#it's a really fascinating concept i think

[max1461]

My first encounter with the broad concept of "people who want to live in the woods" came in the form of seeing people, online and in media, actually living in the woods, in one capacity or another.

As a teenager I watched Ray Mears' Bushcraft. It's a really good show that I would strongly recommend to just about anyone. Ray Mears (who in fact popularized the term "bushcraft") is a British wilderness survival/outdoorsmanship expert, and in Bushcraft he travels around the world, meeting with people who still practice some form of traditional subsistence-off-the-land, and documenting their knowledge and techniques. He shows traditional bushcraft in the Amazon, among aboriginal Australians, etc., and talks to the people who practice it about their way of life.

This show had a pretty big impact on me as a young person. I was already avidly interested in nature and the outdoors, and I had been intrigued by the concept of "wilderness survival" since watching Survivorman as a kid. There was something very appealing about the idea of placing oneself in nature with as few barriers as possible; getting to experience the natural world not just in a removed, "sightseeing" way, but in a real, engaged and "tactile" way. But what Mears presented added an additional layer of appeal: "wilderness survival" not as a chaotic fray to stay alive, but as a body of skills, refined over the centuries, which can be taught and learned. A mature art, something sophisticated and deep, in which one can become a practitioner. Something, in other words, a lot like mathematics, which I already knew that I liked, and a lot like language, which I had just recently become aware I was fascinated by. This inspired in me a much more lasting and serious interest in bushcraft. I began reading about it more seriously, and practicing as much of it as I could (not very much) in my parents' back yard.

I still count "becoming truly proficient in bushcraft" as one of my life goals, although I am not anywhere near that point yet.

A further point stressed by Ray Mears was that these traditional bushcraft techniques are a dying art. As people's lifestyles change, they are not getting passed on, and soon they may be lost. I want to stress here (because I'm on tumblr, where Big Ideas and Grand Narratives rule) that I have no desire to chastise people for living a different lifestyle than their grandparents! That's fine! I do not believe that, I don't know, the children of bushcraft experts should be forced by government decree to live in the woods or whatever. I have to make this clear, because "what should we force people to do by government decree?" seems often to be the only level at which tumblr discoursers are willing to think. What I am claiming is that this loss of knowledge is sad, it is unfortunate, and being that I and others (including most principally many of the practitioners) would not like to see these arts die out, it would be nice if they continued to be taught and learned and thereby passed on into posterity.

There need not be some kind of Decree! Maybe people just do some kind of outreach, as Mears himself did, and get more people interested in these things. Maybe, if you're an Amazonian guy or an aboriginal Australian guy, you do that outreach in a community-internal way, because your desire is principally to increase interest community-internally. I don't know; my whole point here is that I'm not really trying to get into the political dimension of this. That's not where my interests lie. Other than expressing a general sentiment that "bushcraft is cool and readers of my blog should think it's cool", I don't have any particular agenda here.

Anyway, this is the sum total of the context in which "people going out and doing shit in the woods" existed for me until just a few years ago. Then I came into the internet discoursosphere, around 2020, and I realized two things very quickly:

everyone was debating the relative merits of living in the woods

no one seemed to have any interest in or experience with anything even passingly related to living in the woods on a practical level, either first- or second-hand.

It was all, all this purely abstract, "theory"-based, grand narrativizing politico-philosophical debate. Nobody gave a shit about friction fire-lighting or shelter construction at an object level. Nobody gave a fucking shit!

This is a microcosm, and in fact not just a microcosm but perhaps the type case, of why I hate the discourse. The discourse is insistent on taking everything real in the world, everything that is (permit me to get a bit philosophical myself) vibrant and living and actual, and turning it into this dreary, sterile, empty word game. Are the Marxists the True Leftists or are the Anprims the True Leftists? Which one is it? I don't know and I don't care. Why is our interest in being in nature mediated by meaningless word game abstractions? Why must our interest in science or history be reduced to meaningless word game abstractions (shape rotator/wordcel discourse)? Why must our interest in, say, video games be reduced to meaningless word game abstractions (any of the thousand video game discourses)? Etc. etc.

