rosslynpaladin:

curiobjd:

shaelit:

anothertiredmonster:

beggars-opera:

One of my favorite things about history is how little bits of it are preserved through traditions and mythology and we don’t even notice it. Like how we still say “’Tis the season” at Christmastime. Who says ‘tis anymore? No one, it’s dead except in this tiny phrase. I had a friend once tell me that she noticed the only group of people who could consistently identify a spinning wheel were girls between the ages of 4 and 7. Why? Sleeping Beauty. There are little linguistic quirks that have been around for centuries, bits of slang we use that people 400 years ago would recognize, but unless you showed someone a 400 year old dictionary, they’d never believe it. Whispers of the past are always there.

Words preserved through idioms are actually called Fossil Words! Here’s a Wikipedia article listing a bunch of examples. 

I propose we Jurassic Park these suckers.

@rosslynpaladin

precisely! There’s far more of them than you’d realize. A pothole is from when potters used to harvest clay from the side of the road. Pot. Hole.

Your phone goes boinkey bleep but we still call it ringing, from when phones had actual bells on the outside of actual boxes.

Have you ever had to explain to a Gen Z why we “roll down” a car’s window?

Lowercase and uppercase are from typesetting, storing lead letters into boxes or cases for print.

The daily grind is from when a day’s use of grain was ground for bread.

“Fire!” as the command to shoot, in English, only picked up with gunpowder, as you’d light or fire the guns. To fire is to set fire to something. Prior to that, the command for a bunch of archers isn’t and has never been Fire, it’s Loose. Notice this little anachronism in most medievaloid films.

butneverstoptrying:

Being a retired gifted kid

If you’re like me, you spent most of your life getting very, very good at school to the point that it became your whole identity, and you’re trying to cope with not having that anymore. It turns out devoting your life to one thing from an early age isn’t exactly conducive to being a functional adult.

You started school and you got praise and attention. They said “you’re good at this, but you heard “this is what you’re good at,” and then “this is what you’re good for.” You were good at putting together pieces, but not old enough to fully understand the picture you got at the end.

Maybe you’re about to graduate. Maybe you’ve already graduated. Maybe you’re a student who thinks this is how you’ll end up someday.

You feel guilty wanting sleep or relationships or “unproductive” hobbies, because they’re distractions from what “really” matters. You’re in your mid-twenties learning skills you neglected in your mid-teens because school was so much more important than all this weird emotional stuff.

You’re so used to being stressed that you seek it out because it’s familiar. You don’t know what to do with yourself when you have evenings and weekends free, so you don’t do anything, and then feel guilty for THAT. And you feel like a failure, because you see what you’re “supposed” to be like as an adult, and you’re so far away from it that you don’t know how to reach it. You succeeded, but by a completely different metric that doesn’t matter anymore. Maybe you can translate that success to your job but have a hard time with everything else. Maybe you have a hard time with things, period. Either way, nobody cares what your GPA was, no matter how much you sacrificed to get it.

Maybe it’d be good for us to talk about it and grow together. Make a discord server for retired gifted kids or something. We can encourage each other to have hobbies and go to bed at a decent hour and form normal human relationships. Old Friends Senior AP Student Sanctuary. I think a lot of us do it anyway.

It feels silly to think about this when there are so many “real” problems out there, but if someone devotes 20 years of their life to one thing and that thing ends, the void it leaves is a real problem.

Anything that stops you from living a happy and fulfilling life is a real problem.

We were equipped to get degrees, but weren’t really equipped to have a life after that. Now we have a lot of learning to do.

(I was one of the lucky ones whose parents didn’t actively encourage this train of thought, and I still ended up here. Seriously.)

mittensmorgul:

solarrift:

sweetdimplesbruv:

There’s something that I fundamentally don’t understand about Article 13.

It doesn’t simply protect copyrighted content, it will also absolutely impact the bottom line of these big businesses too. This is how I see it.

 Here’s my current fandom:

How did I get into Kingsman? Was it because I saw a trailer for it on TV and thought, “Hey, I should see that.”

Nope. It was via online fandom content almost two years after Kingsman: The Secret Service was released. I never would’ve given it the time of day if not for gifsets and fanfic that I saw and read before I’d even seen the movie. But I saw those things first, so the movie then caught my interest, and I watched it. Legally. I ended up purchasing movie tickets for the sequel, I bought the movies on Blu-ray, I bought some official Kingsman merchandise (don’t judge me), and I even spent a little money on one of the official Kingsman mobile games (like 20 dolla, and I’m not proud of it). 

I spend a significant part of my online time interacting in the orbit of the Kingsman fandom. I look forward to the third movie (the actual third movie, not this weird prequel thing…ugh). I will actively spend money on the movie and probably some official merchandise when it’s released too. I also have an interest in the actors from the movie and legally seek out their other work (even Robin Hood, haaaa). Meaning I intend to SPEND MONEY on things related to Kingsman because fandom content keeps my interest going long beyond its official release. Fandom content is often what will catch my interest in the first place.

My fandom before Kingsman?

When I got into Marvel/Captain America, how do you think that happened?

Did I see trailers before other movies? TV commercials? Was it because of people I knew in real life who enjoyed it? Nope. I rarely see any promotional material for things because I don’t normally take in content in the traditional way (the same as most other Millennials and Gen Z, I’d wager). I knew of them, obviously, because they’re insanely popular. But I didn’t give a shit.

I didn’t give a lick about Marvel and it wasn’t until I saw some fan commentary and gifsets on Tumblr/in fan spaces of Captain America: The Winter Soldier that I was like, “Oooh, this sounds interesting. I need to watch this.”

And I watched it. Legally. And I bought it. Legally. And I went out and legally watched everything else Marvel. I bought legal/licensed Marvel merchandise. I bought Marvel comics, ffs. Do you think I cared about comics before that? At this point, I’ve probably spent a good few hundred dollars on Marvel related content. Probably closer to $1000 than $100. And that’s mild compared to some people! 

Do you think I would’ve done any of that if I hadn’t first seen fan created content that technically uses copyrighted material?

I sure the fuck would not. I would’ve gone on not caring about it at all.

My point is, Article 13 is so fucking short-sighted. Fandom and creative content made by people not associated with these businesses often makes or breaks that content. How many people do you think got into Marvel the same way I did? How many millions of dollars have people spent on Marvel related merchandise because fandom content fostered their interest way beyond “See it in the movie theatre, then go home and forget about it?” 

Here’s another example for the other end of the spectrum:

Avatar. The James Cameron movie. It made $2.7 billion at the box office worldwide. That’s nice. But does anyone really give a shit about it? I’ve never seen it. Don’t have any desire to see it or the supposed upcoming sequels. The only online content I see about it? Mocks it. There is no fandom. 

To compare fandoms on Ao3:

No one gives a shit. No one is looking for Avatar. Maybe the sequels will do well, I’m not a psychic. I have no idea. But my point is, there is no longevity there. No one is looking for official Avatar merchandise. No one is creating works about it that keeps interest going years after it was released. And continued interest means continued profit.

So Avatar did really, really well at the box office. Exceptionally well. And then?

Are people buying Avatar clothing? Books? Mugs, tchotchkes, spending thousands of dollars to meet the cast and creators at conventions? Special editions of the movies? Collector’s items?

Google “Avatar pop” and what do you think comes up? Pop! figures for the Avatar movie? Nope. There aren’t any. Are there Pop! figures for Avatar: The Last Airbender, which has a healthy online fandom presence? Yep.

Supernatural is an excellent example as well. A small show on a struggling network. Isn’t it on season 247 at this point? What do you think helped it last as long as it has? All that sweet network promo? The A-List status of its stars (hahahaha)? 

HAAAAA! NO! It’s the fucking fan content! All the fanvids, fanfic, artwork, gifsets, commentary, discussions, meta, and beyond. All those creations get seen by hundreds, thousands of people who may have never heard of it before. But it’s that kind of content that sparks an interest. If you’re in that fandom, think of the coolest piece of art (or the best fanfic), that’s what inspires people to seek something out. That’s what cultivates an interest for years, including purchasing god knows what for god knows how much money. Terribly photoshopped ~official~ promo pictures and a couple commercials ain’t gonna do it. 

Does the below image make me go “LOL WHAT? wats happening? wats going on? wat is this????”

Ya. Dark, morbid, funny. Sounds interesting…

Does the below official image make me go, “Oooh, gotta watch whatever that is!”

It sure the fuck does not. Sorry Jensen Ackles, you’re good looking and all, but nah. Can’t say I have any interest in whatever that is. WHY ARE YOU IN A CAGE? WHAT IS THAT CHAIN FOR? help me i’m scared

ANYWAY. Which content style above is going to inspire and cultivate enough of a longterm interest that people are willing to buy board games, clothing, jewelry, DVD sets, magazines, go to conventions, buy god knows what else, and spread the word about the show? For over a decade? It ain’t the second picture, I can tell you that much.

Fan content creates new fans and cultivates longterm interest which earns big businesses more money.

That is one of many reasons why Article 13 is shit. For fan content creators and for big business. It’s not a threat to the big business bottom line, it’s free promotion. 

I BEG YOU. DO NOT SCROLL PAST THIS.

Need the EU’s Directive on Copyright

Article 13 explained to you or a friend in a different way you might get? READ OP’s post now and pass it on!

I mean… what keeps a fandom like Supernatural alive constantly throughout 14 seasons?

Fic, art, gifs, meta, and a thriving fandom that creates this community. This is the community that drives people to buy all the official merch, to support the charity events run by the actors, to spent big bucks on official conventions, and keeps people engaged with the show. Would a fandom like this have any hope of surviving without the fan-created content? If we were forbidden from creating this family online?

Yeah, this is important. Article 13 MUST NOT happen.

jenniferrpovey:

tropicaljohn:

revscarecrow:

wetwareproblem:

katherinebarlow:

yancakes:

glumshoe:

telegantmess:

beijinhos:

any white at a protest who tries to go against police and deliberately provoke a response from them is not to be trusted and does not have the safety of black and brown people in mind.

there is a good chance that they are police too. if anyone, especially a white dude, ever randomly gets your attention and conspiratorially tries to convince you to jump a police officer, then dude is a cop. They have been using this technique and script for at least 30 years.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agent_provocateur

Check their fucking shoes. They’re always too afraid that their little toesies will be hurt so they’ll usually still be rocking the exact same boots as the guys on the other side. This was what gave the cops away when they provoked riots in Toronto a while back.

@talesofalamia, remember when I pointed out the shoes of the two well-dressed informants near us?

Similar note: IME, unmarked cruisers have five distinguishing traits:

1. They’re one of the department-issue models.
2. They’re always white, black, or dark blue.
3. They always look like they just rolled out of a car wash.
4. Usually rocking restricted plates.
5. Most reliable if present but hardest to spot: Their mirrors are bulkier, to fit the light rigs in.

In Austin the under cover officer that tried to convince me to set a cop car on fire had a convincing fake beard.

Be careful out there and read up on common tactics used against protestors before going.

You can usually see the stealth lights if you look into the grill.

Besides the old obvious as fuck Crown Victoria, be suspicious of 2013+ Ford Taurus and Explorer, 2006+ Dodge Charger and Dakota, 06-13 Chevy Impala, 11+ Chevy Caprice and both the Tahoe and Suburban.

Look for oversize mirrors, plugs on the roof and/or A pillar, lights inside the grill, extraneous lights inside the headlight assembly, lights tucked up behind the rear view mirror, steel wheels with or without wheel covers, and plugs or short antennas on the trunk lid.

Reblogging this for two reasons: 1. So people who have reason to be afraid of the police (which is pretty much anyone with significant melanin) see it. 2. Uh, good writer reference for describing undercover cop cars…

makethwoman:

calicoocat:

that adhd feel when you talk to someone and suddenly they go “turn down ur volume, please” when ur actually talking in a normal tone. am i this loud? idk man

I…. did not realize that was an ADHD feel. o.o I guess it kind of makes sense, that usually happens when I’m excited about something/in a good place/on an upswing. But. o.o

Wait, that’s an ADHD thing?