Dontkickmyshin - Ur Mom

the idea that it’s ‘creepy’ to interact with things posted a long time ago is so terrible for artists and contributes to the pressure to be constantly creating new work, at an unhealthy and unsustainable rate. I hate it so much.

I finished my Rome book and have now begun one about Pompeii. I’m 65 pages in and I already love it: yes, it covers the volcano, but most of the book is about “this is what the town and daily life of it would have been like, actually.” Fascinating stuff. Things I’ve learned so far:

- The streets in Pompeii have sidewalks sometimes a meter higher than the road, with stepping stones to hop across as “crosswalks.” I’d seen some photos before. The book points out that, duh, Pompeii had no underground drainage, was built on a fairly steep incline, and the roads were more or less drainage systems and water channels in the rain.

- Unlike today, where “dining out” is expensive and considered wasteful on a budget, most people in Pompeii straight up didn’t have kitchens. You had to eat out if you were poor; only the wealthy could afford to eat at home.

- Most importantly, and I can’t believe in all the pop culture of Pompeii this had never clicked for me: Pompeii had a population between 6-35,000 people. Perhaps 2,000 died in the volcano. Contemporary sources talk about the bay being full of fleeing ships. Most people got the hell out when the eruption started. The number who died are still a lot, and it’s still gruesome and morbid, but it’s not “an entire town and everyone in it.” This also makes it difficult for archeologists, apparently (and logically): those who remained weren’t acting “normally,” they were sheltering or fleeing a volcano. One famous example is a wealthy woman covered in jewelry found in the bedroom in the glaridator barracks. Scandal! She must have been having an affair and had it immortalized in ash! The book points out that 17 other people and several dogs were also crowded in that one small room: far more likely, they were all trying to shelter together. Another example: Houses are weirdly devoid of furniture, and archeologists find objects in odd places. (Gardening supplies in a formal dining room, for example.) But then you remember that there were several hours of people evacuating, packing their belongings, loading up carts and getting out… maybe the gardening supplies were brought to the dining room to be packed and abandoned, instead of some deeper esoteric meaning. The book argues that this all makes it much harder to get an accurate read on normal life in a Roman town, because while Pompeii is a brilliant snapshot, it’s actually a snapshot of a town undergoing major evacuation and disaster, not an average day.

- Oh, another great one. Outside of a random laundry place in Pompeii, someone painted a mural with two scenes. One of them referenced Virgil’s Aeneid. Underneath that scene, someone graffiti’d a reference to a famous line from that play, except tweaked it to be about laundry. This is really cool, the book points out, because it implies that a) literacy and education was high enough that one could paint a reference and have it recognized, and b) that someone else could recognize it and make a dumb play on words about it and c) the whole thing, again, means that there’s a certain amount of literacy and familiarity with “Roman pop culture” even among fairly normal people at the time.

larry the cat slander will not be tolerated

“Larry is bad at catching mice so he’s bad at his job”

You FOOLS

His official duties according to www.gov.uk, the official website of the UK government, are “greeting guests to the house, inspecting security defences and testing antique furniture for napping quality” and “contemplating a solution to the mouse occupancy of the house” which he says “is still ‘in tactical planning stage’.”

He’s doing his job JUST FINE

Jake's friend group + thoughts

(Okay so just to clarify I don't actually care about the morality of fictional characters because they're, well, fictional. I just wrote this because I don't really see anybody else talking about them)

Usually when I see people talk about the Daehyeon boys it's usually about how they're similar to Eunjang and that if it wasn't for the Union, Jake's crew would get along with Eunjang so well etc etc.

But I don't really believe that Eunjang and Jake's crew could be friends (hang out?? tolerate each other, maybe, but not friends) with all their differences. It's pretty obvious that SEOPASS made them similar on purpose so I'm not gonna act like that's some groundbreaking discovery I made lmao, but there are some things that make me think that the two groups are actually pretty different.

