Latest Posts by aslanay-vonholle - Page 3

(Allora, amo tantissimo la pagina fb #cartoorin, e ho voluto provare anche io a mischiare i film d’animazione con alcuni dei luoghi più belli della mia regione natia.  Hope you like it 💙)

Monday 3 June 2019

I love this corner of the library. Perfect silence, perfect temperature, perfect view.

Radcliffe Science Library, Oxford

Listen, I might be playing the devils advocate, but I don't think Dany's fate in the GoT finale was due to D&D being sexist.I think it was just because D&D can't write for crap.

It’s not about intent.

Allow me to begin by saying that I completely understand the knee-jerk reaction that people have to the term ‘sexism’. It’s very polarizing, and when men read the term, they immediately go on the offensive. That’s not what I want at all. I don’t use the term to alienate or exclude men, I use it because it’s the dictionary definition of what I’m trying to convey:

sex·ism (noun): "prejudice, stereotyping, or discrimination, typically against women, on the basis of sex.“

That said, allow me to play devil’s advocate here and say that I do not believe the writers intended to have an underlying sexist message. They are more oblivious than they are malicious. It is born of sheer ignorance (lack of knowledge or information) and the privilege to ignore it because, as males, it doesn’t affect them.

Let’s put aside the dozens of articles that came out after the finale calling out the sexism. You guys know me, I like to pull receipts, cite my sources, and throw in some visuals to help aid my point.

For most of the 70+ hours of Game of Thrones, Daenerys actually does not fall victim to these sexist tropes. Honestly, that is what subverted my expectations for seven seasons. That Dany always teetered on the edge of these tired, overused tropes about women, yet she remained steadfast in her ruthless yet good nature, her moral compass was always aligned even if it didn’t match the viewers, and she was a gods-damned hero, straight through to episode four of season eight.

But the demoralizing reality is that Daenerys was hit with trope after trope in the last three episodes. In the final hours of the show, the writers pulled a bait-and-switch, giving us a ‘shocking’ heel-tern whose only foreshadowing was a very bad retcon job full of double standards. And so many fans, such as yourself, justify it. Not because the show foreshadowed it, but because these tropes are so, so ingrained in our brains from decades of media feeding us these narratives that we now expect them.

In the end, Daenerys succumbs to numerous sexist tropes:

‘God Save Us From the Queen’ trope

“The Good Kingdom: A lovely, wealthy country ruled by a benevolent king, a wise prince, and a fair princess loved by the populace. But what’s that? There’s a queen? Oh, brother, we’re in trouble.”

Disposable Woman trope

“This character has a familial or romantic relationship with a protagonist, which allows creators to derive heart-wrenching sorrow from her death.”

Evil Infertile Woman trope

“Women are often divided into “breeders” and “the barren,” with the latter coming off as cool and distant at best, and malicious and desperate at worst.“

The Double-Standard Trope

“A double standard occurs when members of two or more groups are treated differently regarding the same thing. Gender is one of the most common causes of double standards.”

Hysterical Woman trope

“This trope characterizes women as less rational, disciplined, and emotionally stable than men, and thus more prone to mood swings, irrational overreactions, and mental illness.”

Woman Scorned trope

“What’s the only type of woman more dangerous than a Mama Bear? A woman who’s been dumped or otherwise done wrong by her significant other. Especially if she’s been hiding some sanity problems.”

Women Are Delicate trope

“Even if women have toughness, competence, strength or stability, it’s less than what their male peers are capable of.”

The Woman Wearing the Queenly Mask trope

“They don’t want a young woman, or they don’t want any woman, or they just don’t want this particular woman on the throne.”

Tropes in and of themselves are not bad, but very outdated tropes that are associated with the emotional or mental ‘fragility’ of women are. Why? Because they reinforce deep-seated and subconscious stereotypes of women that audiences hold.

“It’s just a show/book! Who cares!”

