Sea animals, hopepunk, fantasy, queerness, and a bit of philosophy
175 posts
Latest Posts by philosopher-under-the-sea - Page 5
The way I see it, there are two kinds of shame:
Shame for doing something actually bad
Shame for doing something others/society has told you is bad
The first includes things that actually cause harm to someone, like a thoughtless comment or stepping on your dog's paw, etc. These are actions which require acknowledgement and amends.
The second is much broader, and includes everything from liking bad movies to being queer. These are things that may be unusual but are ultimately harmless. Someone or something in your life has just treated that oddity as a transgression, and one way or another you've internalized that perspective.
In my opinion it is crucially important for your well-being to be able to separate the two. If you don't, and you're treating the shame of having punched someone identically to liking a critically-panned movie, you're going to be a anxious wreck. You'll be constantly over-analyzing and policing yourself, feeling like a bad person who's just been really good at hiding it so far.
In the worst cases you might lash out at other people enjoying harmless things, redirecting your shame outward and becoming unable to distinguish truly harmful actions from those you’ve just been taught are bad.
Shame is a feeling that can really eat away at you if you let it. It's best to know when it's appropriate. If it is, you can act on it to resolve what's happened. If it's not, you can let that feeling go so it doesn't take any more from you.
Portal 2's Turret Opera still hits soooo hard as a closing point for Chell and GLaDOS' story dude. Right after a monologue about how after everything they've been through she realizes she's incapable of killing Chell, GLaDOS has actually.. set up a perfect, inescapable death trap. She could've easily had the turrets shoot through the glass, sent the elevator all the way back down to Old Aperture or simply gassed her without letting the elevator even leave her central chamber. She basically had her. She could've obliterated her while she was still out cold from fighting Wheatley, but she doesn't. Instead, she has them perform an opera about walking as far away from science as possible. An opera that's implied to have been rehearsed even before Chell broke out with Wheatley - was she considering doing this long before Chell went out to try and kill her again?? This is very blatantly me steering into headcanon territory, but I like to think this whole room was the "REAL surprise with tragic consequences" GLaDOS spoke of. I imagine this is exactly what she originally planned to do - give her false hope by having her ride an escape elevator only for it to stop right in the middle of a massive turret ambush. She would literally treat Chell like a fish in a barrel. Quick, easy and delightfully painful. Each instance where she escaped was either due to oversight or third party intervention - so she created a situation where none of that is possible. All that would arrive to the surface and see the sun is a bullet-riddled corpse. But that's not what the elevator brings to that dingy faux shed in the end. I wonder what she's done with this room after the elevator made its ascent. Do the turrets still stand there, waiting on the off-chance the elevator goes back down with a familiar face within? Do they still sing the same song, over and over, hoping she'll hear it up there? Do they think of her, does she think of them, does she think of her? If Chell were to step back in, would GLaDOS even have the heart to let that elevator go back down? Either way, they'd still be down there, gathered for someone that may never ever come back. They'll all be faithfully standing at their usual spots in the chambers, ready to lovingly shoot her again should she be back to test forever.
Golden potato I need your shining help, taking anything big or small
do you think elves are really sick of this hairstyle, like on elf grindr this is how all the most obnoxious dudes look
the phantom of the opera and the hunchback of notre dame? opposite ends of same spectrum
if you haven’t, i hope you fall in love with life again. i hope you wake up with a happy sigh, hope you feel like doing things you enjoy, hope you are surrounded by people who make you feel safe, hope you smile at yourself in the mirror.
Here’s to 2023, a year of as many little courageous kindnesses as possible. ♥️
i think the thing that makes me the most emotional in life is the realization that everything i have and everything i see has been touched by other people. someone designed the logo of my favorite tea bags and someone decided which paintings should go in the calendar hanging on my wall. someone built the roof above my head and someone paved the street outside my house. someone made this pair of glasses specific for me, someone picked the pear i ate with my lunch and someone designed my favorite sweater. every book i read, every song i listen to, every film i watch, tens, if not hundreds of people had to be there to make it happen. even if i am alone, i am always surrounded by other human beings - a fact that makes my heart squeeze in on itself everytime i remember it.
now im imagining what pride events in ankh morpork are like
Don’t let the world fool you: consistent kindness is the most quietly powerful thing.
As Uncle Iroh said in the last airbender: "if you look for a light, you can always find it. If you look for darkness, it is all you'll ever see."
Though I am realistic about the misery in the world, I refuse to lose sight of hope.
Say you'll see me again
Even if it's just in your wildest dreams
Inspired by a truly wild 80s romance novel cover that I just had to turn into Ed's most romantic daydream of Stede
Y'know what else I love? How damn much Ed loves and wants Stede. Like, no one outside the crew can believe it. Izzy thinks Ed's brain has broken. Zheng straight-up keeps saying that Ed dumped Stede. Archie is flabbergasted that Stede is "STEDE Stede?!"
The Revenge crew all get it, though. They went from plotting mutiny to defending him with all their might. Lucius watches Ed and Stede fall in love in real-time. Jim, the most deeply critical of Stede from the start, tells his stories to Fang and longs for when life had meaning on the ship. Olu stays up all night with him and later follows him everywhere. The Swede owes him a life debt. Buttons, probably the most experienced sailor of the group, declares him a pirate with his whole chest.
Stede just showed up one day with his fancy unicorn boat and fancy clothes and depth of human kindness and promptly seduced the most feared pirate of Caribbean without even trying.
They're like the Roger and Jessica Rabbit of pirates.
Gif by @nicostiel
Southern resident orcas, also known as the southern resident killer whales (SRKW), are an exclusively fish-eating ecotype of orcas that live in and around the Salish Sea. They differ genetically from transient orcas as well as having different dialects and diets. © Rachel Haight - Orca Network
no fucking way
the aliens are going to have questions about our world that absolutely no one will ever be able to answer
if he was still alive I know in my heart that Terry Pratchett would have done a bit about Igors and Igorinas doing gender confirmation surgery by now. going into a lab full of bubbling vials and picking out a penis from a tank the way you pick a lobster. that one, please. you gotta be careful though because they'll really try to upsell you into getting two or three installed. people going to the clinic as pairs and just having parts swapped out for a discounted rate. maybe you actually just trade brains, that's even easier. Igorth have already been doing that thurgery for thenturieth.
Reading a Terry Pratchett book is literally just: Here's a funny little joke Here's something that you can tell is a joke but don't get and will only figure out five years later Here's a surprisingly cool fantasy concept Here's a unique and well written simile Here's a lil guy Here's something that has aged depressingly well into the modern day Here's something that has aged remarkably queer into the modern day Here's a character that you can barely understand what he's saying Here is the most terrifying and deeply disturbing concept you have ever heard, casually mentioned Here is the dumbest fucking pun you've ever heard but in the best way Here is a quote so profound that it makes you view morality and the world in a different way Here is a plot twist that you can't tell if it's genius or stupid Congratulations! You've finished the book! It has fundamentally changed you as a person and you will never be the same!
@batshit-auspol congrats ur famous
Christmas advice for ladies (crossposted from Old Weird Scotland on mastodon, with permission)
I want you all to keep this in mind!