@shinigami-mistress and I have discussed Agni and Soma depicted as a Christ figure (particularly Agni, of course), and @eglentyne-mcqueen made a good post about the religious symbolism, too.
However, we’ve been focusing, perhaps, on the *visual representations/imagery*. Has anyone discussed the fact that Agni basically *died for their sins*? Because he did….
From Matthew 20:28: “The Son of Man (Agni) did not come to be served (he was from a very noble caste as Arshad), but to serve (now he’s a butler–his entire job is to serve), and to give his life as a ransom for many (do I need to explain this?).”
He “gave his life as a ransom for many”–not just Soma, but all those that Soma touched (and he says as much).
Ah! Thanks! I needed someone who can do the biblical legwork lol
It’s an interesting thought that Agni could be given a second chance by the reapers. It seems too late at this point, though, according to the idea that death occurs when the soul is collected. However, we have not seen the process for reapers saving a life. Perhaps it takes a few days? Like three??
As a Christian this is very deep for me… I love this manga, but it being about demons would worry me if someone were to pull out biblical citations, but this is about a good character, so right now I’m so touched for Agni who’s such a good person and I’m really gonna miss him. TTATT
As for your question, @abybweisse, what if the killer was accompanied by Undertaker, specially to get a soul he could practice on for the strange dolls?
Though I don’t think Undertaker went inside the townhouse with the attackers (probably Lords Sirius and Polaris), I think a Undertaker could be driving their carriage. (That’s why my icon right now is the carriage driver….)
I doubt he would take Agni’s soul, though. He seems to be focusing on specific people and specific souls, not merely experimenting on any soul or cinematic record he can get his hands on.
As a Christian, I have to say I think you all are really stretching this. Not everyone who sacrifices his life for others is a Christ figure. Self-sacrifice is a thing that humans do. I really don’t see the connection between Agni and Christ beyond the idea that “dying for others” = “Messianic figure” which I don’t agree with. Just my .02.
If you pay attention to the illustrations, Soma gets shot in the hand, making his right hand look like it has stigmata. Then Agni gets stabbed in the side like Jesus getting stabbed by a spear. Agni is shown in a “crucifixion pose” when he’s getting shot in the back. When Sebastian holds Agni’s body on the floor, it looks very much like the Virgin Mary’s lamentation of Christ (a Pieta). Add to the fact this chapter was released worldwide just two days after Easter.
(I’m atheist, but I see the intentional religious illustrations and implications….)
Don’t forget the knives in his back, referring to the whipping. Oh and good job on the knowledge even though you’re atheist! No wonder you answer things so well!
Ooh! The whipping would parallel very well to all the slashes across his back (even more than the stabs themselves).
I’ve also wondered whether the stabbing of his eye could be a vague reference to the crown of thorns, since there’s no really good way to make a more direct reference….
I’m an art history and architecture buff, and you can’t be into those without learning a lot about religious imagery lol.
Agni and Soma are definitely Christ figures. According to How to Read Literature Like a Professor here are the requirements for a Christ Figure:
Crucified, wounds in the hands feet, side and head (See Examples Above)
In agony (perhaps even great physical suffering) (Again, See Examples Above)
Self-sacrificing (big sacrifice, preferably a life, for others) (Again, See Examples Above)
Good with children (Agni and Soma feed a bunch of poor kids)
Good with loaves, fish, water, wine (I’ll count curry as it is food)
Thirty-three years of age when last seen (I don’t know how old Agni is, but I’ll guess he’s in his 30s)
Known to use humble modes of transportation, feet or donkeys preferred (Soma and Agni walk around a lot, especially the first time we meet them)
Believed to have walked on water (Ehhhh….I can’t recall any time, but whatever.)
Often portrayed with arms outstretched (See Chapter 127)
Known to have had a confrontation with the devil, possibly tempted (in a wilderness–disappears to the wilderness) (Agni and Soma’s interactions with Sebastian.)
Last seen in the company of thieves (Well, Agni used to be a criminal, so this can count for Soma, also Ciel and Sebastian aren’t exactly innocent)
Creator of many aphorisms and parables (See Chapter 127 where Agni refers to Soma as the sun…like a lot)
Buried, but arose on the third day (Dear God, I hope this happens.)
Had disciples, twelve at first, although not all equally devoted (Agni to Soma, Soma to Ciel)
Very forgiving (Soma to Agni during their first meeting)
Came to redeem an unworthy world (at the least offers hope) (Soma and Agni offer a lot of hope in the Black Butler universe)
(I reference this discussion and then go into my own additions)
I added some comments to the tweets (@qwys), but there’s some things I wanted to add here. (I might also add it there.)
There’s a mention above that Christ was supposedly 33 when he died, and Agni is canonically 31 when he dies:
There’s a tumblr thread where I mention about the meanings of “Agni” and “Soma”, plus I’ve explained this in a previous post, but here’s the breakdown of Agni’s original name:
So, he’s the “devoted lord of truth Brahmin”.
Also, there is mention above and in your tweets about foods, particularly breads. Not only do they hand out curry breads/buns to the poor (mostly kids) and at Funtom Music Hall, too… right? But there’s also an early scene with Soma stuffing himself with naan.