People have been turning to art (including literature) for years for meaning, for philosophical guidance. Most people in my own country turn to one book to both find and justify their morality (the bible).

“Literature offers not just a window into the culture of diverse regions, but also the society, the politics; it’s the only place where we can keep track of ideas.”―Reza Aslan

It’s not just a show. The art and media we consume helps shape who we are, for better or worse. When men refuse to consider the consequence of their sexist narratives simply because it doesn’t affect their own lives, it inadvertently causes harm for others who don’t share their privilege.

And it’s not just Daenerys. She’s just the figurehead.

There was a great article from BBC about how much women actually speak on Game of Thrones:

I can already hear the counter-argument brewing…

“So what? There are more male characters!”

Yeah. There are. And that’s a problem, too.

Of the top-grossing 1,200 films from 2007 to 2018, 28% of films were led or co-led by women. Meanwhile, around 49.6 percent of the world’s population is female.

By featuring so few women and by giving women who are featured 20% of the airtime to speak their minds, the writers are unintentionally devaluing the speech and opinions of women. This inspires the audience to devalue women in a subconscious way.

Whether or not it intended to, Game of Thrones and its shocking ‘heel-turn’ has very troubling sexist and political implications (amongst other things).

Go ahead, tell me I’m wrong. Tell me I’m blowing this way out of proportion.

Tell me it’s just a show or a book and every single fan knows how to separate fiction from reality (they don’t, go look at Maisie William’s Instagram comments following her season eight sex scene for proof of that). Meanwhile, here in actual reality, we see things like this:

@thescarletgarden1990 informs me that over in Italy, political figures are using Game of Thrones advertising in their campaigns, too:

Translation: “Invaded by masses of Others? Not Today. Immediate naval block, let’s defend our borders.”

What makes it worse is that, at least Donald Trump, identifies with House Stark. Or, those who rule the northerners. The people who showed their blatant racism toward the only two black named characters. And the writers never bothered to critique the problematic behavior, instead, rewarding their people with independence and driving those pesky evil foreigners ’back where they belong’.

I’ve barely had time to scroll my dash and I’ve already seen a troubling amount of harassment towards Dany fans via anon asks (including myself, though I just block the IP and delete but I wish I’d saved them for proof).

Why? Because the ending justifies their personal narrative, this bad writing confirms their worldview. Meanwhile, on the other side of the spectrum, the same thing is happening in reverse in response to the takedown of a figure like Daenerys Targaryen:

“Khaleesi’s heel turn is particularly troubling for fans who might have felt a true sense of connection to her character following her epic story arc, which has seen Dany escape some awful circumstances to literally walk through fire, free the slaves, bring Dragons to the north and help rally the troops to defeat the Night King. She has basically been Abraham Lincoln, Hercules and Winston Churchill combined into one person riding a dragon.” (x)

The point here is that the show is doing its audience of 19,300,000 viewers a great disservice by succumbing to very outdated tropes and double standards, and sending troubling messages as a result. For instance, a woman can do countless heroic or selfless things, but you should never trust her! She needs to be tempered. Women cannot wield power responsibly. There are endless messages you can take away from this ending and the dialogue that led us to the show’s conclusion (my personal favorite being ‘Cocks are important’).

And the fans who want to say 'you’re overreacting’ to everyone who speaks up against it are only aiding in this ongoing legacy of 85% male writers who get to tell our stories, poorly, and reap all the rewards.

Sure, all of this could be solely the result of ‘just bad writing’…

Nevertheless, it is what it is.

The Native Cinema Renaissance: Films

Gianlorenzo Bernini, 1619 Sleeping Hermaphroditos details

ig: @v__make__up

What are your favourite pieces of classical music?

