#I don't know much abt either of these websites and I'll have to look into them more before I decide what I wanna do but I wanted to try and | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

s0urfangs · 2 months

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I try so hard not to do this but i gotta rant. Regarding the last reblog, I do NOT think the lack of comments and such is 100% peoples fault. I honestly think a significant part of it is how app and website design combines with content culture.

I want, and need, an inbox that shows me original works people have posted so that I can rummage through it at my own pace and know I'm not missing anything I love. Deviantart was great for this. Sit down on an evening, go through stuff at your own pace, say hi!

Don't even get me started on how you can't save stuff easily on most sites to look back on let alone navigate your own profile easily. Pretty basic thing?? I can't even begin to count the amount of times I find an artist here, go to their blog and its like ah! Their art tag does not work, or they do not have a tag. There is no other website with a gallery of theirs? Scrolling through their blog is 90% reblogs? I have to give up. Again, it's NOT THEIR FAULT. This is not tumblr exclusive.

On all the popular apps and websites now, there's an endless and constantly expanding dashboard of reblogs and memes and maybe if you're lucky you might see some art or something you followed someone for. How are you supposed to keep up if you follow more than ten people?

"But you can turn notifications on!"

I have tried. I am not getting notified for every reblog, every post, at every time of day. It's such an intrusion, and I was missing important stuff irl from the sheer amount.

This is not the fault of people reblogging stuff! It's fun, and I love discovering new art! I also like a good meme ofc. It's the utter lack of organisation. Just a seperate (optional) tab is all it would take for a lot of sites to improve by a solid 50%

DO NOT TALK TO ME ABT TUMBLRS TABS THOSE THINGS DO NOT WORK . THEY ARE AN AFFRONT TO ANY GOD. ok thanks ily <3

Bluesky is doing well with this so far, with the option to disable seeing shares and comments in your dashboard at least. (As well as muting blogs if one of ur beloved mutuals becomes absolutely obsessed with idk, minecraft youtubers. WE ALL HAVE OUR LIMITS...)

It really just seems like a huge oversight in basic accessibility that's become normalised. I don't really scroll tumblr anymore- I can't manage. I miss a lot, and the stuff I don't- well, I've probably also been sucked into the content cycle trap and just TRYING to keep up. This means I don't really want to post much either.

"That's just how it's always been on tumblr" That's okay! I'm not saying people can't enjoy it that way. It's the fact every single popular app is doing it the same. It's HORRIBLE.

Hopefully that makes me feel better . Whew. Ofc I'm busy recently anyway, which is why I haven't dedicated time to trying to use new sites - I'd love to set up toyhouse properly but that's a huge undertaking, and have got a bsky sitting around. Waiting. It's hard to start new habits even if its just opening an app atm, but I'll post when I do so.

ALSO. ANOTHER OVERSIGHT:

SCROLLING = HAND HURT >:(

#i normally have so much self control here and just. shut up and ignore stuff #but at this point #i deserve to be unhinged about website and app design because what the FUCK IS THAT #how bad does every site have to be for discord to be a better social media #hOOIUHHH #rant for self care. it has been building for MONTHS. YEARS

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rozaceous · 5 months

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as it's december 1st, fanowrimo recap and what's up next

right around 3/4 of my goal of 25k, but whatever, i'll fucking take it lmao (also the official nanowrimo website's word count trackers are my favorite, they make the handy graphs for you automatically.)

i got three chapters out this month which is a HUGE win, and tbh what i really care abt. and if you're looking at the graphs, i started to seriously slump around the middle of the month. the sakura pov ch took me for-fucking-ever...

if i can maintain similar progress in december as i did in november, tcba will either be finished at the end of the year or in january. i'm going to really try for end of the year since that's the goal i set for myself, but ultimately it comes down to the amount of time and energy i have to write. besides the holiday season, i have a full-time job and chronic fatigue--all of which unfortunately matter.

my outline for the last bit of the fic is still a bit rough, but i know where my finish line is and we're close! guesstimating five more chapters (and hoping i don't jinx myself haha).

i also have to give all the kudos and gratitude to @vermillioncrown bc they've been the best sounding board i could ask for and have done so much hand-holding and cheerleading ʕ•ᴥ•ʔっ♡

#fanowrimo 2023 #folie a deux #rozisms

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atundratoadstool · 2 years

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Hello there! Thank you for sharing so much amazing information abt Dracula! Tbh your posts are making me nostalgic for literature classes, and that is HIGH praise coming from me (points to blog title).

