Mathematically-Improbable

[medstudentblues]

Ghibli meets avatar by @amaramation. ✨

[radicalurbanista]

[dollgirllandsknecht]

FUCK THIS SHIT

FUCK THE POLICE

FIGHT FASCISM NOW.

[dragkingandreweldritch]

update: MSNBC is currently airing coverage of this story (9:39 pm EST Fri July 17) hopefully other news organizations will follow suit

[verilybitchie]

Bisexuals were essentially accused of murdering women via HIV in the 80s, either because we were intentionally duplicitous or because we were out of control maniacs who couldn’t resist unsafe sex. For many people of that generation, this was their first time hearing about bisexuals. Now folks want to pretend that didn’t influence today’s perception of bisexuality. 

[verilybitchie]

Okay, since yall assholes are trying to say that bisexuals are to blame for transmission from the gay community to straight women:

Ekstrand et al. also found that bisexually-identified MSMW [men who have sex with men and women] in San Francisco were not a common vector or “bridge” for spreading HIV from male partners to female partners due to high rates of using barrier protection and extremely low rates of risky behavior. This was further confirmed by James Kahn and colleagues, who found that in a sample of 40,000 new HIV infections in the US, only 1 percent occurred in women who had contracted the virus from MSMW.

- Bisexual Invisibility: Impacts and Recommendations, San Francisco Human Rights Commission, LGBT Advisory Committee, p22

Besides this, I also want to say that we, as a community, do NOT blame people with HIV/AIDS for HIV/AIDS. Some of you went there.

[theblackoutofficial]

Happy #Juneteenth, Tumblr!

Celebrating #JuneteenthJoy by donating a symbolic $19 (minimum) to the following organizations and funds, specifically centering Black LGBTQ folks and Black women of every identity.

Organizations:

The Okra Project/Tony McDade Fund/Nina Pop Fund

Atlanta Solidarity Fund

Dem Bois

Trans Justice Funding Project

Marsha P. Johnson Institute

Louisville Bail Fund

The African American Policy Reform (Creators of #SayHerName)

Brooklyn Bail Fund

Black Trans Travel Fund

Black & Pink Bail Fund

Private Crowdfunds:

Help Sophia pay her class fees

Help Trey Publish Black Paranormal Horror Stories

Help Sierra go to Grad School 

Help Yana to survive

Help Valentine transition

Help Aihs finish school 

Help Hams stay healthy

Help Adrian get top surgery 

Help Yah Yah continue writing

Non-Black Allies: Donate a minimum of $19 to a Black org or individual in need today. This is is just a list to help you get started – feel free to donate to anyone you see today. 

Thank you! - @marsincharge

[vampireapologist-archive-deacti]

Give!!!!

[kryptonians]

[timsutton]

just found out there’s a fetish thing called fin-dom where rich people get off on sending vast amounts of money to people who verbally abuse them and hey just sayin if you’re into that hmu, i got a paypal and i’m mean

[fatphrodite]

[skygemspeaks]

someone recommend me some good fantasy books that aren’t centred on a war, please, my crops are dying

[ninja-muse]

The Greta Helsing novels by Vivian Shaw - practical doctor to the undead defeats mildly ominous interdimensional threats with the aid of domestic vampires and a demon accountant.

Sunshine by Robin McKinley - practical baker is captured by vampires, escapes, reluctantly teams up with better vampire to kill the bad one.

Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones - young hat maker ages 60 years overnight, proceeds to upend the life of a disaster wizard while learning self-confidence.

the Discworld novels by Terry Pratchett - hard to encapsulate, but equally funny and hard-hitting, tackling race and gender and corruption and other forms of inequality while also, like, making fun of post offices and Hollywood and Shakespeare. Three or four tackle war, true, but there’s something like 35 others to choose from.

the Accidental Turn series by J.M. Frey - recent Ph.D of colour lands in the Fantasyland™ she did her thesis on, goes off about agency and diversity while recovering from the Dark Lord’s attentions and learning the truth about her fictional crush.

Middlegame by Seanan McGuire - evil alchemist creates superpowered children to assist world takeover; children just want to be a family; family is complicated.

Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik - young woman takes over family business, must outwit fairies with a love of gold.

the Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C. Wrede - princess runs away to become a dragon’s housekeeper, fights off rescuers, solves problems large and small, melts wizards.

the October Daye novels by Seanan Mcguire - Half-fae detective solves murders, finds missing persons, develops found family, can’t stop self from upending the social order.

