[your-dar-ling]

This world simply isn't ready for my "Penny is just RWBY Jesus" analysis.

[your-dar-ling]

Why Penny is RWBY's Jesus

Don't look at me like that. You all knew it was coming. Yes the idea sounds ridiculous, but RWBY was made in America, primarily written by t

Now you can all stop asking <3

[thezabajabajungle]

Favorite bird genre has got to be 'that's literally just a dinosaur'

Groove-Billed Ani

Hoatzin

Pheasant Coucal

[elbiotipo]

Pirincho! (Guira guira)

[villiedoom]

Some more 3D renders, this time with two Koties (fantasy felines from my personal lore/story). These are random characters made on the same Northern Kotie model, but I tried to give them some personality. I posted one of them recently and here he got a striped friend. It's open to interpretation what their story is, what they're looking for, and what they're talking about ~

Made in Blender. The landscape model from Fab.

[mevima]

NY county clerk refuses to file Texas' fine for doctor accused of prescribing abortion pills

A county clerk in New York has refused to file a more than $100,000 judgment from Texas against a New York doctor accused of prescribing abo

A Texas judge last month ordered Dr. Margaret Carpenter, who practices north of New York City, to pay the penalty for allegedly breaking that state’s law by prescribing abortion medication via telemedicine. The Texas attorney general’s office followed up last week by asking a New York court to enforce the default civil judgment, which is $113,000 with attorney and filing fees. The acting Ulster County clerk refused. “In accordance with the New York State Shield Law, I have refused this filing and will refuse any similar filings that may come to our office. Since this decision is likely to result in further litigation, I must refrain from discussing specific details about the situation,” Acting Clerk Taylor Bruck said in a prepared statement.

This is what we're talking about. This is the resistance someone can do in their everyday job. Judgement gets passed down and you're just supposed to dot the i's and cross the t's? Don't. Just refuse.

Now, I know an acting county clerk isn't just anyone - this man had a very unique opportunity to do some very serious blockading in his everyday job - but that's kind of the point! Nobody's just anyone. You never know when you'll have an opportunity.

[escuerzoresucitado]

[brionysea]

we need to keep this circulating so it can find the people who are about to stay up for 3 to 4 hours

[intheholler]

the appalachian murder ballad <3 one of the most interesting elements of americana and american folk, imo!

my wife recently gave me A Look when i had one playing in the car and she was like, "why do all of these old folk songs talk about killing people lmao" and i realized i wanted to Talk About It at length.

nerd shit under the cut, and it's long. y'all been warned

so, as y'all probably know, a lot of appalachian folk music grew its roots in scottish folk (and then was heavily influenced by Black folks once it arrived here, but that's a post for another time).

they existed, as most folk music does, to deliver a narrative--to pass on a story orally, especially in communities where literacy was not widespread. their whole purpose was to get the news out there about current events, and everyone loves a good murder mystery!

as an aside, i saw someone liken the murder ballad to a ye olde true crime podcast and tbh, yeah lol.

the "original" murder ballads started back across the pond as news stories printed on broadsheets and penned in such a way that it was easy to put to melody.

they were meant to be passed on and keep the people informed about the goings-on in town. i imagine that because these songs were left up to their original orators to get them going, this would be why we have sooo many variations of old folk songs.

naturally then, almost always, they were based on real events, either sung from an outside perspective, from the killer's perspective and in some cases, from the victim's. of course, like most things from days of yore, they reek of social dogshit. the particular flavor of dogshit of the OG murder ballad was misogyny.

so, the murder ballad came over when the english and scots-irish settlers did. in fact, a lot of the current murder ballads are still telling stories from centuries ago, and, as is the way of folk, getting rewritten and given new names and melodies and evolving into the modern recordings we hear today.

305 such scottish and english ballads were noted and collected into what is famously known as the Child Ballads collected by a professor named francis james child in the 19th century. they have been reshaped and covered and recorded a million and one times, as is the folk way.

while newer ones continued to largely fit the formula of retelling real events and murder trials (such as one of my favorite ones, little sadie, about a murderer getting chased through the carolinas to have justice handed down), they also evolved into sometimes fictional, (often unfortunately misogynistic) cautionary tales.

perhaps the most famous examples of these are omie wise and pretty polly where the woman's death almost feels justified as if it's her fault (big shocker).

but i digress. in this way, the evolution of the murder ballad came to serve a similar purpose as the spooky legends of appalachia did/do now.

