Tag: what do i tag this

Being invisible, scents trigger memories deep in the subconscious, and send subliminal messages. They are also associated with hanan (‘tenderness’ in Arabic) and love. In the Middle East, perfumes are revered to a high degree, and have seemingly evolved along with changes in the way people sense smells. There is also an evident link between scents in a particular environment and geographic locations – even moments in time – and how people behave on both an individual and collective level. With there being such a strong expression of identity through the sense of smell, it is almost impossible to separate one from the other. For example, one can consider commonplace greetings in places like Cairo and others in the Arab world: sabah el ful wel yasmeen, they say, which translates to ‘[may you] have a morning full of jasmines and jasmine sambac’.

Flower Power, Dana El Masri. (via kuanios)

sidisi:

nahiri:

big-bird-nerd:

nahiri:

big-bird-nerd:

maxeth:

steel-kun:

dream-cassette:

steel-kun:

Name a conspiracy theory superior in raw power to “there are no actual forests on Earth"

imma need some context on that cause WHAT?

“forests” = minuscule form of what trees on Earth can be, basically saplings
“mesas” = not landforms, but petrified ancient tree trunks
IIRC the theory goes that all forests on Earth were destroyed ages ago and it takes them ridiculous times to regrow, with those giant mammoth redwood trees just being the oldest ones that have grown the most

evidence 1:

Who/what cut down the trees to make them mesas, for what purpose, and with what tools?

I’ve actually looked a little deeper into this, and the short answer is that humans cut them down with future tech. This theory is a sub-theory of flat earth, as it makes use of a lot of the same basic assumptions about the world, most importantly that our entire worldview is a construct created by the elite that controls our world from the shadows. By keeping knowledge from us, they can treat us like sheep without expecting resistance. Part of this theory is that we had advanced machines and supercomputers way back, even in the ancient times, and that all history older than about 100 years is a lie crafted by this elite in the wake of a nuclear war in the 1800s.

What would we use all that wood for, and where did it go?

Rock is wood. Or rather, wood becomes rock as it grows and the trees reach massive heights. They essentially mined the trees for useful minerals and metals, and for the construction of whatever secret structres they use to control us.

Steal dnd settings from conspiracy theorists every day bc this shit is too good

temporaldecay:

kesandor:

“Diverse media is treated with a harsher lens than everything else” Probably because we’re assuming if you took the time to include us you’d do the bare minimum which is treat characters like us with respect and how dare we be upset when that doesn’t happen

True, but in a capitalistic-driven world like ours where media’s success is measured in revenue rather than it’s cultural importance, how we engage diverse media is literally a deciding factor of if we’ll get more.

And what type of media is it affects this even further.

TV shows and movies do not have a history of reacting to outcry or criticism by re-engaging and trying to fix it, they have a history of going “oh, right, no one wants [minority] in the focus, got it” and then shelf the project and go back to “white boy wonder #3000″ and his cookie cutter story that’s guaranteed to bring in money.

Videogames have a better reaction to critical commentary about their handling of diversity, hilariously enough. This is why we had things like Gamer Gate. Because the industry is willing to listen, much to the disdain and distaste of some of its fanbase.

I get it, though. White, straight, cis people have this pool of stories and if something is not to their liking, they can complain about it and go find another one they like better, because statistically, someone out there has tackled that specific take in a story. But if you’re in a minority and the movie/game/comic/THING you got is the only one you’ve got you want it to be everything. You feel it has to do everything perfectly, on every aspect. Because you don’t have anything else.

I sincerely believe that our engagement – critical and political – with diverse media needs to radically change, however. Because our own reactions to imperfect representations of ourselves – and let’s be honest, they’re ALL imperfect representations of ourselves, someone might find them suitable and someone might find them offensive, and we’re back with trying to make ONE THING that will satisfy ALL THE THINGS FOR EVERYONE EVER – don’t encourage people to try again and do better next time. This hyper critical culture in our own communities, that also has slowly been bled out of rational or structured long term planning, has resulted on people dogpiling anything that is even remotely “problematic” and decrying it as the Absolute Worst, thus demanding it be boycotted and as far removed from everything as possible. You’re not allowed to discuss the things diverse media did right, on penalty of being told you’re supporting everything they did wrong. You’re not allowed to say “Okay, it’s not FOR EVERYONE or ALL THE THINGS, but you know what, it’s doing THIS ONE THING really well”, because then you’re a traitor and must be destroyed.

