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biggest-gaudiest-patronuses · 7 months

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the fact that shakespeare was a playwright is sometimes so funny to me. just the concept of the "greatest writer of the English language" being a random 450-year-old entertainer, a 16th cent pop cultural sensation (thanks in large part to puns & dirty jokes & verbiage & a long-running appeal to commoners). and his work was made to be watched not read, but in the classroom teachers just hand us his scripts and say "that's literature"

just...imagine it's 2450 A.D. and English Lit students are regularly going into 100k debt writing postdoc theses on The Simpsons screenplays. the original animation hasn't even been preserved, it's literally just scripts and the occasional SDH subtitles.txt. they've been republished more times than the Bible

#due to the Great Data Decay academics write viciously argumentative articles on which episodes aired in what order #at conferences professors have known to engage in physically violent altercations whilst debating the air date number of household viewers #90% of the couch gags have been lost and there is a billion dollar trade in counterfeit “lost copies”#serious note: i'll be honest i always assumed it was english imperialism that made shakespeare so inescapable in the 19th/20th cent #like his writing should have become obscure at the same level of his contemporaries #but british imperialists needed an ENGLISH LANGUAGE (and BRITISH) writer to venerate #and shakespeare wrote so many damn things that there was a humongous body of work just sitting there waiting to be culturally exploited...#i know it didn't happen like this but i imagine a English Parliament House Committee Member For The Education Of The Masses or something #cartoonishly stumbling over a dusty cobwebbed crate labelled the Complete Works of Shakespeare #and going 'Eureka! this shall make excellent propoganda for fabricating a national identity in a time of great social unrest.#it will be a cornerstone of our elitist educational institutions for centuries to come! long live our decaying empire!'#'what good fortune that this used to be accessible and entertaining to mainstream illiterate audience members...#..but now we can strip that away and make it a difficult & alienating foundation of a Classical Education! just like the latin language :)'#anyway maybe there's no such thing as the 'greatest writer of x language' in ANY language?#maybe there are just different styles and yes levels of expertise and skill but also a high degree of subjectivity #and variance in the way that we as individuals and members of different cultures/time periods experience any work of media #and that's okay! and should be acknowledged!!! and allow us to give ourselves permission to broaden our horizons #and explore the stories of marginalized/underappreciated creators #instead of worshiping the List of Top 10 Best (aka Most Famous) Whatevers Of All Time/A Certain Time Period #anyways things are famous for a reason and that reason has little to do with innate “value”#and much more to do with how it plays into the interests of powerful institutions motivated to influence our shared cultural narratives #so i'm not saying 'stop teaching shakespeare'. but like...maybe classrooms should stop using it as busy work that (by accident or designs)#happens to alienate a large number of students who could otherwise be engaging critically with works that feel more relevant to their world #(by merit of not being 4 centuries old or lacking necessary historical context or requiring untaught translation skills)#and yeah...MAYBE our educational institutions could spend less time/money on shakespeare critical analysis and more on...#...any of thousands of underfunded areas of literary research i literally (pun!) don't know where to begin #oh and p.s. the modern publishing world is in shambles and it would be neat if schoolwork could include modern works?#beautiful complicated socially relevant works of literature are published every year. it's not just the 'classics' that have value #and actually modern publications are probably an easier way for students to learn the basics. since lesson plans don't have to include the #important historical/cultural context many teens need for 20+ year old media (which is older than their entire lived experience fyi)

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longing-for-rain · 11 months

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You know what I think a lot of people don’t realize about grooming is that, the person will almost always start pushing your boundaries in little, non-sexual ways.

For example, one big thing a person who groomed me did was joke about killing and eating my dog. She knew I love my dogs like they’re my children, and I’d told her those “jokes” made me uncomfortable. But she kept doing it. The same joke over and over again; it wasn’t even funny (“I believe all god’s creatures have a place…next to the potatoes”). At first I pushed back, but then it got to a point where I got tired of resisting and treated like I was stiff and couldn’t take a joke. So I relented on that boundary.

That alone might seem insignificant and dumb, but with groomers, as soon as they break down one boundary they’ll immediately start trying to break down another. And each little one they break, the more they get you used to letting them violate you to the point where you’re afraid to speak up against the bigger things.

So especially if you’re a younger person on the internet, never ignore when someone is making you uncomfortable especially if they’re much older. Even if it seems like a silly, insignificant thing. They know what they’re doing, and it’s important to stay safe.

