#Live Phonics

[sargewood]

yall having meltdowns over f1 teams i'm trying to explode duolingo with my mind because it doesn't explain things, we are not the same

[ausetkmt]

In Living Color "Oswald's Visiting Day"

this is my favorite character from In Living Color. Oswald speaks that lingua

[helmar-weiss]

Am Samstag durfte ich als Schlagzeuger bei der Hochzeitsband GinPhonic einspringen.

Es war ein fantastischer Gig mit einer großartigen Truppe – hat richtig Spaß gemacht!

Bei Bedarf stehe ich auch gerne für Aushilfen bei anderen Bands zur Verfügung.

#Drummer#Hochzeitsband#LiveMusik#Musiker#BandAushilfe#Schlagzeuger#GigLife#GinPhonic#AvailableForGigs#landgasthofbrummer#photokanone

[rockeyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy]

living with me would probably be something like having the soundtrack of a place in an rpg with a bunch of bioluminescent plantlife or fungi. like. ouuuuuuh. oooooooo. aaauu. vvvvvvv

[whimsyraincoats]

boy meets girl; jess mariano

cute imagine with jess meeting a certain other gilmore daughter! not sure if it’s a series yet, we’ll see!

words: approx 1.6k

Walking through the doorway, the dark haired boy couldn't think of anywhere he'd want to be less. Just that morning, the woman who introduced herself as Lorelai, had told him that she had two daughters about his age. He can't be completely sure as he wasn't exactly 'actively listening' but by the time his brain had caught up to what his ears were hearing, the idea of twins living in such a town like Stars Hollow had him thinking everyone was cartoon characters. Jess Mariano couldn't picture anything other than identical twins in matching outfits, with the same comedic, animated personalities as the whole town.

Following the source of the noise and clatter into the kitchen, against his will, Jess shared a small greeting to the first of the matching set, Rory. Seemingly, the calmest and least annoying of the group yet, he noted. After being subjected to talk of lemons and being quizzed to no end about his dietary requirements, Jess slipped away from the chaos to what he believed was the living room. Taking in its state, he noticed the odd arrangement of the table and decided that it must not be its permeant place. He glanced down at his watch from beneath his dark grey hoodie sleeve, and looks at the time. Simultaneously, the boy's ears pricked up at the sound of David Bowie that came from up the stairs.

Curiosity and boredom getting the better of him, he climbed the stairs one at a time, planks creaking under each step. All aspects of politeness gone from Jess since he stepped off the bus earlier apparent, as he waltzed though the open bedroom door at the opposite end of the landing. His eyes surveyed the room as some excitement sparked there as he took in the posters, stacked CDs and endless amount books overflowing the shelves. The dark haired boy's gaze landing on where the music is coming from as it changes intro Big Exit by PJ Harvey.

Meanwhile, the brunette girl dragged a comb through her bangs one last time before placing it back onto the bathroom counter with a curse as she noticed the time. Happy with her final decision pertaining to her outfit, she hopped on one foot into the hallway as she pulls her knee high sock up her shin to its full length. Just as the dark haired boy turns to leave the bedroom he was currently standing in.

"Oh my-! Jesus Christ, way to give a girl a fright!" The girl heaves, with a hand placed on her chest. She eyed the boy as he opened his mouth to say something, not before a persistent sing song interrupts them.

"Reyaaa, Jess! Party's moved to the living room!" Lorelai enthusiastically announces up the stairs.

"Coming!" The girl yells over the banister before walking back over to the now-named mystery boy.

"Jess huh? Guessing you're Luke's nephew, right?"

"Nothing gets past you ay" Monotonal, Jess replied as he quirked his eyebrow.

"I'm Freya." Pair complete. "You know you're acting very nonchalant for a boy I just caught snooping in my room."

The boy in question scratches the back of his head slowly. "Wasn't snooping, just looking, admiring even. 'S a difference." His mind refused to believe his heart just skipped a beat as they both lined up in her bedroom doorway, only inches apart as Jess leans on the side of it. Her sparkly, brown eyes invoked a certain feeling in him when they made eye contact.

Freya gently pads across her floor to her CD player and speaker as she presses pause. "You like Bowie?" She questions.

"Yea, it's what made me come upstairs." The brunette turns to share a grin with the boy now hovering by her bookshelves. "Aren't we hooked on phonics?" Jess murmurs.

Letting out a chuckle she replies, "Do you read?"

"Not much." As he picks up a book to examine the cover.

"I could lend you that it's great!" She exclaims as she finally takes in the dark haired boy standing in her room. His grey hoodie nearly fully zipped, paired with dark jeans that rest loosely on his hips. His eyebrows furrowing as his dark brown eyes bore into a page in the book. She felt a blush creeping into her cheeks as she finds herself aware of how handsome he really is.

With a shrug, he put the book back, "No thanks."

Trying to hide her disappointment at the rejection, Freya tried to change the subject.

“Okay erm well I think we-”

“Do these open?” Jess cut her off as he gestured to the window.

“Oh.. yeah, just unlatch then push.” She said as she awkwardly stood by her bed,

“So shall we…?” The girl looked at him with confusion before what he’s referring to clicked.

“Oh, I promise you even if you could climb down, there’s nowhere to bail to.” Slightly bored at the interaction, Freya walked over to her door. “I get you have the need to do or say the opposite of whatever people, in this case Luke, wants you to do, but I’m so hungry. And Sookie, while borderline insane, is a really good cook, so as much as I hate to say it, you’re on your own.”

“You don’t know anything about me.” The boy replied dryly.

“I know!” Freya replied softly with an amused glint in her eyes, knowing his response proves her point. “Come downstairs and eat and you can tell me all about you.” She flirted as she looked over her shoulder while holding the door handle.

Jess let out a smirk while he looked down at his shoes and shaking his head.

Taking that and his silence as a no, the girl stepped through the doorway. “Well, close the door behind you, or the…window? Which ever one you end up using.” She said with a smile on her lips.

Descending down the stairs, Freya couldn’t help but notice the warm curiosity growing inside her at the thought of the boy.

౨ৎ

Checking her watch, the brunette decreased the pace of her steps back to a walk as she headed for Stars Hollow Books. In a miscommunication with her, not so happy, Mom, she had been told the time rounded up, hence the original hurrying, but alas the girl will make it before the store shuts for the evening.

