mosspunkdancer

Latest Posts by mosspunkdancer

Being admitted to the hospital for emergency surgery and not going bankrupt. Money Absolutely buys security. And security is happiness.

This is what I keep running into in research into bronze age Aegean cultures (specifically the textiles of those cultures.) And yes, Evans was a trasarcheologists, but some of the literature out of Greece is WILD.

academic bias is so funny because you’ll be reading about the same historical event and one person is like “Despite the troubles that befell his homeland and near constant criticism of the court King Blorbo remained strong in the face of adversity” and the other one is like “after letting his people carry the brunt of his cringefail decisions Blorbo the Shitface refused to listen to any reason and continued to be a warmongering piece of shit. Also he was ugly.”

Oh my gosh! Look at this adorable Mycenean look! I've been digging in deep into the textile history of bronze age Crete, Thera, and to a lesser extent the rest of the Aegean. This person hit the Mycenean vibe! Great job!

TERFs die mad: you just reblogged a nasty transgender person with pronouns and all who did this historical look to explore their cultural history as well as express their own nonbinary identity in a way that resonates with them. An edit I wish I didn’t have to make on this post

I’ll try to post the actual pictures I took soon, but I was bored today and wanted to shirk some other responsibilities, so I decided to do some general vague Minoan or Mycenaean look since it’s been on the mind and also my hair was looking really good today and I wanted to take advantage of that haha

I recently accidentally did this because I have ADHD and got distracted while doing my lipstick. Did my sidequest, set my face and went to go perform.

I think about these kinds of programs. I think about how Molly might still be alive if she called this kind of holiness. I think about John and Aaron and would they have called? Both "knew what they were doing." After all, both had gone through addiction recovery programs and subsequently lapsed; they hid that they were using.

I think about how many people thus could save when addiction is too strong to resist anymore. When the only option left is to use in secret or to use alone.

I think about the people that I know that struggled and died alone that might be alive today if they had someone to call.

Ending the stigma of drug use will save lives.

Please stop making up a modern mash-up of traditions and claiming its a historic practice. It's not. And guess what, that's fine! Make up your own rituals. That's what every religion has done to date.

You don't have to insist that any of your weird shit rituals you like doing are some sort of a remnant of ancient pre-christian pagan traditions that trace back thousands of years. You can just do weird pagan shit right now. Every time I'm home alone and I hear a noise that could be a ghost, I say out loud: "fuck off or start paying rent." And whatever caused that noise is gone.

My last ancestor who didn't know what christianity was probably didn't know what rent was, either.

I remember adults telling me that I should be true to myself and that I could be anything that I wanted. Now, they rage about gender and act disgusted when someone wants to have outsides match their insides.

i remember adults telling me, as a kid, to listen to doctors and get my flu vaccine and any shots i could because they remembered Before.

then they started fighting Covid precautions.

i remember adults telling me, as a kid, that the ozone was disappearing and the earth was dying and we needed to recycle and save the planet.

now my parents think climate change is a myth.

i remember adults telling me, as a kid, that racism was a plague, that we had to love and accept everyone, that we should never judge before walking a mile in their shoes.

then they told me that protesting for my Black siblings was wrong.

i remember adults telling me, as a kid, that we needed to give to the poor. working at soup kitchens. making quilts. collecting food and money and supplies. building houses. because it was the christian and just plain right thing to do.

now they look at me, on food stamps with their grandchildren, and lament the "welfare state".

i remember adults telling me, as a kid, that it was easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven and that any rich man, especially an immoral one, should never run our country.

you can guess who they voted for.

i remember adults telling me, as a kid, so very much.

when did they forget?

And sometimes you get gems like this face-eating cutie.

Ever see a depiction of St. George and the Dragon? It's pretty fair to say if you've seen one, you've seen them all: Georgie on a horse stabbing a flailing dragon creature, princess piously kneeling in the background, vague landscape alluding to the homeland of the artist's patron.

The most varied part is the dragons. No one had a real definition for the thing, it seemed. For your pleasure and entertainment, I have ranked some medieval depictions based on how impressive George's feat seems once you see the dragon.

