He Looks Dumb And Stupid, I Love Him

making this its own post so i can rb this every time something fucked up happens in tbhx

For whatever reason, I found myself thinking about the theme of heritage/inheritance in Harry Potter and how it's, like, catastrophically broken in the text.

The villains in Harry Potter are almost unanimously racist and classist - they believe they are entitled to behave however they wish and live at the top of the social hierarchy because they were born to rich, pureblooded families, and anyone who wasn't is filth to be exploited and/or purged. That's the philosophy of evil in the book - "I deserve everything because I was born in the right family with the right genes and the right social standing. My heritage makes me better than you."

All the injustice and evil in the books is rooted in this belief in entitlement by way of heritage. People are abused and die because of it. Inherited wealth and status, and more specifically the unfair priveleges it affords, is the root of evil in Harry Potter.

So you'd think the protagonist would present some sort of strong contrast to it, right? That they'd be born poor, or mixed race, etc. But no, Harry is from a rich pureblood family, with the vast wealth and social status that affords.

Well, that's OK, we can still make a contrast. Maybe Harry differs in how he acts with wealth - perhaps, realizing his inheritance is an unfair privilege, he gives it away? Maybe he works to give the underprivileged their due? Again, no, not really. He sometimes buys stuff for his poor friend Ron, and defends his "mudblood" friend Hermione from racist criticism, but he sees no reason to change the system that dehumanizes them in the first place, and by the end of the tale is pleased to exploit his privilege for his own gain.

The whole house elf subplot illustrates this failing well - we have a race of slaves who are frequently shown to suffer from abuse. One of them, the property of a rich racist, risks his life to save Harry, and Harry frees him in return. Oh, nice, finally fighting the system, eh? Except no, not really - while Harry frees that specific slave, he's content to leave the others in bondage, especially when he inherits a slave of his own.

The contrast Harry Potter puts up against its rich, racist, privileged villains is "Hey, being rich and higher in the hierarchy is awesome and just, but you can't be a dick about it." That slaves belong in the dirt, but masters should be polite while putting them in their place.

Voldemort posits himself as the heir of Slytherin - claiming his inheritance is vital to his rise to power and villainy. And Harry opposes him by... also claiming inheritance from a rich old dead guy. Hell, the final battle comes down to who rightfully inherits a specific rare Wand!

The fact that Harry and Voldemort have shit in common is not a flaw on its own - villains and heroes are often foils for each other. But in this specific tale, the relationship the villain has with inherited power is so central to the conflict that the hero having the exact same relationship is a major failing. The story is just shy of saying "Voldemort was basically right, but he shouldn't have been rude about it." It's bad from both a moral and a writing skill perspective.

(The only inheritance Harry fully rejects is parseltongue, i.e. the ability to talk to snakes, which was accidentally given to him by Voldemort, and could be argued to be a symbol of trauma rather than inherited wealth. Also I'm still salty about how that series turned on snakes so cruelly, but that's a whole other rant.)

It’s crazy how one episode can change your entire perspective on a story or character. Growing up is realising Dr. Skinner is the good guy and humanity are the bad guys.

Dude dedicated his entire life to the betterment and advancement of the human race, didn’t even patent all the lifesaving medicines and inventions he made and genuinely would give the shirt off his back to a stranger, yet the moment he started preaching about shit that would impact the top 1 percent’s profits like combatting climate change, everyone laughed at and ignored him. The dude lauded as the next Einstein who had done so much for the world, but you doubt him on this lmao. The US walking out of that UN assembly speech on climate change had me cracking up because it’s sadly all too real.

Wiping out humanity with a miracle drug might seem a little harsh, but in Skinner’s mind he’s not doing anything humanity aren’t already doing to themselves. He told them The North Pole is literally gonna melt in 3 years which would mean the end of life as we know it and they ignored em but want to act all scared after he revealed that a drug would do the same 😂 yea we stand with Skinner.

The Lazarus crew are coming together well, Axel continues to be funny af. “We’re like the avengers”, uh more like the thunderbolts or suicide squad actually buddy lol. Christine kicking him out the car when he said how much time he was serving in prison had me dying too. Generally felt like a set up episode to introduce us to Lazarus team dynamic and give context on Skinner’s actions. It was fun tho.

