You can't fight crime in a crinoline.

A mixed bag blog of Linguistics, feminism and, fangirling with a heavy dose of comics.

[cher3pakhi]

just remember, one day you're going to open tumblr and the crabs will be raving like they never have before

[grey-sides]

Hi. Things are bleak, I know that. I know that we paid for Trump's last term with blood and it is likely the price will be blood again.

But listen to me. LISTEN.

You do not have to force yourself to witness horrors as an act of activism. It is not a form of activism. You can put your phone down, you can block that horrific video. We cannot win if you cannot fight and you will not be able to fight if you are hopeless.

Do not let them guilt you into this. People who are exhausted are easier to walk over. Take care of yourself, find community where you find joy.

[brawlite]

You do not have to force yourself to witness horrors as an act of activism. It is not a form of activism.

^^^ remember this. do not exhaust yourself into hopelessness. take care of yourself and stay strong.

[alessandriana]

I know I've recced it before, but if you want a place to monitor the news while avoiding getting caught in the horrors, What The Fuck Just Happened Today is a really useful resource. They summarize political (& adjacent) news so you can remain aware of what's going on while still minimizing the emotional energy you expend on any one issue. (And they provide links and sourcing if you need to know more.)

[little-alien-duck]

the thing that makes kathryn janeway fun as a character is that if I think about her relationship with literally any member of the voyager crew I start to lose my mind. like there's her best friend tuvok who is a vulcan and logical and rational and yet has complete and total faith in his illogical and irrational and extremely human best friend and there's harry kim who is so much like her in the best and worst ways and would blow up everything just to keep the crew safe and one day that tendency could get far too destructive but there's no way for her to discourage that behavior bc as the captain she's leading by example and there's tom paris who is a starfleet brat just like her and whose father was her captain and a terrible father to him and her father was also a captain and is now dead and she's the reason tom's no longer in prison and to cap that friendship (???) off they have the same sarcastic sense of humor and there's seven who in a very real sense she kidnapped from her home but in another sense she deprogrammed from a cult who is now essentially her rebellious teenage daughter except the stakes are unfathomably higher and seven gets a lecture about organizational structure and working as a team from b'elanna who in turn got that same lecture years earlier from janeway herself, b'elanna who dropped out of the academy and became a terrorist now giving a lecture about starfleet rules after serving under janeway for a couple years. there are so many other examples too and there's the fact that any time janeway is talking to any member of the crew she has to first and foremost be The Captain and wear that mask all the time no matter what and none of that is even getting close to her weird situationship with chakotay. truly the character of all time.

[toss-a-coin-to-your-stan-account]

I love you PBS I love you NPR I love you public libraries I love you wikipedia I love you project gutenberg I love you librivox I love you libby I love you hoopla I love you openlibrary I love you internet archive I love you resources that make information free and accessible to the public

[catmask]

i dont consider myself a 'fashion guru' by any means but one thing i will say is guys you dont need to know the specific brand an item you like is - you need to know what the item is called. very rarely does a brand matter, but knowing that pair of pants is called 'cargo' vs 'boot cut' or the names of dress styles is going to help you find clothes you like WAAAYYYY faster than brand shopping

[catmask]

this also goes for aesthetic or -core titles. 'y2k tank top' is going to get you resellers and fast fashion brands advertising to people looking to meet a current trend. 'thin strap crop tank top' is going to get you a diverse group of results and not upcharge you to hell and back

additionally, shop second hand when you can, second hand and thrift sites typically organize clothes by the cut and color. theyll be more affordable than a depop seller curating you a style to sell you

[daftpatience]

useful terminology for different kinds of clothing shapes :)

[sandersstudies]

Sometimes I see some variety of North American Little Guy (opossum, raccoon, etc. ) and I’m like “okay”

BUT THEN I start thinking about how excited somebody from not-North-America would be to see this Guy. Like, would an Australian be excited to see the only marsupial not from their country? Are there raccoons in zoos on the other side of the world that are regarded as unique and exotic creatures? Idk but it’s made me more excited to see Guys in my area.

