Harp the Wigglytuff @wigglytuffitout@computerfairi.es

note i am vehemently not saying to not teach Austen books, because they're extremely important historically and she's a fantastic pioneer of a woman author

i'm just saying that i personally would rather eat Pride and Prejudice with sausage gravy than read it. please don't make me. i did my time. i got out. YOU CAN'T MAKE ME GO BACK, MAN

i feel much the same way about the writings and speeches of Virginia Woolfe just to continue my Bad Feminist Terrible Literature Opinions C-C-C-Combo there

but to continue my having Bad Book Opinions

i would rather eat an Austen novel with gravy than have to read another one, the Wheel of Time series is like trying to grate your own face off with a ped-egg, and Snow Crash is a delightful book right up until you hit the brick fucking wall of babylonian mythology at which point it chucks all of your enjoyment out the window and takes a knife to all your car tires.

i'm gonna say that i'm otherwise a bad judge of "what books would be interesting to kids in school to read" because, as you may have guessed from my love of overly long sentences, i actually get along quite well with victoriana and so paddled my way cheerfully through dickens while other people were constantly distracted on pure technical merits

also i found The Golden Compass, assigned for summer reading one year, to just be... incredibly tiresome on many levels

@eightbitsamurai@elekk.xyz @BestGirlGrace god yeah.

i actually really think young adult lit is great for getting kids invested in the very ideas and used to seeing them. none of the series i can think of are exactly fucking subtle about it, which makes it a lot easier to spot and point out the concept on many levels.

i mean it's not like you can fucking miss the "so, let's talk about how sometimes in western lit a character is supposed to represent Jesus Christ" when it's Aslan all over narnia

@Sapphicgiraffic@snouts.online all i can think about is an episode of the newest star trek that my mom is keeping up with and how after watching it she had to come to me all "i know you'll understand this, but let me tell you how bad this evil astrology episode was."

@eightbitsamurai@elekk.xyz @BestGirlGrace YES!!

and it's not like you can't get PLENTY of examples of symbolism in those books. i mean dear lord the very premise of animorphs that slaps you across the face with it on the very cover is ANIMAL SYMBOLISM ANIMAL SYMBOLISM ANIMAL SYMBOLISM THEY ARE ANIMALS AND THE ANIMALS MAY BE CONNECTED TO THEIR CHARACTER TRAITS AS REFLECTED IN THE STORY COME GETCHA ANIMAL SYMBOLISM, blared at three thousand decibels with a giant neon sign

@eightbitsamurai@elekk.xyz AGREED 100%.

i feel like so many people got on the "lit analysis is bullshit, it's just stories, and stories can't have hidden meaning or affect things" train while being dragged through literature that has historical significance but is a chore to read for most everyone there

...and tbh i saw that leap happen with Lord Of The Flies, when all the white boys lined up to square down with a book that didn't think too highly of their judgment so they got pissy at it lmao.

@Sapphicgiraffic@snouts.online it's like i just found the Soul Brother To Masto Transbian cross-dictionary, and you have revealed to me what is the translation for "she's a brick (da na na na) hoooouse"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrBx6mAWYPU

well, i came, i spammed music, and now we're on to "unsolicited advice from a wigglytuff: personal edition" as i flail wildly at innocent people on the fediverse timeline

@tastymochafox HELL YEAH

there are also some parasols that are rain-resistant enough to be umbrellas and fold down small like a travel umbrella, too! (i have one of that style that has its own carrying bag!)

it takes some delving but if you find the right keyword set, aliexpress (and taobao if you're more hardcore) have GREAT selections - i get the sense that right now in asia, physical sun protection is a lot bigger than in the west. there's also cute sun-blocking tops and shrugs to find too!

@DragonNamedRedd@snouts.online and honestly most of these effects are self-reported. so, again, it's completely fine to go "doc, i don't think this is quite it".

getting to healthcare is a pretty expensive trial, but if you really are wrestling with major negative impacts in your life because of it - well, worth having them do some basic bloodwork at least. there's plenty of shit that can just Happen and get hormone levels outta whack, and worth investigating.