#i don't quite know the correct thing to equate them to.

[halemerry]

So there's a lot to unpack here but I want to start by talking about the ending and specifically about the Metatron and the calculating moves made at the end of episode 6.

Every single piece of what happened there was a manipulation technique being employed against Aziraphale to an almost brilliant degree and I'm honestly a little obsessed with what this says about the Metatron in particular.

Let's go in order.

First of all. We see him order coffee. In a human body. Something sweet and sugary. He talks to Nina and asks her about her shop name. Does anyone ever ask for death? And when she tells him no they don't his response is to say "so predictable". Our introduction to him here even when everything about him reads like a sweet old man is presented to show us someone who reads the world in terms of being predictable to him.

He then shows up in the middle of Aziraphale's existence being threatened. He immediately cuts down the threat's authority (using outdated language like Az himself would favor) and reemphasizes his own connection to Heaven. When Michael doesn't recognize him and he puts her down and then directly engages Crowley. Crowley who, to Aziraphale, has for centuries at a minimum been someone he thinks is smarter, better, more Good than these other archangels. The Metatron validates these beliefs. Crowley is more Heavenly than these archangels who couldn't even recognize the voice of God when he was standing right in front of them.

The Metatron draws attention to the fact he's in a human body. The kind of body Aziraphale has been in and loved for nearly 6000 years. He then banishes the archangels, implying their morality is in a gray space, and validates Muriel someone we have seen Aziraphale react positively to and someone outside the current power structure. Look at me, he's saying. I see and validate the little guy.

He then tries to talk to Aziraphale. Aziraphale says "I've made my position quite clear." And then the Metatron offers Aziraphale the coffee. This bartering chip, consuming sustenance, is a thing that Aziraphale and Crowley have used as their connective tissue for centuries. It's an olive branch for them. It's giving Aziraphale bodily pleasure and the Metatron implies that he himself has partaken also - a thing we know that Aziraphale has struggled historically with moralizing. He is seen by the closest thing he has left to his parent and he is having old fears validated as safe and old habits being played upon to make him feel secure

He then REMOVES Aziraphale from his home turf. Not only does he remove Crowley from the equation but he takes Aziraphale from the place that has stood as a place of sanctuary throughout the entirety of the season. The shop is Safe and Aziraphale is leaving it and he is leaving the one person who might be able to smell the bullshit coming from the Metatron. The music notably turns absolutely dire here.

The next time we see them the Metatron tells Aziraphale that he doesn't need to answer instantly. He can take his time, if he likes. All the time he needs. And then tells him to go tell Crowley. Once again bringing Crowley in as a valid part of this while manufacturing a scenario where he can't possibly be.

Az ends up in a place where he's overwhelmed and confused and he wants so badly to believe what he's being told. It's an appealing thing from his perspective! He feels off kilter like he's made a mistake in judging the Metatron. He can't even fully articulate what happened to Crowley at first and he's had absolutely no real time to actually think it through. He's running on sheer reactive energy.

The Metatron starts their conversation by asking Aziraphale's opinion. Who should rule Heaven? This is once again playing into making Az feel validated and like he's a part of this decision making process. The Metatron corrects him, complimenting Aziraphale and making him feel capable and in control. He reassures Aziraphale's bafflement. And draws attention to some traits that, while true of Aziraphale around Crowley, are not his defining traits in the eyes of Heaven. You don't just tell people what they want to hear I find particularly notable in this regard given Aziraphale spent most of his time on earth actively lying to Heaven and doing just that. But it fits into the narrative Aziraphale has built around himself, especially post Apocalypse. The Metatron then says I need you (a phrase Az will use much more painfully here in a minute).

And even after all this Aziraphale says no. He says flat out he doesn't want to go back to Heaven. He says this!!! And then the Metatron sweetens the pot. He swaps tactics. Not once has this come up until Aziraphale pushes back against the idea. If the Metatron could've gotten him without using it I have no doubt he wouldn't have bothered with it. Come to Heaven and we can save Crowley. Aziraphale loves Crowley. Aziraphale thinks Crowley is better than any of the angels he's interacted with. Crowley is Good and Nice and Kind and always saving him and now he's being presented with a way to return that. He can Forgive Crowley - a thing Crowley has always presented to Aziraphale as something he struggles with. All of these things Aziraphale has watched Crowley react to in a way that belittles himself or distances them from one another. Of course he wouldn't consider that maybe what he was actually saying is "I'm unforgivable and I don't want that forgiveness."

The Metatron offers Aziraphale a Dream Offer for the pre Armageddon Aziraphale. You can keep your Crowley. You can heal him like you have always thought he deserved. You can have power and control the people who for your whole existence has beaten you down. It can go back to how it was but BETTER.

When Aziraphale leaves he still hasn't answered. He goes and has the conversation they have. It's intense and emotional and the Metatron comes in after the Moment all casual and asks how it goes, knowing fully well the shitstorm he had just set up to get created. And then he turns around and says "always did want to go his own way" which is not only true of Crowley but framed as a bad thing despite the fact that he has just spent twenty minutes or so telling Aziraphale that he's done his own thing and that is Good. He is playing both sides of this perspective as it suits him. And then he cuts down Crowley asking questions, pressuring Aziraphale to avoid doing the same. He then proceeds to ask Aziraphale not if he's made up his mind but if he's ready to get started. He is one by one closing off exit routes to this thing as Aziraphale starts to look more and more panicked and indecisive. He makes sure the bookshop is in good hands and asks Aziraphale if there's anything he needs to take with him. Letting Aziraphale have the illusion of choice while cutting down "I don't want to" as an option altogether.

And Az, as soon as the Metatron is out of shot, tries to express this. And then he falls back right on old coping methods. The Metatron pats him on the head. Reassures that he's the right one for this. That he is Good. That his particular skillset is needed here.

It is a masterstroke of manipulation. A very dark twist on what we see Crowley do time and time again with Aziraphale throughout the millennia. Familiar in a way that makes Aziraphale feel safe. Except this time this is being used to put him back in line. It's brilliant and painful and it fucking hurt and I need a season 3 to see the Metatron get what's coming to him stat.

#good omens #good omens season 2 #gos2 spoilers #good omens spoilers #Metatron #Aziraphale #Episode 6 #Every Day #good omens meta

[ghostface-knight]

After years of seeing "I'm very disappointed" on report cards, and hearing "Thank God your dad can just buy your way into college" from classmates, Stephanie Lauter had accepted that she was not smart.

It wasn't that she didn't like to learn -- when she was young, she loved school. Her favorite class of science. She loved learning about the world around her, and how it worked.

Miss Tessburger would pick her up after school in her dad's black Porsche, and Steph would immediately start explaining the things she had picked up from class that day.

"Did you know that insects make up half the world's known species?" She'd recite.

And each time, she'd be met with something along of the lines of, "Stephanie, your father is very busy today, so don't bother him with this nonsense."

She thought it was the fact itself. Maybe Miss Tessburger just didn't like insects! Steph knew her father was a very busy man, and so it made sense that she shouldn't bother him unless the fact was really worth it. So she'd try history facts. She'd tell Miss Tessburger about weather phenomena. She'd explain mathematical equations which, although not groundbreaking for an adult, were quite impressive for a child of eight years old. Each time, she watched for the hint that this time, it was worth telling her dad. And each time, she recieved the same, disinterested responses.

So, eventually, she came to the conclusion that the things she was learning in school where not important. Her father was very successful, and he didn't want to hear the things she was learning, so who was to say she needed to know them?

And so she stopped telling Miss Tessburger facts on the way home from school. She stopped reading for fun. She stopped paying attention in class.

That was when her grades started getting worse, but the school didn't notify her father unless she failed a class, and he couldn't be bothered to check each time Steph brought home a report card.

In a way, it was easier to slack off. She didn't have to consider the complex concepts she used to seek out. Pretty soon, she forgot the rush of exhilaration she used to get from learning. Pretty soon, it was like she had never cared in the first place.

So no, Stephanie Lauter was not smart.

And yet, when Peter Spankoffski tutored her, he treated her like she was Albert Fucking Einstein.

"So, the domain of f(x) cannot be zero." She worked out, scribbling on her loose leaf. She looked up at Pete, expecting him to correct her. Instead, he broke into a goody grin.

"You got it Steph! Composite functions have nothing on you." He looked over her work with admiration. "I'm not sure you even need me anymore. You know all this stuff."

Steph smirked. "Maybe, but I think I'll keep you around."

She turned back to her paper, but could clearly see Pete turning bright red out of the corner of her eye.

"Ah, see, I do need you. Because I have no idea what the hell this one is asking me to do." She pointed to an equation.

Pete leaned over, and read the equation out loud. "Find the inverse of f(x) = (x/2) + 7. Oh, this one's easy." He said, grabbing a pencil and starting to write.

"Easy for you to say." Steph mumbled. "You're in the hardest math class this shit-hole offers."

Pete looked up at her. "Not true! I'm in AP Calculus, and they offer Linear Algebra." He sighed, noting Steph's unamused expression. "Look, I only said that cause I know you know this."

"I don't though!" She groaned in exasperation.

"Yes you do! How do you find the inverse of a function?"

"I don't know!" She exclaimed.

"Steph, look at me." Reluctantly, Steph obliged.

Pete took her hand, and looked into her eyes with his own deep brown ones. She softened.

"Take a breath. You know how to do this, I promise. How do you find the inverse of a function?"

Steph took a breath and closed her eyes. "You- you switch x and y, then solve for x."

Pete's smile was the only confirmation she needed. "I told you that you don't need me." He said softly as she got to work solving the equation.

Steph considered it. "Either way, can you stay?"

And the doe eyes strike again. "Of course, Steph." He paused. "I'll always stay."

#npmd #hatchetfield #hatchetverse #nerdy prudes must die #starkid #steph lauter #stephanie lauter #peter spankoffski #pete spankoffski #lautski #do you see my vision? #first time writing fanfic im kinda nervous

[utilitycaster]

Unpopular opinion: parts of the cr fandom are really dismissive/ reductive of Travis’s characters. It feels like it’s due to Travis being seen as THE cis het man of the group, and by extension his characters must be heteronormative and bad, despite the fact that you could have queer interpretations of his characters. At the very least, Travis’s characters explore masculinity and the different ways it might look. It’s like the people who are all “ew men are gross and shitty” and act like that’s an absolutely normal reaction to a man just existing.

So this is another one in that I agree with the initial statement, but I'm actually not sure re: the reasoning why. I think it's possible but I could not tell you for sure.

I used to, again, think this was people carrying through Campaign 1 elements well beyond the point where C1 had ended, and so Grog having an intelligence of 6 was being applied to Travis; and this definitely does come through to an extent when people treat Fjord (objectively as smart as Beau without her circlet) as stupid or act shocked that Chetney is the brains of Bells Hells or that he can play a Cerrit, Fjord, or Nathaniel. However, again, I think this is one of those opinions that pops up among people who weren't around for Campaign 1 (or early enough in C2 to be exposed to it regularly) so I don't know if that's the case anymore. It could still be - it could be that Approved Fandom Opinions get passed down even when the logic behind them has long since been lost; that's a really common thing in institutional memory. But I can't say for sure.

I also have in the past credited it to, as you said, people assuming his characters are the cishet guys and then writing them off. That's still possible - I've seen both Fjord and Chetney called "token straight" despite considerable evidence of bisexuality, and they also paradoxically are both commonly headcanoned as trans while still getting called "token straight," which sort of ties into a post I would need to find from someone else from quite some time ago about which cast members are granted agency by the fandom in their choices vs. which are assumed to be the victims of circumstance. And I do think that there are people in fandom who have decided men are icky or whatever, and I used to think this came from a place of bigotry and a slide towards t*rf ideology but I now do genuinely think it's just idiots who don't grant interiority to characters outside their own limited understanding.

But I think it's also useful to consider a few things, most of which I've brought up before:

Travis is extremely offline. He is not here to entertain your headcanons; he has been politely but openly dismissive of some (imo, really fucking dumb) fanon/fan theories. I think the cast frequently talks about how it's their table, and I think that's valid and correct, but Travis is one of the players who lives it the most. He is playing this game with his friends, and he'd like it to be a good story, but if you don't like it, he is not here to make you like it. I think that really fucks with the parasocial connections some people desire with the cast.

Travis's characters tend to examine masculinity as a performance but also the general performance of the self, and the fact that you cannot in the end control how you are perceived entirely, and I think that really unsettles people who have equated presentation with reality and are again, looking for external validation of the self.

Travis can play it big but he's often extremely subtle, especially with his more serious characters, and he's not as easily quotable out of context as some others at the table. I think because he is a lot more naturalistic than dramatic at times (Chetney notwithstanding) and isn't as pithy and quotable in his characters as many of Taliesin's PCs are, and a lot of the strength is in the delivery, he gets overlooked despite being very good with words on the fly.

And finally: this would be a whole post on its own but people are still very foolishly wed to this idea that pressing the big red button in D&D is Wild and Chaotic and haha Big ADHD Man when it's actually how you play D&D if you're not a coward; the button is where the story is stored, and a lot of Travis's strength is that he is extremely good at understanding what the GM wants and supporting it with sufficient grace that it's only visible if you know what you're fucking doing.

#answered #Anonymous #in the end although it's frustrating the fandom often sells him short #every gm is like this man is the greatest player i've ever had so who's really right in the end #anyway. watch candela chapter 2. #opinions rating ask meme

[swords-of-a-soilder]

My QSMP Headcannons vs in game Canon

Feel free to correct me if I get the Canon wrong.

•Tallulah uses hearing aids-this one is actually cannon but people tend to leave it out in art.

•philza uses a walking cane after purgatory- while Phil stated multiple times that the condition of his wings gave him poor balance, even though his wings are somewhat better I imagine the constant back and forth for someone who was never really good a balancing paired with the weight of his new wings probably make it very difficult to stay balance while walking.

•Fit, Tubbo lost limbs in purgatory- correct me if I'm wrong but I'm pretty sure Tubbo didn't lose a lib in Canon, and I'm also not sure if the texture of Fit new skin is meant to be read as a prosthetic but I like the idea.

•Richardslyson has a prosthetic leg- this isn't excalty clear whether or not it's canon, we know his model in game has a leg that doesn't connected to his shell but it also important to note that Phil adjusted Richards statue to reflect a prosthetic leg, so you could technically consider it canon.

•Phil is demi-romantic- I know Phil never gave a clear sexual orientation to his in game character, but watching them interact with other love interest he gives the vibe of a demi-romantic person.

•Fit and Phil are divorced on really good terms- the kind were you realize your better as friends, which would also play a part in Phil discovering his is demi-romantic. Obviously in canon they was no clear past relationships established between them.

•Bolas actually does see Phil as a father figured- obviously Cellbit calmed he was joking when he called Phil dad, however Baghera still seems to call him that. I also really just want Cellbit to have a good father figure lmao.

•Rose is Phil's mother- I could go into detail of how the goddess of life birth the angle of death, but I equate it to her being his mother as God is your father but like she's his mother directly. She made him, she raised him, she'll protect him like her like depends on it.

In canon Rose just seems to be the Spawn entity but I like to imagine her as his Spawn entity. That would mean that she spawned him into existence in the hardcore world.

•the federation isn't evil, just misunderstood- I'm not saying they are good, just more morally grey. They do horrible experiment and treat the residents curly in our eyes, but in their eyes this is normal.

They do things thinking the residents don't know any better and therefore their complains are invalid, quite like a narcissist parent.

•the eggs can shape shift- I love the idea of the eggs taking on physical traits of the person (s) that they feel loved by slowly the more fond they become of them.

So the original Chayanne would stay an egg for the first two days then shock his parents by appearing as a little boy with blond hair.

When badly injured they go back to egg form.

•Charlie is in fact part slime and that's how he shape shifted into gegg- technically the qsmp info channel confirmed this in the qsmp full story videos

•Jaiden was a part of project blue bird- again not confirm, but I really like the idea that she was raised by Cucuchroo and that's why she naturally acts kinder to him (but she doesn't remember)

•the island has a respawn entity- following the concept of Rose aiding Phil's spawn, I like to imagine the whole island has a entity that revives players after death, and thus respawning in other demension ie the nether, takes much longer as that a different entity all together.

•the radiation of the blast from purgatory turned Foolish into a shark human hybrid, I mean technically canon since has the speed fins now.

•Forever has a survivor complex- this is up to interpretation of whether or not it's canon but I perceive Forever's behaviour as someone who feels he had to save everyone; He is the president after all.

•Forever likely still has feelings for Phil- or better yet the feelings have developed into genuine love as opposed to obsession, but from observing Missa learnt the best way to love Phil is to respect his wishes.

•Lovejoy is canon in the qsmp and is sponsored by the federation hence why Wilbur often leaves for tours. I'm actually not sure if this is canon or not, I recall Phil joking about it but I don't know if that's the Canon explanation as to how he's allowed to leave the island.

•Missa like Wilbur is sent on sponsored trips by the federation; in which he gather information on other islands, the resources of said island and whether or not their populated

•The codes are corrupted dead eggs- I'm mostly getting this theory from the codes disguising themselves as eggs and codaflipa, but I really like the idea that the codes are eggs that have died in the past with past residents and are restless.

A good backing for this is how Sofia found the eggs to be non organic, which makes me think that in a way they are computer programming, an sentient artificial life.

That does however bring the lore question of how their ghost can return, I think codes are a store of ghost form for them, with the code of their existence being shattered after a while they degraded to code monsters.

This would explain why they kill eggs (they want more company) and how they're able to disguised as them. Codaflipa can only return a few times because it's difficult to keep that form with shattered codes.

Now it is hinted at that the eggs are artificial, Sofia and the details of A1 being hints at that, but there is no Canon confirmation of such to my knowledge

I also know that Etoiles seem to believe the code killed eggs because they were being controlled by the federation, but I don't believe that seeing as the federation went out of their way to get the eggs back.

#that's all i got #share your own in the comments #qsmp #qsmpblr #q!philza #q! fit #q! tubbo #q! forever #hcs4 rose #q!missa #q!jaiden #q!charlie #q!cellbit #q!chayanne #q!tallulah #q! Richardslyson

[evolutionsvoid]

I already know that this entry is going to drive Eucella crazy, what with my...limited knowledge on this species. To be fair though, the information we have on this species as a whole is rather meager, but I feel like it would be a missed opportunity if I didn't write at least something about it! It is important that my readers know of every species, even those we have yet to fully understand! Indeed, I know Eucella is going to be furious at the idea of adding in an entry that is mainly scraps and shoddy guesswork, but when has her temper ever stopped me before? Onwards, I say!

This entry is on the Hundun, a species I feel that a lot of folk aren't even aware of. It would certainly make sense, as not a lot has ever been said or spread about this creature. One of the big factors for this is because the Hundun has (currently) only ever been found in one cave network in one specific region of the world. And even then, one needs to go in real deep to find them, so much so that discovering this species was pretty much an accident, done when an explorer got lost in the labyrinth of tunnels. Thankfully, a rescue team was able to find them and get them out so that their story could be told, resulting in a group of better equipped researchers going in to confirm their existence. At the time, most people thought the poor sap had gone crazy, losing their mind in the absolute darkness and silence only a cave can create. When researchers found the chamber deep within the network, the fantasy was found to be real.  

So what is a Hundun? A good question, because we are currently still trying to find a way to properly answer that. They got no bones, so we can strike a whole branch of life out the equation there. No real exoskeleton means another chunk of the tree taken out, but once we rule those pieces out, we have very little else to narrow it down with. There are a staggering amount of creatures out there that have no bones and aren't bugs, and we still struggle to even sort those properly! Now, we find a species in the depths of some remote cave network, whose anatomy makes even less sense. Back to the question of: what is a Hundun? The answer is that it is a blob of juice, jelly and odd organs that is wrapped in a thick membrane and given six "legs" and four "wings." I stress those words because we don't really have the confidence to truly say that those are what they are. The "wings" have had some folk liken them to gills, yet the Hundun has been seen flapping these appendages and gliding with them from time to time. But no real flight has been observed, and their use of them as a glider is quite sparse. As for their legs, they do aid in travel and climbing, as these are what they use to cling to cavern walls. However, despite their claws, there are no other rigid structures to them, and openings on the bottoms of these "feet" makes these limbs feel more like protruded orifices. And those aren't even the weirdest parts! If one ever got a good look at a real live Hundun, they would have the same question as every researcher: Where's its face?!

Indeed, the striking thing about the Hundun is that it doesn't appear to have a face, or head, or anything we could equate to a noggin. The front of them ends in a smooth membrane, as blank and curved as an egg shell. There are no eyes, no nose, no mouth, nothing. Now some may point out that just because it doesn't have the typical organs and holes that common animals have on their face doesn't necessarily mean they are faceless. Surely there is something there, we just aren't seeing it! And aren't their plenty of cave animals with no eyes? Correct you are! However, when I say they don't have these things, I literally mean they don't have them. On the surface of their front end, we cannot find anything that we could equate to the usual sensors or openings that other creatures have. Perhaps, these special organs are found within the body, but that is another mystery we have yet to figure out. We can't exactly cut a Hundun open and lay it out for all to see. This is because their bodies are practically bags of gelatin just waiting to pop and slosh to the floor in a sloppy mess. Their organs and insides are so sensitive and fluid-like, that they pretty much melt into a puddle of useless juice once their hide is ruptured. Attempts at dissecting dead specimens has resulted in incomprehensible slop and zero answers. Some have used magic to freeze samples solid before cutting, but this process inevitably causes damage to the organs and insides, so we cannot observe them as they normally would be. It's just....baffling. 

If it has no face, how does it breath? How does it eat? Plenty of these questions arise when faced with such an enigma. Breathing is one we feel we figured out, pointing to the wing gills and the soft damp nature of their membrane. We think they can pull in air through these gills and even straight through their skin. As for eating, we have wondered if the skin breathing can also result in skin eating, where it can absorb particles from the air or stuff that settle on their skin. The discovery of their foot orifices now makes us think they eat through those, sucking up food as they walk or cling to the walls. What do they eat? Not really sure. Don't have much of a stomach to open up and poke around through. Probably lichens and tiny creatures that live on these cavern walls, as we have never seen a Hundun chase after food or hunt anything of notable size. What we do know is that their diet is so niche, that keeping them alive outside of these cave systems is near impossible. Specimens removed for long periods of time will starve to death, or die from complications due to eating something that doesn't settle well in their system. All attempts to keep them alive outside of their cave system has been met with failure, so all research is done just outside of these caverns, temporarily capturing specimens for quick tests and observation, before immediately putting them back.

Thankfully, we do know that they lay eggs, but how they get the stuff to make and fertilize eggs, we don't know. No mating rituals have been observed, and no mated pairs have been spotted in the cavern. They simply lay eggs, that then hatch into more Hundun. So even there, are answer is laughably simple.

So if we are utterly clueless about the workings of the Hundun, then what does the world think of them? To be fair, most of the world doesn't really know they exist. Live specimens don't survive long, and preserving dead ones isn't easy either. Any preservatives eventually melt them into colorless goop, and taxidermy doesn't really work on a bag of juice. And with our sad amount of information, most folk would think it is all a lame researcher joke. Locals wound up having stories about this species, but this was all veiled in legends and myth. Tales of ghostly spirits in the depths of the caves, of lost souls in the pits of a dark hell. Obviously, most folk thought these were ghost stories, but now with a glowing orb of living flesh, it feels that these were encounters with the Hundun long ago. Even now, the people of the region speak of this species as a primordial creature, one that has been around since the forming of the world. Some even claim that these creatures are tiny unborn worlds themselves, walking eggs waiting for their day to hatch. It is times like these where I do not turn to my usual scoffing of superstition and dramatics, because I feel that they are onto something here. A primordial being, not a bad theory! Perhaps the Hundun are truly a prehistoric species, one that existed countless centuries before! Isolated in the depths of the earth, far from other creatures and the ravages of nature and time, there is no telling of when they split from the rest of life, or perhaps when the tree of life diverted from them! This could be an incredible case where we found a pocket in the world where time froze, where the ancients still survive to this day! It is an incredible thought, now if only we could figure them out in the slightest!

One last frustrating note: one of the times I was doing research down in the Underworld, my travels took me to a remote cavern town in my pursuit of strange new specimens. While I was visiting, I spotted Hundun on some of the cavern walls, and just as I was going in for a closer look, I saw a demon and their imp playing with one! I was quick to ask about what they were doing, and they straight up tell me that these Hundun are like pets to them! Adorable little squishy beans! I nearly burst out of my own bark hearing this, because here was a community of people who have interacted with these things for decades, perhaps centuries! Such close contact with this species that has never been documented before! I almost threw all my current notes into the nearest fire, because here was my new research! My new thesis! My masterpiece! I would be able to find out answers about the species that puzzled researchers for decades! So I didn't waste any time, barraging everyone with questions about the Hundun and what they know of them. You know what I got? "No idea, but they sure are cute!" THAT'S IT!? YOU PEOPLE HAVE BEEN LIVING WITH ONE OF THE GREATEST ENIGMAS IN NATURAL HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY FOR DECADES AND YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THEM?! I ask "what do you feed your pets?" and they say "oh we don't feed them, they somehow do it themselves." I say "isn't it weird you don't feed these things? Haven't you noticed what they do when they're hungry?" and to that they say "Yeah, it sure is weird, isn't it? Got no clue, but they seem to be doing fine!" I sadly admit that my research of this town and the Hundun had to be cut short for that trip, as my guides had to drag me out of there before I had a total mental breakdown. I will probably have to wait awhile before going back, because I think my crazed screaming rant in the middle of town left a rather poor impression.  

Chlora Myron

Dryad Natural Historian

Oh good! An entire entry of you just saying "I don't know!" Wonderful! Excellent! Just what your book needs, Chlora! You are doing this on purpose, I swear! - Eucella -

#hundun #monster #creature #art #drawing #a squishy little thing #not sure what else to call it!

[nayruwu]

This ques has been bothering me since I entered in this fandom.... How important is shinya to guren. Guren is surely very important to shinya as even his desire was to 'never give up on guren' but what abt guren. What I mean to say is:-

- guren has a lot of people who he loves and it's often (no, always) difficult to understand what his priority is, it's like his priority changed depending upon the situation,but then when someone is imp to you they are always your priority right?, talk abt shinya then I belive his top priority is guren. Therefore I'd ask 'is shinya guren's priority?'

-shinya has often seen showing his care for guren but that's not case with guren who is a tsundere but even if we talk abt actions guren has done a lot for shinya but he has done the same for 'the others' too I'm not saying he shouldn't but if I were to compare then, 'if shinya was the only one who died then would guren have touched the taboo?'

-guren has had a quiet a few people who are important to him like sakae, mahiru and shinya, again I'm not saying I want guren to consider shinya more important than his *father*, but when talking abt shinya i don't think he has had such people in his life therefore guren is somene 'different' in his life but I guess that's not the case with guren so, 'will it be easy for guren to sideline shinya?'

- finally, if some is important to us we care abt their emotions more than (or in addition to) their physical presence right? But the past few actions of guren he is kind of ignoring shinya's emotions

That's it ( ik that's quite long) but honestly thanku for even giving some time to read this silly question. I can be wrong , and if i am then please correct me.

Also I am not saying I want guren to make shinya his top priority I am just asking his importance in guren's life, and in order to do that I may have compared a few chracters but at the end of the I love guren and shinya and till the time they are happy I'm happy

a long ask requires a long answer. ghostwritten by my lovely friend mr. guren expert because there's no way i could have done this. hope you don't mind!

Those are some. pretty loaded questions with alot of nuance to them, but I'll do my best to reflect on them.

To dive right in, I think "If Shinya was the only one who'd died then, would Guren have touched the taboo" is an absolutely fascinating question to do this case study on. Of course, Guren ending the world was not something that happened exclusively because of the value Shinya holds to Guren. Being predestined, there were multiple factors at play, and I think your question is quite difficult to answer, specifically due the complexity of these circumstances. You're under the assumption that Shinya places a higher value on Guren than Guren does on him, because he never had any other attachments before him, and Guren therefore becomes his priority by default right?

Well I don't think the fact that Guren has attachments outside of Shinya, necessarily takes away from how much Shinya means to him. If anything it elevates that. In resurrection (Book 1, Page 24) it says "If Shinya didn't come back, Guren had violated the taboo for nothing." This idea is brought up multiple times throughout the book and does at the very least imply that had only Shinya lived, Guren would not have been the one to cause the catastrophe. Now while that is not the exact same case scenario, it does affirm the notion that Guren values Shinya's life above the lifes of his other friends, and perhaps, Mahiru if you want to take her into the equation too.

But I also know that Guren didn't only end the world for Shinya's sake, even if that might've been at the forefront of it. While I totally see your point about Guren having things Shinya lacks, you also have to understand that all of the attachments Guren has are under constant threat of being taken from him. By the time Guren ends the world for Shinya, he has already lost Sakae, he never had Mahiru to begin with and he has barely just found companionship with his friends.

(I don't think that comparing Sakae and Shinya's importance to Guren does much to prove a point either way, because Guren has never found himself in a situation where he had to weigh their lives against each other, like he did with Mahiru. When Sakae died, Guren and Shinya had only just begun to be friends in earnest and Shinya was always on Guren's side in trying to lift Sakae's execution order. While Guren does seem to prioritize a duty towards his clan over a duty towards saving Mahiru, Shinya is not within that. Yes, with his clan Guren had a semblance of community that Shinya never did, but i don't think it influenced whether or not he would end up valuing Shinya above it later on.)

I suspect that the fact that this was new for Guren too, friendship without the weight of expectations his Clan or Mahiru placed on him, factored into why Guren was so vulnerable, why he couldn't withstand. Guren didn't exactly have much autonomy under the Hiiragi regime and a big part of why Guren is "a tsundere" as you so delicately put it is because he is afraid that being emotionally attached to something, showing "weakness", wanting to save others, will cause them to be annihilated. And he's right at that, too. It's a threat both the Hiiragi and the curse of the resurrection pose. It's literally what caused him to end the world in the first place.

While Shinya isnt the first person Guren ever loved, he still holds a special symbolic value to him. It's about how they would've won had they died together, it's about weakness as the correct path, it's about reminding Guren of what he believes in and who he wants to be. I think you can most recognize the importance Shinya holds as Guren's moral compass in the last catastrophe book as well as resurrection, and you can see the care Guren has for him in his constant consideration of whether or not what he is doing is right by Shinya. Right in general.

The thing about Guren is that at his core his character motivation is that he wants to save everyone (whether that centeres around the liberation of his clan, or just people he generally deems weak (marginalized so to speak) or the resurrection of all of mankind.) But this isn't an entirely selfless ambition. (Guren's desire to save Mahiru has also always been. conflicted for this reason.)

Guren does acknowledge that this desire also stems from a need of approval, as well as jealousy and want of power. Oftentimes Guren will end up in situations where this is challenged head on, because he cannot in fact commit himself to saving everyone and simultaneously get what he wants, and is therefore forced to choose between the two obstacles.

When confronted with a choice like that, Guren will usually take a fundamentally selfish approach to it, sacrificing others for sake of his own pursuits: risking or sacrificing lives for the sake of saving Mahiru, sacrificing countless lives for sake of resurrecting Shinya (and his other friends), as well as the sacrificing of lives and the human experimentation he was involved in for sake of resurrecting humankind.

See Guren does in fact prioritize Shinya—else he would not end the world for worth of this one life, nor go to such gruelling lengths is finding a way to keep him alive even when the means to do it require him to contradict the principles he believes in. But unlike with Shinya, it is an inherently selfish act for him. While Shinya doesn't want to save Guren for the sake of any personal gain, not giving up on Guren being a purely selfless ambition, Guren is not satisfied with that. The thing I think Guren rationally believes, the moral stance he would take in an argument, is that there is no way to measure the value of a human life and no one is superior to anything. Guren is a very anti authorian character in that regard. Still Guren, in that very selfish irrational way, does value Shinya's life above all others regardless of this belief.

It's not really that Guren doesn't want to prioritize Shinya, I don't think, (because again that is too much of a rational approach to this), but more so that he knows he can't fulfil both a goal of resurrecting all of humanity and peruse his personal wish of keeping his friends alive. But this is what you have to understand right, it's that. Guren doesn't care that that's likely not possible. He will try in vain to keep pursuing both goals at once anyway. And that's where the conflict emerges from. You bring up that you don't think Guren is very considerate of Shinya in this regard, and congrats youre right about that. It is another sacrifice he feels he has to make. Hurting Shinya is a necessity in keeping him alive and I think Guren is sorry about it, but not willing to change it. I don't think Guren's goals and priorities are something that is inconsistent and changes with the circumstances and instead that they are consistent, but constantly at odds with each other.

Tl;dr yes I do think Shinya is a priority for Guren, but unlike how Shinya feels for him in return it is in a much more symbolic manner, often more centered around the idea of Shinya and what he means to Guren and why Guren needs him and than about Shinya himself

#you guys better thank fedya. i think i gave him a massive headache but it was worth it!

[nothorses]

Different anon, but while I don't disagree with the general idea of your response, imo comparing smoking in public to gay people holding hands in public doesn't make for a good comparison and is taking "let people do their thing" a bit too far. One is actually, verifiably physically harmful to your health, the other is not, so equating them kind of lacks nuance quite a bit. People being inconsiderate of each other in shared spaces is a huge pet peeve of mine, although it does depend on the degree of how much it's a nuisance as well – a whiff of neighbor's smoke from far away is a very different beast than walking through a densely populated city with dozens of people blowing smoke in your literal face that you can't get away from (which is what I encounter daily). That being said, I'm not saying people should aggressively harass any smoker they see, be civil about it of course, and I support the idea of there being more smoking areas that people can use in public (that are actually closed off rather than just a painted bit of sidewalk where the smoke still gets blown everywhere, which is what we have where I live – entirely useless).

Smoking tabacco is in fact bad for your health, and we know this! It is not a good thing to do, generally speaking. Being gay is not bad for your health. Correct ✅

The thing about it, though, is that some people do actually believe that being gay is bad for you. Some people believe, very strongly in fact, that, for example, you will go to hell and suffer forever if you are gay, or if you engage in gayness. For a while, lots of people- even very compassionate "allies"- believed that engaging in gay sex endangered gay people's health via risk of HIV/AIDs.

That doesn't make it objectively true, that being gay is actually bad, but it does mean that "you should let people do whatever they want as long as it's not bad for them" doesn't really hold up as a rule for the extent to which we respect other people's autonomy.

Here's a fun little thought exercise: are there circumstances under which smoking tobacco might be good for someone? Maybe not objectively and ultimately, but if someone quit a much more harmful habit by switching to smoking, I would consider that a good thing. A step in the right direction, even.

What about someone who appears overweight, to you, eating something you believe is unhealthy? What if someone is parenting their kids in a way you believe is harmful- maybe you think they're being too permissive? What if someone is spending money on something you don't think they should be able to afford? What if someone is using a food bank, or panhandling, when you think they appear to be well-off?

We shouldn't hinge our respect for other people's autonomy on how well we think they're using it.

[green5quirrel]

Pronoun Practice Website Idea

TL;DR: Anyone want to make a website like Duo Lingo for learning and becoming proficient at someone else's pronouns?

Dear Trans Programming Community (of which I know is vast) or Allies,

I had this idea the other day of a website where you can plug in someone's pronouns and their name and practice using their name and pronouns in various sentences sort of like Duo Lingo but to learn and become more comfortable with someone's pronouns. (I am not a program savvy person, though I know I could learn. This website idea is quite complex though so I thought if I could outsource it someone might feel inspired.)

Practicing things by saying them out loud has always been helpful in creating new patterns in the brain. And especially pronouns like "they/them" (which are mine) or neo pronouns (which I can definitely use some practice with) it can take a while for the brain to go through the process of replacing the assumed/past pronoun with the correct pronoun every time before it's able to bypass that pattern and be able to connect the person directly with the correct pronoun. (Same way you learn someone's new name.)

I feel like this would be helpful because allies/accomplices and friends often go through that awkward stage of stuttering/guilt (their own) when learning to adjust their language. This website might be able to mitigate that uneasy phase of learning so that the person whose pronoun is being corrected might not have to go through as much public discomfort. (I recently had a coworker who I adore get very angry at being reminded of my pronoun because it triggered the negative way her language was corrected as child by her parents. She wanted to learn my pronouns without being prompted. This website would be an option.)

I suppose one way it could work is to have a page that is basic grammar having to do with the specific pronoun, then a quiz on the grammar. Then have sentences to practice verbally using pronouns and then, last, have fill in the blank sentences where you're expected to choose/fill in the appropriate pronoun and form of that pronoun included with the person's name. (Things could get tricky with people who don't have pronouns and go by their name alone. But I think there could be an option for that as well with some adjustments.)

I feel like the sooner we can teach those willing to learn how to be more comfortable learning pronouns without having to be put on the spot and feeling shame (that is then projected to us, who are the pronoun havers) the sooner it can become a more intrinsic part of our culture and society. And it takes us out of the equation for being in the firing range of those emotions. And it gives power to allies and accomplices to practice that allyship on their own time. So I hope there's an accomplice or trans person who feels led to take this project on. And I'd eventually like to see it in other languages as well!

Thank you for your time!

#pronouns #neopronouns #nonbinary #genderqueer #transgender #programmers #coding #website idea #trans allyship #trans programmers #trans coders #web developers #website design #website development #website developers

[sainzzsturns]

Math Homework

c. sturniolo x fem!reader

warnings: academic validation stress?

category: fluff, angst (if you squint)

Chris sat at his desk looking at the math homework in front of him, thoughts raced through his brain and all the calculations seemed to fog up his mind.

The work's questions only seemed to get worse as he skipped his eyes to the other questions.

That familiar burning knot started to be formed at his throat as he covered his eyes with his hands, pressing harshly at his eyes, causing total blackness behind his eyelids.

He took a deep breath and rolled his chair away from his desk and on the direction of his bed where his phone had been tossed to earlier.

His shaking fingers tapped on your contact to call you.

"Hey baby, what's up?" Y/N's calm voice asked, immediately making Chris' shoulders drop.

"Hey, could you come over? I need some help." His voice breaks, making his stress evident.

"Already on my way, be there in five sweetie" Y/N responds, knowing that these types of pet names are always great for comforting Chris.

A few minutes later, after staring at the ceiling trying to hold his tears in Chris hears his door being knocked on.

"Come in" He says in a low voice.

"Hi Chris, what's wrong honey?"

"I'm stupid" He says in a shaken voice, making Y/N's heart break into a million pieces.

"Hey don't say that, what's making you think that?"

"I can't get this stupid homework done, it's stressing me out, there's no way it's THAT hard, maybe I'm just too dumb for it" He responds in a dramatic manner.

Y/N tries to hold back a chuckle as she pulls his chair back to his desk and sits on his lap, so both of them can look at the activity.

"Hey look, on the first question you were on the right track, why'd you stop?" She asked.

"Well I didn't know if that was the right way to do it."

"So your not dumb, you know how to solve these, your just insecure," She says "You don't have to be scared of getting any of these wrong, if you do you'll be corrected by your teacher and you'll be even more prepared for a test."

He looks at her as if she's the most precious thing to ever step foot on earth.

"Why're you staring at me like that, c'mon focus on your work." Y/N says.

He kisses her cheek and wraps his arms around her waist, listening to her explain how to solve each equation.

"Now I'm gonna go make you some sandwiches while you finish these up!" She exclaims pecking his lips and running through the room, feeling eyes on her. "Quit staring at my ass Christopher!" She says leaving his room.

He chuckles as he turns back to his work now confident to solve these equations.

When he finished up his work he grabbed his papers and headed to the kitchen were you were cutting the sandwiches in half.

"Yay my favorites!" A way happier Chris exclaimed.

"You deserve it," His girlfriend responds with a proud smile. "Let me see your answers." she says handing him his plate.

He focuses in her facial expressions trying to read her thoughts as she scanned his work.

"Good job Chris!" She exclaims.

"I got them all right?"

"Of course you did, don't know why you ever doubted yourself."

Y/N goes to sit next to him, giving him a kiss on the cheek to express how much she loved him.

"Thank you baby, means a lot to me." He says looking at her.

"Always Chris."

"I love you."

"I love you more baby"

#chris sturniolo #sturniolos #sturniolo triplets #christopher sturniolo #matt sturniolo #nick sturniolo

[bonefall]

attempted to translate some of my ocs names into clanmew!! any corrections would be appreciated i love doing these :)

Silverglow - Ssoenshayu (Silver-light source) I couldn't find an exact match for 'glow' so I used 'shayu' (light source) as my next closest thing for what I wanted to convey

NIGHTFACE - Oogarbauss (Nighttime-face) I kind of went back and forth on which time of night I wanted to use before settling on 'oogar' (between vesper and twilight) because she rusts in the sun so she's not like midnight black

PALEWISH - Shemshubshaba (Shining-gray-prayer) The closest I could find for 'pale' was a combination of 'shem' and 'shub' to make Shining-gray?? If there's something better I didn't know what to look for

PRICKLEFANG - Nyypki (Harmless thorn-canines) I thought it'd be cute to use 'nyyp' (harmless thorn) instead of 'nak' (thorn) because ol' prickle is more bark than bite :)

LARGEGAZE - Morrwoipo (Large-eye) Closest I could get for gaze was 'ipo' (eye)? I don't know if there's something like 'seek' or 'look/looking' in Clanmew but that's what I could find

LEAPINGCLAW - Luarkach (Jumping-claw) Jumping is basically a synonym of leaping so I went with that

Sometimes names come up and I wish I had a like, "Featured user translations" section in my Clanmew masterpost, because Pricklefang's is absolutely perfect. I love what that says about the character, I recently made a word for prickle which was "small stings" (Beki) but I LOVE "harmless thorn fang," that's A+

But, anyway, onto some new vocab!

Quickly, tho, on "Shayu"

"Shayu" is light, but specifically, a place where the light comes from. It's the stars, it's the sun, it's fire. Things that produce a glow, implying that something marked with 'shayu' is a light.

So for example, Finchlight's Clanmew name is Wibuchshayu. Goldfinch-Light, a thistle-eating finch that is glowing as if it was a fire.

I want to keep that, so these words are going to be complementary to it;

Glow = Ahai The light that comes off a shayu, reflecting on other objects in the area. Like a cave lit up by a warm flame, or the light of the stars that illuminate your path. It's less targeted than a 'beam' (ane)

Halo = Owosha Take special note of this word; does it sound familiar? "Washa" is the word used for ShadowClan, and it's noted to not be related to the words for darkness or shade. That's because these two words are related! Ancient Lakemew cousins! Washa is better translated as umbra. It's a dark moon, it's the shadow cast behind you. Owosha is the opposite, it's penumbra. This is the glow around the moon, the light that's caught on fur, a shine that creates an outline.

Next, on "pale"

Currently there's "Loerr" for 'dim,' like a dark, desaturated color... but that doesn't quite cover "pale," which like a light, desaturated color. So here,

Pale/Pastel = Olurr

Can be translated interchangeably; this word refers to light, delicate colors. They don't apply this to "pale skin" in medicinal terms, because they are covered in fur!

And, lastly, just as a footnote, I added some words for types of watching;

Pipeni/Pipen/Pipe = Watched/watching/will watch Used in "watching minnows dry," for keeping your extended focus on a thing. Note that Clan cats equate hearing and vision and find them a lot more 'equal' in their importance than humans.

Paohaoha/Paohao/Paoha = Travel, walking with intent to find something, seeking This one's not gaze-related, but it may be closer in vibe to what you're looking for. This is for 'seeking' something, trying to find a thing, questing, so on.

#Clanmew

[xxlovelynovaxx]

Something about discussions of bigotry and harm I've noticed:

A lot of people equate harm to intentionality. That is, they think that in order to significantly harm someone, you have to mean to harm them. That's why "abuser" is treated as an class of people that are ontologically evil. It's why people get so defensive when accused of harm.

It's why the statement "impact matters more than intent" matters.

But what specifically I've noticed is this: for people getting defensive and saying their intentions are good, if their intentions actually are good, shouldn't their primary concern/priority upon being told they have done be fixing that hurt and making the person they've hurt feel safe and whole again?

Like, if your intention is to be an ally to a marginalized person and they tell you that you've unintentionally done something bigoted, wouldn't the natural response be to be like "oh shit, I'm sorry. Thank you for telling me".

Like, if you care more about actually being a good person than being perceived as one, shouldn't gratitude be the instinctual response to someone having the courage and doing the emotional labor of correcting and helping you be a better person, in spite of them having just been hurt by you?

And yeah, I know decades of societal conditioning are not quite that simple to overcome, because our society is set up to prioritize the appearance of good over the actual substance of it. Improvement and change is thankless, dirty work, it's the migrant workers and janitors and maintenance people of human rights, so to speak. It's not glamorous or flashy like it sometimes is in novels.

I dunno, I just think it's important, y'know? It's something we're working on in ourselves (gods, is it something we're working on -_-). We struggle A LOT with defensiveness, because we have the "we don't have a sense of self-esteem and so essentially rely on the people we've chosen to be close to us having a reasonably decent view of us" disorder. We just broke down in the past couple of days over that very thing, because we're trying really hard to create that sense internally, and we've done a lot of work getting to the point where we don't hate and hurt ourselves if other people think of us as less than perfect.

So like, it's not that we can't understand defensiveness. I just think that it's worth the work to be able to not get defensive and be a better ally and friend to marginalized people.

It ties into my "joyful apology" reblog earlier. If you can get to the point of being grateful for someone trusting you enough to put in the work to redirect you, it's not joyful to have hurt someone, but it can still be a kind of joyful to get to make up for it and grow.

[drinkitfrommymouthsuou]

🔥 (whatever you want. Be salty for a hot minute lol)

Send me a “ 🔥 “ for an unpopular opinion. ->

outofroses: Okay...so. Admittedly, I am a bit nervous about posting this...but...here it goes.

I’ma preface this to say I do not care how someone portrays/roleplays a character.  There is no right or wrong way to respond to a character and draw meaning from them. That is what art is made to do.   

Haruhi Fujioka is not non-binary. She just doesn’t give a flying fridge how people perceive her. Just because she is not bothered by societal expectations, or gender norms, does not automatically equate to her identifying as anything other than female. I do understand where people come from when they assume her gender identity, however, I feel there is ample evidence in the series that suggests otherwise. There are multiple instances in the series when she tells the host club, “I never claimed otherwise.” Simply to mean, the host club [and the audience] first assume she is male; they never asked for clarification (because they assumed her gender) and she never felt the need to correct them (because she doesn’t care).

Tamaki: You're a girl?

Haruhi: Yes. Never claimed otherwise.

Another example is during Episode 3 – Beware the Physical Exams! The host club worries that she will be found out, resulting in Haruhi having to quit the host club.  Ultimately, Haruhi says she doesn’t care if the school finds out she is a girl, basically an “it is what it is!” the typical kind of attitude from our mc heroine, here. So, if she doesn’t care, then why does she stay in the host club? Well, lol without her staying in the host club, then we wouldn’t have the story in the first place.  Chiefly, she cares about erasing her debt.  Money and food are powerful motivators for Haruhi (incidentally, aren’t these things always powerful motivators for the “poor”?). 

Another example is in Episode 26 – This Is Our Ouran Fair, Haruhi complains that she is the only one dressed as a girl.  Hikaru playfully reminds her that it is cosplay, so it is “okay for her to be dressed as a girl”, to which Haruhi responds with: “I am one, you know?”

It is true that Haruhi enjoys wearing “men’s” clothing simply because they feel more comfortable. Additionally, Haruhi is incredibly frugal.  There are instances where we see the clothes that she wears are often hand-me-downs from her father; why buy an entirely new wardrobe when there is already a perfectly acceptable wardrobe that is not being worn?

I think it is perfectly okay for her to identify as female and not “fit into” what society deems is female, or even what society deems as non-binary.  Why do these characteristics need to point to her being non-binary? I don’t get it.  Why can’t cis women wear “men’s” clothing because they are comfy? Why can’t cis women not care about gender conformity?  Why is it, if she is all these things, do these things equate to her possibly being non-binary? She only ever confirms (several times to the host club and audience) that she is female.

I do not dismiss this character’s contribution to the non-binary community in general.  It is true that she had a profound influence on me while I was growing up, and just figuring out who I am.  As I was prepping to answer this ask, I came across this…

"It's what's on the inside that counts": How Haruhi Fujioka helped me embrace being genderfluid.

While I do not think Haruhi is genderfluid, I do believe she has helped many people understand that no matter who you are, appearances and labels do not matter.  I found comfort in the fact that someone like Haruhi, who never once states that she IS male, or THEM, but purely a cis female, could readily accept and hold space for people who are just like me.  She is a powerful ALLY. She does not care…she is the most unbothered person in the world.

Haruhi: Besides, it doesn't really matter does it? Guy, girl, or appearance (I don't understand why this kind of club exists). Its what's on the inside what counts, right?"

Tamaki: ...Well, true...

#📬 meme: submission #memeday: munday #Host: Haruhi Fujioka ❤️ #⚜ answered his jester | salem #outofroses: heeerree we gooo lol.

[bringmemyrocks]

“this blog” has fucking exposed themself as a fake Jew claiming to be Jewish for diversity points! like holy shit, if you don’t know the fucking basics behind “am yisrael chai” there’s no way you’re Jewish. like at all. you should be ashamed of yourself for trying to lie about your ethnicity and religion to support hate crimes against Jews.

First, this is a distraction from the genocide that is ongoing in Gaza.

Any dumb jumblr discourse rn is a smoke screen to hide mass-murder and should be treated as such and ignored.

However, I thought anon raised some points some followers may not have heard before, so I summarized some info below. The only non-Jewish source I site is Amnesty International.

Am Yisrael Chai absolutely has been turned into a Zionist slogan.

Even a liberal Zionist would admit this to you readily.

That does not mean it has never been used in any other context. It predates the Nakba by a few years (not something centuries old), but it became popularized in the 20th century as a nationalist slogan, and today it remains a nationalist slogan. The earliest recording of it comes from 1945, in which the singer shouted it right after singing Hatikvah, the zionist anthem. The meaning of words and phrases can change over time, but "Am Yisrael Chai" has only ever been a nationalist rallying cry at any time in which it was actually popular. (And Hatikvah has always been a Zionist song.)

There's more I can say about mealy-mouthed use of the phrase "The Jewish People" as opposed to "Jews" or just "Jewish people" to not-quite-but-basically equate Judaism with Israeli national identity, but that's another post.

The phrase "Am Yisrael" refers to the world's Jews the same way "the Ummah" refers to world Muslims and "The Body of Christ" refers to world Christians. However, just because there is a non-nationalistic interpretation of "Am Yisrael" does not mean that "Am Yisrael Chai" is anything but a Zionist slogan to any meaningful degree right now.

On a similar note, there are also plenty of Zionists who will try and convince you "Am Yisrael" means that Jews have always had a nationalistic self-concept, always wanted to start up an apartheid ethnostate, etc. etc. it's all lies. (The best source for this is the intro and first few chapters of The Hundred Years War on Palestine, but if anyone has other comprehensive sources that aren't behind a paywall lmk.)

If you get all your information from Jumblr, I am not surprised that they had convinced you otherwise.

Check out https://decolonizepalestine.com/ while you're at it.

p.s. "this blog" shows you've read my about page several times. Thanks. I'm a gay guy who did years of orthodox conversion before going conservative. The years of homophobia taught me not to care what assholes think about my religion or my sexuality.

You're correct on one thing, though, Judaism is not my ethnicity because it's not anyone's ethnicity; it's a religion which has many Jewish cultures and ethnicities both historically and now. And even if we were an ethnic group like the Rromani, it doesn't give us a right to set up an apartheid ethnostate. Look up Elmer Berger--it's not just orthodox Jews who argue against Zionism from a religious point of view :)

(Judaism not being an ethnicity does not mean antisemitism does not exist or that it should not be fought against.)

Comments are on and I will respond to good-faith replies. As usual, feel free to plagiarize in whole or in part if you want to share for whatever reason--just don't include my username.

rbs are off for now bc I don't want the libs arguing "Judaism is an ethnicity because I want to feel oppressed" but if you really wanna rb it I can turn them back on for a short time. Please consider copying and pasting my part and making that into its own post tho.

#i #using anon hate as a chance to educate #antizionism

[idv-sweethearts]

I loved your ithaqua hcs… the way you write him feels so accurate!! Looking forward to seeing more of your writing ^-^❤️

Thank you. I try to analyze the characters before I write for them. I want to get an idea of their thought processes and beliefs and such before I write for them. It's very important to me that I portray characters in a way that is as accurate as possible.

It seems to me that while Ithaqua has rejected society and humanity, the society he has rejected is one that jumps to conclusions, has pointless rules, and promotes cruelty. The barbaric philosophy he has chosen to adopt seems like it promotes being kind, gentle, and protective towards those who you are on good terms with, but hostile and violent with those who might cause pain to you and your loved ones.

The wiki says he tends to toy with those who enter the forest, but sadism would be counterproductive. So I've speculated, and there is little evidence to back this up, that he doesn't actually feel like killing them most of the time. All the traps and taunting is a warning and if they're so determined to be in the woods despite the cold and the traps and the obvious danger, how good could their intentions be? This "toying" is, in his mind, a test to determine how good these people are. And while there are some flaws in his logic, the people he's killing are likely part of the same village full of people that either tortured his mother or sat on their asses and watched it happen. I don't blame him for being hostile, considering what he's witnessed.

Additionally, there is a line of dialogue on the wiki that I don't have context for because I'm new to the fandom and I wasn't there for it, but he sorta threatens the audience for equating barbarism with stupidity. But the way he goes about the threat is more of a warning, in my opinion. He doesn't say he will get get violent because they've already made him mad, but rather because if they continue to be ignorant, they will make him mad. The audience is being given a chance to correct their behavior before he gets violent.

Also, it's noted that a few people have survived the hunting attempts I mentioned before. If he wanted them dead, he'd have killed them immediately. And I have to point out, why would a village full of judgemental witch hunters ever see his tests and mercy as anything more than torment that they've miraculously escaped? Furthermore, his gameplay abilities have nothing to with tormenting his prey in a manner that they can escape if they pray hard enough. His abilities, in a scenario where he has a reason to kill, are extremely direct. He can move quickly and pull Survivors closer to him. No traps, no toying, and no messing around. Just quick and efficient murder attempts. Animals typically don't kill without reason or act more cruel than needed. That's a trait that is most commonly seen in humans, and that aspect of humanity is the very thing he's rejected.

I've also considered that it might be a Sweeney Todd "Epiphany" situation, where he considers everyone to be either too terrible to deserve living or so miserable that killing them would be mercy, but his mother is extremely miserable and she's probably still alive, so that can't be the case.

Speaking of his mother, he takes care of her and does so quite well, considering he's been able to keep her alive. I've noted that in the official art where they were near eachother, he seems to be close enough to her for to know he's there (And I'm sure she is way too deep into dissociation to be too responsive to her environment), but far enough away that she has her personal space and she won't freak out. That tells me he's observant and careful, which is further backed up by the fact that he canonically knows how to hunt. To hunt, you must be able to observe your prey and act accordingly or you won't catch much of anything. He's able to read people's body language and facial expressions quite well, it seems. I mean, he's able to read the body language and facial expressions of a woman who is barely mentally there and has been rendered almost completely mute due to trauma.

I also think one's status means nothing to him. To him, you're both just beings with thoughts, feelings, and free will. You both have the ability to do everything right and everything wrong. If you want to get close to him in any manner, take inspiration from his mother and be kind to others, gather evidence before condemning someone, and don't accept any cruelty, whether it be directed at yourself or someone else. That shows that despite your ability to be cruel, you still choose to be kind and treat others with fairness.

Note that his concept of what is fair has been warped by trauma. He sees condemning people for made-up witchcraft to be wrong and ignorant, but has no issue with killing people for being in the forest for too long. Some of the people he's killed might be totally innocent, but he's judging them based on how fast they leave the forest once they realize they're being hunted, because if they really want to be there that badly, they must have reasons and those reasons must be bad. And a person with bad intentions can never be allowed anywhere near his mother. She's been through enough and he'd rather test, scare, and more than likely kill a thousand people before he lets her feel any more pain.

#idv ithaqua #idv night watch

[sporesgalaxy]

hii there!! i hope u dont mind me asking but like. okay im also really really looking to go into biology- mainly because i love the study of life/organisms so much, and ultimately i'd love to become a paleontologist... however, looking at most of the tracks in colleges (which i've already signed up for), a lot of math and chemistry are involved. i Really struggle with these subjects so i want to ask, if you happen to have any knowledge- are these really intense or as daunting as they seem? i dont see myself doing any sort of job that involves like.. complex algebra equations (im aware things like statistics are important), but i know i've got to get through some of these to do what i want in life. ty if you have any info and ive loooved ur recent bio posts im eating them like an anteater

Well! Unfortunately, I don't have an easy answer for you. It really depends on the teacher you get, how the cirriculum is covered, and why you struggled with these subjects.

It might be a good idea to check out the ratemyprofessor entries for the prof.s teaching these subjects at the school(s) you're looking at, to try and get an idea if they're teavhing style could work for you.

I'll tell you what my experience was like as someone who struggled with those subjects too, and hopefully it will give you a better idea of what to expect.

I struggled with math throughout elementary, middle, and high school because of undiagnosed ADHD and anxiety. I often found myself thinking that I'd be doing better if I didn't have to do so manh repetetive problems.

I found my college math classes to be much more manageable by comparison. My professors tended to assign fewer repetetive questions, and there was more variety in the way concepts were applied, which kept me engaged with the work so I wasn't constantly losing my train of thought. But there are a lot of other professors in the world, so that may not be the case everywhere.

Another game changer for me was that many college math professors OFFER PARTIAL CREDIT. If I set everything up properly but pressed the wrong button on my calculator, many professors I had would consider my answer MOSTLY correct.

ALSO: All the math classes I had to take allowed (specific types of) calculators on the exams. I suck ass at basic multiplication but I can set up a hugeass equation like a CHAMP so that was a HUGE help for me.

A lot of math in biology is used for statistics and for determining how things are changing when you study them. I generally found the math needed for biology (and physics) easier to understand than more abstract algebraic equations because I could apply it to real-world situations and intuit approximately what would happen from my own experience. i.e. an exponentially increasing population... the curve looks the way it does on a graph because there are more reproductive individuals reproducing each generation, so the line will go up by a greater amount eith each unit of time that passes. Sorry I couldn't think of a clearer example.

I only took one chemistry class in high school, which I struggled in, and I unfortunately continued to struggle in college. I'm still not entirely sure what didn't click with me, to be honest. It just felt like I could never quite grasp all the factors and rules in my mind at once. It may have been anxiety, which I could only have solved by medicating myself sooner or exposure therapy via a lot more studying (didn't happen because I tend to avoid my stressors compulsively).

I had to retake all but one chemistry class that was required for my degree. I was never quite sure if the professors for summer chem classes just clicked with me more, or if going over the material a second time was what I needed. Once again though, you may be able to recieve partial credit in chem classes. In my experience, chemistry classes were more test-focused than homework-focused, and I often found myself wishing I had more homework to practice on, so finding additional study resources may be your best bet. I used Chemistry Libretexts a lot...

BUT ON THE FLIPSIDE: I had to retake, like, 3 different chemistry classes. I STILL GOT MY DEGREE THOUGH! I sucked a bit but I survived it! Keeping high grades in your electives can help keep your gpa where the college requires it to be for you to graduate.

#asks

[lilyfreshwater]

help how the fuck does one study for finals 💀 bouta fail both chemistry and biology, my two only classes

ok i did not do well in either of those subjects because i didn't know how to study and if you have tanked every exam so far you might not be able to salvage it for the final BUT i did do well in orgo and physics so i have some tips:

1) come up with a study plan. yes this means going through every unit and planning what you will study each day like a week before the test. more importantly, STICK TO IT. if you get behind you're fucked, so stay on top of your goals and get things done, your grade depends on it

2) everything is gonna take longer to get through than you think it will, and if it didn't then you probably don't know it. that being said, don't waste time on stuff you DO know, such as equations, exceptions, or lists of things. if for some reason you can already recite the krebs cycle off the top of your head without thinking about it, move on. if not, repeat it to yourself until you can (provided that's something you need to know)

3) actually do active recall and test yourself, don't reread your notes. for chemistry, the best thing you can do is practice problems. your textbook is bound to have content practice example for both theory and calculations, so do them! that's the one thing that prevented me from failing that class. if you don't have an answer key for the book, look online for a PDF or ask around with your friends. someone's bound to have pirated one. as for bio, it's almost all about memorization. i think flash cards can be really helpful for this, and if you've got time to learn how to use anki i would do it. it's free for the computer, and it not only acts as a flash card bank but it's got a super powerful algorithm to track your learning and help you study the right topics at the right time with spaced repetition. if you don't have time for anki, quizlet will do. you could also make yourself a study guide of shit and not quit until you've memorized the whole thing, but that borders on rewriting notes and that's not helpful. practice problems could be a game changer here too depending on the quality of your textbook

4) if you've got the exams and answer keys for this semester, go back through, look at what you missed, and make sure you really concentrate on those areas, both the theory AND the practical application. don't necessarily forget about the things you got right, but if you got every question about the ideal gas law correct throughout the semester it's pretty clear you are comfortable with that material. part of making a study plan is figuring out how to budget your time, and if you're in a finals crunch then that's vital

5) finally, don't make these exams the end all be all for what you want to do with your life going forward. if you're in high school, you'll be fine, just have some good ECs and get As in your other classes and colleges probably won't even notice. if you're in college, one or two bad semesters of a class, especially intro classes like bio and chem, will not prevent you from going on to grad school or getting a job. i got a B- and a C+ in chemistry, and Bs in biology. most people either would have tried to retake the class or just given up, but i stuck it out cause i figured what else am i gonna do? i figured out how to study, took a class that helped reignite my passion for science, and began to understand the work ethic it would truly take to make my career dreams a reality. in doing so i got an A-/A in orgo, and an A in physics, along with a 4.0 semester at the end of sophomore year. weed out classes like bio and chem aren't designed to weed out the people who get bad grades, they are designed to weed out the people who will quit after a bad grade. or two. or three. or two whole semesters worth of bad grades like me. what matters, and what future grad schools and employers want to see, is that we can stick it out despite failure, learn from those experiences, and come back better than ever

tl;dr: make a study plan, budget your time, focus on what you don't know, and do active recall. you got this. and even if you don't, it's not the end of the world

#ask #apologies for getting hyper-capitalist at the end #unfortunately because social mobility is the most widely accepted purpose for education you have to think about competition #because due to this ranked competitive system our biggest value from education is actually the capitol we have depending on our degree #sorry sociology rant there but it's important to acknowledge