[narcissistcookbook]

it's me, i'm the person described in the tumbl

[seananmcguire]

I went to a zoo in England this past summer, and there were crowds around the skunks, raccoons, and coyotes.

[shallow-between-stars]

So, as an Australian, going to the zoo in China with a USAmerican and a Jamacian was an experience.

The first thing you should know about this experiences is I'm a fairly bush-raised child. Not entirely, but the vast majority of my school holidays were spent camping or on a property or otherwise out in the bush. (Not the Outback, although sometimes, but definitely the Bush. The great south-west forests, to be specific.)

I have seen more than my fair share of actually wild Australian wildlife. I am severely immune to snakes, spiders, frogs, kangaroos and wild foxes, rabbits and pigs (those shouldn't be in Australia, but they are. Also, if you ever see evidence of pigs in the bush, you leave immediately.)

So here we encounter jarring moment of dissonance the first.

We were walking past the kangaroo paddock and I'll admit I didn't even give it a second glance - it was a case of "Oh, kangaroos, how normal," And moving on. Didn't even register that they would be something to get excited about. It was literally like seeing a bird or the neighbour's cat.

Anyway, after awhile I noticed that I was no longer with my fellows because they were amazed by the kangaroos. They were staring, they were laughing, they were paying money to feed the fucking kangaroos like they were some sort of weird, special, exotic animal.

"Oh for fuck's sake, guys, they're just kangaroos!"

And then I realised I was with non-Australians and felt properly shamed.

We spent some (far too long of a) time with the kangaroos and moved on.

Anyway, as we were leaving we were walking through the American animals section and I've stopped dead in my tracks and squealed with excitement and raced over to an enclosure to coo and generally be a weird, animal-obsessed little moron. I'd never seen this animal in real life before but it was adorable and lovely and the cutest thing ever. And my Americas friends were looking at me like I'd grown another head because the animal that I was enamoured with and had never seen in person before, the animal that I was most excited about out of any that was there (including the baby tiger that I actually got to hold, guys)

The animal was a raccoon.

[maybethings]

Your trash creature is someone else’s treasured encounter

[keepcalmandcarriefischer]

When my father visited a Zoo in Germany, he was amazed to find people eagerly watching what appeared to be a large patch of dirt with holes in it. It took him a minute to realize that the exhibit was for prairie dogs and everyone was waiting to hopefully see one pop it's head out. Dad, who went to school in Eastern Oregon and regularly harassed the local prairie dog population there, had long known how to call them. So to amuse himself, he gave the high whistle he used to use at school and, sure enough, about 15 little heads popped up to see what was happening. What was happening was the local German patrons all losing their god damn minds

[soberscientistlife]

America is shameful

[vulture-jack]

I’m gonna outlive donald trump i dont care how long i have to wait i wanna live in a world where he doesnt exist and I dont have to hear or see him 

Spite, fuel me

im not goin anywhere

[original-missif]

Games the Leverage crew is not allowed to play and why

Clue, because Nate always figures out who's who immediately

Poker, because everyone but Hardison has an incrediblely good poker face

Operation, because Parker always puts the pieces back in when no one's looking

Pictionary, because Sophie can neither draw nor act out helpful hints

Hungry Hungry Hippos, because Eliot accidentally broke their last board set in a fit of extreme passion

Chess, because Nate always wins

Checkers, because Hardison always wins

Guess Who, because Nate always gets it after one question and Sophie likes to add complex backstory to what ever character she is

Battleship, because not even Nate can figure out where Eliot hides his ships

Monopoly

[xjmlm]

[deadmomjokes]

What I love about this, though, is that the little nails will become an outline of where the water was. It will trace the shape, show someone later what was there once upon a time. It will be a testament to how much this guy wanted to capture the amazing things he saw and experienced, and though it will never truly keep it, it will hold a memory, something that in itself is beautiful and worthy of experience. We cannot describe the indescribable, but we can trace its outline, give some idea of what we experienced.