 I don’t have the slightest musical education so my apologies for the possible abuse of the term “classical” but lately I’ve grown a special affection for the following pieces:

Bach-Capriccio on the departure of a beloved brother- (the way it starts as a grave farewell and then becomes light reminds me of Catullus 65) Cello Suite No.1 and Concertos for Oboe

Corelli- La Follia (or Vivaldi’s version, if I’m feeling extra extra)

Monteverdi- Zefiro Torna, Lamento della Ninfa and many of his madrigals

Jean Baptiste Lully- Armide

Franz Schubert- Serenade, Fantasy in F Minor

Frédéric Chopin- Nocturne, Funeral March, La Polonaise (reminds me of dziady!)

 Felix Mendelssohn- Midsummer Night’s Dream

 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky- Rococo Variation, Pas de deux from the Nutcracker

I’m in love with the Impressionists: Ravel’s Le Tombeau de Couperin was the first work to make me interested in classical music, and I also love Jeux d’eau, Daphnis et Chloe, Introduction and Allegro, String Quartet- Assez Vif

Claude Debussy: Suite Bergamasque

Erik Satie:  Gymnopédies and Gnossiennes (for cloudy Sunday mornings)

Stuff iv’e read in 2018 (comics)

Totsukuni no shoujo by Nagabe

To you the immortal by  Yoshitoki Ōima

Ao no flag by KAITO

My lesbian experience with loneliness by Nagata kabi

Tongari no boushi atelier/witch hat atelier by  Shirahama Kamome

Jujustu kaisen by Akutami Gege

Innocent rouge by Sakamoto Shinichi

Suikki by Urushibara Yuki

Happiness by Oshimi Shuzo

Birdmen by Tanabe Yellow

im late but honorable mentions because tumblr formats arent letting me upload them to shimanami tasogare by kamatani yuhki (i think i probs read it at the end of 2017 but i cant remember) and Mob psycho 100 by ONE 

Famous artwork appears in the palace in “Barbie as Rapunzel”

If you thought that my dad and I did not saw the head off a ballerina ornament and put a Santa head in its place, that I did not remove his hat and trim his beard and paint his hair, that my mom did not sew a tiny velvet jacket onto him, if you thought that we do not have a dainty tutu’d Tchaikovsky on our Christmas tree, you were dead wrong, here he is

three waves: Katsushika Hokusai. “Under the Wave off Kanagawa (Kanagawa oki nami ura),” also known as “the Great Wave,” from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjūrokkei), ca. 1830–32.

Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis. “Finale”, from cycle Sonata of the Sea, 1908.

Ivan Bilibin. Illustration for the picture book, “The Tale of Tsar Saltan”, 1905.

Galeria con distintos vocetos y dibujos de las Catwoman mas importantes del cine y la tv. Estas fueron realizadas por el artista phillip light

Pain Relieving Tea

For centuries, herbs have been used in many ways. Two being medicinally and spiritually. Depending on the healing properties of herbs, they can be smoked, steeped as a tea or even used to make a poultice or tincture.  This combination of natural herbs can assist in relieving multiple pain illnesses and promote relaxation when drunk as a tea.

Relieves: 

General Aches & Pains, Migraines & Headaches, Depression, Anxiety, Insomnia, Menstrual Cramps, PMS, and Stress. 

Herbs & Properties

Blue Dream - I sprinkled a little Blue Dream in my blend because of it’s well known properties in healing pain, depression, nausea, stress, headaches, and fatigue. Adding this overall added a perfect balance because of it’s Sativa properties. This is great to add if you don’t want to feel extremely relaxed.

Chamomile - This herb has many therapeutic uses, in this case, it’s helpful uses are to calm the nervous system, promote general relaxation, and because of it’s muscle-relaxing effects, it can help sooth the muscles will relieving stress-related flatulences.