Oh, yeah! And here are some screenshots from older reblogs I did in this same thread:
Something else about being in the company of thieves. That’s where our earl and Sebastian first meet them… down in East End. Soma and Agni show up while these guys are trying to steal everything our earl and Sebastian have on them.
A single mom moves into a new apartment with her young son, only to find out it’s inhabited by a poltergeist. At first she’s spooked, but comes to realize that the poltergeist is helping to raise her son.
I’d watch it.
It’s like ‘The Others’, except that everyone just kind of… gets used to seeing each other. There are two families sharing one house, and okay, one family is a bit dead, but they’re all figuring things out as they go and it’s super handy to have a spare parent or two around.
*
“Mom, I’m home!”
“She’s out shopping, go do your homework.”
“Aunt Ingrid, they didn’t even HAVE homework when you were alive, why are you BUGGING me – “
“When I was alive we churned butter instead of our mother going to the store to buy it, do you want to learn how to churn butter?”
“Fine, okay, homework it is.”
*
“David, don’t walk through the walls.”
“Opening the door is too hard.”
“Then walk through the DOOR like your sister. Respect the conventions at least.”
“Fiiiiiinnne…”
*
“Mom, what are you doing?”
“Fixing the fence.”
“Uncle Roger, are you possessing my mom?”
“We tried just having me tell her how to do it, but it was taking too long and she got frustrated.”
“It’s WEIRD, though.”
“Do you want to do this?”
“No, I – “
“Too late. Come and learn how to fix this. You’re the man of the house now.”
“NOBODY SAYS THAT ANY MORE, UNCLE ROGER.”
*
“Did you have a fight with David?”
“No.”
“Then why are you both making that face?”
“There’s no FACE.”
“That’s what he said.”
“We didn’t have a FIGHT, okay…”
“Aunt Ingrid is worried, she says he’s been moping all morning. He’s barely visible half the time.”
“Look, we didn’t have a fight, I just asked him how he died and then it got weird.”
“STEVE YOU DO NOT ASK PEOPLE HOW THEY DIED THAT IS SO RUDE.”
“Mom, it came up, okay, it wasn’t just out of nowhere!”
“YOU APOLOGIZE RIGHT NOW.”
*
“Steve! David! Isobel! Who broke this vase?”
“Meteor did it.”
“It was not the dog! Which one of you was throwing things in the house?”
“No, really, Mom, it was Meteor.”
“And how did the dog get up on the mantlepiece?”
“Uh…”
“ISOBEL WERE YOU LEVITATING THE DOG AGAIN?”
*
“This is completely inaccurate.”
“Roger…”
“I mean, look at those clothes. I’ve never seen *anyone* dressed like that.”
“They weren’t very careful about accurate costuming in these old movies.”
“I read ALL the Sherlock Holmes stories when they were first published and I ASSURE you he was a GENTLEMAN, not like – “
“Roger, will you just let us watch the moving pictures in peace?”
“But they’re WRONG.”
“We don’t care. Shush.”
*Roger mutters about bossy women and levitates popcorn*
*
“Steve, what happened to your face?”
“I got into a fight.”
“I would surmise from your bruises that you lost.”
“I always lose.”
“Oh, we can’t have that! Come, I will teach you the manly art of fisticuffs.”
“ROGER NO.”
*
“Aunt Ingrid, can you teach me how to make pie?”
“Of course I can… why? I know boys do a lot of things now that girls used to, I understand that, but why pie?”
“I like pie.”
“I can make you a pie if you just want to eat pie.”
tumblr: when people include racist, sexist, homophobic, etc. ideas in their stories it has real life consequences
also tumblr: but ships are never problematic, what’s with all these “antis”? it’s just fictional and can’t affect anything
Just Anti Things: I honestly don’t see any difference between popular mass media and someone’s obscure fanfic
this….isn’t a new argument. we’ve had it before. many times. representation matters, people can also ship what they want. those don’t contradict each other.
Here’s the thing:
Fiction does not equal reality, nor does fiction have a 1:1 influence on reality.
However, good fiction — even (and in some ways especially) speculative and genre fiction — REFLECTS reality.
An example could be film noir, which experienced a boom during and directly after World War II because its gloomy moods, jaded protagonists, and disillusioned view of the world mirrored that of wartime and postwar America. Another could be the influx of ‘fuck the system’ films like “Bonnie and Clyde” or “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” during the countercultral 60s and 70s (granted, this was also partially due to the lifting of the Hays Code and the end of the Hollywood Blacklist). Yet another could be the theory that zombie and vampire films experience surges in popularity depending on who’s president (according to the theory, zombies are rightists as seen by leftists and vampires are leftists as seen by rightists). Every piece of fiction, ultimately, is in at least some small way a product of its time and its creator. Even the most out-there fantasies or the grittiest thrillers have universal archetypes at their core. When someone sets out to write a story, they are at the core of it either writing about their own experience, or writing about some aspect of the human condition that fascinates them. (Which is where “problematic” content comes in, because let’s be real: many, many aspects of the human condition aren’t pretty.)