For one, when Gray and his friends are leaving to go find Big Ben after fighting Dean and the others, he tells the guys from Daehyeon that Ben wouldn't gang up on Jake with them, and that Ben wasn't "Some wannabe thug like you guys."

(Pop off Gray)

But yeah, Jake and his gang can act like they're the chill, strong, laid back good guys, but that's all it is. An act. I mean, Dean and Eunchan literally pick fights with people for no reason, and are assholes a lot of the time.

Jake doesn't start fights for no reason but he never stops his friends from doing so, and though I've never seen this happen in canon before, I can a 100% imagine him being excited when that happens so that he can get into fights for a 'justifyable' reason. (This reminds me of something @rare-and-beautiful-things in a post before about Jake beating people up for his friends in their strong abd kind Union member post)

Plus the dynamics in their group are actually pretty different. Eunchan and Dean immediately underestimate their opponents (and in a way, Jake does too, but that's more understandable since he IS the number two in the Union), making a bunch of derogratory comments about the people they're fighting.

I've never seen anybody in Eunjang do that (besides Teddy but he's a special case💀) even though most of them are unbelievably strong they always approach their opponent with caution and never look down on them.

Also,, one thing I've noticed is that Dean and Eunchan have the tendency not only to look down on their opponents, but their friends as well. Okay that sounds bad so let me explain more😭😭

I feel like Eunchan and Dean unconciously rank people? (like most people in the Union do, and I guess it kind of comes along with being a thug) and don't get me wrong, I think they geniunely think of Timothy as a friend and care for him, but when you're in the Union you tend to view people who can't fight as someone less deserving of your respect, whether you do it consciously or not.

An example of this is when Gray is about to fight Dean, Eugene warns Gray about Dean's strength, Gray pats him on the shoulder and tells him not to worry.

But when Timothy does the same to Dean, Dean tells Timothy that he "didn't give a crap about his data", and I don't think he would have responded the same way if someone like Jake (or someone he viewed as 'more powerful' than him) told him to be cautious.

And let's be honest, you'd only talk to somebody that way if you didn't respect them.

It's pretty obvious that Eunchan does the same thing too. When Eugene and Timothy start fighting, Eunchan looks over at them and says, "What a bunch of losers."

I literally did a double take at that one because 1. Calling your friend (who's trying to help you) a loser? 2. It confirms what I thought about the other guys looking down on Tim for not being able to fight. They hang out with him and love him, sure, but subconsiously to them, anybody who cannot fight is a rank below them: a loser.

(I'm pretty sure they aren't aware of this since their friendship does seem pretty geniune. It's probably from the inflated ego that comes along with being a thug.)

The Eunjang boys have never once looked down on Eugene for not being able to defend themselves and always treated him as an equal, so that's another difference.

(Also another thing that's pretty telling is Eunchan's style of fighting- he hits Eugene in the face even though Eugene was practically defenseless and not attacking him. He also got Timothy to hold Rowan down so he could beat him up which is dirty asf and also just proves that they aren't really the 'cool strong heroes' they think they are.)

Anyways thanks for reading all this rambling and like I said at the start (i'll just repeat it because some people can't read and i don't want any hate) i don't actually care about whether fictional characters are good or bad because if I did I wouldn't be reading action webtoons (or having Wolf Keum as a fav) I just wanted to talk about this.

Interested in hearing yalls thoughts</3

americans, in dire times like this, please learn from the mistakes of poland.

in 2020, the constitutional tribunal of poland (similar to the supreme court) ruled that abortion in the case of fetal abnormalities is unconstitutional, effectively banning 98% of legal abortions in our country. poland already had the strictest laws in europe (save for malta), where abortion was only allowed in the case of rape/incest, fetal abnormalities or risk to mother’s life. this caused probably the biggest protests since 1989. even tiny, conservative towns marched in defense of abortion rights. at one point there was an estimated one hundred thousand people in warsaw protesting. police was beating people up on the streets, they broke a teenage girls’ hand. fascist nationalists used tear gas on people. this lasted for WEEKS.

