#culture thought and humanity

[jakubmajchrzak]

Thinking for a change. Make the world better (2024)

Camera, editing, post-production and music by Jakub Majchrzak. Questions by Dr Karol Morawski.

[bet-on-me-13]

Dark Secret

So! Danny was discovered pretty quickly after his first battle against the Lunch Lady. His hair turned white, and his body shape was a little different, but he largely looked very similar to his Human Form, so it was only a matter of time really.

Thankfully he was assumed to be a Metahuman.

He didn't look like any other Ghost, the closest resemblance was his hair and eye color, but even that could be explained away. Also his parents were adamant that he couldn't be a Ghost because he was still Sentient and not Evil, so he must just have powers that just looked similar to Ghost Powers esthetically. Probably as a result of the Portal Accident, which he used as an explanation for how his powers awakened.

Danny also avoided using the more obvious Ghost Powers like Intangiblity and Invisiblity, sticking mostly to the most basic Flight and Energy based Powers he got to be as generic as possible. If anybody saw otherwise, it was a trick of the light or a trick of the Ghosts.

Danny became the Hero of Amity Park, always pretending to be something else. It was his darkest secret.

Unfortunately because the public never saw a Ghost like Phantom on a positive light, their perception of Ghosts never changed. Nobody believed that Ghosts could be anything aside from Evil, and as the knowledge of Ghosts and the Ghost Zone began to spread around the world that perception became more and more commonplace.

If Danny had been revealed in the early days, it could have been salvageable, but nowadays if his secret was revealed he would have to convince the entire world that everything they knew about Ghosts was wrong. It would practically be impossible.

Even when he joined the Justice League when he became an Adult, he still had to hide his secret. Years of hiding made sure he could conceal his true Nature from the magic users on the team, but he still had to be distant from the team just to be sure.

While all this was going on in the Living Realm, his adventures in the Ghost Zone still happened as normal. He saved Pandora and the Acropolis, dethroned the Tyrant King Aragon, managed to defeat Pariah Dark in Single combat, and even became recognized as a Great Warrior by the Far Frozen.

After years of hiding, he actually felt more at home in the Ghost Zone than in the Human Realm. There he could be his true self without having to hide a huge part of his identity, and people accepted him for who he was. Sure he had enemies there, but he also had more real friends outside of Tucker and Sam.

He was content with his double life, acting as a Hero to the Public while hiding his true self, and secretly going to the Ghost Zone to be himself among his friends and even his enemies.

Of course it all came crashing down when he Anti Ecto Acts finally passed.

Now there was a Legal Path for Humans to enter and profit off of the Ghost Zone. Beyond just being able to legally kill and experiment on Ghosts, the Acts also allowed Humans to claim parts of the Ghost Zone as their own Property, enslaving the Ghosts residing there, and destroying the Ecosystem of the Zone because there were no laws preventing it.

And now Danny had a choice.

He could either side with the Humans to which he was a Hero, allowing them to destroy the Ghost Zone and Enslave the denizens living there with the full support of the Government, or he could side with the Ghost Zone, betraying Humanity and the people he had been protecting for years, but trying to save those who had accepted him for his true self years ago.

To him the answer was obvious.

[pawsthatcausechaos]

Being otherkin is going from ":3" to "I am not flesh, I am not bones, I am something beyond. these reflections, these shadows, they're nothing but lies. These eyes always deceive me, always trying to force me to believe that I'm something that I simply am not. I was given features only I can see, only I can feel. Why must I be trapped in this limiting body? Why must I pretend? Is this the universe's form of joke? Do my ancestors look down upon me and scowl? So many questions that are impossible to answer." To ":P" in the span of a few hours or maybe even minutes-

[petsemataries]

did you know: only a few mammals actively hunt humans AND I'M ONE OF THEM GET SCARED GET SCARED GET SCARED GET SCARED GET SCARED

[witchofthesouls]

The 'Humans into Cybertronians' trope overlook the massive discrepancy on how sports are approached by the the separate species.

I mean, Cybertron would most definitely have clauses that lock in very specific frames to very specific sports, like racers can only be speedsters.