So, the anti-anti/pro-fiction belief is as follows:
1: Fiction is not reality. Writing about something does not mean that you condone it IRL. 2: Fiction does not directly influence reality in a ‘monkey see, monkey do’ sense. Someone who had no plans to commit an atrocious act isn’t suddenly going to start making those plans because they read in a novel about said act being committed. Furthermore, someone who is psychologically able to distinguish reality from unreality, and morally able to distinguish an acceptable action from an unacceptable one, isn’t going to start condoning atrocious acts committed by other real-life people because they read about them in a novel. 3: Fiction does reflect reality. Representation matters because everyone deserves to see their own reality reflected in the stories they consume — and, for the general betterment of society, everyone needs to see other people’s realities reflected in the stories they consume, because the old adage about not judging someone’s life until you’ve walked a mile in their shoes holds true. Furthermore, if stories are being produced that are sexist/racist/homophobic/transphobic/ableist — especially if it’s a recurring trope — that needs to be addressed because it reflects the sexism/racism/homophobia/transphobia/ableism present in culture at large; for example, the “Bury Your Gays” trope, which originated with restrictions present in the Hays Code, draws such backlash because LGBTQ+ audience members want fiction to reflect that our culture has grown in acceptance of LGBTQ+ people since the Hays Code era.
TL;DR: “People should be allowed to write and read what they want because fiction isn’t reality” and “Representation matters because fiction should reflect ALL realities,” are not mutually exclusive ideas, and, in fact, both are important to understand in order to criticize media responsibly.
I suppose I shouldn’t be suprised that this is what ended up happening to the post, but I think it’s good opportunity to point out something
for like 90, 95% of cases, “antis” (wish there was a better term) and antiantis actually agree
I literally agree with everything the person above said.
Most antis are NOT saying you shouldnt be allowed to reflect reality. For some reason, antianti’s understanding of anti’s position is almost always this strawman
People aren’t saying you can’t show murder, or pedophilia, or racist things
We’re just saying you shouldn’t be condoning them, or romanticizing them. That’s it. Whether that’s in fiction or fanfiction or in posts online.
Point 2 is something I really agree with! That’s why “video games make people violent” is wrong.
But that’s not what I’m talking about. I’m not talking about a monkey see monkey do kind of thing.
“Furthermore, if stories are being produced that are sexist/racist/homophobic/transphobic/ableist— especially if it’s a recurring trope—that needs to be addressed.“ This is all I’m saying. This is literally the whole “anti” argument.
It’s frustrating that most people reblogging this post now will probably never see my clarifications, but I hope a few people will.
Also this is exactly why “anti” and “antianti” are such bad terms. Anti WHAT? The long but more accurate terms would be “believes even fan fiction and shipping can spread problematic ideas” and “believes fan fiction and shipping don’t have that kind of power.”
Okay but jumping back a few posts… “the difference between mass media and obscure fanfic” seems to be referencing the major difference being the size of the consumer base… but like, since when was how much you were influenced by a piece of media dependent on the number of people who also read that media?
The thing about the fanfic community is that, yeah, each individual fanfic could have no more than 20 readers they might potentially influence, but that’s still 20 people your work might have real life consequences for, 20 people you might have an impact on.
And unless you’re writing in a void, chances are, you’re not just a single obscure fanfic that might influence 20 people but part of a trend, one fic of many that also follows those same trends which those 20 readers and more are specifically searching out and consuming in as great a quantity as they can. There’s a huge difference in influence between consuming one piece of media with Thing in it and consuming many pieces of media with Thing in it, with the higher consumption side being more influential in favour of Thing… and fanfic readers are wont towards consuming fanfic en mass.
As someone who grew up in fanfic… recurring problematic things in fanfictions had way more of an influence on me than problematic things I encounter in isolation in mass media. Especially regarding things I, as a lonely preteen and later lonely teenager (right up until I wasn’t), had no experience with in the real world like social behaviours and norms portrayed in fanfic after fanfic.
Also, “obscure” doesn’t mean it doesn’t affect real people, and it certainly doesn’t mean that it exists in a homogeneous bubble. There are people who are part of fandom communities who feel unwelcome and attacked by not only being surrounded by racist (etc) content (and it can’t be blocked because the kind of racism that we deal with is very rarely acknowledged by the creators), but also because we know that fandom will make every attempt to silence posts like this. We’re not talking about a kink here (no, really, degrading marginalized people is not a kink), we’re talking about racism and other things that hurt members of the community.
It’s funny, because When I respond to a “fiction doesn’t affect reality” post by saying that I don’t have to be accepting of racism in my fandoms, the answer is always that they didn’t mean racism. Racism is different, they just mean harmless kinks. Then they get upset because they never mentioned race in a post about a topic that is racially charged in most fandoms.
But here, the OP opens with racism, and are immediately mocked, followed by people “explaining” that racist fics don’t affect anyone. Which is objectively, undeniably wrong.
And the fanfiction community does go out of its way to protect certain people. It uses trigger warnings and talks about expression as a way of coping – unless that person is coping with racism.
TL;DR: If you accept racism in your community, no matter how obscure, don’t be surprised when someone calls it out. Yall can write and consume whatever you want – that’s on you – but no one has to accept racism in their community in silence.
hi okay if you don’t know any hijabis/muslims personally, you might be wondering how it “works” and im here to answer ur questions!!
