#can i cite sources?

[bluberimufim]

IT'S TIME!!! IT'S FINALLY TIME FOR THE RANT ABOUT 19TH-CENTURY PORTUGUESE URBANISM!!!! (@kingkendrick7 mentioned they were interested a While ago and who am I to withhold information about my Interests)

I'll be focusing exclusively on the city of Porto in northern Portugal because it's what I studied in my Anthropology class. And also: disclaimer! I'm translating all the names of the things from Portuguese so if it sounds weird, yeah, that's why.

The Industrial Revolution in Portugal created a very weird relationship between work and personal life due to the way the cities were planned. Basically, the people who worked the factories, and even the owners, lived extremely close to their place of work - and I mean they were pretty much neighbours. The factories were also built in the city centre itself. This is much more similar to the work-life relationship of rural areas than any model existing in normal cities.

There was, at this time, a strange impasse when it came to building housing. Porto specifically is known for having extremely thin and deep plots of land in the oldest parts of the city - I'm talking 5 by 100m (approx. 16 by 328ft). No house is gonna be that deep, so there's always about 80 to 70m of backyard.

Workers were paid extremely low wages. Like, so low they couldn't afford housing anywhere. So the factory owners would ✨selflessly✨ give up their backyards and build housing for their workers.

Can we just take a moment to think about how absurd this is? Like. Imagine taking pity on your employees for being poor. My brother in Christ, WHO DO YOU THINK IS MAKING THEM POOR?

Anyway, this new type of housing is called an Island. Its name comes from the fact that it's an "island" of low-income housing in a semi-rich neighbourhood.

Basically, an Island is a long exterior corridor with tiny houses on one or two sides and communal bathrooms at the end. Here's a picture:

The way this worked is that the owners of the big, street-front house would open a passage on the ground floor that could be fully closed wuth a gate. This kept the Islands invisible and, thus, out of the city hall's jurisdiction, since they can only legislate on what is visible from street level.

Here's an irl picture of an Island today:

Btw they tried solving this problem bt building houses from scratch but they realuzed that workers' wages were so low that just adding plumbing would make a house unaffordable. Yeah...

Porto currently stands as the European city with the most recent outbreak of the Bubonic Plague, in 1899. This is because Islands had such poor hygenic conditions that it re-kindled the Black Plague epidemic. Just so you can kinda picture what level of "horrible" this whole thing is.

Here's a quote by David Moreira da Silva about the Islands that I translated from French:

"Housing, essential organ of the city, offers us in Porto obe of the most miserable and tragic displays and one of the grave causes that greatly contribute to the huge mortality that is constant. We say, justly, that Porto as a city is the vastest cemetery in Europe."

(Parallel to this there was also the "Sleep Business", which consisted of renting places to sleep. The main two were sub-renting, in which you rented a place to sleep and paid by the hour, and the Rope, in which you rented a piece of rope to lean on while sleeping. Thought it might be interesting to add.)

I'm not mentioning as we go because it'd be exhausting, but backlash was VERY strong every step of the way. Doctors were warning against living conditions in the Islands and city hall was trying to pass laws banning these types of buildings by extending their jurisdiction deeper into the city's plots of land. But they were unsuccessful.

They tried to propose a rehabilitation of the Islands in the early 20th century but their inhabitants basically responded with "Please tear our houses down and make us new ones somewhere else. The Islands are unsalvageable".

The whole factory work-life thing ended with the fascist dictatorship, which reorganized the city centre, but there's still plenty of people living in Islands today.

To this day, the Islands stand as a warning of what rampant capitalism does to people when left unchecked. But that doesn't stop tone-deaf bourgeois pricks from romanticizing them.

This has been a rant. I hope you enjoyed it <3

[homunculus-argument]

I have no sources and zero recollection of where I read this, but there is a speculation that the first written mention of finnish (or finnic) peoples' existence, and that of the traditional dog breed finnish spitz, kind of loop around to support each other. It was from some Ancient Roman history, one of those "I heard this from a drunk sailor who heard it from another drunk sailor and who am I to dispute such a reliable source" historians writing down everything that is known about the known world.

It was just one random offhand side-clause mentioning that when you go far out enough into the north, there are wild people living in there, who have red dogs. And the circular logic here is that finns live in the north, the finnish spitz is a red dog, and since it must have been finns, the dogs must have been early finnish spitz. And since finnish spitz is the dog of the finns, therefore the northmen with the red dogs must have been finnish.

