Aliki Chapple
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commonmugwort.bsky.social
Aliki Chapple
@commonmugwort.bsky.social
1.3K followers 1.1K following 3.9K posts
Literary translator, actor, early modern drama enthusiast.
Luddite geek. Greek. Truth, justice, and the comics. Mostly in Athens.
(@amaenad from Twitter but more chill)

All photos licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
More on: https://pixelfed.social/CommonMugwort
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commonmugwort.bsky.social
Aliki Chapple @commonmugwort.bsky.social · Nov 15
Hello theatre pals, and everyone. It’s nice to see you here.
I live in Athens now, and I’ve been taking a lot of pictures, relearning my way around the old place.
pixelfed.social/i/web/profil...
An old fashioned metal door with bars and a later metal panel added, with an ancient air con unit or filter in the upper left corner and an even more ancient sheet of corrugated metal, probably once a security measure rolled up above it. The door is set in a stone wall next to a plainer wall, either concrete or plastered. The whole thing is painted exactly the same colour, a sort of pale ochre.
commonmugwort.bsky.social
Like I said before, it’s the thinking that if only you can gather enough honey in one place, it will spontaneously generate bees.
reckless.bsky.social nilay patel @reckless.bsky.social · 6h
I’ve been running around asking tech execs and academics if language was the same as intelligence for over a year now - and, well, it isn’t. @benjaminjriley.bsky.social explains how the bubble is built on ignoring cutting-edge research into the science of thought www.theverge.com/ai-artificia...
November 25, 2025 at 5:05 PM
Reposted by Aliki Chapple
streakofpith.bsky.social
It’s almost December. Some of your relatives will be expecting greetings cards. Why not send them something fun, that shows you care but also acknowledges this season is a bit ridiculous?

I GOT YOU.

hannahberry.bigcartel.com/category/cards
A loving pastiche of Raymond Briggs’ beloved book The Snowman: an illustration of the boy flying next to the kind of crap snowman you actually make as a kid: with shonky face, twig arms and a flowerpot hat The phrase ‘underneath the mistletoe last night’, over a mummy (of the ancient Egyptian variety) kissing Santa Claus surrounded by Xmas lights. Underneath is written ‘seasons greetings’ At first glance a lovely nativity scene, but when you look closely you can see it’s in the manner of AI: everything is wrong. Animals have no heads or two many, the angels are lumpen doughballs, Mary’s face is shouting and Joseph has so many hands. Baby Jesus is a croissant. Overhead is written ‘AWAY IN AI MANGER’
November 25, 2025 at 11:02 AM
Reposted by Aliki Chapple
explaintrade.com
This is so funny.

