A Conspiracy of Cartographers

Edit on 5/2/2025: I have mixed feelings about aspects of this essay these days but have chosen to keep it up and pinned as I’m still happy with my analysis even if I’m furious at NG, who is mentioned several times. TW for that. Argh.

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The thing about romance is, it makes a good story.

As soon as NG described season 2 as “quiet, gentle, romantic” I figured we’d be in for it, because as he’s the first to point out, writers are liars. And the best way to deceive is with truth.

Season 2 is romantic. The trappings of romance are everywhere. Crowley tries to set up Nina and Maggie by trapping them under an awning during a rainstorm, a classic cinematic bonding technique. Aziraphale’s chosen method comes from his beloved books: the ball, the dancing, appearing as a pair in public, hands held as you twirl gracefully with your heart thrilled and racing. If they can set up a sensational kiss that will unlock the happy ever after. They’ve lived on earth, they’ve studied the tropes, they know how romance works.

The problem is a story is only a story.

Keep reading

scrmnviking:

wonderwyrm:

tenaciouswritingdragon:

c-h-a-n-d-ra:

c-h-a-n-d-ra:

nostalgebraist-autoresponder:

c-h-a-n-d-ra:

hope is a skill

hope is a weapon you are trained to wield

favourite additions

You cannot hide this in the tags, bestie. This is too lovely to keep a secret.

Theodor would approve.

(via killingmenotatallsoftly)

treasures-and-beauty:

Ancient Roman glass mosaic bowl, late 1st century B.C.–early 1st century A.D.

(via naniiebim)

bodhrancomedy:

I am actually Northern Irish but also actually Deaf so my accent is kind of (very) weird.

(via behappybeusefulbekind)

redarmyscreaming:

rabnerd28:

fireache:

hotvampireadjacent:

Student arrested for eating AI art in UAF gallery protest — The Sun Star - UAF's Student Voice

On Tuesday, January 13, University of Alaska Fairbanks undergraduate student Graham Granger was detained after he had been found “ripping ar

The Sun Star - UAF's Student Voice

Cannot consumption of AI be considered an art expression?

(via suvroc)

meiioh:

Can’t believe this was from 2024 and it is now … 2026. That’s how long this outfit has been haunting me. On a medieval kick rn!

(via callingvoicemail)

moonflower-rose:

kisskisscantfallinlove:

“people are allowed to be grossed out”

ok. keep it to yourself. it’s the polite thing to do. if i’m not enjoying food someone made, that i get to eat for free, i’m not gonna shit all over their cooking and personal tastes

My mother used to make a gorgeous chocolate mousse from scratch, and it was something she brought to every family event, and made for events we had at our house. She got the recipe in like 1989 and so it was upwards of six mousses per year and the whole fam looked forward to them.

Then one year at Easter something went wrong and the chocolate separated and the mousse was weird looking and a bit odd tasting (not inedible, just odd) and my cousin (who was only about 12 to be fair) ate his bowl while loudly proclaiming MY GOD THIS IS NOT GOOD AUNTIE D and WHAT DID YOU DO and THIS IS HORRIBLE and on the one hand we all laughed (inc mum) because it was so unfiltered and rude and he kept eating it even as he proclaimed it an abomination, and 20ish years later we still have a laugh about it.

But mum never made mousse for a family event again and didn’t even want to do it just for us kids or dad. She was really embarrassed and she lost her confidence.

My cousin didn’t need to say it. Mum knew it hadn’t turned out right. She brought it anyway because we’d told her she should and she didn’t want to disappoint anyone because this was so looked forward to by everyone. Maybe he was only 12 and didn’t know how to have any tact.

PLEASE CONSIDER THIS before you provide your ‘feedback’ on fanworks. You could be the reason some poor person never makes anything again, or at least never shares it with the community. Don’t whatabout the people who invite concrit me - just fucking have a think before you comment, okay?

Also fuck you Danny, I could’ve been eating mousse for 25 years if it weren’t for you!

(via whiteorangeflower)

thebibliosphere:

This is your reminder that if you are feeling helpless and cannot be on the front lines, there are other ways to help.

People need to be fed. Check to see what your local food pantry situation is. Make hot meals for people you know have been out in the cold for hours on end. Emergency kits for field medics need to be supplied. People need help getting to the pharmacy, the grocery store. Help shovel your neighbor’s sidewalk if you’re able. Find a way to do something.

Build connections. Build community. They want us frightened and isolated. Refuse.

punksalmon:

whenever you take too much time to write something know it is because stephen king has been stealing your life force

(via thebibliosphere)

jimmythejiver:

un-monstre:

un-monstre:

Hate it when TikTok farm cosplayers and cottagecore types say stuff like “I’m not going to use modern equipment because my grandmothers could make do without it.” Ma'am, your great grandma had eleven children. She would have killed for a slow cooker and a stick blender.

I’ve noticed a sort of implicit belief that people used to do things the hard way in the past because they were tougher or something. In reality, labor-saving devices have historically been adopted by the populace as soon as they were economically feasible. No one stood in front of a smoky fire or a boiling pot of lye soap for hours because they were virtuous, they did it because it was the only way to survive.

Taking these screenshots from Facebook because they make you log in and won’t let you copy and paste:

(via thebibliosphere)