Chad Stahelski’s involvement starts with this episode as well, not a ton of fights today, but you could see the influence briefly. Can’t wait to see what they cook up later.

AKUJI'S SATOSUGU ANALYSIS (PT.1)

!longassrant

In part one, I'll discuss a few things regarding symbolism and metaphors surrounding the two and how they complement each other. As much as I loathe Akutami, I do admire their symbolism surrounding the cast of JJK.

BLACK AND WHITE, LIGHT AND DARK

I feel like this is a prominent thing in the SatoSugu shippers to associate SatoSugu with black and white, myself included. Whenever I see black and white, I get SatoSugu PTSD. This is really what my life has come to, LOL.

Let's put Satoru as the Light and Suguru as the Dark. ( This is something I love because of how light and dark exist. One cannot be without the other, yet when light is present — dark cannot be. And when dark is present, light cannot be. Sound familiar? Yep, it's them.

We know they both probably wanted to be together but their ideals set them apart. Dark will always exist opposite to Light, and Light would always exist opposite to Dark. But they cannot be defined without each other.

And it does align with what they do become because Satoru became the Light of Jujutsu Society, they had hope because of him. When Satoru enters the scene to save the day, sorcerers are relieved, sorcerer feel safe. When he got sealed, everything fell apart, it just shows how much Jujutsu Society relied on him and trusted him to resolve everything. He taught the new generation of sorcerers, he guided them towards a new future, like a sort of guiding light.

Suguru on the other hand, he consumed the worst in the world, curses. He was confronted by the vile taste of curses every time he consumes one and after Riko Amanai's death, he was faced with the cruelty of the system, the darkness of the world. He despised the likes of people like Toji who are willing to assassinate an innocent teenage girl purely just for money. And, Toji didn't even need to kill Riko, he heard them talk, Riko wasn't even going to become Tengen's new vessel.

The whole experience with Toji changed the duo, but for Suguru, it hurt that he fought with everything he had to avenge Satoru but was left there barely living as a failure only to find his best friend completely changed to the point where he was going to kill all of the humans who were applauding them. Although he convinced Satoru they should be spared, I don't think Suguru himself thinks they deserve to live. The applauds haunted him, I'm sure he was utterly disgusted a room of adults were celebrating the death of an innocent, young girl.

The scene with depressed Suguru, we hear rain outside but if you listen carefully, they sound more like claps, like the ones he has heard back with the Cult. (also, it's funny to me that he started his own cult after being traumatised by one.)

Suguru genuinely wanted to create a world for the weak but after what happened, it's safe to say he stopped considering non-sorcerers as the weak. He already had a theory that sorcerers weren't the problem but non-sorcerers and that mindset drove Suguru mad, paired with the curses he consumes which are manifestations of the negative parts of humanity. The only way for Suguru to move forward with his life is to eradicate all non-sorcerers. He refused the other path because to him to choose non-sorcerers at this point would be to accept more people like Toji, the people in Star Religious Group and the people in the village who threatened Mimiko and Nanako.

Wow, there's a lot for Suguru's part, haha.

Black and White, Light and Dark— or whatever similar. They fit. I could compare them to Yin and Yang, but I don't fully understand its meaning so, I won't.

CURSED TECHNIQUES

I also love what their cursed techniques represent in each other. And how it ties into the story.

Suguru's cursed technique manipulates cursed spirits after consuming them. Consume, which is the first thing we see him doing in the opening of Hidden Inventory. He's a consumptive force, because he consumes the responsibility of protecting the weak.

Satoru on the other hand, repels. He's an outward force, extending out a physical barrier that creates distance between his body and the world. The Infinity and Reversal Red that repels and disconnects him from the people around him. Satoru repelled the idea of protecting the weak, actively discarding them during HI's basketball scene.

Can I point out how the scene after Star Religious group makes sense now? Blue attracts, it's a consumptive force, Suguru leaned into it. Red repels, Satoru stepped into red. It just really enhances their characters further…ah, remind me how much I love this animanga.

Satoru focused on becoming the Strongest and rejected everything else. Suguru consumed the negative emotions and trauma, leading him to go mad to the point killing all non-sorcerers could be the only way he could live with himself.

They're really meant to be together because consumption can only exist if there's a repellant force pushing back. They're not opposites, I will say. Both Satoru and Suguru contain parts of each other within each other. Sort of like Yin and Yang, but again I don't fully understand Yin and Yang enough to do a full analysis of them associating with Yin and Yang.

I think I will conclude the cursed technique analysis here because trying to understand cursed techniques in JJK…it burns my brain. Especially with those powerscalers.

"You're Late, ..."

This was done multiple time for them, and ugh it pains me.

Yup, this one right here, this motif foreshadows the tragedy of Satoru and Suguru's love story. 

We see Suguru running through the rain urgently. He so desperately needs an umbrella. Satoru? Well, you can see he's wasting time looking at a cat...he's not hurrying at all. But he has what Suguru needs, an umbrella. Well, Satoru didn't even need an umbrella.

Suguru is waiting impatiently in the rain, and he's not using his bag to cover up his head anymore. He knows Satoru is coming; that's why he's impatient.

Suguru needs him, but Satoru doesn’t pick up the pace.

By the time he finally shows up, the sun has come out. By then Suguru has accepted the fact that Satoru took too long. They can’t share the umbrella any more because they missed their chance to use it.

“You’re late, Satoru.”

And you all know what follows up...

Also a little bonus:

Those are osmanthuses.

The name Osmanthus comes from the Greek language, Osma(fragrant) and Anthos(flower), literally meaning Fragrant Flower. Osmanthus flowers are a symbol of love and romance, blooming for only a few days in the Spring, and are celebrated during wedding ceremonies and the Chinese Moon Festival in August

The animators shipped them, you cannot convince me otherwise.

This was supposed to be longer, and I do want to continue it but again, I'm tired to continue. Kind of lost motivation and my initial ideas poofed already.

Akuji out!

live, laugh, love Satoru

(tagging @everythingseasoning as she requested. Awaiting your response!)

one, tries to fly, away and the other...

two birds on a wire

Art Hacks for Physical Disabilities!!

I know art can be inaccessible to physically disabled people for a lot of reasons, and I think art should be accessible to everyone, so here’s a couple of the things I found to help for a few different issues you may face that stop you participating!

I have a link to all these items (UK) in my link tree!!

Linktree

cowsabungus | Twitter, TikTok | Linktree

Disabled children’s and comic illustrator

IMAGE DESCRIPTION

Slide one: illustration of a white woman with pink hair, wearing a pink outfit, sitting in a power wheelchair, looking at the viewer with thumbs up. Text Reese “hacks to make art more accessible”

Slide two: illustration of three different kinds, using three different types of pencil grips. One hand uses a circular grip. 100 is a large, rectangular grip. Another uses a grip that is ergonomic and fit into the hand. Main text reads “Paul, grip, strength and dexterity”. Subtext reads “there are loads of different types of pencil, grips or design for different disabilities and conditions. Increasing the width of the pencil can give more texture for a better grip using a pencil with a thicker with also reduces the amounts of pressure needed to hold a pencil you can make your own using items like pool noodles. KT tape an air dry clay. You can also put these groups on things like paint brushes.“

Slide three: illustration of a hand using a tool that looks like a wrist support with a paintbrush connected to it text next to it reads “this talk next a paintbrush to your hand in a way that means you don’t need to hold the paintbrush with your fingers and you will need to move your arm around“ on the bottom right hand corner is in photograph of a guided hand device. Text read “regarded hand as a tool designed to reduce the need for moving your hands and fingers and relies on the movement of your shoulder and upper arms and can be used with different materials like paintbrushes, pencils, pens and styluses.

Slide four: main header reads “when in bed“. Illustration of an iPad pillow with a iPad in it is next to text that reads “iPad pillows, put your tablet at an easier to access level when sitting or lying down“. In the bottom left hand corner is an illustration of a girl sitting in bed in her pyjamas with a pillow behind her and a bed table as she is drawing. On the left hand side is a photograph of a bed table with the text reading “bed tables are used to give you a flat tire up surface while in bed, and are often height adjustable”. In the bottom right hand side is a bedsit, a pillow with the text underneath, reading “ bedsitters of specially shaped pillows that you put behind you in bed to help you set up and give you a soft surface to lean back on”.

Slide five: maisie had a read out “at a desk left”. On the left hand side is a photograph of the document holder with the text “document holders put your paper at an angle to help prevent crane in your neck down”. On the right hand, middle side is an illustration of someone using a armrest and on the bottom left hand side is a photograph of the armrest. Text next to them reads “economic arm rests clip onto your table or desk and give you a surface you lean you’re forearms or elbows on. This can be used to steady your arm and reduce pain and fatigue while sitting at a desk”.

Slide six: maisie reads “foot and mouth painters” . on the right hand side is an photograph of swapping Augustine, an Indian woman with no arms, wearing a sari painting with her left foot. In the bottom left hand corner is an illustration of a woman with green hair painting using her mouth. Text reads “foot and mouth painting is a technique used by artists who do not have, or cannot use their arms so hold the paintbrush in their mouth or using their foot. Swapna Augustine is a foot painter who has painted with her feet and participated in multiple exhibitions of foot and mouth painters. Her art is stunning and I would definitely recommend checking some of help work out.“

Slide seven: main text reeds “art without brushes and pens”. On the left-hand side is a photograph of a spin art device. Text next to read it reads “spin out involves using bottles of ink and squirting them onto a spinning piece of paper to create spiral art. On the middle right hand side is a illustration of a laptop with coding art written on the screen. Text me next to it reads “coding art involves making programs that design and create art pieces digitally. This could be used in conjunction with an eye tracking software.“ On the bottom left hand side is a photograph of a child in a power wheelchair with paint on their wheels painting onto a large piece of paper. Next to this is text reading “wheelchair painting involves putting paint on your wheelchair wheels and moving around and large piece of paper. Sometimes you can connect a roller to create more marks.“

Slide eight: text reads “what do you do to make art accessible for you?”

End of ID.

!SPOILERS!

When I tell you I’m still sobbing my eyes out. WHEN I TELL YOU.

When you see it, REBLOG IT.

Depression Hotline: 1-630-482-9696

Suicide Hotline: 1-800-784-8433

LifeLine: 1-800-273-8255

Trevor Project: 1-866-488-7386

Sexuality Support: 1-800-246-7743

Eating Disorders Hotline: 1-847-831-3438

Rape and Sexual Assault: 1-800-656-4673

Grief Support: 1-650-321-5272

Runaway: 1-800-843-5200, 1-800-843-5678, 1-800-621-4000

Exhale: After Abortion Hotline/Pro-Voice: 1-866-4394253

If you ever want to talk: My Tumblr ask is always open.

I hate the “houseelves are a metaphor for British housewives you just don’t understand because you’re a dumb american” thing so much it makes me want to break things.

Even if we ignore the fact that the narrative of HP uses arguments actual slaveowners did to justify themselves, the metaphor would be shitty, at best choice feminism, at worst endorsement of the statue quo disguised as wanting to support women(very in character for jk rowling btw).

British women aren’t a special kind of women whose decisions aren’t influenced by being subconsciously told a devoted wife and mother is the best thing a woman can be from early childhood omg.

How I learned to write smarter, not harder

(aka, how to write when you're hella ADHD lol)

A reader commented on my current long fic asking how I write so well. I replied with an essay of my honestly pretty non-standard writing advice (that they probably didn't actually want lol) Now I'm gonna share it with you guys and hopefully there's a few of you out there who will benefit from my past mistakes and find some useful advice in here. XD Since I started doing this stuff, which are all pretty easy changes to absorb into your process if you want to try them, I now almost never get writer's block.

The text of the original reply is indented, and I've added some additional commentary to expand upon and clarify some of the concepts.