While walking, her mind wandered back to the mismatched stories of the last 24 hours. After having met Jess, although not massive on the manners or socialising, considering he had just moved was perfectly reasonable. However all Freya had heard for the last day from her Mom was the verbal abuse of his character. Even Luke’s too due to their recent fight that even trumps Sid and Nancy, just to add to the confusion even more.

She heard Jess come down the stairs a moment after her while she was passing plates along, but didn’t see him after that. Further developing the mystery that’s been stuck in her mind.

Fiddling with the plastic handle between her fingers, the girl walks out of the Market with a textbook and a folder she desperately needed.

Lost in thought, she crossed the road with her house as her destination, when a familiar voice snapped her out of it.

“Hey.” Freya snaps her head round to look at the boy who she seemed to have summoned by thinking about him.

“Hey, yourself.”

“What’re you doing out here this time of night?” Jess questions with raised eyebrows.

“Just getting somethings I needed for school, how about you?”

“Oh yeah same.” He dismisses.

“You know, it was quite the disappearing act you pulled yesterday.” The brown eyed girl brought up, after a moment of almost awkward silence between them.

“Huh- yeah, as tempting as your offer was, tupperware parties and potlucks really aren’t my thing.” He replied as he untucked his hands from his pockets.

“Just too cool for school huh.” She said, amused as she took him in, his puffer vest, his watch resting on his wrist and a coin he’s moving in his hands. “What’re you doing?” The girl questions.

“Oh this-” Showing her the coin, answered “Just another little disappearing act.” As he revealed his hand as empty of said coin.

Suppressing a giggle, Freya shines him a smile with creased eyes.

“Jess, if you ever want to speak to me again, please don’t pull that out my ear.”

After cracking a smile that unlocked a sense of accomplishment in the girl, replied. “Understood.”

“Hey, I like your shirt.” Jess complimented.

Looking down at it to check which one she happened to throw on earlier, she grinned once more. “Thanks! How much Beatles stuff do you know?” She asked excitedly, her eyes illuminated.

“Oh, only the stuff that everyone does, I wouldn’t have been lined up to be one of their groupies that’s for sure.” He joked.

“Hey, speak for yourself, I adore them, I would’ve been pushing other girls out the way. I adore any British band to be completely honest.” Freya spoke with excitement.

“I know, your room isn’t exactly keeping that a secret you’know.” He referenced the multitude of Britpop, The Smiths and The Beatles posters spaced on her walls. Jess couldn’t help but marvel at the way her face flushed at the prolonged eye contact and his comment.

Snapping out of her trance, the girl glanced down at his arm and gently held his sleeve to check the time. The boy’s body grew alert at the touch. “Shit! I’ve got to go in a sec, I hadn’t realised the time.”

“Oh, well in that case, I’ll leave you with one last magic trick. He dramatically stated as he pulls a familiar book out of his pocket.

“You bought a copy? I told you I’d lend you mine!”

“It is yours.”

“You stole my book!” She accused, dumbfounded.

“Well, I just wanted to put some notes in the margins for you.” He handed the book over, as he tried not to let his mind linger on the way their hands touched.

The girls eyes furrowed in confusing as she flicked through the pages.

Looking up innocently, “I thought you said you didn’t read much?”

“Well what is much?” The boy replied with a drawn out shrug and smirk. “Goodbye, Reya.”

Desperate to hide her slight astonishment, smirked as she began to walk away.

“Goodbye, Dodger.”

After a few paces, she looks back to be met with a smug grin. “Oliver Twist.”

The brown haired girl couldn’t help but share the grin while she nodded. Despite all the things she had heard about him in the last day, she couldn’t help but feel giddy at their interactions. The twin secretly hoped there would be more in the future.

an; i’ve read this so many times i think i hate it. hahaha jk and hope the dialogue is okay i was doing it from memory!!! OH and yes i used my own name for the character hahahaha it’s better than y/n atleast!!!<3

[polyworth]

@kaeshidamashii

This reminds me of the time you were telling us how other countries teach kids how to read and how the US is an atrocity in that regard lol

learning that apparently several hundred people have been pronouncing 'miette' as 'mighty' has actively worsened my day

[star-ocean-peahen]

The more you think about Jason Grace's life, the more fucked up it gets.

Like, the whole "joined Camp Jupiter as a three year old" thing. We already know Camp Jupiter is fucked up because it places heavy importance on a child army, despite having plenty of demigod adults at hand, but they straight up recruited a three year old into the military. He showed up and got promptly stuck in a barrack for the rest of his childhood.

Like, why?? Why on earth would they do that instead of giving him to someone in New Rome to raise and inducting him into the legion at a respectable twelve??

And who raised him anyway?? A rotating cast of nineteen-year-old demigods?? His bunkmates in the Fifth?? If he was a young teenager I could see that, but he arrived when he was three, was he even potty-trained??? Did he just grow up being educated by bored teenagers and ghosts, watching as demigods arrived and served and retired, being told that he had to be the greatest of them all?? Did he have any other children to grow up with?? Did the legion even consider him different than the other recruits, or did he have to shovel unicorn dung when he forgot his phonics and live with the constant threat of perhaps being sewn into a bag of weasels??

I find it odd that Jason, as a demigod who grew up in a demigod's world, doesn't have his unique perspective explored more. I find it especially odd that the difference between his childhood and everyone else's is ignored. However difficult and varied everyone else's backgrounds are, they've at least attended a school. They had parents, and family, and a home, at least at one point. They had mortal toys and dwellings and communities that weren't merged inextricably with the myths. They knew where they came from. Do you think Jason, with his powerful, kingly father and impending destiny, ever felt like he didn't know who his family was?

I also find it strange that he doesn't seem to have a very wide network of friends from Camp Jupiter? He has Reyna, who he trusts and works with and depends on. He lists Hazel and Frank among his friends, but they look up to him as a role model. He mentions Bobby and Dakota familiarly, but never again. He's familiar and on good terms with basically everyone—but the only person he seems to consider as a close friend is Reyna. And that wouldn't be odd if he hadn't grown up at Camp Jupiter. He doesn't seem to have any constant companion—anyone he considers his family until he meets Leo.

Maybe he and Leo bonded so well because they both knew what it was like to grow up transiently. To have any constant in your life, and know that the day you would move on or they would move on was fast approaching. Maybe the reason he looked at Camp Half-Blood and admired how united and familial they seemed, and wished Camp Jupiter could be similar, was that he could see in them the family he wished he had.