The Golem and the Djinni by Helene Wecker - A quiet golem, a tempestuous djinn, Gilded Age New York. Immigrants, identity, friendship, hope, and self-discovery.

An Unkindness of Magicians by Kat Howard - A witch from an outsider House enters New York’s magical Hunger Games, to prove a point. The problems of magic were not intended.

Zoo City by Lauren Beukes - Part-time con artist gets hired to find two missing pop stars, with the help of the magical sloth on her back. Noir ensues.

Child of a Hidden Sea by A.M. Dellamonica - Nature photographer lands on water-world, discovers lost family, tries to convince self magic is impossible.

Gods Behaving Badly by Marie Phillips - Greek gods, washed up in North London, curse Apollo to fall for the cleaner. Existential crisis, meet rom-com.

Among Others by Jo Walton - Loner teen sent to boarding school, discovers science fiction, might know fairies and do magic.

[hermitknut]

Tooth and Claw by Jo Walton - Austenesque story except all the characters are dragons.

Every Heart a Doorway (and sequels) by Seanan McGuire - the children of portal fantasy end up in boarding school coping with being kicked out of their various worlds, then some of them start getting murdered. 

The Gracekeepers by Kirsty Logan - the world is flooded, there’s a lady who works with a bear at a circus that sails to different places to perform, and a lady who is sort of an undertaker, and they fall in love

Lud-in-the-Mist by Hope Mirrlees - there are fairies but no one talks about them anymore because That’s Just Not How We Are except this state of affairs cannot possibly last and people start getting lured to fairyland

The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison - fifth son of emperor who’s lived his whole life away from court abruptly becomes emperor when his father and older brothers are killed in an accident, spends entire book trying to make friends and figure how the fuck to do a) confidence and b) ruling ethically

The Various by Steven Augarde - girl spends summer at uncle’s farm, finds the group of “various” (no direct parallel, but think somewhere between gnomes and pixies) that live in the woods, mysterious history, flying horse, The Cat Is Evil (this is technically middle grade but it’s so good I can’t even)

Turning Darkness Into Light by Marie Brennan - working on the translation of an ancient text is complicated when it might have a huge impact on the public perception of a highly stigmatised group; subterfuge, found family, mythology, and the rejection of men who steal other people’s work. 

[the-dust-jacket]

The Sharing Knife series by Lois McMaster Bujold - Fighting monsters and bandits, yes, but also fighting prejudice, intercultural communications breakdowns, in-laws, outdated traditions, and chores

Under the Pendulum Sun by Jeanette Ng - a gently reared young lady goes to fairyland to find her missionary brother, instead finds a crazy gothic mansion full of mysteries  

Daughter of the Forest, by Juliet Marillier - lush high fantasy retelling of the Seven Swans

Seraphina, by Rachel Hartman - murder, intrigue, and music in a world where humans maintain an uneasy peace with shapeshifting dragons

Sorcerer to the Crown, by Zen Cho - brilliant but marginalized sorcerer and brilliant but marginalized social climber take on Regency England 

Six of Crows, by Leigh Bardugo - Fantasy heist starring ragtag band of teenaged delinquents armed with magic and trauma 

Vessel, by Sarah Beth Durst - a girl raised to be a vessel for a goddess tries to figure out why her goddess failed to show and also save the world 

Stardust, by Neil Gaiman - Guy goes to fairyland to catch a star to impress his True Love, what could possibly go wrong 

The Thief,  by Megan Whalen Turner - Marvelous swashbuckling middle grade quest story and first in a series of complex and political and twisty books, beware of spoilers 

Penric’s Progress, by Lois McMaster Bujold - A collection of the first three Penric and Desdemona novellas, which follow a mild-mannered accidental sorcerer and his centuries-old snarky demon as they go on quests, solve mysteries, dabble in intrigues, and generally sow chaos wherever they go 

The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien - There is one major battle and the POV character misses ALL of it because Jirt thinks war is stupid 

A Face Like Glass, by Frances Hardinge - amazingly lush and imaginative underground world and the girl who fell down into it, was raised by cheeses, and is about to cause a whole lot of trouble 

Deeplight, by Frances Hardinge - the terrifying Lovecraftian ocean gods are dead but their secrets live on 