(why do we have those urban legends and oral traditions warning yall out of the woods? to keep babies from gettin lost n dying in them. i know it's a fun tiktok trend rn to tell tale of spooky scary woods like there's really more haints out here than there are anywhere else, but that's a rant for another time too ain't it)

so, the aforementioned little sadie (also known as "bad lee brown" in some cases) was first recorded in the 1920s. i'm also plugging my favorite female-vocaist cover of it there because it's superior when a woman does it, sorry.

it is a pretty straightforward murder ballad in its content--in the original version, the guy kills a woman, a stranger or his girlfriend sometimes depending on who is covering it.

but instead of it being a cautionary 'be careful and don't get pregnant or it's your fault' tale like omie wise and pretty polly, the guy doesn't get away with it, and he's not portrayed as sympathetic like the murderer is in so many ballads.

a few decades after, women started saying fuck you and writing their own murder ballads.

in the 40s, the femme fatale trope was in full swing with women flipping the script and killing their male lovers for slights against them instead.

men began to enter the "find out" phase in these songs and paid up for being abusive partners. women regained their agency and humanity by actually giving themselves an active voice instead of just being essentially 'fridged in the ballads of old.

her majesty dolly parton even covered plenty of old ballads herself but then went on to write the bridge, telling the pregnant-woman-in-the-murder-ballad's side of things for once. love her.

as a listener, i realized that i personally prefer these modern covers of appalachian murder ballads sung by women-led acts like dolly and gillian welch and even the super-recent crooked still especially, because there is a sense of reclamation, subverting its roots by giving it a woman's voice instead.

meaning that, like a lot else from the problematic past, the appalachian murder ballad is something to be enjoyed with critical ears. violence against women is an evergreen issue, of course, and you're going to encounter a lot of that in this branch of historical music.

but with folk songs, and especially the murder ballad, being such a foundational element of appalachian history and culture and fitting squarely into the appalachian gothic, i still find them important and so, so interesting

i do feel it's worth mentioning that there are "tamer" ones. with traditional and modern murder ballads alike, some of them are just for "fun," like a murder mystery novel is enjoyable to read; not all have a message or retell a historical trial.

(for instance, i'd even argue ultra-modern, popular americana songs like hell's comin' with me is a contemporary americana murder ballad--being sung by a male vocalist and having evolved from being at the expense of a woman to instead being directed at a harmful and corrupt church. that kind of thing)

in short: it continues to evolve, and i continue to eat that shit up.

anyway, to leave off, lemme share with yall my personal favorite murder ballad which fits squarely into murder mystery/horror novel territory imo.

it's the 10th child ballad and was originally known as "the twa sisters." it's been covered to hell n back and named and renamed.

but! if you listen to any flavor of americana, chances are high you already know it; popular names are "the dreadful wind and rain" and sometimes just "wind and rain."

in it, a jealous older sister pushes her other sister into a river (or stream, or sea, depending on who's covering it) over a dumbass man. the little sister's body floats away and a fiddle maker come upon her and took parts of her body to make a fiddle of his own. the only song the new fiddle plays is the tale about how it came to be, and it is the same song you have been listening to until then.

how's that for genuinely spooky-scary appalachia, y'all?

[sounds-of-raine]

As a fellow lover of folk in general, and murder ballads specifically, I would love to offer some other recommendations for woman-friendly murder ballads. Most of these are very modern, but they are in the spirit of the ballads I grew up loving.

The River Knows-Molly Tuttle (A woman who knows she's in a murder ballad turns things around)

Caleb Meyer- Gillian Welch (A woman gets assaulted and kills the man who attacked her)

Old Time Angels- Po Ramblin Boys (The women killed in murder ballads get vengeance)

Griesly Bride- McKain Lakey (A man who thought he'd married a sweet young girl has an unexpected wedding night)

And a selection of more classic ones (plus one modern) that are less happy for their female characters, but no less beautiful. I am sticking to female singers here, because OP is right that their versions usually hit better.

Well Below the Valley- Saya Novinger (This one is dark. Incest, child murder, and guilt abound)

Darlin Corey- Meredith Moon (The life and death of a moonshiner named Corey)

The Highwayman- Loreena McKennitt (A woman and her outlaw lover are killed by British soldiers)

The Cruel Brother- Maeve Mackinnon (A woman is murdered by her slighted brother on her wedding day)

Banks of the Ohio- Dolly Parton (A man recounts how he murdered his lover)

[francisjameschild]

my niche interest! hello, I also have a lot to say about ballads!

