Books and Berries

call me terminally academia-brained but i do think a lot of the fun of character analysis is figuring out how to build a compelling argument for a particular reading using lines of evidence from canon as well as meta/intertextual support

and you could say that what i’m saying here is basically “a lot of the fun of doing character analysis is doing character analysis” but let’s be real a lot of fandom character analysis is pretty heavily vibes-based. and i think that’s where i really chafe up against the traditional thought-terminating fandom attitude of like, everyone’s opinions hold equal weight and any interrogation of that is inherently hostile. because i think it’s fascinating to dig into where others are coming from in terms of their views on characters or dynamics or whatever, especially when they differ significantly from more commonly expressed views, and part of that digging is asking people okay what parts of canon are you drawing from to support your opinion? what parts of canon are you disregarding or downplaying? how does this argument hold up in the light of how race, gender, class, ability, etc. operate both in the piece’s in-fiction and real world contexts?

Occasionally you do need to just let fantasy be fantasy. "Why are the mountains around Mordor in a square, mountain ranges don't work like that" well you see there's an evil god who lives there hope this helps

sometimes you read fic and it mentions something you know too much about and you have to pause and decide if the illusion is ruined

that man would not fucking know how to make croissants. he would not have his shit together like that

you dont just make croissants in the morning on a day off on a whim. croissants are a weekend event. he’s on the verge of the worst relapse of his life he did NOT stay up late beating the fuck out of his butter block to make it flat -> doing several laminations. i just dont believe that

nobody ever talks about the terrible fanfic epidemic of "they would NOT confess their love so openly and poetically as that."

big amatonormativity wants you to accept this as the norm but this is not how it has to be. we can push for consistent characterization in expressions of connection and affection. those characters could just kiss and not declare their undying love about it

reading this post back and realizing that i didn't get to my real point which is that maybe those guys shouldn't say that they're in love at all. i want you to look me in the eyes and tell me that you earnestly believe those guys would say "i love you". it doesn't have to be this way

How To Love Your New Friend Without Being Overbearing

I'm Gonna Eat Her I Think

"cats are incapable of love" cats understand affectionate bothering, something it takes years-long relationships to develop between humans

the mercedes clr incident at le mans is one of the only racing crashes i feel comfortable laughing at because a) nobody was seriously injured and b) it is a little funny that mercedes watched their car do That and were like "okay. uh. you know what we're just never doing le mans ever again"

for anyone wondering why this happened the short answer is that the driver was using a racing technique called drafting where you drive directly behind a car. the car pushes air around you and creates a slipstream enabling you to go faster. unfortunately this also gets rid of your front downforce which doesn't usually result in the car doing THAT, but the way the CLR's body was constructed, with its dramatic overhangs and short wheelbase, made it very unstable and extremely sensitive to aerodynamic changes

June and July are the same months btw. They want you to think they're two different months but it's the same month that's 60 days long. Same way August is actually August and the first half of September