(look I’m just trying to avoid the temptation to link to all of Frances Hardinge but maybe check out all of Frances Hardinge)

Sorcery of Thorns, by Margaret Rogerson - Sword wielding librarian fights demons and the patriarchy 

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, by N.K. Jemisin - An unlikely heir competes for the most powerful job in a world where captured gods are weapons  

The Squire’s Tales by Gerald Morris - Laugh-out-loud funny and also magical and source-material-level weird MG series on Arthurian romance, some battles but mostly quests and complaining about how stupid knights can be, shading darker towards the end of the series for obvious reasons 

Starless, by Jacqueline Carey - kind of war but more of a coming of age and quest book with a big battle at the end? A child fated from birth to be companion to a princess is trained by warrior monks and dropped headfirst into a scheming court of near-immortal royals 

The Earthsea Cycle, by Ursula K LeGuin - the education of a wizard in primal magic and ancient secrets 

A note: I tried to stick with high fantasy or close to it, as that’s generally what people are looking for when they get stuck in War Is Hell for two thousand pages 

A further note: I adore so many of the books on @anassarhenisch and @hermitknut‘s lists and will definitely have to check out the others, thanks y’all! 

[kendallroy-deactivated20210425]

idk who needs to hear this but when your english teacher asks you to explain why an author chose to use a specific metaphor or literary device, it’s not because you won’t be able to function in real-world society without the essential knowledge of gatsby’s green light or whatever, it’s because that process develops your abilities to parse a text for meaning and fill in gaps in information by yourself, and if you’re wondering what happens when you DON’T develop an adult level of reading comprehension, look no further than the dizzying array of examples right here on tumblr dot com

[kendallroy-deactivated20210425]

this post went from 600 to 2400 notes in the time it took me to write 3 emails. i’m already terrified for what’s going to happen in there

[kendallroy-deactivated20210425]

k but also, as an addendum, the reason we study literary analysis is because everything an author writes has meaning, whether it was intentional or not, and their biases and agendas are often reflected in their choice of language and literary devices and so forth! and that ties directly into being able to identify, for example, the racist and antisemitic dogwhistles often employed by the right wing, or the subconscious word choices that can unintentionally illustrate someone’s bias or blind spot. LANGUAGE HAS WEIGHT AND MEANING! the way we communicate is a reflection of our inner selves, and that’s true regardless of whether it’s a short story or a novel or a blog post or a tweet. instead of taking a piece of writing at face value and stopping there, assuming that there is no deeper meaning or thought behind the words on the page, ask yourself these two questions instead:

1. what is the author trying to say? 2. what does the author maybe not realize they’re saying?

because the most interesting reading of any piece of literature, imho, usually occupies the space in between those questions.

[azonus]

That the police respond to legitimate protests about police violence by increasing police violence, when that should by all rights be the last thing they do in response, just highlights how they are a fundamentally violent institution.  Violence is their default answer to problems, and when they see threats to their domination, even in the form of constitutionally-guaranteed peaceful protests, they will use that violence to protect their position.

[stateoffelicity]

Sign the Petition

Justice for Lakeith Smith and A’Donte Washington!

Please sign the petition!!!

[samingtonwilson]

hi just FYI: this is the result of alabama’s felony murder statute. felony murder statutes basically say that if someone is killed while a felony is being committed, those in commission of the felony are liable for the death as a murder. in this case, that means anyone who participated in the original felony of breaking into houses is liable.

you can be charged with first-degree murder in a situation like this. in order for a jury to find someone guilty of first-degree murder there has to be proof, beyond a reasonable doubt, of deliberation and purposeful intent. THE ONLY REQUIREMENT, HOWEVER, WHEN IT IS A FELONY MURDER, IS THE INTENT TO COMMIT A FELONY. that’s it. you could have had 0 desire and 0 reason to believe someone would die but if they do die, you can be charged with the same degree of murder as someone who planned out said murder and, with the intent to kill, carried it out. 

there has been a case where a police officer shot and killed another police officer as they attempted to catch someone who had just robbed a store which led to the person who had robbed the store being charged with murder. almost every time i’ve read a case using a felony murder statute like alabama’s it has been used to protect cops. there are genuinely very few other reasonably conceivable purposes for it. it is used to shift responsibility and absolve cops of responsibility. it’s unjust and complete bullshit.