I’ve seen people stirring in the Asian and Latino camps that Black Panther is not a big deal, because there aren’t any Asian or Latino people in the front and center of the movie.

I’ve seen people hissing that Wonder Woman should be boycotted because it’s an all-white imperialistic fantasy.

Look, guys. This approach to media betrays a simple misunderstanding of what Diverse Media is. Diverse Media is not the search for The One, you know, The One Good Book/Movie/Series/Game/Comic. Diverse Media is a road towards becoming Media, without qualifiers. It’s not about finding The One and stopping, because nothing will ever represent us that well ever again. It’s the constant road we’re paving, one step at the time, to reach the point where we too will be able to wrinkle our nose at any given piece of media and then shrug and go look for something else, like white, straight, cis people do today, with that same confidence that we WILL find something else, for whatever the reason, because we’re no longer genre pieces.

Be critical of Diverse Media, by all means. But be critical while you support it. Be critical while you scream at the top of your lungs that you want More of it. 

And for the love of anything holy, please learn to engage media without that fucking Purity Culture filter bullshit that’s just ruining everything for everyone around you.

Bigotry follows the 5 Stages of Grief

the-real-seebs:

variablejabberwocky:

I had a Shower Moment ™ the other day where i realized that most if not all forms of bigotry follow the 5 stages of grief. here i’ve even provided some examples:

1. Denial

“Transgender doesn’t exist (in nature)”

“Gay doesn’t exist (in nature)”

“Female sexuality doesn’t exist”

“Black intelligence doesn’t exist”

“Pagan souls (and thus inherent value in their lives) don’t exist”

“Disabled people’s value to society doesn’t exist (ie. if its not monetary it doesn’t count)”

2. Anger

[Insert every slur and hate crime ever. I’m not gonna list them individually. Its too varied and too depressing.]

3. Bargaining

“I don’t have a problem with them calling themselves whatever gender they want, but I don’t want them in my bathroom”

“I don’t have a problem with gay people, I just don’t approve of that lifestyle”

“I’m okay with my woman wanting sex, but only if its with me and whenever I want it”

“I don’t have a problem with them living in my neighborhood, but I ain’t letting them marry into my family”

“They don’t have to go to the same church as me, but I can’t stand them wearing their pagan symbols in public”

“Yeah sick people need help, but only if they’re really truly sick (as I define it) and not faking like most of them are”

4. Depression

“You just can’t say anything now without offending someone”

“Back in the Good Ol’ Days you could [insert bigoted action without social consequences here]”

“These [slur]s just ruin everything! Now they’re in my [media of choice] too!”

“Well [person or media of choice] bought into that politically correct crap, so I guess I’ll have to stop watching/reading/listening to their stuff”

5. Acceptance

[That long awaited day few seem to reach where they stop being as much of an egregious asshole about whatever bigoted views they once held]

why the fuck does this happen?

my bet is because bigots are grieving a worldview that was once comforting in its familiarity and assuredness that they have since discovered is outdated

is it still shitty what they do?

hell yes

then why the fuck did you make this post?

because understanding why someone does a thing can help you figure out how to convince them to not do the thing

but there is other shit bigots pull that’s not on this post!

yeah. sometimes (additional) abusive behavior gets thrown in. usually in the anger stage but can happen in any stage. all i can say to that is sometimes people have bad coping skills. or are incapable of things that help minimize the damage they do to others before it happens. or they just don’t care how much damage they do.

sometimes the additional abuse is an attempt to force things to go back to how it was before. those tactics don’t work. or at least don’t work in the long run, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t leave a pile of hurt, broken, or dead people behind in its wake. 

Huh. That’s pretty accurate. Explains why my usual strategies work, I think.