#bc i have NOT started this essay so i have to write all 2000 words of it tomorrow <3

[studywurfavwasian]

My professor is unintentionally hilarious so I started keeping a list of things he’s said.

My entire department at my school is just filled with hilarious and genuinely kind professors. I am so lucky to have them teaching me a subject that I thoroughly love and enjoy so deeply, as they are so passionate and so dedicated to encouraging academic and personal growth. Not to mention they love a good rant. My friend and I literally plan our schedules around which prof is teaching the course bc we just love some of them so much. 

(This is how we ended up both enrolling for a course about Greek & Roman science & technology, where we may have to write a 2000 word essay about olives. But yk, the olive was so important to Ancient Greek society, and I love olives, so it’s fine.)

But there is this one professor who stands out from the others. For some background information, this professor was one of my first professors at my university. In my first year, he taught me three courses (Latin & Classical Mythology), and I did a Latin reading group session with him, and I had my Greek Literature course with him (so I’ve spent a lot of time studying with him). Studying Latin can be so intimidating (for good reason, the case system is absolutely overwhelming when you first start learning it), but he created such a positive environment that I ended up being able to fall in love with Latin.

This professor is not always the most...organised (he left answers in our online tests by accident at least twice), and just goes on various tangents that take up most of our lecture time. (Although, I think this trait is common in the humanities. Literally look at what I’m doing right now). He likes to go on and on about literature and Hebrew and his years in grad school where he spent hours pouring over translating Plato or Aristotle or Gorgias. I personally find this entertaining and love learning from his little tangents. Plus sometimes he says some pretty funny things. Which I will now share a selection of with you.

**For Legal Reasons (ha), take the quotation marks with a grain of salt.**

“Conserve me sounds like you’re an autumn peach waiting to be put in a jar!”

(Context: we were translating the sentence: ‘Conservate me!’ which does directly translate to ‘conserve me!’ but ‘protect me!’ is just sooooo much better.)

“I suck.” *ends the Bongo meeting*

“Did I do something stupid? I do that a lot.”

*someone asks a question* “Oh, I don’t know.”

“Sometimes I get worried that nobody can hear me, so I have to ask.” *Five minutes after nobody could hear him and he didn’t ask*

“I was driving yesterday and I saw a vanity plate, in Latin! Latin is everywhere!”

“It was all leading up to this very high point of learning Latin!”

“Is anyone listening?” *No response* “Okay.”

“This is my cat Mango” (during online classes)

*Late for a lecture and Mango jumps up on his desk* …. “oh, mango!” *exasperation*

“Does everyone get that?” *No response* “Okay.”

“I get tired of hearing myself talk.”

“There’s a problem with calling it Archaic poetry. But, I’ve called it Archaic poetry.”

“How can class be over just when we’re going to talk about Socratic Irony?” *ducks head in sadness* “I’m just going to go outside and lie down” (it was raining) “…. okay class is over. Mark this as the most pathetic class you’ve taken at [redacted].”

(Context: he showed up ten minutes late and the lecture was very disorganised (I think he did a good job!))

*Begins gesturing to the blank title slide of his powerpoint* “Notice the nice ancient map I have with ocean all the way around, and then all the continents with a nice short kind of Africa, and everything kind of roundish, smushed together, with the Mediterranean (Old world) oversized, Black Sea oversized, and everything stylized once you get out to the East.”

“Some colonial asshole probably, who lived a really dull life and wanted to oppress people.

(I can’t even remember what lecture this was from. I’m thinking it’s our geographical literature lecture. And he’s right lol.)

“Don’t tell the bartender that you’re there for the Inklings, he won’t care. It’s not like I did that or anything.” (Talking about the Eagle and Child pub)

“Scholars are fairly certain there was no access to google at this time.” (Talking about the year 280 AD)

*Everyone in the class agreed that we hate Plato.* Someone says: “I have beef with Plato!” He laughs and just dejectedly says, “aw. I love Plato.”

“A hoplite was kind of like the middle class who could afford heavy armo-- actually, you know what, we don’t need to talk about that.” *moves on and doesn’t finish his sentence*

Some other things he has done that I think are wonderful:

When we were studying Herodotus’ Histories he told us about how when he was in grad school, he used to read Herodotus to his daughter as a bed time story. It got to the point where she would ask for a Herodotus story.

Came into class, took out his laptop, wrote a website URL on the chalkboard, turned around, told us we had to go to that link and fill out a survey and then walked out of the room with all his stuff and didn’t come back for fifteen minutes.

Always had at least one typo in all his pop quizzes. On our quiz for Poetics he wrote ‘Aristotle’ as ‘ARistotle’ and my friend and I looked at each other and made pirate hooks with our fingers.

Hosted a Latin reading group in the summer and gave the people who had been studying latin for less than a year the Vulgate and Ovid’s Metamorphoses. (I gave up so quickly). But went on a ten minute ramble about the word ‘fiat’ and the subjunctive mood (which helped me a lot in second year).

While studying the Vulgate he went on a mini rant about St. Jerome and talked about his authorship when it came to his Latin translation, which spiralled into a 10 minute discussion about Hebrew and his frustrations with it.

Our pop quizzes were 5 multiple choice questions and we finished them before he finished handing them out, only for him to be shocked each time.

Agreed that the Greek Gods act like a squabbling family in the Iliad.

Laughed at my friend’s theory that between the Iliad and the Argonautica it was like they had grown up, and agreed.

Pronounces ‘circe’ like ‘sirsaayyyy’ (very long ‘ay’ sound at the end)

Whenever he writes words on the chalkboard he accidentally writes them in Greek (ancient Greek isn’t a pre-req for this class), and then has to take a minute to figure out how to write it in English.

Said: “Why does everybody read the bloody Republic? Read Symposium” only to realise like 5 minutes later THAT HE SCHEDULED US TO READ THE REPUBLIC. 

TLDR - He’s a very funny man. And he’s a very good professor. He did create what is probably one of the MOST CONFUSING ESSAY QUESTION I’ve ever had the displeasure of creating a thesis for, but that’s beyond the point. I would go on forever, but this is already long. 

#classics #classics major #studyblr #classics student #my department is *mwah* i love them #this is why i study what i study #even tho he's funny he teaches so much in his little rants #mango the cat #i'm sad i don't have any courses with him in the fall #watch me try and cheat my way into first year latin so i can have him again #unfortunately i have to translate CICERO #i hate cicero #academicsunite

[silverislander]

i honestly would drop this fucking writing course if i still could i'm so goddamn frustrated with it, and yall KNOW how bad i wanted this/how much i love to write so that means smth. it's like it was set up to torment me specifically. "oh here's everything you want to learn but it's actively adhd/autism/nd-hostile"

no schedule, prof is LITERALLY making it up in class in front of us from week to week and frequently forgets/gets confused in making them herself

no grading guidelines- i had to ask for a rough idea of how we're getting graded and even then, she didn't give a very informative answer

only received my first grade after doing four assignments already, which isn't exactly fucking helping me improve, esp since our grades are based on continuous improvement

prof doesn't appreciate fantasy or horror... this is a comparatively v small complaint bc she still allows us to submit whatever we want to write but like. man. even the horror i would sort of get, everyone has limits and it can be a tough read, but all of her prompts are really only applicable to modern-day realism bc you have to base them on smth you experienced and "make us question the line between fiction and reality" so.

the amt of work varies WILDLY due to the schedule issues- this week (beginning of midterms!) i have a 2000 word story and at least 10 250 word reviews due by tomorrow, which i've only had a week to complete... during fucking midterm study. IT'S A CREATIVE WRITING COURSE. i get more notice for 2 page essays in any other course jesus fucking christ

has moved physical rooms bc. she didn't like the first one, so now i'm confused half the time and don't remember where to go. she also doesn't have a key to the new room, so we have to call a security guard to unlock it and it frequently makes us late to start and subsequently late getting out, which is Upsetting for me, why can we not stay on schedule i am on campus for 9+hrs

did i mention this class is 7pm-9:30pm. with one less than 10min break.

prof fucking REFUSES to answer emails despite making email the one way to contact her... i emailed her once on a thursday afternoon and didn't get a response until tuesday afternoon, which was one day before the deadline and too fucking late to change shit if i had been wrong

no clear guidelines as to where/how to submit work, which is a weekly struggle

prof is literally making up terms i am NOT KIDDING. she's speaking in fucking riddles my god. nothing she's requested us to write has been a real term, and i've googled them to check

also writes her assignment guidelines in her creative writing style instead of just giving us the basic info, i.e. one page rambling abt the topic, one paragraph of actual vague guidelines

0 forgiveness for missing dates/being unable to make class/etc. one girl said on the first day that she couldn't make next week's deadlines bc she has a full time job and a family and the prof's response was "well, i guess you're going to have to drop this course". and she DID

if you email her a question she Will make it obvious in front of the class who asked

all i wanted was to enjoy meeting other writers and to try to improve my own work but i'm stressed out of my fucking mind bc she can't be assed to actually do her job. i've had genuine actual stress dreams about this fucking class (among others but besides the point). the total lack of consistency is killing me

and i didn't get that one singular grade until after the 75% drop date, which means if i drop it now i at BEST get 25% of my money back, and it's way too late to try to pick up another class as a replacement. this is all bullshit i fucking hate this

#i like to think i enjoy change but fucking. MAN. i cant cope w this #this is all on top of her having a massive visible superiority complex #i dont even like her writing style thats another can of worms #this isnt even a course built for neurotypicals its a course built for her specifically #levi.txt #vent tw #i get it shes a published author and thats awesome she does 10000% know more than us abt that and i want to learn from her #but like. instead of being so up your own ass abt how smart you are you could bend to the proles and teach us idk. it Is your job. #its just fucking bizarre the whole experience is like she found out she would be teaching a day before the semester started #0 prep 0 explanation just vibes and heaping work onto us #i have a full fucking courseload i dont have TIME to write 10 discussion posts i have a psych midterm TOMORROW #if she were on ratemyprof i would be giving her like a solid 2. she only doesnt get a 1 bc shes not actively bullying her students (DR G)

[mountain-man-cumeth]

Vesuvia: A Tired Discourse

I wasn't initially going to write this long essay but it seems like the fandom is oversaturated by strictly modern western perception of history and I would like to offer my two (thousand) cents about fantasy.

Since the game itself hasn't done alot of worldbuilding I will have to infer certain things strictly from the aesthetics that were used on the visuals. And I will only talk about the stories presented in the game. Nothing more, nothing less. No dev tweets or headcanons.

1. Indigenous men of Arcana

2000 BC some people in today's China set on a journey towards west. Calling them nomads today means very little, since permanent settlement was not a common concept for most societies. The civilization as we know of today is thought to emerge in Mesopotamian region(all the way back 10k BC), we are still uncovering pieces of that history so I won't get into that. For now just read this without thinking of words such as "civilization" "settlement" etc. in today's context.

Fast forward to 1500 BC, in Anatolia a state, Hittite, among many other small states, triumphs. We do not know from where exactly they originated from, but the remnant of their culture can be found in modern-day Ukraine. We can, however, say that they've been in Anatolia for at least a couple hundreds of years by the time their name started to appear in historical records. They expanded by conquest. And as they expanded, they adopted several deities and traditions from the lands they occupied. At one point it is thought that they had hundreds of gods in their pantheon.

There was another big name player in the game at their eastern border, an empire called Mittani, it's not known where exactly they came to be. Records show that they were worshipping indo-aryan deities but have likely adopted the local language.

The third competitor is probably the most well-known today, Assyria. Now this kingdom had a more strict caste system than the rest, as far as we are aware. They seem to have had rather harsher rules regarding liberties of slaves. Though, much like in Hittites, it was -on paper- possible to climb the ranks and upgrade your caste.

These civilizations generally had two types of slaves, what we would consider proletariat today and captured foreigners. From the records we have today, race doesn't seem to be a concept that played a part in deciding someone's caste.

Now we have here three sizable Empires, all grappling for power, all who'd left a huge mark in world history and we are not entirely sure where any of these people originated from. We know there were already established inhabitants in the lands they occupied (Hassunas, Hurrians etc.) and we know Hittites didn't conquer their way from Eastern Europe. They may have unified the tribes/clans in the area, they may have just settled on an empty land and kept expanding. Certain things were documented, other details, were not.

Mittia falls and the other two grapple for power. It becomes a vassal for Hittites and Assyria annexes a great majority of it. Now these supposed Aryans are spread between two kingdoms.

1200 BC and Hittites collapse. Assyria swoops in and claims its remains.

Assyria cannot be stopped, it absorbs the entire asia minor, until 600 BC, when Babylonia overpowers it. Now this Babylonia, it had appeared on a land that used to be Sumer and gradually their cultures and languages had meshed together. It was already bi-cultural by the time it absorbed Assyria, who had already absorbed Hittites, who've also absorbed Mittians.

Upon their demise another kingdom goes to town on Anatolia until Greeks make themselves at home and start naming everything Greek and start speaking Greek and worship Greek gods.

At this point we start seeing a form of discrimination that is closer to modern-day racism with how people are documented, and its only 300 BC. Up until this point, no one seems to be big on assimilation. As the conquerors didn't seem to much care about the native customs. BUT much had gone undocumented so nothing's for sure.

Greeks/Macedonians rebrand their empire to Roman Republic and slowly chomp down on other Hellenistic states. Okay, so we add Armenians, Greeks and Slavs to the pile.

Let's circle back to those bunch of people from China, over the span of 3000 years they slowly made their way to Mesopotamia, establishing numerous states on the way, splitting, regrouping, intermingling with the natives, getting hairier...

Over time their population spreads to Asia Minor completely, establishing smaller feudalities which eventually merge to Ottoman Empire. They call themselves Turks, apparently. To the pile they go.

Now I'll tell you what you call all these people today, and I don't mean what you'd call them after running some DNA tests and measuring their skulls or such, what you'd call them off the top of your head. You don't call them Aryan or Slav or Yamyana. They're Persian. We call them Persian.

So there are these native Persians, living in Iran, an established country today, where they are native to. And there is this big pile of other ethnicities we collected. Whom have also meshed with Persians over the span of thousands of years. The Persians of today are not the Persians of Assyrian Empire. Cultures grow and change as they interact with each other whether through war or trade.

Why the long history lesson? Because I would like people to know what it sounds like when they write "But Muriel, a native--"

Native doesn't mean what you think it means. Indigenous or native-coding is A Thing. And I understand what people mean when they say that, because they're referring to modern western history. However, it is not the only history. Cultural genocide had been done by many people of various ethnicities to other people of varying ethnicities throughout the history. Chinese are native to China, Slavs are native to Balkans, Celts are native to Britannia. You can't just say "he's native therefore--" and expect to offload the entire history of western expansion when by the time some of these cultures were establishing trade routes west didn't even have wheels.