Anyway, I'm really grappling with Jack Seward's character right now as I (re)read ahead in Dracula. I like him a lot, especially early on, but his treatment of Renfield is, shall we say, not quite up to the ethical standards of the modern day, and the way Jack talks about him gets uhhh, pretty fuckin uncomfy, as I know you're aware ("pet lunatic," indeed)!

In this vein, I'm curious to know more about the history of psychiatry at the time, both the actual practice and the public perception thereof, so I can begin to tease out how much of his behavior was accepted practice, vs how much was Bram Stoker's PERCEPTION of accepted practice, vs how much was, in fact, intended to not look Super Great to contemporary readers (and thus, among other things, contribute to the hints at Jack's own possible mental deterioration, as well as to his rather overly "cerebral" personality).

As far as I can tell, this is something you've studied in some depth, so I was wondering if you could recommend any resources? Preferably free or easily accessible ones, since I don't have logins for any academic institutions or anything.

Please feel free to take your time answering this btw, I know it might be a tall order and I can be patient! I also understand if you just don't have time or energy, so no worries if you can't get to it.

Thank you either way!

[Spoilers and content warning: Discussions of Seward and Renfield later in the text; mentions of vivisection and psychiatric abuse]

Answering this somewhat late, as I have--in fact--had a lot of things draining my time and energy. As always, I'll open with a caveat that it's been a while since Dracula was my primary research topic, so new and exciting insights into Jack Seward may have cropped up since I was last writing about him.

I by no means have a comprehensive understanding of nineteenth-century psychiatry, although combing my tags and my website will turn up some of the specific research I did for little details concerning Dracula (I discussed things a little bit here) . However, I will say that one of the better hints--in my opinion--as to Stoker's intentions for Seward and his perceptions of medical ethics is the extent to which Seward (and later Van Helsing) parrot statements made by Bram Stoker's brother William Thornley Stoker, who was--among other things--a brain surgeon, a visiting physician at St. Patrick's Hospital (a public asylum) in Dublin, and the inspector for Ireland under the vivisection act. There are elements of Dracula pretty clearly lifted from Thornley's articles, and without spoiling too much, R. M. Renfield appears to have had several elements of his character borrowed from an actual case study on one of Thornley's patients (available here, but be warned it has a major spoiler for later events).

We have every indication that Stoker was on good terms with Thornley and respected his medical knowledge (Thornley provided Stoker with notes as to medical procedures in the text), and I feel the choicest bit of Thornleyism we get in the text is a later moment where Seward, in what strikes me as an absolutely chilling passage, compares is plans for Renfield to vivisectionist experiments:

It would almost be worth while to complete the experiment. It might be done if there were only a sufficient cause. Men sneered at vivisection, and yet look at its results to-day! Why not advance science in its most difficult and vital aspect – the knowledge of the brain? Had I even the secret of one such mind – did I hold the key to the fancy of even one lunatic – I might advance my own branch of science to a pitch compared with which Burdon-Sanderson's physiology or Ferrier's brain-knowledge would be as nothing. If only there were a sufficient cause!

This echoes Thornley's pro-vivisectionist sentiments in the aforementioned case study, where he says:

To what, I ask, do I owe the knowledge on which this judgement was founded? Largely to the humane and benevolent investigationsof those biologist who weak, credulous, or mistaken people are actively pelting with the verbal filth of prejudice and ignorance--people who would prefer that this man, formed the image of his Maker, should die, rather than their feeble sentiment be offended by a painless experiment on an ape.

