#the century of the self

[economicsresearch]

page 562 panel a - does the world need this? The famous square with a scarf laid across it?

#economics #economy #economist #equilibrium price shortages and surpluses #unstable equilibrium #equilibrium #unstable #surplus #shortage #time #art #design #square #scarf #slash #vertical #ai #computer art #adam curtis #the century of the self #choice #buy #purchase #shopping #og anunoby #i do art

[joycrispy]

I'm seeing some confusion out and about over the title A Companion to Owls (generally along the lines of 'what have owls got to do with it???'), so I'd like to offer my interpretation (with a general disclaimer that the Bible and particularly the Old Testament are damn complicated and I'm not able to address every nuance in a fandom tumblr post, okay? Okay):

It's a phrase taken from the Book of Job. Here's the quote in full (King James version):

When I looked for good, then evil came unto me: and when I waited for light, there came darkness. My bowels boiled, and rested not: the days of affliction prevented me. I went mourning without the sun: I stood up, and I cried in the congregation. I am a brother to dragons, and a companion to owls. --(Job 30:29)

Job is describing the depths of his grief, but also, with that last line, his position in the web of providence.

Throughout the Old Testament, owls are a recurring symbol of spiritual devastation. Deuteronomy 4:17 - Isaiah 34:11 - Psalm 102: 3 - Jeremiah 50: 39...just to name a few (there's more). The general shape of the metaphor is this: owls are solitary, night-stalking creatures, that let out either mournful cries or terrible shrieks, that inhabit the desolate places of the world...and (this is important) they are unclean.

They represent a despair that is to be shunned, not pitied, because their condition is self-inflicted. You defied God (so the owl signifies), and your punishment is...separation. From God, from others, from the world itself. To call and call and never, ever receive an answer.

Your punishment is terrible, tormenting loneliness.

(and that exact phrase, "tormenting loneliness," doesn't come from me...I'm pulling it from actual debate/academia on this exact topic. The owls, and what they are an omen for. Oof.)

To call yourself a 'companion to owls,' then, is to count yourself alongside perhaps the most tragic of the damned --not the ones who defy God out of wickedness or ignorance, and in exile take up diabolical ends readily enough...but the ones who know enough to mourn what they have lost.

So, that's how the title relates to Job: directly. Of course, all that is just context. The titular "companion to owls," in this case, isn't Job at all.

Because this story is about Aziraphale.

The thing is that Job never actually defied God at all, but Aziraphale does, and he does so fully believing that he will fall.

He does so fully believing that he's giving in to a temptation.

He's wrong about that, but still...he's realized something terrifying. Which is that doing God's will and doing what's right are sometimes mutually exclusive. Even more terrifying: it turns out that, given the choice between the two...he chooses what's right.

And he's seemingly the only angel who does. He's seemingly the only angel who can even see what's wrong.

Fallen or not, that's the kind of knowledge that...separates you.

(Whoooo-eeeeee, tormenting loneliness!!!)

Aziraphale is the companion.

...I don't think I need to wax poetic about Aziraphale's loneliness and grappling with devotion --I think we all, like, get it, and other people have likely said it better anyway. So, one last thing before I stop rambling:

Check out Crowley's glasses.

(screenshots from @seedsofwinter)

Crowley is the owl.

Crowley is the goddamn owl.

#good omens #good omens 2 #ineffable husbands #aziracrow #aziraphale #crowley #there's probably a few thousand words more I could say about this but. I think I'll just hang the implications deliciously aloft for now. #something something tfw the embodiment of all your worst fears and self-doubts shows you the only real kindness you've known for centuries #you can't help but love him and you can't help but fear him but above all you TRUST him the way you're supposed to trust God but don't #brrrrrrr #do you think Crowley would vibe with being an omen of spiritual devastation or do you think he would get drunk about it #good omens meta

[guyofalltime]

something so funny about the dynamic between a sickly gay victorian man using a prehistoric old fashioned telephone and an old man who has back problems, doesn’t know what technology is and uses packaging tape to hold together his old deteriorating nokia keypad desperately hanging on to life

this was too much words and i exaggerated a lot of points but anyway. im not even joking about the packaging tape

#hags of the century #not sure if phoenix had the same phone in aa4 up to aa6 but it doesnt matter here #miles edgeworth #phoenix wright #narumitsu #ace attorney #aa #self aa posts