[official-linguistics-post]

official linguistics post

[bipolarmango]

My doctor and therapist: now with this autism + ADHD diagnosis you need to learn to unmask because masking all the time will make you burn out again and feel like shit

Other people: well it's just interesting how after getting the diagnosis you suddenly start behaving like that I mean I'm not saying you're faking it's just funny how you suddenly cannot be normal like you were before

[regionalpancake]

THIS IS SO TRUE!

bUt yOu nEveR hAd a pRoBLem wiTH this bEfOre?!

BITCH I have spent 35 years thinking I was just inherently bad at being a person, now I find out I have a disability? That it’s actually (checks notes) NOT THIS HARD FOR EVERYONE?! What the fuck do you mean other people aren’t getting distracted because they can hear the electricity?! Yeah I think I’m gonna give myself a break actually. The microwave IS too loud, now fuck off.

[deityofhearts]

every night owl I know (myself included) is as careful as possible and as quiet as a mouse so not to wake up or disturb people who are asleep while they’re awake but from the moment a morning person wakes up they will make as much noise as possible as if their god given purpose is the be the loudest most inconsiderate person alive

[callingvoicemail]

every day i think about this smartypants ep

[rhinco]

[ID: a woman standing next to a powerpoint slide that reads "morning people are an oppressive class". end ID.]

[scribefindegil]

Everyone is so weird about people who cry easily. Fellas, is it evil and manipulative to *checks notes* have an involuntary stress response?

[incognitopolls]

How many of Shakespeare's plays can you name off the top of your head?

None

Just 1

2–3

4–6

7–10

11–15

16–20

21–30

31–all of them (39ish depending on who you ask)

Voting ended onSep 24, 2024

We ask your questions so you don’t have to! Submit your questions to have them posted anonymously as polls.

[wildechild]

Test yourself!

Shakespeare Plays

Can you name the plays of Shakespeare?

my fellow Shakespeeps, consider the gauntlet thrown.

@socialshakespeare

[prior2this]

[what-even-is-thiss]

I think I’m gonna start calling it Australian spelling instead of British spelling just to see what happens

[what-even-is-thiss]

Also gonna start calling French “that language they speak in Quebec”

[kitstorm]

France (the country as a whole) will kill you for that i think

[what-even-is-thiss]

Good luck reaching me over here in Canada’s pants

[falconwhitaker]

As a Brit, I support that first one to a) piss off bastards from my homeland and b) confuse the USAmericans more (hopefully).

[what-even-is-thiss]

I am an American. I suspect most of my countrymen will understand what I’m doing. I’m just trying to piss off the Brits a bit and I like the Aussies alright so why not

[thehmn]

Never underestimate the power of subtle body language to help those around you without causing a scene.

I use “stepping in front of insensitive/nosey assholes to block their view of a person they’re starring at” a lot. No words exchanged. Just getting between them (sometimes while starring back at them if they’re being extra weird) and they always seem to either realize what they’re doing or be jolted out of it. Either way it has never ended in a confrontation, just silent looks.

A kinda weird use of body language happened some time ago while I was standing at a bus stop near a train station. Right next to me stood a very short woman who I guessed to be from India based on her looks and dress, and around us were nothing but men. I’m very standard height for a Scandinavian woman so I’ve never felt short or tall in any group, but she looked tiny next to all these men packed tightly around us. I’m not sure why but I felt like she was uncomfortable with all these men towering over her and for some reason my response to that was to subtly change my stance so my front faced her a bit more. Not full on, but the way most friends stand next to each other, while still looking away from her. I don’t know why I thought that would be comforting to her because it could just as easily have come off as threatening, but after a few seconds she moved a bit closer to me. And then a bit closer. And then slightly closer. All without anyone else in the group moving. We stood like that until the bus arrived and then we went to separate seats.

So never be afraid to silently signal to strangers that you’re on their side or that they can fuck right off. People tend to respond better to that than words in my experience unless they’re already looking for a fight.

[captmuldoon]

“i wish we could see adaptations where sherlock holmes hates the rich and is allowed to be kind to those around him and uses his abilities to support society’s underdogs” elementary was doing this back in 2012. this was only episode 4.