HOWEVER, it is also worth noting here that both Seward and Thornley specify the necessity of an overriding cause, and it is highly debatable whether Seward has one. Thornley elsewhere in his writing takes an anti-vivisectionist stance when it comes to procedures he deems to be unnecessary:

"[…] the arguments of want of necessity and cruelty apply to most, or all, of the experiments in illustration of lectures. Such demonstrations cannot but be demoralising to the young men and women who witness their performance. They seem to me an offense against humanity. (from this 1907 report)

The big question I have here, to my mind, is whether we should read Seward's treatment of Renfield as having "a sufficient cause," and I think how you answer this question will inform your understanding as to where Stoker probably stood with regards to Jack's ethics as a character and whether he intended us to read Jack as unnerving (although, as any 21st century literary scholar, I must offer a quick nod to the author being dead and Jack's creepiness not being contingent on Stoker's intentions for him).

If you want to take a deep dive into the sources with which I was most familiar back when I was fiddling with this argument and penning my unified theory of Seward, Renfield, and Dracula, I will link to my own masters thesis on the matter, which should have a pretty decent biography with regards to the works I consulted when I last really thought through this conundrum.

#Bram Stoker #Dracula #Dracula Daily #Jack Seward #R. M. Renfield #William Thornley Stoker #grad school life

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sar3nka · 2 years

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I hope to not be annoying but I’m really interested in getting into the Japanese alternative fashion movements like they had in fruits (I have a friend who’s super into Lolita)but I’m not really sure where to start. Do you know anything of such things? Ty and sorry if this is out of nowhere

It's not annoying at all! Dw <3

First you'd have to specify which one of the movements appeals the most to you. There are more tame ones (mori kei for example), and ones that will make you look like fabulous eyesore.

For starters [I'll oversimplify here a bit probably], here's some I'm familiar with

• decora - fuckton of stickers, hair accessories, glitter, colors, funky textures & silhouettes. I'd compare it to scene in the west, although less edgy, and detached from music. Can be considered a playful, even childish in overall aesthetic.

• menhera (sickly cute) - hospital aesthetic (needles, pills, bandages etc), very dark undertones expressed in a very sweet, pastel way. There's also a character, Menhera-chan. The comics abt her are on tumblr!

• lolita - modesty over all, depending on type diffrent prints will be used, some types are more simple, some are complicated, full of frills and bows. General rule is that the dress/skirt silhouette should either be a cupcake or A letter (petticoats and hoop skirts are used to achieve this)

• gyaru - despite looking very male-gazey at first sight, it's a rebellion against beauty standards in Japan. Gals (aka women into gyaru fashion) are tan, have either platinum or dark blonde hair (sometimes with colorful extensions)(also brown hair are quite popular but not as much as blonde). The hairstyles are massive, as well as their nails. Clothes are very y2k - animal print, pink, white, black are the most popular colors. There's also a specific type of makeup they do.

• vkei - it's not easy to define, it refers to both music and fashion, and neither have strict rules (none at all tbh just be edgy, that's why I love it lol). The best way to get an idea of what it is is check out vkei bands and the MVs (to see the clothes the bandmen are wearing). Start with The GazettE, Dir En Grey, Malice Mizer. Oh and to see the more modern examples maybe also Mejibray and Kizu. Also check out clothing brand called sex pot revenge (funky name ik)

When it comes to how to start collecting and wearing the clothes. Um honey uh. It is difficult. I'd discourage buying from amazon or ali (unless it's just accessories), ESP WITH LOLITA DON'T EVER DO IT. I personally thrift, then DIY stuff. I've discovered that closet child (a website, can be easily found via google), aside from good deals on lolita pieces has sick vkei stuff as well. Etsy is also a good place to start, but I think it's better to thrift and DIY since it's cheaper, and if you find out it's not your style, you'll be wasting less money. Essentials often associated with jfashion are leg warmers (color n material depends on your style), cute bags (lolita bags or thirft/DIY ones are a good starter option I think), but it's not a rule really. Try to dive into the movements I listed, and find what's the prettiest, most fun for you, and just go with it. Don't be afraid to ask for help too, I've noticed people are more than happy to list cool brands and websites!

Oh and also, I've ordered a sort of a lucky pack from Glitzy Wonderland recently. Reviews said it's a great starting point to collecting lolita clothes, and when it arrives I'll definitely post what I got and whether it's as good as reviews say.

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