[swordscleric]

I'm only halfway through the second phase of Predathos (which, to be clear is an incredible vibe for a bossfight, love a good head & hands/multitarget-same-entity boss) but I cannot shake the feeling of disappointment and just dissatisfaction I have had with this campaign that definitely started with Dusk/Yu, got followed up handily with the first Delilah/Sun Tree fight and then has been unfortunately reinforced with every discussion surrounding the Prime Deities since Hearthdell. This campaign is fascinating to pick apart, I have been really enjoying pulling apart why it isn't working compared to C1 or C2. But as much as I'm having fun dissecting where the worldbuilding has led to the current weaknesses in the gods' argument or reading other people's incisive commentary on the lack of personalities on the Ruby Vanguard's end, the "girlfailure" nonsense, etc etc, man do I wish this campaign was better than it is.

There are so many avenues of improvement -

Matt telling everyone to prep and write characters for this campaign instead of a C2-esque character-focused campaign.

Matt working religious organisations into the world properly.

The cast engaging with Marquet as a genuine location rather than set-dressing.

Otohan, Ozo and the rest of the Vanguard having more than "*insert snappy line here*" for their personalities.

No Delilah.

Bell's Hells having an iota of curiosity for anything outside of their own selves, including but not limited to: the gods, religious worship, the Elemental Titans and why they were sundered, how the people of Exandria feel about the gods, Vasselheim and its role in suppressing information about Predathos, Ludinus Da'Leth's plan and how it would still break the world if they did it in his place

I don't know why all of this fell into place in the way that it did, but it did. We can endlessly speculate why - the cast resting on their laurels after C2, not having enough time between the animated shows and Daggerheart and Candela Obscura and, and, and - but at the end of the day I really do hope that whatever form the final campaign wrap-up takes, they burn the damn questions asking the cast "what if the world was made of pudding and this character and this character kissed?" and instead pick questions that get them to introspect for a potential Campaign 4. Otherwise I don't know what will happen, but it sure as hell won't be Mighty Nein part 2: Issylra Boogaloo.

[alittlegreekreader]

not exactly sure how to phrase this but there's kind of a strain of discourse about the ancient world (& specifically the characters within it who are objects of study, whether mythical/fictional/historical) that posits that, well, everyone back then basically sucked, so you shouldn't look at them through a quote-unquote "modern lens". and this gets expressed in everything from throwaway tumblr posts about just like picking your favourite war criminal (why "war criminals"? not call them e.g. rapists?) to academic books cautioning against the supposed ahistoricism of talking about ancient Athenian "misogyny". and this has always kind of bothered me. but the longer i go on working in this field the more i think this idea amounts to, fundamentally, a denial of the personhood of tbh basically everyone who was not a freeborn citizen man. the harms done to women, enslaved people, war captives etc. may have been legal or legitimate or unnoticed as such in the ancient world but they were still harms. which is one thing when those harms are fictional or mythological (tho' surely still worth acknowledging as such?) but quite another imo when you're talking about historical figures. sorry but your blorbo made commodities out of people as real & human & capable of suffering as he was or you are. and no i don't think we (in or out of the academy) talk about this enough. i don't think we'll ever be done talking about it.

[catominor]

lana del rey was actually invented in 88 bce when lucius licinius lucullus hallucinated every lyric in order while he marched on rome with sulla. admittedly the lines about his pussy tasting like pepsi cola were somewhat lost on him due to it not being invented yet but he understood the idea perfectly

[halfbaked00q]

So I was looking at that image of Q's workshop, and you know what I realized? Every single time we see this man in his own space every possible surface is absolutely loaded with books, but other than a fic *I wrote* I have never, even once, read a fic where he references any of said books. Ever. Nobody ever acknowledges Q's giant library.

see, conversely, I feel like I've seen a goodly amount of Q x books in the fandom. like from what I've seen/remember, I have this like pre-existing/established sense of it being a whole trope of, like, "for all that at work he's The Tech Guy, he has a soft spot for the classics," or else it's shades of, like, I get enough of screens at work and there's something to be said about physical media, etc.

off the top of my head there's a fic where Bond goes to (break into?) Q's flat and sees all his books and remarks on it saying sth about like, seems rather analog (can only vaguely remember this but I feel like analog was the specific term he used, I just remember finding the specific exchange rather charming), and they have that exhange. there's one fic where Bond... maybe is injured and recovering or sth? but basically Q hands him a book he just got on preorder and is like here read this, and Bond is like, already read it. And Q is like, how. I just got this on preorder, and Bond is like, I have a friend in publishing- why did you even bother preordering? it's not like it's a bestseller. and then Q is like, fine help yourself to my library. and Bond is like. read it all already. and Q is like. .what do you mean you read it all already. and then Q realizes that Bond must have. spent rather a lot of time breaking into & hanging out in his flat before... and there's one fic where Q is into trashy spy novels which Bond steals & returns having written pithy notes in the margin(s) of (to Q's displeasure).

