Reblogged lesbianfunkykong
there is no number of trans people you can sacrifice that will prevent capitalists from privatizing public services and furthering the structural abandonment of your community.
Reblogged bedhadakdiaz
Sometimes you need to read something twice to get it. You might need to watch a movie three times to understand it. You might have to have that album on repeat for a week until the lyrics make any sense. You're allowed to engage with it and can keep engaging with it until it means something to you. People will see a painting at a museum and laugh about not getting what the big deal is but like you can come back, you can see it at another time, and maybe that next time it'll be different for you. I'm of the belief the "media literacy crisis" would solve itself if more people just sat down and did it again. Watched, read, played, listened, etc like I don't think people are getting more ignorant necessarily I just think we're not glorifying personally replaying things nearly as much as we should be.
Incidentally, one cannot read a book: one can only reread it. A good reader, a major reader, an active and creative reader is a rereader. And I shall tell you why. When we read a book for the first time the very process of laboriously moving our eyes from left to right, line after line, page after page, this complicated physical work upon the book, the very process of learning in terms of space and time what the book is about, this stands between us and artistic appreciation. When we look at a painting we do no have to move our eyes in a special way even if, as in a book, the picture contains elements of depth and development. The element of time does not really enter in a first contact with a painting. In reading a book, we must have time to acquaint ourselves with it. We have no physical organ (as we have the eye in regard to a painting) that takes in the whole picture and can enjoy its details. But at a second, or third, or fourth reading we do, in a sense, behave towards a book as we do towards a painting.
- Vladimir Nabokov, Lectures on Literature
I deliberately write my books thinking about a reader experiencing the book more than once. I leave little details I know only someone reading closely might clock. Some people find the opening of Dragonfall a little hard to get into or initially confusing, but I think you experience it very differently on the second go around. love rereading. I love not racing through art but experiencing it.
Reblogged
saw a tiktok of a mother taking her very tiny daughter to an art museum and she’s just walking around going “whoooa” “woooaah” to everything but then they got to a marble statue of a nude woman lying on her back and the girl points and goes “mommy🫵” and i just immediately welled up with tears and all the comments are just laughing about it and of course it’s funny but how are you not insanely moved by the way art connects everyone on earth from a centuries-old sculptor to a toddler in 2023
Mother and baby viewing Van Gogh's Madame Roulin and Her Baby at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, US. By the Boston Herald
I’m not sure how to look at art by Lynda Barry
"But I am a neuroscientist, and I worked to create this image; and I am also the mother in it, curled up inside the tube with my infant son"
Reblogged calanthe
"He's just a little guy!" I say about a 6'3", full grown, deeply haunted man
Reblogged avidrambling
don’t let anyone on this website call you cringe they literally have a tumblr account
What I love about this site is the fact it's the closest I've gotten to pre-2000 internet in years. No one knows anyone's real name, photos are entirely optional, and we're pretty sure at least one of our mutuals is 100% lying about everything. There's a reason it's one of the only social media sites I keep coming back to. It somehow manages to be just as horrible, enjoyable, and chaotic as 1990s chat rooms used to be.
The internet is a gentrified neighbourhood and we’re a stubborn old lady refusing to sell her run-down home to the developers.
Oh they already sold us to the developers and the developers went bankrupt trying to dislodge us.
Reblogged
Emberclaw by L.R. Lam
SPOILERS FOR “DRAGONFALL”!
Long-banished dragons, revered as gods, return to the mortal realm in the second book in this magical, romantic, epic fantasy series from a Sunday Times bestselling author.
An ancient danger. A broken bond. The fate of two worlds hangs in the balance.
Arcady and Everen have been separated, parted by the Veil.
Alone in Vatra, Arcady embarks on their greatest con yet: posing as a noble student at the University, determined to prove their grandsire's innocence once and for all.
Imprisoned in Vere Celene, Everen is hated by his kind. When he is released to defend his people, visions of the past and the future haunt him. If he steers the wrong path, he may never create a future where humans and dragons can live in harmony.
Time is running out. Threats rise from Arcady's old life and their new. And between the worlds, an ancient danger is awakening. Together Arcady and Everen can face it - but only if they can find their way back together, and restore the trust that has been broken.