As for writing well, I usually attribute it to the fact that I spent roughly four years in my late teens/early 20s writing text roleplay with a friend for hours every single day. Aside from the constant practice that provided, having a live audience immediately reacting to everything I wrote made me think a lot about how to make as many sentences as possible have maximum impact so that I could get that kind of fun reaction. (Which is another reason why comments like yours are so valuable to fanfic writers! <3) The other factors that have improved my writing are thus: 1. Writing nonlinearly. I used to write a whole story in order, from the first sentence onward. If there was a part I was excited to write, I slogged through everything to get there, thinking that it would be my reward once I finished everything that led up to that. It never worked. XD It was miserable. By the time I got to the part I wanted to write, I had beaten the scene to death in my head imagining all the ways I could write it, and it a) no longer interested me and b) could not live up to my expectations because I couldn't remember all my ideas I'd had for writing it. The scene came out mediocre and so did everything leading up to it. Since then, I learned through working on VN writing (I co-own a game studio and we have some visual novels that I write for) that I don't have to write linearly. If I'm inspired to write a scene, I just write it immediately. It usually comes out pretty good even in a first draft! But then I also have it for if I get more ideas for that scene later, and I can just edit them in. The scenes come out MUCH stronger because of this. And you know what else I discovered? Those scenes I slogged through before weren't scenes I had no inspiration for, I just didn't have any inspiration for them in that moment! I can't tell you how many times there was a scene I had no interest in writing, and then a week later I'd get struck by the perfect inspiration for it! Those are scenes I would have done a very mediocre job on, and now they can be some of the most powerful scenes because I gave them time to marinate. Inspiration isn't always linear, so writing doesn't have to be either!

Some people are the type that joyfully write linearly. I have a friend like this--she picks up the characters and just continues playing out the next scene. Her story progresses through the entire day-by-day lives of the characters; it never timeskips more than a few hours. She started writing and posting just eight months ago, she's about an eighth of the way through her planned fic timeline, and the content she has so far posted to AO3 for it is already 450,000 words long. But most of us are normal humans. We're not, for the most part, wired to create linearly. We consume linearly, we experience linearly, so we assume we must also create linearly. But actually, a lot of us really suffer from trying to force ourselves to create this way, and we might not even realize it. If you're the kind of person who thinks you need to carrot-on-a-stick yourself into writing by saving the fun part for when you finally write everything that happens before it: Stop. You're probably not a linear writer. You're making yourself suffer for no reason and your writing is probably suffering for it. At least give nonlinear writing a try before you assume you can't write if you're not baiting or forcing yourself into it!! Remember: Writing is fun. You do this because it's fun, because it's your hobby. If you're miserable 80% of the time you're doing it, you're probably doing it wrong!

2. Rereading my own work. I used to hate reading my own work. I wouldn't even edit it usually. I would write it and slap it online and try not to look at it again. XD Writing nonlinearly forced me to start rereading because I needed to make sure scenes connected together naturally and it also made it easier to get into the headspace of the story to keep writing and fill in the blanks and get new inspiration. Doing this built the editing process into my writing process--I would read a scene to get back in the headspace, dislike what I had written, and just clean it up on the fly. I still never ever sit down to 'edit' my work. I just reread it to prep for writing and it ends up editing itself. Many many scenes in this fic I have read probably a dozen times or more! (And now, I can actually reread my own work for enjoyment!) Another thing I found from doing this that it became easy to see patterns and themes in my work and strengthen them. Foreshadowing became easy. Setting up for jokes or plot points became easy. I didn't have to plan out my story in advance or write an outline, because the scenes themselves because a sort of living outline on their own. (Yes, despite all the foreshadowing and recurring thematic elements and secret hidden meanings sprinkled throughout this story, it actually never had an outline or a plan for any of that. It's all a natural byproduct of writing nonlinearly and rereading.)

Unpopular writing opinion time: You don't need to make a detailed outline.

Some people thrive on having an outline and planning out every detail before they sit down to write. But I know for a lot of us, we don't know how to write an outline or how to use it once we've written it. The idea of making one is daunting, and the advice that it's the only way to write or beat writer's block is demoralizing. So let me explain how I approach "outlining" which isn't really outlining at all.

I write in a Notion table, where every scene is a separate table entry and the scene is written in the page inside that entry. I do this because it makes writing nonlinearly VASTLY more intuitive and straightforward than writing in a single document. (If you're familiar with Notion, this probably makes perfect sense to you. If you're not, imagine something a little like a more contained Google Sheets, but every row has a title cell that opens into a unique Google Doc when you click on it. And it's not as slow and clunky as the Google suite lol) (Edit from the future: I answered an ask with more explanation on how I use Notion for non-linear writing here.) When I sit down to begin a new fic idea, I make a quick entry in the table for every scene I already know I'll want or need, with the entries titled with a couple words or a sentence that describes what will be in that scene so I'll remember it later. Basically, it's the most absolute bare-bones skeleton of what I vaguely know will probably happen in the story.