"I'm afraid the economy now runs primarily on me and my idiot threads throwing more and more money at the Create the Torment Nexus project. We can't afford to go backwards. Blood for the Blood God. Skulls for the Skull Throne."
jakemgrumbach.bsky.social Jake Grumbach @jakemgrumbach.bsky.social · 21h
One explanation for economic populism in the US is the recurring cycle of bubbles and bailouts that happens without any democratic input
November 25, 2025 at 9:21 AM
commonmugwort.bsky.social
Ruins of Athens: Lemon courtyard.
#Athens #UrbanPhotography
Colour photo. Taken through a rusty garden gate that frames the image, a tiny whitewashed courtyard, derelict, with a narrow, simple colonnade, whitewash flaking, above a wooden door painted yellow. There’s a lemon tree in the courtyard, and leaves and two green lemons hang above the door in the picture. Above them, a curlicue in the rusted gate looms large and slightly out of focus.
November 25, 2025 at 6:36 AM
Reposted by Aliki Chapple
keithfitzgerald.bsky.social
www.cnn.com/2025/11/24/a...
She ‘wants to die there.’ The women forced to scam and the families left behind | CNN
Women trafficked to work in Asia’s notorious scam industry describe horrifying conditions inside heavily-guarded compounds, while their families fight for their release.
www.cnn.com
November 25, 2025 at 4:46 AM
Reposted by Aliki Chapple
commonmugwort.bsky.social
Old Athens: School
#Athens #UrbanPhotography
Colour photo: The doorway of a school, shabby looking, but I think still functioning. Close-up. A grid of metalwork painted pale blue, the wires cut or missing to crate a clear rectangle, through which a shadowy hallway leads to a yellow-lit school corridor work a bulletin board and educational posters.
November 24, 2025 at 6:56 AM
Reposted by Aliki Chapple
casmudde.bsky.social
And what does this say about all the social media research based on Twitter/X, which has helped fuel the moral panic about the role of social media in contemporary politics?
viperwave.bsky.social Rocky @viperwave.bsky.social · 1d
The location ID on twitter revealing that 99% of the horrible shit on that website is just posted by people in India honestly soothed me a lot. Its literally all just fake.
November 24, 2025 at 12:50 PM
commonmugwort.bsky.social
I learned, because they are terrorising my cat, resident there until my apartment in Athens is a safe home for him, that there are raccoons on the west coast of Corfu.
Why are there raccoons in Corfu?
a close up of a cat 's face looking at the camera .
Alt: Cat making a frightened wtf face.
media.tenor.com
November 24, 2025 at 8:32 AM
commonmugwort.bsky.social
Old Athens: School
#Athens #UrbanPhotography
Colour photo: The doorway of a school, shabby looking, but I think still functioning. Close-up. A grid of metalwork painted pale blue, the wires cut or missing to crate a clear rectangle, through which a shadowy hallway leads to a yellow-lit school corridor work a bulletin board and educational posters.
November 24, 2025 at 6:56 AM
commonmugwort.bsky.social
Smash the Patriarchy, Charlie Brown: www.nytimes.com/2025/11/19/u...
Orthodox Church Pews Are Overflowing With Converts
www.nytimes.com
November 24, 2025 at 5:37 AM
commonmugwort.bsky.social
I don’t know why my Bluesky web interface eats the last letter before every punctuation mark, but I am very tired of it.
November 23, 2025 at 5:04 PM
Reposted by Aliki Chapple
commonmugwort.bsky.social
Ruins of Athens: Kountouriotika
#Athens #UrbanPhotography
#AbandonedPlaces
Colour photo: framed in the rectangular opening in a security gate, grey-pale blue and dark tarnished metal, the courtyard of a large abandoned institutional building. I think it’s a school. Plain marble steps lead up from the gate to a grassy courtyard backed by a low stone wall. Above the wall, the three-storey building looms on three sides, the ground level sheltered by a porch all around, arched windows on the floor above, a balcony running the perimeter above that, wide rectangular windows and tall narrow doors alternating - classrooms. The building is in pretty good shape, glass in the windows, the pale Athenian ochre colour of the walls largely unblemished. Round the other side, not in frame, there’s scaffolding. Maybe they plan to do something with it. In the foreground on the right, a blue plastic skip with the number 5 on it, a black and white cat, head low, setting off across the courtyard.
November 23, 2025 at 7:15 AM
Reposted by Aliki Chapple
andydiggle.bsky.social
So, to recap, just this week...

-- Trump's negotiators adopt Russia's "peace" (surrender) plan for Ukraine;

-- Farage's Reform UK colleague is sentenced to 10 years in prison for pro-Russia bribery;

-- Musk accidentally outs numerous "MAGA" accounts as Russian troll farms.

#RussiaRussiaRussia
November 23, 2025 at 2:50 PM
Reposted by Aliki Chapple
stephenkb.bsky.social
The fact that in both 2019 and 2024, the winning party did so with a set of manifesto promises that could not be kept and dissolved upon contact with actual office is something that as an industry we should be much more bothered by than we are.
November 23, 2025 at 12:35 PM
Reposted by Aliki Chapple
dieworkwear.bsky.social
Twitter pays people based on engagement (views, retweets, comments, etc). It appears that many MAGA accounts are based abroad and they use AI technology to generate low-effort rage bait.