back then it felt like maybe we are finally witnessing some change we hoped for for years, but it all fell apart. the leaders of this protest were generic liberals who were allied with the neoliberal center-right opposition and were riding off the wave of anti-government sentiments. soon it was became less about reproductive health and more about how we need to put the opposition back in power. mind you, the opposition and its supporters were largely for keeping this bogus “compromise” and went as far as silence anyone who wanted full liberalization as “too radical”. anything stronger than peaceful marches was discouraged as well - even the very famous chant “wypierdalać” (”fuck off”) was often considered too far.

soon these protests were completely changed into anti-government protests and while it was good to hate the ruling party, but it was conveniently used as a tool of the neoliberal center-right opposition. several months later they put that ban into place. the wave was already dying. there were some protests but all people did was yell in the streets for a bit and go home, because it was ~wrong~ to destroy property and say naughty words. soon a 30 year old woman died because she was denied abortion. doctors would not risk aborting her deformed fetus even if it was risking her life, even if it was technically legal - they were scared of going to jail on the basis of aborting a fetus with abnormalities. there were very little protests after that, even though we should have burned down the entire country for her. death of savita halappanavar, a very similar case, eventually caused the change of abortion law in ireland. in poland nothing happened after izabela died. on the anniversary of the protests, barely anyone attended. just yesterday a project of putting a 12 week abortion law in place was rejected.

all i’m saying, this is very very similar to the situation in america right now. democrats will try to tell you that they have their hands tied, that they can’t do anything, that you just have to vote harder. they will make roe vs wade about republicans vs democrats, about their petty struggle for power, while pregnant people will be dying in horrific suffering. they are liars. all they care about is staying in power. they hold every branch of the government but did nothing to codify roe vs wade. they are not your friends. do not let them do what polish opposition did here. don’t rely on them. don’t stop until they put roe vs wade back and codify it. destroy shit. make those supreme court cunts and other fuckers afraid.

BEST accounts to follow as a writer

It's been a long time since my last visit here on Tumblr, right? So, as a comeback and since you loved my masterpost of websites for writers, I am bringing you my favorite Tumblr blogs to follow if you're a writer and are interested in finding lots of inspo on your timeline, as well as prompts, tips, and useful resources. Shall we start?

PROMPTS:

@givethispromptatry

@dailystoryprompts

@here-haveaprompt

@dark-fiction-and-angst

@youneedsomeprompts

@deity-prompts

@whygodohgodwhy

@writinghoursopen

@fluffyomlette

@promptsforthestrugglingauthor

@novelbear

@gfuckign

@ghostly-prompts

WORLD BUILDING INSPO / PROMPTS:

@worldbuildingprompts

@locationbuildingprompts

@wbqotd

@wildworldwritingprompts

@worldbuilding-question

@thealpha-chronicles

@happyheidi

@enchantedengland

@ancientsstudies

@greeksblog

OC PROMPTS:

@yourocdoeswhat

@questionsforyourocs

@oc-question

@oc-dev

@characterization-queries

@oc-factoids

@tag-that-oc

@some-oc-questions

GENERAL WRITING ADVICE:

not all of the following accounts post things but they reblog useful info

@writing-with-olive

@tstrangeauthor

@everythingwritingg

@writerthreads

@heywriters

@thewritersphere

@writelively

PS: If you think your account fits any of these categories, feel free to comment! Someone will check it out!!! :D

Weak-Tober 2023: 01 Bloodstain

There was blood staining the button down shirt of his uniform.

Baekjin found himself looking at the spot for a bit longer than he most likely should.

It had dried already, turning from red to brownish, stiffening the fabric and turning it scratchy, but if he soaked it now, it should wash out fully… It was a pity that there simply wasn't the time for it now.

imesMaybe he could make time, but the question was, if it would be worth it. On one hand, a dried blood stain could either indicate messiness, unkemptness or give him an intimidation factor. Or a combination of these three things, depending on who he was dealing with.

