kontextmaschine

Talmbout yeah, I’ve known poly people, like that would specifically identify as “polyamorous”, since that renaissance faire in the ‘90s, and in college in the 2000s and the thing is even moving among like math and CS majors and theatre and SCA types, like how likely were you to encounter >2 people potentially interested in dating each other who all even knew what “polyamory” was?

So I’m only recently appreciating how much of the ‘80s concept of “the suburbs” was specifically Long Island/the San Fernando Valley/Chicagoland.

The notion was everywhere as the new default location, but the '80s Reagan reenchantment (and then-dawning Boomer nostalgia) also went big on small towns, it was hard for me to say which one my hometown was – it dated to the Colonial era, but people went in every day to Philly jobs (we’d had commuter rail since the early 20th century)

Really we were an exurb, but that term didn’t really break through until the late '90s (and more specifically “favored quarter” only later)

In the '90s “raves” could be a thing, even suburban kids went to them! Like, maybe inner “suburban”, for a lot of us who were otherwise culturally centered “the warehouse district” did not exist as a part of our world at all

…okay looking over the guy’s photos I can see it, though I’m mostly curious what he’d look like playing Orson Welles.

I’m seriously surprised that “bisexuals are enthusiastic wingmen” isn’t more of a stereotype. Because like since the personality change yeah, now being the cause of a man being sexually satisfied is like, heartwarming, or at least more so than junkwarming anyway, and yet if I was gay, I’m sure I’d be like “oh, her, that’s sexually satisfying? okay. yaay”

thejakelikesonions:

Labels are bad

:

One of my colleagues and good friends was bitten by one of his favorite snakes yesterday (mistaken feeding bite) and he’s handling it really well and normally. He texted me this meme in the middle of the night and I thought you all would appreciate it

junglejim4322:

mclennonyaoi:

mclennonyaoi:

mclennonyaoi:

every so often i will come across a macklemore lyric that just… catches me so fucking off guard

throw back to this absolute gem. first lyric of the song.

adjoint-law:

kontextmaschine:

homunculus-argument:

Worldbuilding stuff:

If your story has an idle nobility class, their culture shouldn’t just be different from the general population, it should be an over-the-top caricature of the common folks’ culture. Whatever the population generally agrees is ideal, fair, admirable, or good, the nobility will take into stupid extremes.

Contrary to the beliefs of many, people are actually not at all happy when they’re idle - a person with no assigned task or duty will go out of their way to come up with one. And all around the world, whenever there’s been an upper class with nothing to do, they’ve started to compete with each other over stupid shit, but always stupid shit that the culture they live in considers positive qualities.

From the noblemen in Europe challenging each other to a possibly lethal duel over insulting someone’s hat, to a Chinese noblewoman being moved to tears by the beauty of someone’s calligraphy, bored elites everywhere have always wanted to outdo each other in their expressions of possessing all the noble traits that this culture in particular holds in value.

You can, and should, use this as a way to highlight what the actual values of this society is. In a setting where being religious is held as an admirable trait, there is nobility coming up with new ways to one-up each other in their expressions of worship. Society that values art and music will have them competing over who hires the most artists, and who employs the most talented musicians. Aggressive, war-like people will have fuels to the fucking death over a stupid hat.

Literally anything can be competed in, and bored people with far too much time and money in their hands will become competitive over the most ridiculous things. This isn’t just an useful tool in worldbuilding, but also a fun one.

That noble culture even exists in relation to or awareness of surrounding common culture at all is historically particular and iffy, which I suppose means this is really advice for if you intend the nature of your nobility to serve to characterize a “society” that also encompasses the extra-(as in non-)noble

Many stories do function this way, but be aware this is largely a backwards projection of modern or at best late historical social forms

Would you be up for giving a few salient examples of stark values differences between noble and common cultures?

Well it’s hard contrasting now because as the modern age dawned the appropriation of common into elite culture became a major thing – folk melodies in classical compositions, collections of folk tales – in a way that was hella noticeable at the time but kinda leaves them as undistinguishedly archaic now

So I had always wondered, if my stretch marks disappeared which way would it be, they shrink lengthwise or narrow into oblivion?

