[teathattast]

[tunashei]

I love desire paths. There's something so wonderous about seeing an echo of humanity. Depending on it's location, a desire path can mean so many different things.

In a city, like the pic above, they represent rebellion, and efficiency. The messiness of humanity. We like to imagine we're oh so logical and neat so we design our cities to be logical and neat an then real humans literally trample on that idea. The ego required to think you can design something perfect that checks every box. Life is all about compromise and patching stuff when some new problem arises. Though people have certainly tried! Ohio state univeristy let students carve their desire paths, and then paved them over. It looks pretty artsy.

Some people will try to discourage desire paths, but this is almost always going to fail.

Eventually, people just have to accept them. Humans are too dang stubborn.

Certain desire paths are just adorable. A 0.5 second time saver. You just can't design for maximum efficiency, humans will always find shortcuts!

Though on occasion a desire path can actually be the least efficient way...especially if you're superstitious.

In a wilder area, such as below, they show us the curiosity of humans. A desire path somewhere natural often tells you there's something interesting just ahead. (Though remember some ecosystems are fragile and will suffer if trampled! Stick to paths in these sorts of areas)

And how about desire stairs? I always think these look so cool. We get see humans determination to climb, to traverse every kind of terrain.

And for something really crazy...a desire path used for centuries will create a 'holloway'

All of these pics are off the Desirepath subreddit, check them out for more examples! And many thanks to the users who submitted these photos.

[scarletwoods]

Jack Black is cis but he has transmasc swag

[theconcealedweapon]

[alicentsgf]

Things the americanised internet thinks is cute:

Dark Academia (photos of white kids in fancy uniforms at british private schools/redbrick universities)

Cottagecore (loads of photos of upper/middle class british gardens, houses, and villages)

British period dramas (literally just members of the gentry/nobility wafting around looking elegant)

Things the americanised internet thinks is funny and/or gross:

the british working class accent (notably the Multicultural London English dialect)

'chavs'

any british poverty food - baked beans on toast, cheap cut pies, chip butties, etc

pretty much any british regional accent (i know you cant understand louis from one direction pls just shut up about it. the upper class monopolises the media and arts so naturally you're more used to their accent)

when british people have bad teeth (dental care is not covered by the NHS and many working-class people cannot afford care out-of-pocket)

that the national dish is a curry. even though its a specific dish created (or at the very least heavily adapted) in the UK by the British Bangladeshi community? I lose my shit over this one. Like seriously the way you guys talk sometimes its like you think 'british' is synonomous with 'white'. You can't just erase entire communities to fit your narrative. I won't get too much into the racial aspects of all of these points but it's important to note jamaican, african, and south asian immigrants have brought a lot to british working class culture specifically. Like... you guys think its bad that they continued to enjoy their own cuisine and share it with the people around them once they got here? I swear some of you go so far with cultural appropriation you come right back around to 'everyone should go back where they came from'.

I understand most of you aren't surrounded by the cultural framework to understand how classist you sound talking about modern britain, but you are not immune to british propaganda just because you do not live here, in fact you're probably less immune as you (somewhat understandably) do not have the cultural knowledge to notice the red flags. But ignorance isn't a good enough reason to propogate classism thoughtlessly. I'm not saying you can't engage with elements of cottagecore or dark academia, but you definitely can't put repackaged aspects of middle and upper class british culture on a pedestal and then shit on all the aspects associated with the working class its so blatantly fucked up. Theres a good reason a lot of British people get so touchy about strangers on the internet mocking the rhotic british accents, americans just don't understand it because class-specific accent privilege doesn't exist within your cultural framework in the same way. You clearly all decided British people can't take a joke, but honestly it's just you're being a lot more offensive than you realise.

Do you not see how deeply wrong it is that so many of you seem to enjoy the superior feeling you get from trampling another culture? You guys will straight-up whitewash britain just so you don't feel guilty about it. You clearly think you're punching up but you're not, being british does not ensure affulence or 'whiteness' any more than being american does, and whenever any of you goes to say anything about Britain in a non-historical context all that comes out is pure classist ignorance as you leave middle/upper class britain absoloutely untouched. So educate yourselves, please. Working-class americans have more in common with working-class brits than they do anyone above them on the social ladder in the US.

[stilltheinfamousjack-deactivate]

The American replies are completely missing the point. We all know that America has a form of class system, as well as differently perceived accents. This is the case for basically every country around the world. What you don’t understand is that the class system in Britain is extremely prominent. It is essentially the root cause of nearly all of our current problems and inequality. The RP accent is not just an accent that comes from good education, or the area you grew up in, it is a tool that has been specifically created in order to divide people, a tool that has been created to separate, oppress and differentiate.