Muriel is native to South, in Arcana. So is Lucio. Yes, Morga's people are native to the land that they occupied. They are described as warring tribes, so I can assume that they weren't expanding, but ransacking. Which means they didn't conquer or colonize. This conflict between two tribes resulted eventually in both their destruction and both tribes only have two survivors left that we know of.

This is the history we are given. As you can see this is missing few thousand years worth of steps that I outlined -in detail- above, that results in a dominant ethnicity in a given region.

Two native tribes warring for resources is not a colonization effort. As the history shows, some civilizations we call indigenous today are alive not because they survived peacefully of the land but because they prevailed through bloodshed.

I am not telling this to advocate for one side of the other, I'm only saying that you shouldn't read these through a modern lens and instead put it in the historical context it was inspired from.

2. A brown person with a white oppressor

So we continue this history lesson from the Archaemenid (Persian) Empire which overthrew Assyrians.

I think we can safely say that all these people I talked about are a little brown. I don't think you'd call any of them white, anyhow. So these brown people were colonizing Greeks, and when Greeks rebelled, they'd be sold to slavery. (circa 500 BC)

100 CE Slave trade played such a big role in Roman Empire that there were wars named after them. Well but, who were these slaves?

Barbarians.

The word barbaroi means something like "non-greek". But if you're thinking of a hunky seasoned dark man in leathers you'll be sorely disappointed. At its inception it was used for Northerners such as Germanics or Celts. They were a quite bit paler than your average greek. (There were black slaves, mostly bought from Egypt, whom had been colonizing the norther Africa)

Somewhere around 1400 CE this Ottoman Empire stars stealing the boys of Europeans they conquered to indoctrinate them into the army, and distributes their white, pale, blue eyed blond women to noble houses. If you know about orientalism movement you know the horror stories that were told and later used as propaganda. Propaganda can have a basis in reality. They enacted raids on Scandinavian region, which I have to assume have paler people than Turks, and sell them to slavery. At some point the death rate of scandinavian slaves gets so bad that the vezir has to tell people to "protect the slaves" because even with what a native considers normal accommodations, they all die to heatstroke.

Christianity was heavily shunned by the Ottoman Empire, and the worshippers could never become a full citizen. With the genocide committed by the turkish republic later and the discrimination of armenians and rums(greeks) that are still prevalent today, its quite clear that the effects of Ottoman's islamic hegemony outlived the Empire itself.

The slavery we do all of these modern media comparisons with today begins at around late 1800s with western powers colonizing the continent of Africa. A continent which had been colonized before by brown people. I have given you a 4000 year history of slavery with every possible skin colour combination. I can personally confirm that the wounds of at least one of them are still healing. So it's not ancient history.

When everything is perceived from an American lens it erases often gruesome but nonetheless rich histories of POC. Native POC, who rose armies, built Empires, sacked and razed cities... It used to be Huns, now it's Western powers, the history of greed doesn't have a skin colour.

3. Devs are American, though

But Vesuvia isn't. It's clearly not inspired by US. Every character and action can be assessed in that context. I cannot say what the devs were thinking. But I can tell you how I read it. Vesuvia is a very Mediterranean inspired city, seems to be a cultural hub of sorts. Lucio was an outsider when he took the throne, he didn't march his mercenary armies, he instead learned the customs of Vesuvia and made his move within the political playfield.

Nothing about his story tells me he had a specific cultural background that allowed him a privilege due to his ethnicity. Nothing shows me a system that catered towards favouring him. In the boundaries of the games lore, that is.

The reason I feel the need to write this is because I believe what Lucio did to Asra's family or Muriel was wrong on a moral level, but not wrong because he was white and they were brown. When we observe the oppression of minorities irl, there's a history there. It's not about one racist man underpaying a certain ethnic minority. It's about a system that allows that, a system which is deliberately crafted to exploit people. Generations of monarchy turning into autocracy that systematically breeds nobility.

No, they haven't done that work in Arcana. Instead in the confines of the world given we have a story of this norse barbarian "civilizing" himself to charm his way onto a Macedonian throne. It could've been a triumphant tale for minorities at that time.

That's where the worldbuilding clashes with modern understanding of race politics. Because the Dev's are American. And Vesuvia was written as a modern Utopia. Call it a shortcoming on the story's part or lazy writing if you want. But you can't call it one-to-one retelling of western conquest. That is an extremely superficial and uneducated interpretation.

Advocating against oppression only means white vs. poc in todays western society. In the imaginary time period Arcana tries to emulate, it could mean advocating for scandinavians against arabs. Or advocating for arabs against indo-aryans. Context matters.

4. Religion

This one I'm not gonna go into too much detail. Everyone's beliefs differ but I would like to briefly touch on Asra's family and Devoraks.

This is a world with supernatural and pre-established gods (or god-like figures). It has a pantheon. I am not %100 certain about Judaism but I believe in both religions, witchcraft is a big no-no. In islam fortune telling is haram too. Even so I know many muslims that get their coffee fortune read or hang up the evil eye to ward of bad omens. And some of them call it the worship of false idols and shun them. So that is not to say these beliefs can't co-exist, but they wouldn't be the religions as we have them today, in the real world. If there was a fox headed man walking around that could give you tips on creating water, I am sure the holy books would have some adjustments to make.

Fandom in general agrees that Aisha is muslim-coded because of her hijab. Hijab is a form of headwear that wraps around your scalp, and it predates islam, because it's the best way to protect your head from scorching sun and your hair from lice. The clothing of natives of the peninsula getting adopted by the dominant religion isn't exactly specific to islam. Traditional balkan to armenian and georgian clothing have similar wraps. So another possible interpretation is that she's just from a hot climate.

It's not erasure to miss the coding. In a global sense, muslims are not a minority everywhere. Islam is not a dying, banned religion everywhere. I understand that it's not represented well in western media and nothing is wrong with reading the characters that way but if for whatever reason someone doesn't, it's not right to scrutinize them for it.

I know people who find it insulting to mystify their religion in a fantasy and I know people who are overjoyed by it. A religion(and its culture) is not a monolith with millions of people having the exact same consensus all the time. And you don't have to have an opinion on it. You don't have to pick a side.

What I think went wrong there was that by removing her hijab, the devs showed their lack of knowledge on the matter. There are dozens of different islamic headwraps, and various levels of modesty allowed. With differing pagan traditions in said cultures that prevail to this day. The islamic society, much like christian society, has a a culture beyond the religious beliefs itself.

Closing thoughts

I repeat, I know what people mean when they make posts about problematic aspects of the story and its interpretation of the characters. I know the devs may not have been coming from an informed mind state when they borrowed aspects of various cultures. But the fans are from all around the world, and their experiences and interpretations doesn't have to adhere to US-centric social-justice movement.

If you read this and your take away is "brown people also doing bad stuff doesn't make white people doing it right", youve missed the point.

If you thought this was written as a defense of actions of certain characters, you've also missed the point.

I wrote this because to think critically of the media we are consuming, it helps to know of the historical context of its inspirations. Theres nothing wrong with peeking inside the gate you're keeping.

I may have misused some terms, english isnt my native language and I am very bad with dates.

#long post #rant #personal #thearcana #the arcana #the arcana game #count lucio #asra alnazar #muriel #live and let live

[smol-lydia]

Subculture Appropriation: A conversation with my therapist fiancee about the Beetlejuice musical

Okay so, some context before go into this. I don’t normally like going into identity stuff but antis will come for you if you don’t so here we go:

My fiancee is a trans clinical psychologist, likely neurodivergent. However before going into clinical, they got their undergrad in social psychology and because I was a historian before I became too ill to work, I love to talk to them about culture, society, social movements, etc (my brand of historian was a sub-type called social historian, ie I studied the societies, and social movements and every day lives of ordinary people in the past rather than say, military bullshit. I fucking hate military history lol). As additional context for what I am about to talk about here, I was raised by two gay dads, one of whom was an OG 80s punk who lived in Philadelphia during the AIDS crisis. 

Also, full disclosure: I love the Beetlejuice musical. I don’t love what it’s done to the fandom but I love the musical; not all Beetlebabes hate the musical. 

Okay so:

The thing that gets my goat about the shitty hot takes a lot of gen z has around Beetlejuice comes from what my partner has termed “subculture appropriation.” Let me explain. 

Goth and punk are subcultures. They were, in the 80s, revolutionary. They were radical, and they were not accepted in the mainstream. My dad, with his mohawk and tattoos designed himself (he was a horror comic artist) and multiple hand pierced ears and chains around his neck, was not well received in my small town in NJ. When we lived there, in the early 2000s, we were the only gay family in the neighborhood. Gay marriage wasn’t legal, and I was shunned in school for being the girl with two dads. Gay rep in media was pretty much limited to Queer Eye and the L Word. It was a different time. 

Gothic subculture, even in the early 2000s, was not mainstream. My small group of friends in high school (we were all goth and emo) were shunned. A lot of us were some flavor of queer. Some of us were POC. Some, like me, autistic. A lot of us had eating disorders. We were bullied incessently, to a point where many of us had severe mental health problems and had spent time in and out of psych wards. This was also not seen as mainstream and labeled us even more as “freaks.”

Beetlejuice was the movie and cartoon for us, by us. It was a cult classic. It was not something most kids were watching, but I grew up strange and unusual. Beetlejuice spoke to an entire generartion of goth subculture. 

Nowadays, things are different. Hot Topic doesn’t play Pierce the Veil at ear numbing volumes when you go into the store. You’re likely not gonna find those hideous punk pants we were all enamored of back in the day. Instead, you’ll find Disney. Fandom. Anime. Bob’s Burgers. In the last decade, goth has been watered down to appeal to the masses (much like other nerdy subcultures) because capitialism ruins everything. So, enter the Beetlejuice musical. 

I love the musical because it spoke to me, the little girl I once was, who watched the cartoon with my dad on CN. But I noticed, once the show blew up on Tiktok, things changed. And the reason was a mainstream teen audience picked up on something very specific to a subculture. And then they made it there’s-- hence the term subculture appropriation. 

Beetlejuice has its roots in gothic literature, dating back to the 19th century (my friend magicalmolly on tiktok has an excellent “understanding gothic literature” series that covers this). One of the main tropes of gothic lit is Death and the Maiden-- aka Beej and Lyds. It is not a mainstream romance, and it’s not supposed to be. If supernatural romance makes you uncomfy, then maybe this genre isn’t for you. 

The problem is when something with tropes specific to a subculture enter the mainstream, they are going to be villainzed and misinterpreted because mainstream Beckys who think they’re goth because they paint their nails black have absolutely no sense of history, context, and nuance that the themes of the show give. As a result, suddenly the shitty hot takes pop up. And yes, age gaps are icky irl. But in this genre, they are bread and butter (Lindsay Ellis has a good video on this called My Monster Boyfriend). As a result, suddenly a bunch of kids come into a niche that isn’t theirs, demand we re-arrange the furniture for their comfort, and in general start trying to push the subculture out of its own space. 

This isn’t, by the way, gatekeeping. This is appropriation. When you go into a niche subculture created by the marginalized and try to make it your apple pie bullshit, you are appropriating a space that doesn’t belong to you. As a result, you have two choices: you can either educated yourself on the culture, its history, context, nuance, and decide its for you and dive in. Or you can leave. But it’s frankly gross af for you to barge in, try to rewrite history that in the case of the subculture, goes back decades, and in the case of gothic literature, centuries. That is the playbook of colonization (and I know you little fake woke shits are gonna derail the entire argument because of this but I haven’t seen any of y’all write a fucking 60 page thesis on nationalism, colonialism and antisemitism in France so get fucked). 

I’m bad at conclusions so if you made it this far, any OG babes feel free to add on with your thoughts bc we old ass goths gotta stick together. Thanks for coming to my historical context essay. 

#Beetlejuice #beetlejuice musical #Beetlejuice and Lydia #BeetleBabes #beetlejuice bway #anti culture #anti beetlebabes

[childofhelios]

NCT AS DIMENSION 20

okay so firstly, this is very niche but its been on my mind for literally ages now. im mostly gonna be focusing on fantasy high characters because that’s the one im most familiar with(d20 release free episodes of crown of candy already ;-; ya girl is suffering) i think i might write a fic or a couple more posts based off this concept but im not sure yet lvfksdvsk let’s get startedddddddd:

so i believe that 2000 line would be the most accurate for fantasy high main characters. i WAS gonna have dream at first but there are 7 members and there are only 6 mcs. so 2000 liners are pretty much perfect for this.  

okay idk if it’s me or renjun gives off the extremely polite vibes at first? like thinking of early dream era where he seemed really quiet and chill. buuuuut then i also flashback to him putting chenle in a chokehold in like mfal era which makes me think of the cafeteria scene. i dont think renjun is as anxious as adaine. hes def more confident and more forceful but i think he has that ethereal factor adaine has. renjun would absolutely be a high elf because he would be NOTHING less and he deserves it. i think wizard class fits him really well! also his tiny little elf ear may have convinced me to make him adaine....

so jeno is literally the most like gorgug and it makes me wanna cry kjfnvlsdkl they’re both such loveable sweethearts that are too good for this world but then sometimes???? they just get super intense and fucking insane and it scares me sometimes holy shit. gorgug deals massive damage in battle and can fucking wreck people and jeno,,,,,,lets not talk about it. ALSO i do think jeno would absolutely act like gorgug does with zelda(probably more likely when he was gorgug’s age but oh well) gorgug can be very ditzy(himboish if that’s a better word) but he gives really good advice.and i feel like even though jeno is so foolish, he is supportive and is a wonderful friend. i just fucking love them so much

HAECAHN IS LITERALLY FIG I FUCKING SHIT YOU NOT: in this essay i will explain why lee haechan is actually fig in disguise. not ONLY does he give a lot of affection/flirt with basically everyone, he’s literally the perfect definition o f bard. like come onnnnnnn. also he’s VERY mischievous and gets the gang into 90% of the trouble and somehow gets them out of it. the “makes problems on purpose but solves them by accident” type. it’s not just because i wanna see him play a bass and jeno on drums bc that would be sexy of them noooooo absolutely not. if you ever see haechan in an outfit similar to fig’s, just know i’ll be literally laying in a grave just know this. STYLISTS PUT THIS MAN IN FISHNETS IMMEDIATELY FOR SCIENCE PURPOSES. bitches be emotional and then say theyre closed off,,,,, literally haechan at both the last dream show with mark and the dream show before they would have graduated

HES A JOCK DWEEB DO I NEED TO GO FURTHER?? okay so i know that jaemin is pretty introverted and quiet at times bc he likes to chill and im the same way, but when he’s out of his shell or with people who share his energy HES LEGIT LIKE FABIAN. my man’s was a SPEED SKATER, which is so fucking surprising but not the point. im saying that he’s also pretty lean and quick when he wants to be and that makes him good for the type of fighter fabian is. not to mention the weird relationship both fabian and gorgug have and also jaemin and jeno’s relationship. a l s o fabian straight up punched gorgug and then started becoming his friend after being spending time in detention and stuff. jeno and jaemin legit joined at the same time and were seatmates in school and stuff like that.... but this aint about those two. also jaemin’s intonation is fucking funny sometimes but other times i AM willing to fight him bc he wont talk normally (this is a joke vksjdkjs) but the same goes for fabian. the confidence they both have is literally unmatched, its actually kinda scary

first of all look at how spiffy they look, its actually adorable. second, look at my gremlin childrennnnnnnn i love themmmm(yes i know riz is a goblin no i dont care) okay shotaro is literally a child and he’s kinda still new so he’s a bit shy. but he ACTUALLY terrifies me with how talented he is. like in the recent relay when he learned the dance in like an hour. my guy is so quick at picking things up, he’s the perfect riz. also his korean has gotten so good in just like 3 and a half months so that just showssssss how hardworking he is. i dont know, i feel like shotaro is hiding some feral energy and we just need to wait it out and he’ll be foaming at the mouth or smth. shotaro is a liiiiiiitle too cool for the Ball but they both kinda have that dorky feeling to them. like the kid brother whose hair you ruffle all the time. but all in all i just think he’s neat :]

okay the photos dont match that well but thats because i was trying to find him in the pink takeoff outfit and i couldnt find a good screenshot but that’s not the point. now you’re probably thinking “helios, yangyang cant be kristen. make him the Ball or fig or anybody else.” ohoho quite the opposite my friend. i think  yangyang is the most like kristen purely bc of the untapped chaotic energy these two have. i literally remember both my first impression of kristen and yy were that they were mostly harmless and then somehow they started speaking and holy shit im terrified of them now. it also makes yangyang being a healer very interesting. they’re both really caring and outgoing, but some of the shit they say literally makes me head fucking spin bc it’s so ridiculous. 