It's actively, fucking, toxic to the idea of just being a person in the world. Everything you do has to be some symbol in a bullshit fucking symbol game. Worse, everything everybody else does becomes to you a symbol in a symbol game, even if they aren't playing.

I am dedicated to an alternate project. I want to be in the world and I want to be in it with others. In fact, I am so dedicated to this, that I can appreciate the reality of others' lived experience and actions even in spite of the symbol games they might be playing, even if I think these symbol games might be a little bit bullshit. This is a plainly virtuous way to be. This is the way I was raised to interact with people; it is parablized in various different ways, we're told (among other things) "everyone has a story", and "everyone is valuable in their own way", and so on. And these things may seem trite but they are true, they are obviously fucking true and many people in "discourse" have forgotten.

There are some anarchists who are really into urban community gardening. They're into it for various reasons. Some feel that it gives them autonomy over and knowledge of their own food in a way that buying things at the grocery store does not. That's fair, and kinda cool. If you're into that I support you. Some of them think that the whole economy could be replaced with urban community gardens. That's a bit silly. But I will come to these "silly" anarchists' defense every single time without question, because, fuck, they're doing something. I mean they're fucking doing something, ya know? They see meaning in this thing, and they're doing it, and that's cool! I would rather go to the overly idealistic anarchist community garden than the just-the-right-tendency Marxist reading group or whatever the fuck every single time.

Buncha "got lost in the world of symbols and forgot what they signify" mfers on this world wide web of ours istg.

#will probably delete later #this is too personal and pissy #but I'll put it out there for a moment and see what people think #wtf am I coming to dumping my guts on the internet like this I should certainly shut the fuck up

[nikoisme]

Thinking about Odysseus' epithet 'master mariner'. How his father was on the ship Argos (and how he probably named his dog after the ship). How he was always surrounded by the sea, perhaps raised by the tides. He must have been sailing since he was young. He knows the mast, he knows the rope and the deck. He knows saltwater and sea spray. His father probably told him what to do when a storm threatens to crash on him and the waves open to swallow him. But it did not prepare him for the divine. Did he ever think of his father's voice, standing by his shoulder and guiding his hand? And did Laertes ever think of his son whom he taught to sail, now wandering and at its mercy? Just thinking about how, even when he thought he knew the sea, it still broke him. How it still turned on him. Once it was so familiar, and now it's a stranger to him, one he cannot understand no matter his efforts. It was one of his greatest threats in the end. Something something shipwrecked master mariner something something

#niko rambles #it's a really fascinating concept i think #there's beauty in the deep waters but it can also wreck you #fun fact i have thalassophobia so this is very fun to me

[dayurno]

honestly you can say anything about the ravens (and you'd be right to) but you can't say the concept of them isn't delicious. a group of collegiate athletes in their intimidating raven motifs and their black uniforms who are basically bred to become the best of the best in a bloodsport. the adrenaline rush of every game being a competition between yourself and your teammates. knowing you're not just gearing up towards court but following in the footsteps of the alumni before you. the parties and the victories and the mindless sex and the way everyone around you somehow seems to always be thinking the same thing as you are. you are never alone and you will never be again if you just do as we say. who knows the kind of relationships that can happen in a place like that?

#<- her ass would be easily sucked into a cult #BUT SERIOUSLY THEY FASCINATE ME. delicious as a concept #i think we as a fandom have a tendency to take the piss on them because theyre theatrical enough to be noticeable #and because neil himself does not respect them nor riko #but it is easy. i think. to lose sight of their humanity #of their morning classes and their college parties and their personhood beyond what the cult stripped from them #yes its fun sometimes to oversimplify the ravens #and they were terrible whenever they could #but i dont know. i dont know really where i was going with this. just musing i guess #its interesting to me #all for the game #aftg #kevin day #jean moreau #riko moriyama #the foxhole court

[answermywearyquery]

the theerapanyakul kids: how close are you with each other?

loan’s kinnporsche 2nd anniversary: favourite familial relationship: the theerapanyakul kids (insp: ½+½)