Meanwhile, humans will make anything and everything into a sport as long you can survive the training and the entire run. If there was a human athlete that turned into a Cybertronian, then they would continue their progress, come hell or high water. In some cases, very literal.

Like a human into a racecar, but they're definitely continuing their surfing career. With tsunamis now.

Or someone that turns into a radio and is still killing it on the snowy mountains.

Or a tank that's taking their higher constitution to up their freerunning or parkour complexity and danger levels.

Chess boxing, underwater hockey, extreme ironing, and ferret-legging also exist.

The cyberized humans would have a lot of freedom that they didn't think they had because they never were part of such a structure as well as be far more comfortable utilizing equipment that Cybertronians thought as training aids, obsolete due to their own advances, or flatout weird to them since it's considered a nonpowered mobility aid. Like parachutes, compasses, and skateboards.

The ability to transform is such a huge social phenomenon to Cybertronians that they can't help to completely fixate on it, and get absolutely be baffled that someone that came fresh from a species swap is utterly nonchalant about it. Like, sure, there's excitement and all the mecha are nodding their heads over the newbuild's freshness, but then whiplash because they're going out into the wilds without a proper frame that's meant for it, like what do you mean you go diving into the sea!? You're an EKG machine, aren't you??? (Insert confused bot/con noises)

[bumblingbabooshka]

Tuvok is not as autistic coded in-narrative compared to what I've seen of Spock or T'Pol where they're othered heavily by those around them and have themes and arcs about struggling/striving to fit in BUT I do think he provides the vital autistic representation of not really angsting about your differences from other people because you're too busy and unaware and then even when you ARE made aware you mostly just think 'glad that's not me'. I think it's vital to have that sort of totally unbothered rep. I love that Tuvok is completely satisfied and proud of being Vulcan, doesn't long to experience emotion or struggle with a desire to express himself in a way his crewmates will understand, to be closer to them. I love that he has a long time and close friend that respects who he is and doesn't try to change him and that how close they are isn't framed as being in spite of his Vulcan nature. I love that being Vulcan isn't framed as a hindrance to him, like a roadblock to living a full and rich life. He has a wife and four kids and is a devoted husband and father. He's getting into gay horror scenarios. Tuvok was born on autism planet and he's thriving.

[francesderwent]

thinking about snarky cultural/theological commentary and. the thing about snark is this: it’s easy, and it’s instant gratification. it’s easy because you’re playing to a likeminded audience. you get the way they think, you know the sort of things they find ridiculous, and so you know what’s going to play well with them. it’s not that hard to come up with a zinger that’s going to earn you applause from your own side. it’s also pretty easy to make another human being who’s not on your side look stupid, because we’re stupid creatures and we all have plenty of exploitable weak spots. it’s preaching to the choir, and it’s preaching meanly to the choir. and then, your snark bears all its fruit right away. you get the glowing feeling of having scored points against the enemy while being patted on the back by your friends for being so brave. if you succeeded in being snarky, you get the rewards of snark that very instant.

on the other hand, seeking to share the truth you possess in a mode in which it could actually be received—that is, says St Thomas, according to the mode of the recipient—that’s hard, and it’s so far from being instantly gratifying that you may never see the fruits of it in this life. not only are you not thinking about your likeminded audience, you’re not even going to trot out the truth simply in the way you understand it and call it your best effort. rather, you have to try to get inside your interlocutor’s frame of mind and understand how the truth you know is going to fulfill their own priorities and longings. you have to understand them so well that you see the truth of their position, even if that truth is buried very very deep, and then see how that truth connects them to the truth you see. you have to be insightful, and compassionate, and so, so patient. you don’t get to score any points, with anybody. your interlocutor might still get annoyed with you and turn around and make you look stupid. but you can’t just say “I’m going to speak the truth and I don’t care who hears and how they take it”—you have to care how they take it, because the truth is relational, it’s given and received, not just spouted into a void. and frankly you have to care how they take it because you have to care about their salvation.

don’t get me wrong, there are times in every person’s life when they will be called to stand up and be counted, to put fumbling words to what they hold most dear even if they can’t make everyone understand. but I don’t know that it’s a virtue to be always focused on being seen saying the truth, with no consideration given to who hears you and what they’ll hear in it—and it’s certainly not a virtue to be always focused on being seen saying the truth in a mean and funny way. “instruct the ignorant” is a spiritual work of mercy. but instruct the ignorant does not mean “instruct the ignorant while making the knowledgeable laugh and/or high five.”

