flyingsassysaddles

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This exquisite 108-bead Mala is crafted from 100% recycled camel bone, making it an ideal companion for yoga and mindfulness practices. The Mala, traditionally used in Buddhist rituals, is designed for counting sacred mantras (prayers) and symbolizes a "Heavenly Garland" that brings fortune and good luck to the wearer. It is also a valuable tool for gaining merit on the path to enlightenment.

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Sometimes I think about the online friends I had when I was 14, and whether they're proud of me now

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"That day, she was amazed to discover that when he was saying "As you wish", what he meant was, "I love you." And even more amazing was the day she realized she truly loved him back." - The Princess Bride (1987)

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true love is fake and overdone and a bad story mechanic UNLESS i am watching the princess bride. then i believe in it

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so were Rugen and Humperdinck fuckin or

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YES I LOVE THIS INTERPRETATION EXACTLY

anyways interesting that while the metanarrative of the princess bride (1987) is one of all-american nostalgia, the metanarrative of the novel is specifically of an immigrant story. the story itself has a meandering half-folktale, half-memory sense of time and place (set before europe but after stew, shortly after the invention of america but long after the invention of fortunes). florin, geographically located in roughly the area of poland, is framed as the homeland of both s. morgenstern and the goldman family, and the “original novel,” s. morgenstern’s paean to the history and culture of his left-behind home, is pared down to bare bones by two generations of goldmans as the florinese-american fathers try to adjust it to appeal to their increasingly americanized sons. hell, the inciting incident of the narrative is when westley “gambled on america and lost,” returning home changed beyond recognition—but he is able to return and to parlay that loss into victory, the way william goldman-the-character’s father is never able to. super interesting stuff

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Everyone had told her, since she became a princess-in-training, that she was very likely the most beautiful woman in the world. Now she was going to be the richest and most powerful as well.

Don't expect too much from life, Buttercup told herself as she rode along. Learn to be satisfied with what you have.

The Princess Bride by William Goldman

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cause deep down that mass murderer still wanted his crush to notice him what a dork

Rewatching the princess bride thinking about when Westley is explaining his own death as the dread pirates roberts, like king just made that up ;-; like “oh yeah he was so cool and so in love with him you wished you had him” bro is hyping HIMSELF up

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the real defense of buttercup is that she was written by a man in 1972 who’d rather chew his own foot off than give her any more depth than he thought was funny

In Defence of Buttercup

Buttercup’s supposed passiveness is the crux of most critiques of The Princess Bride. But I’d argue that Buttercup acts in her own interests throughout the movie, making moves to secure her own future from her position of powerlessness. For the entirety of the movie barring the first and last scenes, Buttercup is a captive. She has to marry Humperdink in accordance with the law- she has no choice. In this moment we see her at her most passive. She’s accepted that he will marry her regardless of her feelings and she seeks her happiness in other places. Then she gets kidnapped. From that moment to the end of the movie Buttercup gets passed back and forth as the trophy everyone fights over. However, she doesn’t sit idly by. She attempts to escape Vizzini by jumping overboard into eel infested waters. That’s a brave move. She doesn’t know who is on the other ship she swims towards. She only hopes they won’t kill her like Vizzini plans to. Her failure doesn’t negate the bravery of her actions. Then she defies Wesley before she knows his identity. She tries to kill him by pushing him down the hill. He turns his back for one second and she makes a move against a man who she thinks will likely kill her. She saves Wesley when they exit the forest. Yes, it backfires, but she doesn’t know that. From that point on, Buttercup makes deals and argues with Humperdink in an attempt to get out of her betrothal. She uses any argument in her arsenal. It doesn’t work because she doesn’t know what he has planned for her.

Do you notice a theme? Because as I wrote this I noticed that Buttercup makes moves without context, which is why her escapes never work. She is a character acting without the information to succeed. That’s not her fault. That’s not passivity. That’s plot. The plot actively works against Buttercup freeing herself. So maybe we cut her some slack.

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Princess Bride comic for class - sorry for reposting, this is the post-crit fixes version

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religious killer: i can hear God speaking to me, to kill the demons that live in this world with my gun of justice

atheist killer: I kill only because of my own moral code. Whether it's for money so I can survive, or self-defense against a threat, I am the one who chooses when I kill.

agnostic killer: nobody really knows why I shoot people

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Kalmyk dancers from the Soviet-era ensemble Tulpan in the city of Elista, Kalmyk Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR

The state folk ensemble Tulpan was formed in 1937 in order to promote traditional Kalmyk music during the Soviet Unions - Korenizatsiia ("Indigenization") policy time period. During this point of Soviet history, the state sought to eliminate Russian political and cultural domination in regions where ethnic Russians were not a majority, in order to promote representation of Indigenous groups, and counter what they deemed as ethnic-Russian chauvinism and counter-revolutionary ("bourgeoise") nationalism among ethnic minorities. This policy was enacted in Ukraine, Central Asia, Moldova, the Baltics, southern Caucasus, and within Russia itself; including Kalmykia.

Korenizatsiia led to the establishment of the Kalmyk Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic within Russia for the Kalmyk people, who are a Mongolic ethnic group from the steppes of European Russia.

During the interwar period, when Stalin was the leader of the USSR, Korenizatsiia was mostly abandoned. When the Nazis invaded Russia, including Kalmykia, around 5000 Kalmyks ended up collaborating with them in the Nazi-affiliated Kalmykian Cavalry Corps. This led to Kalmyks being deemed as enemies of the people, and to their collective deportation to Siberia and abolishment of the Kalmyk ASSR, despite the fact that 23k Kalmyks fought for the Red Army against the Nazis. In the 1950's Kalmyks were allowed to return to Kalmykia and the Kalmyk ASSR was reestablished.

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Mount Kailash, Tibet

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Tibet, 1937. Hugh Edward Richardson (uncertain)

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This feral reaction from Joe Goldberg fan edit pages on Instagram is baffling to me. Their defense of Joe doesn't seem satirical and their hate for most of the female leads makes the social commentary of the show even more important.