[lionofchaeronea]

Self-Portrait as the Allegory of Painting (La Pittura), Artemisia Gentileschi, 1638-39

#art #art history #Artemisia Gentileschi #female artists #portrait #portrait painting #self-portrait #allegory #allegorical art #Baroque #Baroque art #Italian Baroque #Italian art #17th century art #oil on canvas #Royal Collection

[pagansphinx]

Carolus-Duran (French, 1837–1917) • Le Baiser (The Kiss), Self-portrait with his wife as newlyweds • 1868 • Palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille, Lille, France

#art #painting #fine art #art history #carolus duran #french artist #painter #1860s art #19th century european art #self portrait #double portrait #oil painting #portrait painter #valentine's day #pagan sphinx art blog #art blogs on tumblr #art lovers on tumblr

[canisalbus]

To me, Machete kind of has the energy of a secondary villain/coldhearted side character in someone else's story that a lot of fans latch onto, moreso than the protagonist. Question is, would he be the villain in anyone's story?

Why, thank you! I'm actually glad to hear he gives off that vibe. I don't think he set out to become a villain but a lot of people certainly view him as one.

#in the 16th century canon he starts out as an introverted but sincerely well meaning guy that never quite manages to find his social niche #he was a sensitive kid and when subjected to enough pressure #his insecurity fearfulness and powerlessness mutate into distrust resentment aggression suffocating repression and self-restraint #I don't think he's a bad person in fact he consistently tries very hard to do the right thing #do his job properly avoid letting people down and get through life with a sense of dignity #but he is supposed to come across kind of cold impersonable and difficult to be around if you don't know him personally (and very few do) #people can sense there's something wrong with him and are put off by it #Vatican is a nest of vipers and as the stakes rise he retreats deeper into his coldblooded untouchable work persona #he has no choice but to start lying scheming blackmailing and eliminating his enemies #in order to maintain his position keep Vasco safe their relationship under wraps and his own head above water #essentially playing by the same rules everyone else in the holy see has been playing with for centuries #eventually he loses his spot as the secretary of state and is manipulated/forced to take on a role in the roman inquisition #and if people were sort of iffy about him before being the authority overseeing trials torture excommunications and executions doesn't help #and since he has so few allies and such an infamous reputation he's an easy target for scapegoating whenever necessary #towards the end it dawns on him that he's become the kind of twisted cruel corrupt person he used to fear and despise #and the guilt moral injury and abject self-loathing had largely sapped him of his will to live by the time the final assassin gets him #answered #anonymous #Machete #Vaschete lore #he thought his dream of priesthood would make him a better person more worthy of admiration safety and love but he climbed too high #and got roped up in the dangerous games that take place under god's nose and slowly got strangled to death

[spacerockband]

i wonder sometimes what reigen was like in college

#mp100 #mp 100 #mob psycho 100 #reigen arataka #mob psycho fanart #fan art #art tag #digital art #reigen 'i had so many friends growing up definitely was not a loser' turning into flamboyant extrovert conman of the century. #when did it happen. i have to know. #bc i think it was sometime in college. #theres so much self discovery going on. #reigen 'you dont have to be gay to know that naruto and sasuke were gay thats just facts its just having eyes' #later: 'ok i have something to say but this doesnt change my statement on naruto and sasuke' #sasunaru #narusasu #idk #naruto #i definitely didnt draw this while having a crisis 3 weeks ago. im normal.

[random-brushstrokes]

Joos van Craesbeeck - The Smoker (circa 1635-36)

#Joos van Craesbeeck #flemish art #self portrait #17th century art

[bhaalsdeepbat]

As much as I love to joke about Astarion being pathetic I don't actually think he is. He's sad and wet, but he is also one of the heaviest hitters. I think he just feels weak & pathetic and externalizes it, which then kinda makes him seem more powerless than he actually is.

