#i get a little bit genghis kahn | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

emansil · 1 year

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@astridastrolabe expressed interest if the fic "Genghis Kahn", a james/Scorpius fic in my WiP Folder. Since I am unable to get the entire response in a direct reply to her, I am putting it here: (yes it is a bit long, but I'm running late and trying to figure out how to do a cut in tumblr is taking too long. Sorry)

“Genghis Kahn”, the full title being “I Get a Little Bit Genghis Kahn” Is a loosely based on the song and the video of a Mike Snow’s song by the same title Link to video here:https://www.tumblr.com/widgets/share/tool?shareSource=legacy&canonicalUrl=&url=https%3A%2F%2Fyoutube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DP_SlAzsXa7E%26feature%3Dshare&posttype=video&content=https%3A%2F%2Fyoutube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DP_SlAzsXa7E%26feature%3Dshare&caption=Miike+Snow+-+Genghis+Khan+%28Official+Video%29

Only, the fic itself is nothing like the song, or video, but first time I heard it I came up with an unusual idea and concept. In my head I named the unwritten fic it, and I can’t see changing it.

The original prompt was left about a gazillion years ago by @capitu Prompt: Scorpius's boyfriend dumps him after he learns Scorpius is pregnant. Alone and sad, Albus invites Scorpius to move in with him and James and we get to see a very protective side of James.

My idea was to make Scorpius be the actual aggressor here, He is dumped and he needs a place to live. James has been in love with Scorpius since he was 14 years old, the feelings are completely unrequited, though they are friends and mates. It is now about 6 year later and neither of their feelings about the other has changed. Scorpius has long been aware of James feelings. Only now he is prepared to take full advantage of those feelings.

The premise of the story is that whenever James is has a date with someone else, Scorpius, having a very strong imagination, is struck with visions of James in a very graphic sexual activity with the other. Scorpius, hit with surges of lust for James that is impossible to ignore, and he takes immediate action, doing everything he can to keep James <b>with him</b> just a little bit longer.

Once the sex is over, Scorpius goes back to being a real arse to James. Partly to deal with the guilt he is feeling, only he keeps doing it over and over. Every time James has a date with anyone, Scorpius has to have him; seducing James in any way he can. James, thinking that Scorpius feelings for him have changed becomes smitten all over again, each time. Only Scorpius feelings have not changed. He doesn’t fully understand why he is doing this. There’s just something about the idea of James being with another. He’s not jealous, per se. He is more of a voyeur, in his mind, of the possibility of James maybe having sex with another is a real turn on for him.

James needless to say is confused as fuck. Has no idea what is happening or why. And yes, Scorpius is a real wanker in much of this fic.

The story does end with a happy, but uncommon, ending.

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keyofjetwolf · 3 years

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Part character-based guessing game, part cooking show.

This anime is clearly, in some part, a love letter to food, and so I feel I’d be doing a massive disservice by not logging the preparation portion of the program. Particularly as it lasted three minutes and fifteen seconds of an episode that only lasts 13:25, so nearly a quarter of its length was in cooking the thing. It’s a ton of caps to get all the recipe, so I’ll sprinkle them amongst the text. SEASONING IF YOU WILL. I myself am not anything approaching a cook, I am actively a hazard in the kitchen, so I don’t have much to say about the recipe or techniques or anything, but extend a hearty welcome for commentary from you guys if you have it!

~~~

Soup broth is what you use as the base for your noodle broth. You fill a saucepan with sweet rice wine. Bring it to a boil to let the alcohol evaporate. Turn down the heat, add sugar and cook until it dissolves.

Add soy sauce and heat it at a low simmer, so it doesn’t burn. Once it starts bubbling around the rim of the saucepan, and you see white foam rising to the surface, turn off the heat and skim off the foam. Set it aside to cool, and your soup broth is done. Next, the kelp I left to soak since yesterday...

You combine water and kelp, leaving it to soak, pour it into a saucepan, then remove the kelp just before it comes to a boil. After lowering the heat, add bonito flakes, and simmer for 30 to 40 minutes. Later, strain it with a straining cloth, and you’ll have your kelp broth!

The leeks should be chopped finely. The mustard spinach should be boiled, then cut into bite-size slices. The fish cake should be sliced into eight-millimeter chunks. And now the tempura...

Remove the shell and digestive tract from the shrimp, then cut off the tip of the tail to remove any liquid. Then rub and rinse the shrimp with a little salt, potato starch and sake. Next, prepare the batter. Mix the eggs thoroughly with cold water. Then after adding the flour and stirring, coat the shrimp with the batter, and deep-fry them at 170 to 180 degrees Celsius.

Now combine the broth with the soup broth, and season to taste. After boiling the soba noodles al dente, rinse them under cold running water and drain them. Ladle the broth onto the noodles you’ve heated up in hot water, and your shrimp tempura is done!

Mustard spinach, fish cake, Japanese leeks... And citron rinds are your garnish... Here you go! Toshikoshi soba!