#kpanniversary2024 #vegas theerapanyakul #macau theerapanyakul #kinnporsche #kinnporsche the series #tankhun theerapanyakul #kim theerapanyakul #kinn theerapanyakul #kp2anniversary #kpts #kp #loan thoughts #loan.gif #yes this is also minor family focused (with a dash of kinnvegas fascination). that is thanks to who i am as a person. #in all honesty kinnvegas and vegasmacau are my fav platonic relationships of the shows. both so scrunchy! #imagine if you will that its macau recounting all the relationships. cause obviously vegas has a much more complicated relationship to him #that macau would perceive. but then again macau prolly sees some of the shit vegas has to shoulder for him. #but to macau vegas will always be his bestest friend. #this post is very deep if you think about it (i say. lying.) #im kidding ofc but i do kinda like the concept. you could argue with certain assessment of mine but generally the categories felt fitting #anyways. this is late but if im correct its allowed and im doing this thing where im being patient with myself. #also this is my second proper gifset and i dont think i get coloring. i vaguely understand what should happen but like. #i dont think i see what i should. i dont get colors. so these are just. idk. hopefully just a tad more vibrant and not too off color. #so. is this good? not really. but im practicing gif making! and i only get confused by ps like once an hour.

[volcanocraft]

Your Gem as an unlabelled bi/gay non-op transman who uses she/her has overridden my previous headcanons and rewired my brain. Quite possibly the most correct take I've ever seen.

I really appreciate you saying this :’) she is so dear to me. I love your turiagirl headcanons as I think gem would definitely be mspec and I haven’t heard of the label before… it’s always fun finding out the new ways people are able to label complex gender attraction!

I’ve been thinking about bi gay gem for the past couple of days too. I just think she is able to represent a facet of masculinity I can relate to heavily because of her unconventional expression of her gender. Unlabelled because she doesn’t think too hard about it but able to identify herself in the flux that is masc while also using conventionally fem constructs because she just likes them … AOUHH thank you for making my day 💖

#geminitay #art tag #it’s been a really funny but extremely pleasant time being able to talk about hermitshipping and personal hc transgender headcanons #I originally had a response that was a lot more personal in regards to the concept of identifying as masc but I condensed it heavily here #i hope it comes across as very reflective and not preachy LOL #I just find it fascinating that not too long ago combining ‘contradicting’ labels was a huge point of discourse for a good while #which i feel comfortable saying that is extremely dumb LOL #I think the queer human experience is diverse and rich #but anyways thank you so much… I really like tboy gem… this has significant implications I think… #your tags are always so kind #hermitcraft #ask

[puppyeared]

Book cover sketches

#I went with the velveteen rabbit cause I remember reading it when I was a kid and just. lying down for a good 10 minutes afterwards #I don’t think I have any specifically strong emotions connected to it #but I love how the story is so fluent and universal that it can remind you of anything #im playing with a medieval style for it because I think it suits the books fairytale/fable appeal #although vine borders are so tedious to mimic. weirdly fascinating though #I’m really feeling the first and third sketches #my art #myart #doodles #the velveteen rabbit #concept art #tw dissection #<- very light toy dissection

[ziptiesnfries]

Meet Your New Owners

CWs: pet whump, “sold to One Direction”-esque scenario

The band—Singer, Guitarist, Drummer, and Bassist—walked into their tour bus and froze at the sight of Manager standing in the center of the aisle. “Um,” said Guitarist, his eyes trailing from Manager to the patent-leather leash she held to the figure the leash was attached to. “What is this?”

“This,” Manager announced, “is your new pet.”

“No.” Singer pushed to the front indignantly, staring down Manager. “Absolutely not.”

“Aww, but they’re so cute.” Drummer hung off Singer’s shoulder, making puppy-dog eyes. “Can we keep them? Pleeease?”

Singer opened their mouth, but Manager cut in. “You are keeping them. Your popularity ratings are down after your latest fuckup, and pets are popular right now. So” —she gestured to the timid little thing fidgeting next to her— “meet your newest publicity stunt.”

“Isn’t this kind of irresponsible?” Bassist, hanging back by the door, muttered under their breath. “‘Pets are a lifelong commitment,’ and all that.”

“Yeah,” Guitarist chimed in, “why couldn’t you have gotten us a dog instead?”

“That’s even more irresponsible, dipshit,” Bassist shot back.