Then I start writing, wherever I want in the list. As I write, ideas for new scenes and new connections and themes will emerge over time, and I'll just slot them in between the original entries wherever they naturally fit, rearranging as necessary, so that I won't forget about them later when I'm ready to write them. As an example, my current long fic started with a list of roughly 35 scenes that I knew I wanted or needed, for a fic that will probably be around 100k words (which I didn't know at the time haha). As of this writing, it has expanded to 129 scenes. And since I write them directly in the page entries for the table, the fic is actually its own outline, without any additional effort on my part. As I said in the comment reply--a living outline!

This also made it easier to let go of the notion that I had to write something exactly right the first time. (People always say you should do this, but how many of us do? It's harder than it sounds! I didn't want to commit to editing later! I didn't want to reread my work! XD) I know I'm going to edit it naturally anyway, so I can feel okay giving myself permission to just write it approximately right and I can fix it later. And what I found from that was that sometimes what I believed was kind of meh when I wrote it was actually totally fine when I read it later! Sometimes the internal critic is actually wrong. 3. Marinating in the headspace of the story. For the first two months I worked on [fic], I did not consume any media other than [fandom the fic is in]. I didn't watch, read, or play anything else. Not even mobile games. (And there wasn't really much fan content for [fandom] to consume either. Still isn't, really. XD) This basically forced me to treat writing my story as my only source of entertainment, and kept me from getting distracted or inspired to write other ideas and abandon this one.

As an aside, I don't think this is a necessary step for writing, but if you really want to be productive in a short burst, I do highly recommend going on a media consumption hiatus. Not forever, obviously! Consuming media is a valuable tool for new inspiration, and reading other's work (both good and bad, as long as you think critically to identify the differences!) is an invaluable resource for improving your writing.

When I write, I usually lay down, close my eyes, and play the scene I'm interested in writing in my head. I even take a ten-minute nap now and then during this process. (I find being in a state of partial drowsiness, but not outright sleepiness, makes writing easier and better. Sleep helps the brain process and make connections!) Then I roll over to the laptop next to me and type up whatever I felt like worked for the scene. This may mean I write half a sentence at a time between intervals of closed-eye-time XD

People always say if you're stuck, you need to outline.

What they actually mean by that (whether they realize it or not) is that if you're stuck, you need to brainstorm. You need to marinate. You don't need to plan what you're doing, you just need to give yourself time to think about it!

What's another framing for brainstorming for your fic? Fantasizing about it! Planning is work, but fantasizing isn't.

You're already fantasizing about it, right? That's why you're writing it. Just direct that effort toward the scenes you're trying to write next! Close your eyes, lay back, and fantasize what the characters do and how they react.

And then quickly note down your inspirations so you don't forget, haha.

And if a scene is so boring to you that even fantasizing about it sucks--it's probably a bad scene.

If it's boring to write, it's going to be boring to read. Ask yourself why you wanted that scene. Is it even necessary? Can you cut it? Can you replace it with a different scene that serves the same purpose but approaches the problem from a different angle? If you can't remove the troublesome scene, what can you change about it that would make it interesting or exciting for you to write?

And I can't write sitting up to save my damn life. It's like my brain just stops working if I have to sit in a chair and stare at a computer screen. I need to be able to lie down, even if I don't use it! Talking walks and swinging in a hammock are also fantastic places to get scene ideas worked out, because the rhythmic motion also helps our brain process. It's just a little harder to work on a laptop in those scenarios. XD

In conclusion: Writing nonlinearly is an amazing tool for kicking writer's block to the curb. There's almost always some scene you'll want to write. If there isn't, you need to re-read or marinate.

Or you need to use the bathroom, eat something, or sleep. XD Seriously, if you're that stuck, assess your current physical condition. You might just be unable to focus because you're uncomfortable and you haven't realized it yet.

Anyway! I hope that was helpful, or at least interesting! XD Sorry again for the text wall. (I think this is the longest comment reply I've ever written!)

And same to you guys on tumblr--I hope this was helpful or at least interesting. XD Reblogs appreciated if so! (Maybe it'll help someone else!)