Honestly, I feel like meeting Thalia should have left him in a lot more turmoil than it did. He grew up with no family but a god for a father, and here's a person who wanted him. Someone who always wanted him because he was Jason, and not the demigod son of Zeus. Maybe even someone to whom he mattered more than his destiny.

I really, really wish we'd gotten to see more of the contrasts between him and Percy. He is explicitly the Romans' version of the hero Percy is, except he's the hero first, and the person second. Jason did everything right! He did everything perfectly, and Percy still got where he did without being trained for it his entire childhood. He's got such a better reason to resent him than "bad vibes". They could have been foils for each other hhhhhhhrngh.

Just. This lonely, idolized, child soldier's life hurts me.

[helly-watermelonsmellinfellon]

Recently, through Twitter, I have become aware of the fact that modern American parents have been very ignorant of their parental duties when it comes to their children. Parents are banding together to complain about the schools their children attend because their kids are getting bad grades in class, or they're getting detentions for doing bad consistently, or they're being held back because they're just not at the same level as their peers.

There was an entire thread of some woman whining about how the school was failing her kid, because his English class grade was so bad. There were thousands of comments agreeing and various reposts with anecdotes from other parents with similar experiences.

"My 26 y/o son can't even write a check for God's sake!"

And one single person finally replied with, "Do you guys not teach your kids anything at home before they start going to school?" Which then spawned people with actual common sense questioning the level of involvement these people had in the lives of their kids.

This is what led to a large surge of people complaining about how it's the school's job to teach them everything and they did their job just keeping them alive.

Now, I don't want to be mean, but it's gonna come across that way.

Parents are lazy these days.

When I was a child, my Nana and mom had me learning with Hooked on Phonics before I entered pre-K. I was 3 years old and already sounding out words that rhymed. I was practicing how quickly I could say them in under 30 seconds so I could progress to the next lesson.

mat hat sat that cat vat pat bat fat lat rat brat

etc...

When I was in pre-K(4 years old), they had a single, really old computer that had a bunch of Winnie the Pooh CD-ROM games. Because I always got my work done faster than everybody else, they let me use the computer because I could actually read and follow Pooh's instructions, and it kept me busy.

And when I entered kindergarten for the first time, I was really surprised to see that Hooked on Phonics was actually part of my curriculum and I was already very well ahead of everyone else. My mom and Nana took traching me very seriously. They not only read to me, but they would also get me Madeline books and cassette tapes from the children's library downtown. And then I would listen to the cassettes telling the story while reading the book at the same time to get used to the words.

At three years old, I was helping out in the kitchen, learning all of the different kitchen utensils and types of measurement. My mom often went between English, French and American Sign Language at random times so I picked up a lot of stuff that way. We never had a computer in the house for the first 12 years of my life, but I did have an old keyboard to learn how to type. Nana gave me basic piano lessons for a couple years. Mom taught me how to hem my clothes because she would buy me bigger clothes, hem them to size, and then let them out as I grew. Hell, Sperm Donor taught me how to write a check when I was 8. He was also a Financial Adviser, so I got a lot of lessons on money management, investments, and 401Ks and shit.

All these incredibly simple things ended up benefiting me later on, because I was so far ahead of all of the other students that it consistently put me at odds with them. I was better at reading, cooking, sewing, music, languages, etc... I was allowed time to do whatever I wanted while the rest of them had to catch up.

There is a lot more to being a parent than just making sure your kid eats three meals a day and doesn't die in a stupid way. And it seems like a lot of parents these days have completely forgotten that they have a duty to their kids beyond the feeding and clothing thing.

Certain things SHOULD be taught in schools, like how to balance a checkbook. But if it's clear that the school won't cover it, why aren't YOU doing something about that? And why do so many parents have no clue what the hell their kids are even getting up to in school? Why don't y'all get involved in your kid's lives?

[kikijackson-blog]

A is for Apple but Also for...? Phonics - Coco Special Birthday Edition

The celebration continues after everyone has gone.

Coco, Reader

Readers 18+ Only Please.

Warnings: Language and sexual references. Aside from that it's mostly fluff.

“Babe,” you shout out as you finish throwing the last paper plate away.

“Do you want something from the kitchen?”

“Yeah, you.” Coco answered from the living room.

He was sprawled out on the couch watching TV. Some children’s show was playing. He always acted annoyed when it would come on but deep down it always brought him joy hearing the opening music. He’d never admit that though but he didn’t have to, you knew it. You smile as you make your way to him. You had told him he could watch anything he wanted to today. It was his day after all and this is what he chose. But it wasn’t the show he was watching, it was the person watching it that pulled at his heart strings and hearing her laugh and sing along was one of his favorite things to do.

He moved his feet to make room for you but as you take a seat next to him he reaches out and pulls you to him.

“I told you I’d help you clean up but you wouldn’t let me. Me corriste de la cocina like I offended you or something.” He said in a childishly exaggerated fake hurt tone with a fake pout to match.

He kissed your forehead as you snuggled into him. “Please, you know there was no way in hell I was going to let you do any work today. That’s why you even offered.”

A guilty smile crossed his face, “Yeah but I still offered. That's what counts, right.”

You look into his eyes like it’s the first time you’d seen them and in one quick moment you see everything in them. The past, how you first met, your first “sort of” date, everything the two of you had been through to get to this point. The journey was long and filled with ups and downs. More downs than ups and many were the times where you’d almost thrown in the towel, but you made it here somehow and you wouldn’t trade any of it.

“Happy birthday,” softly you say to the man who had forever changed your world.

“Thank you.” It was as if he could see it in your eyes, he knew exactly what you’d been thinking of.

“For not giving up on me.”

“A is for?” said the character on TV.

“Apple!” shouted an over excited little voice.

In your ear he whispers, “A is for anal.” You playful smack him in the chest.

“Can I have some?”

You laughed as you rolled your eyes and shook your head.

“But it’s my birthday.” He reminds you. “You said I could have anything I want.”

“Was that your birthday wish?”

He held you tighter as you shared a passionate kiss when you heard little footsteps hurriedly making their way to you. You could feel his smile against your own. Both of you turn to see this beautiful bundle of chaos in pigtails running towards the both of you, her ringlets bouncing all the way. She was a menace, a spoiled princess who if you let her get started was an unstoppable force and her father wouldn’t have it any other way. That was his angel even when she was being a devil. She was holding onto a piece of paper. You recognized it as soon as you’d seen it, it was a project she’d been working on all day.

“Cuddle party!” She shouted. Not wanting to be left out of the fun, she jumped onto the sofa with you and Coco.

“Happy birthday, daddy.” She shoved her masterpiece in his face. “I made it for you, daddy.”

You and Coco look at it and are both puzzled but she’s waiting for him to say something.

“For me?”

She nodded, “Yes, just for you.”

“Thank you, mija.”

“Do you like it?”

“Yeah,” he could feel you silently laughing against his body, your face buried in his neck trying to contain it. “It’s a beautiful.”

“Can you tell what it is? Can you, daddy?”

“Um- yeah it’s...uh…it’s-”

Her big beautiful brown eyes looked into his, filled with such pride in her artwork and so much love for her dad.

“Babe, what is this?” He whispered in your ear.

You couldn’t hold it back anymore and just let it go. Your little girl laughed with you, not knowing what you were laughing at but she wanted in on that.

You both smiled.

The three of you embraced in this cuddle party and watched TV like that until she fell asleep. It took a while to get out of that tangled mess as you both tried carefully not to wake her.

“I’ll put her in bed.” Coco mouthed. “You.” He motioned with his head to the bed the two of you shared with that devilish smile you’d long grown accustomed to. You knew full well what that smiled meant.

You quickly got out of your clothes and into the red lacy babydoll that you had purchased just for tonight.

“Babe, really, what the fuck is this?” Coco asked, drawing in hand, studying it closely. You stand right night to him and for a long while the two of you try to decipher the puzzle until he brought his lips so close to yours, you could feel his breathe as he said, “Thank you for giving her to me.”

“No. Thank you.” You take another glance at the picture as you take it in your hands before laying it on the dresser.

“Hmmm, but I think we should get her some art classes ‘cause I have no fuckin’ clue. It looks like a melted unicorn.”

“Nah, baby, it ain’t got no horn.”

“Well, then what’s that pointy thing?” You asked.

He turned to look at you. “I don’t-” it was the first time he’d taken in the full sight of you in that sexy red piece. It was his favorite color but you already knew that.

“Fuck.” He was all he said.

He ran his hands all over your body, kissing your neck, gently nibbling along down to your collarbone, making his way to your breasts when you stopped him.

“Oh, wait. I have a present for you.”

“Yeah, I know you do, baby.” He said huskily.

“No, I mean an actual present.”

“You already gave me my present earlier.” He said in between kisses.

“Yeah but I have one more for you.”

You pulled away from him to retrieve the small gift bag that rested next to your daughter’s art piece, forgotten for now.

Coco was a little annoyed at the absence of you in his arms and he didn’t protest quietly but he kept his eyes trained on you, watching every move you make, wondering what else you could have gotten him and why it couldn’t wait until after he got his real present.

“Here you go.”

He took the little bag and peeked in it. With that devilish smile plastered all over his face again he says, “Really?” as he pulls the bottle of astroglide out.

“Happy birthday.”

[cygnahime]

Also before school got ahold of me, also before reliable memory formation (my memory for events is just awful in general). Apparently when you read at least one book to your kid every single day they are alive, this shit just happens? Also PBS, PBS helped. But: being read to all the time.

Shoutout to the phase when I could not as such read, but did know by heart what words were on each page of Madeline, and would claim to be reading. In an old house in Paris that was covered with vines...

my dad and I just finished listening to a fascinating (and really pretty alarming) podcast about American literacy education recently—Sold a Story by Emily Hanford—and it got me wondering what my peers’ experience was, so here's my first poll! This pertains to people who learned to read in the U.S. specifically, so even if one of the other options matches your experience, I'd politely ask you to refrain from picking one (presumably you guys have better school districts than we do anyway). 

(the most horrifying part out of the entire thing was the fact that dubbya was the one to realize something was wrong. even a broken clock, I guess...?)

[basu-shokikita]

Kloktober 2024 Day 28

Conspiracy theory or propaganda

So today's entry is special because it's possibly my last one unless I managed to do something else in the following days, and because it covers two prompts at once. The aforementioned, obviously, and also the one about OCs.

I already posted about Molly during last year's Kloktober though it's not necessary to check that one to read this. She just...certainly appears here.

“Rivalry turned friendship? Did the long time feud has finally come to an end? Dethklok’s guitarists Skwisgaar Skwigelf and Toki Wartooth were spotted in the Bahamas beaches very cozy with each other!” The Dethklok Minute Host said, as footage of the pair flashed on the screen. In one of the photos, Toki was hugging Skwisgaar from behind, in another, they were holding hands while walking along the shore. 

“In fact, fans are beginning to theorize that there might be something more amongst the musicians!” He continued, as a third picture showed their grainy silhouettes in what seemed to be an intimate moment under an umbrella.

“I’ve known ever since I first saw Dethklok live.” A brunette girl with low ponytails declared on camera. She was wearing a shirt with a badly edited image of Skwisgaar and Toki. “Their energy on stage, the sexual tension…” She giggled, adjusting her steamed glasses. “It’s clear they’re not just bandmates, they are f-”

“I used to dream about them making out during a show or something.” Another girl was shown. She had long black curls and half-lidded eyes. “Or one of them confessing their feelings during an interview, you know? I can’t believe they’re finally together!” She jumped in excitement. “So excited for the next Dethklok concert!” 

“Duh, Skwistok is, like, legendary amongst musician pairs”. A blond girl with short hair declared. “They’re soulmates, it was clearly about time for them to realize that.” She shrugged. “Toki even dated a woman that looks like Skwisgaar!”

“Conspiracy or truth?” The Dethklok Minute Host pointed at this screen. “Are Skwisgaar and Toki exploring something else besides death metal harmonies? Guess we’ll have to find out! Stay tuned for the next Dethklok minu-” The TV was turned off before he managed to finish.

Charles turned with the remote in his hand. “I thought you promised me you’d be careful, boys.”

“Hows was we supposeds to knows about the papapizza was in the beach too?” Toki threw his arms in the air. “You tolds Toki you has reserveds it for us!”

“Well, see, that’s the point.” Charles said. “You’re not safe anywhere from paparazzis. That’s why I told you to be careful.”

“You didn’ts says dats expleaseticivelies!” Skwisgaar countered with an accusing finger. “You didn’t says dats at alls!”

“I did, in fact, I said it, uh, many times.”

“You lies! You lies through yours mouth!”

“I believe the expression you’re looking for is lying through your nose and-”

Toki gasped, covering his mouth. “Yous calling me a liar?”

“I don’t-”

“You calls us liars?” Skwisgaar frowned. “You ams aware dat ams homes of phonics and we cants fires you for dats, rights?”

“Alright.” Charles raised his hands in an attempt to stop the nonsense. “I’m merely trying to protect your privacy like you asked me too, but if you want the press to accost you about your relationship then by all means go ahead.” Without expecting an answer, he left.

“He gots mads.” Skwisgaar said.

“How ams they always know?” Toki was looking at the ceiling. “How can theys know befores us?”

“Whats?”

Toki gazed at Skwisgaar. “The goils. They says they knew we ams in loves since forevers ago. Hows?”

“Eugh, Tokes, de fans ams insane, remembers?”

“Ja, buts…” Toki seemed unconvinced.

Skwisgaar suddenly turned serious. “Wells actuallies, I knows somet’ings abouts dat.”

Toki turned to him, intrigued.

Skwisgaar took a deep breath, like he was about to reveal the most compromising information in the world. “Dey has a special cults whats reunites every fridays nights. Dey gathers in a circles wif a candles and pickstures of us in de middles…” He paused. “And dey prays to…”

“Whats?!” 

Blue eyes bore into him. “Ams you shores yous ready for dis?”

“Yeah! What ams dey prayings for?!”

“Homos sex!” Skwisgaar blurted with a cackle and Toki rolled his eyes.

“Ha has…very funnies, Skwisgaar…ams totallies dyings from laughters…”

“Oh, come ons!” Skwisgaar hugged him by the necks. “What ams you worrieds abouts? They knows nothingks!”

Toki forced a smile. “Ja, yous probably rights…fans ams weirdos…”

“They ams.” Skwisgaar turned on the TV, except this time he was looking for a different channel. “Just delusionals peoples.”

“Ja…”

–

The battered man was dragged by a couple of individuals wearing long, dark cloaks. Their faces darkened, they wordlessly brought the man inside a basement, where many more people in the same attire were reunited. 

“Agh!” The man screamed as he was shoved inside. He was so roughed up he couldn't tell if the light was red or it was the blood in his eyes. “Let me go!” He tried to free himself from the handcuffs to no avail.

One of the cloaked individuals whispered to what seemed to be the leader of the place.

“Bring him to me.” The leader said, in a surprisingly effeminate voice. 

In a flash, the man was tossed into the cold concrete, and the cloaked people gathered around him in a circle. They all held the same book in their hands though he couldn’t see what it was. The leader approached him and they all began chanting incomprehensible words.

“What is this?! Where am I?!” He felt something wet under him and looked down to realize the floor was stained with blood. When he looked up, he saw the leader being handed a guitar that she handled like a weapon. “No!” He tried to escape when she walked closer but he was surrounded by all sides. “Why?!”

The leader’s hood fell on her shoulders, revealing a brunette girl with low ponytails. The light was reflecting on her glasses and didn’t allow him to see her eyes. “Why?” She repeated, still raising the guitar in the air. “Well, for Skwistok.”

“Huh?”

“Don’t take it personal.” She said, completely devoid of expression. “You’re just a sacrifice to preserve Skwistok.” She paused. “So they’re always together.”

“What the hell are you- no, no, no! Wait! No-” The guitar crashed against the man’s head, cracking his skull in half. His torso fell on the floor, lifeless as the chants grew louder.

“Skwistok real! Skwistok real!” The group recited, raising their arms in celebration.

The girl smiled, wiping the blood off her cheek as someone took away the guitar. A new candle was lit and added to the hundreds of candles surrounding the basement.

Outside, a sign on the door read “Skwistok Cult”.

[meraki-yao]

I wanted to translate this one post from a Chinese RWRB fan on Weibo that summarized a lot of Taylor did on the day of GQ events and how the fans felt about him, because it’s really sweet

Translation:

Puppy Taylor is really so sincere, and he’s sincere to anyone and everyone

In September during the Ferrari show he met Editor Liu and was invited to the event that didn’t even have a confirmed date. At the time he just said “I’ll come if I have time”. But in the end, he really came, straight after he finished his last event, and took a red-eye flight across the ocean by himself to Shanghai. He went straight to fix his style and fit after the flight and went to attend his friend’s dinner party, and helped said friend’s new magazine gain traction through live stream etc.

The GQ event suggested for guest not to wear Haute couture, some mainland celebrities still did, but Taylor chose a local old brand, and the brand’s passion about being eco-friendly just as he is.

Taylor is also so sincere to his fans. He signed book after book, and took photo after photo. He treasured the gifts fans gave him and carried them himself all the way. When he signs for fans he asks for every single fan's name and tries his best to remember them. Taylor also took photos of the fans, of the oarsman, and of the photographer. He laid down on the bow of the boat to sign for fans. And for the fans who didn’t come, he accepted taking video calls to say hi to them. He made hand hearts with fans, and when a fan asked to hold his hand, he didn’t even hesitate. He wrote “I flew across the ocean to see you” when signing books. He even shaved his facial hair which he kept for a long time to match the taste of the people around him, transforming back to ACD. Taylor sincerely praises every single staff member he crosses paths with and treats them like new friends. He’s spreading happiness with so much passion.

There’s still so much more, Taylor is just such a wonderful person, he’s just the best. 😭

Notes:

I tried my best with the translation, but I am in no way professional, so please forgive me if it sounds weird (The original post was choppy in Chinese too😅)

The translation of Taylor's name in the original post isn't his official translated name 泰勒 (tài lè, or "thai"-"le") which is just phonic, it's the fan translation 忒樂 (tè lè, or "Tay"-"le" ) which is arguably more phonic and means "too happy"

Puppy狗狗 is a nickname Chinese fans gave Taylor, I made a whole list of nicknames Chinese RWRB fans gave the boys here

Regarding the dress code thing, all of Taylor’s outfits from yesterday came from a Chinese local menswear brand that was established in 1980

Regarding his facial hair, the beauty standards of China prefer men to be clean-shaven. If you look at mainland Chinese celebrities of Taylor’s age, unless a role demands it, which is really rare, they rarely keep facial hair. I honestly don’t know if this was the reason Taylor shaved, this part in the post is just speculation, but there is this connection.

Regarding the excessive use of the word sincere, there really isn’t a better word (at least in my vocabulary) to describe what the op meant. But sincerity is a really, really treasured quality to Chinese people

Please understand that Chinese celebrity culture and fan culture is pretty different from Western celebrity culture and fan culture, so certain things they did are viewed differently on this side of the web/ world. If you want to know more about these differences or have any questions, feel free to dm me and ask about it.

[prima-materia-ttrpg]

Species Highlight - Sepia

Have you ever wondered what it would be like if cephalopods could live for more than 2 years? Perhaps even passing on generational knowledge? My mind wanders to this topic fairly often, the Sepia are a result of me following this line of questioning to its conclusion. I present to you, the Sepia.

The Sepia are Cephalopods, very similar to cuttlefish. They can mimic other objects and animals thanks to their ability to change the color and texture of their skin, as well as their very fine motor control over their arms. Sepia are also mildly telepathic, an ability that allows them to coordinate large shows of mimicry and move in tandem with any number of other Sepia involved in the show. They use this ability to mimic creatures that are much larger than they are, such as sharks, or sometimes to hypnotize larger animals by sending pulses of color through a wall of Sepia.

As Sepia are unable to make any useful sound underwater their languages are polyvisual; they incorporate multiple glyphs, colors, and textures into words and tonality which they display on their bodies. Some of these words are even animated to an extent. Despite the inherent complexity of their languages, Sepia conversations are very fast; ideas that would take a sentence to convey in most phonic languages are often condensed into a single specific word in Sepia languages.

Much like humans, what the Sepia lack in strength they tend to make up for with their ingenuity; and as a species that needs to navigate fully three dimensional spaces to survive, they're very sharp. They have domesticated many species of sea creatures for various purposes. They keep fish for food, blue sailsharks for herding fish, bio-luminescent remora for use as lighting, and many others. Many sedentary Sepia civilizations farm clams for food, and nomadic Sepia tend to keep small beds of poisonous clams for use in hunting.

Tagging along with Giants

Many Sepia are nomadic, having forged a mutually beneficial relationship with the Sophont whales on Patek. How this relationship started is lost in the fog of time; those who live in these communities say it has always been this way.

The Sepia act as hands for the whales, using their tools to take care of them and even help them with forms of self-expression through making tattoos, piercings, and other outward displays. In return, the whales carry their homes, cargo, and graves. The whales, blessed with two and a half century long life spans and nothing to manipulate objects with, also do the majority of the mental labor of lore keeping and social deliberation. This relationship is not generally seen as transactional, but rather as expected contributions to a community or family - the whales and Sepia often form multi-species family units, with whales in the family often carrying their family's home.

The religious beliefs of the nomads are very heterogeneous, but they share more in common than one might first expect as a result of meeting up every year for the Sophont's breeding season. The courtship rituals of Sophont whales; wooing potential partners, meeting the families to be joined together, and spending much-needed alone time once a partner and their family is chosen is very complex and takes several months. These social interactions often sweep up more romantic Sepia into the moment, and lots of cultural exchange happens as a result which leads to certain tropes appearing in most of the nomadic religions. The most important of these tropes is the idea of the three realms of existence. The realm of the living is full of fish to catch and life to live, where all your favorite things exist and unless you're very unlucky, where all your experiences have taken place. The parched realm, where the water is too thin to breathe and the weight of your own body can crush you; not to mention the horrible beaked demons that may pick you apart as soon as they see you. The gods often summon great storms, and Sepia of great folly can get caught in them and thrown wayward never to be seen again. Only whales can tolerate the parched realm, and only for a time, as they must draw life from emptiness itself. The third realm is the realm of the dead, far below the world and past a barrier of frigid water. Some wild whales are able to breach this barrier, and though they cannot be spoken to their scars tell stories well enough.

Whales, being the only creatures with a connection to all three of the realms of creation, are revered by many Sepia and have great religious significance. Some whales are happy to be the center of the nomadic spiritual life and are attended to by Sepia priests as they speak expansively on the metaphysicality of creation with their peers and share their wisdom with others. Other whales take on a more utilitarian roll with their spirituality, becoming graveyards for Sepia that have past. It is their job once they die to ferry all the Sepia souls that they carry into the realm of the dead so they don't get lost.

Natural entertainment in the pelagic zone is sparse, so the nomads come up with endless games and art forms to pass the time. The Sepia perform plays, re-enacting heroes and important religious and cultural events; Sophonts will come up with songs and tales, and tales in the form of song, and have a Sepia transcribe it. Children play with each other and their remora pets. Thinking puzzles, conundrums, and paradoxes are popular among most of the nomads, courtesy of the whales; many of which love to talk long-windedly on philosophical matters.

Not all nomadic groups interact with others outside their cultures, though after a particularly good hunting season, some will often take their surplus catch to their sedentary cousins who live on the reefs and seagrass meadows to trade for finished goods and luxuries.

Putting Down Roots

The vast majority of Sepia are sedentary, settling in coral reefs, seagrass meadows, and on the periphery of estuaries. Their towns range from small aquaculture villages that raise beds of clams, to large cities among the reefs that are host to thousands of Sepia kept fed by surrounding aquaculture villages. While there are some Sepia civilizations that have sprung up on seamounts or the shelves around islands, most of these civilizations are found along the coasts of continents, and as a result have much more interaction with other sapient species, especially Koura who live both in water and on land.

Most people know of the Sepia from stories Ternaki bring from Sifia, as the Ternaki have excellent trade relations with the Sepia off the Sifian coast. Sepia will trade food, finished goods, and raw minerals in exchange for metal products and other things they usually can't make themselves. Some of them have taken to training small hammerhead sharks to act as metal detectors to find silver and gold on the ocean floor for the express purpose of trading with land species.

Religion among the Sepia varies wildly among the sedentary civilizations, and often has influence from those they trade with. One belief, which varies in its interpretations, is that estuaries are gates to start on the journey to the afterlife. They are guarded by divine creatures with beaks that snatch anyone who would be so foolish to try and find what lies beyond, but tales of following the rivers and streams up to the mountains speak of untold beauty. Some Sepia believe that when they die, their spirit will be free from their body and they can physically follow the rivers to the mountains past the birds and unbreathable fresh water to see the heavens, and they aren't technically wrong. Spirits do exist, but that's a topic for another blog post.

In the modern day, the beaked creatures are known to be birds and many estuaries are made safe for Sepia to farm fish, shrimp, and mussels. As a result, most Sepia that have this belief, particularly ones that work in estuaries, don't interpret it literally. In addition, there are Sepia that have taken the first steps on land inside mechanical drysuits, designed by Sepia and aided in their manufacturing by the Ternaki.

Life on Land

The Sepia are an aquatic species, but they're also playable so I need them to be able to go on land. The answer, obviously, is mech suits.

Sepia drysuits are a relatively new phenomenon, a consequence of the industrial revolution allowing access to manufactured goods and other recent breakthroughs bringing technology and alchemy up to speed with the ideas some Sepia have been having for centuries. The first drysuits were little more than fishbowls on wheels, connecting pedals or other cranks to the wheels for locomotion. However, over the past twenty years drysuit technology has been drastically improved. Cockpits are now hermetically sealed and durable, with alchemical salt water recycling systems where oxygenated salt water is mixed in one or two canisters and pumped into the cockpit; the old water flushed out of the drysuit. Many drysuits are still utilitarian and use tracks for mobility, with the addition of graspers for manipulating objects. More complex drysuits also exist, including ones with humanoid plans that are piloted with levers, cranks, and quite a bit of pullies. Some more high-end ones use Hydraulics. Some Sepia have taken to pushing the limits of these kinds of suits, making names for themselves on land as skilled pilots able to make their suits do acrobatics.

On the mechanics side of things, I have some simple drysuits written that need to be playtested. Currently, they have a Strength (which is used in place of the Strength Attribute), Size, Speed, Fine Manipulators (number of hands), Armor, Durability (hitpoints based on materials used), and Cockpit Durability (Cockpit hitpoints). These are a way from being tested for the moment though, hopefully within a few weeks.

If you read this far, thank you very much! Also huge thanks to @donutboxers for the art in this post. The next Species Highlight will be the Possum, and the next mechanics post will be about Metaphysicalities.

[transxfiles]

she called me :/ and she asked me how my day was and listened to me talk. and there was a train outside our windows (we live in different apartment buildings on opposite sides of the same street) and a flair in the middle of the road and she left her room to go walk the tracks and see what was going on. and i said i'd come out to look too if i wasn't so tired and if i wasn't in my night clothes and i said i wish i was still wearing my cute outfit from the day and she asked what my cute outfit was and asked me to describe it to her. and i gave her shit for that and she said yeah yeah whatever and asked me to describe it to her anyway. and she was sad bc she wished she could've hung out with me and maddie yesterday bc she saw the photos and she said it looked so cool and like it was so mcuh fun. i've kinda been avoiding her bc well. gestures vaguely at everything. but idk maybe it would've been fun if she was there. idk how i feel about all that. and she asked me what we were doing and i told her about the day and i started talking about growing up in the middle of nowhere and feeling like i was back in my element like i was a child again and she mentioned that she knew that feeling. and i talked about my french exam and the fact that i wanted to be a linguist as a child and she asked about the language i made up when i was a kid and i told her about the phonic system i invented and the alphabet and the characters and the words and how i worked through it and she didn't know what to say to that she was breathless she just couldn't talk. and she said "bailor you're just. you're so cool. d'you know that?" and i said what? and she said "you're so cool. you're so cool and i like talking to you and i need you to know that." and she had to go and we hung up the phone.

[talonabraxas]

Science and the Rainbow Body

We have looked at some aspects of what modern biophysics, biophotonics, phonics (sound), and neurology can bring to our understanding of the Light Body. And the anatomical discovery of the microscopic primo vascular system and fascial tissue give us new perspectives on tsas, nadis, meridians, and the body’s energy channels in general. But at some point science is left in the dust. It cannot keep up with ancient esoteric knowledge, cooked for millennia in the crucible of direct inner experience, not intellectual theories. This particularly refers to the science of the Five Elements, and the loss and distortion of this knowledge in Western intellectual culture, medicine, and religion.

That massive misstep began long ago. While ancient Greece is taken to be the fount of our Western scientific tradition, it is also where materialism took hold fiercely, relegating scientists to the study of physical objects, functions, and ever smaller components. It’s only now, thousands of years later, that physics—and a good dose of Eastern spirituality—promise a revived view of a living, conscious universe. In nature, and in the realm of biology, it is grids of information-energy that rule supreme. Aristotle, Hippocrates, and Galen could not abide the idea of five intangible formative forces and downgraded the elements into gloppy fluids sloshing about in the spaces of the body. To be fair, this was in response to the Egyptian and Babylonian perspective, held for thousands of years, of the elements as deities. Empedocles famously called these deities “roots,” turning them into a proprietary system and establishing his place in history. But the notion of a space element, already an integral part of Pythagorean knowledge adopted from Egypt and Babylon a century before, was out in the cold. This left us with the fantasy of hydraulic fluids running the body (the humoral theory), which would pervade European and Middle Eastern thought right into the modern era—tainting astrology, alchemy, and reflected in the truncated four-part psychology of Jung, Keirsey, and Myers-Briggs. But while this artifact of materialistic thinking affected a hundred generations of beings, the true knowledge of elemental forces has remained intact, preserved in Tibetan Buddhism, Indian Shaivism, Sufic healing, and the Western gnostic lineages. That is a good thing, since they play a central role in the development of the Rainbow or Light Body. That is as it should be, since it is not myth that we are composed, mind and body, of five dynamic patterns of meaning and manifestation.

In the process of creation, of manifestation, the higher is separated from the lower: gravity and levity, roots and fruits, sky and earth. Now, we reverse the process, climbing back toward union. But a simple reversion to the primordial state, to a pure unity of warm consciousness incomprehensible to our dull intellect would miss the point. Our journey as an embodied five-elemental being is not just a movement within an illusion of time and space where “nothing actually happens.” The return is everything, and in many ways the fulfillment of creation itself. It is the ouroboros, the snake that devours its own tail, the completion of the circle, which is itself empty and contains everything.

This elemental transformation process is commonly portrayed in Tibetan thangkas and repeated in almost every ritual. Within a human skull cup we visualize five kinds of meat (forbidden foods, according to Brahmanical literature) and five kinds of bodily fluids. Their specific names are not important for this discussion, but they represent the Five Elements in their female and male aspects. This mishmash is the sum of our physical existence. Here is biology; here is embodiment; here is incarnation—being in the flesh. But here is the possibility of the birth of a new, non-material form as a vehicle for a renewed consciousness. These elements will be cooked and transformed into wisdom nectar, due to the magical addition of Om Ah Hung. In Tibetan, these three syllables represent form, energy, and consciousness, although I prefer G. I. Gurdjieff’s more colorful nomenclature of “Holy Denying, Holy Affirming, and Holy Reconciling.”

The reason for this transformative possibility in the first place is that the Five Elements exist within us in a multi-layered context. We contain the five material elements, but also the five original, pure Wisdom Elements, the cosmic spark as it were. The Hindu tradition describes five koshas or levels of existence, from gross to subtle, from bioenergetic to pure consciousness. The Buddhist world speaks of three bodies or kaya in a similar spectrum. The Kabbalah describes five worlds in a descending chain of existence. Whether we count in threes, fives, or beyond, the problem remains—how to unite the lower and the higher to create something altogether new. Traditionally, we perceive each of the Vajrayana chakras as the center of gravity of one of the elements—but containing an inner structure of five subelements. And so we have elements within elements waiting to be impregnated with divine radiance and to ascend to their true potential.

Cooking the elements

Down in the depths of our viscera, in the dark recess of the pelvic container, is a secret bindu, an energetic sphere, a “bubble” of immense import. The yogin or yogini will have long prepared, through visualization, mantra recitation, focused meditation, and the gathering of blessings, creative forces, and the richness of material, planetary, biological, and spiritual energies. Prolonged purifications have taken place, readying for this moment. Now, in this most secret of places, the alchemical process, the gestation of a new Light Body begins. Conception took place long ago, in different forms of initiations, meetings with the guru, or even a direct download from transcendent sources. Now the quickening begins, the “cooking” process. As in our visualized skull cup of animals and fluids, we ignite the fire in the belly and fan it with the reversed turbulence of our “downward descending wind.” The digestive and liver fire is harnessed, and winds are drawn down and held in the vase of the belly. The anus and lower doors are drawn up and sealed. As the sub-navel furnace blazes, the Earth mandala in the belly dissolves and is drawn upward by a natural osmosis, the force of levity, of ionic attraction, in the oldest dance in the universe.

Spiral dynamics

In this “mating” process, the flame rises up to melt the Wisdom Elements dwelling in the head. This inner heat or tummo process involves spiral energies. The heavenly father energies move clockwise, always. The earthly mother energies move in an anti-clockwise spiral, always. This is clearly seen in the way that a mantra circles within the heart, depending on whether one is self-visualized as a male or female yidam or deity form. The male mantra circles to the right and the female mantra always circles to the left (from the perspective of your own body’s orientation). Spiraling down, the flow moves through the chakras producing the “four joys.” But it spirally ascends to the head again, thrusting through the chakras with another more intense effulgence of innate bliss and the experience of pure awareness (or emptiness, as it is misleadingly called).

By this process, each element in its lower or biological state is transformed, united with and blended with its wisdom form. But what is very surprising here is that, in the Vajrayana tradition, the story somehow ends. We rest in this new state of unfabricated being-knowing, merging it with various aspects of mundane existence, including arising thoughts and feelings and experiences. All is painted with a new brush. The “doors of perception” are cleansed in a utopian brave new world of consciousness.

Beginning, not ending

But the journey is far from over. What has been described above in traditional terms involves a massive movement within the water-based electron grid of cells and interstitial tissue. It is a volcanic eruption and lava flow of the packets of massed biophotons from the cerebrospinal fluid and brain’s ventricles. We have every reason to understand that photons are the vehicles of consciousness—or that consciousness is an intrinsic quality of photons. And we have clear indications that the structured water in cells, tissues, and blood is the electron-source of prana or lūng itself. As a result of this co-mingling of side-to-side, front-to-back, and finally top-and-bottom, the Light Body begins to form in earnest. Each of the elemental chakras is now part of the Rainbow anatomy containing a mandala of subelements brimming with pristine Wisdom Element force. Channels, energy, and consciousness—tsa, lūng, and tiglé—are all benefactors of the primary template of all things: the Five Elements known as Earth, Water, Fire, Air, and Space.

Rainbow Body by Talon Abraxas

Rainbow Body by Talon Abraxas

[pickledwoso]

how are you learning spanish? do you have any tips it’s so hard 🥲

it is hard!!! here’s the link to a post i made a while back about things i was doing to learn spanish before i moved. i didn't end up having as much time to practice spanish beforehand as i would have liked, but i still stand by everything on that list. however, after a month and a half here, my actual biggest tips are:

obviously easier said than done, but the biggest thing is getting over the fear of making mistakes and/or sounding stupid. that is the single biggest thing that will hold you back from learning a language. you have to be willing to put yourself out there, practice, and make mistakes. the only way you learn is by doing it. and also nobody actually thinks you sound stupid! i've never had anyone be rude to me for trying to speak their language and doing it poorly (except a few french people ahahaha), and spanish people in particular are SO nice about it! i went to a ferretería near my apartment the other day and once i´d told the guy working that i only speak a little spanish and didn´t understand whatever he had just rattled off to me about drying racks, he spent at least ten minutes talking to me in spanish and asking me about myself and telling me what he´d said in simpler terms and it was so sweet!

learn basic phonics. please. i beg. as soon as possible. don’t start with hello how are you where is the toilet thank you goodbye, start with phonics. this doesn´t apply so much for languages like english, which often doesn´t follow pronunciation rules, but many other languages do, and learning the rules as early as possible will make your pronunciation and accent miles better. so many native english speakers don´t realize that vowels in spanish consistently sound the same, for example (a always makes the same sound, e always makes the same sound, etc.) so they pronounce them with english vowel patterns and it sounds so unnatural and is a hard habit to break down the road. there´s so many other little things too, like the fact b and v make pretty much the same sound in spanish (at least in spain), hard vowels like d and t are pronounced much softer than in english, etc. practice your pronunciation a lot early on and it will make a huge difference! people often assume i speak more spanish than i do because i have a half decent accent and this is why.

as everyone says, immerse yourself as much as possible. obviously this is harder if you don’t live in a country where your target language is spoken, but there are so other ways to do this. change your phone to spanish. listen to and watch spanish content. find a language exchange buddy. you get out what you put in etc etc etc. i didn’t immerse myself as much as i could have when i was in the US and my spanish has skyrocketed since being here - a month and a half ago A1 was generous and today i’d say i understood around 60-70% of the conversations i overheard at work.