The problem was that this was his school uniform and he had no intention of appearing unkempt inside the school where keeping up his image and reputation had its own importance, especially when the further success of his plans depended on having a professional enough appearance to be taken serious.

If it had been one of his other clothes, he wouldn't care as much. It wasn't a big stain and not in a visible spot either, so he could get away with keeping small blood splatters on himself as a small cue to remind his followers to not underestimate him. For some reason they tended to think he was going soft if he turned up repeatedly without any stain on himself.

How quickly they could forget the beating he handed out was confusing though. Sure, most of them had only ever witnessed him giving these beatings and not felt them themselves-only few people ever forgot if he gave them the painful hits personally-but it should still leave some impression.

The blonde looked at the bloodstain again, rubbing his thumb over the fabric and feeling the rough and hardened texture the soft fibers had turned into.

Aspirin should work well to break down the blood and help keeping it from staining. Saliva would do the same, but he had better things to do than soaking part of his clothing in spit, even if they handed up in the washer right after. He was past the point where that was necessary. He had other options now.

Stains were an annoyance anyway. If everything would go as he wanted and if he didn't need to steer people one way or the other, if he wasn't dependant on these people acting as he made them, he wouldn't even bother to think about reasons not to remove stains.

He preferred clean clothing with no hint of inability to keep it clean.

Sighing, the teen looked up from the stain and around the hallway to locate the nearest bathroom.

It would suck to wear a wet shirt, but it would only be the sleeve and he wouldn't even need to get the whole sleeve wet.

And in the end, he couldn't afford stains on the uniform. He didn't want them there either.

Title: She Who Became the Sun Author: Shelley Parker-Chan Publication Date: July 2021 Publisher: Tor Books Genre: fiction, fantasy, historical fiction, queer lit

I think to sell this book as a “Mulan meets The Song of Achilles” is not only misleading, but also isn’t giving enough credit to Parker-Chan’s fascinating and rather original reimagining of Zhu Yuanzhang and the start of the Ming Dynasty. I was so taken to the political intrigue and motivations, which was brought together incredibly well by focusing on each character’s desires and their understanding of fate. The moral compass wavers quite a bit as the main characters narrate and get further consumed by their desires, putting the reader in an interesting position to work out how much these characters can be trusted in the end.

Leading me to what made this book so damn well: Zhu and Ouyang were standout characters. Zhu, being the protagonist, was one of the most well-constructed characters I’ve come across in a while. For one, to portray the first ruler of the Ming Dynasty as a genderqueer character was such a refreshing and original approach. Furthermore, Zhu’s gender identity was beautifully portrayed in a way that challenged the rigidity of the gender binary (and I would go so far as to argue the concept of the nonbinary identity). I loved how driven Zhu was by her burning desire for greatness—for better or for worse—that propelled her to where she ended up by the end of the book. As for Ouyang, I thought he was an equally memorable character. He’s an incredibly complex man who is eaten up by self-loathing and has a burning desire for vengeance, much of which is tied to him being a eunuch. Parker-Chan also does a deep dive into gender identity with Ouyang, scrutinizing the construction of masculinity in particular. At the end of the day, you could kind of call them both antiheroes in their own ways, and damn, they were well-written ones that really brought this book together.

One criticism I have of this book is that the fantasy element didn’t quite work for me. Unless I missed something, I felt that things were often left unexplained in a way that made the fantasy part of this book pointless. I’m hoping this is addressed in the second installment of this duology, but I guess we’ll find out in due time. I also found the pacing a little awkward at times, especially the middle part of the book, but not enough to frustrate me.

All-in-all, this was a fun read and well worth picking up if you want a unique reimagining of a historical moment and figure in China.

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helloo a friend of a friend escaped from gaza into egypt and is low on cash. his venmo is @mohammed-usruf if you have anything to spare