Paolo Uccello, 1456

This is a terrifying beast. The hell is that. Uccello was one of the first experimenters with perspective, so the thing also looks surreal, like it's taking place on Mars, or a Windows 95 screensaver. I would not want to fight that, I would not want to be tied to that. (Sometimes the princess is tied to the dragon for some reason.) 10/10

Horse thoughts: Maybe if I look at the ground it will be gone when I look up

Unknown artist, c. 1505

This is a rare change of form for the dragon; it's the only one I've seen actually flying (or at least falling with style). It doesn't look particularly deterred by the spear through its throat, either. Also, George looks appropriately nervous. On the other hand, it hasn't got teeth, it seems to be fuzzy rather than having scaly armor, and George is bolstered by his army of Henry VII and his children, most of whom definitely didn't actually die in infancy. Still, wouldn't want to fight it, wouldn't want my pet sheep near it. (Sometimes the princess has a pet sheep for some reason.) 9/10

Horse thoughts: I am so glad I wore my mightiest feather helmet for this

Raphael, 1505

We are coming to Dragons With Problems. This guy looks about comparable in size to George, and does have wings, but doesn't seem to be using these things to his advantage (and has he only got one wing?) And how does he deal with the neck? He does have a comically small head, but holding it up with such a twisty neck seems complicated at best. But most egregiously, he is doing the shitty superheroine pose where he is somehow simultaneously showcasing his chest and his butt, with its unnecessarily defined butthole (more on this later) (regrettably). 8/10 bc it's Raphael

Horse thoughts: AM I THE BESTEST BOI? AM I DOING SUCH A GOOD JOB? WE R DRAGON SLAYING BUDDIEZ

The Beauchamp Hours, c. 1401

We had a spirited debate about this one at work. Again, the dragon has gotten smaller, and this one hasn't got even one wing. He's basically a crocodile. So the debate became: would you want to fight a crocodile if you had a horse and a pointy stick? Would the horse trample the animal, who can't get on its hind legs, or freak out and throw its rider? Would the pointy stick be enough to pierce the croc's thick hide? In this case, George seems to be controlling his horse and putting his pointy stick in the dragon's weak spot, so we can be impressed by his skill and strategy. However, his hat is dumb. 7/10

Horse thoughts: Dehhhh

Book of Hours, c. 1480

Here we have the same kind of croco-dragon, but George's focus on his strategy has gone out the window. He's flailing around, not even looking at his target, he's about to lose his pointy stick, he hasn't got a hand on the reins, and his sword seems to only be poking the invisible dragon over his shoulder. All he's got going for him is that his hat is slightly less dumb. 6/10

Horse thoughts: Yay, new friend! Come play with me, new fr- what is happening

Final dragons put behind this Read More for your safety:

Rogier van der Weyden, c. 1432

I'm thinking this guy is at least semi-aquatic. Webbed feet, wings that seem more like fins, bipedal but top-heavy, jaws that seem more for scooping than biting. Maybe she's crawled up here from the nearby body of water to lay her eggs, and this is all a big misunderstanding. Moreover, George's dagged sleeves seem entirely impractical for the situation. 5/10

Horse thoughts: i got my hed stuk in a jar and now it is this way forever

Unknown artist, c. 15th century

I hate this. I hate everything about it. Why has it got human eyes and teeth. Why is its nose melting. Why has it got a dick on its face and balls under its chin. The fin/wings are back but they look even more useless. Also, George is shifty as hell, schlumped over in his saddle with his bowler hat thing over his eyes. The baby dragon at the bottom eating some hapless would-be rescuer is kind of metal. 4/10 at least the thing is gonna die

Horse thoughts: I Have Smoked So Much Crack

Book of Hours, c. 1450

Remember what I said about the buttholes? First, sorry. Second, yeah, we're back to that. I'll admit this one is less about the danger from the dragon itself than the very specific choices the artist has made. They didn't need to do that. It's a lizard. They don't even have. And it's like they had an orifice budget and they skipped an exit wound for the spear to focus. Elsewhere. It's so detailed. And George had an even dumber hat. 2/10 take it away

Horse thoughts: I Have Smoked So Much Weed

Book of Hours, c. 1415

This is just bullying. There isn't even a princess. That is clearly an infant. Look at that smug look on George's face as he swings his sword that's bigger than the whole little guy. This is the equivalent of when DJT Jr. hunted those sleeping endangered sheep. 1/10

Horse thoughts: ....yikes

And this is the previous one, but now the baby dragon is cute. He's chubby. He's got toe beans. He's Puff the Magic Dragon. His eyes have already gone white, implying that George is just kicking its corpse around for funsies. What's the difference between the dragon and the lamb in the background? That the dragon is dead, like our innocence. This George is truly deserving of the dumbest hat of all. 0/10 plus one more butthole for the road

Horse thoughts: Perhaps it is we who are the buttholes.

Moss from Alabama

Funguary day 1: Mycena Subcyanocephala.

Inspired by Feefal’s diagram-style artwork, I hope maybe to make these into a zine. Delving into the world of mushrooms is fascinating, especially with this particular species, which has only been documented eight times. I felt that since the mushroom has only been seen eight times, she must be very lonely

Funguary Day 18: Inky Cap

I love the look of this mushroom; there’s something about it that feels like it’s from a dark fantasy. I actually knew this mushroom becomes poisonous when you drink alcohol, so I wanted to add my favorite type of alcohol: whiskey ;)

Funguary Day 17: Dotted Stem Bolete

This one was a bit simpler because, honestly, I was experiencing some art block. I also wanted to experiment with a different body type than I usually do.

Funguary day 16: Enoki

Had the pleasure of eating this mushroom recently at a Japanese barbecue place – it is absolutely delicious! I think this is my favorite edible mushroom I’ve had. I was inspired by the restaurant, so I gave her chopsticks and added some steam coming off her.

"Hydnellum peckii" also known as the Devil's Tooth Fungus or Bleeding Tooth. 🩸🍄

Often found in damp, dark forests, growing in rotting wood. This spooky shroom's unique enamel-like appearance intrigues many as it produces liquid with the same consistency as blood. This serves as a defense mechanism and a way to spread its spores for reproduction. 

Although in some myths, it is said that this fungus symbolizes death, decay, and a bad omen. If eaten, some believe it can cause terrible nightmares. 👹☠️

~~~

"Laccaria Amethystina" commonly known as Amethyst Deceiver. 💜🍄

An edible mushroom and usually found in all types of woodlands. The stunning bright purple color signifies its youth, but it fades to pale brown or tan with age and weathering. Because of fading, it could easily be confused with the potentially deadly Lilac Fibrecap. 💜💀

~~~

My first entry for Funguary even though the month is almost over, coz I'm always fashionably late lol. It do be like that. 🤷🏻‍♀️😅

Funguary day 15: Black velvet bolete

Hey everyone! I took a little break, but I’m back now. I’ll be finishing up last week’s prompts while I work on the current ones, but at a slower pace. So, some days might have two entries when I’m done with the demonic ones :) This week, I’m also hoping to add a mushroom dish with each design.

One of my top 5 mermaid/men sculptures

Myth As Object by Cameron Stalheim

“Stemming from my experience as a gay male from the Midwest and transitioning into the gay culture of the east coast, this sculpture, the first in a new series of work, questions the relationship between fantasy, reality and the objectification that happens in between.” Amazing merman sculpture by artist Cameron Stalheim. 

Media is Plastic, Foam, Steel, & Acrylic. 

The older I get the more I understand the nuance of a dystopian collapse. I also better understand both the anger at those that do nothing, and the bleak, "what can I do?" Of the constant grind of oppression that isn't directly next door/ in my community.

fantasy story: but we grew complacent, indulgent, arrogant, spoiled by this era of prosperity and splendour, and in our short-sighted greed and vanity, we ended it. me at 15: I hate this stupid trope. People aren't going to just turn stupid and ruin everything just because things have been "too good" for "too long". Why does this author think that people are inherently stupid and evil? people on social media in 2024: I'm not going to vaccinate my dogs or my children because polio, measels and rabies are so rare they're not a real threat anyway uwu me at 30: Ah. I see.

One of my friends did a bunch of research about these and then recreated a bunch of them.

