#you be the judge!

[cantsayidont]

I guess this is a matter of personal taste, but, apropos of BATMAN: TAS and its unwelcome latter-day revival, I *hate* "aesthetic" pseudo-retro settings. If you want to do a period piece, do a period piece, but don't half-ass it (looking at you, Mark Russell), and if you want to do an AU, give some real thought to where and how it diverged and what that affected. Historical fiction is a lot of work, but if you don't like it, no one says you gotta do it — if all you really want is to have some characters dressed in vintage clothes and driving old cars, just do that, rather than this noncommittal "It's like the '30s, or maybe the '50s, except there's no racism or sexism and the computers are from the '90s" bullshit.

Part of my problem with that kind of Aesthetic Nostalgia setting is that it ends up being a fairly short walk from nostalgic AU to people mistaking it for actual history to fashy RETVRN propaganda. This has happened before: For instance, rise of Reagan-era neoconservatism was closely tied to '50s nostalgia, as exemplified by the rediscovery (on cable and syndication) of '50s TV shows like FATHER KNOWS BEST and LEAVE IT TO BEAVER, where Black people didn't exist except maybe for the occasional funny maid and married couples slept in separate beds. This was fiction even when those shows were originally on the air, but the Baby Boom generation (the bulk of whom were very young children in the fifties) really latched onto the idea that fifties TV represented some kind of true depiction of a prelapsarian era of squeaky-clean Traditional Values, where LGBT people and people of color (particularly Black people) hadn't yet been invented (or at least Knew Their Place, Unlike Today's Decadent Corruption). We're still paying for that.

If your highest aesthetic aspiration is to outfit all the characters in your story in authentic 1955 Dior A-line dresses, go with g*d, but don't tell me your story is set in the '50s, or even the pseudo-alt-50s, if you're not willing to do the work.

[reallyquitestrange]

this was posted august 28th. I don't follow op, Are they alive?

Me: ???

Oh now my anxiety is back thanks past ralph! Why did I do this

[mumblingsage]

I'm wondering if, as a society who cares about vulnerable people, we could stop saying "traumatize" when we truly mean "upset"?

I am sick of hearing sad books or movies "traumatize" their readers. I simply do not believe that happens. A traumatic experience might be adjacent to books (I have vivid memories of books I was reading around certain experiences and even how the contents of those books affected my processing of the experiences). But it's not caused by the book. And, y'know. The weather is Christofascist Censorship Attempts outside.

Meanwhile from the other side I continue to be surprised at just how badly people fail to understand trauma and traumatic experiences in general. Watering down the term isn't helping. Find other hyperbole to express that The Bridge to Terebithia gutted you, chewed on your heartstrings, and made you cry your first pair of contact lenses right out of your preteen eyes.

(ETA here although it's impossible to edit reblogs: over the months since this post really took off, there has been valuable discussion in the comments. I stand by the passion with which I wrote this post and with the general message, but not all the exact wording. I talk more about the way I'd re-write this post in a response here, replying to an addition that added a ton of useful context [other additions touched on similar themes, but that person had it all together in one reblog]. With that said, I am muting this post.)

[hrokkall]

We are so bat

[kaidanalenkosprmanager]

RATING: Explicit (Graphic Violence) Word Count: 21k Pairing: Shenko Characters: Female Shepard, Zaeed Massani, Aria T'Loak, David Anderson

“Josie!”

The sounds of his shrieks are muffled, but guttural- hoarse even. It’s a picture of blurred feet kicking and flying in nearly every direction in a desperate attempt to shove them off of him. A flash of violet light in his hands that twines its way up his arms disappearing just as quickly as the sounds of his radius cracking deafens the room. The smell of thick, ebony smoke and burning flesh clogging lungs- and then the taste of iron.

The taste of blood.

“Josie- help! I- need you- to help me-” He cries through huffed gasps of pain. Heavily armored hands close in around him. A blurry pair grasps at a bunch of onyx-colored hair from the top of his head, slamming it against the hefty aluminum refrigerator door. It sends a flurry of drawings, magnets, and half-torn pictures fluttering to the ground like leaves during early Mindoiran autumn. Vermillion streaks from his brow, trailing toward his lips. Armored bodies close in around him, but he pushes himself against the refrigerator with a pained grunt.