[glumshoe]

I feel like the usefulness of a poison ring is inversely correlated with how openly you boast about wearing a poison ring

[glumshoe]

you were so busy carefully watching that my ring hand did not go near your drink that you didn’t notice the liter bottle labeled POISON in my other from which I poured your wine

[glumshoe]

the key to poisoning people is misdirection. misdirection... and poison.

[talkingbirdguy]

They key to poisoning people is to make sure they don't notice you stabbing them in the neck while you slip the goods into their drink.

[glumshoe]

don’t waste poison on someone you’re just going to stab before it can even take effect

[tyrannosaurus-rex]

youth is a social contruct

[tyrannosaurus-rex]

or rather the glorification of it is. no one is having a good amazing time ever. life is an endless train plowing through bullshit at every age from 5 to 95 there is no magical point where shit gets more or less fun things just change and you change. there will always be happy times and shit times but there will never be wasted time because no matter how old you are you have the capacity to have happy moments and fulfilling experiences. youth is just a time to be naive and make stupid shitty decisions you can laugh at later. dont regret not being able to experience going to music festivals when you were 17, go to music festivals now. theres nothing actually special about being young. if you arent dead youve got time.

[unclemurdoc]

“ if you arent dead youve got time. ”

[birdofprey1234]

The first pride was a riot, more specifically a riot against police violence. Trans women like Miss Major and other people of colour paved the way for the celebration of pride today. You cannot celebrate your pride this month, or any month if you aren’t also supporting Black Lives Matter and the riots going on against police violence right now. Us white LGBTQ+ need to stand up for our black siblings and their rights, their struggles. We need to amplify their voices and show any support we can. (Edited to add links and make the image clearer)

Extensive BLM Google doc including places to donate to, education resources, etc

List of 75 things white people can do right now

Simple way to donate to the cause if you have no money to

[glumshoe]

imagine having a name like Villeneuve and deciding to go into filmmaking instead of tying people to railroad tracks

[thedurvin]

Denis is the good twin, you’re thinking of his brother Vesuvius Villeneuve, the mustachioed oil baron

[glumshoe]

oh yes you’re right, that dastardly Vesuvius Villeneuve... how could I ever forget that whirly twirly moustache 

[glumshoe]

I think your robot discussion just shows that the trolley problem maybe just fails as a thought experiment. Yeah, the set-up intentionally doesn't include a third choice, but its wording doesn't preclude one either - leaving a gap for people to try to haggle their way out of.

I don’t think that’s the fault of the problem itself, but a result of people simply not “getting” thought experiments. Not everyone wishes to engage with philosophy and that’s completely fine, philosophers are generally obnoxious, but there’s no reason to approach thought experiments in bad faith and pretend that you don’t understand what is actually being asked. The trolley problem isn’t really about the trolley or the tracks or the lever, just as Schroedinger’s cat isn’t really about the cat or the box or the poison.

They’re abstracted, simplified examples aimed at getting to the core idea of a problem rather than bogged up in the complexities of real-world context and distractions. It’s comparable to running a computer simulation of how physics might work if friction did not exist—it doesn’t matter WHY friction doesn’t exist, or if it can be brought back, or how the world developed to its current state, because the variable being tested is simply “now what” and further complications would merely be distractions.

[tyrannosaurus-rex]

except the core of the problem is already present in reality. If you cannot extract a meaningful and applicable answer through a thought experiment than it serves no purpose and you cannot extract a meaningful and applicable answer to a thought experiment without the minutia of reality involved.

thought experiments like the trolley problem dont answer anything for us and comparing the question of is one life worth less than 6 to what happens when there is no friction is irresponsible and adds to the already present ability for cruel and jaded individuals to extract a harmful meaning from such a thought experiment.

such misguided individuals make bite down on the simplification of a moral dilemma such as the trolley problem and come to the conclusion that if 6 lives arent worth more than one and the user is guilty no matter what, than human life is meaningless and your efforts to make a better world are fruitless.

now not only are they walking around with the sort of ideas that can lead to violent nihilism, they have ammunition to load it and indoctrinate more people into their harmful way of thinking.

the inclusion of more and more aspects of reality are what is important to answering the question in a way that is meaningful. you start with the trolley problem as is and then you slowly fill in the possibilities and as you do so you finally come to the conclusion that there is no true fault to the lever man for who dies or for anyone dying at all. the blame lies elsewhere or with no one at all. additional questions such as “Who tied the people to the trolley tracks?” and “Why did the trolley malfunction?” are valid holes to poke and attempt to fill in the thought experiment. Without them the question doesnt hold any purpose as a thought experiment because theres nothing to learn from it that is relevant to reality.