[boarloved-art]

Who Me? Appearing in YOUR inbox again? Wh-What....haha.....what gives my beloved spouse that impression?.... So I've been working on a Fae AU and I just need you understand the brainworms I am DEALING WITH, my beloved spouse!!! Imagine for a moment: you've got wangxian morons both thinking that the other is a human. Wei Wuxian (the beloved Summer/Spring Court Fae), who has been stowed away in the Autumn Court all his life, has never met any Fae outside of the Autumn Court, and Lan Wangji (Winter Court Fae) has met all of the other Courts apart from the Summer Court (which is basically extinct apart from Wei Wuxian) and the Spring Court (because they have isolated themself from the rest of the world) so he's like "obviously this is just a human who is using charms to gain Fae features like the humans from the Winter Court". Cue wild shenanigans where they keep bumping each other and completely believing that the other is a human so being all like "this fucking human should NOT be here, also how is this human SO PRETTY?!?! HUMANS SHOULDN'T BE PRETTIER THAN FAE!!!" while the Jiang siblings completely believe that this 'Hanguang-Jun' Winter Court human pet is trying to seduce Wei Wuxian into joining the Winter Court despite not knowing what Court he's from, and Lan Xichen (and Nie Huaisang, a Night Court Fae) completely thinks that Lan Wangji is going insane whenever he talks about this 'Yiling Laozu' human. SORRY FOR RAMBLING BUT I NEEDED TO YAPPER TO SOMEONE WHO'S NOT HEARD OF IT BEFORE. I'M HEARTBROKEN AND ALONE (/silly/silly)

OUGH THIS IS DELIGHTFUL I LOVE IT!!! THEYRE SO SILLLYYY IM OBSESSED WITH THEM!!! WANGXIAN MISUNDERSTANDINGS YOULL ALWAYS BE FAMOUS TO MEEEEE

[dewwshi]

princess of mithral hall

[racingliners]

There is something incredibly lovely about Yuki stopping by the Racing Bulls garage to say hi to everyone after his promotion to RBR, while Racing Bulls held a very warm and very public "Welcome back!" greeting in the paddock for Liam Lawson after how brutally he was demoted

[porcelanitaa]

friendly reminder: Everyday is a good day to punch nazis <3

[jakubmajchrzak]

Culture, Thought and Humanity – thinking for a change (2024)

Camera, editing, post-production by Jakub Majchrzak. Music by Jeremy Black "Electrician". Talking heads by Magdalena Hoły-Łuczaj and Paweł Korobczak.

[orengejoshi]

do u write fanfics? i need to GOON 💔

damn brother, you just gonna come at me like that? alright I see you

that's a great question tho! I have indeed thought about writing a fic... for years tbh...

but there's a myriad of problems

well first of all I'm not native in english. that is probably noticeable more often than not. I sometimes even use a translator, I always secretly got google/dict.cc open in a second tab. didn't formally learn english, I just snagged it by proxy listening to American Youtubers and reading manga online. that's why I prefer to ramble a bit in public or to my damn self in private areas than live-texting 1 on 1/in groups; bc I can take more time totally judgement-free. you're gonna see me "typing..." for 30 minutes and wonder wtf is taking this mf so long?!

apart from that there's dyslexia. I can't spell one word correctly without swipe-to-type autocorrect. I think all arguments I've gotten into stem from me mistyping, using completely wrong words, messing up the sentence structure etc

my brain is a single dense cloud of fog that'll occasionally split open to drizzle down a bunch of jumbled thoughts that I could turn into barely cohesive words if I'm brave enough and exude copious amounts of energy.

so my linguistic skills are not up to par. my intelligence lies more in... intrapersonal and existential departments.

unsurprisingly I've thus become a visual artist to express myself.

the catch is... that I understand paperhat, I do.

but I can't seem to draw toxic dynamics. my head is just empty about how to depict it. it's like it doesn't come naturally to me. not without going overboard and making a whole comic that I would likely abandon before even reaching the half mark. I've been given these angelic skills along with the curse that I shall only draw joyous, bright scenes.

however if I could write it... now we're talking.

as a matter of fact, I'm pretty sure that most of my ideas are way too dark and sober. people don't know me like that so I'm petrified about the presumably shocked response when and if I did drop smth like that.

