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savouring life

@bubblycider

Science, travel, languages, cats and everything that's interesting on this planet (originally from Italy)
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Bro, your Generic Fantasy Media™ is showing us a 20th Century English speaking hero decked out in 16th Century German armour using 12th Century Italian weapons to stab 9th Century Vikings in what appears to be a pastiche of 14th Century Romania, and the fact that this character is Black is the part that offends your commitment to historical accuracy?

Here’s some historical accuracy:

These illustrations are from a Fechtbuch (fight manual) by Paulus Hector Mair, published in Augsburg, Germany ca. 1540s.

The text accompanying each drawing is about the move being performed. None of them make any comment about who’s performing the moves, only about how to perform them correctly and the consequences of error.

This statue of St Maurice in Magdeburg Cathedral Germany dates to about 1250, and was clearly carved by someone who knew what Black Africans looked like or had one modelling for him.

This reconstruction shows what the statue probably looked like when new; the spear was a separate accessory, the sword and even shield (as can be seen from its broken remnant in the photos of the original statue) was part of the carving.

Regarding that shield and the details it would have concealed, there’s a story from the construction of the National Cathedral in Washington DC about an artisan carving similar never-to-be-seen detail; he was asked: “Why bother, who’ll know whether you did it or not?” and replied: “God will, and so will I.”

(@dduane​ mentions it here.)

These are later paintings of St Maurice, the first in the Metropolitan Museum New York USA by Lucas Cranach the Elder (~1520-25):

…and by Matthias Grünewald (~1520-24) in the Alte Pinakothek, Munich, Germany, both wearing Maximilian-style armour:

This armorial panel from 1521 shows Eva von Schönau, first wife of Jacob von Reinach-Steinbrunn (a wealthy landowner who later became Governor of Montbéliard in France), and is in the Historisches Museum, Basel, Switzerland.

They were both armigerous (arms-bearing) families: his is the lion, hers are the rings.

These drawings by Albrecht Durer were done in 1508 and 1521.

It’s probably fair to say that away from trading ports and major centres of commerce, people of colour whether African, Middle Eastern or Asian were an unfamiliar sight in most of Medieval and Renaissance Europe.

However “unfamiliar” isn’t the same as “unknown”, and in addition, the high-status clothing of the Fechtbuch models, and Eva von Schönau’s family coat of arms, shows they weren’t always just servants or slaves.

Worth noting.

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There’s probably a German compound word for that feeling you get at 2am when you’re single in your mid twenties and the creeping doubt that you’ve somehow missed your only chance at love because you didn’t meet someone in college and now it’s too late

The german word you are looking for is ‘Torschusspanik’

Germans got a word for fucking EVERYTHING.

German is like the dictionary of obscure sorrows

can confirm

Being an American right now is so fucked up. Like hi I'm living my life. I'm gay. I'm doing great. My government is trying to take away my human rights. I can vote but it might not do anything because of gerrymandering. Sometimes people here deliberately spread deadly viruses because Freedom. We're told this is the best country in the world. I can't escape. I don't want to leave. I want to escape. I love the land itself. The government is like five steps from actively trying to kill me. We have brand new lawmakers who better understand the will of the people. The highest court in the nation is rigged to side with fascists. I'm graduating soon and I have an incredible life ahead of me. My planet is dying.

What the hell do I even do, man

Like. This sounds overdramatic but you know that scene in the two towers where theoden looks out at saruman's army and realizes he made all these warriors just to destroy Rohan which is full of innocent people and his people and he says "What can man do against such reckless hate?"

That's how I feel on a daily basis

I don't think I CAN do anything except keep doing what I'm doing. Keep myself alive. Make stuff that helps other people be happy. Encourage activism and change. Plant flowers. I have to focus small. There ISN'T anything I can do against the big pharmaceutical companies causing millions of deaths from covid (among thousands of other medical ailments) because they refuse to release the patents on lifesaving medicine. I can't do anything about it I literally can't

All I can do is fucking write stories and posts and run stupid little dragon RPGs and plant flowers and hope. But if it helps other people too, what I'm doing, then it's worth it.

I am very small. I need to remember that and not try to pick a fight with an enemy that's much bigger than me. It's not selfish to say it's probably for the best if I just focus on my life and immediate vicinity. It's realistic and I think I can do more good this way.

There's a lot of pressure to like, fight for every problem ever but I think I need to remember I can't do that and I shouldn't do that and I need to limit myself to what I CAN do

Idk, it's clear a few other folks were also Feelin' This. I guess we all have to scale down. It feels gross because like... Obviously I care about shit that's happening, but I literally cannot deal with emotionally and intellectually engaging with all the awful news I'm bombarded with.

Being an American right now is still fucking awful, but being me doesn't have to be

Hey I know it's long but reblog this version of the post actually

I posted 2.380 times in 2021

15 posts created (1%)

2365 posts reblogged (99%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 157.7 posts.

I added 111 tags in 2021

  1. #aww - 27 posts
  2. #😍 - 19 posts
  3. #baby - 10 posts
  4. #wholesome - 10 posts
  5. #as always - 9 posts
  6. #yes - 8 posts
  7. #🥺 - 8 posts
  8. #😍😍😍 - 8 posts
  9. #😂😂😂 - 6 posts
  10. #if i stop reblogging miette posts just assume i’m dead - 6 posts

Longest Tag: 127 characters

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

Tumblr+ thought experiment

Let’s assume someone monetised a blog post: can you then reblog it? If not, how can you spread it when the whole site is based on reblogging? If it could be reblogged, would it show up as a blur in other people’s dash until they pay for it?

What if it were one of the additions in the reblogs, the main thing that made a post worth reblogging? Would the revenue be split then? Probably not, but this discourages engagement!

That’s a whole host of problems @staff will have to contend with and I don’t think they’ve thought them trough to be honest.

#4

If any one is a fan, Hannah Gadsby, the stand up comic, will be performing in Milan on the 31st of January 2022. I’m going with one of my friends and we’re gonna be in the middle price range seats, but some of the closer ones to the stage are still available.

Please note that she’ll be performing in English without translation, if it’s a problem for anyone to understand.

(Tagging @sayitaliano and @unearthitaly especially because of their language skills and because they might want to boost the event)

#3

My friend saved this tiny hedgehog 🦔 from the side of a busy road and I’m 🥺💕💕💕

#2

Since no one else dared to say it.

#1

On the 18th of April 2021, the people of an Italian town stopped traffic to help 12 little guys get back to their mom. 💕

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An iconic photo taken in Germany in 1931. On the back of the picture, the rabbi's wife wrote, "Our light will outlast their flag." One of the bravest pictures ever taken.

more context/correction: the photograph was taken in december of 1932, less than two months before hitler became chancellor. the nazi party had already been the largest parliamentary faction for months being most successful in the state of schleswig-holstein where this picture was taken. the flagged building was their district office in the city of kiel. the photographers husband was rabbi dr. arthur posner who was the last rabbi in kiel before the holocaust. the SS had committed a bomb attack on the citys synagogue in the summer of the same year. his family and many other jewish inhabitants of kiel, making up the biggest jewish community in the state of schleswig-holstein at the time, fled to palestine or the usa in the following year.

this is the back of the photograph

"judah die"

says the flag-

"judah lives for ever!"

replies the light.