Q: Do you like.. wear it all the time?? (re: do u shower in it?? do u sleep in it?? when was the last time u sAW UR OWN HAIR??? )
A: Nope! To put it simply, we wear the hijab when we are around strange men. And by strange I mean men who are not directly related to us. That means I can show my hair to women. It also means I don’t have to cover from my brother/father/uncle/grandfather/child. I would have to cover from my male cousins because you can technically marry them (note: this is only one of the reasons we cover! it’s not only to cover from possible suitors lol. Just bc I wouldn’t marry a gay man, doesn’t mean I don’t have to cover from him. The quran says to cover from men and not from women. that’s pretty broad and open for interpretation. I keep it simple for myself- I cover from all men and do not cover from any women, regardless of sexual orientation. This could differ from one hijabi to another). I also would not have to cover from my husband if I were married. Lastly, we don’t have to cover from any young boys who haven’t been “through puberty” yet. I guess it’s up to the individual to decide when that is as well.
Q: It seems kind of sexist to me that men don’t have to wear hijab, but women do…
A: Actually, men have their own hijab. (It’s not the turban you may see some men wearing, they are Sikhs, an entirely different religion.) Men have their own modest dress code to follow and are expected to follow the same rules the women do action-wise. Remember that equal does not have to mean identical. It wouldn’t make sense to ask men to cover their boobs or women to grow beards (we’ll come back to that later).
Q: I always hear about women being forced to wear it… That’s oppression and wrong.
A: I completely agree. “There shall be no compulsion in [acceptance of] the religion” (2/256). That’s taken directly from the Quran. Forcing someone to wear the hijab is a sin. Furthermore, many Muslims believe that hijab is not required/is only preferred/is optional. There’s a lot of interpretation involved in religion. It totally depends on the person and their own beliefs.
They way a Muslim chooses to wear their hijab also differs from person to person. Some women choose to cover their entire body. Some wear abayas (the black dress) and niqabs (the veil that covers the face). Some wear a simple scarf to cover their hair and dress “modestly” (this, again, depends on your interpretation of what modest means). Some just cover their hair. Some show a some of their hair. Some wear turbans. Some dress modestly, but don’t cover their hair. Some only wear it on certain occasions. (more here on the diff types of cover)
For men, some choose to grow beards (many believe this is just “sunnah” which means it is preferred, but not compulsory). Lots of men don’t follow the rules set for them. That can be due to personal beliefs, but I won’t deny the misogyny apparent in the Muslim culture (note: culture, not religion) probably has a lot to do with that.
Q: Do women only wear hijab for religious reasons?
A: No. I mean, that’s probably one of the most prominent reasons women choose to cover their hair, but there are many different factors. In many cultures, hijab is considered a thing of beauty. It’s a fashion statement (for Muslims, we’ll talk about cultural appropriation in a sec). It’s tradition. It’s a part of their identity. It keeps them in-tact with their religion and it identifies them as a Muslim to other Muslims. The reasons are endless, but I think you get the picture.
Q: I heard hijab is just keep men away.
A: As @angrymuslimah put so eloquently: Hijab is not to prevent men from looking at women or “protect them” from men. Hijab is not for men, or to help men control themselves – it’s for women themselves, to empower women. Men in Islam have a responsibility to lower their gaze and respect a woman no matter what she is wearing or what she looks like.
Q: Can women ever take the hijab off for safety reasons? (ie: heat exhaustion/possible attacks by islamophobes)
A: Totally! You’re obviously never supposed to compromise your health for anything, regardless of your religious beliefs. I once got asked if it would be okay for a women to remove her scarf when playing soccer in serious heat and my answer she could if she wanted to (again, she can do wtvr she wants), but playing soccer is optional. there’s a difference between wanting to play soccer and really having your life in danger. If hijabis choose to wear the hijab while playing soccer in 100 degrees, they’re badass and props to them for sticking to it even when it got hard, but that’s kind of the point of hijab. Again though, your health always comes first.
Q: I see hijabis sometimes and I want to compliment them/tell them it’s pretty, but I don’t want to be disrespectful.
A: It’s totally okay to compliment us! Please do! I live for the validation of strangers! For real, though. Just think about it this way, if you can say it to a non-hijabi and not offend her, you can probably say it to a hijabi. You can compliment anyone on their scarf regardless of where it is on their body.
Q: Can I wear the hijab if I’m not Muslim?
A: There is no specific way to wear a hijab. there is no specific fabric. We get our scarves from h&m and forever 21 like everyone else. There is nothing that identifies a hijab as a hijab except the wearer. So if you want to cover your hair for your own religious/personal reasons, you can do it! That doesn’t make it a hijab! The only thing that makes it a hijab is the wearer labeling it as a hijab. As long as you aren’t doing that, you’re not being disrespectful or appropriating our religion. (wearing it out of respect if you’re in a mosque or a predominately muslim country is also okay!)
I would however, advise against wearing it as a fashion statement. It’s not a style or accessory.
/So this got really long and I’m stopping here but I haven’t even really made a dent in the hijabi discourse. If yall have any more questions, you should ask your friendly neighborhood Muslimah! I promise, we won’t be offended, we just want yall to know the truth.
This chapter is everything I had been waiting for and more, seriously. There are a couple of things that stood out to me while reading the raw and I want to note them down before I forget (and to compare once the official English version is released)! Just in case, here’s my rudimentary translation of their scenes in case anyone’s a bit lost with my commentary.