I'm not ready for that... I have really severe OCD (that the internet is making way worse with their anxious tendencies to interpret smth sinister into any and all fiction that is not happiness and rainbows. which seems new to me, idk where this mindset to read so deep into shit is suddenly coming from. I was here 2017-19, left for like 3 years and all of a sudden everybody's fallen off their rockers)

writing domestic stuff is too boring for me... there's gotta be gut-wrenching horrors and drama and tragedy and conflict!

none of this would be PG (which is what I assume you're asking for anyway) I'd just write smut with sprinkles of character studies and a pinch of comedy mayhaps, but I used to do that about 10 years ago and it was so bad. the way I describe these scenes comes off very plump and cringe

I... might. dip my toes into it later this year.

I'll drop a few ideas in the tags... maybe 2 ideas. very roughly. without spoilers, just in case.

[quibbs126]

You know honestly, you really have to appreciate all that goes into a Cookie Run design

They need to pick a food/ingredient to base the character off of, and then they have to find some association with either the food itself or something similar to it that they can draw parallels with, or inversely they need to find a food that matches the theme they’re going with. Then they have to find ways to incorporate the food into the actual design itself, as well as find some theme or culture to base their designs off of

Like for a random example, S’more Cookie and Cannoli Cookie. The theme of their update was camping, and s’mores are a typical camping food, and cannoli, while I don’t think it has an association with camping, looks a bit like a sleeping bag, which are essential camping gear

Or the Upper City Creme Republic Cookies, who generally all seem to be flavors with either fancy sounding European names, or something associated with a European country, like clotted cream or custard with England (I think), which ties into how, let’s face it, that Upper City colonized this region, and Europe (but mostly Western Europe) having a pretty notable history of colonization. And even the native Council members, Captain Caviar and Oyster, fit in with the upper class feel, with caviar being seen as a fancy food, and oysters, while I’m not sure the food connotations, are associated with pearls, a fancy gem

Or how Burning Spice and his forces are based on various spices, and they have an Indian inspiration due to India being pretty well known for their spices. Or Peach and Peach Blossom having Chinese inspiration due to the significance of peaches in Chinese mythology, as well as Peach taking inspiration from Sun Wukong, a prominent Chinese figure and someone who ate a bunch of peaches of immortality

And sometimes the ingredient doesn’t tie into the cultural/aesthetic inspiration for the character, like how European cheese seems to only have loose connection to Egypt, but they’ll still take care to make the inspirations clear, they’re not just generic, at least nowadays. I think, I might have been a bit unclear here

The characters may not all be a 100% unity between flavor and cultural inspiration, like Clotted Cream pretty much looks like a normal guy outside of his hair looking a little bit like cream, but it does work a lot of the time, and there’s still at least all that care going into the designs themselves

[witchofthesouls]

Hey, what if Quintessa had depictions of ancient human civilizations they had battled when Earth was young and magic was still active?

It's the horror combination between "humans are space fae/orcs." with "Earth is Space Australia."

Who else is better to battle Quintus "Life in all forms should be encouraged to thrive at all costs" Prime's creations than the planet that Unicron himself had spawned in a coma (aka Gaea)?

It's even funnier since Earth appears to be a paradise to Quintessons, but it's really a fucking nightmare with all the different kinds of predation and mutual relationships, like endurance hunting and man-dog relations. Plus, Gaea has a thing for crabs, and there are crab species that hunt squids.

[dismembereddream]

..... World often mistakes women's brilliance for madness because the world punishes girls who wield intellect with a blade instead of a smile.

(image source: pinterest)