My guess is that this will get worse as AI tech improves. For instance, fake videos of minorities doing crime.
A Twitter account called Ivanka News tweets an AI image of a young woman wearing Muslim garb. The woman is holding a sign that says "I came here illegally. Should I be deported?" Ivanka News writes: What is your response to this person ?? In the "About this account" tab, it appears the account is based in Nigeria An account called MAGA scope writes: Who, in your view is the great enemy of the United States? Communism, Islam, Democratic Party, or Satan? The account is based in Nigeria. An account called MAGA Nadine writes: You go to work and find this. What would you do? The attached pic is an AI image that shows a microwave. The microwave has a sign that says "For religious reasons, this microwave is now making halal food only." The account is based in Morocco. An account called America First posts an AI image of Tulsi Gabbard. They wrote: How would you rate your trust in Tulsi Gabbard on a scale of 1-10?
November 23, 2025 at 9:23 AM
Reposted by Aliki Chapple
nickharkaway.com
Holy Hecate. That is bad.
rahaeli.bsky.social rahaeli @rahaeli.bsky.social · 2d
Oh, God, this is one of those "where do I even start" things, because Roblox is, like, *fractally* fucked. They are terrible at content moderation. A lot of the games are rated incorrectly, so kids can encounter graphic content (sex or violence) out of nowhere --
November 23, 2025 at 8:46 AM
commonmugwort.bsky.social
Ruins of Athens: Kountouriotika
#Athens #UrbanPhotography
#AbandonedPlaces
Colour photo: framed in the rectangular opening in a security gate, grey-pale blue and dark tarnished metal, the courtyard of a large abandoned institutional building. I think it’s a school. Plain marble steps lead up from the gate to a grassy courtyard backed by a low stone wall. Above the wall, the three-storey building looms on three sides, the ground level sheltered by a porch all around, arched windows on the floor above, a balcony running the perimeter above that, wide rectangular windows and tall narrow doors alternating - classrooms. The building is in pretty good shape, glass in the windows, the pale Athenian ochre colour of the walls largely unblemished. Round the other side, not in frame, there’s scaffolding. Maybe they plan to do something with it. In the foreground on the right, a blue plastic skip with the number 5 on it, a black and white cat, head low, setting off across the courtyard.
November 23, 2025 at 7:15 AM
Reposted by Aliki Chapple
oldenoughtosay.com
We cannot fix the woowoo until we get rid of the assholes.
November 22, 2025 at 7:55 PM
Reposted by Aliki Chapple
commonmugwort.bsky.social
Today, let’s bow before this feline magnificence, enthroned in a work of public art.
#CatsOfAthens #Athens #UrbanPhotography #cats #Caturday
Colour photo. A cat on a folded blanket sitting inside the base of a pillar-like sculpture made of steel beams and stacked sheets of glass. The sculpture is rusty and dusty, the cat black-masked and white- bellied, with a black throat and a small black dot on the nose. The eyes are green and wary.
November 22, 2025 at 6:20 AM
Reposted by Aliki Chapple
dirk2112.bsky.social
Ernst Haas moved to the United States in 1951 and soon after, began experimenting with Kodachrome color film. He went on to become the premier color photographer of the 1950s. In 1953 LIFE magazine published his groundbreaking 24-page color photo essay on New York City.
NYC photographed by Ernst Haas NYC photographed by Ernst Haas NYC photographed by Ernst Haas NYC photographed by Ernst Haas
November 22, 2025 at 5:57 PM
Reposted by Aliki Chapple
gautambhatia88.bsky.social
Finally out into the world, the labour of many months. My long essay in the inaugural edition of the Alter Magazine on the pasts, presents, and futures of Indian science fiction.

“The Secret History of Indian Science Fiction” —

altermag.com/articles/the...
The Secret History of Indian Science Fiction.
Before Asimov, there was Rokeya.
altermag.com
November 22, 2025 at 6:11 AM
commonmugwort.bsky.social
Today, let’s bow before this feline magnificence, enthroned in a work of public art.
#CatsOfAthens #Athens #UrbanPhotography #cats #Caturday
Colour photo. A cat on a folded blanket sitting inside the base of a pillar-like sculpture made of steel beams and stacked sheets of glass. The sculpture is rusty and dusty, the cat black-masked and white- bellied, with a black throat and a small black dot on the nose. The eyes are green and wary.
November 22, 2025 at 6:20 AM
commonmugwort.bsky.social
Or maybe there’s a difference between the magnetic force of narcissism and true charisma.
November 21, 2025 at 10:37 PM
Reposted by Aliki Chapple
gwenynen.bsky.social
Hush! Hush! Whisper who dares,
Aleister Crowley's been kicked down the stairs.

bsky.app/profile/gwen...
karidru.bsky.social Kari Dru @karidru.bsky.social · 4d
It always cheers me up to contemplate the fact that least-worst member of the Golden Dawn, W.B. Yeats, threw Aleister Crowley down the stairs once.

He had it coming.
colindickey.com Colin Dickey @colindickey.com · 4d
Man, everything is so bleak, anyone got a fun fact or little bit of trivia they want to share
November 21, 2025 at 4:41 PM
Reposted by Aliki Chapple
dgatopoulos.bsky.social
Bears in the backyard, wolves at the door: Greek villages have a growing predator problem.
By Costas Kantouris

apnews.com/article/wild...
Rural Greece struggles to cope with predator comeback
Populations of brown bears and wolves are burgeoning in Greece, thanks to conservation efforts. But not everyone is enthusiastic about the comeback.
apnews.com
November 21, 2025 at 1:44 PM