Another flash of hazy violet light permeates the room, filling it briefly with the muted sounds of pained moans as the bodies hit the floor- one after another. His hand grabs the table, vaulting himself to his feet with a slight stagger. He begins hobbling- a blurry image limping closer and closer. His eyes are fuzzy as they shift from violet to sable- the edges starting to meld together in a haze of mish-mashed, murky colors. Then, the blur is replaced by a feeling of warmth as his hand reaches down.

“Josie, we have to-“

His voice is cut off by a shriek as his body comes careening down towards the floor. Surprise is replaced by anguish as one of them smashes their boot into his back. His agonized bellows cut throughout the room, as another one of them grabs his right leg and begins dragging him further and further away.

“No- Let- Let me- Josie- Help me!”

An arm reaching out, but it isn’t his. Another flash of violet light that begins snaking its’ way from palm... To wrist… To elbow as the hand tremors violently through the blur. Chipped jade nails covered in dried blood- a bracelet made from multicolored rubber bands loomed together caked in mud. There’s an attempt to focus that light- to use it. Trying to find some way to protect him.

But then the violet light fizzles out just as quickly against the blur. The hand falls as the edges begin to shift from blur to darkness.

“Josie! Please- help- help me!” He screams- a muffled, croaked sound that begins to fade against the edges of the blur. Then, a flash of nails- bloodied claw marks in the wood of the floor made by the resistance of his hands as his body fades further and further away.

The blur is gone now- replaced almost completely by a wave of darkness. The jade-nailed arm feels heavy – a weight that can’t be lifted as a high-pitched noise envelopes the room and the large hydraulic door whooshes open with a soft metallic whir.

“Josie!”

His last shriek.

His last expression is a picture of pain- of anguish- of agony. Through the darkness, his eyes showcase something worse than fear as the hydraulic door slams closed, and his bloodied face disappears into the void.

Then, his final image is replaced by a wave of onyx. The smell of smoke returns- the scent of burning flesh, and the taste of iron. His screams ring over and over through the void of darkness on the other side of the hydraulic door for those few moments as the heaviness settles and breath becomes shallow. He calls again and again, but the words are hollow- nothing more than sounds being swallowed whole by the blackening vacuum.

And then just before the darkness fades to nothingness and the heaviness overtakes, one more sound- one short, resounding crack that deafens the room, echoing for what feels like hours through the darkness.

And the sound of his voice goes silent.

[annerbhp]

One of the great things about fandom is that sooner or later you will think to yourself: I would never write/read x kind of story, I would never ship x kind of pairing, I would never do whatever fandom thing, and then, if you stick around long enough, you will 100% become a clown of your own making. It’s inevitable and I love it.

[yuwuta]

whenever you and satoru have an argument, he holds your hand and he won’t let go until he’s certain you’re not mad anymore. you’re telling him off because he forgot to unpack the dishwasher again, and he knows that’s his fault and you have a right to be mad but he hates when you’re mad and even worse when you’re mad at him, so he does the first thing that comes to mind and laces your hands together. now you can’t leave and be mad at him alone, you have to be mad at him while he’s connected to you and satoru has learned that that far reduces the amount of time you spend mad at him. getting upset because he led you two in the wrong direction? holding hands until you’ve cooled down. upset with him for being reckless mid-fight? he drops his infinity just to be close to you, holds your hand and tells you the curse can wait, he needs your forgiveness more. mad at him because he forgot something important on his way home? you’re holding hands until you forgive him—which could be all the way until you go to bed, or dragging you by your connected hands with him to the store to pick up what was forgotten. you get irritated with him in public? he’s quick to hold your hands and beg for kisses. sometimes the first years see you steaming and satoru following you like a lovesick puppy, his leash being your laced fingers and megumi just sighs and explain to yuuji and nobara that, “they’re fighting. this is their get along tactic, just leave them be.” 

[crispy-crust]

was out on a hike today and i found this nailed to a tree.... what the fuck?

[flagellant]

yeah we might be brothers in christ but so were cain and abel so shut the fuck up before i decide to find a rock about it

[peachdalooza]

some grief Paulings

[wormsical]

uh yeah I sure hope it does

[ciderjacks]

dad issues

+

(I think they were all fundamentally affected by what they saw and just collectively decided not to share the upsetting details)

[dunmeshistash]

Dungeon Meshi - Canary Halloween Costumes

[firbolgfriend]

Mlp infected aus that just erase Discord from existence is so funny, he would shut that shit down so fast. Not even all that for the sake of friendship or whatever he’d see it and be like erm… not really my cup of chaos, this is just gross (snap, fixed)

[cardo-de-comer]

inspired by this post