(Spoiler images inside! Don’t read if you don’t want to spoil yourself!)
“Does the decaf coffee have caffeine?” What the fuck do you think!
“Can I get a bacon sandwich”
“Which one sir? We have three of them”
“The one with the bacon on it”
Hi my name is Customer McDumbass and I ordered six frappaccinos, all different, during a rush right before my flight is supposed to board and I’m mad my drinks aren’t done yet!
Um. Decaf has caffeine. Chemically decaffeinated somewhat less so than Swiss water process decaf, but it still has enough to fuck with particularly sensitive people.
I mentioned this in the replies but the customer asked because they wanted the coffee with the MOST caffeine and thought decaf was that. It was genuinely stupid I promise
Me: “I have a small cappuccino for Caitlin!”
Customer: “What? But I ordered a large Americano!”
Me: “What’s your name?”
Customer: “Laurie”
I have customers walk away with the wrong drink so often because of that constantly. Like ma’am, you ordered a large frap. Does this medium hot cup really seem like it’s the right beverage for you???????
“And WHY exactly can’t I use my coupon?”
“…because your coupon is for a regular priced item, and your item is on sale.”
“Well, how was I supposed to KNOW it was on sale?”
“Well, ma’am, there was a sign right above it on the shelf–”
“I came in here to SHOP, not to READ.”
Dude I have people with bones coming out of their body asking me if I think it’s an emergency and if they should go to the hospital or wait till it gets better. Like humans are just plain stupid
WHY CANT I USE MY COUPON TWICE???
“Where are my vouchers? I was told I would get them!”
“No sir, you took out business with us two months before the voucher offer started.”
“So I’m going to get my vouchers?”
“No sir, because you started business with us before the offer began.”
“I want my vouchers!”
“You aren’t eligible for any voucher sir.”
“This is ridiculous! I was told I would get vouchers.”
“Actually sir we’ve listened to all the calls, and no one mentioned the vouchers to you.”
“…So when will I get my vouchers?”
B o I
Reblogging for the comic
That “grabbing the obviously wrong drink” thing pissed me off so much when I was a barista. It really made me lose faith in humanity’s intelligence.
Yesterday a woman who ordered a mocha grabbed someone else’s chai, despite names being announced and written on cups, drank half of it, then returned it and yelled at me because it wasn’t her drink. Customers really are that stupid
I work at a hot dog place and I had a couple come in and order two hot dogs. One plain and one with onions and mustard. I labeled them so they knew which was which but they returned a little later complaining that his hot dog didn’t have anything on it even though he ordered it with mustard and onions and that his girlfriends hot dog had mustard and onions instead of being plain….I didn’t even know how to respond.
I once had a woman complaining about how small our clothes were fitting her. She was shopping in the childrens department.
Here’s her account, her tattoos are so fantastic to look at.
reblogging for the tattoo artists IG to be boosted
I keep seeing this post and I’ve gotta speak up on it, because that isn’t a good example of color on dark skin.
I’m a tattoo artist, and I’ve had a bunch of clients come in saying they were told dark skin can’t take any color whatsoever, which is bullshit. The long and short of it is dark skin can take plenty of color, provided it isn’t too light.
Tattoos look best when they’re fresh because the ink is still on the top layer of open skin. As the skin heals over the tattoo, the color gets less vibrant and defined. This is true of anybody of any skin tone. Tattoo pigments tend to act a lot like watercolor; they’re not terribly opaque in the skin, meaning that as that tattoo ages, the white will fade into patches of slightly lighter skin, and may disappear altogether, as will lighter colors like yellows and pinks. Many artists consider doing tattoos entirely or mostly in white ink to be irresponsible for that reason, and use white ink very sparingly to create small highlights, in places where even faded ink will add contrast.
Notice how the yellow is all but gone on even the lightest skin, while the deeper reds have stayed. And that isn’t even factoring in sun exposure, how often the skin is submerged in water, friction, or how the skin in the area bends and flexes. I know extremely pale people who lost all the color in their tattoos in 5 years due to a variety of those factors; I’m pale as they come, and the yellow in my oldest tattoo is only 2 years old and already super faded.
Color that lasts a long time is darker and more saturated than the skin it’s in.
See how the butterfly is still noticeably purple, and stands out in all the skin tones?
Teals, yellows, pinks and whites photograph beautifully in dark skin, but ultimately don’t have longevity as tattoos. Dark skin, however, can still take reds, blues, greens, purples, and browns beautifully! The best way to make color vivid in any skin is to put it in a strong black outline; tattoos like the one below will look like bruises as they age, and the fading color doesn’t have structured black to contrast and frame it.
Here’s some color on dark skin that will age well!
The yellows in this tattoo are very saturated and framed in lots of solid black; even if they fade, the fish will stay nice and vibrant.
Similarly, the white in this tattoo will definitely lighten, but the dark reds and blacks will hold the tattoo together very well.
Tl;dr, have a solid black outline, make sure the colors you pick are darker/more saturated than your own skin, and don’t rely too heavily on white. These are basic tattoo principles that can and should be used when deciding on any tattoo, regardless of skintone. Hope it helps!