Reblogged
Dragonfall by L.R. Lam
The bestselling first book in the Dragon Scales duology, in which long-banished dragons, revered as gods, return to the mortal realm.
Dragonfall is a slowburn, lush and inventive romance between a thief and the last male dragon in human form. Drawn together by an ancient artifact, they soon face a power that could break the world
Long ago, humans betrayed dragons, stealing their magic and banishing them to a dying world. Centuries later, their descendants worship dragons as gods. But the "gods" remember, and they do not forgive.
Thief Arcady scrapes a living on the streets of Vatra. Desperate, Arcady steals a powerful artifact from the bones of the Plaguebringer, the most hated person in Lumet history. Only Arcady knows the artifact's magic holds the key to a new life among the nobles at court and a chance for revenge.
The spell connects to Everen, the last male dragon foretold to save his kind, dragging him through the Veil. Disguised as a human, Everen soon learns that to regain his true power and form and fulfil his destiny, he only needs to convince one little thief to trust him enough to bond completely--body, mind, and soul—and then kill them.
Yet the closer the two become, the greater the risk both their worlds will shatter.
Reblogged suckrfish
why be radically exclusionary abt queerness when you could be radically inclusionary instead. let's inflate the numbers. let's become the majority. the sky's the limit
"we can't let just ANYONE call themselves queer!!" what are you talking about. I'm steepling my fingers and gleefully cackling every time we Get Another One and you should be too. lock in.
Reblogged stjohnstarling
Lincoln Michel Dec 12, 2024
I’m using “TV” as a shorthand for any visual narrative art from feature length films to video games. A lot of fiction these days reads as if—as I saw Peter Raleigh put it the other day, and as I’ve discussed it before—the author is trying to describe a video playing in their mind. Often there is little or no interiority. Scenes play out in “real time” without summary. First-person POV stories describe things the character can’t see, but a distant camera could. There’s an overemphasis on characters’ outfits and facial expressions, including my personal pet peeve: the “reaction shot round-up” in which we get a description of every character’s reaction to something as if a camera was cutting between sitcom actors.
[...]
My theory is that we live in the age of visual narratives and that increasingly warps how we write. Film, TV, TikToks, and video games are culturally dominant. Most of us learn how stories work through visual mediums. This is how our brains have been taught to think about story. And so, this is how we write. I’m not suggesting there is any problem in being influenced by these artforms. I certainly am. The problem is that if you’re “thinking in TV” while writing prose, you abandon the advantages of prose without getting the advantages of TV.
[...]
When I talk with other creative writing professors, we all seem to agree that interiority is disappearing. Even in first-person POV stories, younger writers often skip describing their character’s hopes, dreams, fears, thoughts, memories, or reactions. This trend is hardly limited to young writers though. I was speaking to an editor yesterday who agreed interiority has largely vanished from commercial fiction, and I think you increasingly notice its absence even in works shelved as “literary fiction.” When interiority does appear on the page, it is often brief and redundant with the dialogue and action. All of this is a great shame. Interiority is perhaps the prime example of an advantage prose as a medium holds over other artforms.
Reblogged calanthe
We also figured out—the hard way—that the ancients probably cut each layer of linen to the proper shape before gluing them together. For our first linothorax, we glued together 15 layers of linen to form a one centimeter-thick slab, and then tried to cut out the required shape. Large shears were defeated; bolt cutters failed. The only way we were ultimately able to cut the laminated linen slab was with an electric saw equipped with a blade for cutting metal. At least this confirmed our suspicion that linen armor would have been extremely tough. We also found out that linen stiffened with rabbit glue strikes dogs as in irresistibly tasty rabbit-flavored chew toy, and that our Labrador retriever should not be left alone with our research project.
I love this in every way possible. What is it from? Where can I read more?