~~~

These caps in no way fully capture the PUREST LOVE in this food animation. I’m pretty sure they brought in an entire special team just to deal with animating the liquids, some sort wetworks squad, But Not Like That Though. It’s unreal. LOOK AT THIS NOODLE RINSING

Another bit of the animation that totally struck me was how Chef Master Genghis Kahn, or whoever the fuck he’s supposed to be, gives the shrimp a little wiggle in the towel, AND IT LOOKS EXACTLY LIKE IT SHOULD. I don’t know how to better articulate this, until this moment, I wouldn’t have told you this had such a specific appearance, BUT IT REALLY REALLY DOES I NEED YOU TO LOOK AT THIS SHIT I HAVE TO GIF IT ONE SECOND

It has just the right amount of resistance and springiness, and I’m not sure I could’ve described even HOW to do that before seeing it right here on loop in front of my face. And it’s all of about four seconds! The attention to such an insignificant detail impresses the heck out of me, and while I know the animation isn’t a marker of the writing, I’m extra hopeful for at least a few equally wonderful character touches to come.

#jet wolf watches emiya family #emiya family ep 1 #jw gifs #i'm also really taken with cutting off the ends of the tails to drain liquid #i have no idea why but here i am #fascinated

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liviethewriter · 3 years

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A Gentle Caress || Darim x Fem!Reader || Part 1/?

Type: Series

Requester: None

Warnings: Fear of Abuse

Note: This pretty man does NOT get the attention he deserves. I swear. So, here we go on this trainwreck of a series with Darim Ibn-La’Ahad. Many of the instruments in this are from the band The HU. Look them up. They’re friggin awesome. I apologize for any incorrect mistranslations of Arabic to English. Google Translate was used. The Assassin’s Creed franchise is not mine, and rights to it go to Ubisoft. You are your own person. The only thing that is mine is the fanfiction itself. Enjoy! -Livie

Laughter echoed through the halls of the inn. Drunkards and simply merry men joked with each other, clinking their tankards together as barmaids floated around the room, offering drinks. It was muffled from Altaïr and Maria’s room, where they were getting ready for bed. The family, along with their son, were on their way back to Masyaf. Maria had noticed that their son had not come to bed. She looked a little concerned, looking to her husband.

“Altaïr, where’s Darim? He said he’d let us know when he returned from outside,” Maria asked, inquisitive.

Altaïr considered her question. Darim had wanted a breath of fresh air, feeling that the inn was much too stuffy. So, what was taking him so long? “I do not know, Maria. Should I go to look for him?”

“Not yet. I’m sure he’s just a bit troubled by all that’s happened as of late.” Maria knew all too well that Altaïr knew what she spoke of. The assassination of Genghis Kahn. Though Darim hid it well, Maria suspected that her son was haunted by Kahn’s last words. She had been the same way when she first took a life.

In fact, Darim was quite unbothered by it. He knew Kahn was a horrible man - no, he wasn’t even that - that needed to be put down. The young man was just watching a feminine figure move around the dancers outside. Someone was playing a merry tune on a Morin Khuur, which was a two-stringed instrument that sounded like a violin or a cello from Northern, Western, and Central Europe.

This young woman looked so out of her element. She was wearing thin clothing that was more attuned to the Middle East than the cold, rolling hills of Western Mongolia. She only had a short curved blade on her hip, and a satchel of various items, but her boots were dusty and well-worn. She’d traveled far and on-foot.

There was a haunted look in her eyes. She was scared even though her outer demeanor was a kind but weary traveler. Why was she scared, Darim wondered. She intrigued the young Assassin as he watched her with inquisitive eyes.

Normally, he would’ve sat somewhere or followed her, but he actually wanted to speak to this beautiful creature and get to know her better. He stood up from where he’d been leaning on a tree. Keeping his eyes on her, he carefully maneuvered himself through the merry throng of people. He was a big man, so the crowd easily parted for him.

The woman wasn’t paying attention to where she was going. She kept looking over her shoulder warily, her eyes wide and attentive despite their exhaustion. Darim averted his eyes, watching as a few children ran around his legs. Their giggling and quick actions distracted him. He watched as they ran off. He smiled gently.

Darim grunted a little, feeling someone collide with his side. He nearly stumbled but caught himself. The woman had picked up the pace, feeling exposed in the open air, and had broken through the group of people only to slam into Darim’s side and get knocked back onto her bottom.

The assassin looked surprised. He crouched down next to her, frowning now. He hadn’t meant to do such a thing. The woman looked up at Darim, her beautiful e/c irises shimmering.

Darim was quiet as he asked, “Are you alright, aleaziz? (dear?)”

The woman was about to answer, her body recovering from the fall. But she was captivated by Darim’s bright blue-green eyes. They were like the Red Sea on a bright, sunny day. How ironic. But those pools of shining blue-green, filled with concern and curiosity at the same time made her pause.

How?

The woman then realized that this man was patiently waiting for an answer. She swallowed the lump in her throat, shaking her head and averting her gaze from those beautiful blue-green hues. Her heart clenched in her chest. “Yes… Yes, I’m quite alright.”

Darim could tell that she was lying. As an assassin, he’d been trained to read people. So he could tell from the way she looked away and shook her head as she spoke those words that this poor woman was not alright. She was scared and in trouble. But from what?

Darim gave her a sympathetic smile and offered his hand to help her up. The woman flinched at the approach of his hand, clenching her eyes shut. The assassin froze, his eyes widening. Had she been afraid that he’d hit her? If so, what had happened to this woman that she’d been afraid of someone hitting her?

Darim’s face softened again before saying, “Here, let me help you up.”

The woman opened her eyes, looking up at the assassin before her. He hadn’t hit her. But she still didn’t trust him. Gingerly, she slid her hand into his gloved grasp. His grip was benign but firm as he stood up straight, pulling her up with him.

The woman brushed herself off, letting go of Darim’s hand. “Thanks,” she said as she swept away the dirt on her behind. She then looked at Darim, his kind blue-green eyes still filled with concern. She went on the defensive, seeing his look.

“What? Why’re you looking at me like that?” She snapped, frowning deeply at him. She didn’t want to be mean or rude. But she didn’t want to form any bonds, especially considering her last connection with anyone.

Darim flinched a little at her sharp tone. But he stood his ground, not willing to be so easily put off. “Are you sure you’re alright? You look scared of something, and you just ran into me.”

The woman looked away, biting her lip and closing her eyes for a second before opening her eyes. “Yes, I’m fine.”

Darim knew she was lying again but didn’t press it. He didn’t want to make her uncomfortable. The assassin nodded. He suddenly felt the exhaustion throbbing in his calves, thighs, and biceps. “Alright… Well, I’m going to bed. Good night, sayidati. (madam.)”

The woman blinked, looking at him. Darim gave her a kind smile before stepping around her and beginning to walk back towards the inn. The woman then realized why she was so entranced by those beautiful pools of blue-green. She found that she felt she could trust him. Eyes were the one thing that didn’t lie. A sense of smell may pick up the scent of something sweet only for the smell to be poisonous. Soft, coarse fur could very well belong to a gentle herd dog. Or a starving tiger. Soft singing could belong to ravenous sirens or succubi. The taste of tender, succulent food could very well be dangerous, toxic food.

But eyes… They didn’t lie. At least not to a perfectly sane person. And this woman was mostly sane.

She might get killed for this decision later on, but she quickly followed Darim, putting a hand on his shoulder. “Wait!”

Darim was surprised, looking back at her. He turned towards her, seeing the sudden nervousness scrawled onto her face. She swallowed hard before saying, “I… I’m sorry. I was rude to you and that was entirely uncalled for. Please, forgive me.”

The assassin smiled gently at her, a look that the woman couldn’t decipher dancing in his understanding orbs. “There’s nothing to forgive. Yes, you were rude, but it doesn’t really matter much if I wasn’t offended in the first place.”

Darim chuckled softly as the woman’s face twisted into one of pleasant surprise. She couldn’t trust anyone, nor rely on anyone’s kindness, but this man in front of her… He had a sense of peace and safety around him. She liked it. A tiny bit of trust slipped into her mind and heart.

“What’s your name?” The woman asked inquisitively, thinking it wise to know his name.

“I am Darim Ibn-La’Ahad,” Darim said and offered a sweet smile.

The woman cocked her head to the side, studying his face. “Darim,” she murmured, putting a name to a face. A wonderful name for a handsome face, she thought. But almost instantly, she mentally slapped herself out of such a line of thought. He probably wasn’t even interested in her anyway. Not only that, but it’d be hard to earn her trust completely. She knew all too well that the kindest of people could be snakes in disguise.

“My name’s Y/N,” the woman said, her e/c pools shimmering in the faint light from the hanging lantern jutting out from the inn wall.

TO BE CONTINUED

#darim ibn la'ahad #darim #darim ibn la'ahad x reader #darim x reader #Assassin's Creed #come get yall juice #i know it's short atm #don't even #reblogs are appreciated #updated weekly #maybe #i'm procrastinating #assassin's creed x reader #assassin's creed x reader series

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delusion-of-negation · 3 years

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I’m taking away your Miike Snow privileges until you actually give me the D

somebody get me a plane I need to be a little bit genghis kahn again asap

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ao3feed-harringrove · 4 years

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Nobody else but me

https://ift.tt/3ijNmta

by obscureshipyard

Steve goes to the pool to watch Billy work. He expects to see a few pre-teens and high school girls fawning over Billy... but the moms, and the men, too? Much to the surprise of both Steve gets jealous.

same slight-AU as I get a little bit Genghis Khan where Steve and Billy are in an established(ish) relationship

can be read as a stand alone fic, but if you enjoy this then you'll love the companion piece.

Words: 2259, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Series: Part 2 of Stranger Things - Billy Hargrove/Steve Harrington - Genghis Kahn (Miike Snow)

Fandoms: Stranger Things (TV 2016)

Rating: Explicit

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: M/M

Characters: Billy Hargrove, Steve Harrington, Heather Holloway (mentioned)

Relationships: Billy Hargrove/Steve Harrington

Additional Tags: Unhealthy Relationships, possessive steve harrington, Billy Hargrove Being an Asshole, Steve is into it, Steve Harrington Is a Mess, Bisexual Steve Harrington, Bisexual Billy Hargrove, Seriously unhealthy relationship, Unsafe Sex, Anal Fingering, Oral Sex, Blow Jobs, Biting, sex in a stroage closet, Billy in those red swimming trunks, woof - Freeform, Song fic, ish, Post-Season/Series 02

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/3ijNmta

#IFTTT #ao3feed #fanfic #harringrove #billy hargrove #steve harrington #billy/steve #stranger things

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deanothecheynosaur · 4 years

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The Bear and the Nightingale (2017)

Yay first one! (Whether you read the long synopsis or not, the ranking is at the bottom)

Funny story before I get into it: so my boyfriend's brother bought me this book in paperback for Christmas. I had not started reading it yet, but I was checking my Kindle to see how many books I read in 2019 and saw that I had purchased this a while back, never got around to reading it, and forgot I had it. So I'm taking back the paperback as soon as his blizzard is over (which oddly fits the book) and bought the second and third on Kindle. I have another gift card, but I need all three books to be in the same format.

Short synopsis:

Vasya is a young girl in a small village northern Rus' who can see things others can't. Everyone thinks she's a witch. The frost demon Morozko watches and protects her to keep himself strong enough to contain the Bear. An epic story about the clash between the old religions & the domineering Christianity & about the sexism of the time.

Long synopsis:

Moving on. Our story opens in Northern Rus' in the remote village of Lesnaya Zemlya bordering a large forest with the family of Pyotr Vladimirovich, his wife Marina Ivanovna, and their children Kolya (Nikolai Petrovich), Sasha (Aleksandr Petrovich), Olya (Olga Petrovna), Alyosha (Aleksei Petrovich), a bun in the oven, and their nurse, Dunya (Darya Nikolaevna). There's some important backstory though. Marina is the daughter of Ivan I Grand Prince in Moscow and his third wife, a mysterious woman who wandered out of the woods with no family, no history, and many suspected she was a witch. Marina knew it would be her last child and it would be a girl like her mother. This is set during the late 13th century, after Genghis Kahn died while the Tatars were still dominating the area. But Marina was right. She died in childbirth delivering Vasya (Vasilisa Petrovna). Throughout the book, there are hints that everyone but Sasha blames Vasya a little for Marina dying.