Late Bronze Age baby bottles from Austria, dated to around 1200-800 BC. Similar pint-sized vessels were found across the European continent, with some of them still having ruminant milk residue inside suggesting that it could have been used as a supplementary food during weaning

More: https://thetravelbible.com/mysterious-archaeological-finds/

This is helping me rethink how we interact with chores. I would like to implement, "come brag on me."

This was most likely my friend Joel.

You know how there's people you only ever saw once, but still remember years later? This one time like ten years ago, I was travelling by train and sitting opposite of me was some dude with one single streak of silvery white hair on his forehead. He could not have been over 25, and it wasn't just a few grey hairs but a distinct white forelock, something that I had not even known can actually happen in real life. And it was not bleached, it was definitely real natural hair. I've been dying my hair since I was 12 and mine has been everything from black to white and red to green, I can tell when nordic hair is dyed vs natural.

And he didn't look like the type to dye his hair. He was the type that would wear a fedora with cargo pants, socks with sandals type of guy that you wouldn't be surprised to hear owns a katana. Long hair on a ponytail, but with that distinct white streak running through it. I did my best not to stare while I thought, how fucking cool is that? This one specific type of a guy who would know how cool it is to have a trait that only happens to characters in fantasy books just naturally has that, and keeps his hair long to show it off.

I was still living with my family at the time, and once I got home I told them about this guy I saw on the train. Like yeah I had been to university entrance exams and that didn't go well, but I wanted to tell them about the cool anime hair of this guy I saw on the train. And my family's first question was: Are you sure? No way that would actually happen, specifically not with some guy like that, he would have dyed it just to look cool. Eventually I got tired of childishly insisting that I Know What I Saw, and just gave up and let them convince me that maybe it wasn't real after all.

Until years later, I discovered that it is a real thing that happens to people! It's called poliosis and the there's plenty of pictures of people online who have it, whose hair look just like that. I was right all along. And I don't know if he'll ever hear it, but if the dude with the Main Character Hair, who was reading a fantasy book the size of a brick travelling by train in sothern Finland somewhere in the early 2010s, I hope you still know that your hair is cool as fuck.

I have been a size 00 and am currently XXL. Thinness isn't healthiness. Fat isn't someone who isn't trying.

SORRY FOR THE VERY PERSONAL COMIC!!

This is my half of “Unhealthy”, an essay comic double header with the lovely and talented Sarah Winifred Searle. She and I both wrote about our personal experiences as overweight ladies with eating disorders, and her story is breathtaking! You can buy a physical copy of the book here: https://topatoco.com/collections/abby-howard/products/ah-unhealthy

Or buy a digital PDF here: https://abbyhoward.itch.io/unhealthy

Everything will be improved by the joy of playing.

Okay, yes. They are emerging in the same year, but their range doesn't substantially overlap.

Yes. Absolutely terrified, woke up crying and covered in sweat. Because I dreamed that I couldn't find some piece of clothing.

you ever have “cry and scream yourself awake” level nightmares that are immediately the stupidest premises imaginable the moment you actually wake up

I support my ace-hetero-cis partner. Just because we are "straight" in our presentation doesn't mean that either of us aren't queer.

How about we give a big "fuck you" to this guy and give a big "hello" to every aromatic heterosexual as well as every asexual heteroromantic person, y'all belong to the community do not let this idiot tell you otherwise <3

Edit: ok just to be clear, I don't anyone sending death threats to this person, shes an asshole but she doesn't deserve to die

Okay, but can we talk about how amazingly good the Muppet costumes were in that movie? (I mean ... its a 1/3 scale so costumes get much cheaper to make will all those details.) Or the fact that approximately 80+% of the dialog was book accurate?

Textiles are the origins of technological advancement. It's part of why it's so frustrating that archeologists used to dismiss cloth scraps as detritus to be cleaned from the "real" (metal) finds.

So the other night during D&D, I had the sudden thoughts that:

1) Binary files are 1s and 0s

2) Knitting has knit stitches and purl stitches

You could represent binary data in knitting, as a pattern of knits and purls…

You can knit Doom.

However, after crunching some more numbers:

The compressed Doom installer binary is 2.93 MB. Assuming you are using sock weight yarn, with 7 stitches per inch, results in knitted doom being…

3322 square feet

Factoring it out…302 people, each knitting a relatively reasonable 11 square feet, could knit Doom.