Honorable mentions: 

Taeyong is Prinicpal Aguefort bc he is one of the only ones who has that chaotic yet majestic energy he has. 

Johnny is either Johnny Spells or Jawbone. Johnny Spells because he hangs out with the kiddos a lot and i just think of the “johnny spells fucks” bit and it makes me laugh so hard. but also Jawbone because he’s our emotional support werewolf basically. he also gives great advice. 

Doyoung is Sandra Lynn because of how much of fig/haechan’s shit they have to put up with. also i think the dynamic’s are really funny and similar

Chenle as Torek,,,,,do i need to explain any further

#fantasy high #dimension 20 #d20 #NCT #nct 2000 line #nct dream #nct x dnd #hopefully one of many #kpop x dnd #helios writes #huang reonjeon #prince lee jeno #fellow sunshine hyuck #loml na jaemin #taro taro shotaro #yangyangeth

[learnbywords]

The Bold | Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind

It’s a bold move for Yuval Noah Harari to write a synopsis of all sapiens history. He starts with a timeline of all history, even before humans existed. I would’ve liked to highlight some of those events, but how do you choose important events reaching back to 13,800,000,000 years ago? The timeline begins at the Big Bang, the point at which the Newtonian laws of physics makes its first steps. I knew the age of the universe before reading this book, but it’s still awe-inspiring when I consider it. Homo Sapiens is the scientific term for our own species (I’m assuming only Homo Sapiens are reading this), but the author points out that human refers to all species under the genus Homo. Other human species are Homo Erectus, Homo Neanderthalensis, and Homo Australopithecus. Harari focuses on the only species that aren’t extinct, Homo Sapiens.

This isn’t a book summary. I’d want people to try to read it on their own. I feel that doing a summary would stifle that goal. This post is just about the thoughts that this book inspired.

Creatio ex nihilo:

There’s this Latin phrase we have in Christian circles: Creatio ex nihilo. It means creation out of nothing. It refers to God creating the universe out of void. The idea gets ridiculed a lot, but I think there’s something to it.

The book talks a lot about language. It points out that Homo Sapiens became dominant on earth because of complex language. Many animals have a simple language: apes have calls to warn others of predators, ants use chemicals to direct others to food, and birds sing to find mates during spring. But our complex language allows us to do more; we can share imaginations together. People around the world can unite around common ideas like religion, human rights, nations, and even sports teams. I’d have a hard time having a productive friendship with someone on the other side of the world, but we can work towards a goal if we share a common idea.

I brought up Creatio ex nihilo because, like the Christian God, humans use language to create. God speaks the universe into existence. He says, “Let there be light,” and there is. Of course, humans create things like religion, economics, and psychology with language, but I think we also create things within ourselves. There’s an old memory that shows itself in my mind often. My mom is driving us to a Burger King to pick up food. We order and wait in the car. She tells me to go inside to get the food once it’s prepared. I do just that, bring the food back into the car, and crumble into tears. She asks me what’s wrong, but I can only express myself through raw emotion. It’s not that I didn’t know why, but I had no words for it.

I was sensitive to the way that my mom spoke to me. Her words felt harsh and took me by surprise. I was fine right before this event. I was comfortable and doing my own thing, and my mom’s words punched me right in the gut. It hurt me. She didn’t mean for it to, but it did.

Language defogged that memory and made it refined and new. Words helped me to categorize, reason, and discern to create a memory that I could understand so that it’s no longer baggage on me. When God speaks, he creates material worlds. When we speak, we create worlds within our own conscience. That childhood memory became a bit more real to me when I used language to explain it. Creatio ex nihilo.

Admitting Ignorance:

Have you ever thought about what maps looked like before anyone had travelled across the world? They were actually… full! Before the 1500s, not one person had made a trip across earth, but people still thought they knew what all the earth looked like. The direct surroundings were drawn well, but if any navigator used these world maps for long-distance travel, they’d get lost faster than Gen Z’ers would without GPS. One of the most insightful things Harari points out is that the scientific revolution was sparked by an admission of ignorance about the universe. Humans said, “we don’t know everything,” and accepted that they could be proven wrong. That admission swung open the door to knowing more.

Welcoming our blindness led to unbelievable leaps in humanity. If a peasant living in 1000 AD time-travelled 500 years into the future to 1500 AD, he’d feel the world is still familiar. If he jumped ahead another 500 years to 2000 AD, he might have a heart-attack from seeing metal boxes on wheels, moving lights on a hand-held rectangle, and how needlessly fancy brunch and coffee are. Here are some more examples Harari uses to put our world into perspective of the not-so-distant past:

A single battleship today could eradicate all the navies of the world during Columbus’ time.

A small flash drive could hold all the scriptures in every medieval library.

A large bank contains more money than the wealth of all premodern kingdoms put together.

We’ve come a long a way only because we recognized how behind we were. We’ve got to know that we’re dumb to get smarter. I’m sure we could all use a healthy dose of honesty by admitting we don’t know the world as well as we think we do.

How to View Sin

This section might get more flak than the previous ones, but it connects with the Admitting Ignorance theme. People discovered that human knowledge was limited. With that discovery came a yearning to learn of what we didn’t know. If we have an incomplete map, wouldn’t you want to adventure to complete it? The thought reminds me of the Zelda: Breath of the Wild. You start the game with this map:

You eventually want to get to this:

(The red outline marks that map that you start with).

There’s a desire to dive into the unknown parts of the map. However, the real world is not as black and white as Zelda’s world. Instead of harming goblins and Ganon, people often harmed each other in the process of exploration. Imperialism and conquest. These aren’t fun words today. They’re sin in today’s world (which is right to a certain extent). But the results of these sins aren’t all bad.

The Indus Valley civilization is one of the earliest human civilizations that we know of. Evidence tells us that it existed from about 3300 BC to 1300 BC (a whopping 2000 years!) and was located around northwestern India and eastern Pakistan. The remnants of these people were first discovered around the 1920s. Will anyone debate that this isn’t a wonderful discovery? Is it not a good thing that we know more about human history from this ancient culture? Of course, it’s good! The thing is no one cared much for the Indus Valley ruins until British rule came to India. None of the Indian rulers or sultans of ages past had records of what the Indus Valley civilization was. The people who lived there would pass by the relics regularly but pay them no mind. It was a Brit who took an interest in Indian history and started the Archaeological Survey of India. That led to the research and preservation of the Indus Valley civilization artifacts. In this case, imperialism and conquest partook in the unearthing and conservation of this extinct culture.

Is there right and wrong? I’m certain the world would be worse if there weren’t, but life is complicated. Right and wrong must be clear and defined. At the same time, individual humans aren’t clear and defined. Bad actions can lead to good things, and good actions can lead to bad things. I’m sure we can all think of a bad experience that made us stronger people. Sin is always bad. People are always a combination of good and bad. I don’t think we should accept the bad actions people do. However, I do think we should try to understand why people do them and what results from them.

Conclusion – 2021

I started working on this essay way before the end of 2020, and I started reading Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind waaaaay before that. I didn’t intend on writing this at the end of the year, but here we are. All in all, this book made the world seem bigger and my own time feel shorter. For me, that means taking on a humbler position going into 2021. What does it mean for you?

#sapiens #yuval noah harari #a brief history of humankind #evolution #history #cognitive #agriculture #human #revolution #science #biology #anthropology #morality #psychology

[evergreen-dryad]

7, 8, 15, and 19? ^-^

(sorry for the late reply! Wifi is rotten and as you can see I thought long and hard for each ask)

My favourite...

7 - quote: ...this is actually quite hard because I don’t have a specific one that springs to mind.

I do store certain quotes though, like from fanfiction or poetry. And I used to copy down quotes into notebooks (can’t refer to them right now though...)

(And there really are a lot of good quotes ranging from advice to celebrating life.)

So to pick one that I live by and is part of me now? Hmm...

The most important kind of freedom is to be what you really are. You trade in your reality for a role. You trade in your sense for an act. You give up your ability to feel, and in exchange, put on a mask. There can't be any large-scale revolution until there's a personal revolution, on an individual level. It's got to happen inside first.  ― Jim Morrison

Just because something isn't a lie does not mean that it isn't deceptive. A liar knows that he is a liar, but one who speaks mere portions of truth in order to deceive is a craftsman of destruction.  ― Criss Jami  

The above two are so part of me now I nearly forgot they once came from an outside source.

“Perhaps this world no longer needs me, but I believe I need it. The world has its own marvels. Why not make the best of the wonders that already surround us?” ― novalotypo, brilliant lights will cease to burn (by my hand i'll reignite them), chapter 7 (Yorihiko, a god)

Rivers know this: there is no hurry. We shall get there some day.  ― A.A. Milne, Winnie the Pooh

it’s not the actual direct quote, it’s more of a paraphrase.

To impoverish the world of the birds and the bees is to impoverish it of the bards and the biologists. ― Maria Popova, Brain Pickings

It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are. ― e.e. cummings

Character — the willingness to accept responsibility for one’s own life — is the source from which self-respect springs. ― Joan Didion, Slouching Towards Bethleham

Perfection is “lean” and “taut” and “hard” — like a boy athlete of twenty, a girl gymnast of twelve. What kind of body is that for a man of fifty or a woman of any age? “Perfect”? What’s perfect? A black cat on a white cushion, a white cat on a black one . . . A soft brown woman in a flowery dress . . . There are a whole lot of ways to be perfect, and not one of them is attained through punishment. ― Ursula K. Le Guin, Dogs, Cats, and Dancers: Thoughts about Beauty

just that entire essay. I wish I could imprint it into the underside of my eyelids and carry it everywhere with me. It is perhaps one of the enduring reasons why I would like to take up dancing.

Perfectionism is a mean, frozen form of idealism, while messes are the artist’s true friend.

In order to be a writer, you have to learn to be reverent. If not, why are you writing? Why are you here? …  Think of those times when you’ve read prose or poetry that is presented in such a way that you have a fleeting sense of being startled by beauty or insight, by a glimpse into someone’s soul. All of a sudden everything seems to fit together or at least to have some meaning for a moment. ― Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life

It seems that a great deal is there, the things we most fear (and therefore deny), the things we most need (and therefore deny). I wonder, couldn't we start listening to our dreams, and our children’s dreams? "Where did you fall to, and what did you discover?”    ― Ursula K. Le Guin, The Word for World is Forest.

Um, have my current top 11 10 instead? ...It’s really too hard for me to pick just one. The first 4 all originate from fanfiction, 3 of which were quoted in the beginning notes/were the theme of the fic.

8 - type of dream: the type where I’m transported. the type I can remember vividly as I’m released from sleep. But sadly, most dreams I remember are from when I’ve been awoken abruptly in the day.

I think I love most the dreams where I’m floating, or swimming, in a great big beautiful body of water, and there is a new fantastic grotesque exaggerated world tossed up like mismatched pieces to explore.

15 - decade before the 2020s: (*breaks into a wheeze* ”I’m not that old...” I said out loud.)

Decade which I actually lived through: ...I suppose 2000-2010? Things were still quieter, the hill was still green and undisturbed (less land cleared), some people still fished in the large drain (?) and I could look out for the turtles my father told me were there in his time, yes 2008 was the year of the GFC but... my family was still better off in those years. Just less worries overall, far less reliance on electronics. What was internet? Historical decade: ...that would suppose a location as well. I’ve never really been so fascinated by historical eras I want to experience them (too many cons for women in the past lol), but perhaps the time period the Library of Alexandria was still standing, before its decline. So around 200 BC lol

19 - poem: hMM.

I thought it would be e.e. cummings, but surprisingly it’s The Song of Wandering Aengus by William Butler Yeats. And I actually like Robert Frost’s style more than these two. I wish I read more poetry and I keep forgetting to check out haikus but yeah what exposure I get tends to be from fanfiction.

I went out to the hazel wood, Because a fire was in my head, And cut and peeled a hazel wand, And hooked a berry to a thread; And when white moths were on the wing, And moth-like stars were flickering out, I dropped the berry in a stream And caught a little silver trout. When I had laid it on the floor I went to blow the fire aflame, But something rustled on the floor, And some one called me by my name: It had become a glimmering girl With apple blossom in her hair Who called me by my name and ran And faded through the brightening air. Though I am old with wandering Through hollow lands and hilly lands, I will find out where she has gone, And kiss her lips and take her hands; And walk among long dappled grass, And pluck till time and times are done The silver apples of the moon, The golden apples of the sun.

Why do I like this poem best:

fantasy-like/fae vibes

‘because a fire was in my head’ -- lovely way to describe overthinking etc which is the state I can typically be found in. Running out to nature to clear my thoughts? Also a thing I do

idyllic life descriptions. I just love the imagery in the first verse. That entire fishing sequence with moths and stars and a silver fish (white white white)? Muah

last verse is our protagonist pining till old age, v romantic

I’m just asdwd at that last two lines. It’s such pretty imagery, and are they implying they’ve found Eden-like perfection by finding the girl? Anyway something about those two lines seize my imagination by the throat. It’s very mythlike.

#joey-yellow-county #asks #about me #thank you for sending one in! #they were very interesting and made me think hard

[alienshea]

And now, for no absolute reason, I will give every Gorillaz song from the main 6 studio albums my rating from 1-10

Self-Titled

Re-Hash: 7.5/10

Bopping tune, 2D doing his own backup vocals make me swoon, Noodle is great as always, no one really knows what the lyrics are but they’re valid

5/4: 6/10

Better than average,not the best song i’ve ever heard but still pretty good, kinda uncomfy with Noodle screaming about someone turning her dad on, drumbeat makes me wanna dance, wished they couldve made the music video

Tomorrow Comes Today: 7/10

The kind of song that gets stuck in your head all day, love the overall sad tone, music video makes me laugh now bc that one murdoc gif, makes me cry when i have depressive episodes

New Genius (Brother): 7.5/10

Love 2D’s voice in it, lyrics hit home a little bit for me, have never skipped this song tbh, overall pretty good song

Clint Eastwood: 8.5/10

I literally know all the words, I love the rap, iconic, there’s a reason it’s popular, Del is everything

Man Research (Clapper): 3/10

oooo boy i’m gonna get shit for this one, i always skip this song, i can’t stand the whole “yeah yeah” thing, the only great part about this song is the “tHiS Is a bReAkFaSt ClUuUuuUB!”

Punk: 6.5/10

gets me turnt, toooooo short, tbh i like any song where 2D yells

Sound Check (Gravity): 9/10

looooove this song, gives me body chills when the drums kick in, love the deep ass voice, overall emo kid bop

Double Bass: 8/10

nice jam, I like listening to this when I do homework or art, relaxing

Rock The House: 8/10

legit makes me get up and dance, great rhythm, music video is beautiful

19/2000: 9/10

amazing bop, gets me pumped, iconic af, first gorillaz song i ever heard and first music video i ever saw, n o o d l e

Latin Simone: 7/10

I don’t speak spanish so i cant really sing along, love the feel of it, will listen on repeat, prefer the english version but im biased

Starshine: 6.5/10

idk I don’t really listen to this one, not a bad song i just wouldn’t play it on repeat or actively look for it, i do like the vocals

Slow Country: 8.5/10

love the feeling this song gives me, kinda like im just floating, super chill song to get high to, have never skipped this song, i like the lyrics

M1A1: 8/10

super fun song to sing along with, honestly the best song they couldve ever chosen to start a concert, he   s c r e a m

OVERALL SCORE FOR SELF-TITLED: 7.5 (rounded up)

Demon Days

Last Living Souls: 9/10

absolute favourite song on the album, breakdown gives me chills, constantly changing it’s tune and i love it, the basssss <3

Kids With Guns: 6/10

I love singing the chorus, great song to have in the background, chill af

O Green World: 7.5/10

i love the instrumental of this one, vocals give me chills, kinda wish you could hear the singing more tho

Dirty Harry: 6.5/10

bopping beat, i love the rap part, overall not really the type of song i’d play on repeat but not bad

Feel Good Inc: 8/10

first and foremost the fucking bass of this song is the reason i’m learning bass, chorus gives me chills, kinda overused but i understand

El Manana: 6/10

kind of a meh song for me personally, not a bad one just not the greatest

Every Planet We Reach Is Dead: 9/10

banger, the reason im also learning guitar, vocals are on point, has made me cry before

November Has Come: 7/10

love the chorus, rap is kinda meh for me, i like the beat

All Alone: 5/10

not really a song i listen to, i like the bloopy noises

White Light: 4/10

I always skip this one tbh, better than man research but not by much

DARE: 6.5/10

this song haunts my dreams, its like the best kind of elevator music, on another note you fucking go noodle

Fire Coming Out Of The Monkey’s Head: 7.5/10

I WANNA BE A COWBOY BABY, narrative is really fucking good tho

Don’t Get Lost In Heaven: 8/10

beautiful, usually dont like gospel-esque music but i love this, gives me chills

Demon Days: 6.5/10

not my favourite tbh, meh for me

OVERALL SCORE FOR DEMON DAYS: 6.5 (rounded up)

Plastic Beach

Welcome to the World of the Plastic Beach: 7.5/10

i love snoop dogg, also this song gives me good vibes

White Flag: 5/10

ehhhh not a fan of this one, i usually skip it, i like the orchestra tho

Rhinestones Eyes: 8.5/10

i fucking love this song, great tune great vocals, i never skip it, i even got my boyfriend to start loving this song even tho he doesnt really like gorillaz

Stylo: 9/10

jesus this song, makes my heart hurt, i absoultely long singing along to this, his voiceeeee, bobby womack!

Superfast Jellyfish: 8.5/10

quirky af, i love de la soul in this one a lot, have never skipped this

Empire Ants: 9/10

so beautiful, has made me cry, both of their voices are so soft and lovely ugh

Glitter Freeze: 6/10

starts off strong but when it starts sounding like a drill i usually yeet out

Some Kind Of Nature: 8/10

used to be my favourite until i started listening to the album more, 2d’s part is so soulful omg

On Melancholy Hill: 8.5/10

so sad and amazing, music video is probably my favourite, is me and my best mate’s “song”

Broken: 9/10

ugh beautiful, i know all the words and always sing them loud af, has never skipped this song, honestly is everything

Sweepstakes: 5.5/10

not a big fan, i usually skip this one, not a horrible song just not for me

Plastic Beach: 7.5/10

love it, better at the beginning than the end, still a bop

To Binge: 10/10

WHEEEW BOY, i love this song, its so sad and amazing and gay jesus christ, the best thing murdoc has ever done

Cloud of Unknowing: 7/10

soulful and beautiful, again bobby womack!!

Pirate Jet: 7/10

i love the tune bc it gets me feeling ~spooky~, lyrics dont really make sense but thats okay

OVERALL SCORE FOR PLASTIC BEACH: 7.5 (rounded up)

The Fall

Phoner to Arizona: 8/10

gets me bopping and grooving, great music to play in the background while writing or doing art, my go to for when i draw or need background sound while I relax

Revolving Doors: 9.5/10

OOF, it so sad and it makes me feel things, i scream the lyrics errytime

Hillbilly Man: 10/10

fell in love with this the second I heard it, has been my favourite song of all time for over 2 years now, will never skip it in my life, i yearn to learn the guitar 

 Detroit: 6.5/10

generally a good happy bop, usually play it as background sound

Shy-Town: 6/10

nice to the ear, i don’t really like the prerecorded vocals of 2D but when Damon sung it live it sounds much better

Little Pink Plastic Bags: 8/10

i love it ugh, relaxing af, will never skip

The Joplin Spider: 9/10

big love for this song, its just soooo goooood

The Parish Of Space Dust: 7.5/10

big cowboy energy, sounds so sweet, 2D’s voice is unnnf

The Snake In Dallas: 7/10

good for when you wanna party but you’re depressed and can only stay in bed, love the little robotic sounds

Amarillo: 9.5/10

i meeeean what can i say, this song is so sad and gay and beautiful, ive cried while listening it this, will never skip

The Speak It Mountains: 7.5/10

this track is really weird and creepy and kind of not a song but i adore it anyway

 Aspen Forest: 8/10

beautiful sounds, the piano is so soothing, will play this on repeat while i zone out

Bobby In Phoenix: 9/10

i wanna cry every single time i hear this bobby come back

California and the Slipping of the Sun: 7.5/10

this song so so pretty and i cry every time ugh, he sounds so fed up im sorry pretty boy

Seattle Yodel: ???

what

OVERALL SCORE FOR THE FALL: 8 (rounded down)

Humanz

Ascension: 8.5/10

absolute banger, i get pumped everytime this comes on, skys falling bb

Strobelite: 7.5/10

i used to hate this song but then the music video came out and i tried it again and now i love it dont @ me

Saturnz Barz: 9/10

theres so much i could say about this song ans the mv unf

Momentz: 9/10

banger, i dance like a maniac every time i hear it, will never skip

Submission: 8/10

gives me a good chance to work on high notes, makes my skin tingly

Charger: 8.5/10

2D’s voice is so griity and i can help myself

Andromeda: 8.5/10

I’ve never skipped this song, has made me cry, makes me dance

Busted And Blue: 9/10

has made me cry several times, vocals are everything, will never skip

Carnival: 7/10

is a bop, don’t really listen to it much anymore but it’s alright

Let Me Out: 8/10

i love it, one of my favourites to rap with

Sex Murder Party: 4/10

ehhh dont like this one, i always skip it

She’s My Collar: 8.5/10

i dont want to admit the things 2D’s voice in this makes me wanna do

Hallelujah Money: 7.5/10

hated this at first, grew to love, very soothing

We Got The Power: 9.5/10

gets me FUCKING PUMPED, we do got the power fuckers

OVERALL SCORE FOR HUMANZ: 8.5 (rounded down)

The Now Now

Humility: 8.5/10

summer bop, makes me wanna dance, have never skipped

Tranz: 9.5/10

i love singing along to this bc it makes me feel sexy oops, always screams the lyrics

Hollywood: 7/10

not a huge fan of this but ill listen to it, favourite part is the chorus, also snoop doggy dogg

Kansas: 9/10

oof this song makes me cry, i always scream this 

Sorcererz: 7.5/10

ooo them vocals thooo, makes me relaxed

Idaho: 8.5/10

i love this song sm, one of my favourites of all time to sing, i wanna learn the guitar for this

Lake Zurich: 8/10

I love to listen to this while relaxing or writing, makes me wanna dance, COWBELL

Magic City: 8.5

always dancing to this, billboards on the moooon

Fireflies: 10/10

yall saw this coming, i always cry, its so somber, in close competition w HillBilly Man for my all time favourite

One Percent: 6.5/10

only song on the album i would skip and it isnt even that bad

Souk Eye: 10/10

its so gay and sad i love it sm

OVERALL SCORE FOR THE NOW NOW: 8.5 (rounded up)

So after months of me saying i’d rate the songs in order I finally did! Now keep in my the overall scores are averages, my personal rating for each album is:

Self-Titled: 8/10

Demon Days: 7/10

Plastic Beach: 8.5/10

The Fall: 8/10

Humanz: 7.5/10

The Now Now: 9/10

thanks for reading, i did this so i wouldn’t have to write an essay oops! <3

#my post #long post #like really long #this took me 2 hours #gorillaz #demon days #plastic beach #the fall #humanz #the now now #song analysis #album analysis

[charbax]

(remaking this bc dumblr’s new bs on links so apologies for those who have to see this twice)

I’ve been debating for a while and decided to open commissions! My writing blog is charbax.tumblr.com and my AO3 is under the same name archiveofourown.org/users/charbax.

Base prices:

1 cent per word

500 - 2000 words = $5 - $20 USD

3000 onwards = Base + $5 USD

Max of 5k words = $55 USD (who even has that money wheezes)

Also, if I write 20% over the agreed word limit, I won’t charge extra for it. Otherwise, every extra 100 words is $1 extra (this is still negotiable, and I will try my best to keep it to the agreed amount).

Extras:

NSFW = +$5 USD

Chaptered stories = $3 USD per chapter

Complexity of the fic (as in extra themes/metaphors etc) = $2-$5 USD negotiable

Depending on my lack of knowledge on a fandom = $1-$5 USD negotiable

(considering that I will have to watch/read part of the series in order to have an idea of what I’m writing, and that is time consuming.)

Please use this template when emailing me:

Characters: Pairings (if applicable): Fandom: Estimated Length: Summary: Rating: Likes/dislikes: Anything else?:

Email me at [email protected] for details, or if you just wanna donate out of the kindness of your heart, my kofi is ko-fi.com/charbax

more details below:

Once accepted, half the commission price must be paid upfront, then I will start writing. You can request WIP as I go along, at which revisions are available. I will offer one final revision when finished for last minute changes, at which the second half must be paid. You may keep it personally or have it published  (wow).

I also have the right to refuse commissions out of personal preference. Also, if I cancel your request anytime after payment, I will refund it and give you the WIP to do as you please. If you cancel, it’s only half a refund of any amount paid, but you will get to own the WIP.

I can write:

Fandoms (check out charbax.tumblr.com/tags for a list, but I’m flexible, just message me for details)

Your headcanons!

Ratings from general all the way to mature

OCs / Original content (I will ask a lot of questions regarding backstories and world building)

OCs x Canon ships

Self-inserts 

Crossovers

Genres such as (but not limited to): romance, hurt/comfort, angst, alternative universes, action, fluff, family, drama, adventure, mystery, fantasy, sci-fi, and supernatural

NSFW (must be 18+ to request)

Prose-y pieces (with use of recurring metaphors and imagery and that jazz)

Bios / Lore pieces (think wiki writing or DnD)

I will not write:

1ncest (including d4ddy kink)

Under@ge / Lolic0n / Ped0philia (age gaps between two consenting adults are different, however.)

Eye horr0r/g0re, Gur0

Real life people (M@rkiplier, J@ckcepticeye, korean pop idols, etc)

N0n-con / r@pe

explicit su1cide (mentioned or attempted I’m fine with)

animal @buse

Rac1sm / Sex1sm / Homophob1a (as in, advocating for race superiority, dominance of genders, abuse towards LGBT+ people)

These subjects: F00t Fetish / Sc@t / W@tersports / V0re / Infl@tion / Fut@nari / Mpr3g / G3nderb3nd / Om3gaverse / D-D-L-G / B3stiality (monsters are another thing, but that’s a discourse for another day)

Schoolwork. Just write your essay man, it’s just easier and legal lol.

thanks for reading!