#this is one thing I’m exploring in my non fiction project #internet culture #safety #grooming #fandom toxicity #feminism

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seabeck · 3 months

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Old bones

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peanuttoffee · 4 months

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played Fallen Order for the first time and, guys, my heart

everything was so… beautiful *sobs*

here’s baby Cal to celebrate✨

#jedi fallen order #cal kestis #sw fanart #i’m not much of a player but #the feeling of exploring every location for the first time #tombs…#and everything about zeffo culture honestly #loved every minute of it #and this little redhead? hope yall gonna be seeing him more :D #if i can scramble some free time #he’s a blorbo now that’s decided #artists on tumblr #star wars #star wars fanart #my art

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howamidrivinginlimbo · 3 months

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The ancient city of Pompeii, Italy

On the first photo is the bakery of Sotericus.

On the last photo you can see clay pots built into countertops in the taberna.

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rochenn · 23 days

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I enjoy this fandom's overwhelmingly wholesome portrayal of the clones as individuals and as a community but ngl their upbringing on Kamino would foster a ton of toxic attitudes that I'd like to hear more people's takes on.

I think esp where mental health and performance issues are concerned the vibes would be RANCID. Again I love wholesome clones, and I'm not saying there wouldn't be any of those, but the Kamino cloning facilities are exactly the sort of environment that produces ppl who say shit like "everyone is doing this, why can't you?" or "just be normal" or "stop being depressed". Imo this kind of thinking would have a big impact on aspects of clone culture and community (since there's no such thing as a community without problems like that).

Imagine literally having the same DNA as everyone else but you're failing at something that millions of people with your exact "hardware" have perfected before. Both your creators and your own brothers just place all those "default" expectations on you. And how does that translate to the battlefield? You simply cannot show weakness bc at home, that would make you an inferior product, and on the job it would jeopardize your mission and everyone around you. You'd be stuck in an endless cycle of "man up and get your shit together" and more exploration of that would be fascinating I think.

Overall I'm advocating for more clones that kind of just turn out to be bad people bc it's not like goodness is coded into their genes. It's not like they were raised to be sweet and goofy, but a bunch of them just choose to become sweet and goofy people despite everything. Food for thought

#if the clone wars had been like. 10 years long and if the show was better written #we could've gotten a slow crawl of the clones sort of detoxing from that. or more exploration of clone culture ig #but alas #we gotta do that ourselves <3 #tcw #clone culture #meta

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tygerland · 11 months

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One of two full-size ancient Greek bronzes discovered in 1972 off the western coast of Calabria in southern Italy. The statue, cast circa 460-450 BC, stands 198 cm (78 in) tall. The lips and nipples are made of copper, the teeth are silver and the eyes formed from calcite. At one time this bronze warrior held a spear and shield, but they were never found. The figure may also have worn a wreath around his head. ( Photography by Luigi Spina. )

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mybeautifulpoland · 3 months

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Poznań, Poland by rzemygraphy

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todayontumblr · 6 months

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Thursday, December 7.

There are apples, and then there are apples.

And this would be the latter. In fact, apples really don't come much bigger. If this particularly large apple were a nation-state, it would have the tenth-largest economy in the world. Which is pretty good, for an apple.

But this is New York City, after all, and its reputation precedes it. Sometimes described as the world's most important city, sometimes as the capital of the world, it truly is all things at once. It is defined by its fevered, electric pace of life. A global city in which 800 languages are spoken, it is a cultural, historical, sporting, and political superpower. It is, famously, The City That Never Sleeps. Better still, it enforces a right-to-shelter law ensuring, in the legislature, a bed and roof for anyone who needs one, regardless of immigration status.

Today it transpires that #new york is trending. A lot is going on, so take your time. Enjoy it.

@semioticapocalypse

#today on tumblr #new york #new york city #nyc #nyc aesthetic #nyc subway #nyc street photography #manhattan #brooklyn #nyc girl #new york city subways #nyclife #travel #travel destinations #explore #city life #culture

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bonyassfish · 2 years

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It should be illegal for Christians to cover Leonard Cohen songs

#when they change the like well maybe there’s a god above to I know there’s a god above #makes me see red become so angry and violent fuccckkkk #this is the worlds most Jewish song #it’s not about fucking Jesus #it’s an exploration of the tenuous nature of faith in Judaism #it’s full of allusions to stories from the tanach #and sometimes goyim do nice covers like Jeff Buckley or Rufus wainwright but mostly it’s blatant disrespect #christian hegemony #jumblr #Judaism #jewish culture #leonard cohen #jewish tag

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pikachewww · 1 year

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apologies to anyone who ever thought i was cool and reached out to me only to discover i am just a weird little hermit who can't carry on a conversation to save my life

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random-french-girl · 2 years

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original league of their own movie: a baseball story with gay subtext

a league of their own tv show: a gay story with baseball subtext

#i'm like. flabbergasted by how deeply deeply the show explores queer culture of the 40's in the us #ive still got 2 and a half eps to watch but. damn #a league of their own

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seabeck · 1 month

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Deer skull and elfin saddle

#mushroom #fungi #fungus #mushrooms #artists on tumblr #nature #original photographers #original photography #photography #photographers on tumblr #Washington #pacific northwest #forest #cottagecore #explore #p #vulture culture

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witchofthesouls · 25 days

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I like thinking about humans-into-Cybertronians because of the weird, alien fuckery along with ex-humans making connections to certain things because it's the closest approximation they have.