My blue tattoo is 3 years old and you can still see the blue. My tattoo that has gold and yellow in it is only 6 months old and the gold is barely visible, but the red, purple, pink, green and blue still look good. This is an accurate post.
Our society has a number of loveable buffoons who fool around and are excused from acting like prats because they’re funny. They might be rubbish at most things but as long as their banter is flowing, we put up with it.
These types are almost exclusively men. You don’t get hilarious, idiotic women being lorded as icons of our culture. Diane Abbott is dismissed as a cretin while Boris Johnson is a joker.
Which begs the question: is conscious male incompetence a form of misogyny?
If you labour the point that you can’t cook, then chances are that you won’t be made to cook. If you make a hash out of doing the laundry or hoovering, you’re forcing someone else to take over.
Few have the patience to watch someone do a job badly over and over again and so often, they’ll just take it upon themselves to do your chores as well as their own. Emotional labour is doubled when you’ve got an incompetent clown on your hands.
I was recently listening Semi Circles, a BBC radio comedy starring Paula Wilcox, first broadcast in 1989.
It’s about a housewife who recently wakes up to the fact that she’s spent the past eight years being a slave to her kids and nice-but-emotionally-dim husband.
Part of this awakening is the realisation that she does all the housework because her husband is crap at it. Left alone, he makes inedible food. He lets the kids stay up well beyond their bedtime. He leaves the house a tip.
He doesn’t even try to do a good job because he fears that if he’s too good at these jobs, his wife will make him do more of them.
Put these garbage men in the garbage where they belong.
I went and checked the original source and it’s worse. While most of the comments get the problem (the lying, not the eggs) some of them just cannot see that this shit is actually a big honking warning sign for bigger shit. A loving person is not capable of doing this.
He literally puts his mere convenience over her actual well being. This guy thought up and executed a plan where she has to do *all* the work (because of course it wasn’t just this one specific thing) while he watches her tire herself out from the sidelines. Imagine this going on for *years*. …now imagine this with kids. You think this guy cares if she gets off during sex? Would he take care of her if she were to get sick? Would he ever lift a finger if he could get away not doing it?
She can’t trust a word he says and he doesn’t give a shit about her needs. It’s not about the *eggs*.
Sorry to reblog from you, stranger, but this commentary is all very good. I especially appreciate the emphasized statement that “a loving person is not capable of doing this.” That line is going to rattle around my brain for ages — the words feel good in my mouth. How you’ve said it is just so right.
I want to add some of OP’s further comments on the thread she made:
“To be fair, I have pretty high standards for cleanliness and his idea of clean vastly differs from mine and honestly, that’s okay! But now I’m starting to seriously wonder if he sabotaged cleaning, too, just to get me to do it. Dishes, for instance. He will wash half and leave a nasty sink full of the rest, claiming he’ll do them later. This drives me nuts, so I just do them. Often he will leave crusted on shit on then, too, so okay, I’ll just do them, right? Now because of the egg business, I’m seeing it as malicious.”
→ The husband is lazy. He seemingly commits to housework, only to bail partway through, and doesn’t even put in the effort required to do the job right in the first place.
“Yes, he sucks at dishes and laundry to the point he is banned from doing them. He will leave clothes in the washer overnight and doesnt separate anything to the point I’ve had many white clothes ruined. My favorite white brassiere is now pink due to his bullshit.”
→ The husband is inconsiderate of his wife’s property, even that which is well-loved. Could his repeated failure to learn how to do this task have been a ruse? Did he anticipate his banishment from laundry duty? OP now has to genuinely wonder about this.
“I’m starting to think he does things wrong on purpose now just to get me to do it. Another example! My car. For a while my driver side door wouldn’t open from the outside, so I had to crawl through the passenger side. He ordered a handle and kept putting it off for WEEKS. Finally, he says his hands are too big to do it, so I had to do it.”
→ The husband makes excuses for himself that cast him as an unwitting victim to fate, with the implication that he would totally do [action], if only he could. He distances himself from any possibility of blame.
Obviously, anonymous forum posts are taken with a grain of salt — we, as readers, will never know for sure if OP is real. That’s not a concern for me, though. Like I don’t care. The fact is that if one assumes this is all true, it is very obvious that the poster’s husband is a perfect example of maliciously feigned incompetence. He’s manipulative and lazy to the point of cruelty, expecting his wife to work while he fails to lift a single functioning finger. The statement that “he likes her eggs better” isn’t cute like some have stated in the replies to this post; it’s just another excuse that walls him off from criticism, a bullshit reason he pulled out of his ass to make her feel guilty and unreasonable for being upset.
The absurdity of the situation when taken at face value — lying about eggs, getting mad about making eggs, even just the reality of deviled eggs (an inherently silly prep style) being someone’s favorite food — extends an air of the absurd to the wife’s concerns, and to others’ warnings. I have noticed several comments to the tune of, “These people are all mad about eggs? What a joke! How oversensitive. That’s just how men are; this is just what marriage looks like.”
It’s fucked up, is what it is.
…deviled egg lady, if you’re truly out there somewhere, I hope you told your husband to make his own goddamn eggs from now on. It’s literally the least he can do.
