Thomas M. Pflanz

…and that’s problematic as a discourse because it negates any theory of change. If you can’t articulate that things are getting worse, you can’t strategize about how to make them better.

Out of the Loop Day 2 A.L. If time loops were a common shared experience by a large enough fraction of Earth's population, there would probably be more maxims about them. “What happens in the loop stays in the loop,” perhaps. “Every change in the loop happens for a reason: you.” Put that on a plank of wood in a beach house bathroom. “Loop me once, shame on you. Loop me twice ... well, let's hope it doesn't come to that.” Another time loop maxim: “Life after a time loop is like riding a bike.” For Amie, a very mediocre bicyclist, this could be interpreted as "very shaky and potentially dangerous for herself and everyone in her vicinity." But it also meant that twenty-eight years of living a life that chronologists would call "normal" meant that she had deep-rooted instincts that two years in a time loop couldn't wipe out.

Book cover. Light blue background with a darker blue spiral. Red text reads: Out of the Loop. Below that, in white text: A mystery. September 17 calendar pages form a spiral around the title, ending with a September 18 calendar page under a magnifying glass. Black text below that reads: Katie Siegel. White text below that reads: By the author of Charlotte Illes Is Not A Detective. In the top right corner is the image of a red flower with a black stem and leaves. In the bottom left corner is a black shoeprint.  Available for preorder! Out February 10, 2026

irdk if highlighted quote posts work for promoting anything other than romance but!

YouTube video by Kate Alexandra The Endless Reinvention of Greek Mythology

I recently watched everything from Kate Alexandra, and I highly recommend The Endless Reinvention of Greek Mythology; a sort of sequel to The Problem with Greek Myth Retellings that focuses on how Western powers have claimed owner/stewardship of Greek mythology and culture

youtu.be/x_zIRxLp_-4?...

the whole thread, but especially this. especially this.

students need basic religious literacy to make sense of all *this* and how we got here.

Why Religious Studies Is in Trouble As colleges plan to make cuts, departments in this field are finding themselves on the chopping block.

Why are so many university cuts targeting Religious Studies…? New article in CHE quoting @vox-magica.bsky.social & others = www.chronicle.com/article/why-...

i love science fiction for two reasons: its exploration of the unknown, and its exploration of the known

If I have to explain to you why it's a bad idea to use a machine that makes shit up 15-80% of the time AND destroys the environment AND contributes to rising fascism and genocide AND puts brilliant skillful creatives out of work by stealing their work, then we're already speaking different languages

You cannot address the starvation in Gaza without addressing the fact that Israel also destroyed all agriculture and fishing as part of this engineered famine. It's not just cutting off food aid, it is destroying all internal capability to feed people.

the majority of the references to "embracing" and "kissing" in the akkadian language canon (edēru and našāqu) are either
- between sexual partners
- between family members (eg, a man and his wife, or his son)

and between gilgameš and enkidu

also the only attestation the Chicago Assyrian Dictionary gives for the Gt stem reciprocal meaning "they kissed each other" is from the gilgameš epic, which is interesting. i have trouble believing that's the only time it was ever used in the entire corpus, but the CAD doesn't provide any others

Again, for my colleagues in the heritage sector (including archaeology and museums) - we are not disconnected from the genocide, we are integral to it.

If you’re not speaking out, you’re complicit in the further weaponisation of our areas of expertise to exterminate an entire people.

A selfie of a person wearing a grey cap, glasses, and a black KF94 respirator, posing in front of a case of Egyptian funerary masks. They are pointing at a statuette of a ba-bird in the foreground of the case.

A person with a beard, wearing a light blue shirt, a grey cap, and glasses, in front of a small waterfall coming down a mossy roccky surface. They are looking just off camera and up to the sky.

A bald person with a beard, wearing sunglasses and a blue short-sleeved button up with a banana design on it posing with a brown glass bottle with a yellow, orange, pink and purple label that reads "Paulaner Spezi." Behind them is a view of a German town. The most promonent building is a white rectangular tower with a brown, pointed roof, and a colorful clock built into one face of the tower.

A bald person with a beard, wearing glasses, a red graphic t-shirt, and a light blue short sleeve button up shirt with yellow ducks on it. They are standing up with their arms in a jogging motion, behind a Dungeon Master's screen with a large red dragon on it. There is a Dungeons and Dragons battlemap in front of the screen. Behind them is a Christmas tree with the lights on.

Well hi, Bluesky!