but yeah I do feel like it's A Thing for Q to have an extensive library. esp of the classics such as Dickens and Austen, and then like LotR and stuff, and definitely sometimes with various textbooks and things too (I def remember at least one fic where Bond is in Q's flat & his pov notes the textbooks on various subjects all over)

[elbiotipo]

I also remember when that deactivatecivilization blog told me "Wikipedia says that disease and plague started with the domestication of animals, checkmate" and I went looking for the source and it was a fanatical vegan tract that considered domestication, sorry, "domesacration" a moral evil and said that humans started to hunt only 19.000 years ago (WHAT) and that began violence, patriarchy and the oppression of women. The only mention of zoonosis on the cited page was in a throwaway phrase listing the many, many evils of having domesticated animals.

So you should be also be wary even if someone says "but it's sourced!"

[oldbutchdanielcraig]

What is your interpretation of the breakfast scene in Queer? I am still grappling with my emotions about it. Why is Eugene so violent? And why is Lee saying all of that after? I’m very curious about your insight.

it's literally one of my favorite scenes in the whole movie i love it SO much and i think it says so much about the characters because it's the one time they clash without a deescalation. normally lee backs down or gene laughs it off but this time they meet and collide and sort of hiss at each other like alleycats because neither of them are even brave enough to have a proper fight.

gene is so violent because of what i think is like. a buildup of all the parts of lee that (for lack of a better word) he can't stand? like he 100% is starting to feel a lack of the independence he craves because he and lee are spending most of their time together and becoming increasingly more affectionate with each other. #1 notable thing about this is that in the scene directly before (which i take to be the afternoon or i guess a couple of days max before that morning) there's this whole exchange where gene is visibly enjoying their sex and being plainly affectionate with lee and admitting aloud that he enjoys the sexual aspects of their relationship which is like. the one thing someone in his position shouldn't do. it's absolutely intentionally a one step forward, three steps back thing for gene because he's like. well i've let lee know that i like him. now i have to let him know i Really Don't. and i love that about him soooo much.

lee here is the MOST special to me though because he's presenting his conflicting urges in this undiluted way that's wrapped up in a sort of performance so as to obfuscate the fact that he's being himself. i think "aren't you taking unfair advantage?" could be my favorite lee line because it's just so. this line is coming from the guy who for the entire movie's runtime has been like "please let me take advantage of you please let me isolate you i want to be the only person in your life i want to control you i want to use every advantage i have over you against you" and all of the sudden he's like "aren't you taking advantage of me? the sweet and innocent baby?" and like. the modicum of truth in his routine i think is that this is Actually how he sees himself. it could be manipulative and it might be if it was someone else but it's just not because lee actually believes he's childlike in this way and there's some level of awareness in him that his performative masculinity is just a performance. bringing up the bout of junk sickness is a sensitive thing for both of them too because it's this moment of weakness from lee and moment of tenderness from gene which is like. another thing they both crave but are both really afraid of.

it's really awesome ultimately because this might be the most direct they get with each other but they're still just completely speaking past each other and just laying out their desires but not understanding each other at all and not really finding any sympathy for each other either. it's as close as they get to spitting their hearts up at the same time and leaving them beating on the floor tbh. and god i love it when they fight.

[presdestigatto]

sebastian vettel has this philosophy of only being confident about speaking on a driver's skills and abilities if he's been teammates with them, and it honestly makes the way he describes his former teammates very weirdly charged :p

anddd im putting the rest under dropdown because its sebchal waffle and kinda. long. so here if u wanna read my brainrot:

i'm specifically thinking about how he likes to emphasise (in interviews) that he knows charles sort of inside out as a driver because of their two (!!) years as teammates. the way he speaks about his abilities and talents and specifically, this year when he very quickly asserted that charles will be easy for lewis to get along with, even though seb was last teammates with charles four years ago!! when seb was the first driver!! and also his interview from suzuka last year when he said that he can't speak on max's skill because he hasn't been teammates with him, unlike charles, who he can totally 100% talk about, if only charles wins that championship one day (he did not say this second bit but it was heavily implied imo. he did say the first half re: max). sort of feels like he's always speaking from a "foremost expert on charles leclerc, the driver" position, and if i were to go on a limb i would say that he always speaks of charles with pride. big like. proud dad vibes.

also a minor digression but the indelible mark seb left on charles' career is undeniable and IMO the more illustrious charles' career is the better it reflects on seb (like the 2020 shame can kind of be washed off if charles becomes a wdc. a compelling reason to be a fan of both.)

my last note on this is how re: the most talented driver in 15 years note, seb clarifies in his f1 podcast episode (which is a very nice listen. he also talks about mark and kimi in that) that he would consider kimi the most naturally talented driver he's seen, but charles' ability to find laptime over a single lap is special. so seb is a charles leclerc generational qualifier truther. an og.