[glumshoe]

You’re asserting that the mere contemplation of different schools of moral philosophy leads directly to terrorism. No offense, but that is stupid as shit, bud. I have had at least two critical thoughts in my life and I have yet to go on a homicidal rampage. 

Ironically, it sounds like the trolley problem has actually served as a very useful thought experiment to you. Its intended function is to make you confront how you would hypothetically apply your own values–your response reveals that you would most likely reject Utilitarianism as a moral framework. Congratulations! You have extracted meaning from the trolley problem and it has served its original purpose! 

But what you need to understand is that the trolley problem isn’t about determining blame or discovering who’s at True Fault. It’s not a noir mystery. Maybe a local villain has been embezzling transportation infrastructure, so the trolleys aren’t up to code, and maybe he had his henchmen tie his political enemies to the tracks. Or maybe a demon from another dimension has snapped his fingers and caused the speeding trolley and the helpless victims to pop into existence instantaneously. Or maybe you’re floating in a vat while an evil robot keeps you in a dreamstate and feeds you traumatizing hallucinations. Or maybe it’s the year 1220 and you’re the Khan of Mongolia and you’re having a feverish prophetic vision brought on by fermented milk of a metal dragon hurling down a path. 

But that’s not relevant. Whoever you are, whatever circumstance you find yourself in, you’re simply being asked whether you think it is better to interfere or not to interfere. That’s it. It asks you to examine your values and how you’d apply them in a hopeless situation that has no Right Answer. When the trolley passes, may the demon will snap its fingers again and re-set the universe, maybe the machine will let you wake up from the dream, maybe the fermented milk will pass from your system and you’ll get back to being Ghengis Khan in the year 1220. Whether or not you get to be the plucky detective who finally brings down the embezzling villain isn’t part of the simulation. 

[glumshoe]

what kind of music would you choose for a Dune soundtrack?

Dunes.

Actual, literal sand dunes.

I know I say this as both a sucker for droning music and a desert enthusiast, but what could POSSIBLY be more fitting? In certain conditions, sand produces a low, musical humming sound as wind blows over it, or as the shuffling of feet disturbs it near the crest of a dune. Here’s a great short video about the phenomenon:

I think using that sound as the base–perhaps enhancing it with cello or morin khuur–and building a soundtrack around it would be absolutely brilliant. Numinous, strange, and beautiful. 

I also think it would be cool to make use of traditional instruments like the balalaika, bouzouki, dombra, oud, or my personal favorite–the baroque theorbo, which I think is a hilarious instrument. I know the baliset is supposed to be more like a zither but I want to see Gurney Halleck dragging around a fucking enormous 10 foot long theorbo. Mix some traditional lute-like instrument with electronics or synthesizers into some future-historical fusion that doesn’t quite sound like anything else. 

MAYBE I’M BIASED but I definitely wouldn’t want to give it the soaring epic orchestral treatment. I’d want it more experimental than John Williams or Howard Shore usually deliver. 

[nyominebula]

Those scientists just wanted to get paid for sliding down dunes

[glumshoe]

I mean if I could get paid to roll down hills and record mysterious noises in the desert I would drop everything and take the job

[glumshoe]

El suggested Peter Gabriel as a potential musical director and gave his involvement with WOMAD and his soundtrack for The Last Temptation of Christ as an example for why he might be a good fit. That’s the right idea, I think–a Dune musical score would have to reflect the cross-cultural blending of the futuristic universe, but also be super weird and unreal. Folktronic. I’d want it to seem grand without relying on conventional soaring orchestral scores, which is why I’m so married to the singing sand idea.

I’d also want to get the Bulgarian State Television Female Vocal Choir involved, as they did the Xena: Warrior Princess score–I KNOW this is an incredibly self-indulgent answer, but just think about it! The choral chanting achieves a kind of grandiose epic effect with a Classical touch. Bonus points if the choir is singing lyrics about the actions and choices going on in the vein of a Greek tragedy…

[glumshoe]

oh and throw some MYST in there for good measure

[dankmemeuniversity]