Molotov Mafia @a-book-dragon - Tumblr Blog

Posts

suiheisen

(✿◕‿◕) die (ꈍ ꒳ ꈍ✿)

litteratured

clocktower3iso

You know they would've had a crazy discord

michaelrodz

William Burroughs and Kurt Cobain

macbethz

Fuck this interview rules

narcissa-black-supermacy

i thought the “this is the face that launched a thousand ships, although now it would maybe be five-hundred.” line was just an internet joke but apparently that's a line Menelaus actually says in Nolan's Odyssey??

Not only that the language itself sounds straight out of a marvel forcibly funny haha moment, but Menelaus? The Menelaus who all thoughout human history, from Homer, to Sappho, to Euripides, to Virgil, to Shakespeare, to Brooke, to Barth; from Classical vases to Medieval poetry to Reinessance art, has been known as the man whose sword fell from his hands at the sight of his wife after 10 years apart?

"What joy for me to hold my wife" Menelaus?

"He flung the sword away, and kissed her feet" Menelaus?

"I believe all. I understand nothing. I love you" Menelaus?

"I have no fault to find; my wife, he daughter of Zeus and Leda, is mine again, she whom her brothers on their snow-white steeds, whilst torches blazed, made my happy bride, but gods removed her from my home." Menelaus?

The Menelaus who was picked out of the suitors by Helen herself? The Menelaus who couldn't kill a begging Trojan so his brother had to do it for him? The Menelaus who rescued Odysseus and got out Patroclus' body? The Menelaus who volounteered to fight Paris one on one so everybody could go home? Who kept expressing his guilt about himself being the cause of war through every assembly he spoke at in the Iliad? Who after 10 years away at Troy, took his wife through a 7-year long journey at sea back home, where he reinstated her as the queen of Sparta? Who wept like a child in front of Telemachus recalling the war and his brother and all the friends he lost and the only consolation being his wife' gentle hand on his?

You want me to believe that man scarred Helen's face and called her only worth half the ships because of it?

I'm actually physically sick just thinking about it.

briannyssey

some people read an awful lot, but don't read very well. deep reading is itself a skill. being able to untangle the threads of theme, subtext, characterization, narrative style, and more are all things that it takes time and intentional engagement to learn.

if you've ever watched a movie with your film buff friend and chatted about it afterwards, that friend might have pulled hours more of conversation out of the same 90 minutes of screentime, and wondered how the fuck they did that - it's not raw intelligence, it's a skill that's been honed. And I learned a lot about film from talking to friends who knew about film, and reading critique by film scholars

literature works exactly the same. so if you want to get more out of your reading, there are things you can do to train that. Find a book or short story you think you've got a pretty good grasp on, preferably from a widely read & respected author like Ursula K Le Guin or Ray Bradbury (if you're new at this don't swing for the Toni Morrison or the Samuel Beckett yet unless you feel very comfortable with the complexity of the text - the point is to develop a complicated new skill on good foundations). Then go to JSTOR, create a free account, and look up criticism on the story you've chosen. Find something that looks readable to you and at least somewhat interesting. Read that article, and look at what that writer got out of the same story you've read that you didn't get. Do you see the critic's points? Did they teach you something about the text? Go reread that story and see if the criticism has changed how you read it. Are you seeing more? Are you thinking about the implications of a line that you hadn't noticed before? Does the story feel richer now?

there are other more involved ways of finding criticism. Learning to use academic databases, going to your local library to do interlibrary loans, finding critical voices you appreciate; these are all useful subskills. Literacy isn't just being able to read words, it's being able to read words in context and think about what they tell you about the text, the author, or the time and culture in which the text was produced. Literacy is the skill of being able to look at the world with open eyes and think clearly about how its parts are connected. It'll change your life

briannyssey

this keeps getting shared around and ive seen some different tags responding differently so i just want to make some important clarifications and distillations

you don't have to read more deeply if you don't want to (but i'd recommend it, i genuinely think it makes you a better person)

if you want to learn to read more deeply, the resources are out there. try to find critical literature (that is, academic writing that analyzes the text) on works your familiar with so you can get a sense for how to do that analysis too

learning to deep read literature can help you deep read many areas of your life

writers tend to put a lot of work into their stories. if you learn to read that work you'll (probably) appreciate the stories you love even more. And if not, then you'll have developed your taste. This too is worth doing

themirokai

If I ask nicely will people reblog and put in the tags what their favorite kids movie is? Can be something you loved as a kid, or something aimed at kids that you watched as an adult and really liked. Please?

#the last unicorn

reading the introduction to le morte d'arthur (reviving my primary school knight obsession) AND...

The original Arthur, as Sir John Rhys first suggested, and as Messrs. R. G. Collingwood and Geoffrey Ashe have since proved beyond reasonable doubt, was a heroic British cavalry general named Arturius. A hundred years after the Roman legions had evacuated Britain, he halted the pagan Saxon in¬ vaders with their Pictish and Anglian allies, fighting ten main battles, and in 517 won a decisive victory at Mount Badon which gave him possession of London. Early annalists do not make Arthur a king, but Dux Bellorum (“Leader of Wars”) and Comes Britanniarum (“Count of the Britains”), meaning commander in chief. King Uther Pendragon (“Chief Dragon”), who figures as his father in some accounts, seems to have been a hereditary Captain-General of the Roman forces in North Britain. The title refers ,to a red silk dragon with a wide-open mouth, serving not only as a standard but as a wind sock that helped archers to correct their aim. This dragon, now the national emblem of Wales, had been brought to Britain all the way from China by way of the Byzantine Empire.

so the most emblematic legend of anglo-saxon origin... was inspired by some roman guy who fought the saxons... and if that wasn't enough, the figure of the dragon that is now connected to all medieval fantasy settings is of chinese origin.

both conquest/colonization and cultural exchange via travel and trading has shaped history and mythology forever. proof №980400924 that the idea of 'pure' culture is a folly.

what a shame i wasn't able to understand this at 9 years old.

#arthuriana #lil me for sure was a larper lmao #but for real it's kinda sad and disappointing that arthur was some roman general but what can you do

fadell-aldany

I write to you with tears welling in my eyes, my body wracked with pain every second. I write to you because the ignore me and neglect I've endured hurts me more than my injuries. So remember, even if I die, I will never f0rgive anyone who ignored me and my suffering. I implore everyone to look at me and h@lp me by d0nating and sharing whatever they can.

fadell-aldany

This week, I've been battling severe pain and frequent fainting spells due to severe anemia, and I'm completely unable to afford essential medications because of their high cost. All I wish for is for these fainting spells to stop, and for me to find compassionate hearts to stand by me so I can bu.y my medication and recover quickly.

fadell-aldany

Shrapnel still lodges in my body, and the pain keeps me awake at night. What makes my suffering even worse is that I was injured when our house was bombed while we were inside. I need urgent surgery but the cost of the operation is exorbitant, and I can't afford it. Now, I can't even afford painkillers to the constant pain tearing at my body.

fadell-aldany

Please I don't want to diie, I just want to live without pain. I need your sincere sup.port to save my life and end this suffering as soon as possible. Please, I would be extremely grateful to anyone who can d0nate to me. and if you can't, I hope you will shar.e this pOst.

closet-keys

I am very worried about Fadel. He is suffering unendurable pain and desperately needs relief as soon as possible. Please donate to him if you have anything to spare.

ryebreadgf

one of the reasons i train is so i'm capable to find a job where physical strength is needed (before the artistic and academic pursuits start paying off).

customer service is demeaning and office jobs are pointless. crime would be cool but i lack the street smarts.

loading and unloading cargo, working in a warehouse (you don't NEED to be strong there but it's definitely a plus), or having an absolute shit tier errand boy type blue collar job (surprise surprise, i lack dexterity too!) are the only things i see myself doing for more than an year.

maybe i'm spoiled, or maybe the job market fucking SUCKS

specialagentartemis

Character has a PhD: they’re really smart and knowledgable about their field!

Character has 2 PhDs: either they did a dual degree program and are braggy about it, had a life-changing experience after their first degree and pivoted their whole career, or they find the structure of being a PhD student, despite all its stress, more comfortable and familiar than the stress of finding a Real Job and have a very indulgent advisor.

Character has 3 PhDs: who keeps accepting them to PhD programs. Either this person needs psychological help or their department needs to be investigated for its academic standards. Probably both

Character has 4+ PhDs: if they aren’t an undercover vampire or something then no they don’t lol

prokopetz

Alternatively: this character is some kind of rock star celebrity in their field and has a bunch of honorary degrees from several different institutions, and also this story takes place before most universities adopted a separate postnominal for honorary doctorates specifically to avoid this sort of confusion.

soracities

Megan Garber, "We've Lost the Plot: We're Already in the Metaverse", pub. The Atlantic [ID'd]

soracities

"[...] Understanding the world as a collection of aesthetics, of brands, instead of a series of philosophies and power struggles means focusing on how things appear, and not how or why they work. It’s bad enough to think about art this way, but thinking of yourself this way is a real disaster, [it] means neglecting what drives you, what fulfills you, what makes you human. The invented lifestyles of these aesthetics offer no path to embodiment, because they aren’t designed for entities with bodies. They’re designed for TikTok, and hashtags, and the wiki."

"Millions of Dead Vibes", Lily Alexandre