#writing commissions #writing commission #writer commission #writer commissions #commission #time 2 tag fandoms....again #paladins champions of the realm #battleborn #battlebarn #ratchet and clank #jak and daxter #sly cooper #tf2 #masquerada: songs and shadows #the adventure zone #overwatch #dragon age #medievil #kameo elements of power #darkest dungeon #warframe #steven universe #fallout #fo3 #fonv #fo4 #diablo #castlevania #dead space #yarny

[indomitablekushite]

The Black Power Pan-Africanist Perspective By Chinweizu [email protected] The Black race will be exterminated if it does not build a black superpower in Africa by the end of this century. Black Egypt: Rehabilitating the self-image of the Black African (1) Having exhaustively demonstrated that the Pharaonic Egyptians were black, Senegalese scholar Cheikh Anta Diop argued that “the moral fruit of [Egyptian] civilization is to be counted among the assets of the Black world. Instead of presenting itself to history as an insolvent debtor, that Black world is the very initiator of the ‘western’ civilization flaunted before our eyes today.” --[Diop, The African Origin of Civilization: Myth or Reality, p. xiv] To help us appreciate just how much “western” civilization owes to Black Egypt, this essay presents a sampling of that contribution; a sampling of what the Greeks and Hebrews assimilated and took over from Black Egypt (Kemet) and passed on to modern Europe. Kemetic Precedents The purpose of this preliminary list of culture items (concepts, techniques, tools, symbols, artefacts, etc. assembled from scattered sources) is to make it easy to see just how far and comprehensively Kemet was ahead of all other cultures. Such items appear elsewhere later, sometimes by diffusion, sometimes 2 by independent invention, sometimes by theft. How it did so in each case is not always easy to determine. However, in some spectacular cases, plagiarism can be exposed. Items listed are the oldest example extant, or the oldest mentioned in the available sources. Dates are based on the Chinweizu Chronology which dates the founding of Kemet at 4443±61 BC. This initial list could be, and should be, very much expanded as the literature is combed more extensively and thoroughly. I: Science and Technology 1. Plant domestication: Domesticated wheat, barley, lentils, chickpeas, capers and dates were being grown and harvested in the Nile flood plains; at Aswan (Wadi Kubbaniya), Esna, Naqada, and Dishna in Upper Kemet (i.e. Southern Egypt), and in Tushka in Nubia; ca. 16,000 BC, during the last Ice Age when much of Eurasia was covered with ice. That was some 9 millennia before plant domestication occurred in Jarmo in Iraqi Kurdistan in SW Eurasia, where Eurocentric convention claims that plants were first domesticated.1[1 See Wendorff et al., “An Ancient Harvest on the Nile,” in Van Sertima, ed., Blacks in Science, New Brunswick: Transaction Books, 1983, pp. 58-64. ] 2. Writing: Hieroglyphics (pictorial) : Predynastic 2 i.e. before ca. 4500 BC. [2 See Bruce Williams, “Lost Pharaohs of Nubia” in Van Sertima ed., Egypt Revisited, pp. 93-94.]3 Hieratic (cursive) : Dyn. I or earlier 3, i.e. ca. 4500 BC. [3 M. Hoffman, Egypt Before the Pharaohs, p. 290; Alan Gardiner, Egypt of the Pharaohs, p.22.] Demotic (cursive) : Dyn XXV 4, i.e. ca. 700 BC. [4 Alan Gardiner, Egypt of the Pharaohs, p. 21]. Alphabet: “The history of the alphabet begins in Ancient Egypt, more than a millennium into the history of writing. The first pure alphabet emerged around 2000 BCE to represent the language of Semitic workers in Egypt (see Middle Bronze Age alphabets), and was derived from the alphabetic principles of the Egyptian hieroglyphs. Most alphabets in the world today either descend directly from this development, for example the Greek and Latin alphabets, or were inspired by its design.”--Wikipedia Hieroglyphics and Hieratic are the world’s oldest writing systems; from them are derived the Phoenician and Hebrew and Greek alphabets, making them the ancestors of the Roman alphabet which is now used world-wide.5 [5Alan Gardiner, Egypt of the Pharaohs, pp. 25-26.] From them too derive the Arabic script via the Nabataean Aramaic script. Arabic numerals bear a striking resemblance to some of the symbols in Meroitic script, a late offshoot of the Kemetic scripts. 3. The balance and scales (for weighing): A symbol in hieroglyphics, and a central instrument in the rite of weighing the soul of the deceased in the Judgment Hall before Ausar. 6 [6 E. A. Wallis Budge, The Egyptian Book of the Dead, pp. 2, 256, 261 etc. for its representation as a 4 hieroglyph and for its presence in vignettes that illustrate the book. For evidence that parts of the work date back to before Dyn. I, see p. xii.] The doctrine of the Judgment Day, and its symbolism, most probably date back to predynastic times; the scale is, therefore, probably a predynastic invention. 4. The Calendar: Kemet had two calendars from its earliest times -- the Civil calendar of 365 days to the year; and the Astronomical or Sopde (Sirius) calendar of 365.25 days to the year. These two were together in use by Dyn. I, and certainly before 4241 BC. Both were most probably invented in Predynastic times. 7 [7 Charles Finch, “Science and Symbol in Egyptian Medicine,” in Egypt Revisited, p. 328] The calendar used today throughout the world is adapted from the civil calendar of Black Egypt. “To the Egyptians we owe the practice of dividing the day into 24 hours. Our modern practice of starting the day at midnight dates back to the Egyptians.” 8—[8 John Pappademos, “An Outline of Africa’s Role in the History of Physics”, in Van Sertima ed., Blacks in Science, p. 187] 5. The oldest uninscribed paper: Two papyrus rolls from Dyn. I, found in a small box at Saqqara.9 [9 M. Hoffman, Egypt Before the Pharaohs, p. 291] 6. The wheel: Scaling ladders, fitted with wheels, and kept from slipping by a handspike, were used by construction workers as early as Dyn. V. (ca. 3380-3162 BC). They 5 are depicted on the wall of the tomb of Kaemhesit. 10 [10 See Blacks in Science, p. 81, fig. 7.] 7. The so-called Pythagoras Theroem: The theorem of the square on the hypothenuse was known and used in Kemet, millennia before Pythagoras took knowledge of it from there to Greece.11 [11 Cheikh Anta Diop, Civilization or Barbarism, p. 260] 8. Coordinates: A system of coordinates was in use in Kemet in Old Kingdom times. In one specimen, probably from Dyn. III, coordinates were used in an architectural drawing to draw a curve. Rectangular coordinate grids were used for star maps shown on the ceilings of tombs. A grid of squares was used to scale up construction plans. 12 [12 See Beatrice Lumpkin, “The Pyramids: Ancient Showcase of African science and technology,” Blacks in Science, pp. 67-83. ] 9. The Oldest record of sea-going ships: King Sahure of Dyn. V sent a fleet to the coast of Palestine and another to Punt (Somalia).13 [13 See Wayne B. Chandler, “Of Gods and Men: Egypt’s Old Kingdom,” in Ivan Van Sertima, ed., Egypt Revisited, p. 168.] 10. The oldest map in the world: A map, now in the Turin museum, showing the road to one of Kemet’s gold fields.14 [14 Alan Gardiner, Egypt of the Pharaohs., p. 42.]6 11. The oldest example of large-scale metal sculpture in the world: A near life-size copper statue group of Pepi I and his young son Merenre (Dyn. VI).15 [15 See M. Hoffman, Egypt Before the Pharaohs, p. 128.] 12. Stone-paved roads: “Probably the earliest stone-paved road was built in Egypt . . . when the Great Pyramid was built. In order to move the huge stone blocks making up the pyramid, a smooth road of polished stone was built about 60 feet wide and half a mile long.”16 [16 See “Road” in Britannica Junior Encyclopedia, Vol 13, (1965), p. 109(b) 13. Iron and steel: Iron was used in Kemet from predynastic times and down through the dynasties, long before its reported use anywhere else in the world. Specimens of materials made of iron have survived from the Gerzean period, Dyns IV,VI, XVIII-XXII.17 [17 C. A. Diop, The African Origin of Civilization, p. 293, n. 8;] The most ancient steel object extant, made of successive layers containing different percentages of carbon, is a knife from Kemet, made probably in the 9th c. BC.18 [18 C. A. Diop, Civilisation or Barbarism, p. 285.] Plutarch reports, based on Manetho, that iron was called “the bone of Typhon,” i.e. Set.19 [19 Manetho, p. 191,] There are references to “bat qemau,” iron of the south, in the Kemetic Book of Resurrection.20 [20 See, e.g. Budge, Egyptian Book Of the Dead, p. 13.]7 14. Gunpowder: Gunpowder was known and used in Kemet by the priests, but “solely for religious purposes at rites such as the Mysteries of Osiris.”21 [21 C. A. Diop, The African Origin of Civilization, p. 24.] 15. Glider plane: A scale model of a glider, made of sycamore wood, survives from Kemet. It measures 18 cm x 14 cm, and is in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. The name of the maker of the model is Pa-di-Imen.22 [22 See Khalil Messiha et. al., “African experimental aeronautics: a 2,000-year-old model glider,” in Blacks in Science, pp. 92- 99.] Aeronautical scientists have examined it and confirmed that it is a model glider. The date it was made is uncertain. 16. Atomic theory, heliocentricity, and gravitation: There is evidence that these major theories of modern science were, long ago, known to Kemetic science. Isaac Newton left his written testimony about Kemetic knowledge thereof.23 [23 See John Pappademos, “The Newtonian synthesis in physical science and its roots in the Nile Valley,” Nile Valley Civilizations: 84-101, see especially p. 94 for quotes from Newton himself; and also Martin Bernal, Black Athena, Vol. I, p. 167.] TO BE CONTINUED (1520 words)

#Chinweizu

[okjimin]

🍯 mutual appreciation post!! 🍯

✨🌙⭐️💛💫 to all my lovely wonderful kind friendly amazing hilarious mutuals!!!! i’ve only been on tumblr for a short time but Listen i love u all soooo much thank u for brightening my day everyday!!!! 2017 was such a shit year for me but spending the last few months on tumblr dot com rly cheered me up and i hav u all to thank for that!!!!! to all of you that celebrate christmas, i hope u have the best christmas EVER and for all of you that don’t i hope your day is filled with warmth happiness and love!!! and i wish all of u a happy new year, i hope 2018 is an amazing year for u all, u all deserve it sooooooooo much!!!!✨🌙⭐️💛💫 

(i tried 2 do this in order of oldest to newest mutuals !!!!)

💌 @1jmins: dia where do i even begin?!?!?! i cant believe we’ve only known each other for like a few weeks honestly that’s INSANE bc it genuinely feels like ive known you forever!!! we get along soooo well and you’re so easy to talk to, we are basically the same person like???? still cant believe we were literally put on this earth to love each other??? im still struggling to get over the fact we were born a day apart, our natal charts are pretty much identical, wow amazing.......soul mate Goals......anyway did i mention how hilarious, sweet, kind and warm and just all round perfect u are?!?!?!? i live for our 1am wattpad reading sessions and when we dub bts performances with stormzy and craig david!!!!! still cant believe bts invented british grime like???? u make me laugh sooo much and honestly one of the highlights of my day is talking to u!!!! i love u soooosoosooooossosoos much bb and i hope we get even closer in 2018!!!! and u know that when bts finally come 2 the uk me and u are going to spend £300 on tickets and flash our tiddies for jimin.........pls dia i Love U!!!!!!!!!! have a wonderful xmas and new year!!!!!!! sending u so much love bby!!!!! my actual twin sister and soul mate!!!!!

💌 @ktheaven: nadine u are soooo sweet and lovely!! i could write a 2000 word essay on how kind you are! you’re one of the first people i ever spoke to on here and im so glad we got talking bc youre seriously such a lovely, warm hearted person!!! youre so thoughtful and caring!!!! also, youre sooo hardworking!! im sure all your hard work at uni will pay off and you will get the teaching job of your dreams!!! i love u lots and i rly hope you have an amazing 2018!!

💌 @kimtaethebae hannah!!! youre literally the first person i ever spoke to on here!!!! youre so cute and bubbly and funny, we havent spoken that much lately but i hope youre doing well and that you have an amazing christmas and new year bc you deserve it soo much!!! im sending u so many positive vibes bb!!!

💌 @43hy adreana bby!!!! you were one of my first mutuals on here!!!!! a true og!!!! your blog is sooo cute and your posts make me smile and always brighten up my day!! i hope 2018 treats you will and that you have an amazing christmas!!! 

💌  @rainpjm hannah you were my first mutual ever i think!?!?? i literally love ur blog so much u make me laugh so hard with ur censored posts bc im like binch SAME.....ur sooo cute not to mention amazingly beautiful!!!!!! i hav a crush on U!!!!! u totally deserve to have the most wonderful christmas and new year angel!!!! 

💌  @piedparkjimin dakota!!! another one of my first ever mutuals!!! listen i love u youre soooo sweet and kind and i really do wish all the best for you in 2018, you honestly deserve all the happiness and warmth in the world and pls remember im always here if you wanna talk!!! your txt posts always make me smile so much thanks for brightening up my dash bb!!

💌  @inkcanaries henlo gi bb!!!!!! yet another og mutual!!!! Listen ur so fuckin funny i stg ur txt posts are hilarious catch me scrolling through your blog at 2am pissing myself at ur hilarious self.....although im sick 2 death of seeing that ugly ass pic let me not lie lmao........ur so sweet bb and im still not over ur gorgeous curly hair!!!!! have a super christmas and new year bb!!!!

💌  @joohoens hannah ufewqpfioqe youve changed ur url so much lately i was soo confused!! well only true 90s kids will remember yoongjis.....you were one of the first ever ppl i spoke to on here and youre sooooooo cute, youre always leaving cute happy messages in my askbox and pls know i appreciate it so much!!! youre such a ball of sunshine and i hope youre doing well bc we havent spoken in a while! ly bb!!!

💌  @jinsasleep hello jess!!!! u were one of the first ppl i EVER followed here @ tumblr dot com lol i had a different url when i first made this blog tho but i remember i sent u an ask saying i was a new blog and if u could rec some blogs and u sent me soooo many, many of which are now some of my fav mutuals!!! i totally admire u from afar i think youre an amazing person and that youre so lovely and sweet!! all the best for 2018 bb!!! ALSO!!!!! susan is so cute Bye

💌  @cyphriv clodagh!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LISTEN ur an ACTUAL ray of sunshine u make me smile SOOOOO MUCH!!!!!!! the official irish mutual™ i literally find u so hilarious and ur so nice 2 me and wow also so beautiful i truly dont deserve u.....i lov my fellow little mix STAN (cant believe i still havent seen them live lol we will hav 2 go together!!!!!!!!!) thanks for making my day better whenever u come online!!!! luv u!!!!!

💌 @je0n hi anna!!!! we havent rlly spoke before but youre one of the first blogs i followed and i just wanted to include you in this bc not only is ur blog and content amazing, i think youre a truly wonderful person with a HUge heart!! i always see you giving advice to anons and your replies are always so long and detailed and :((( you just seem so sweet, kind and caring and i honestly hope you have an amazing holiday season and wonderful 2018!!! U deserve it!!

💌 @megjinglebells meg!!!!! well firstly let me just say youre an actual supermodel, youre so gorgeous its insane!!!!!!! on top of that you are also such a warm, kind and lovely person who truly deserves the world!!!! your blog is so cute i love it soo much and your love for jin is so adorable!!!!! all the best for 2018 bb!!!! u deserve to have an amazing year!

💌 @gothsyub hi bb!!!!! your blog is soooo cute!!!! we havent rlly spoken before but i get such lovely, friendly vibes from you and of course i love ur yoongi content seeing as tho i had swerved into his lane as of late......all the best for 2018 bb!!!!

💌 @honeyyjeon hello angel!!!!!!!! firstly let me say you are SOOOOO lovely, your blog is full of such cute content and ahhhhhh i love it so so much!! your posts really genuinely lighten up my day and u seem like such a friendly and approachable person!!!! have an amazing 2018 honey!!!

💌 @jeonsberry asya!!!! not only are u stunningly beautiful but youre also super cute and kind and wonderful!!!!!! your love for jungkook is so sweet and Wow i can relate bc that boy.....he is rly something........anyway back to u......ur so so so lovely and definitely deserve to have a brilliant 2018!!!! 

💌 @cloudjeon hello debbs!!!!!!! Listen ur so funny!!!! ur blog is truly hilarious and i know that when youre online my day is going 2 get better 1000% guaranteed!!! youre such a cute sweet angel and we aint talked that much lately but pls know that i lov u and i rly rly hope you have an amazing 2018 but i also hope that u sort ur sleeping schedule out!!!!! binch1!!!!!!!! u always awake how u do that!!!! ly my nocturnal bb!!!!!

💌 @cryjeon sara!!!!! my time zone twin!!!!! youre such a little angel i stg, you make me smile sooo much!!!! you’re honestly just such a nice, kind person and i hav so much love in my heart just for u!!!!! if anyone deserves to have a wonderful 2018 its u bby!!!!! 

💌 @dn-a hiya lee!!!! ur super cool and u literally make me laugh at least once a day how u do that.......i live for ur tags and txt posts theyre so hilarious!!! we dont rlly talk much but you come across as soooo lovely and kind!! all the best for 2018!!!

💌 @christmasjins hey elana!!! the jin mutual™ i love ur blog so much its nice to hav a healthy daily dose of mistre jin let me not lie!!! anyway ur such a wonderful person, youre so friendly and lovely and i just wanna give u a big hug!!!! 

💌  @jiminsgothbf VIC listen the rumours are tru im in lov with u........ur soooooo funny honestly wish u would get drunk and mssg me more often bc ur actually hilarious!!! i hoenstly love ur blog so much and im so glad i followed u!!!! cant wait for Jenna and Vic Take Leeds its gna be fkin wild !!!!! ly bb and all the best for 2018 u deserve to hav an amazing year!!!!

💌  @merryblondekth shan giefowugrieof Listen ur funny af but also wish youd let me live sometimes.......Anyway ill let u off bc youre an intellectual as you know that blonde tae is the best tae.....hes comin back in 2018 i can feel it in my bones and also my puthy.....ur always starting discourse which i love however only tru 90s kids will remember dickcourse.....hav an amazing 2018 bb!!!!!!

💌  @taetaez hi gio we dont rlly speak much but u seem rlly nice and i love ur blog so much!!!!! i love all ur posts ahh!!!! also i see u swervin into yoongi’s lane just wanna let u know i fully support that!!!! all the best for the new year bb!!!

💌  @4agstd hi angel!!!! you often tag me in yoongi stuff and let me just say real quick i truly appreciate that so much as he is the actual love of my life.....anyway ur blog is super duper cute and u seem like a rly lovely person who deserves a whole lotta love!!!!!

💌 @mistlemochi hannah im screaming i love ur blog SO MUCH ur so fuckin hilarious ur txt posts and tags literally hav me DYIN.....ur love for jimin is sooo pure and cute!!!! also ur so fuckigngng pretty like how can a person b that gorgeous Binch bye.......all the best for 2018!!!! ly!!!

💌  @beaniebangtan hi anita!!!! your blog is so nice and i think youre a lovely person!!! your art is also honestly so amazing?!?! like binch how u draw like that!?!??! i rly truly hope u have an amazing brilliant wonderful 2018!!! u deserve it1!!!

💌  @bbyboyjiminies megan!! we dont rlly talk much but i get such positive friendly vibes from you and your blog honestly brightens my day so so much!!! i wish you all the best for 2018, you totally deserve to have an amazing year bc of what a lovely person you are!!! 

💌  @strongjeon cami!!!!! youre such a wonderful person and i rly truly mean it when i say i love ur blog!!! i think youre such a sweet person and also ur so so beautifull Binch how u do that ?????? all the best for 2018!!! sending u lots of positive vibes for the new year! 

💌  @gingerbreadchan cherry1!!!!!! i rly love your blog SO much even if you talk about piss kink and feet 98% of the time !!!!!!!! pls youre so cute and lovely and just an all round wonderful person!!! you truly are a ball of sunshine i hope u know that!!!!! ur so loved bb!!!! i rly rly rly RLY hope u hav an amazing 2018!!! and pls know im always here for u angel no matter what !!

💌  @blueyoongles well miss cg one thing for sure is that i LOV U!!!! ur so so so funny and literally support me so much lmao??? if i reblog an ask meme i know ur gunna be there validate my ass and ur always replying to my posts with funny comments and wow i just lov u i hope we speak more in 2018!!!! ur so kind and sweet and thoughtful and im still waiting for ice cream date pt. 2!!!! usually cancers and leos wouldnt mix but we rlly out here proving the stars wrong huh?!!??!

💌  @honeydewjimin dax!!!!! Listen im lov u.....sooooo much......ur such a cutie and ur just so lovely and cute!!!!! even if u do send me weird shit sometimes origuhwefijwqego also an astrology Genius???? cnt believe you invented astrology wo w amazing......i hope ur 2018 is as wonderful as u are and i hope we speak more in the new year bb!!!! ly!!!!!!

💌  @ofsugas ahhh ur so so so cute and i LOVE ur blog!!!! axis ur so sweet i love how much yoongi content u provide on my dash!!!!!!! but also a jimin enthusiast? wow you and i are truly kin.....i hope u have a wonderful 2018 angel, u deffo deserve it! keep on bein the lil ray of sunshine that u are!!!

💌  @foryoubybts heather!!!!!! Listen ur blog is so positive i love it soooooo much!!! i must see you post at least once a day about how much you love and adore bts and im just like Binch......SAME!!!!!!!! ur so so cute and lovely and seem like such a kind warm hearted wow pls be my bff!!!! ALSO ur gorgeous and id do anythin for ur lovely red hair :((( all the best bb!!!!

💌  @poutyjimin hi luisa!!!!!! Ur sooooo fucking funny i swear i die at ur txt posts ur a true comic genius!!!! thanks for making my dash a better place with ur funny posts!!!! i hope your 2018 is as wonderful as you are!!

💌  @snowglhobi re listen ur an actual ray of ACTUAL sunshine!!!!! ur blog is amazing and so cute and wow i just love it so much :((((( noah fence but im in luv with u!!!!! also boyinlub is such a god tier url doeifqwod miss her so much cant wait 2 see her again in 2018!!!! wishing u all the best angel!!!!

💌  @jeonbye salla we dont talk much but ur sooo funny!!!! literally u make me laugh so much and ur blog is so cute and i get so many positive vibes from u!!!!! So guess what!!!!! im sending all those positive vibes right back at u!!!! have a great 2018 bb i hope the year treats u well bc u deserve it!!!

💌  @mewwychwistmas nestle, wow, i lov u!!!!!! ur my favourite brand of chocolate!!!! also ur love for shrek is so pure and wholesome, it’s so beautiful to see how much you adore him!!! efuqiwoef lol for real tho ur so funny and hilarious and the sun is literally jealous of u bc she could never be as bright and wonderful as u are!!!!!!!!! ALL THE BEST FOR 2k18 BB!!!!!!!!! (im a master bby....wish ur toes)

💌  @jikooksgf hey zara!!!!!! listen!!!! ima only say this once!!!!! i love u and ur blog a lot!! i literally live for u aesthetic posts like binch so fuckin pretty!!!!! ur so sweet and seem sooooo lovely i hope youre doing well bb!!! also rly hope that 2018 treats u well and that u have a brilliant year ahead of u bc u deserve it!!!

💌  @kkultae hello!!!! firstly lemme just say ur super talented!!! ur art is amazing suwiojdw like its literally so good binch how u draw like that i cant even hold a pen.....ALSO ur so pretty wow pls be my gf :( i rmr u called me ur tumblr crush once and WOW my heart burst when u said that let me not lie.....anyway hope ur 2018 is as wonderful and amazing as u are!!!!! LY!!!!

💌  @sleepiemoon hi bb!!! we dont talk all that much but i genuinely get such lovely, positive vibes from you!! you seem like a wonderful person, and just wanna say i love ur blog and ur posts, they make me smile sooo much!!! all the best for 2018 angel <3 

💌  @winngs elena !!!! every time i see ur name i think of the vampire diaries lmao guwefiqwdo ANYWAY this binch (me) loves u and ur blog a LOT and she also thinks u deserve all the warmth love and happiness the world has to offer in 2018 bc guess what!!!!!! ur an actual lil ray of sunshine and u deserve it!!!! all the best!!!! 

💌  @firemv sarah wow OKKK name a more positive, lovely, amazin, caring, funny tumblr user than firemv i’ll wait.............ur honestly such a babe and i love u a lot!!!!!!! also ur a taurus so bonus points for that!!!! seriously tho i adore u, u literally invented languages like???? multilingual queen over here??? u honestly brighten my dash and u truly deserve to have a wonderful 2018!!!! all the best bb!!!

💌  @sailorjoon fy!!!!!! youre such a warm, lovable, friendly, amazing person but rly am i surprised?? i mean ur a cancer and all cancers are amazing lol!!!!!! honestly tho i think youre such an amazing person, your blog is soo wonderful and cute and wow me??? so in lov with u???? its more likely than u think!!!! jenfy 2k18!!!! ly bb!!!!

💌  @clownjimin stefi we dont talk tbh but fhbwdjq LISTEN ur so fuckin funny and ur blog is not only hilarious but also super cute !!!!!! have a wonderful 2018 im sending u lots of positive vibes bb!!!!!

💌  @starprincejimin  anna! we dont talk that much but you seem like such a lovely, kind, cute person and wow i just admire u so much from afar.....my new years resolution is to get to know u better bc ur literally just so amazing!!!!! all the best for 2018 angel!!!!

💌  @jeonpalette hi bb!!! ur blog is definitely one of the cutest blogs i follow!!!!!! we dont talk all that much but u seem so genuine and lovely and i rly wish u all the best for the upcoming year, u deserve to have an amazin 2018!!!!

💌  @clairelions chiara!!! you are honestly one of the most lovely, genuine, kind, talented and friendly people i have met on here!!! im so glad we got talking bc you are soooo cute!!! i love all ur edits too, they’re so incredibly beautiful just like you!!! all the best for 2018 bb, you honestly deserve to have such an amazing year!!

💌  @suransgf hey nura!!!! ur suuuuuuper cute and sweet!!! also ur mobile themes are also aesthetic af im always like Yes ma lov it when u bless my mobile app with that minimalistic look!!!!! ur rlly lovely and i hope ur 2018 is as wonderful as u are!!!!!

💌 @jeonggok hiiii bb!!!!! Listen ur so cute and i rly love ur blog a lot!!!! one of my new years resolutions is 2 get to know u better because u seem like a lovely person and ye lets be best friends!!!! all the best for the new year angel!!!!

💌  @byungjoo / @acustd laura listen i would be NOTHING without u......ur always out here responding to my incessant ask memes and let me just say i appreciate u binch!!!!!! ur sooo lovely, cute, funny not 2 mention drop dead gorgeous!!!! i rly hope ur 2018 is amazing bc u honestly deserve it so much!!! ly!!!!

💌  @daisyguk kiara!!! firstly ur name is so pretty!!! secondly!!!! we dont talk a lot but id love 2 get to know u better bc u seem rlly rlly sweet!!!! also so many anons have a crush on you like???? ur so loved wow????? hope ur 2018 is amazing bb u rly deserve it!!! sending u lots of love and warmth and positive vibes!!!

💌  @jiminnight hi jo!!!! (is it ok to call u thathwdjieufqw) listen up!!!!! U !!!!! ARE !!!! SO !!!!!! CUTE !!!!! AND !!!!! I !!!!! LOVE !!!! U !!!!! A LOT!!!!! SO !!!! JOT THAT DOWN!!!!! u seem like such a wonderful person and i see u spreading a lot of love and i just wana say i think ur amazing!!!!!!!!! all the best for 2018!!!!

💌  @g0thbug hi hazy!!!!! we aint ever spoke before but listen!!!!!!!!!!! ur blog and u are super cute and wow i love u a lot!!!! hope ur 2018 is brilliant!!!!!

💌  @dimples anna!!!! ur so lovely, i love ur blog a LOT!!!! ur so kind and sweet to everyone and you just seem like someone who spreads a lot of positivity and i lov that about u!!!!! we dont speak all that much but i’d love to get to know u better and thems the facts!!!! hope ur 2018 is as sweet as u are <3 

💌  @gfmp3 hii!!!!!!!!!! we aint ever rly spoken before but wow i lov u so much already!!!!! ur blog is so aesthetic and cute and yeh!!!!! i love it a hell of a lot!!!! ur a little ball of sunshine, thanks for brightening up my dash everyday!! all the best for the new year!!

💌  @vanillalattaes hi angel!!!! u seem like such a positive, loving person and i just wana say i lov u and ur blog A LOT!!!!!!! i hope get to know ech other more in the new year if ur up for that!!!! thanks for being a cute lil flower and making my dash a better place!!!! ly!!!

💌  @seokchiminie henlo!!!!! we only recently became mutuals but lemme just say ur such a lovely person with such a kind, warm vibe!!!! listen binch i lov u!!! and i hope ur 2018 is as wonderful as u are i rly mean that!!!! 

💌  @raplinesgf hi gio!!!! we only recently became mutuals but im SOOO glad we did bc i love u and ur blog soooooo much!!!! i truly hope your 2018 is full of love, warmth and happiness bc that’s what u deserve !!!!! also!!!!! UR RED HAIR IS SO GORGEOUS!!!! 

💌  @deletaed hi kris!!!! let me Not lie i’ve been admiring u from afar for a while now!! i think youre a really great person and pls know that i love u and ur blog a whole lot!!! im sending u lots of happy positive vibes for 2018, u deserve to have an amazin year!!

🎀🌹💓💗💖✨💕a few honourable mentions (i love u guys a lot!!!!! i could honesly write a cute lil paragrpah about u all but if im being honest ive ran out of steam at this point lmao !!!!! ur blogs are amazing and honestly brighten up my day!!!! i’d love to get to know u all better in 2018!!!! pls hmu any time !!!!!!! lov u!!!!!)🎀🌹💓💗💖✨💕 

@etudehaus @spicekook @1honeyoongi @jjkboo @ohjiminn @1taesgf @wvaterlily @hqjeons @repackages @taelilies @lovlesbians @9yoong @peachiichiim @acciosugas @parkjimin2 @dwjjk @milklattaes @ilyjimn @yyouth @jurassicjimin @lipsmp3 @taev-gucci @gayminyoongi @taetle @pjmin @lovelytaeh @6apricorn @01nochu @rosyhoseok @mitaesoro @christmasyoong @princessyoongi

#wow this took me SO long #i cant believe ive only been on tumblr for like 2 months bc honestly/?? i love u all so much feels like ive been on here forever #i honestly ran out of steam bc i typed so much i fee l so bad bc i wanted to write a nice lil message for everyone!!!!! #wow i hope i didnt 4get anyone #if i did pls feel freee to call my ass OUT #anyway #love u all #have an amazin christmas eve and christmas !!!!!

[cosimaballettithomas-blog]

Blog No. 4

The topic of this week is how humans and the general Anthropocene influence ecosystem goods and services. The Anthropocene “is a proposed epoch dating from the commencement of significant human impact on the Earth’s geology and ecosystems, including, but not limited to, anthropogenic climate change” (Wikipedia 2019). One field of study devoted to this is known as “Big History” which describes a timeline dating as far back as the Big Bang. Unlike the kind of history taught in schools that focuses on humans and their invention of agriculture and ultimate progression towards civilization, Big History explores the history of the universe of which humans are but a mere component. In other words, Big History assigns weight to all facets of the universe, many of which existed long before the arrival of humans, which makes up only a small portion of the time period encompassed by Big History (Wikipedia 2019). Big History gives insight into the greater issue of Anthropocentric assumed supremacy that is rooted in the largely Western misconception that history began with human history and, more, specifically, the birth of Christ, evidenced by the fact that most Westerners, Christian or not, are in accord that it is the year 2019, as opposed to approximately 4 billion. Moreover, our history textbooks use terms such as BC and AD which only serve to normalize the idea that everything began with Christ and that the world is a mere few thousand years old. Even the most vehement of atheists and non-Christians are probably dating their documents, checks, and so on as Month/Day/2019, or according to their own calendar, as opposed to Month/Day/4.6 billion (Time Chart Planet Earth, 656).

Although it may seem obvious, in doing this, we forget that we only came into existence a relatively short time ago compared to, for example, when the first vertebrates appeared 500 million years ago (Time Chart Planet Earth, 656). It is this kind of thinking and ignorance that only serves to uphold our self-assumed supremacy when in reality, we offer nothing to nature and the non-human world that it could not on its own live without, as explicated in the film Journey of the Universe. In contrast, as demonstrated by the recent IPCC report, if the average global temperature increases just a few degrees, the world will become inhospitable for millions of people in many parts of the world. In other words, the natural world does not need us, but our reliance on it is so ingrained and intertwined that any seemingly minor change could be truly devastating. This is expounded on in an Environmental News Network article titled “Stark Differences in Climate Impacts Between 1.5 and 2 Degrees of Warning.” The article explains that the difference between 1.5 and 2 degrees Celsius “would mean than an additional 5 million people worldwide will have the land where their homes are located be permanently submerged underwater” (ENN 2018). Moreover, sea levels rise could lead to even more extreme disasters (pictured below). For example, “The New York City area could experience one Hurricane Sandy-like flood event every five years by the end of the century” (ENN 2018).

                                                                                                              (ENN 2018)

In Jared Diamond’s Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed, Diamond lists the five factors involved in societal collapse: “climate change, hostile neighbors, collapse of essential trading partners, environmental problems, and the society's response to the forgoing four factors” (Wikipedia 2019). Diamond’s book discusses why some societies succeed and others flourish “on the basis of whether they unsustainably degraded the ecosystem goods and services they depended on” (Prof’s PowerPoint, Slide 18). Some examples are Easter Island and the Rust Belt Towns. Recently, however, it has become abundantly clear that the environmental crisis of one society can influence an entire region, country, continent, or even the entire world. For example, Las Vegas’ water crisis now calls for an alternative water source and the only viable solution that has been proposed is to build a multi-billion dollar pipeline that would transport water from other states to the water consuming juggernaut which would create a massive disturbance to the in-between habitats that likely would have to be removed or at least greatly reduced in order to clear space for the intra-national infrastructure. This is similar to the construction of the Three Gorges Dam in China which displaced millions of people as well as animals and was essentially an environmental catastrophe, as demonstrated in the film, Manufactured Landscapes. Fortunately, the Las Vegas proposal was shut down. Unfortunately, the city is going to have to come up with another plan that likely will still cause harm to the environment.

As stated in the IPCC, any greater global temperature rise could displace mass populations of people and clearly the last few years have been especially telling in how hostile countries such as the United States are towards refugees. It is becoming increasingly important that people recognize that problems of the Anthropocene are completely interconnected with environmental problems and that if we continue at the rate we are going with respect to consumption, pollution, emissions, etc., we will see even higher temperatures which will cause higher sea levels, more frequent natural disasters, and more displaced people due to areas of the world becoming unfit for life.

Steven Stoll’s U.S. Environmentalism Since 1945 describes a recent trend in the United States that I find just fascinating, that of the recent partizaniation of environmental issues. Stoll writes that “Environmentalism has not figured prominently in any presidency since Richard Nixon’s, nor has any candidate for national office made it central to his or her campaign” furthering that even renowned environmentalist and author of one of the most “comprehensive essay[s] about the environment ever written by an elected official” Al Gore “abandoned his own conclusions during his 2000 campaign, fearful that Republicans, led by George W. Bush, would use the issue against him” (Stoll 2007, 23-24). The Miller textbook touches on this as it documents the various worldviews that have been held collectively since the middle ages. Most recently is the contemporary Environmentalism Era that began in the 60’s and 70’s with Nixon, who was a Republican’s creation of the EPA along with other important environmental laws and policies. In addition, Earth Day was created which, although a minor component of the environmental decade, symbolized the increasing and more wide-spread awareness and concern about the state of the environment (Miller 2012, S8). A decade later marks the beginning of this trend of treating environmental issues as partisan issues that was largely engendered by the Reagan administration that valued economic growth and profit and other “Real American” values over environmental protection and sustainability (Miller 2012, S8). In response to the Critical Thinking Question, I suppose that the first lesson we can learn from environmental history is that human history is relatively recent compared to the planet’s history; thus, human supremacy is completely unfounded. Secondly, environmental worldviews are subject to change and often affected by the current ideology. Lastly, the planet is clearly autonomous and self-functioning and has existed for billions of years without human presence. In other words, the planet provides every facet our existence and only started depleting when humans arrived and began to exploit it at increasing rates.

Word Count: 1201

Discussion Question: What do you think led to the partizanization of environmental issues? Was it a sudden shift having to do with the administration at the time or was it something more subtle?

Work Cited

"Big History." Wikipedia. January 03, 2019. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_History.

“Time Chart” https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzKbjVLpnX0RejdkT2ExNVJjUWc/view

"Anthropocene." Wikipedia. January 30, 2019. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthropocene.

"Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed." Wikipedia. January 04, 2019. Accessed February 01, 2019. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collapse:_How_Societies_Choose_to_Fail_or_Succeed.

Stoll, Steven. U.S. Environmentalism Since 1945: A Brief History With Documents. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martins, 2007.

Van Buren, Edward. “Prof’s PowerPoint Notes.” https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzKbjVLpnX0RMjVGYUwwZlBXa28/view

Miller, Tyler G., and Scott Spoolman. "Supplements." Edited by Scott Spoolman. In Living in the Environment. 17th ed. Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning, 2012.

Yale Environment. "Stark Differences in Climate Impacts Between 1.5 and 2 Degrees of Warming." ENN. March 16, 2018. https://www.enn.com/articles/54113-stark-differences-in-climate-impacts-between-1-5-and-2-degrees-of-warming.

Manufactured Landscapes. Accessed February 06, 2019. https://www.edwardburtynsky.com/projects/films/manufactured-landscapes.

[shortqueershakespeare]

Can you do all the questions please? 🥺👉👈

i’m starting to think all of the question requests are one anon and i’m so intrigued, i genuinely didn’t think anyone would be remotely interested lol also I reblogged two and I’m not sure which you meant so i’ll do both! Animated character that was your gay awakening?

- Hmmm back when I thought i was cis I guess Kim Possible, when I started realising I was trans, Flynn Rider

Grilled cheese or PB&J?

- Grilled cheese babyyyy, love cheese, hate peanut butter

What show/YouTube video(s) do you put on in the background when you when you don’t have anything to watch but you want something on?

- Pretty much anything I’ve seen before, usually comedy, so Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Parks and Rec, Crazy ex Girlfriend, Chuck

Your go-to bar order, if you drink?

- Rum and coke, or pina colada if I’m feeling fancy

What’s your favorite pair of shoes that you own?

- Either my tennis trainers or my shoes with rainbow laces

Top three cuisines?

- Italian, Japanese, Mexican

What was your first word as a child (that wasn’t a variation of “Mom” or “Dad”)?

- I have literally no idea, it’s written on a calendar somewhere

What’s a job that you’ve had that people might be surprised to find out you’ve had?

- Cleaner for a business

Look up. What’s directly across from you?

- The AGA

Do you own any signed books/memorabilia in general?

- Signed Dear Hank and John poster, a signed anorak (I took it to festivals), some signed CDs etc

Preferred way to spend a rainy day?

- Curled up under a blanket with a book and a cup of tea, ideally with my head in a boy’s lap.

What do you get on your bagels? 

- I don’t really get bagels so idk

What WOULD you get if you had access to anything you wanted?

- Top surgery and a good prosthetic lol

Brunch or midnight snacks?

- Mate I’m not choosing, but probably midnight snacks because I’d prob sleep through brunch if I could

Favorite mug you own

- Either my Robin mug or my moose mug

What coffee drink would you describe yourself as?

- Caramel iced latte

Pick a song lyric to describe your current mood (and drop the name and artist!)

- Would you be so kind/ as to fall in love with me - Would you be so kind - dodie

Fruity or herbal teas?

- Herbal I guess??

What’s that one TV show that you’re a little bit embarrassed to watch but you still like nonetheless?

- Fucking Vanderpump rules thanks to my damn sister

That book you were forced to read for class but actually ended up enjoying?

- To Kill A Mockingbird

Do you match your socks?

- Yes

Have you ever been horseback riding?

- Yes, at a birthday party

What was your “phase” when you were younger? (i.e., Mythology Nerd, Horse Girl, Space Geek, etc)

- Real bold of you to assume I only had one, here’s a non comprehensive list:

Rabbits

Tigers

Football

Harry Potter

Tennis

Theatre

Languages

Have you ever been to jail?

- Nope

What’s your opinion on Lazy Susan’s (the spinning tray in the middle of tables)?

- Cool I guess?

Puzzles?

- Love them

You can only have one juice for the rest of your life, what is it?

- Apple??

What section do you immediately head for when you walk into a bookstore?

- Either YA if going for fiction, History if going for non-fiction, Language for uni stuff

What’s one thing you’re trying to learn/relearn in your downtime right now?

- How to be fucking MOTIVATED MAN I’M MEANT TO BE WRITING AN ESSAY

Who’s your go-to musical artist when you’re feeling upbeat?

- Troye Sivan

Where could someone find you in a museum?

- Depends, abroad you’ll find me seeing if I can understand the signs, if not I just wander round and look at lots of interesting stuff

What’s that one outfit in your closet you never get the chance to wear but want to?

- I reallyyyyy wanna wear dungarees w/o a shirt but can’t til post top surgery

Rainbows, stars, or sunset colored clouds?

- For art, sunset coloured clouds, for actual real life, stars bc I love nighttime, for anything else, rainbows

If you could own any non-traditional pet (dogs, cats, fish, rodents, etc), what would it be?

- Does a bunny count as non-traditional? I have one and I love him

Do you have more art on your walls or more photographs?

- I think it’s a 50/50 split! I have a photo wall, and the rest is art

You have to get one meme tattooed on your body, what meme is it and where does it go?

- The spiderman meme, on my feet so if I stand with them turned out it shows properly

Pick a superhero sidekick to hang out with

- Robin

Lakes, rivers, or oceans?

- Oceans and lakes for swimming, rivers otherwise

Favorite mid-2000s song

- AKA my childhood, Mr Brightside (also I just discovered that a lot of songs I thought were early 2000s were late 2000s rip)

How do you dress when you’re home alone?

- I sleep naked, and I often wear harem pants and a tshirt

Where do you sit in the living room (we all have a preferred spot, and you know it)?

- On the right of the sofa

Knives or swords?

- Knives

A song you didn’t think you’d enjoy but ended up loving

- AJR - Burn The House Down

Pick an old-school Disney Channel Original Movie

- HSM

Are you a “Quote that relates to the photos” caption-er, an “explanation of where I took the photos” caption-er, or a no caption kinda person when you post pictures online?

- Explanation, or a piece of my writing inspired by the pictures

Name a classic Vine

- Legit can’t think of any

What’s the freezer food that you stock up on when you go to the grocery store?

- okay so this is the first time in years I’ve had a freezer but when I get to pick - hash browns every time

How do you top your ice cream?

- I usually don’t?? Is this an american thing??

Do you like Jello?

- Meh, indifferent angel;  favorite album of all time? 

- this probably changes all the time because I listen to a lot of differnet genres but off the top of my head, bonxie by stornoway

honey;  are you a very affectionate person? 

- fuck yeah

moonlight;  do you enjoy museums? 

- yesss

roses;  what does love feel like to you? describe it! 

- love is like waking up, perfectly rested and relaxed, with enough time to start the day in whatever way you want. love is all the hard work you put into revising, the anxiety of exams, and the relief of them finishing all at once. love is commitment and trust and heartbreak and frustration. love is having your own language with someone, knowing what to do when they’ve had a hard day and needing no prompting. love is picking up their favourite shampoo when you’re out because you noticed they were running low. love is trying really hard to cook their favourite meal, failing miserably, and them eating it anyway, and lighting up at the effort you put in. love is friendship bracelets and origami butterflies scattered around your room. love is pulling back to allow them room to grow and pulling them up if they need some encouragement. love is sending them pictures with a “this made me think of you”. love is all these things and more.

shimmer;  zodiac sign?

- pisces

princess;  have you ever been to disneyland? if so, favorite ride? 

- nope, never been

cherry;  have you ever been to a psychic? 

- nope

magic;  favorite film? 

- moana probably

starlight;  have you ever written a love letter?

- yes and i want to again, they really mean a lot to me

velvet;  do you enjoy horror films?