The pet’s eyes darted around nervously, and they shuffled behind Manager a little. Manager patted Pet’s shoulder, but she kept addressing the band members. “I’ll take care of them from day-to-day. All you guys have to do is pose for pictures and be nice to them in public. It shouldn’t be hard. They’re a rescue, but according to the shelter, they’re very well-behaved.” She scratched Pet’s head. “Aren’t you, sweetie?”

Pet’s uncertain eyes brightened a little. They stood up tall, leaning into Manager’s hand. “Yes, ma’am. I’m very happy to be here. It’s nice to meet you all.”

Drummer, still clutching Singer’s shoulder, practically swooned. “They’re so polite!”

“This is weird,” Singer cut in flatly, shaking Drummer off. They gestured to Pet. “I mean, come on, that’s a whole human person. And pets are a new thing—how are there already rescues?”

“I don’t care.” Drummer shoved to the front, eyes shining. “We’re keeping them.” Pet smiled timidly at them.

“Yes, you are.” Manager passed off the leash to Drummer and breezed past her more disgruntled clients to the front of the bus. “Now, we’ve got a press conference to get to—and you’d all better adjust your attitudes by the time we get there, because this little stunt is going to do numbers with your younger fans. Let’s go!”

#zipwrites #whump writing #whump #pet whump #dehumanization #*tosses this into the void before i can think too hard* #this isn't really a pr0mpt but i don't think i'd mind if someone wanted to run with it lmao #i'm fascinated by the concept but don't have enough celebrity-drama interest to write it in detail

[scruntassdude]

i broke and made a tadc oc.... hes just a little guy you can trust him with your files and data...

#the amazing digital circus #tadc #tadc oc #the amazing digital circus oc #original character #character design #yes he is based off the ILOVEYOU! virus #also i think he would really like jax and zooble #and would be utterly fascinated by the concept of abstraction

[dennisboobs]

blacked out and came to with a document full of macden

#ada speaks #ada writing macden in 2024........ hm #its all dennis introspection but i have a Plan #the funny thing abt macden is that mac is so goddamn dense i can commit to usual den shenanigans #charlie is way too perceptive it doesn't usually work #i will laugh if i manage to post this before any of my longass fics #its. playing with some concepts i have used before (i will say. victoria being conceptualized as an entirely separate person.) #i find den's separation of self really fascinating bc for me the trans experience has been. hm #playing a part for the masses but knowing who i am beneath that #its opposite for dennis but also the same. he doesn't see vicky as himself but he doesn't have a core either #he's a shell hosting her in his body but she also feels like the most authentic version of the self #and thus. gender euphoria. very weird and complicated gender euphoria. #one dennis holds himself back from expressing to its fullest extent #what was i talking about again #oh yeah macden. that's there too. i think probably den's gonna put the moves on mac but i haven't decided how itll go..... #this fic is just dennis doing psych student brain things thinking abt mac and their relationship and breaking it all down

[floorpancakes]

watanuki being compared to caged birds and beautiful women and cats who have sex and cats who die and witches and butterflies and ancient flirtation methods and flouncing about in his metaphorical mother's boxes of silky clothes, airily operating like a beautiful spectre who's grown into his body but stuck in the past is so ?????????

#yet again i am pondering the creature #xxxholic #like im sorry thats so much to think about... #i love all of my hcs and concepts for a world where watanuki does not have to suffer forever in stasis but #it does suit him in a fascinating and sad way #like he slayed being a willowy dead fish eyed lavish androgynous beauty with a suicidal ideation complex #with messy transient arms length relationships and tentative scared ties to the people he loves due to trauma #like hes the poster boy on the front page when you look up the definition of depression in the dictionary #but hes so complicated and pretty and doomed and dresses really fancy #this is the sort of thing i think about with no warning at random times of the day

[sleepinglionhearts]

What's the coolest thing Wakely's found in the ocean?

You can even tip them with fine clumps of algae

#doodles #answered #oc art tag #one piece art tag #one can assume many more fascinating things have been observed by Wakely #but she is utterly entranced by the guitar shrimps #i think the concept of shrimps with guitars as like.. a thing is very in line w the odd creatures in one piece #filed under: critters she brings back to show her new friends and immediately the critter gets cooked #guitar shrimp attempt 3 is what finally gets everyone to hold on and then experience the wonder of a really cool shrimp

[vigilskeep]

?????? What do you mean Anders is all like, "We have a kid now" when Keir gets back from the Fade ??????? Where did he get the nugget?????

#sorry i could not resist the opportunity. anyway could be this #could be that anders picked up a random mage kid bc i really do mean it when i say keir is 85% of his impulse control #with 5 amells in the circle theres a fair likelihood there are baby ones out there that were separated so thats another line of thought #if u cant have a baby get ur husbands second cousin once removed on sale now #but anyway ya ive always had trans anders hcs in one direction or the other so like #bio keir/anders kid very possible in my mind why not! grey wardenisms permitting and all that #i have not thought it through deeply but it is for sure on the table #like i think they both want kids and they know how dangerous it would be but like if the opportunity was suddenly there #i DO think anders is the kind of messy decision maker to keep a baby while on the quest to cure the calling and being separated from #his husband for a couple months. that IS on brand. and he wouldnt tell anyone for ages bc hes stupid #also im rlly fascinated by yrsa dealing with it bc of like dwarven issues with infertility and the royal pressure for heirs and the #inability of two grey wardens. #this is messy it is very early in the morning and i have a cold. suffice it to say i have been throwing concepts around #i just think its terribly interesting. i love when fantasy generational chaos #also i want bethy 2 hold a little niece or nephew is this too much to ask i thibk #*think not

[heliianth]

hiccup n toothless in mossy log (i cannot picture them without eachother sorry)

no ur right they are a package deal ^-^

#i like to think early on toothless really likes listening to hiccup talk #at first he’s like lol this little thing is so loud #then he realizes it’s a language and becomes fascinated #bc night furies don’t communicate verbally so it’s a whole new concept for him #httyd #ask games #heliiart #heliianswers

[nightshadeowl]

Cubito plot idea I had the other day I do not have the energy to write any time soon: Husband swap. Due to Minecraft multiverse shenanigans, Mumza, goddess of death, and Tango’s wife, deity of Decked Out 2, accidentally grab the wrong blond-haired white boy and plop them unceremoniously in the wrong worlds. Cue Tango exploring Phil’s hardcore world and refining the redstone while Mumza has to stop Tango from dying constantly because he doesn’t quite grasp the finality of hardcore, versus Phil who has a hell of a time trying to get through Decked Out 2 and about has a mental breakdown when he dies only for him to be told by Mrs. Tango that Hermitcraft distinctly isn’t a hardcore server and that he’ll be fine

Oh holy smokes. Dude.

Hermitcraft is like, the very opposite of hardcore. Things have to be made Scar-safe but any time you die, either folks are entirely willing to help you out or you've got spares of everything on-hand, so death means almost nothing. And because they're all friends, there is a LOT of buddy behavior going on; it's not terribly uncommon for folks to start living in each other's walls, a stark contrast from the peace and solitude of singleplayer.

What might that mean for someone used to it being deprived, and- conversely- someone not used to it at all being thrown into the mix?

Neither of them are prepared.

(Mrs. T and Mumza will do their best, though.)

#i don't kkow if the wording here portrays how fascinated i am by the concept of phil being reintroduced to society. very tight-knit society #but BOTH WAYS this is so interesting #i'd love to see what tango might do with tinkering around in there really. #like. phil's pretty good. but this is Tango Tek. The Iron Tyrant. (i think that was his title) #whatever he could do there with phil's resources would be like introducing nuclear energy. #passenger comms

[starboy-squeakers]

Again not a dungeon meshi reader/watcher but every time I hear about that laois guy I get reminded of how my system had/has a hyperfixation on dragons so intense that we got that big fancy dragonology book and we treated it like the damn dragon Bible for like years

Now, obviously, we understand that there's different interpretations on mythical creatures, and no one interpretation on a dragon is necessarily gospel, but that multiple interpretations on the classic tale of beasts of scale and fire are completely valid and to be expected!

however if you call an Eastern dragon a coatl I'm going to come to your house and slaughter your family