Hm I'd like to suggest that folks not take these trends as hard rules, indicating omnidirectionality. I tend to think of ballads as open ammunition being tossed back and forth in the gender wars of oral tradition, flipping back and forth between viewpoints as different singers find ways to make them say different things.

Ballads were hardly a misogynist monolith-they were written by a range of individuals over a wide range of years, and many started out (far as we can tell) carrying women's voices, or have older variants that told more complete and often more empowering versions of their tales that may contain acts of violence against women but that could not originally be condensed to just that feature. Not as a rule by any means, but they're definitely a sizeable number of songs.

Some start out more feminist and lost their teeth over time, and some start out misogynist and gained more feminist frames. It'd be interesting to graph them all out over a timeline and see what trends emerge but also very difficult given the spiderwebbing of variants dating from different periods and going in different directions and the subjectivity of what counts as feminist or the reverse.

Anyhow here are some examples of songs that, far as I can tell, started out fairly feminist long before the 1940s:

Lady Isabel and the Elf Night: dates at least to the 17th c. Very similar to Pretty Polly and Omie Wise (okay also many others) plot wise but when Lady Isobel's courting lover reveals all the other women he's killed before, she kills him instead. Also there's often a parrot.

Fair Annie, an adaptation of Marie de France's late 12th c lai Le Fresne more. Where Annie, the mother of seven of her partner's children, is told to step aside, put out the welcome mat, and feign maidenhood so that he can marry someone new and wealthy. Upon the new bride's arrival she asks who Annie is and why she's crying, then reveals "Oh, we're sisters! Which means you can totally have my dowry and I'm not marrying that pos, you are, don't worry, I'm going the hell home." (emphasis mine but that's basically it)

Broughty Wa's, a Scottish song about outswimming your kidnapper while he sinks like a stone in your wake, known only from Amelia and Jane Harris, sisters who contributed to Child heavily and learned their repertoire from their mother who in turn learned them from "an aged nurse". more

Lady of Loch Royan: most versions of Lord Gregory, as it's known more often today, are the sad tale of a new mother knocking on her lover's door in the rain asking to be let in, only to be turned away by his mother who tells her to jump in the sea, which she does and he wakes up and runs after her, but too late. The two very similar likely oldest versions are an Appalachian variant recorded by Jean Ritchie and the version aggregated by Sir Walter Scott in 1802, unlikely to have been contaminated by knowledge of each other, indicate, "we have here a truly remarkable instance of a unique version of a ballad appearing in two widely separated places 150 years apart" (source), which should serve to underline how often the Appalachian versions might well be the closer-to-original surviving versions of these songs rather than remaining English and Scottish ones, and how difficult they are to date.

Anyhow most of the modern versions of this I hear are highly truncated, just sad Annie crying sweet memories outside of Lord Gregory's door then going off to drown, but the Sir Walter Scott version has her building a ship, meeting with robbers, breaking fairy charms, and being mistaken in her rain-soaked rage for a witch, warlock, or mermaid. I mean she still dies right soggily in despair (or in given how mad she seems in this version, possibly spite), but that's something, surely. more

And not a child ballad but I want to note that the Pretty Polly linked above (there are a bunch of songs by that name, including Lady Isobel, confusingly) is descended from a longer murder ballad called The Cruel Ship's Carpenter/ The Gosport Tragedy, which in it's fuller form most often ends with Polly's ghost appearing and tearing her killer into three pieces.

Ballads <3

*Also might I ask if it's a typo on Twa Sisters going back to the 10th c rather than the 17th I've heard more often, or if I might learn more about that early source? I'm very curious (maybe the related folktale type goes back that far or farther?) Off the top of my head I think Judas is the earliest Child ballad in the 13th c so if there's an earlier one I'd love to know.

[impsynia]

tiktok stunt haha funny. please talk about the ice raids

[impsynia]

even though theyre officially starting on tueaday once trump is in office the raids have already started in central california since sunday and idk where else. people havent been able to go to work becuz ice is literally patroling the streets and targeting places where majority brown people work. please keep aware and talk to ppl in your life who might not be

[ssfancypants]

[abdalsalam1990]

Today is Saturday, December 28, at 12:00 AM.

At this time, as winter sets in, the weather here is extremely cold, and the fierce winds have torn apart thousands of tents. We lack even the most basic means of warmth — no winter clothing, no blankets to shield us from the bitter cold. The adults shiver from the freezing temperatures; imagine what the children endure.

While families gather during these moments around dining tables filled with delicious food, sharing conversations and laughter, we are suffering here. And while others sit by heaters telling stories to their children, we are simply struggling to survive, desperately trying to keep our children and ourselves warm.