The pitfalls of experimental archaeology and puppies.
link to source:
“Unraveling the Linothorax Mystery, or how Linen Armor Came to Dominate our Lives.”
holy shit read the article. it’s short but wild
We found that even more of a threat than rain was one’s own sweat on a hot day. So, yes, it does need waterproofing, both inside and out. We did a number of experiments along those lines, and found that rubbing a block of beeswax over all sides of the armor provided nice waterproofing. It also makes the armor smell nice! When you wear it for a couple hours, your own body heat softens the glue a bit and makes it conform to your body shape, so it is much more comfortable to wear than rigid types of armor. Our reconstructions weighed about 10 pounds–about one third the weight of bronze armor that would provide the same degree of protection.
Honey i gotta go to war… not to smell my bee armor or hang with the boys or anything no.. uhh we need to uh do war things?
#i've definitely read this before and i've probably reblogged it before but like.#no one in this thread is mentioning that they actually shot someone with an actual arrow in this armor.#they were like 'we've got to test this in practice' and instead of getting a mannequin or something they had an actual person wear it.
They what?
from the article:
While all of this mayhem (both scientifically controlled and free-form) convinced us that our linothorax was ancient-battlefield-ready, we still felt compelled to try a real-life scenario, so Scott donned the armor and Greg shot him. And while we had confidence in our armor, our relief was still considerable when the arrowhead stuck and lodged in the armor’s outer layers, a safe distance away from flesh.
a good life-size mannequin is expensive but i guarantee it would've cost way less than they were spending on all that linen.
Academics are just like that.
Reblogged calanthe
Adding this because it seems worth adding:
Thanks @lakritzwolf and @stabbyflower for asking questions and finding answers.
Reblogged radiosaturday
Anonymous asked:
Why do people like high speed rail so much?
Because its public transit, not private transit.
Its significantly cheaper to travel long distances compared to other options like flying or driving. In a lot of cases it may even be faster than flying, and even when its slower, its not slower by a large amount. Its better for the environment, and trains are just cool.
I have rode the High Speed Trains in Europe.
Once you've experienced them, you will understand the hype. They are also very comfortable and very scenic.
You can go from Amsterdam to Paris in about 3 hours. This would be like going from Mississauga to Ottawa in 3 hours instead of almost 5.
I think "comfortable and scenic" is accurate, but undersells it.
Being in high speed rail is far more comfortable than a plane. The seats are good, the ride is very smooth (no turbulence! no take off and landing! none of anything like that!), and you can get up to find the restroom whenever you want, no seatbelt sign or any of that.
It is so much faster than many other forms of transport not just because of its own speed, but because train stations can be centrally located and easy to get to (unlike most airports), and don't have the excess security theatre of airports that slows down the process. So the entire experience feels quicker and easier from start to finish.
trains are better for the environment by a huge margin than flight and than driving as well. and the scenic element is indeed much nicer -- you get to watch the landscape go by and change, without the stress of driving.
trains are incredibly efficient at moving large volumes of people. there's a reason that much of europe and asia has invested in them, and a reason that we had railroads across north america until the truck and car lobbies essentially ruined investment in this mode of transport.
Reblogged catloverkid00
If you're a writer you're supposed to write a lot of bullshit. It's part of the gig. You have to write a lot of absolute garbage in order to get to the good bits. Every once in a while you'll be like "Oh, I wish I hadn't wasted all that time writing bullshit," but that's dumb. That's exactly the same as an Olympic runner being like "Oh, I wish I hadn't wasted all that time running all those practice laps"
Reblogged catloverkid00
Holding up snarky signs doesn't seem to be working.
For me, it isn't about whether this action is appropriate or not. It's about how this kind of action is inevitable.
I'm going to let Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. explain in a quote no one seems to post during his annual holiday.
"It is not enough for me to stand before you tonight and condemn riots. It would be morally irresponsible for me to do that without, at the same time, condemning the contingent, intolerable conditions that exist in our society. These conditions are the things that cause individuals to feel that they have no other alternative than to engage in violent rebellions to get attention. And I must say tonight that a riot is the language of the unheard. And what is it America has failed to hear?"
If you only speak up about a supercharger catching fire and ignore the unheard, you are prioritizing a thing over people.
Reblogged dragonmasque
Google Earth is Amazing
Wait for it…
everytime. i laugh like an idiot everytime
palatinamedea
this is a lot funnier when u know that this is the place where julius caesar got stabbed. its a cat sanctury