the cliffs of insanity

katya | feminist | asexual | she/her | basically where my random thoughts go. you have been warned | find me on ao3 as Catstycam | bonus points if you got my princess bride reference

[a-lonely-soul]

hello people,

just a heads up- i have got a new account, because the only way that i can access this one is through my laptop now! please come and see me @luminouschaos i just checked this account on my laptop after eons and realised people are... actually following me?

[a-lonely-soul]

when your facial recognition on your phone doesn’t work bc you’re actually smiling for once

[amarguerite]

Apparently “what ho!” is a corruption of Beowulf’s “hwaet!”?? 

Now need a P.G. Wodehouse translation of Beowulf.

What ho! Have you heard of these chaps, Dashed good fellows with a spear and whatnot–

[fremedon]

What-ho! You are no doubt familiar with a certain strain of Danish chappie—your good Jutlander, or in point of fact, the Spear-Dane—and with more examples than I need to relate of the sort of thing they and their chieftains used to get up to.

But to take a single exemplar of the breed—what Gussie might call a type specimen, were we discussing newts, as we generally are when Gussie has come to the metrop.—consider a cove who was called Shield, the Spear-Dane being even keener on simple descriptive appellations than the average Etonian, and Son of Sheaf, said cove being a foundling and rather short on surnames.

Despite this unpropitious beginning, this Shield Sheafsson, as he grew up, graduated from knocking blighters off of barstools to permitting them to retain their seats and, once word had spread around the Baltic of the size and bellicosity of his fellows, raking in the ready for this favor. An all-round good sort and a good king, was the Danes’ verdict.

[tinydooms]

@belphegor1982 @oldshrewsburyian

[oldshrewsburyian]

Now this Shield’s son was a good chap too, well-liked by all. Jeeves would be able to tell you if the Danes were wont to express enthusiasm by chucking rolls at a fellow, like the Drones. I wouldn’t be surprised if they did. At any rate, when he had shuffled off this mortal coil, his son took over, and so on, until Hrothgar became king (rum names these fellows had, but I suppose it’s better than being called Shield, which must have been muddling, shields being very much in evidence in those days.) Still, into every life, as they say, some rain must fall and all that, and the Danes had a bit of a rough time of it under Hrothgar.

This wasn’t because Hrothgar was slack at the business of kinging it, or that the Danes took against him. No, general consensus was that he gave a good dinner and was the sort of chap you could rely on to forget when he’d loaned you money in a pinch. But the parties he hosted could get a bit riotous and, well, one thing led to another. I myself could tell a tale of a policeman’s helmet… but that’s by the by. The point is that there was a creature called Grendel, generally given to stalking marshes and similar uncheerful activities. A bit like Banquo’s ghost or my own Aunt Agatha, always popping up when least wanted. 

[hues-of-purple]

Hetero aces are fantastic.

Gay aces are great.

Lesbian aces are lovely.

Bi aces are beautiful.

Pan aces are perfect.

Poly aces are admirable.

Omni aces are open-minded.

Arospec aces are astounding.

ALL aces are amazing.

[nathanielthecurious]

a lot of you hate historians and archaeologists, and i think that’s a problem

look, i fully recognize that there are reasons to be skeptical of history and archaeology. i am very on board with criticizing academia as an oppressive institution, and the way that researchers take their bigotry and bias with them to their work. i also recognize that academia does a pretty bad job of communicating what it does to the public, and that’s a part of why people’s hostility to it is able to flourish.

but i am disturbed by the pervasive narrative in online leftist spaces that people who research the human past are ignorant and bigoted, and i think we need to do more to combat that narrative.

historians being homophobic has become a whole meme, and it feels like people are just using historians as a homophobia scapegoat, when in reality the humanities are overwhelmingly left-leaning. people also keep blaming historians for erasing the homoeroticism of fictional literary characters, which is just… not what historians do. homophobic biases and erasures in the interpretation of history over the past few hundred years are a very real thing that’s important to learn about, but scholars have radically shifted away from that approach in recent generations, and these memes are not helping people outside the field to understand history and reception. instead, a lot of people are coming away with the impression that…

(source… really? nobody?)

this thread gets bonus points for the comments claiming that modern historians argue about whether achilles was a top or a bottom using homophobic stereotypes, which i can only guess is a misunderstanding of the erastes/eromenos model (a relationship schema in classical greece; i think people have debated whether achilles and patroclus represent an early version of it). also a commenter claims that the movie troy invented the idea of achilles and patroclus being cousins when no, they were also cousins in lots of ancient sources.

there’s this post about roman dodecahedra (link includes explanation of why the original post is misleading).

there’s this thread about how some thin gold spirals from ancient denmark look exactly like materials used in gold embroidery to this day but archaeologists are stupid and don’t know that because they dont talk to embroiderers enough. in fact, the article says they were most likely used for decorating clothing, whether as a fringe, braided into hair, or embroidered. so the archaeologists in the article basically agree with the post, theyre just less certain about it, because an artifact looking similar to a modern device doesn’t necessarily mean they have identical uses.

this thread has a lot of people interpreting academic nuance as erasure. the museum label literally says that this kind of statue typically depicts a married couple, giving you the factual evidence so you can interpret it. it would be false to say “these two women are married” because there was no gay marriage in ancient egypt. (interpreting nuance as erasure or ignorance is a running theme here, and it points to a disconnect, a public ignorance of how history is studied, that we can very much remedy)

lots of other conspiracy theory-ish stuff about ancient egypt is common in social justice communities, which egyptologists on this site have done a good job of debunking

oh, and this kind of thing has been going around. the problem with it is that there are loads of marginalized academics who research things related to their own lives, and lived experience and rigorous research are different forms of expertise that are both valuable.

so why does this matter?

none of these are isolated incidents. for everything i’ve linked here, there are examples i havent linked. anti-intellectualism, especially against the humanities, is rampant lately across the political spectrum, and it’s very dangerous. it’s not the same as wanting to see and understand evidence for yourself, it’s not the same as criticizing institutions of academic research. it’s the assumption that scholars are out to get you and the perception that there is no knowledge to be gained from thorough study. that mindset is closely connected to the denial of (political, scientific, and yes historical) facts that we’ve been seeing all around us in recent years.

on a personal note, so many marginalized scholars are trying to survive the dumpster fire of academia because we care that much about making sure the stories that are too often unheard don’t get left out of history… and when that’s the entire focus of my life right now, it’s disheartening to see how many of my political allies are just going to assume the worst about the entire field

[a-lonely-soul]

you know how we have italics and bold? i feel like we need a version for sarcasm in text. maybe the letters are all wonky?

[a-lonely-soul]

watching revolution of the daleks:

i'm not crying you're crying

also thank you FINALLY someone has given her hugs

[a-lonely-soul]

for the @oneringnet december event- underrated characters. goldberry, the river-daughter

[scruffylookingpiratecaptain]

Do you know why I admire him, more, perhaps, than any man I know?

[sharkbaiting]

Can you believe I’ve been shipping these idiots since 2010?

[spikeface]

Me, looking at the AO3 email that says one person left kudos on every single one of my fanfics in one night: so you were going through some stuff, huh, buddy

[a-lonely-soul]

honestly i feel so called out rn

[lesbianisopod-moved]

how come goyim will make 30k note posts about why not to use antisemitic memes but ignore the SEVERAL hate crimes that have been committed since chanukah started

[lesbianisopod-moved]

for those who don’t know

dec 8: an anne frank memorial in the united states is tagged with nazi imagery, including the hooked cross

dec 13: a member of a jewish community center is hospitalized after being attacked

dec 15: a hebrew elementary schools website is hijacked and text is replaced with violent antisemitism

[lesbianisopod-moved]

non jewish people are encouraged to reblog

[a-lonely-soul]

if series 2 of his dark materials does not include lee scoresby saying that he's not throwing away his shot, i am going to riot.

[hisdankshitposts]

lee: you know, I've been thinking of adopting

lyra: that's great, you'd make an amazing dad!

lee, slamming down adoption papers: it's you, sign here

[a-lonely-soul]

unpopular opinion: i actually liked mulan 2020

also mulan and xiao long are the best power couple ever. no she did not die. i am ignoring it.

[mariamegale]

A girl can bring her family Great honor in one way By striking a good match And this could be the day

[lilydvoratrelundar]