#bat rambles #he's pathetic in the sense that #he bitches and moans about everything #but i love that he is a whiney baby who can also rip your throat out #he just has self esteem issues 🥰 #also adds to like how weak he feels to caz #idk this and like the obsession with him deflowering people are two fanon things i just #do not jive as much with lol #he is also absolutely SO dumb #but it is also the first time he has been allowed to have a thought in over a century

[spider-man-2o99]

hits the disinformation machine with a bat a big bat a big heavy lead-core thick wood bat kablam whack whack whack whack whack. miguel ohara does not have "spider instincts," he has never in even one piece of official material ever had nor experienced the phenomenon that fandom colloquially refers to as "spider instincts," okay, that concept is entirely and 100% a fandom-born headcanon that people created post-ATSV as an excuse to write the guy as a stupid Feral Brown Beast-Man caricature . lord have mercy. it takes. two seconds of research 2 not perpetuate racist malarkey. do better

#talking tag #spider-man 2099 #spiderman 2099 #miguel o'hara #atsv #across the spiderverse #hi. dead canary walking here #one more person calls him Feral. calls him animalistic. bestial. stg im killing the hostages. #THE furthest extent of any quote-unquote Instincts that is ever brought up in SM2099 is a small scene where he comments upon-- #--theoretically Already Having th necessary neural pathways and instincts in place to use nd control his powers as he adjusts 2 getting the #fucksake. calling a mexican man that you already dont see as human Feral is not a compliment get it thru ur heads. #pejoratives r not Flattering th shit used 2 dehumanize Actual People for centuries isnt a Quirky Funny Thing to call an indigenous characte #christ. if youve never read sm2099 then ur bad faith self-righteous sm2099 opinions are less than worthless to me. #You Are The Emperor Without His Clothes On waving your dong all over the town square. just shut up already. youll look smarter.

[luchsyy]

i am my own oc

#(84336638 centuries later) hi guys i finally did the evil art style challenge ^__^ #my art #digital art #self portrait #evil art style challenge #art meme #art dump #comic #outfit design

[disease]

Victorian-era photo album offers a gentleman's guide to self-defense maneuvers. [1895]

#tutorial #self-defense #victorian #vintage #19th century #monochrome #photography #u

[lionofchaeronea]

Self-Portrait, Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun, 1800

#art #art history #Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun #female artists #portrait #portrait painting #self-portrait #Rococo #French art #18th century art #oil on canvas #Hermitage #Hermitage Museum

[lunarmoves]

dappled sunlight filters its way through the thin curtains of the window by the kitchen sink, warming your hands as you rinse off a few spoons. a pot set on the stove bubbles away with a soup you’d prepped not long ago, a savory smell saturating the air. your phone plays a gentle melody that you find yourself humming along to, lost to your thoughts with nothing to distract you from them. 

well—temporarily, that is. 

a light weight rests atop your head and you’re loathe to admit it makes you jump a little before you register golden hands coming up behind you. snaking under your arms so they can rest on the edge of the sink and tap gently away. 

“are you done yet?” sun asks, a tinge of impatience lining his voice. his voice cracks through the gentle atmosphere of the kitchen like a bolt of electricity. it makes a wry smile tug at your lips. wherever sun goes, exuberance is sure to follow.

you chuckle. “almost. soup’s just gotta simmer for a few more minutes. did you pick out a movie?” 

“ages ago,” he groans, his head shifting to instead nestle itself on your shoulder. one of his rays pokes you in the neck slightly before he retracts it. he watches you run a sponge over one of your kitchen knives. “moon thinks you’ll like it. it’s one of those comedy horror movies. willy’s wonderland?” 

“sounds fun," you say lightly. the knife gets rinsed off before you set it into the nearby dish rack. and before you can even wipe off your hands, sun suddenly wraps his arms around your midsection and pulls you backwards away from the sink. it's a movement so fluid yet jarring that you can't help the surprised laugh that escapes your lips. "sun! i said a few more minutes!"

"and a few minutes is all we need!" sun declares dramatically as he spins around a few times with you, aimless in his direction and unrelenting in his persistence.

you can't help the silly grin that spreads across your face, your movements limited as sun traps you against the front of his chest. he twirls around the little kitchen space, narrowly avoiding the counters' edges. it makes you giggle to yourself, dizziness lightly brushing itself against your senses. his hands eventually move to rotate your body around so that you're properly facing him. he wraps one arm around your lower back and grasps at your free hand with his other one in a gesture that makes your heart traitorously skip a beat.

you are tucked into his lithe body, the crown of your head barely reaching the center of his chest. he takes advantage of his height to trap you there, both your bodies pressed together like two pieces from the same puzzle. his warm arm holds onto you tightly—steadfastly. his grip on your hand is unwilling to let go for even the smallest of moments.

you manage to crane your head back to look at him and the wide grin taking up the lower portion of his face. something mischievous sparks within his white optics—where you can just faintly see his ringed pupils. "what are you doing?" your voice is bright and breathless with your laughter.

