. Yes, minimalism isn't for everyone. Learn that some people don't share your tastes and get the fuck over it for the love of god.

[dirt-goth]

As much as I want to be a wholly joyous about the fact that Henry Kissinger is finally fucking dead, as he deserves... There's a lot of me that can't help being upset with. With the fact that he lived to 100 years old. He got better medical care, better housing, and a better, more stable life for those 100 years than billions on this planet ever going to see and he did it specifically through exploitation, state sanctioned murder, and lies. He lived to 100 years comfortably on a legacy of violence that rarely threatened his personal comfort. I want to be joyous that he's finally dead, because the world IS better with him dead, but the reality is he won a long time ago.

[biggest-gaudiest-patronuses]

zany to me how these um actually nihilists like to pretend that "um actually love/friendship/cooperation/kindness isn't real bc we evolved that way to benefit ourselves as a species..." um YES? that's also where tool use comes from? that's where cooking comes from? am i supposed to think social bonds & tool use & cooking aren't "real" because they evolved over time instead of appearing fully formed from the ether?

sorry u can't enjoy things. im a superior being twirling a fork in my bowl of delicious noodles whilst staring in adoration at the world

[kyri45]

My own personal take on why Macaque fur isn’t usually white despite being, well, a macaque. And since MK also owns his shadow powers weeeeelll… Also MK is much more towards the blonde than the white since he still took from Wukong fur color.

Congrats on @brightonsart017 for being the one who guessed it the closest.

Shadowpeach Bio Parent AU (PREV / FIRST / NEXT)

Also I will die on the gentle Mamacaque rock, he’s just proud his baby takes so much from him

[queermasculine]

smoking is bad. unless yuo do it for gay sex reasons. then its good

[constantlyfalling]

Wait, which way do we go now?

[lindamarieansonsnaps]

Woven light (a rainbow web)

[happyheidi]

𝖻𝗒 𝖺𝖾𝗋𝗍 𝗏𝖺𝗇 𝖽𝖾𝗋 𝗇𝖾𝖾𝗋

[ikemoths]

A slightly miscoloured giant leopard moth showing the blueish tint more than usual!

[coddda]

I wish we could have met in some other way.

Lawlight Week Day 2: Soulmates

If you saw me repost and re-edit this several times uh No you didn't </3

Still frames/Individual gifs:

If you know what every frame is from you get a free cookie. by the way

[biggest-gaudiest-patronuses]

strange that "skinny" means thin. it should mean...skinny. characterized by skin. possessing or characterized by an above average amount of skin. more skin rather than less skin. but somehow it means less skin? preposterous