[mulders-too-large-shirt]

question for academic discussion: when did mulder realize he was in love with scully? and when did scully realize she was in love with mulder?

[dailypokemoncrochet]

i think you might have hacked something with the tumblr userbase. apparently people will engage with creative posts more if there are polls involved. fascinating. i'm so curious if more people will incorporate this now or if they'll just be depressed about it 💀

I really do think the polls on my art posts were such a genius move on my part!! People definitely will engage more because there's a whole new avenue for them to engage on, and it's one that a lot of people like: click button!

I don't have exact stats about it at the moment, but anecdotally there's like 300ish people that will regularly vote on those polls that I assume are just direct followers. Depending on how many/who reblogs that particular post, the voter count can balloon up really high (Miraidon, blazed to 100k+ people, 12k votes). I'm not sure how the polls affect that other normal tumblr aspects such as likes/reblogs/replies, but I also want to say anecdotally that it's about 3-3.5x as many votes as there are combined notes. So if there's 600 votes, there's around 170-200 notes. Also I think I should note that that's personally a LOT of notes for me already, but I do have 8000 followers as like, a base. Don't know how many of them are active/saw the post/actually like my blog, but there's at least a core 300 of y'all that are really here for my art.

Possible reasons for why people especially like to vote in polls: click button, built in comments you don't have to think about but are guaranteed to be well received, anonymous as in actually untraceable (no list of who voted like there is with the likes), quick response, sense of community in that this many people also had the same thought/choice as you, easy way to keep track of if you'd seen the post before, a little gimmicky and novel, 'eh why not' attitude even has an option being just the name of the pokemon lol

Like I said though, I don't know how the polls affect the other note counts. I want to say that some people are more likely to reblog because of them, but there could certainly be people that would otherwise reblog but don't because of the poll. I don't think there's that much of an overlap of people who reblog and people who would not reblog polls, though. And because this is tumblr and my financial livelihood is not tied to engagement on my art posts, I am pretty happy with people just voting on the polls; that's feedback for me, knowledge that an individual real person saw the post. I think it would be interesting to be able to analyze how they affect the other notes, but I'm not equipped to do that and I'm not particularly pressed about it.

I think it'd be neat if other people did it too for funsies! Idk how much they'll like it if they're more concerned about the engagement = clicks = money perspective, because I think tumblr is not quite built around that idea. It happens, sure, but in a kind of invisible way that's not so readily measurable based solely on notes. I've seen one other person do it for their art post and that was fun!! :D It does take a little bit more energy on my/OP's part because of the whole coming up with options thing. I used to intentionally be more varied with mine, but now I mostly just pick what my favorite of my first 5ish impressions/thoughts are about my art. Which is super nice when it turns out to be the same thought path as many others haha

[tarantula-hawk-wasp]

At a certain point blaming the school system for failing to teach you every fact becomes an excuse to absolve yourself from learning on your own time as an adult. Maybe you had bad teachers and curricula, maybe you never did the assigned reading, maybe you were taught propaganda, but it’s okay to start now. It’s okay to learn geography from online games. It’s okay to get entry level books from the library on a subject. It’s okay to explore Wikipedia and other reputable websites as a start. You can learn as an adult. You should continue learning as an adult.

[souheki-lovechild]

ethereal beautiful meaningful soukoku and cringe fail loser soukoku are two concepts that can and should (and do) coexist

[systeminquiry]

it's kind of wild seeing how much 'non-traumagenic' people continue to cite tulpamancy as an example of endogenic 'plurality' like. We understand that's a practice you engage in that can create a tulpa in your mind. This does not make you a 'system' because being a system is so much more than just 'headmates', and if tulpas are one of the few real-world examples they have, it speaks to a lack of legitimate scientific backing and an inaccurate, shallow view of DID and systemhood.

[starrynyxa]

2001 pete wentz camping a radiohead show from a tree 😭

[bybdolan]

i think we should establish adding a bibliography to taylor swift song analysis posts. you guys are just saying things and i need proper sources. cite your shit. thank you.