Feverfew - Used for the prevention of migraines & headaches, arthritis, fevers, muscle tension and pain, Feverfew is also used to lower blood pressure, lessen stomach irritation, stimulate the appetite and to improve digestion and kidney function. It has been indicated for colitis, dizziness, tinnitus and menstrual problems. Precaution: Not for use in pregnancy

Lavender - These flowers are full of medicinally active compounds. It can assist in healing depression, insomnia, stress, and headaches. When used as an essential oil for aromatherapy or used topically, Lavender has the same healing properties for these ailments and they do when steeped as a tea.

Licorice Root - Licorice root is one of the most widely used medicinal herbs worldwide. Apart from this herbs common use as a natural sweetener, Licorice Root is known to treat PMS, menstrual cramps, boost immune system, relieve pain & stress, and prevent heart disease.

Valerian Root - Valerian is well known for its sedative qualities and its ability to relax the central nervous system and the smooth muscle groups. With over 120 chemical components found in valerian, it is indicated for anxiety, confusion, cramp, depression, insomnia and disturbed sleep patterns, irregular menstruation, migraines, PMS, stress, tension and many more!

Willow Bark - Willow bark is the herbal analogue for aspirin. It is approved by the German Commission E in supporting joint health, as well as for alleviating occasional headaches in healthy individuals. It is traditionally used as an all-purpose pain reliever and anti-inflammatory.

Happy Healing,

by Jacqueline, the Plant Lady. (IG: jeditree)

Yoni and lingam yantra by Mukti Singh Thapa, Nepal

Summer of Love 💛

Tunes For The Signs | Sun & Venus

🌞 Aries: Let’s Live For Today - The Grass Roots | Wild Child - The Doors |  The House Of The Rising Sun - The Animals | Help! - The Beatles | Venus - Shocking Blue

🌞 Taurus: Nights In White Satin - The Moody Blues | Lay, Lady, Lay - Bob Dylan | Daydream Believer - The Monkees | Happy Together - The Turtles | The Letter - The Box Tops

🌞 Gemini: Here Comes The Sun - The Beatles | My Generation - The Who | I Get Around - The Beach Boys | I’m Alive - The Hollies | Brown Eyed Girl - Van Morrison

🌞 Cancer: Groovin’ - The Young Rascals | Dedicated To The One I Love - The Mamas & The Papas | All Day And All Of The Night - The Kinks | Ain’t No Mountain High Enough - Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terell | Penny Lane - The Beatles

🌞 Leo: I’m A Believer - The Monkees | Gimme Some Lovin’ - The Spencer Davis Group | Respect - Aretha Franklin | Can’t Buy Me Love - The Beatles | Be My Baby - The Ronettes 

🌞 Virgo: Purple Haze - Jimi Hendrix | Heart Full Of Soul - The Yardbirds | Sunny Afternoon - The Kinks | For What It’s Worth - Buffalo Springfield | Love Is All Around - The Troggs

🌞 Libra: All You Need Is Love - The Beatles | Dream A Little Dream Of Me - The Mamas & The Papas | Somethin’ Stupid - Frank Sinatra & Nancy Sinatra | Something - The Beatles | Do You Believe In Magic - The Lovin’ Spoonful

🌞 Scorpio: Black Magic Woman - Fleetwood Mac | I Can See For Miles - The Who | Sunshine Of Your Love - Cream | I Had Too Much To Dream (Last Night) – The Electric Prunes | Riders On The Storm - The Doors

🌞 Sagittarius: Tuesday Afternoon - The Moody Blues | Born To Be Wild - Steppenwolf | Summer Wine - Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazlewood | Light My Fire - The Doors | Ruby Tuesday - The Rolling Stones

🌞 Capricorn: I’m A Man - The Spencer Davis Group | Paint It Black - The Rolling Stones | Strange Brew - Cream | Break On Through (To The Other Side) - The Doors | A Day In The Life - The Beatles

🌞 Aquarius: Strawberry Fields Forever - The Beatles | People Are Strange - The Doors | Good Vibrations - The Beach Boys | Visions Of Paradise - The Moody Blues | If 6 Was 9 - Jimi Hendrix

🌞 Pisces: San Francisco - Scott McKenzie | California Dreamin’ - The Mamas & The Papas | Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds - The Beatles | Spooky - Classics IV | All Along The Watchtower - Jimi Hendrix

I’ve been baking (:

The simpsons horror movies tribute

List of french films

Here are just a few french films you can watch to improve your language skills:-)

Films : - 120 battements par minutes (2017) - Grave (2016) - Trois souvenirs de ma jeunesse (2015) - Comment c’est loin (2015) - La tête haute (2015) - L’étudiante et monsieur Henri (2015) - Réparer les vivants (2015) - Respire (2014) - Yves Saint Laurent (2014) - La vie d’Adèle (2013) - Jeune et jolie (2013) - De rouille et d’os (2012) - Intouchables (2011) - L’amour dure trois ans (2011) - Polisse (2011) - Gainsbourg, vie héroïque (2010) - Le premier jour du reste de ta vie (2008) - Je vais bien, ne t’en fais pas (2006) - Jeux d’enfants (2003) - Le fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain (2001) - La haine (1995) - 37.2 le matin / Betty blue (1986)

Animated movies :  - Ma vie de courgette (2016) - Persepolis (2007) - Princes et princesses (1999) - Kirikou et la sorcière (1998)

if you have any question, feel free to ask me : http://mi2kle.tumblr.com/ask

The signs as famous mistresses

Aries: Amalie Sophie Marianne von Wallmoden

Taurus: Hortense Catherine Schneider

Gemini: Hortense Mancini

Cancer: Liane de Pougy

Leo: Madame du Barry \ Louise de la Valliere

Virgo: Louise de Keroualle

Libra: Madame de Montespan

Scorpio: Barbara Villiers

Sagittarius: Émilie du Châtelet

Capricorn: Madame de Pompadour

Aquarius: Nell Gwyn

Pisces: Arabella Churchill

Fav Period Dramas <3

Well, @nightmaredaisy asked me about this and so I made a little list :D these are some of my favorite period dramas. Be aware that some of these are biographical films and/or short television serials, mostly produced by BBC and thus can be quite long XD

Andersen, Life Without Love (2006) [biographical fiction film based on the life of H.C Andersen]

Jane Eyre (2006)

Chéri (2009) [My personal fave <3]

Les Miserables (1998)

Mary Reilly (1996)

A Little Chaos (2015)

The Piano (1993)

Bright Star (2009) [biographical fiction film based on the life of John Keats]

Modigliani (2004) [biographical fiction film based on the life of Amedeo Modigliani]

Creation (2009) [biographical fiction film based on the life of Charles Darwin]

North & South (2004) - [My mom’s favorite :3]

Neverland (2004) [biographical fiction film based on the life of James Barrie]

Amadeus (1984) [biographical fiction film based on the life of W.A.Mozart]

Girl with a Pearl Earring (2003)

The Scarlet Letter (2015)

The English Patient (1996)

Far from the Madding Crowd (2015)

The Great Gatsby (1974) [I like the Robert Redford movie better than the Di Caprio one.]

The Scarlet Pimpernel (1982)

Elisabeth the Golden Age (2007) [biographical fiction film based on the life of Queen Elisabeth I]

Goya’s Ghosts (2006) [biographical fiction film -partially- based on the life of Francisco Goya]

Special mentions even if these aren’t ‘real’ period dramas:

Midnight in Paris (2011)

The Theory of Everything (2014) [biographical fiction film based on the life of Stephen Hawking]

Il materiale di origine: @lilygavin, @montassaralaia @rupertfriend, @emmanuelle.seigner (Instagram) / Photos from the set of At Eternity’s Gate filmed in Arles, Provence, and Saint-Rémy, France. (2017) #myedit

Art history books

As requested, here’s a short list of art history books that I found extremely helpful during my undergraduate degree. Most of them are just introductory but good reads nonetheless. If you need book recommendations on specific artists, art movements or genres, don’t hesitate to send me a message. 