"isn't it obvious, my dear?" his smile widens as his head twitches slightly to the side. you can see his pupils dart over to the counter where your phone lays and it finally registers in your head that an upbeat song has started playing from its speakers. "we are! dancing! do try to keep up!"

that is all the warning you get before he absolutely sweeps you away. he leads you in a swing-style dance, rocking the two of you side to side in swooping gestures that has your heart bouncing all over your chest. you laugh and shriek when he gets a bit too close to the stove or a sharp corner, but he's quick on his feet and spins the two of you away in deliberate steps.

you can hear the click-click-click of his rays spinning and extending from his face plate, feel the gentle vibration of his voice box as he laughs alongside you. he croons out the words of the song in your ear and it makes the apples of your cheeks hurt from how much you're smiling.

you are not able to keep up with his rapid footsteps—his long legs make him easily able to overtake your own. you stumble and trip a few times, saved only by the tightness of his grip, until he eventually just squats down slightly and tightens his hold across your lower back. you are given not a single warning and you yelp as he lifts you up. your feet dangle off the ground as he hoists you so that your face is level with his own and your chests press together like they could become one. effortlessly and with not an ounce of hesitation.

he takes control completely with this new position and you are forced to simply let yourself be swung about like some kind of doll or stuffed animal as he prances and spins around your apartment. his face presses itself in the crook of your neck, eyes upturned into crescents and his smile bright enough to rival the, well, actual sun.

"sun, the soup! the soup!" you eventually manage to get out between loud laughs, the hand you have wrapped around his shoulders patting him rapidly. you nearly forgot in the whirlwind that sun is, only reminded after you caught a glimpse of the kitchen doorway when sun spun the right way in your living room. your stomach has started to ache and you know if you don't calm yourself down soon it will become unbearable as all extended bouts of laughter do.

"fret not! it has already been turned off!" sun says cheerily as he rocks side to side, making his way around the small coffee table positioned in the center of the living room. the glow of sunlight shimmering through your open windows causes him to be bathed in gold—like he has been touched by midas' hand. and it is utterly gorgeous.

"when did you do that?!" you ask breathlessly, moving to press your cheek against his face plate. it's cool against your skin that has warmed from all the prior movement. sun doesn't mind the contact if his spinning rays are any indication.

in lieu of a response, he only offers you a wink and a stretch of his smile in a sly grin. you huff out some more laughter that turns into a giddy, high-pitched sound when a new song starts playing and sun goes off again with replenished fervor. shouting the words and jumping about with you in his tenderly-tucked hold.

and well... by the time sun's had his fill of dancing and you've had enough of the dizzying twirls and aching laughs, the soup has long gone cold. you can't bring yourself to be upset about it.

#i swear by willys wonderland btw. funniest fnaf wannabe movie of the century. nick cage is in it. nuff said #dca x reader #daycare attendant x reader #sun x reader #fnaf sun x reader #fnaf sun x y/n #sun x you #sun x y/n #sun x self insert #sundrop x reader #sundrop x y/n #dca x y/n #dca x self insert #dca x you #shay scribbles daydreams #fnaf dca x reader #moon version to be followed<3 #eventually LOL #jealous sun is next actually

[larobeblanche]

Zinaida Serebriakova (Ukrainian, 1884-1967) • Self-Portrait as Piero • 1911 • Odessa Fine Arts Museum, Odessa, Ukraine.

#art #women in white #painting #la robe blanche #fine art #self portrait #zinaida serebriakova #ukranian artist #woman artist #art history #early 20th century russian art #art blog #oil painting #art appreciation #art lovers

[pintoras]

Lavinia Fontana (Italian, 1552 - 1614): Portrait of a Pregnant Woman, Possibly a Self-Portrait (via Sotheby's)

#Lavinia Fontana #women artists #women painters #art #painting #sixteenth century #seventeenth century #early women painters #early women artists #self portrait #italian painters