When I was angry about this people reblogged from me to say it was no big deal and saying that it’s not as bad as I was making it sound and that he was actually just complimenting her and everyone takes things too seriously…this is what you need to read.
Actions show you the mind of the person who decided to act on them. His actions told her that he was capable of lying to and manipulating her for his own benefit. That is never healthy. It’s a sense of entitlement that can only be achieved when he doesn’t view her as having equal value as him, that her labour can be exploited to compensate for his lack of contribution.
It will never be the only time he is manipulative, that’s a place you can only get to when manipulation is very common and easy for you, you don’t even consciously realise that anymore.
It’s more than an abuse red flag, it’s abusive on its own.
Alright so if you’re a writer then you’ve probably familiarized yourself with plot…and the structure it provides to a novel. There are countless articles online on “how to plot a novel” or the like. Which is fantastic for you writers because it’s at a fingers reach from us. Not so great when there’s about…a billion ways one can go about plotting a novel. It can seem daunting and overwhelming and more important confusing!
I want to break down this massive task bit by bit. Starting with the very bare bones and working into more detailed parts. Making it more manageable.
Now, I know some of you might roll your eyes and say I know all there is to know about plot. I was you. I went into every workshop and craft class thinking the same thing. And yet, when I started plotting my recent WIP ( The Cost of Defeat ) I realized I didn’t know jack. I thought every story I ever wrote would adhere to my system of structure because of sheer will and blunt force. Yeah wrong.
It wasn’t until just recently I started diving into the structure ( because I like pretty diagrams and being organized way more than I should) that I discovered there are a lot of different Plot Structures out there. No one bothered to ever teach me let alone discuss these things. My mind was blown.
Some worked better for me than others. Some mesh better together than others. It’s all about experimenting and figuring out what works for you. And I’m hoping that this will also help others, or at least give a jumping off point. Now it’s not a whole list ( there’s a lot of elements that I could probably talk about by themselves) but it’s a good overview of the popular ones that reoccur a lot.
1) Freytag’s Pyramid
Freytag’s pyramid is the most basic plot structure I know. It’s the one we’ve all seen in school when we start learning about story structure and analysis.
This bad boy is the simplest plot structure used to dissect and understand Greek and Shakespearean Plays.
Pros x Simplistic. Makes it easy to understand x Great for those just starting ( or those who want to understand film and literature analysis. x Great for AP Literature/Comp papers
Cons x It creates simple stories x Not super awesome for modern novels or anything longer than about 25K words
Uses x Children’s Literature. Picture books mostly. Children are still learning to understand things like conflict effect on characters and having such a long falling action allows for that. x Short Stories. Since short stories are compact for punch, this structure allows you to get the most done without boring the reader in 25K words or less. x Analysis. This structure is the easiest and most common to apply to plays, film, tv and even in classic literature. It’s a great way to dissect plot and events in order to better understand the pieces working parts
Examples: Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet Sophocles’s Antigone Henrik Ibsen A Doll House
2) Three-Act Structure
The Three-Act Structure is probably the most known. We all know this intuitively as storytellers. Everything needs a beginning middle and end, after all.
This structure is very similar to Freytag’s Pyramid but adds elements that beef up and create points of interest. Obstacles, for example, add conflict and build up suspense for the climax. It’s also important to note that the falling action and resolution is much more compact.
Pros x basic building block for all good stories x Roadmap-like so you can be systematic about things x Good “big-picture” visual
Cons x Pacing is super important for this x Bit rigid and formulaic
Uses x Literally anything. Because it’s versatile it works on a plethera of stuff, let your imagineation run wild. x Film analysis. This struccture is like the holy grail in almost any film class ( sometimes they call it the four act structure)
Examples: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Sherlock Holmes Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo Jane Austin’s Pride and Prejudice
3) The Fichtean Curve
The Fichten Curve Is really unique in that it starts right with the rising action. There ain’t no time to build up or nice slow introductions, you’re dumping the readers right where it hurts. But you make up that lost time with the small bits of exposition
This is one of the most popular plot structures for modern novels.
Pros x A lot of opportunities to ramp up the stakes, bit after bit x Good for pacing x Great for Overcoming Monster & Quest stories x Translate over almost any genre
Cons x Not a lot of time to slow down, breathe x Not suited for Voyage and Return, Comedy or Rebirth stories
Uses x Thrillers/Mystery novels. You need something to keep readers in the story, chomping at the bit. here’s the plot structure for you.
Examples: Max Brooks’s World War Z
4) Plot Embryo/Hero’s Journey
The Hero’s Journey is also super common in the literature (namely western literature) With this plot the protagonist ( the hero of hero’s journey) undergoes a literal or figurative death-like transformation that changes him.
The protagonist must venture from one state into another. To take it a step further there’s a variation called the Ploy Embyro. Dan Harmon takes the hero’s journey a bit deeper and modernizes. [ here’a great video on it by youtuber Rachel Stephen x]
As you can see, the Hero’s Journey and Ploy Embyro are both cyclical. This baby comes full circle in both plot and character. They have similar plot points. But if I were to gush about this the post would be waaay longer than it already is. This is one of my preferred methods because it just makes sense for me and allows me to have some freedom and wiggle room while still adhering to the 3 acts.