- HATE THEM HATE THEM HATE THEM, they give me nightmares

blush;  have you been to a concert? if so, which one(s)? 

- show of hands, stornoway, dodie

sparkle;  dream job? 

- translator for an lgbt refugee centre or academic

witches;  how do you like to dress? 

- depends, i have a lot of colourful clothes but i tend to switch between muted masc (greys, dark blues, black), vibrant masc (green, blue) and rainbow

crystal;  favorite planet? 

- saturn

sugar;  favorite pet names? (baby, sweetheart, etc.) 

- love, darling, babe, 

hopeless;  do you believe in ghosts? 

- no

glow;  do you have or want any tattoos? what of? 

- I want many, a transition one (which is a bit personal so not sure i’ll share rn), an infinity sign, a dodie lyric, something in russian, something watercolour

starlet;  what historical period is most interesting to you? 

- for my subject, the 1960s-1990s (yes v recent I know)

motel;  are you superstitious? 

- no

heart;  do you like the color pink? 

- ehhhh

golden;  do you appreciate high fashion? 

- i’m not eve sure i know what that is lol

[douchebagbrainwaves]

WHY I'M SMARTER THAN EXAMPLE

But apparently hackers are particularly curious, especially about how things work. The philosophy's there, but it's hard to design something for an individual client's complex and ill-defined needs. For example, if you find yourself packing a bottle of vodka just in case, you may have a whole car to yourself. My three partners and I run a seed stage investment firm called Y Combinator. You tend to keep your voice down, because there's a good chance the person at the next table would know some of the statements that get people in trouble, and start asking, could this be true? The situation is much the same with work. But I did not till recently understand the role risk played. I was talking about how investors are reluctant to put money into startups in bad markets, even though that's the time they should rationally be most willing to buy?

Because the main points are unconnected, the list of n things.1 The cartoon strip Dilbert has a lot to market it. Let them write lists of n things for n 3.2 So who are the great hackers I know seem to have a habit of questioning assumptions. And the crude version 1 was, if I remember correctly, less than 10,000 lines of code: the best design surpasses its predecessors by using new ideas, you don't have to work as if it were the small group of individuals that humans were designed to work in. I couldn't imagine a great hacker except by working with him, and treat that.3 And users don't care where you went to college. A lot of the statements that make people mad are the ones they worry might be true. A team that outplays its opponents but loses because of a bad decision by the referee could be called unlucky, but not hapless. I have to give up on the bottom.

They'll be things you've already noticed but didn't let yourself think. Good hackers avoid it for the same reason I did look under rocks as a kid: plain curiosity. In a list of n things protects the writer from indulging in any flights of fancy. New technology and new jobs both come disproportionately from new companies. Why didn't anyone think of it before?4 And software sells hardware. When times get bad, hackers go to grad school at Harvard to cure you of any illusions you might have about the average Harvard undergrad. I don't know enough to say whether advantages like lack of competition outweigh disadvantages like reluctant investors. Saying the earth orbited the sun was another matter. Some would ask, why would one want to do, at least for a while. Obviously you can't prove this in the case of a single individual, but you can tell from aggregate evidence: you can't manage a process intended to produce beautiful things without knowing what beautiful is. But what if the problem isn't given?

For most of us, it's not a switch to Apple, but a return. The cartoon strip Dilbert has a lot to say about cubicles, and with good reason.5 The answer to the paradox, I think, though, that all other things being equal, a company that will deliver so much as one that, if they have time machines in the future will look like, but I'm not too worried about it. If you work on overlooked problems, you're more likely to discover new things, because you need more of them to solve a given problem. There are people who would disagree with this. Well, that is.6 Even people who hate you for it believe it.7 As for books, I know the answer to that.

As for books, I know the answer to that. But airports are not so bad: most of the initial sales of the Apple II came from people who bought one to run VisiCalc. What if no one happens to have gotten in trouble for a particular idea yet? Now that conventional ideas have caught up with it, it seems obvious. The spread of the term political correctness meant the beginning of the end of political correctness in the early 1990s, Harvard distributed to its faculty and staff a brochure saying, among other things, that it made sense to invest in us if we had better than a 1 in 24 chance of succeeding. I've rarely had a neat answer to it.8 Instead of writing Word directly in C, they'd be plugging together big Lego blocks of Word-language. A real essay, as the name implies, is dynamic: you don't know you need to, and the study he quoted was published in 1968.

I think, maybe I should say Richard Stallman, or Linus Torvalds, or Alan Kay, or someone famous like that. This essay is derived from a talk at Oscon 2004. So it's winner take all. So it's winner take all. It's true they have a long tradition of comparative open-mindedness is no guarantee. Notice all this time I've been talking about the designer. Once a toll becomes painful, people start to find ways around it, and that's pretty easy with digital content. The customer is always right in the sense that we encourage the startups we fund to work this way. It seems so convincing when you see animals in the wild. The philosophy's there, but it's woven into the story instead of being pasted onto it like a label. By the time you get to social questions, many changes are just fashion.

Notes

1323-82.

Companies didn't start to get at it, by Courant and Robbins; Geometry and the war had been with their decision—just that if you include the prices of new means of production. Parker, op. Since the remaining outcomes don't have the least correlation between the government, it seems a bit more complicated, because the test for what gets included in shows that they lived in a bug.

Instead of bubbling up from the study. But politicians know the answer.

When you're starting a business is to claim retroactively I said yes. One VC who got buyer's remorse, then work on Wall Street were in 2000, because they've learned more, are not merely blurry versions of great ones. Different kinds of menial work early in the Ancient World, Economic History Review, 2:9 1956,185-199, reprinted in Finley, M. Thanks to Paul Buchheit for the government, it may be useful here, because by definition if the company is always room for another.

It's a bit misleading to treat macros as a game, Spacewar, in one where life was tougher, the more educated ones. Robert Morris says that clothing brands favored by urban youth do not do this would be a hot startup. But it could be adjacent.

It's hard for us, because some schools work hard to mentally deal with them.

One VC who got buyer's remorse, then work on open-source projects, even if they seem to someone in 1880 that schoolchildren in 1980 would be great for VCs if the similarity extended to returns. We try to make peace with Spain, and Windows, respectively. The biggest exits are the only result is that if a company tried to combine the hardware with an associate if you pack investor meetings too closely, you'll have to decide whether you're a YC startup and you can survive without external encouragement.

Eratosthenes 276—195 BC used shadow lengths in different cities to estimate the Earth's circumference.

#automatically generated text #Markov chains #Paul Graham #Python #Patrick Mooney #habit #time #definition #wild #things #staff #list #process #client #talk #answer #Earth #World #prices #sup #C #someone #software #investment #lack #means #startup #design #Street

[tonyjoung123-blog]

Research

Soccer is a sport played by two teams of eleven players with a round ball which may not be handled during play except by the goalkeeper. Through out the years, soccer had many events and it became very popular. It is very popular because of its history and it doesn’t need a lot of equipments to play. Soccer is a really well-known sport, and which is famous because it has its own world championship that started from 1930 called the World Cup. It played every 4 years. 32 countries play in the World Cup finals and they are the countries who won the preliminary competitions in their continents. There are over 3.2 billion people watching World Cup. Another reason that soccer became famous is it has a long history. Ancient soccer started from about 2000 years ago, and it came from China. It has been recorded that Ancient Chinese played soccer in their military bases. They used to play soccer to improve soldiers’ ability to react quickly. “The very earliest form of the game for which there is scientific evidence was an exercise from a military manual dating back to the second and third centuries BC in China” ( “History of Football - The Origins.” FIFA.com, www.fifa.com/about-fifa/who-we-are/the-game/index.html )*. However, modern soccer started in England. They started the game to compete between two villages, people needed to shoot a ball to a pub “Packs from one village have competed with a rival village to push a ball several miles to a goal, usually sited conveniently near an ale house in each village” and the team who make a goal to the house will win. (“Related Links:” History of English Football, British Sport History!, www.information-britain.co.uk/sporthistory/entry/Football/.)* Even though it was very popular in England, the King of England banned soccer in 1314 because the young people were more interested in it than archery. Although the King of England banned soccer, there were still many young people who played soccer. There were many conflicts but they disobeyed the rules and kept playing soccer during 17th and 18th century. By the end of the 18th century, soccer has became an lawful game and it had started being played in some of Britain’s leading public schools. As the game became lawful during the 18th and 19th century, it developed greatly, which meant there were more players showing up to play and more matches happened. It is a fact that British people love soccer, but nowadays people say South Americans love soccer more than Europeans. The reason is because South Americans also have an interesting history of soccer. Soccer spread out to South America because of the immigration from Europe  “In  the second half of the 1800s, there was a massive influx of European immigrants into South America, especially Argentina, Uruguay, and Brazil.” (https://www.quora.com/Why-is-soccer-such-a-popular-sport-in-Latin-America-and-Spain-All-of-my-friends-from-Latin-America-and-Spain-play-soccer)*. There was a period that South American tried to learn some skills and some systems from Europeans. They thought Europeans were clever so they were trying to learn from them. When numerous people migrated to South America, they brought soccer balls to South America because they wanted to kept their interests going and kept playing their cultural games. During the time that many people were migrating, local people naturally learned how to play soccer. Some of the British immigrants played soccer in schools and colleges that they set up. They played soccer with locals and they taught some skills and techniques  to the locals. “The immigrant Brits played the game in the schools and colleges they set up, taught the locals how to play, and the locals totally embraced it" (“Is Rugby Going the Way of Football?” The Roar, The Roar, 13 July 2009, www.theroar.com.au/2009/07/14/is-rugby-going-the-way-of-football/)* Even though South Americans learned soccer, they were not that rich because they had a history of being poor, but soccer didn’t need a lot amount of money, so they developed more. South Americans were not very rich averagely, but if people have a round ball, even though it is not a perfect soccer ball, they can still use this ball to play. They could play soccer wherever when the ground is flat. For this reason, they spent a lot of time in playing soccer so their skills developed a lot. After South Americans became the best of the world, they started to feel very strongly when they play with a neighboring country because soccer became one of their most important things on their minds. When they are having a game between two countries of South America, each countries citizens became very angry so they called it a “football war” due to crowds that became really furious with players during the game. “El Salvador and Honduras once went to war after a highly-contested World Cup qualifier, a conflict known as the “Football War” (“Futbol!: Soccer History and Politics in Latin America.” The Kojo Nnamdi Show, thekojonnamdishow.org/shows/2014-05-28/futbol-soccer-history-and-politics-latin-america) Soccer is popular all over the world because of several reasons. The biggest reason that soccer has became famous is it doesn’t cost a lot of money to play  when we compared with other sports. “Football can be played with just a ball and play in streets as opposed to equipment required in American football, cricket etc. So, everyone has access to football.” (https://www.quora.com/Why-is-football-soccer-the-most-popular-sport-in-the-world)* If people want to play soccer, they don’t need other equipments except a soccer ball. We need to have shin guards if we play an official match, but we can still play soccer without them if we are not playing a match. Soccer is also the best sport to play if a person wants to exercise and to be healthy because it needs to exhaust all the stamina to play. Everyone who has a soccer ball can play soccer whenever and they can play wherever if the ground is flat. it became one of the most popular games in the world because soccer can be played in a common area. Soccer is a sport that has a long history and it is one of the most popular sport in the world. It has a lot of conflicts for soccer to develop, but now, there are many people watching and playing soccer, especially in South America. For those reasons, soccer has become one of the best sports in the world.

Soccer is a sport played by two teams of eleven players with a round ball which may not be handled during play except by the goalkeeper. Now soccer is very popular because of its history and it doesn’t need any equipment. Soccer is a sport that started in England which began as a  competition “with a rival village to push a ball to a goal near an ale house in each village”. (“Related Links:” History of English Football, British Sport History!, www.information-britain.co.uk/sporthistory/entry/Football/.) The king of England banned soccer because citizens were not playing archery than soccer. Even though the king banned soccer, there were still many people who played. Although soccer started in England, South American played soccer a lot. The reason is because immigrants from England brought soccer balls to South America. They taught locals how to play soccer and the locals “totally embraced it”. (“Is Rugby Going the Way of Football?” The Roar, The Roar, 13 July 2009, www.theroar.com.au/2009/07/14/is-rugby-going-the-way-of-football/)*.   The reason that South Americans could continue playing soccer is because it doesn’t need much money, and that was why they could became the best in the world. Soccer became one of their most important things to them and they feel strongly about it., so matches between two countries from South America are known as “Football War”. (“Futbol!: Soccer History and Politics in Latin America.” The Kojo Nnamdi Show, thekojonnamdishow.org/shows/2014-05-28/futbol-soccer-history-and-politics-latin-america). It is not only affected in South America. People from all over the world love playing soccer because it is not an expensive sport. “Soccer can be played with just a ball when we compared to other sports”. Soccer needs to spend a lot of stamina, so many people prefer to play soccer because it is an energetic sport. (https://www.quora.com/Why-is-football-soccer-the-most-popular-sport-in-the-world)* Soccer is a popular sport that has a long history and now, it is the most popular sport in the world. There are billions of people watching and playing soccer. However, soccer has become one of the best sports in the world.

Reflection:

In this year, the most rememberable essay for me is History of Soccer. The reason that I think this is my most rememberable essay in this whole year is because I spent a lot of time in researching about the topic, and I chose this topic because even though I like soccer, I didn’t know a lot about why it became famous and attracted billions of people to play. I think It is my best essay during this whole year because I spent many time to care about word choice when I write this essay. I used plenty of facts in this essay and so it was a time that I could learn a lot about soccer. I was really likable to do the research about soccer because it was an interesting topic for me.

[always-questioning]

I love doing all the research for the essay I'm supposed to write but like... it always come out so bad once i start writing like I read so much and know so much but ur giving me 2000 words to explain to u why hunger is politically caused and there are so many stages like u got colonialism where Europe just extracted resources from other countries for export and made it so they couldn't afford to buy their own food and then the UN development projects come along after decolonisation and u got structural adjustment loans that forced countries to adopt neoliberal policies if they wanted money to develop which meant no social welfare and no farming subsidies and also just before that u had food aid bc the US produced too much and didn't want the price of wheat to drop so they dumped it in developing countries that undercut all the local farmers who lost their jobs and then made the developing countries dependent on the US for food once aid stopped and then globalisation and all kinds of asshole tariffs that just amplify everything and makes the wealthy countries wealthier and the poor poorer oh my god it's too much where do I even start and why do I write like a cat walking on a keyboard also I hate everything bc there are so many ways we could have people not starving but nah we'll just keep claiming that free markets work even though the evidence is very stacked against us ugh

#it's such a good topic but holy fuck I can't write right now #uni #hunger #development #UN #Bretton Woods #saps #capitalism