Ecstasy Of Grief

if you put potatoes in your medieval european style fantasy world people will by and large not find it jarring and accept it as a normal fantasy trope

if you put, say, black people in your medieval european style fantasy world a whole demographic of people will get very angry and accuse you of breaking their immersion

beauty requires openness. it asks you to let things reach you, to soften enough to be moved. it’s not naive to see beauty everywhere—it’s a skill, a form of intelligence, a kind of quiet bravery. because it is so much easier to critique than to create, to detach than to engage, to dismiss than to love.

If you ever wondered why they call tattoos and piercings "unprofessional" and "unsophisticated"

Death of the Author is a term coined by Roland Barthes for his essay of the same name in 1967.

In brief: death of the author is the concept that analysis of a work of art should not be focused on the artist's intent; the artist's intended reading of their own work is just A reading and no more valid than anyone else's.

A good straightforward example of this in practice is the response to Andy Weir and Project Hail Mary. Weir is adamant that his work contains no politics but I would say that PHM is pretty clearly a story about climate change.

HEREDITARY (2018) dir. Ari Aster

i HATE self-censorship for a lot of reasons, but being in crisis work makes it even more frustrating. who are you censoring for? like i am being so fr, WHO are you censoring for? have you even thought it through? people who have been raped know that they have been raped. if someone attempts suicide or is grieving someone who did, saying "sewer slide" isn't going to protect them from any of the feelings. a murder victim's family isn't going to feel better bc you said "unalived" instead of murdered. if anything, it's just extremely invalidating and othering. it's saying "what happened to you is so bad that i won't even say the word," which is NOT trauma-informed care. you are not protecting survivors/victims when you self-censor. the ONLY things you protect when you self-censor are the puritanical ideologies that are being encouraged by rich fascists who want your money and obedience

And a similar 10 year update from April 2026: Ten years after the Panama Papers, enablers and tax cheats are still being brought to justice - ICIJ

And here is an article on the specific ramifications on U.S. tax law and enforcement: Panama Papers 10th Anniversary: U.S. Tax Implications, IRS Results & Compliance Lessons For American Taxpayers - Tax Authorities - United States

And a BREAKING UPDATE: The trial of Yorgen Fenech, the man accused of masterminding the assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia (put respect on her name) began on July 1, 2026 and is ongoing - you can go watch coverage of it.

The Degiorgio brothers pleaded guilty to carrying out the bombing and are serving 40-year prison sentences. The two suppliers of the bomb also received life sentences.

Others involved (middlemen, etc) have received a variety of reduced aentences and pardons based on their participation and testimony to take down Yorgen Fenech.

The former prime minister of Malta, Vincent Muscat, resigned and trials are ongoing.