Pros x Character development holla, cause this is where it’s at. x Visually appealing x Simple 8 point outline ( for those who might not enjoy long-winded outlines) x Works alongside A beat sheet ( if you use that sort of thing) x The holy grail for myths.
Cons x Overdone ( but it doesn’t have to be a bad thing) x Not suited for those who really detailed outlines
Uses x Adventure Stories. It is all about the adventure and journey with this x Myth Retellings. I mean it’s based on the myth structure of the Odyssey and the like so it makes sense
Examples: Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird Rick Riordan’s The Lightning Thief J. R R. Tolktien’s The Hobbit
5) In Media Res
A literal translation to “In the Middle”. This plot structure dumps you right in the middle of the story. Think if you were to open a story on the second of third crisis/pinch point. there’s still a lot of upward trajectory to go before the climax.
Don’t confuse this with simply opening a story mid fight/action. Media Res starts well deep into the story itself, close to the climax but with enough room you can still build up to it.
Pros x High Actions x Simple and fun to play with x A good use for flashbacks x Hell of a hook for readers
Cons x Can be confusing for reader’s if not done right x No build up x takes some finessing to get just right
Uses x Mysteries. This is a great plot if you want to start a story perhaps where the killer has already committed the murder. x Epic Poems. Maybe you wanna write the next epic poem, this is great for that.
Examples John Milton’s Paradise Lost Homer’s Illiad George Lucas’s Star Wars
Now I could go on and on but this monster of a post has carried on long enough. If there’s a certain structure you’d like me to go into more detail about feel free to leave a comment on this post and I’ll be sure to add it to my line up!! As always happy writing/creating!
XO Morgan
The thing that really got me hooked on Kuroshitsuji was Madam Red. At the time, I never got to read/watch stories that had unapologetic, expressive, and confident woman who embraced her femininity with open arms. Usually those traits would be framed as bad and the woman would be punished for it or at the very least be antagonist, so seeing a woman who the MC worked with and not view her as inferior felt so different.
Then her backstory was shown. I watched it in the anime first and that pushed me towards reading the manga but when I got to it…. I was shocked. I didn’t really understand how unique this situation was for me at the time. Usually when it came to loss of family, you would see the impact of the male characters (usually in the form of the woman in the refrigerator trope) but to see a woman whose position would have been faceless support character if she was even written in felt revolutionary. Seeing her character being delved into, seeing her hurt and angry and coping in the worst way possible and still being seen as sympathetic was such a new thing to me and I never knew why, but I remember being frozen in place, not taking a breath till Grell killed her.
Looking back, I get it now. And man the reason is both pathetic and sad. Well written female antagonists were so rare then and have increased a bit now. I can only recall 16 big ones (varying from minor to major roles, 6 from the same show, 3 hopeless, 2 dead, 2 MIA and only 2 who were redeemed and the other on her way) from the top of my head when thinking of series I have read in 7 years. Compare that to the hundreds of well done male ones and damn isn’t that a problem. And I’m not even getting into POC and LGBTQ antagonists.
And its because of this that I got so peeved at what happened to Mina. She totally has the potential (if not already)to be a good foil to Madam Red and show us the struggles a WOC would have in the Victorian Era (Yana doesnt shy away from showing how the status quo hurt so many women in the series). Her characterization was only done for shock vakue. AND HER ENDING. THE F WAS THAT. I love Kuroshitsuji and I think Yana gives great development to her characters, but for the 1 WOC to be a stereotypical slut and then killed off… that is racist.
The only benefit I’ll give Yana is the fact that the early arcs were not the best and the quality rose with the Circus arc. Even then that doesn’t excuse the racism.
But she still has a chance. Her death wasn’t totally shown and if so to some people I don’t see why Yana can’t just retcon it. She could have had Lau take kill her husband and take her to his den and use her to for oversea operations. Then when Lau gets his focus it could be a great parallel to the Curry Arc with Mina actually being a hostage. I’m not to knowledgeable about scheme and plans, but if I were a drug dealer who had connections to Asia and wanted to say, have a Prince who has power and a lack of supervision to be in my debt, having his loved one may be a good bargaining chip.
Since Lau does have his connections and Soma isn’t the most discrete it could be possible Lau has spies to check up on him once in a while (like say homeless children) to see if he grew. Then when an opportunity to expand his business comes along he could open an wound and dangle a bandage, giving Soma an opportunity to connect with someone he knows again.
Heck Mina coming back could parallel RCiel as both sibling figures came back from the dead to be used by kooky mysterious men.
If Yana can give short arcs (Wolfram, Joker, Arthur), save a character for exploration down the line (Snake, Lau, Ran Mao), write about Indian characters after doing her research (Soma, Agni), write a good female antagonist who did have a change of heart (Madam Red) and have female characters important to the main cast have their potential hinted at for years (Claudia, Francis, Elizabeth, Seiglinde, Queen Elizabeth) then she can so pull off bringing Mina back and giving her a redemption arc. Yana’s already writing characters that break traditional storytelling norm, so writing a dark skinned WOC redemption arc would be one hell of an accomplishment.
And if one were to look at the conventions of good writing, then Mina SHOULD BE back. After all, Soma’s arc started with Mina. It’s natural it should end with her in some way and Yana’s a great writer.
Stressed, Depressed, and Story Obsessed 