I'm an Egyptology student studying non-elite, queer, and disabled populations in ancient Egypt, both how these populations were considered in elite sources and how these populations recieved those sources.

I'm also an avid TTRPG player, theater artist, and baker!

I have so many people to thank, from my utterly supportive family, to my friends who listened to me ramble, and especially the incredible faculty and staff at MAPH, MES, and ISAC who were amazing to work with and incredibly generous with their time and energy.

Big News - after two years of intense study at the University of Chicago, in the Master of Arts Program in the Humanities with my focus in Egyptology and subaltern histories, I have my MA! I am so deeply excited for what my future as an Egyptologist holds!

Alt text for this poster can be found here: https://tag2025.hosted.york.ac.uk/en/call-for-papers/. Scroll down to the section of the webpage tited 25 Years of 'Queer Archaeologies' - Where do we need to go?

I am thrilled to say that me and Thomas Dowson will be hosting a session at TAG 2025 titled '25 Years of 'Queer Archaeologies' - Where do we need to go?'.

We seek submissions that engage with queer archaeology in its broadest sense.

More details here: tag2025.hosted.york.ac.uk/en/call-for-...

Always remember folks, the call to "ban pronouns" is just the world's thinest veiled dog whistle for banning trans people. It's not about speech or anything like that, it's about eradicating trans people.

Intifada Incantation: Poem #8 for b.b.L. I SAID I LOVED YOU AND I WANTED GENOCIDE TO STOP I SAID I LOVED YOU AND I WANTED AFFIRMATIVE ACTION AND REACTION I SAID I LOVED YOU AND I WANTED MUSIC OUT THE WINDOWS I SAID I LOVED YOU AND I WANTED NOBODY THIRST AND NOBODY NOBODY COLD I SAID I LOVED YOU AND I WANTED I WANTED JUSTICE UNDER MY NOSE

I SAID I LOVED YOU AND I WANTED BOUNDARIES TO DISAPPEAR I WANTED NOBODY ROLL BACK THE TREES! I WANTED NOBODY TAKE AWAY DAYBREAK! I WANTED NOBODY FREEZE ALL THE PEOPLE ON THEIR KNEES! I WANTED YOU I WANTED YOUR KISS ON THE SKIN OF MY SOUL AND NOW YOU SAY YOU LOVE ME AND I STAND DESPITE THE TRILLION TREACHERIES OF SAND YOU SAY YOU LOVE ME AND I HOLD THE LONGING OF THE WINTER IN MY HAND YOU SAY YOU LOVE ME AND I COMMIT TO FRICTION AND THE UNDERTAKING OF THE PEARL YOU SAY YOU LOVE ME YOU SAY YOU LOVE ME AND I HAVE BEGUN I BEGIN TO BELIEVE MAYBE MAYBE YOU DO I AM TASTING MYSELF IN THE MOUTH OF THE SUN

I SAID I LOVED YOU AND I WANTED
GENOCIDE TO STOP

It is always a good morning for June Jordan.

Newspapers, pundits and politicians are all doing U turns in how they talk about Israel's genocide. I don't buy any of it for a second. Anyone with a single brain cell in autumn 2023 knew what was going to happen. The footage has been available to anyone with a phone the entire time.

Every Harry Potter book or shirt you buy directly funds the persecution of trans people.

There's absolutely no excuse to support anything Harry Potter anymore unless you hate trans people.

🧵 Things have been so busy that I missed out on the amazing new data that in February 2025

▪️9.3% of ppl identify as LGBTQ.

It is inevitable that that figure will rise, given that the numbers have risen even as anti-LGBTQ sentiment has risen dramatically. [1]

Send this to your friends and enemies that use generative AI.

Ursula K. Le Guin writing about speculative fiction in The Left Hand of Darkness.

The Study of Disability in Ancient Egypt and Beyond - The Ancient Near East Today Disability has always been a part of human history, including in ancient Egypt. However, until recently the subject has rarely been studied in Egyptology or in a broader ancient world studies context.

In today's Ancient Near East Today, Alexandra Morris discusses the little-mentioned topic of people with disabilities in ancient Egypt, and explores disability as a complex lived experience: anetoday.org/disability-a...
📸 Picture by Fixi, via Wikimedia Commons. CC By-SA 3.0.

Woman holding a smoothie and giving a contended smile. Text: Girl who is playing D&D today. (“Playing D&D today” has been clearly added to the image, which previously read “Girl who is going to be okay”)

linguists: