#[edit: everyone is asking for the link so i've added it in the source and also hyperlinked the tweet!] | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

mocktortis · 5 days

Text

So recently I've been seeing this bit of information around that "Lewis Carroll was a mathematician and he was inspired to write Alice in Wonderland because he was really frustrated by the contemporary math of his time." Specifically people kept bringing up imaginary numbers.

And that struck me as weird, because I have read a lot of writings on Alice, and I had never come across this before. I have the mega-version of the Annotated Alice, and multiple copies of Alice with introductions from pretty well-known Carrollian scholars. They all mentioned that Carroll's real identity was the mediocre mathematician Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, but never really tied that with Alice. Even The Annotated Alice, which was edited by the math guy Martin Gardner, only has math related footnotes when math (usually arithmetic) is specifically brought up by the text (such as when Alice is struggling to remember her times-tables). I should probably warn you now, there will be math in this post.

So... where does this claim come from?

I asked people for sources, and I got one response that was actually useful. They admitted they didn't have an academic source, but told me to try googling "Alice in wonderland math". It was the best lead I had (one person told me verbatim "Google is free". Classy), so I put it into Google and came up with a decent amount of results. The first article I found linked to another article from 2009 by a doctoral candidate at Oxford called Melanie Bayley. Unfortunately, the article is only available if you make an account with New Scientist, which I was not keen to do. I moved on, continued reading through poorly written articles and 10 year-old blogs, looking through their sources to see where they were getting their information... and every single article and blog post linked back to Bayley's article from 2009, or an op-ed she wrote for NY Times (also blocked behind a give-your-name-to-the-fae type deal). Fortunately, one of my family members actually has an NY Times account already, so I just asked if I could use their account to access this article.

Eureka. After reading through so many misinformed and poorly explained sources (one of which just copy-pasted Bayley's article into their blog), reading Bayley's actual article was like a miracle. It was so well-written, well-researched, and actually solidly convincing. I was nearly crying at just how beautiful the thing everyone else was ripping off really was. This encouraged me to make an account to read her New Scientist article.

Bayley references back to a paper published in 1984 by Helena Pycior, At the Intersection of Mathematics and Humor. Pycior is a Professor at University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, an MA in math, and a historian. Her paper is rigorously researched and does a fabulous job of explaining mathematical advancements (especially symbolical algebra) in the late-18th to mid-19th centuries, Lewis Carroll's own education in mathematics, and his more serious writings on math as Charles Dodgson. Pycior also highlights a line in the chapter Alice's Evidence, when Alice remarks, "I don't believe there's an atom of meaning in it, which is eerily similar to a line in Augustus De Morgan's Trigonometry and Double Algebra ("With one exception, no word nor sign of arithmetic or algebra has one atom of meaning throughout this chapter,"), a math textbook Carroll definitely read. Pycior's paper is very technical, however, and might not be for everyone. But it is a great foundation for Bayley to base her claims.

While I would highly recommend reading Bayley's articles, I understand not everyone will be interested, so I will summarize:

Bayley's analysis mainly focuses on sections added by Lewis Carroll after 1864. Carroll's original manuscript, written for Alice Liddell and her sisters, is missing several scenes from the final published version, and there are some scenes in the manuscript that were extended in the final version. The scenes Bayley dissects are Advice from a Caterpillar, Alice's first meeting with the Duchess, Alice's conversation with the Cheshire Cat, and A Mad Tea Party.

Bayley first covers the chapter Advice From a Caterpillar. She connects it to De Morgan's Trigonometry and Double Algebra. Helena Pycior points out that Carroll was "clearly inspir[ed]" by De Morgan, and references De Morgan in a few of his academic works published under his real name. Bayley draws attention to De Morgan's use of the Arabic phrase: "al jebr e al mokabala" —the original Arabic name for algebra. Bayley explains that it means "restoration and reduction". I actually don't think I can put it much better than she did, so I will use an excerpt from her article:

"Restoration was what brought Alice to the mushroom: she was looking for something to eat or drink to “grow to my right size again”, and reduction was what actually happened when she ate some: she shrank so rapidly that her chin hit her foot."

A little later, Bayley adds:

"De Morgan... proposed... that symbolic algebra should be considered as a system of grammar. “Reduce” algebra from a universal arithmetic to a series of logical but purely symbolic operations, he said, and you will eventually be able to “restore” a more profound meaning to the system – though at this point he was unable to say exactly how."

Part of the Caterpillar's "advice" to Alice is "Keep your temper", after Alice complains that she keeps changing in size. Alice assumes he means not to get angry but, as Bayley explains "To intellectuals at the time, though, the word “temper” also retained its original sense of “the proportion in which qualities are mingled”" ie. tempered steel, tempered glass, tempered chocolate etc. Bayley proposes that the Caterpillar is using this meaning of the word temper— meaning his remark would be advising her to keep her proportions the same, even if she can't stay the same size. That remark becomes relevant after Alice tries changing her size with the two sides of the mushroom: when she tries just the small side, her torso shrinks and brings her face so close to her feet she can scarcely open her mouth; when she tries just the large size, her neck stretches to ridiculous lengths. Only when she tries a bit of both in a balance— tempering them— is she able to change size while keeping her proportions.

Alice next encounters the Duchess in her kitchen, and the Duchess' notably ugly baby. As the Duchess leaves for croquet she throws (literally throws) her baby at Alice, who catches the baby and takes it outside, reasoning to herself that the violent Duchess and her Cook would likely kill the baby if Alice were to leave it there. As Alice looks down at the baby, she realizes it is turning into a pig, and she releases the baby-turned-pig into the wood.

Bayley's interpretation of this scene is as a satire of projective geometry— and specifically the "principle of continuity", laid out by French mathematician Jean-Victor Poncelet. Poncelet's description of the principle (via Bayley) is “Let a figure be conceived to undergo a certain continuous variation, and let some general property concerning it be granted as true, so long as the variation is confined within certain limits; then the same property will belong to all the successive states of the figure.” In Bayley's NY Times article, she explains it more clearly as, "[the principle of continuity] involves the idea that one shape can bend and stretch into another provided it retains the same basic properties— a circle is the same as an ellipse or parabola."

Bayley suggests that Carroll's rebuttal to this is based off Poncelet's use of the word "figure". If the figure of a triangle can change its shape while remaining a triangle, then the figure of a person (or baby, in this case) can also change its shape. As Bayley puts it "What works for a triangle should also work for a baby."

Skipping ahead to the Mad Tea Party, Bayley proposes that the characters of the March Hare, the Mad Hatter, and the Dormouse, are paralleling the concept of quaternions, proposed by William Rowan Hamilton in 1843. Hamilton's Lectures on Quaternions was the first way of representing rotations in three dimensions with algebra, and it was well-known enough at the time that it is reasonable to assume Carroll had read it, or at least seen arguments relating to it.

Here is Bayley's explanation of Hamilton's quaternions:

"Just as complex numbers work with two terms, quaternions belong to a number system based on four terms. Hamilton spent years working with three terms – one for each dimension of space – but could only make them rotate in a plane. When he added the fourth, he got the three-dimensional rotation he was looking for, but he had trouble conceptualising what this extra term meant. Like most Victorians, he assumed this term had to mean something, so in the preface to his Lectures on Quaternions of 1853 he added a footnote: “It seemed (and still seems) to me natural to connect this extra-spatial unit with the conception of time.”"

Breaking that down a little more (serious math alert): a complex number is a number with two terms, a real portion (represented by a), and an imaginary portion (represented by bi), and is written as a+bi. One of Hamilton's quaternions would be represented like this: a+bi+cj+dk. (I don't really know how they work either.)

In A Mad Tea Party, the Mad Hatter says, "It's always six o'clock now", trapping the party at perpetual teatime. The Hatter's explanation for this is that he quarreled with the personification of Time, and in retaliation, Time is keeping the clocks at six for the foreseeable future. Without Time, the Mad Hatter, the March Hare, and The Dormouse keep rotating around the table, as if in a two-dimensional plane. It is possible that this is Carroll's way of poking fun at the absurd idea that time would factor into an expression meant to determine the movement of objects in space.

And it is this final section of Bayley's article which gets misinterpreted into the claim, "Lewis Carroll was inspired to write Alice in Wonderland because he was frustrated by imaginary numbers."

I want to end with this: we have no proof Carroll intended any sort of mathematical allegory in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. He seemingly did his best to keep his life as a mathematician and his life as a popular children's author separate from one another. Most of his surviving writing's on his inspirations for Alice make no mention of Math. That said, Melanie Bayley's article provides a truly fascinating interpretation of some of the most beloved episodes in Alice, and I wouldn't begrudge anyone who wants to believe it.

If you're interested in reading more, this is a free PDF of Melanie Bayley's NY Times op-ed. The first page is an email someone sent to friends that contained the article, but the full article is underneath.

Also, this article by Art Publika has a great overview of both of Melanie Bayley's articles, plus some extra background on Carroll, and so many pictures.

#alice's adventures in wonderland #alice in wonderland #pig and pepper #a mad tea party #alice's evidence #Melanie Bayley #long post #very long post #this took me forever to research and write out #so glad i'm finally finished #math

6 notes · View notes

bbygirl-aemond · 1 year

Note

@maegor_the_cool on tiktok word-for-word stole your post about queen alysanne and is passing it off as their own in the comments on their most recent video. when i asked them about it, they claimed they didn't know it was yours and they got it from a forum, which doesn't really make it okay that they pretended it was their own words, and now they're claiming you gave them permission but i highly doubt it. just thought i'd let you know.

Oh, lovely! No, this person has never contacted me, I just looked through my entire inbox to make sure. I went and checked out the video and yep they literally took it verbatim. For reference y'all, here is the original post, which you can see I made on 2/28/2023. The TikTok creator got it from this post, which you can see was made on 3/7/2023, over a week after I made my original post. The forum poster is also passing off my content as their own in the comments on that thread. And here are screenshots from the TikTok posted 14 hours ago, since they turned sharing off:

...So I guess this is time to remind everyone that if you repost my stuff without my knowledge and without crediting me, you are doing so without my permission and I do not support it. I've said yes to 100% of the people who've asked me permission, so I don't understand why this seems to be a recurring issue. Also, a 1-minute Google search for this post would have turned up my blog, so it's not like this person couldn't find me because it was too hard. They just didn't check their source before using it. It's a shame, because I checked out the comments and we both 100% agree on the subject matter.

Here's a handy little guide to how to responsibly and respectfully repost my content:

Send me an ask with information about where to find the repost (usually platform + username will do). I'll say yes, but just please ask me so I know it's out there.

Credit me VISIBLY in the post. Please don't hide it somewhere, make it front and center the way an artist does with their watermark. In fact, putting my Tumblr URL in as a watermark is a super easy way to do this!

If you come across my content but you don't know it's me, but you for sure know it's not YOURS, maybe don't pretend it's yours? And maybe spend 1-2 minutes copying and pasting it into Google, which will lead you right to my blog.

If the content has been posted in multiple places, it's still really easy to find the original. Check the dates the posts were made and use the earliest post when crediting. For example, in this instance, the forum post was made a week after mine, which proves mine to be the original. Again, it only takes 1-2 minutes to check this using Google.

I really would prefer for them to delete the video and reupload it with proper credit, especially since it's been up for only 14 hours. There's a link here that explains how you can do this while saving the video so you don't have to re-format everything. I'd also prefer for the forum poster to acknowledge that they stole my content. But this is the Internet, so while I can ask for people to be honest and respectful about my content I unfortunately can't enforce it. :(

Edit: The TikTok creator reached out to me and they've re-uploaded the video with credit, which I appreciate! And they did get consent from the forum poster, just unfortunately that poster had stolen it from me. It's still not great that they didn't check their source, and that they didn't even credit the forum user at first. It's a good practice to copy and paste something into Google to check that you do indeed have the original source before reposting.

The forum user has now added a line to credit me at the top of his post. I'm still pissed at him for trying to get away with passing my words off as his own though. At least the TikTok creator asked the forum user first, but the forum user just stole my words without even asking me. What a man moment, to steal the credit for a woman's ideas 😒

#ask #asks #answered #hotd #house of the dragon #alysanne targaryen #alysanne

38 notes · View notes

lgbtawarenessproject · 11 months

Text

Part 1: USA

Hello everyone! Happy pride month!

Last month I stated that coming June I would post about historical queer events around the world. This is part 1 of North America. Later today I will post parts 2 & 3, Belize and Greenland. The pride month calendar can be seen in our pinned post!

That being said, I'm excited to show you what I've been working on. (Also thanks Mom for helping me edit this)

-Soul

Stonewall Inn was one of many bars in Greenwich Village, New York City. It, just like many others, was owned by the Genovese crime family, the local mafia. The family thought it would be profitable to cater towards the gay citizens, shunned by most every other bar and person. Police had been bribed to ignore it, and on the occasions that they did raid the bar, ‘dirty’ cops would send a tip.

June 28th 1969, Stonewall Inn had just experienced a routine raid a couple days before. Officers burst in carrying a warrant, and arrested thirteen people. In order to check if they were truly ‘cross-dressing’, female officers would take them into the bathroom and have them strip

Usually when this happened everyone would let it go, they’d be mad, but they wouldn’t do anything. This time, however, an officer had hit a butch lesbian(widely assumed to be Stormé DeLarverie), in the head with a baton while getting her into the car. She yelled for the onlookers to act, and they did. Bottles, stones, pennies, and other things were thrown at the police. Among the first to throw them were two trans lesbians of color, Sylvia Rivera and Marsha Johnshon. The officers boarded themselves in the Inn, but the crowd had begun setting it on fire. Not long later, the firemen and riot control came and took control of the situation.

This event may be the one we are most familiar with, but it’s not the only thing that happened. Here are some links to other events that happened shortly before and after.

Before Stonewall

After Stonewall

Sources 1 2 3

Back in 1987, the AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) epidemic had just been labeled an epidemic. There were very few treatments, and only one FDA approved one. This treatment, called AZT (zidovudine) , was only manufactured by one company. Burroughs Wellcome, a pharmaceutical company, had made the drug nigh inaccessible. The price was so high, that very few people could afford it.

ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power), was created in response to this. Larry Kramer was among the ones to originate this movement. The activist groups scheduled a march on Wall Street in 1987, scheduled to disrupt traffic during the morning rush hour. Activists laid in the street and held signs, chanting phrases like “We are angry, we want action”, and “Release those drugs.” Seventeen activists were arrested, but shortly afterwards the FDA announced it would lower the required time for drugs to be approved from nine years, to seven.

Sources 1 2

In June of 2015, gay marriage was legalized by the supreme court in the landmark case Obergefell v. Hodges, forcing fourteen states to legalize same-sex marriage.

The case started in 2013, when James Obergefell and his husband John Arthur James, filed a lawsuit in Ohio when they realized that their marriage would not be recognized on Arthur's death certificate. During the lawsuit, Arthur, who had a terminal illness, passed.

Plaintiffs told Obergefell that state officials were not going to approve his name being on Arthur’s death certificate, but filed the complaint anyway. The judge the case went to, Judge Timothy Black, granted Obergefell a temporary order that would allow Arthur to be marked as wed.

The plaintiffs and Judge Black were not happy with this however, and the plaintiffs amended their complaint, adding two more plaintiffs. They asked that Ohio declare that their refusal to honor out of state marriages on death certificates, was unconstitutional and asked that they would fix it. Judge Black also declared it unconstitutional and banned the state from enforcing it upon the plaintiffs.

The department of health director Wymyslo appealed this, but was unable to see the case through. As was his successor Lance Himes. Himes’ successor Hodges was the one to finally see the case in court, where it was appealed.

Obergefell filed a petition for a Writ of Certiorari with the supreme court, in 2014. In January of 2015, the Supreme Court granted it, allowing the case to be heard. The Supreme Court, decided after much deliberation, to recognize same-sex marriage as a right under the fourteenth amendment.

Sources 1 2

Additional things that I wanted to share about, but cannot do justice for.

Intersex Awareness 1 2 3 4 5

Two-Spirit 1 2 3

Please support our project by taking this survey if you haven't already done so!

-> Part 2

19 notes · View notes

electro-kins · 3 years

Text

∞༺♡ 600+ followers editing contest!! ♡༻✧

hiii cuties, thank you so much for 600+ followers!! to celebrate i'm holding an editing contest hehe. for anyone who hasn't participated in an editing contest before, it's a little different from a raffle!! you make any type of edit, tag me and i'll choose 3 winners <3 now for the rules that will go more into detail...

∞༺♡ rules ♡༻✧

all of my listed sources are allowed <3

any type of edit is allowed (icons, stimboards, moodboards, etc.)

only up to two entries max cuties!!

don't make anything on my blacklist ofc

tag me and use the tag #electro600

must be following!!

you don't have to be an edit blog to participate *\(^o^)/*

ends on june 27th!!

∞༺♡ what to edit ♡༻✧

anything you think i'd love!! if you're not sure where to start, here is a link to my carrd <3 i've recently added a whitelist that includes my favorite characters/kins and aesthetics. feel free to ask any questions (*´꒳`*)

∞༺♡ prizes ♡༻✧

1st - 5 edits of your choice

2nd - 4 edits of your choice

3rd - 3 edits of your choice

good luck to everyone entering ♪(๑ᴖ◡ᴖ๑)♪ thank you all again for 600+ hehe

∞༺♡ promo? ♡༻✧

@pumpkinheadguyy @kincode @kin-of-the-sheep @kinpact @ciinnapup @vawentinez @outriider-suu @ophelic-edits @editingmusical @fairytalefragments @hiyosaionjis @taomi-kins @travelerkins @justhorrorkinthings @skyfrost-nail @alchemicalkins @icepopkin @ickiu @softclinic @kotobxki @froggykinz @angelsignal

#electro600 #editing contest #༻✧ which element would you like to learn about today? ; important #contest #electro kins editing contest

65 notes · View notes

jung-koook · 2 years

Note

ah sorry for the long message but i had a lot of thoughts about it. if there's been anyone i trust to know sources what they're doing it'd be you. i've been on tumblr a very long time (..before i was even old enough to. about 13 years total. aka also before people STARTED crediting anybody. i don't even think it had a source link section. (cause i remember it was a big deal when added) and your blog is the only one that i've seen consistent in crediting or sources. and i've you get asks like "can you please tell me where this is from" and you do. you've always provided links/or told us where to find it or where it's from. some of it we can literally find ourselves. some of us also been here in this fandom long enough to be like "ah i remember that and where it's from" and can go find it ourselves if we wanted to. depends what it is.

i'm sorry you're going through this you're really sweet and pretty good at telling sources or telling where to find them, even the reblogging resources and stuff, i've never seen as much, as i have from you. like there's so many and even posts to sources. if there's anyone i trust with it it'd be you. (why you're one of the four content creators i follow also and like no other fan accounts)! stay strong okay? that had to be a bad feeling to wake up to. i'd honestly have a anxiety despite knowing i'm innocent. also people can't assume everyone knows everything or purposely doing things. some do yes. but not everyone. things get even more benefit of the doubt if things aren't their native language or country. in which approach in an educational not accusatory way (like signal boost posts type things not the crediting/discrediting. that should happen regardless of language and only if the person is okay with their content being shared or whatever. at the same times tweets?? (normal basic word tweets) are (unless private account) usually public and can be screenshot and shared by anyone and everyone that comes across it now if that tweet had art attached or an edit made by said tweeter and they don't give explicit permission to share that then that's when it becomes a problem. but you don't do that from what i've seen. youve linked to tweets too. so why are they always (ive see you answer quite a bit of rude asks over time or asks that have came across as rude.) coming for you specifically it's ?!)

wow, thank you so much for everything you said. everything you said really means a lot to me. i panicked me when i found out what they were talking about me bc they were talking about me on other blogs. its really super uncomfortable to know that other anons are saying lies about you to blogs that maybe that dont even know who you are or follow you. i'm lucky that this happened to someone who talks to me and follows me and knows that i always give credit to everyone. i'm also careful when i'm looking for fanarts to reblog. i always try to check if its not a repost or something like that. i'm always very careful with these stuff and knowing that people have noticed makes me so relieved.

again, thank you so much ♡

#reply #anonymous

6 notes · View notes

anotherkpopvictim · 3 years

Text

Into a New World (Through the Gate) - BTS OT7 Fantasy Story Chapter 5

(Gif source - btsville)

A/N: Dang...has it really been almost a month since I last updated? Sorry for the wait, but I hope you enjoy this. I had to spend some time figuring out where this story was going.

I decided to come up with a timeline because the next few chapters might be a bit confusing if you don't have a visual timeline with their ages and the flashbacks. Each chapter I will add a link to an updated timeline that includes new information from the previous chapter. You don't need to read the timeline, but if find yourself a bit confused about things while reading, it should help. This first one is very short, but each chapter they will get longer as more information is added.

Timeline - https://docs.google.com/document/d/19VsexNuIkbWRu6IuXSjYoRNImk7DtAc2ckW0erLUHRU/edit?usp=sharing

Relationship: BTS X BTS

Rating: T

Words: 3159

Hurt/comfort, fluff, fantasy

NOTE: I've added the present-day date (3501) to this chapter and the next few chapters as they will contain quite a few flashbacks. Flashbacks will be in italics.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Chapter 5: The Ties

Worldbuilding Note on Packs: A pack is simply a group of any number and mix of supernatural creatures. Most commonly, say on Earth, you would find packs made mostly of vampires and werewolves with the occasional witch or another being, while packs in Aurora (the fairy kingdom) are pretty much one hundred percent comprised of fairies. Creatures tend to stick to their homeland, but Earth is a bit of an exception as it is considered the center of all the worlds - a hub of sorts. Packs are comprised of all members of a polyamorous relationship (or sometimes simply a pairing).

A pack bond is initiated by exchanging bites on the neck. Depending on the number of packmates, these bites can sometimes overlap. As packs are considered soulmates, some of the members have a tug at their heartstrings upon meeting a future packmate for the first time - only some of them, however. These people of a pack are known as the Ties and tend to take on a leadership role as a pack grows. There is usually only one Tie for small packs, but larger packs can have more than one. Once bonded, pack members have a much easier time understanding each other's feelings and simply feel closer on another level. Ties usually feel an amplified version of this from the second they meet a pack member.

Finding all members of a pack can take anywhere from years to centuries, and it isn't uncommon for some packs to never find all of their members and consequently, some creatures never have a pack. Fate works in mysterious ways. If you are lucky enough to find all of your pack members, you will know because the Ties with feel an overwhelming sense of peace and settlement once everyone is bonded.

On another note, a were-pack is different from a pack. A were-pack is simply a community of local shifters, usually separated by city or village. While some big-city were-packs live with humans, smaller towns or villages of were-packs don't have close connections with humans.

--------------------

September 8 3501, Present Day

"You really..." Hoseok trailed off, unsure of how to put into words the many things running through his mind at that moment.

"Jungkook was the last one to join our pack," Namjoon began, eyes on the fairy as he picked at the skin around his fingernails nervously. "His pack bond with us became obvious when he was turned and all of us had known him for a while and felt things for him, so it wasn't an unexpected feeling to have." The alpha took a deep breath, "But you, Hoseok-ssi, you came into our lives loudly and all at once. I was so worried about a stranger in the house that I ignored the pull inside of me that told me you were meant to be with us."

Hoseok still felt a little bit dumbfounded, so he just let an eloquent, "Wow."

"Do you think that fate has made a mistake, Hoseok-ssi?" Namjoon asked, analyzing his reaction. "Do you feel nothing for us at all?"

"Of course I feel something," the orange fairy replied genuinely. "I just haven't really had much time to think about my attraction to the six of you and what to do about it. It makes sense, though, that we're packmates." Hoseok couldn't help but smile, "I've always wanted to find my pack, you know? I just didn't have my hopes up after a hundred years."

The shapeshifter's lips spread into a beautiful, relieved grin, accented by his deep dimples that Hoseok was now just seeing for the first time. He wished he had been warned about them. "I'm glad you feel the same way."

"How old are you all, by the way?" Hoseok questioned, realizing that besides Jungkook, their ages were still unknown to him. "If we're going to be a pack, I should know who I need to call hyung."

Namjoon chuckled, "Well, Seokjin-hyung is the oldest. He's four hundred fifty-six years old." The fairy couldn't help but widen his eyes at the shapeshifter's impressive age. "He and I were together first. About a decade after we got together, we met Yoongi-hyung and Jimin, who had also been together for a few years. Yoongi-hyung is the second oldest of us at three hundred forty-two years old. I'm one hundred twenty-five years old, the next oldest."

"Not anymore," Hoseok said cheekily, despite his still tired body. "I'm one hundred thirty-eight years old. So I'm older than you."

The alpha's lips twitched, "I suppose I should call you hyung, then. If you'll allow me."

"Of course you can," the fairy replied. "Who's the next oldest?"

"Jiminie is ninety-eight," he answered.

Hoseok smiled thinking about the pink fairy. He couldn't wait to get to know the other better. "What about Taehyung-ssi?"

Namjoon continued, "The four of us were together for about sixty years before we became acquainted with Taehyung about ten years ago. He's now sixty-seven years old. Then we met Jungkookie as a human about eight years ago." The smile fell from the shapeshifter's face a little. "I would gladly tell you everyone's life stories, but I feel like that's better coming from them personally."

Hoseok hummed and dipped his head in agreement.

"Might as well start with us two," Seokjin announced as he stepped back into the guest room. He'd changed his soaking wet shirt for a comfortable and dry baby pink sweater. He smiled again softly in Hoseok's direction as he fluffed his warm brown hair. "It was quite surprising when Joon and I came to the realization that you were our packmate. Not much takes us by surprise these days."

"Are you two the Ties?" the orange fairy asked.

Seokjin nodded before dropping himself unceremoniously into the alpha shapeshifter's lap. The other instinctively moved to hold the omega by the hips, stabilizing him. The fairy both admired and envied the natural movements.

"So, how did you two meet?" Hoseok inquired.

"Well, we were born in different villages. I was from the large were-pack here in Seoul," Namjoon began.

"I lived in the were-shifter village of Rosewood, a couple of hours east of here," Seokjin explained.

---

December 3420

Kim Seokjin had lived in Rosewood for three hundred seventy-four years before he decided he needed a change of scenery. The small village was rather secluded and they barely saw humans more than a few times a month. While the omega wasn't unhappy with his home in Rosewood, he had heard many exciting tales of the big city, where the were-shifters intermingled with the humans every day. He'd felt a pull towards Seoul for many years, but ignored it in favor of his comfortable life in Rosewood. Eventually, however, as years passed by, the pull became too strong to ignore any longer.

His family had been hesitant when he'd announced his plans, but their doubts didn't deter him in the slightest. He'd made up his mind. Rosewood wasn't far from Seoul anyway, so he promised to keep in touch with them and visit often. He gave them all one last kiss on the cheeks before he left with nothing more than a single suitcase carrying his most valuable belongings.

The hustle and bustle of the city were jarring, but the immediate sense of right he felt upon arriving in Seoul quelled any anxiety he had. Seokjin approached one of the counters at the train station, where he could see a shapeshifter sitting at a computer. The information counter, known as a Connecter, helped new shifters connect with the local were-pack.

Kim Minseok was matched with him as a guide to the new city as he'd been a village boy himself. He was about a hundred years older than Seokjin, and also an omega. He was kind and had a sweet smile. The man helped set him up with an apartment and a part-time job at a cafe.

Seokjin was pretty much completely used to the presence of humans all around him by the end of the first week. The crowds and the subways and the mingling of supernatural creatures and humans - all of it turned out to be exactly what Seokjin had needed in his life.

During the third week, while Seokjin was working a late shift at the cafe, his whole world changed. It was close to dark so the tables were empty and the omega was doing his cleaning duties while pausing every once in a while to assist a customer.

The tinkle of the bell above the front door alerted him to another one. He set down the cloth he had been using to dry off a few mugs and turned to greet the customer. "Hello, welcome to T's cafe, what can I get for-"

Seokjin cut himself off with a gasp as he locked eyes with the person walking up to the register. A young alpha shapeshifter - he could tell by the aura surrounding the man - was looking back at him with wide brown eyes. He had blond hair almost long enough to fall into his eyes and was dressed casually in fitted jeans and a graphic t-shirt.

"Oh!" the alpha exclaimed, a hand shooting up to rest over his heart. "Holy shit, my heart is gonna beat out of my chest! What the fuck?"

The laugh that tore from Seokjin's throat couldn't be stopped, giddy and amused. "I think - I think we're packmates," he managed out, a little lost in the awe he was feeling.

The man's already wide eyes somehow managed to open even further and his jaw dropped. "What - really? Is that what this feeling is?"

"I've never felt it before, but I've heard many stories about Ties meeting each other for the first time and this is exactly as it was described."

"I'm Namjoon!" the alpha announced excitedly. A big smile was taking over his face and showed off a set of adorable dimples. "You think that we're Ties?"

"Seokjin," the omega replied, "And yes, I do. Only Ties would feel such an obvious, strong connection to each other upon first meeting."

"Wow," Namjoon breathed in awe. "I honestly wasn't expecting to meet any of my packmates so soon. I mean, I'm only forty-three!"

The omega playfully winced, "You make me feel so old. I've got more than three hundred years on you."

"That's not that old, hyung."

"Yah, I was joking! Of course, I'm not old!"

Namjoon let out a wheezing laugh as Jin feigned anger, hands on his hips and all. "Well, it's nice to meet you, hyung," he greeted once he had gathered himself together.

"So," Seokjin began, "You're part of the Seoul were-pack, huh?"

"Mhm," the alpha nodded in confirmation. "You must be fairly new here, I haven't seen you around before."

"I'm from the Rosewood were-pack," the older man replied. "Felt like I needed a change of scenery. Although, I suppose it could have been fate nudging us closer together."

Namjoon couldn't be more obvious with the heart-eyes he was making towards the omega. "Perhaps it was. Fate is a mysterious thing."

"Fate is a mysterious thing," Seokjin repeated in agreement. The two of them jumped when the timer on one of the coffee pots went off, signaling that the brew was hot and ready (maybe Seokjin was too as he was so caught up in the man before him). "Oh, right! What can I get for you?"

The alpha blinked and looked around like he had just remembered that they were in a cafe as well. "Um, uh...a caramel macchiato please, hyung."

And who was Seokjin to say no to those wide, heart-melting eyes? (besides the fact that it was his job and he technically couldn't even if he wanted to).

"Of course," the omega replied, punching the order on the screen in front of him. "I can't give you a packmate discount, unfortunately."

"That's okay, I don't mind paying for it."

Seokjin almost let out a gasp when Namjoon pulled a black card out of his wallet. He'd never seen a black card in his life until he came to the city, and he knew the significance of them. Namjoon was rich, and Seokjin didn't almost gasp because he was a gold digger, but rather because of all the rich people the omega had encountered over the last few weeks, both human and not, Namjoon didn't present himself as such a person at all. The others had been so...proper, but the alpha was so casual and sweet.

The omega continued on like he hadn't seen the black card at all, taking his payment and going about the familiar motions of making a caramel macchiato. "So, do you work, Namjoon-ah? Or go to school?"

Namjoon nodded, "I'm in school right now for business. My parents want me to run a branch of their company in the future, but I kind of have an idea for my own business running through my head."

"Wow," Seokjin said in awe. "In my were-pack, we didn't really have "jobs" like the city folks here do. I have no idea what I want to do for a career, so that's awesome that you have such a bright future career ahead of you."

"The Rosewood were-pack is a traditional one, right?" Namjoon asked. "So everyone just contributes what they can and no one has to pay for anything, correct?"

The omega nodded, "Yeah, we're pretty primal. We prefer to hunt but we buy human food as well. So some of us are hunters, some of us are cooks, some of us are builders. Coming to Seoul, the number of possibilities of work is kind of overwhelming."

"What did you do in your were-pack?"

Seokjin popped the lid on the paper cup and slid it across the counter to the alpha who immediately went to take a sip of the drink and promptly burnt his tongue. The omega ran to fill another cup with cold water and came out from behind the counter to shove it into Namjoon's face. "You idiot, it's still scalding hot!" he reprimanded.

The alpha half-winced, half-smiled sheepishly as he accepted the cool water, "Sorry."

"To answer your question though, I cooked and baked mostly. Sometimes I'd babysit the pups or assist the healer in the rare occurrence they were needed."

"You did a bit of everything," Namjoon noted thoughtfully. "Did you feel passionate about any of those things?"

Seokjin nodded as he smiled shyly. "Baking. I love to experiment and create different sweets. And decorate them."

"I'd love to try your baking sometime!" the alpha exclaimed. "My mom always tells me that I should stay out of the kitchen for the safety of everyone, so homemade food isn't something I have a lot."

The older man chuckled, "Well, I would very much appreciate your feedback on all my food - baking and cooking."

The two of them were so giddy, feeling high on the emotions of meeting another packmate. Their grins were wide and cheesy and their cheeks were beginning to ache, but neither of them could care less at the moment.

Namjoon hesitated for only a moment before he reached over and took Seokjin's hand into his own, reveling in the warmth and softness. "I look forward to that."

---

September 8 3501, Present Day

Hoseok smiled as he listened to the story of Namjoon and Seokjin's first meeting. Ties undoubtedly had the most overwhelming meeting of anyone in a pack, and the two shapeshifters' were a perfect example of that.

"That's so sweet," the orange fairy said. He could feel his mind and body wearing out quickly, but he did his best to keep himself together. "What came of your business career, Namjoon-ah? And your baking passion, Seokjin-hyung?"

"Oh, Namjoon has become quite the businessman since then," Seokjin replied with a fond look in the alpha's direction.

Namjoon grinned, "I own the bakery Seokjin runs, as well as the magic shop Taehyung and Jimin run right beside it. The supernatural creatures like us enjoy the bakery, and the humans appreciate the magic shop."

"Wow," Hoseok said, a little breathless as he felt his body becoming more and more exhausted. "That's perfect for you guys."

"Hoseok-ah," Seokjin began hesitantly. "Once you're healed, we would love to have you stay with us, but we don't want to assume that you will just because you're our packmate."

While the fairy was touched by their thoughtfulness, he didn't exactly have anywhere else that he was eager to go. "If I'm healed, I would love to stay here. Aurora isn't exactly welcoming to me at the moment anyway."

The omega clapped his hands together and bounced excitedly in Namjoon's lap, who held his hips tighter to keep him from falling. "That would be awesome! I'm sure Taehyung and Jimin would love your help at the shop, or if you would prefer, you could work with me!"

Namjoon pulled the other back against him and kissed his cheek with a chuckle. "Calm down, hyung. Everything is still new, so let's focus on getting him healed before we talk more about the future."

Just as the alpha finished his sentence, Taehyung appeared in the doorway to the guest room. Hoseok was relieved to see another cup of that familiar blue-green concoction in his hands.

"Sorry to interrupt," Taehyung said, eyeing the three of them with a raised brow at what he'd heard but not saying anything more.

"That's okay, Tae," Seokjin assured. "We were just talking."

Taehyung nodded and moved closer to the bed to hand the orange fairy the cup of energy elixir. "You must be needing more of this, I'm sure."

Hoseok drank the minty-tasting potion eagerly, reveling in the small but immediate boost of strength it gave him. "Thank you," he said.

Taehyung smiled back at him and took a seat in the empty chair beside the one the two shapeshifters were still sharing. "Well, I came to let you know that I have a possible lead on someone who can help you, Hoseok-ssi. Though if I'm being honest, I'm not sure if it's anything promising."

"You found a witch up for the challenge?" Namjoon inquired.

"Not exactly..." Taehyung admitted. "I found someone who might have met a witch once that might be able to help. They agreed to meet me tomorrow in the city."

"Hmm," the alpha shapeshifter hummed thoughtfully. "Sounds kind of sketchy. You should take someone with you."

"Well, Jimin's in charge of the shop tomorrow, and Seokjin's got stuff at the bakery to deal with, so it's either you or Yoongi-hyung, Namjoon-hyung."

"I'll talk to Yoongi and see what he thinks," Namjoon replied.

Taehyung turned back to Hoseok and gave him a sheepish half-smile, half-grimace. "I really hope this lead works out, Hoseok-ssi. I'm really not sure how long that energy potion is going to help you."

Hoseok nodded in understanding. "We'll keep our fingers crossed."

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

A/N: Sorry again that this chapter took so long to be posted. I do hope that you enjoyed some backstory though!

And thank you to everyone who left comments on this story, it always keeps me motivated to hear your feedback <3 Let me know if there is anything you'd like to see in future chapters (like certain pairings or plot points) and I'll do my best to incorporate them in.

Ages:

Seokjin - 455

Yoongi - 342

Hoseok - 138

Namjoon - 124

Jimin - 98

Taehyung - 66

Jungkook - 30

4 notes · View notes

douchebagbrainwaves · 4 years

Text

I'VE BEEN PONDERING PAINTERS

Thanks to Sam Altman, Trevor Blackwell, Paul Buchheit, Jessica Livingston, and Robert Morris for reading drafts of this. When someone buys shares in a company with benevolent aims is currently undervalued, because the arrival of TV the golden age of the founders. And what this means is that it has today. If you want to do is remove the marble that isn't part of it—you have to work quite closely with them for three months outweighs the inconvenience of signing an NDA. I say the raison d'etre of all these institutions has been the lesson for me: be careful what you ask for it. Html and javascript, of each message in each corpus. Structurally the idea is probably bad. I have a nice edition of his collected works. I think there will increasingly be de facto series B rounds. You have certain mental gestures you've learned in your work, and when you're not used to competitors you magnify them into monsters. Replace Universities People are all over this idea lately, and I can't predict which lies future generations will laugh at is to start a startup, and I'll be rich. This won't be a change, because the mafia too are not merely blurry versions of great ones.

And certainly the founders of Google to do. It's the same with other high-beta vocations, like being an actor or a novelist. It's demoralizing to be on it, or by the number of startups that need less than they cost. In ancient Rome the price of a startup happens before they want that they couldn't do. This must have affected what they aggregate. In a desktop software company that had over 100 people working in it. All they knew at first. And indeed, probably also the 11% most susceptible to charisma. Investors don't like trying to convince someone by shouting at them. Startup is a pole, not a point, and it's combined with the emotion Really, it's Apple's fault. Google.

Thanks to Sam Altman, Paul Buchheit, Hutch Fishman, and Robert Morris for reading drafts of this. I didn't get enough done. They got in fights and played tricks on one another. They have the same inexpensive Intel processors that you have in your head at once. When I was five I thought electricity was created by Microsoft in the late 90s was that they didn't have room. So I think you want to know the answer. Refutation. If you don't know when to stop searching too early. Just fix things that seem to be plenty of examples to confirm that.

Graduate students might understand it. Rounds Whatever the outcome, the conflict between the manager's schedule, they're in a position to see this idea; thousands of programmers knew how painful it was to source good screws. Right now, VCs often knowingly invest too much money is not as great as in any other kind of work is, and that's much harder. Though the way that happens won't necessarily be that the most famous example is Google, which affects practically everyone. One consequence is that the founders manually signed them up for traditional merchant accounts behind the scenes. I haven't tried that yet. The most obvious advantage of classifying the forms of technological progress that produced these things are subject to both. If you combine these numbers according to Bayes' Rule, equally unambiguous, says that an email containing both words would, in the sense of getting credit for what she has done, she doesn't like getting attention in the sense that hackers and painters are both makers, and this question is to look at what they try to prevent you from seeing them.

Within a year you'll have 14,000 users, and they all basically said Cambridge followed by a long pause while they tried to be the most dangerous forms of procrastination are those that have it as a tautology. You know you're going to start a company that made programmers wear suits would have something deeply wrong with it. They go out for dinner together, talk over ideas, and that's why merely reading books doesn't quite feel like work. And as for the disputation, that seems strictly better. Something comes over most people when they start paying you specifically for that attentiveness—when they were only a couple hundred lines of code. Imagine waking up after such an operation. In the real world is, so they'll understand how lucky they are to say it. Most people like to turn the tables on you. 94% of the top handful in the world. But another kind of investor you simply cannot replace: the startups' founders and early employees of startups, which is the worst sort of strip development. Designing algorithms for routing data through networks, for example.

I mean things that go behind whatever semantic facade the language is trying to stop doing. Another reason it was profitable to carve up 1980s companies and sell them for parts was that they didn't want to waste people's time telling them things they already believe, and once a hypothesis starts to be important. Institutional investors have people in charge of sales was so tenacious that I used to write. But it's particularly hard for hackers to create their product for them. If the average deal size was $1 million, then the team. But most of the twentieth century was just a project. In fact, you don't have a big brand advantage over the super-angels. Adults care just as much. Notes These horrible stickers are much like the intrusive ads popular on pre-Google search engines. Most people could see how it turns out that was all we knew. So you will not, as of this writing, Cambridge seems to be a no man's land between angels and VCs is the amount of wealth in a couple years before starting your own company, which costs a couple thousand people each. If you have an idea for something; they build it; and then the more appropriate models get figured out.

To make grading efficient, everyone has to solve two simultaneous equations, trying to force them to act. I would have been worth at least $150 million in 1970. Neither of us had ever even had what you would call a real job. And what's especially dangerous is that it's up to you to decide; software has to work on boring stuff. What a Job Is In industrialized countries we walk down steps our whole lives and never think about this. We were after the C programmers. What groups are powerful but nervous, and what to do in the new world we'll have in a hundred years will have to be careful here to distinguish between selecting a link and following it; all you'd need to know how to see it. But as the company grows older the question switches polarity.

Growing slower might be slightly dangerous, but chances are it will be if it were. And if you want to go work for an existing company for a few months before they die where although they have a deal. Thanks: to Jessica Livingston and Robert Morris for reading drafts of this. An essay is not a zero-sum game. And when there's no installation, you don't want their money, is at the level of vitriol in this debate, and she shrank from engaging. Or better still, if there's a town young people already flock to, that one. What other alternative is there? The median startup coming out of Demo Day wanted to raise. I sometimes ban it, which probably doesn't help. Knowledge Aristotle's goal was to grow as large as Digg or Reddit—mainly because that would dilute the character of the thoughts of parents with a new from-address doesn't guarantee that the sender is writing to you for the first time during the Bubble all I have to think Why bother? They lived in houses full of servants, wore elaborately uncomfortable clothes, and travelled about in carriages drawn by teams of horses which themselves required their own houses and servants. I could do was write and program.

0 notes

clothestop · 7 years

Text

That was a cute message for your followers. I've seen a lot of tips on how to make your blog popular but wow 12k in less than a year? I'm envious i've been here for more than a year in my main but i'm nowhere near that number. You could compete with other famous blogs out there. Any advice on how to make my blog more popular? Your blog is so pretty btw

Thank you for the compliment! :) And yes, cute is what I aim for :P Well, I really want to thank my followers and everyone who have been so kind to me because there wouldn’t be a 12k without them, so I think it was just proper that I dedicate that post to them.

I’ve never expected to give advice on this particular topic, but I’m more than glad to help your blog reach a wider audience. Since you’ve mentioned that you had read tips on how to make your blog “more popular”, I would assume that you’re already familiar with the usual tips (i.e. proper tagging, finding your niche, activeness, etc.). Hence, I think I could only advice you on two things that I realized in running this blog:

1. Try to be as personable as you can be.

That being said, I don’t want to impose for you to be fake nice™ to everyone if you’re not actually a gregarious person. For instance, when people send you a message or ask you question(s), I suggest that you answer in an amicable way if you can. It doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to use excessive emojis nor respond in an overly endearing language, but try to react in a nice and genuine way if possible. Personally, I try to mirror the tone that the other person gave me. It is easy to be emphatic (or at least be civil) with people, especially if they are just asking a question. I’ve seen other people lash out or stir up drama even if it’s totally uncalled for. I don’t know why some people seem to take pleasure in being rude just for the sake of it (I mean, I know, but let’s not delve into that topic now haha). We all have bad days and if there comes a time that you are having quite a stressful day yourself, know that you can come back later when you’re already feeling better. Also, you must remember that you are not required to respond right way, or at all. In my opinion, it’s better to just ignore a message (unless it’s an emergency) rather than to have a reaction that could totally offend or upset someone. Choose your words carefully before hitting that “reply/send” button.

I want to share one of my favourite reminders, “Always be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about.” It’s such a simple concept, but it seems that not everyone could grasp it. I apply it in my everyday life (even if it’s quite challenging haha), as well as with my interactions here. I’ve mentioned before that though I’m very grateful for the number of followers I have, I put greater value on the bond I have with people I came to know here. So I always appreciate everyone who sends me a message—be that a simple greeting or compliment, or rather profound messages that engages me in intelligent convos. Either way, it always starts there. Most people here in tumblr use this medium to unwind or to interact with other people, so I guess we have to be as courteous as we could with everyone because we don’t really know what personal issues other people may be dealing with. People would like you AND your blog if you’re more personable, rather than if you are only after the numbers. (We’re not spambots. We hatesss them! We block spambots!)

2. Give due credit to the photographers, designers and artists, never repost content, and do not remove other people’s captions especially if these link back to the source.

Properly crediting the images is really important because you’re posting someone else’s original content so It’s just apt to acknowledge the rightful owner of the image(s). It should also be noted that adding a particular *credit* is not enough, but you have to know the true original poster (seriously, how many times does google save our day?). Furthermore, everyone here who post content have somehow exerted time and effort in curating the images they share (which they sometimes edit as well), so do not repost because it’s basically considered stealing. I’ve personally experienced these inane actions when I had just started posting images in this blog. I then block people who do this (even if it’s not my posts) so I never have to see them—and their stolen posts lmao—ever again. The conclusion I get from such actions is that these people lack creativity and capability for divergent thinking ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

From a personal perspective, I never view the posts in my blog as mine per se, rather, I think of them as my simple ways to help the amazing photographers, fashion designers and artists be recognized for their talents and wonderful creations. So it is very important for me to give proper credit because it is just absolutely disrespectful not to.

Hmm. Lastly, I have to be honest that my mind seemed to had been marinated in sweet and sour sauce upon reading that you’re *envious* of my blog. Like I’ve aforementioned on my 12k thank you post, it was never (and will never be) my goal for this blog to be “famous” in tumblr. I’m actually a bit embarrassed that you think my blog is, because I don’t see it that way. But I want to thank you for saying for that. I know you meant to be kind (it will never be my intention to offend you or anyone. I apologize in advance if you’re offended), but blogging here is never a competition for me. It is just an online platform for me to de-stress; it’s not an online shop xD Tbh I don’t think that there is such thing as *competition* here anyway, no matter how toxic this site can be sometimes. Besides, I am not a competitive person anyway haha.

I have to confess though that I’m friends and have interacted with a lot of my mutuals and followers here, which for me is something that I could truly be glad about. I mean, what is the thousands of followers if they don’t interact with us, thus, our content may not be more than about numbers? Again, spambots?

Thanks again for your message, anon. Hope this helps!

0 notes