Living in Britain, not a single day goes by when our class system isn’t prominent. Every time the news is turned on, we see the country controlled by those who were rich enough and privileged enough to obtain the correct education and the correct accent. Every day, we are bombarded with propaganda about the “superiority” of the RP accent and the middle/upper class lifestyle. Every TV show I watched as a child on the BBC had a majority of middle class actors/voice actors with the RP accent. It is literally drilled into the heads of British children that the RP accent and the middle/upper class is superior.

A good example is my father, who comes from a working-class background, yet he was lucky enough to go to a private school, and as a result he obtained the RP accent, and is now privileged and respected wherever he goes. The working class accent, which is basically every accent in the UK that isn’t the RP accent is looked down upon by those who are oppressing the nation and is seen as inferior. Half the country is locked out of good education, half the country is told from the day they’re born that their accent and their class is inferior. Yes, Americans also experience class and accent prejudice, but how many times a day are working class Americans specifically told by their teachers, their TV, their news outlets, their peers, and their family that their class and accent is inferior? Because for British people it is every. single. day.

I know that America understands what a class system is like, and the privileges that come with having certain accents. What you don’t understand is the extent that it controls life in Britain, and how much of our history has been dictated by it, and how many people are suffering daily because of it.

And I could go into a full history lesson, I could go into how every minority in the UK, whether it be racial minorities or the LGBTQ+ community is effected by the class system, and perhaps I will at a later date. But any American coming into the replies hitting me with “we have a class system too, we understand.” No, you don’t. I’m sorry, but you don’t.

[guerrillatech]

[madeofwhitebone]

[academicssay]

[hydro-homies]

Absolutely nothing beats it

[pointnclick]

we should kill whoever made those filters that slim your face make your eyes bigger make your nose smaller make your skin evener i think we should kill and destroy all photo applications

[magescythe]

list of mundane things that feel like ancient human rituals

cleaning or wipe your bare feet

breaking off a piece of bread and handing it to someone

putting the weight of a basket on your hip or head

eating nuts or berries while hunched over close to the ground

seeing something startling just out of your line of sight and very quickly stepping or leaping on to a larger object to get a better view

cupping your hands into running water to wash your face

the unanimous protection of a baby or child in a public space where women are present

when an elderly woman laughs and grips your forearm tightly

[icarus-suraki]

May I add?

Touching someone’s face with the back of your hand to see if they have a fever

Stopping to watch animals moving in groups (geese, fish, horses, butterflies, bees)

Helping an elderly person to walk or sit

[xactodreams]

telling stories around a fire

huddling together for warmth when it’s cold

marveling at sunlight through leaves

wonderment at the brightness of a full moon

bringing food to sick or grieving families

[mirthandir]

[untiloblivions]

thinking about “you haven’t met all the people who will love you” and like!!! you also haven’t found all the things that will make you happy!!!! there will always be new authors and musicians and artists whose work you will one day discover and love!!!! there will always be new hobbies and skills for you to learn and feel fulfilled by!!! there will always be new things around the corner that will bring sudden and unexpected happiness!!!!!!!!!!!

[real-retail-stories]

[fake-news-and-headlines]

[olreid]

ok i know we already knew she gets it but……. she Gets it

[daethnotes]

Incredibles 2 (2018) dir. Brad Bird

[occasionaloranges]

Incredibles 2 did not have to go this hard but it did

[occasionaloranges]

They really just went and DID THAT

(gifs from @baawri)

[fandom626]

[audrey-hepbae]

Incredibles 2 was interesting because it wanted to play to the adult audience who saw the original in theaters and the kids who probably streamed it so you have Jack Jack fighting a raccoon and deep political discussions in the same movie.

[depsidase]

[glumshoe]

did anyone else get a weird thrill as a kid from correctly imitating Normal Kid Things

like I would drink a Coca Cola (hating every sensory moment) and feel excited about participating in a Normal activity. I listened to 20 second samples of Avril Lavigne songs at Barnes and Noble and think, “oh yes, this is what normal American children do, look at me, I’m doing it too”

[glumshoe]

8 year old me: [eats a slice of pizza]

8 year old me: “Wow. I’m doing it. I’m really doing it. I bet I seem just like a Normal Kid. I bet this looks natural, like I do it every day without even thinking about it. If those people see me eating this pizza they will think, ‘Wow, what a regular child! Just like the ones on TV!’”

[glumshoe]

Frankly I still do this, to some extent--back in 2019 I went out with a friend after work and sat there like “Wow, I am in a city, drinking wine at a bistro with a friend from work, having an engaging conversation about our dating lives. This is what Normal Adults do. Look at me, a Normal Adult! Like from TV!”