Imagine if 'running on fumes' is a literal statement among Cybertronians. As their tanks run near empty, there's a petroleum-like taste that lingers in their sinuses and, if left long enough, cycles out of their vents. That's why Cybertronians typically don't like hanging around gas stations because it's a really stark reminder of long-term starvation. Meanwhile, you got an ex-human going like, "Man, I'm starting to taste gas, so I need gas. Huh, y'all have built-in reminders to feed yourself outside of hunger pains? That's neat."

As well as the ex-humans misdiagnosing themselves. Let's take Cybertronian carriage. Humans are used to a pregnancy that completes its course in a designated organ (aka womb), so finding out a mecha had straight up knocked them up that bypassed the initial spark-to-spark teether formation wouldn't freak them out in the ways that a lot of Cybertronians would be really concerned about. Especially the medics and said partner(s).

Ex-human crying over the sonogram because they got told it's a very high-risk pregnancy and all they see is the coming baby is very deformed since it's only a ball within a ball of green soup and silver tendrils. Partner is highly confused yet attempts comforting in varying levels of success.

Cybertronian medic needs to explain that the sparklet is healthy, but ex-human really needs to watch themselves because the entire process will be done within the gestational chamber and goes deep into explaining the complications that can happen.

Partner is absolutely riveted by all the gravity of the matter since the strain of having a full-carriage that initialized in the chamber can put the carrier in danger as there can be coding conflicting with priorities that rends said carrier unconscious or wrecks health complications, especially since there's a high-chance of the newspark not fully detaching from their carrier's spark as the dropping process ensures.

Ex-human that comes from a species where a pregnancy is like getting into a moderate crash, so damage varies each time is happy that they haven't fucked up badly yet and can plan a baby shower. "By the way, when's the due date?"

Medic: "Hard to say with the carriage combined, but it's more in the primary initialization stage. The sparklet's still has a visible, if a bit thin, teether to your spark, and a solid mass hasn't formed yet."

Ex-human: "Okay, so how long?"Medic says incomprehensible length of time for an Earth child and how it can vary.

*Confused ex-human noises over the several human lifetimes is the equivalent of a span to a Cybertronian carriage. And how multiple factors can impact the timeframe.*

*Confused Medic noises out of sheer concern over ex-human's family history, especially over the fact they have extremely and highly dangerously short carriages.*

*Confused partner noises on why their love wants to plan a bathtime for the newspark at this moment, and wonders if ex-human knows that water and infant Cybertronians do not mix.*

Or, another thing. What if the dropping process where the sparklet detaches from the carrier's spark to descend into the gestational chamber below to build its frame has very 'classic'** heart symptoms in a human body?

(** Quick heads up, much of human biology and modern medical understanding derives from male biology. Unfortunately, women usually see atypical symptoms that are more subtle, moderate rather than severe pain/discomfort, or pain in other other locations rather than the chest.)

Ex-human has sudden, excruciatingly chest pain, insides literally quivering and shifting in sync with the bursts. Meanwhile, everyone around them is calm, trying to soothe them, and they think they're honestly dying so fast because there's no rush to the nearby hospital, and everyone is pushing comfort-it's okay-we got you at them.

#transformers #humans into cybertronians #humanformers #cybertronian biology #cybertronian culture #pregnancy #bitlets #sparklings #medical complications #culture clash #cultural misunderstandings #tf headcanons #my writing #my thoughts #i like thinking how humans and Cybertronians are cousins #but in the sense of “someone fucked a bonafide monster and it produced said cousin”#are there similarities? yes. are there major differences? we should explore that more lol #rip that poor medic and robo partner and ex-human's sanity #maccadam

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howamidrivinginlimbo · 3 months

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The ancient city of Pompeii, Italy

On the first photo is the house of Paquius Proculus. On the last photo is the fullonica of Stephanus, a laundry worker who used the house as his workshop.

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yorksnapshots · 11 months

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A dry-stone maze at Otley Chevin, West Riding of Yorkshire, England.

Built by the Members of the Dry Stone Walling Association.

The Maze took 18 months to complete and used 150 tonnes of recycled sandstone.

#Maze #Dry Stone #Sandstone #Art #Craft #Artisan #Traditional #Skill #Fairycore #Aesthetic #Goblincore #Places #Explore #Wanderlust #Landscape #Walls #Stone #Adventure #Labyrinth #Culture

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