Do not forget Gaza, do not forget us.

Every donation, no matter how small, can save a family from perishing due to hunger and cold. Please, help us survive.

We are approaching our short-term goal of 70,000 before the end of this year, so I ask everyone who will participate to donate I really need your full help this time so donate as much as you can.

Donate here.

[abdalsalam1990]

Thank you my friends for getting us to 67 thousand euros❤️❤️, but please, there is not much left until we reach our short-term goal of 70 thousand before the end of the year. Please donate. Let us reach 68 thousand euros today. Please donate Only 850 euros left to reach 68 thousand euros. Please donate.

@dirhwangdaseul @b0nkcreat @tamamita @chokulit @3000s @apas-95 @pitbolshevik @ot3 @punkitt-is-here @vampiricvenus @turtletoria @paper-mario-wiki @valtsv @omegaversereloaded @i-am-a-fish @catsgifsarefun @spongebobssquarepants @vamprisms @postanagramgenerator @feluka @nyancrimew @90-ghost @beserkerjewel @neechees @memingursa @certifiedsexed @afro-elf @11thsense @sawasawako @spacebeyonce @skipppppy @beetledrink @schoolhater @fools-and-perverts2 @dailyquests @evillesbianvillain @wolfertinger666 @taffybuns @ankle-beez @sabertoothwalrus @meshugenist @isuggestforcefem @yekkes @hotvampireadjacent @tododeku-or-bust @marxism-transgenderism

[abdalsalam1990]

Someone donated 5 euros. Please donate as much as you can. We need everything.

[abdalsalam1990]

The last donation was 3 hours ago and the previous donation was 7 hours ago. Please donate.

[abdalsalam1990]

Two people have donated 5 euros. Please friends donate. We need all the help.

[abdalsalam1990]

362 euros left until we reach 68 thousand, please donate.

[abdalsalam1990]

Someone has donated 5 euros. We are getting very close to reaching 68 thousand. Please donate.

[innerchildabortionclinic]

This is getting so close! Encouraging followers to donate

[shadowmaat]

Your tip was out of network

Look, I know some people are mad at the McDonald's employee who called in the tip about the Claims Adjuster, but TBH I can understand how the possibility of $50-60K would be a good incentive, especially if you have a shitty job with shitty wages and shitty customers.

HOWEVER. When the original "up to $10K" offer was made by the cops, I pointed out that it only said "up to," which meant there was no guarantee of getting any money. Same with the follow-up offer of "up to" $50K.

Now we're finding out that the guy might not get anything at all for all his trouble (and likely threats and such). Unilad reports that actually claiming the reward money is a long and complicated process. Much like insurance claims, eh??

If he called the crime stoppers tip line, he'll have been given a reference number. If he called 911, lol, good luck pal. And the bigger reward apparently can only be claimed if he's nominated/approved by one of the investigating agencies like the cops or FBI. Otherwise, he's once again SOL. Additionally the payout may also hinge on whether or not the alleged shooter gets convicted. They put in as many steps, stipulations, and loopholes as they can to make sure they don't have to pay a dime. Or maybe only a dime. Basically, this guy is very likely fucked and would have made more money working an extra shift than calling the cops.

[squidcrimes]

"don't go grocery shopping when hungry" doesn't work for me because Not Hungry Me cannot conceive of a universe in which food is needed so she buys like a cup of pomegranate seeds and some fancy cheese and thinks that'll get us through the week.

[twofingerswhiskey]

FUN FACT the scientist who said that made it the fuck up! he's also the same dude who said that if kids made eye contact with the character on food boxes they wanted it more. so now all the cereal mascots/kids mascots look downwards to a child height. but THEY MADE IT UP and it's allllllll bullshit and bad science to the point cornell deleted the fuckin cereal eyes study from the face of the earth and modern research is saying you SHOULD shop when ur hungry because it makes you put more value on food that would give you more nutrition and actually sharpens your ability to feed yourself well

[squidcrimes]

So I think the cereal box guy was Brian Wansink and honestly that tracks. If Wansink thinks we should be grocery shopping when full then we should definitely be doing it when hungry. Bruh is an absolute joke.