#THEY'RE COMPLETELY DIFFERENT #yes they have similarities but coatls have WINGS typically and dont usually have other limbs. they're more serpentine birds #meanwhile Eastern dragons (Chinese depictions for example) don't typically have wings and are more lizard-like #like Mushu !!!!!!!! Mushu is an Eastern dragon #and then there's drakes and wyrms. which are entirely different bc they can't really fly #drakes are more like draconic horses or dogs. no wings but four limbs and a tail with a reptilian appearance #wyrms are more serpentine with no limbs and no wings. though i think some interpretations of wyrms give them like.. two forelimbs #then there's wyverns. wyverns have two legs and two wings instead of the typical eight limbs (four limbs two wings) #(i also perosnally hold true to the interpretation of wyverns with poisonous stingers for tails but that's just me cause i think its cool) #..... how much of this is just me talking abiut dragons #explodes. #oh yeah and obv there's the HTTYD interpretations which i adore! they're interesting #the designs are so fascinating and from what ive seen seem to have some science behind them #and arent just the typical western style of dragons. which nothing wrong with the western style it's a classic ofc #but it's still fun to see some variation!! #and ofc there's WOF #which holds true to Western dragons in simple anatomy but has its own variations and of course its own lore #then there's. fuck i forget the name but it's a fantasy story based in China i believe #i loved it so much it was so cool #anyways it had a dragon character named Seryu. I love Seryu. he my favorite #anyways i liked the interpretation of dragons there bc iirc it held true to ummmmm some Chinese mythology involving dragons #cause Eastern mythology of drahons is . so much diffetent than Western #Western dragons are commonly very monstrous creatures‚ usually very animalistic #they tend to embody the Christian concept of greed/gluttony hence why they're so typically monstrous/villainous #which i find interesting but i wont get into that #meanwhile. i wanna say Eastern dragon legends more revolve around the idea of a dragon as more of a godly/fae-type creature? #that's probably a poor comparison but that's how i interpreted it. agian im probahly wronf about all of this #im some weirdo rambling about dragons on the internet. dont trust me explicitly #i need to get more dragon mythology books #HELP I REACHED THE TAG LIMIT I DIDNT THINK THAT WAS POSSIBLE GOOD LORD OKAY I'LL SHUT UP NOW

[mutalune]

me when people hate on aos trek:

#starlight fandom #starlight trek #LOOK I KNOW THEY AREN’T GOOD MOVIES THEY WERE IF MARVEL HIT STAR TREK WITH A BASEBALL BAT BEHIND A CLUB #BUT AOS GOT ME INTO STAR TREK IN THE FIRST PLACE OKAY IT HAS A PLACE IN MY HEART FOREVER #AND IT’S NOT AOS!JIM’S FAULT THAT THEY WROTE HIM BAD I ACTUALLY THINK ITS REAL INTERESTING #TO SEE A VERSION OF JIM KIRK THAT’S TRAUMATIZED AND FUCKED UP AND DIDN’T HAVE A FATHER AND YET HE STILL ENDS UP COMPASSIONATE #HE STILL ENDS UP A LEADER AND KIND #like fr tho that’s a fascinating concept #how much things may be different and how Spock!prime broke the timeline by melding with aos!kirk #and Kirk still ends up kind and loving and beloved anyway!!!!! #like I’m sorry they didn’t execute well until beyond and honestly I ignore stid entirely but it’s such a cool concept to me #and Karl urban as bones was so. SO. SO GOOD. he was perfect and deranged in the best way #Quinto-Spock I can take or leave but I do love me a bitchy Vulcan and he did have that #it’s okay to not like aos I don’t blame anyone for not liking it but I am so fond of it folks I truly am #and I’m not just saying that b/c the fic I’m writing rn for comfort and therapy reasons is projecting my current issues on aos!kirk #he’s just really to project onto and he looks like he’d benefit from ketamine treatment too and learning how to have hobbies w/o stress #anyway like I said I don’t blame anyone for disliking it or erasing it from their fandom memory #but it got me into Star Trek and I’m grateful and if ppl weren’t cowards aos!kirk would be so fucking fascinating in a feral way