Vasya grows up naughty and ugly, with huge green eyes, black hair with a hint of red, a mouth too big for her face, long limbs, and too skinny. Olya calls her "little frog." Vasya does whatever she wants: Dunya is old, Pyotr is a busy man between being the Lord of the area and a farmer, and she has no stepmother. One evening, Vasya gets lost in the forest and sees a one-eyed man sitting against a gnarled black oak tree she had never seen before. He was uber creepy. But then another man shows up on his horse, refers to the one-eyed man as Medved, and tries to talk to Vasya. She gets scared and runs, but neither man pursues her. After she gets home (still freaking out), Pyotr decides it's time to remarry before Vasya gets unmanageable. He takes Kolya and Sasha with him to Moscow to find himself a wife and Olya a husband. It's mentioned several times throughout how a character cleans the ice out of their horse's hooves or mane, which I think is a great addition because it really solidifies the time period by how important horses were to everybody. Once they are settled in Moscow, Sasha spends time with other devout Christians (he prays a lot) and discovers that there is a renowned holy man (Sergei Radoneshsky) at a monastery three days north of Moscow. Pyotr lets him go alone to meet the man. Once Sasha gets there, he decides he wants to be a monk at this monastery and goes back to Moscow to ask his father. Pyotr agrees on two conditions: 1. Sasha cannot join the order or speak to Father Sergei until after the next harvest; 2. Sasha will be disinherited. Which honestly I think is fair.

A minor character that sets a lot of major things in motion is the Metropolitan of Moscow, Aleksei. Took me a minute to figure out that that means he's a bishop. Anyway, basically his job is really to deal with problems that might hurt the future of the current family ruling. Initially, he lines up marriages: Olya to a lesser prince that could have a claim to the throne of he married higher, and Pyotr to the Grand Prince's mad daughter, Anna Ivanovna. She saw demons everywhere except the church, so she wanted to be a nun. Of the two arranged marriages, the latter was less necessary in the initial context but crucial to rest of the plot. On their way back home, they run into a strange man, slight in stature but moves too quickly to see with pale skin, curly black hair, and icy blue eyes. He admires Pyotr's horse and Kolya is a dick to him about it, so the man has a knife to his throat. To save Kolya, Pyotr must give a necklace with a bright sapphire stone in it to Vasya to keep with her always. Kolya forgets the encounter altogether and wonders about the white scars on his neck... Pyotr is nervous about he necklace, so he gives it to Dunya. Dunya doesn't want to spoil her, so she decides to keep it for a while. Then she starts having one of several dreams in which she is confronted about keeping what is not hers.

After Sasha and Olya leave to be a monk and marry, respectively, Vasya spends less time with people. We soon learn that she can see creatures, the spirits from the old fairy tales Dunya told. Except they're real. Vasya is not crazy, and neither is Anna, but Anna is too Christian to be cool about it. Plus, Anna is a mean stepmother, strongly preferring her own daughter, Irina Petrovna. Vasya soon befriends the domovoi who lives in the oven and protects the house. Vasya doesn't realize her family can't see these creatures, so she talks to the vazila, the spirit of the horses who guards the stables. He says that she and Anna are the only people who can see them. Vasya thinks the stables are safer, so she visits the vazila often. He teaches her to speak to horses and understand them.

Then our friend Aleksei the Metropolitan does his last bit of manipulation. There is a priest in Moscow who is very good looking and gifted at painting icons. Aleksei is concerned that this will cause too many disruptions, so when the priest up in Lesnaya Zemlya dies, he sends the pretty priest, Father Konstantin Nikonovich, up there to take his place. I've never hated a fictional character so much in my life. Vasya is talking to the rusalka, a river demon who lives off of consuming the fears and desires of various animals and humans, killing them in the process. She goes for men a lot. Vasya unfortunately stops her from killing Father Konstantin. He immediately dislikes Vasya, thinking her too bold and not pious enough. Anna is obsessed with Konstantin because priests are her favorite and this is a hot one.

As time goes on, Vasya gets less and less like a lady should be, which infuriates Konstantin, but he's also having impure thoughts about her, which infuriates him in other ways. Anna and Konstantin try to convince everyone that if they continue to leave offerings for the old spirits, they will go to Hell. But shortly after, the village faces all the hardships. Freezing cold. Food shortage. People dying from the temperature. Wolves eating livestock. And then the crops flood. What survives the flood in the spring burns in the summer. Konstantin tells everyone that God is testing their faith, meanwhile Vasya is trying to sneak offerings and keep people alive. She also learns how to ride horses. Pyotr betrothes her to a Lord/horse breeder from a few towns over, Kyril Artamonovich. He's an oblivious ass. When he finds out she can ride, he calls off the wedding and leaves. Konstantin convinces Anna that Vasya somehow will get Irina killed, so when Pyotr leaves town, Anna tries to get rid of Vasya, either by death or by hog-tying her and taking her to a convent. Anna tells Vasya that she can stay if she finds snowdrops (the flower) in the forest (it's midwinter). Vasya takes off to find some, deciding worst case scenario, she would rather die in the forest than in a convent. She ends up at the gnarled black oak from her childhood, and the one-eyed man is still there. He tries to grab her, but the same man on horseback swoops in and saves her. He takes her back to his "house" to rest. She shortly finds out that he is Morozko, the god of winter and death. The one-eyed man is his brother, Medved, the Bear, the god of fear and suffering. Morozko has had him bound for a few hundred years, but with the offerings decreasing, Medved's strength is increasing. Morozko is known to be a trickster and a lavish gift-giver. Among other things, he gives Vasya a horse called Solovey (Russian for Nightingale), a young bay colored stallion who is not quite as mortal as your average horse. He also gives Vasya some snowdrops so that she may go home, but when she arrives, things are not how she left them. This is where we hit the climax, and I'm not giving away the ending. 😉

I'm very into folklore and old religions, I love forests, and Russian history is so long and colorful that it's been a fascination of mine for a while. Plus, ice stories interest me, maybe because my birthday is frequently cold and icy. So this was a great book for me to read. It's also clear how well-researched it is, as well as spelling things so that an English speaker would still be saying it with the Russian pronunciation.

On a scale of 1-5, I give it a 4.5. It would be higher but so many characters were unlikeable.

#books #book addict #book review #the bear and the nightingale #2017 #katherine arden #the winternight trilogy #russia #russian folklore #review #pagan witch #pagan #witch #christianity

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dearhearts-gentlepeople · 4 years

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I absolutely CANNOT listen to that genghis kahn song without singing it in my head as “get a little bit genghis kahnghis. Dont want you to get it onghis” and it is k i l l i n g m e

#mingus kingus...........#somebody help

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moobeams · 4 years

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i. get a little bit Genghis Kahn

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smashbike · 6 years

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i get a little bit genghis kahn

don't want you to get it on with nobody else but me

ooh

#blabbles

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rikrakyarnncrafts · 6 years

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Our Favorite Multitasking Media

Whether you’re traveling over the next couple of weeks, furiously knitting to finish up gifts, or simply just relaxing this holiday season, a good podcast or TV show is an excellent way to entertain you. Monotonous tasks just seem so much better when you have friends around, even if those friends live in your earbuds or on your screen. Since all of us here at Knit Picks are big fans of various multitasking media, we thought we share some of our favorites with you.

Podcasts

Of course, you should listen to our podcast! Usually around a half hour every two weeks, we discuss all sorts of yarny related things and other stuff we love. Stay tuned for 2018, where we’ll have more guests and topics suggested by you!

Hannah, Elaine, and I have become obsessed with Casefile, a true crime podcast out of Australia. They discuss both big and little known cases in Australia and all over the world – the recent episodes on Alcatraz was a personal favorite and a good place to start. If you’re also a true crime fan, other fact-based ones we love are Criminal, Slow Burn, Serial Killers and Cults. For fictional crime stories, Homecoming and the hilarious Deadly Manners are great, with a lot of famous actors lending their voices to these radio dramas.

Hannah listens to a lot of interview based shows like Death, Sex & Money, Here’s the Thing, and Fresh Air as well as what we call “life question” pods such as Heavyweight, Modern Love, and Terrible, Thanks for Asking. Both she and Kate are also fans of How Did This Get Made?, which is devoted to dissecting the worst and most ridiculous movies ever made.

Daniel and Brooke enjoy more historical podcasts. Daniel says “I have to plug The History of Rome podcast. I’ve never listened to a lot of podcasts, but I marathoned this one after it was finished. It’s very detailed and never boring. And I’ve only recently discovered that the same producer is doing another series called Revolutions and is currently covering 1848, which was possibly the single most fascinating year in European history.” while Brooke highly recommends Hardcore History, especially the ones on Genghis Kahn.

I tend to listen to political pods (NPR Politics, Code Switch and the Crooked Media shows) but when I need something a bit lighter, I listen to a lot of pop culture podcasts such as Pop Culture Happy Hour, It’s Been a Minute, Nerdette, Storm of Spoilers, You Must Remember This, and several shows on the Previously.tv podcast network. I also love trivia podcasts such as Good Job Brain (unfortunately on hiatus, but the older episodes are still great) and No Such Thing As A Fish.

In the same vein, audiobooks are great for a long trip or when you have a marathon crafting project. Hannah’s favorites of all time are Three Bags Full (sheep mystery – perfect for yarny folks) and Shadow Drivers (a nonfiction mystery involving submarines.) The ones I listen to over & over include Murder on the Orient Express (wonderfully read by Dan Stevens), Good Omens, the Harry Potter series (I love the US version but the UK ones are fabulous too), and my all time favorite, the original His Dark Materials novels, which has a full cast reading the novels (the newest book, The Book of Dust, is also wonderful, but does not have a full cast.)

TV Shows

Binging on tv shows was made for crafting! Curling up on the couch with yarn, needles and hooks and marathoning an excellent show is a weekend favorite for all of us here and we all have a wide range of tastes. Most of these programs are available on Netflix, Hulu or Amazon if you’re looking for a new show!

Alexis is my baseball buddy, so she & I watch a lot of baseball games during the season (which is perfect for knitting time), however during the winter months, she turns to teen dramas. As she says “Yes, teen dramas. I will own my love of all things Degrassi and 90210, old and new, The Inbetweeners, Skins (UK only), The Carrie Diaries, Freaks & Geeks, Daria… The list is plenty and I haven’t even touched on the rabbit hole of Korean shows!”

Some of Brooke’s favorites include Cosmos and Blue Planet – learn while you knit! Other fun favorites for her include Unsolved Mysteries, Dr. Who, Star Trek, and Forensic Files.

Daniel tends to rewatch older shows as well – “I like to go back and watch shows that I’ve seen a lot of and am mostly familiar with, but have never sat down for a complete watch through. The amount of attention those shows require is a lot more flexible, so I’m not having to repeatedly fix mistakes in my knitting or replay scenes of the show because I became fixed on one or the other. And the knitting makes it easier to get through episodes of. . .questionable quality. Star Trek has been good for this and I’ve made it through the Original Series, Next Generation (made A LOT of knitting progress through those first couple seasons. . .), Voyager (for the first time, actually), and DS9 (. . .mostly). I’m intermittently making my way through the original Twilight Zone now. I also watched the first couple of seasons of the Gilmore Girls before I realized that I was watching it mostly for the sweaters.”

My most marathoned shows tend to be all over the place. Right now, my significant other and I are rewatching Rome and other favorites include American Gods, Westworld, Justified, and my all time favorite show Deadwood. I also love quirkier shows like Pushing Daisies, Legion and, recently, Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency. If I’m watching shows by myself, I tend to rewatch shows like Outlander and Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries.

Now we want to suggestions from you! What is your favorite multitasking media? What podcast, books, or TV shows have you been consuming lately?

The post Our Favorite Multitasking Media appeared first on KnitPicks Staff Knitting Blog.

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starburyhead · 4 years

Text

twenty19 recap

Let’s talk about money.

2019 was an interesting year. I feel myself doing less extreme things as each year passes. I think it’s a sign of aging – maybe my body just can’t handle it anymore.

We start with a trip to Peru. Have you ever walked into a place where you’re like: “whoa, I’ve been living in a bubble.” This was my oh-shit moment.

As a kid, I used to think that I was the center of the world. I might’ve learned something this year – that maybe it’s not all about me.

If we were to get a bit philosophical, there have been roughly 100 billion humans who have walked the earth. Roughly 8% are alive today. And we’re all pretty much the same. We have fears, desires, goals, and a birth mom. We yearn for support from friends, food to survive, and a desire for meaning.

And at the same time, we’re all so different. It was truly eye opening.

Three things happened on my trip: I met a girl, and I got water poisoning. Twice.

Water, like air, is one of those things that we take for granted, always thinking it’s there and free until it’s not.

Apparently, I’ve learned, water is not always free. And it’s not always clean either.

In fact, not having clean water is one of the poopiest things in the world – quite literally.

It’s interesting to think about how humans have lived for the last few hundred thousand years. The rapid change we live by today has really occurred only in the last 1-200 years. We see huge divergence in life expectancy. Our thoughts have migrated from – “what are we eating tonight” to “ what will the interest rate on my mortgage be?”

And yet, this rapid change has not affected all humans on earth in equal weight.

That’s sort of where we are now. It’s a little mind numbing to think about where we’ll go in the next 200,000. And if you’ve never felt that one person could make a difference, the story of Genghis Kahn is a pretty interesting one.

As I left Peru and headed back to Baltimore, I kept thinking about one thing: what is my role in this world? It can’t be to just work in finance, earn a good living, and live a happy life. What is a happy life? I had so many questions.

I stumbled upon this article as I was Googling, trying to find the answer to happiness: top 5 regrets of the dying - https://www.huffpost.com/entry/top-5-regrets-of-the-dying_n_3640593

I guess if there’s any group of people to listen to about life, it should be the old. They have no incentive to lie anyway right?

The part in the article about relationships reminded me of something Dalio had said in an interview. I had watched a video between him and Rubenstein, two signers of the giving pledge, where these men with billions talk about what brings them joy.

I figured, who better to listen to about happiness than from guys who can buy anything in the world they want. Gates and Buffett started the giving pledge as an ask to billionaires around the world to donate half or more of their wealth upon death.

The signers post their letters in reply, which are available here to read: “https://givingpledge.org/

After buying their yachts, planes, and mansions, it seems that a common source of happiness for people with everything is philanthropy: a way to have a positive impact on the world. But could we skip the fun toys and jump straight to this treasure map? I was eager to find out.

Around this time, one of my friends began a fundraiser for his birthday with charity: water. Ahh water, my arch nemesis. He ended up donating a significant amount. That really peaked my curiosity. How does he trust a foundation with that much of his hard-earned money?

I looked a bit more into it, and ended up reading the guy’s story. Here’s his life summarized in a video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4E1t2yIZlc

Don’t watch it if you’re not prepared to shed at least a few tears.

I finally understood what was missing from my desire to just work and live. Apparently, one guy (or girl: https://www.charitywater.org/rachels-gift/) can truly make a difference.

I did the math.

If the global GDP is ~80T and there are ~8B people in the world, that’s an average GDP per capita of ~10K.

This means that for every person making 100K, there are 10 making 1K.

A 10% tithe could theoretically affect 10 people at double their output per capita. Don’t quote me on this, but according to the WHO, water at 4x and sanitation at 8x, have the highest ROI in GDP growth.

The little girl (and it seems to always be the girl) who walks a few hours daily for water, with an unsanitary potty at school, gets left behind as she ages. She does more unpaid housework, falls behind on classes, and the GDP of the country suffers as a result.

Apparently, there’s a pretty clear correlation between output per capita and women’s availability to participate in the workforce. Water and sanitation also seem to be a huge variable holding that back (https://www.amazon.com/Moment-Lift-Empowering-Women-Changes/dp/1250313570).

As someone who loves allocating capital as a profession, allocating capital to the places in the world that have the highest ROI seems like an easy win. Maybe this was the golden ticket to finding happiness in the workplace.

I head back to Peru to visit the farmland where our coffee was being grown. I was shown an entire side of the world that is minimally discussed but still lived by ~800M, or roughly 1 in 10 people today. Historically, probably 90% of the all humans who have ever existed prior lived in a similar situation: close-knit communities that execute on farm and trade.

I remember after two hours of bean sorting, I yielded enough to buy myself almost a full cerveza. Though money is relative and so are costs.

Interestingly, I was the one who had the most to learn. How could someone be so happy without an iPhone, cell reception, and Amazon Prime?

As for the people who were struggling to make ends meet – why was it fair that the change in my pocket exceeded their income? The cost of my flight home could theoretically give a guy a year off from work.

This still rang true, but to a lesser extent, when you entered the vibrant city of Lima. A decent engineering job at a large MNC out of university would yield ~$90 per week or ~$18 per day. Money’s relative, but it really puts life into perspective.

I end the year back in Dallas as I reflect upon a few things. I’m not ready whatever that may mean. I’m just not there yet – mentally – there are still so many things that I’m trying to figure out and I think another year or two away from home would help.

But I’ve come to really appreciate the journey. It’s cliché, but honestly, this is the part where we grow. When we look back from our deathbeds, these are the times we remember: the times of change.

So maybe we can take a second to learn from the US billionaires who have collectively amassed wealth of 2-3x the GDP of South America as well as from the coffee farmer who grins from ear-to-ear.

If relationships are key to happiness, let’s cherish the time spent with loved ones – friends and family alike. If work seems dull and monotonous, let’s build a well in Rwanda. I think that’s a drink that we can all cheers to.

P.S. checkout my corn: :}}

#2019

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