[twofingerswhiskey]

THAT'S THE BASTARD

[twofingerswhiskey]

IT'S HIM

imagine being so bad at science that your university forces you to stop

things he also came up with that are BULLSHIT:

eating around fat people makes you eat more junk food??? (wtf?)

portion sizes affecting how hungry you feel

"if you are served second portions you are more likely to take seconds"

the entire concept of mini and fun-sized portion sizes (based in fatphobia btw!)

the idea of boredom eating and stress eating being bad for you and not normal

the idea of eating in front of a screen being terrible for your digestion

that julia child's cooking was trying to make you fat (based on 18 of 4500 recipes...)

the idea of western food being unhealthy

the cereal eyes thing

the shopping while hungry thing

and much much more!

also he committed kickstarter fraud in 2018 and is a massive fatphobe who thinks fat people recruit others to become fat by just existing. fuck him lmao

[genderkoolaid]

Sliced And Diced: The Inside Story Of How An Ivy League Food Scientist Turned Shoddy Data Into Viral Studies

Brian Wansink won fame, funding, and influence for his science-backed advice on healthy eating. Now, emails show how the Cornell professor a

Food Scientist Brian Wansink Gets Another Retraction

Cornell University food behavior scientist Brian Wansink has retracted another paper — his fourth this year. “There is no empirical support

“This Seems Like A Quite Remarkable Coincidence.” Why Did So Many Of This Food Researcher’s Surveys Have Exactly 770 Responses?

Cornell University scientist Brian Wansink is facing yet another formal correction — his eighth this year, along with three full retractions

Emails Show How An Ivy League Prof Tried To Do Damage Control For His Bogus Food Science

Brian Wansink of Cornell University publishes headline-friendly studies about food psychology and oversees a $22 million federally funded pr

Here's a few articles by Stephanie M. Lee about Wansink's multiple p-hacking scandals. Initially I just found these looking for more information but now I'm also extremely amused by how much she was on this guy's ass for his shitty science.

[lostinhistory]

Maintenance Phase also did an episode on this guy

[queeranarchism]

When you first learn about Brian Wansink, he's an extremely funny example of a BAD scientist.

When you think longer about Brian Wansink, the fact that he got so much media attention and many people know his lies but not the retractions, the fact that he was able to spread flagrant fatphobia with hardly any pushback for so long and the fact that there were policies based on his bullshit, is horrifying.

[teaboot]

You know what's wild?

Your body- like, the one you're existing as? Your mind prison?- it's not a wholly independant entity. It's an ecosystem. You're a bog that's self-aware

[teaboot]

Imagine if a swamp could telepathically communicate a desire for Chicago style deep dish and then just. Have it

[teaboot]

No wonder my stomach hates me, the fish are confused as fuck

[leebrontide]

Ok so my kid had an ear infection, right? As kids often do.

The doctor scraped out a bit of earwax to have a better look inside.

I was sent a bill for $200 PER EAR for this 5 second procedure which I did not give permission for them to do.

That was key- they did not ASK me if they could do this "procedure". And, as I OWN a medical practice (it's me. The medical practice is me, sitting in my house on video calls) I knew to call them when this bill came in to be like "You did not obtain informed consent for this procedure, and it was not en emergency procedure. You had full ability to gain my consent and didn't. I'm not paying."

And the massive hospital who owned the bill said "yuh-huh you do have to pay."

And I said "I own a practice. I know these laws. I do not owe you money for this."

And they conducted an "internal review" and SURPRISE! Decided I totally owed them money and they had never done anything wrong ever.

And so I called my state's Attorney General office, and explained the situation because, as I mentioned, I know the law. The AG got in touch within a couple days to say they were taking the case and would send the massive hospital conglomerate a knock it off, guys letter.

Lo and Behold, today I have a letter where said hospital graciously has agreed to forfeit the payment.

"How not to get screwed over by companies" should be part of civics class.

Know your rights and know who to call when they're infringed on. This whole process cost me $0 and honestly less effort than I would have expected.

May this knowledge find its way to someone else who can use it.

[orokothe]

Luca & Hatsune Miku!!

[beemovieerotica]

dystopia

[the-breadgirl]

???

[virgil-upinthestars]

art history nerd here! when the notre dame burned a few years ago, the most damaged area was the roof. y'know who has a very extensive 3D model of the roof? ubisoft, for assassin's creed! ubisoft has been very involved in the restoration of the notre dame, pledging over half a million euros in support. so yep, that is most likely an assassin's creed dude carrying the olympic torch!

[daloy-politsey]

[kyriathanatos]

IM LOSING MY FUCKING MIND

I ALWAYS THOUGHT THIS WAS A FUCKING EDITED GIF OF STREAMER JERMA985. ITS NOT. ITS JUST STRAIGHT FROM THE TV SHOW “LEGION” UNEDITED. WHAT THE FUCK