Here we go!

1. A World History of Art by Hugh Honour & John Fleming. This book is HUGE and it’s available to purchase online in various editions - any of them is okay for an introductory reading. 

2. The Story of Art by E.H. Gombrich. Although this book contains next to none female artists, it’s still a good introduction to the art world. 

3. Concepts of Modern Art edited by Nikos Stangos. Good read, covers a lot of areas. Also, I found it for £0.01 on Amazon, so not that bad. 

4. Learning to Look at Paintings by Mary Acton. Self-explanatory really. 

5. The Lives of the Artists by Giorgio Vasari. Vasari is perhaps the first to have carried out some sort of primordial art historical research. Although he includes lots of anecdotal stories about artists, these should be read lightly and not be taken all that seriously. However, he does provide us with some invaluable information! 

6. Looking at the Overlooked (Four Essays on Still Life Painting) by Norman Bryson. Nothing is what it looks like. Basically. 

7. Art Since 1900 - Modernism, Antimodernism, Postmodernism by Hal Foster and Rosalind Krauss. Another huge book. It’s also very heavy. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. 

8. Classical Art: From Greece to Rome by Mary Beard and John Henderson. For statues and things like that. 

9. Ways of Seeing by John Berger. This book you guys, if you intent to buy a book, get this one. 

10. The Social History of Art, Volumes 1, 2, 3 and 4 by Arnold Hauser. An overview of art history by perhaps the most well-know Marxist art historian.

I am sure more will come to mind as time passes so I will make sure to update this brief list accordingly. Feel free to also add more suggestions if you have any good art history books in mind. Remember that the above are more or less introductory readings than anything else. I hope these recommendations are somewhat helpful to you!

Giovanni da Udine (1487-1561) - Dettaglio del finto pergolato con festoni di frutta e fiori che incornicia le Storie di Amore e Psiche, ciclo realizzato da Raffaello e aiuti nella Loggia di Psiche, Villa Farnesina, Roma.

Tra i tanti capricci realizzati da Giovanni si notano una serie di composizioni basate su zucchine, cetrioli ed altre verdure lungiformi, che prendono la forma di falli e che si pongono quali elementi apotropaici di fertilità e di buon augurio. Il più notevole, ricordato anche dal Vasari, è il capriccio posto sopra Mercurio ed indicato dalla stessa divinità.

“…sopra la figura di un Mercurio che vola ha finto per Priapo una zucca attraversata da villucchi, che ha per testicoli due petroncioni, e vicino al fiore di quella ha finto una ciocca di fichi brugiotti grossi, dentro a uno dei quali, aperto e troppo fatto, entra la punta della zucca col fiore, il quale capriccio è espresso con tanta grazia, che più non si piò alcuno immaginare”

Giorgio Vasari, vita di Giovanni da Udine.

My entire collection! I’m not going to be buying any more decks for a while, so an update if my complete collection sounded fun. So. Left to right, top to bottom.

Bird ov Prey, Ellis Deck, Jonasa Jaus tarot, Amethyst Oracle, Illuminated Tarot Spiritsong Tarot, Abandoned Oracle,

Skeleton Tarot, Resting Bitch Face Oracle, Delos Tarot, Il tarocco delle vetrate, Mothers Wisdom, Wooden tarot, Silhouettes tarot,

Shadowscapes, Crystal Visions, Ceccoli oracle, Idiosyncradeck, Ceccoli tarot, Ravens prophecy, Body language tarot, AuroracleV2,

Antique anatomy, Revelations tarot,Oracle of oddities V2, Joie de vivre, housewives tarot, Marigold tarot, Messages tarot, Auroracle,

Oracle of oddities V3, Oracle of oddities, Urban divination, Earthbound oracle, Ephemera edition, Only Time Will Tell, Black prism oracle, Earthly souls and spirits.