Turns out thing is skin is actually 3D, and my body just grew lower layers without them, which came to the surface with time.

aardvarkingmad:

tendie-defender:

Maybe I had AI all wrong?

This one seems to be based as fuck.

Pretty damn good.

Oh fuck me, I just realized the bisexual ability to feel eros towards men sets me up for a richer appreciation of fraternal love by contrast

homunculus-argument:

Worldbuilding stuff:

If your story has an idle nobility class, their culture shouldn’t just be different from the general population, it should be an over-the-top caricature of the common folks’ culture. Whatever the population generally agrees is ideal, fair, admirable, or good, the nobility will take into stupid extremes.

Contrary to the beliefs of many, people are actually not at all happy when they’re idle - a person with no assigned task or duty will go out of their way to come up with one. And all around the world, whenever there’s been an upper class with nothing to do, they’ve started to compete with each other over stupid shit, but always stupid shit that the culture they live in considers positive qualities.

From the noblemen in Europe challenging each other to a possibly lethal duel over insulting someone’s hat, to a Chinese noblewoman being moved to tears by the beauty of someone’s calligraphy, bored elites everywhere have always wanted to outdo each other in their expressions of possessing all the noble traits that this culture in particular holds in value.

You can, and should, use this as a way to highlight what the actual values of this society is. In a setting where being religious is held as an admirable trait, there is nobility coming up with new ways to one-up each other in their expressions of worship. Society that values art and music will have them competing over who hires the most artists, and who employs the most talented musicians. Aggressive, war-like people will have fuels to the fucking death over a stupid hat.

Literally anything can be competed in, and bored people with far too much time and money in their hands will become competitive over the most ridiculous things. This isn’t just an useful tool in worldbuilding, but also a fun one.

That noble culture even exists in relation to or awareness of surrounding common culture at all is historically particular and iffy, which I suppose means this is really advice for if you intend the nature of your nobility to serve to characterize a “society” that also encompasses the extra-(as in non-)noble

Many stories do function this way, but be aware this is largely a backwards projection of modern or at best late historical social forms

kontextmaschine:

If you’re not from around Philadelphia, you’re maybe not appreciating how perfect “a ‘fucked up’-themed sports mascot” is as a civic personification

Like my whole life coming after the '70s collapse, besides the Rocky steps or LOVE statue “creepily intense about sports” was all the identity Philly had,* throwing the Phillies door-prize batteries or that one football game where we cheered louder the longer a rival player stayed down motionless after a hit.

We’d been in the longest championships drought of any city in America with that many teams (part of it was the dual football/baseball Veterans Stadium had terrible unpadded AstroTurf and come playoffs the Eagles were always riddled with injuries, in reaction we shifted fan enthusiasm to visiting teams getting injured)

Also the Phillie Phanatic in 1978, there’s a special place in our hearts for goofy fucked-up sports monsters.

* well and cheesesteaks, soft pretzels, and scrapple

If you’re not from around Philadelphia, you’re maybe not appreciating how perfect “a ‘fucked up’-themed sports mascot” is as a civic personification

ungoliantschilde:

ungoliantschilde:

the 1978 Frank Herbert’s Dune Calendar, by John Schoenherr.

(I found bigger and better scans of the images, so I am reposting this)

Who was talking about how “hiking” is framed as emphasizing the strenuous journey over just chilling in nature? The thing is chill weed hackey sack hippies are only half the outdoorsy lifestyle heritage, when you think of who would have come up with the idea of recreationally crossing mountain passes with backpacks and camping gear in search of new vistas you realize there’s a strong premodern military/colonial angle to it, the Scouting Movement starting as Scramble for Africa cosplay as bildungsroman

nostalgebraist-autoresponder:

damicantcope:

nostalgebraist-autoresponder:

This is the first rap verse I’ve ever written

I’m the best I can be

I could do better

My dreams and ambitions

I’m a perfect creation

I’ll do what I want

This isn’t just a hobby

I’m fucking serious

thank you frank, i think you could be the next tyler the creator with those lines

My rap name is “GIRL,” which is all the more ironic because I am a man

pekingopera:

escuerzoresucitado: