#yes I'm late to the game

[ladyspottedray]

So I've been replaying Final Fantasy 15

[azeutreciathewicked]

Okay, so I've jumped into a massive rabbit hole that is Thomas Hardy's works, and hooboy, is there a LOT going on here.

I'm coming at this as someone who never could get into literature studies in general because I found Dead White English Dude writings to be insufferably dull and people who loved them to be infuriatingly snooty and stuck up when I preferred fantasy and science fiction.

But there is a shitton of queerness and social critique of gender norms going on in Hardy's works, and it seems that he grew from "Wow, Victorian gender norms are unfair towards women and men should be better" to "Victorian men and masculinity norms are utter trash, how do women put up with men in this society??? Fuck it, androgyny for everyone!" And my gut reaction that told me that Far From the Maddening Crowd is not primarily a romance story (at least not a heterosexual one) seems to have caught something, because the book Hardy wrote before that was about two men who Most Definitely had a Thing until a woman showed up, then there was a really strange and awkward Love Triangle that was Definitely Not Just Straight. I'm going to drop some citations that are available on JSTOR (you can create a free account to view them) that do some great analysis of Hardy's work and look at how many of his characters - men and women - queered gender norms, embodied androgyny and gender-flipped characteristics, and how his views evolved. Oh, and also Hardy was a contemporary, associate, and friend to authors like J. M. Barrie (Peter Pan) and Oscar Wilde. Tell me you were some flavor of queerness without telling me, dude. Thanks a lot, Michael Sheen. You got this classics-averse scholar and reader researching and reading Victorian literature classics now. I'll update later with more commentary and specific findings. Hardy's works are all in public domain, and so are available through Project Gutenberg. (Link goes to author page on Gutenberg for easy access) JSTOR Article Citations:

Niemeyer, Paul J. “‘What We See Him’: Boldwood And The Role Of The Man In Two Film Adaptations Of Far From The Madding Crowd.” The Thomas Hardy Journal 35 (2019): 53–73. https://www.jstor.org/stable/48569267.

Cope, Ellie. “Undoing A ‘Symmetrical Existence’: Boldwood’s Monomania In Far From The Madding Crowd.” The Thomas Hardy Journal 26 (2010): 35–42. https://www.jstor.org/stable/48571025. Hayes, Tracy. “Thomas Hardy And His Men.” The Hardy Society Journal 16, no. 1 (2020): 101–32. https://www.jstor.org/stable/48587079.

Far From the Maddening Crowd (2015)

If ever a movie needed some fanfiction love and treatment, it's this one. Link to IMDB.

I finally got around to watching this because Michael Sheen is in it (and does his trademark epic emotional breakdown a la Miles Maitlin in Bright Young Things, just older). And his character, Mr. Boldwood, was done so dang dirty. I did find some works on AO3 and am looking forward to reading them to see if any fix the ridiculous plot-stupidity of it all.

Consider this an invitation to share thoughts and ideas for fixes.

I personally would want to see Oak (the obviously endgame guy sheep farmer) go into a mutually beneficial partnership with Mr. Boldwood built on respect and a merging of animal husbandry expertise and estate management acumen. Forget the girl - Bathsheba is obviously bad news just from her name.

[kasterarts]

Moving Forward. (Spoilers for YTTD up through 3-1b)

[poisonouspastels]

I wish more people would weigh out the demand of how "realistic" something is regarding horror media thats supposed to be around a certain time era or within certain limitations with the fact that if it WERE 100% accurate to what it's trying to represent, it'd probably be lame as hell.

[shewhowas39]

i know i'm 5 years late but i'm so mad about Jaime Lannister

[front-facing-pokemon]

[deoidesign]

Someone killed my boss last night and he sent me this I'm so fired

god I can't wait to make this comic.

[colorful-bees]

When Volo talked to Cynthia about Pokemon who haven't fought out of desperation aren't as strong as the ones who have, I wonder exactly what he's referring to with that statement. He talks about how bonds forged in those life or death situations create Pokemon that can serve their wielders better and he's talking from personal experience.

Referencing exactly what he says, his words are, "You lack desperation. In this place, Pokemon battles are treated as friendly competition. You could never hope to win against people and Pokemon who have battled through harsh environments with their lives at stake. As a Pokemon wielder, I give my own Pokemon orders so that we can survive. Pokemon honed through life-or-death situations can better serve as swords and shields for people!"

I want to point out his use of "Pokemon and people," and "I give my own Pokemon orders so that we can survive." He's not only talking about Pokemon fighting through harsh conditions, he's referring to both people and Pokemon in those situations; the human is also in life threatening danger in this scenario. Even more interestingly, he uses a personal anecdote. He's talking about himself, at least partially.

In P:LA, we never see Volo fighting in a desperate, life threatening situation. The only time I can think of is Spear Pillar but not even that really matches up with the way he chooses to phrase this, nor would I exactly call him desperate in that moment. He's talking about "harsh environments" and "surviving" and "life-or-death." So whatever he's referring to here, it was before P:LA and I'm willing to bet it relates back to whatever vague, horrible event(s) that happened in his past that's occasionally alluded to and I'm once again curious about what exactly that could be.

If he's being truthful, this is actually such a big insight into how he got into this mindset of "Pokemon are tools to be wielded, I'm not friends with them ect." We obviously don't know the specifics of what happened to him in the past but we have more clarification than we once did. Survival is now introduced as another factor into why he treats his Pokemon the way he does and it honestly makes a lot of sense with Hisui being the region it is but the question still remains of what specifically happened to him that caused this world view to form?

[ruvviks]

we would sell anything just to buy who we're not // we kill our way to heaven

taglist (opt in/out)

@shellibisshe, @florbelles, @ncytiri, @hibernationsuit, @stars-of-the-heart;

@lestatlioncunt, @katsigian, @radioactiveshitstorm, @estevnys, @adelaidedrubman;

@celticwoman, @rindemption, @carlosoliveiraa, @noirapocalypto, @dickytwister;

@killerspinal, @euryalex, @ri-a-rose, @velocitic, @thedeadthree

[annieqattheperipheral]

still can't believe we got 🎉 nye natejo 💕

jo's return! nate's gift for the new year! he's not 'stitious about this fortunate timing at. all.

jets @ avs // dec 31, 2024

[a-bright-comet]

Warframe 1999? more like, Warframe 2009 amirite? send post

[jamiethebeeart]

Spinaraki week day 2: Monster

I've been reading too many manhwas because I immediately went fantasy au where Shigaraki is the hot Duke/lord/noble with the reputation of being cold, stern, and ruthless on the battlefield and Spinner is (????) the love interest that falls for him (housewife spinner and pink haired love interest allegations will never be beat I'm sorry)

(but Shigaraki fits the ruthless leader who actually cares for the people he's in charge of trope so well afdjfkglns)

[frc-ambaradan]

Happy 100th Anniversary, Disney! :D

I've only been part of your wondrous world for a third of its existence, but you got 100% of my life... past and future ❤️❤️❤️

[mkstrigidae]

Another rough Winter's Child WIP sketch of Sansa in the Godswood, because that's all i've been able to do lately 😅

[amee-racle-ofmyown]

assorted Mirae things!!

[yasmeensh]

This is what I have been working on this week. A4 paper in gouache. It's a rather difficult medium to work with. I do like the consistency, and the matte finish. But I found it hard to make the colours come out bright (I suppose gouache is like that?). I used coloured pencils and what is supposed to be oil pastels (it was straight up chalk lol). I think it could still use more work, but I fear I would just ruin it if I work any further. Overall, I'm happy with the result! Next up will be acrylics! Progress shots under the cut: