#Paradigm Change

[dgspeaks]

Humanism as a Cultural Seed: Rethinking African American Identity

In the rich tapestry of African American culture, Christianity has long served as the cultural seed, shaping identity, beliefs, and values. However, as we navigate the complexities of modern society, there arises a crucial need to examine and redefine the foundational elements that have shaped our collective consciousness. I believe humanism as a cultural seed can be a tool for empowerment and…

[tanglecolors]

Different but kinda the same

[riverssongs13]

How fascinating must it be for people to nonchalantly say "recently, ten year ago" as if it were such matters of unimportance. Which, granted, it is, quite decidedly. Live for 10 thousand years and you'd count your decades as if they were your days.

Not to discount the other immortal beings whom we know have lived for thousands and thousands of years. My beloved Maharet herself (and her sister Mekare) was turned by Akasha a little over 6000 years ago. Same goes for Khayman, and the other "first children" of Akasha. But I cannot remember an instance when they spoke of time as dismissively as this.

What I can distinctly remember is them trying to survive time's passing without going insane over it. The hundred years nap for some (where they bury themself for a century or so and resurface after some time, welcoming a "new" life), the blood cult in the Himalayas for Pandora's friend, and of course my dear Maharet who, instead of skipping time, decided to be heavily involved with her lineage.

Maybe the difference lies in the extra thousands more years? As Akasha was the first, in this universe the oldest vampire is only 6000+ years. The Necrolord Prime and his OG Lyctors are 10,000 years old (maybe even more. Don't judge me I'm still in the middle of reading). Maybe when Maharet et al reaches the 10k mark their perception of time would change as well?

Or could it be because Maharet and friends are within the confines of Earth? The Lyctors are quite literally all over the universe. 40 billion light years away. I can't even begin to imagine just how ✨FAR✨ that is. I don't think my brain is capable of even perceiving that amount of distance. Maybe, in the face of such utterly nauseating vastness of space AND time, everything just becomes astonishingly puny and irrelevant. Add to that the looming threat of the Resurrection Beast, the Revenants, the River and its vengeful souls, etc etc etc...

Fascinating. Maybe that's why I'm quite more drawn to the pettiness and beauty and absurdity of our beloved vampires. No matter how monstrous they deem themselves to be, they're still very, very painfully human. Beautiful, divine, unchanging marble creatures, but quite decidedly human.

[akimojo]

ok wait i'm curious to know what yalls go-to party is in ffxiii, because lightning-sazh-vanille always feels like such a no-brainer to me anytime i play and now i need to know if people think the same or not 👀

[troybarnesbabygirlconfirmed]

im back with more

[settlercolonialismisbad]

Change your brain to stop reaching for ableist language to describe your world

D*mb, st*pid, cr*zy, ins*ne, and many many more ableist words and phrases still dot our daily conversation landscape. This Disability Pride Month, show you’re listening by doing the work to use language that doesn’t perpetuate ableist culture.

This is a non-exhaustive curated list of terms and suggestions for replacing them in your vocabulary, as well as accompanying notes.

[karamazovanon]

Do you have any thoughts about Alyosha's momentary crisis of faith? Because I understood why he had one, but not so much why he was immediately ready to drink and go see Grushenka. Interested to see if you've any opinions on the matter, either regarding Grushenka or just in general.

OOOOOO this is an interesting question and my answer is going to get kinda long, warning you now LOL

i think alcohol & drinking in general is often a big part of "the karamazovian nature"—fyodor pavlovich and mitya are open alcoholics & hedonists, and ivan's heavily implied to be an alcoholic as well by his delirium tremens at the end—and more generally as one of the wordly temptations that human nature as a whole is susceptible to (tangent, but this is also really interesting when you keep in mind ivan's cup analogy!! drinking & cups are tied to living & life so often; mitya chooses to "fill" his cup/life with alcohol, ivan drinks in secret until he throws the cup/life to the ground at 30 in rebellion, and alyosha instead chooses to fill his cup/life with god. one of the schiller verses mitya quotes in the ardent confession chapter even says "To the soul of God’s creation / Joy eternal brings her draught, / In strong secret fermentation / Flames the cup of life aloft")

and the common denominator is that they don't believe enough to overcome the natural urge to indulge. mitya does believe, but he can't stop himself and reproaches himself for it; ivan doesn't believe despite wanting to and that contributes too imo. but alyosha doesn't drink and is an ascetic for the most part bc everything for him is based off of his unwavering faith—and so when his entire worldview and moral system is shaken by both ivan and father zosima, he questions EVERYTHING and begins feeling detached from reality when it doesn't match up. without his bulletproof faith intact, he no longer has the external ruleset to dictate his behavior, and the karamazovian desire to ease pain with alcohol wins for a moment without being able to trust his prior moral compass

(on rereading for this post, i don't have a formulated thought on it but it's interesting that he agrees to rakitin's initial offer of vodka even though they end up having champagne instead—there's probably some connection there between vodka and worldly/russian baseness vs champagne, which while not communion wine is still wine LMAO)

this quote from the onion chapter is what stands out the most to me, bold mine:

"Alyosha cried out with a wail in his voice. ‘I speak to you not as a judge, but as the least of the judged. What am I before her? I came here in order to be destroyed, saying: “Go on, go on!” – and that was because of my cowardice, while she, after five years of suffering, no sooner did someone come and say a sincere word to her, forgave everything, forgot everything and cried! The assailant of her honour has returned, is summoning her, and yet she forgives him everything and hurries to him in joy and she will not take the knife, she will not take it! Oh, I am not like that! I do not know whether you are like that, Misha, but I am not like that! Today, the moment I received this lesson, I … She loves in a way that is loftier than yours or mine … Have you heard her say this earlier, what she said just now? No, you have not; if you had, you would have understood everything long ago … And let the other woman, whom she offended the other day, let her, too, forgive her! And she will forgive her, if she learns of this … and she shall learn of it … This soul has not yet been reconciled, we must spare it … This soul may contain a treasure …" (tr. mcduff)

when he loses his infallible external/divine guidance, he has to turn inward/to the world around him instead, where he finds guilt and the human urge to self-destroy (as well as the influence of rakitin & his schadenfreude) and as a karamazov, it naturally comes first in the form of alcohol (women, too, but alyosha never really shows any desire on that front) when he sees grushenka's kindness and forgiveness, he snaps out of it and his faith is reinforced (while he believes he's a sinner and unworthy, he sees in her christlike forgiveness and is reminded that although he has these karamazovian urges, giving in to them entirely isn't the answer etc etc im not a theologian and have been writing too long anyway)

this has been such a long ramble with so little structure but this is SUCH an interesting plot point, thank you for asking my thoughts on it!! :D

[snixx]

me when i default to a dramatically different handwriting for every separate subject i have but have my notes for all of them unseparated and encroaching into each other in the same notebook

[alethianightsong]

Mother Nature is no longer banging on our door with climate change. She has broken down the door and is letting climate change piss on the rug, claw the curtains, and chew our leg.

[girl-monkey-odalys]

Five comfort characters, five tags

Thanks for the tag, @popy1ut, and I’m sorry I took so long to respond. I had to think about it for awhile 😂 

Also I know that this was a chain post and I’m supposed to reblog it 😂 but since the chain is so long I’m just going to include your response and mine 🙃

Ok Popy’s response was:

“ohh boy do i have some characters to share.

also thanks for the tag mushysposts

1  ratigan great mouse detective

2  monkey d luffy : one piece  anime

3 scrooge mcduck from ducktals

4 mike and nancy from illumantions sing movie from 2016

5 donaled duck from ducktals

as for ppl im going to be tagging my best pals idk a hole lot of ppl on here lol

girl-monkey-odalys  picapicamagpie

secret-tester”

————

Ok my 5 comfort characters are:

1) Klaus Kickenklober from Sing 2

2) Rafiki from Lion King

3) Gramma Tala (Moana’s grandmother) 

4) The Splinter from the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles show

5) Mrs. Potts from Beauty and the Beast

Now I tag:

@singanddisneyfan, @tigresslanzhu, @gianludo, @stinkyhyena9000

(Sorry if you’ve already been tagged and don’t feel like you have to respond 😀).

[cheezyharu]

They come in a care package, if Stasis is coming, then so will Protoflicker :)

Anyways, congratulations to this airship captain to be in… probably the 6th or 7th rhythm game Lanota collabed with now-

[1introvertedsage]

▪️Asked Twice▪️

Although they are only breath, words which I command are immortal.

~Sappho~

[pierswife]

I make ship content for the first time in a hot minute and it's a shitpost--

[pussyluvr2000]

So many places yet to see, so many people yet to meet! So many wines left to taste, so many lessons yet to learn. It would be illogical to approach every moment with anything less than excitement, hope, curiosity, wonder, etc.

[abyssaldyke]

Listen, in real life I am butch4butch all the way but there is something so !!! about writing butch/femme couples I am compelled!!!!

[thegeminisage]

i feel. SO much better. it is unreal how much better i feel. you truly don't realize in the throes of insomnia how bad it is until it breaks