#all three images were in the submission and i don't know the sources of the other two but the 1st happened to be on wikipedia

[critter-creature-or-beast]

Submitted for classification by @mc-cookies

"have you done a poll for anomalocaris canadensis? this weird prehistoric lad from the cambrian explosion, who was one of the first apex predators to subsist primarily on other animals, and all around a silly fellow"

Image 1 - By Junnn11 - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0

[best-non-english-word-torunament]

Statistics time!

So, I was procastrinating on finishing up the word descriptions (only 14 left!) and decided to do some statistics on the submitted words instead. I was expecting a lot of Indo-European languages and languages spoken in Europe, which was true. This is a bit sad, since most people on tumblr have the most exposure to Indo-European languages and I wanted to show more diversity. There is diversity, don't get me wrong, it's just heavily skewed. Let's look at some statistics! Image ID:s are in alt text.

As you see, over half of the languages are Indo-European, and three more are creoles where vocabulary is based mostly on Indo-European languages. LSF-ish is a sign language family! There are still 12 language families in 64 words, that's pretty good work!

This chart only showed languages, so let's look at the distribution of words over languages instead. The staples are colour coded with the same key as the last diagram to show language family. The order is different because I had sorted them by area instead of family

Based on this the distribution looks a little bit better: many of the Indo-European ones only have one submission while several languages from other families have more submissions. Six of the seven languages with four submissions are still Indo-European though.

Let's take a closer look at the Indo-European ones!

Only two of them are from the Indo-Aryan branch which makes up the majority of the Indo-Iranian branch, aka the Indo-European languages outside of Europe. Fun fact: Out of the 582 Indo-European languages, 320 of them belong to the Indo-Iranian branch. That is the majority. Why don't we talk about them more? (The answer is eurocentrism. Seriously, I knew they existed but not that they were this many until I started studying linguistics. The MAJORITY of the language family presented as the European one are spoken outside of Europe).

There are 8 Germanic languages in the tournament. This isn't that weird since they apparently make up 18% of Indo-European languages. I didn't know that until I made the maths right now, that's wild.

The Slavic branch is number two, but since they barely make up 4% of Indo-European languages it's a massive overrepresentation. I did not think there was such a big difference between Germanic and Slavic languages. For comparison, Romance languages make up 13%.

While still speaking of the Indo-European languages, is it a big family comparatively? According to Glottolog it's the third largest after Atlantic-Congo languages (1406 languages) and Austronesian languages (1271 languages). Notice how 587 is a much lower number? Anyway, most language families are much smaller so it's a big one.

Ethnologue on the other hand, says that Indo-European languages are number five on the list with 448 languages, after Niger-Congo languages (same as Atlantic Congo), Austronesian languages, Trans-New Guinea languages and Sino-Tibetan languages. Remember that post on what's a language and what's a dialect? This is an example of that, except that it also begs the question of how much proof you need to say a language belongs to a certain family. For example, the Trans-New Guinea family has many languages/language groups that might belong to it but linguists disagree or have too little proof. It's complicated. Honestly, I trust Glottologue more on this, it has sources and a focus on family classification.

Onto other subjects, namely geographical areas: We have established that there are lots of Indo-European languages here. But how about geographical distribution?

54% of languages in the tournament are spoken in Europe. Note that I've classified Portugese as spoken in America in this case, since the words were in the Brazilian Portugese dialect. Almost half the languages aren't spoken in Europe though, so that's still pretty good.

Unless? Let's compare this to data on the distribution of all languages and the distribution of population, data blatantly stolen from my professor's powerpoint:

Yeah. 4% of languages are spoken in Europe, yet 54% of languages in this tournament are from there. I miss African languages in particular, they make up 30% and yet there's only one in the poll (which is extra sad because many are very interesting linguistically speaking). There are also fewer Asian languages than one would suspect based on both number of languages and people. The American number needs comment too: only one of the languages in question is native american (Would that still be a correct term for a language in today's Mexico?).

Another interesting thing about the later two diagrams is Oceania: 1% of the population and 19% of the languages. At least half of New Guinea (Papua New Guinea, the Indonesian half might count as Asia?) should be included in that number, which can be part of why it skyrockets. 1050 of the world's 6500-7500 languages one one island (and the smaller islands surrounding it), most of the languages small. It's a fascinating place.

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the statistical analysis! This was not meant as an attack on anyone who submitted Indo-European or European words since many of them are banger words, it was merely an observation of an expected outcome, based on the fact that the tumblr userbase is largely Western, so of course European languages will be the native language of many and overrepresented in submissions. Procastrination done, please tell me what you thought

[poisonappletales]

@automaticcheesecakenacho's Valentines + White Day Replies [1/5]

@automaticcheesecakenacho submitted the following Valentines:

She also wrote:

The first collection of Valentines (#1-10) are for you Crown Ruler and it spells out "Beauty And The War X Playing Pieces Happy Valentine's Day." Hope that's ok~ After sharing all of the first collection of Valentines, I will share the second collection of Valentines where it's to each of the same characters that I sent to last year. I apologize that I do not know how to share the 10 Valentine images here at the same time, but I did create a Tumblr post showcasing the 10 Valentine images (only for the first collection). I tried to include the URL share link under "insert/edit image" but in case it doesn't work in the submission form, here it is: 

Link: https://www.tumblr.com/automaticcheesecakenacho/741161330475679744/hi-world-its-been-a-while-since-i-posted?source=share

Here is Part 1 of the First Valentine Collection and it spells out "Beauty."

She also wrote:

Please refer to the first submitted Valentine collection description for information. This is part 2 of the first Valentine collection for Crown Ruler and this one spells out "And." (I forgot to mention for both the first Valentine collection and the second Valentine collection that I had a picture of Thunder that you drew last year hidden in all the Valentine grams as like a "Can you spot Thunder?" sort of mini game that I did for fun 😊) 

She wrote:

Part 3 of the first Valentine collection to Crown Ruler and this one spells out "The." 

She wrote:

Part 4 of the first Valentine collection to Crown Ruler and this one spells out "War." (W - Wind; A - Arsenik; R in Rosemary) 

She wrote:

Part 5 of the first Valentine collection to Crown Ruler and this one spells out "X" in "X Playing Pieces" 

She wrote:

Part 6 of the first Valentine collection to Crown Ruler and this one spells out "Playing" (P - poison, L - link, A - Arsenik, Y - you, I as in myself, N in Onyx, G for Grant) 

---

The boys' response:

"That is some recipe, Imugi. I shudder to think of you garnishing a corpse with a package of ramen noodles."

"If a Vi body can't be found, a Hulder substitute will suffice."

"You should definitely work out after a meal."

"Shouldn't you work out before a meal?"

"Well, if you were to work out after a full meal, you should wait two to three hours. But it's okay to do something light, like taking a walk. It's actually better for you!"

[sarcastically] "Thanks for the fitness advice nobody asked for."

[teasingly] "It's not what was asked for, but it's what was needed. ♥ And Sir Wind, you should be ashamed of yourself for trying to cook a dead body!"

"Who says it's cooked?"

"Sir Wind, you should be ashamed of yourself for trying to cook a raw body!"

"If you ask me, an Onyx kick is a pretty light stretch, right?"

[muttering] "Speak for yourself! I'm not doing them!"

"I don't want to do any of these because I don't like their names. I don't want to wave at Alexandrite!"

"Oh no. I'm starting to have a craving for ramen now."

"Oh, so now you want what I'm cooking."

"Um...hold everything but the ramen, please. Thank you."

[1t5br1tn3yb1tch-blog]

“Don't matter if I step on the scene or sneak away to the Philippines...”

After her divorce from Federline, Spears explored her new freedom through late nights at clubs, spotted with infamous Hollywood party girl, Paris Hilton. Tabloids would label her as a hot mess and a horrible mother, using photographs of her at her most intoxicated to slander her. The photographers captured her at her most vulnerable–photographing her stepping out of a car commando, carrying her shoes after a long night of partying, and almost dropping her child. Every mistake the twenty-something did was on display for the world to see. Celebrities are products of the culture they are from, representing the ideal citizen. The press was using her as an example of what not to be–how not to be a woman and a mother.

Sean Preston (2006) Splash News

Two of the most popular celebrity gossip blogs, Perez Hilton and TMZ, published photos and stories about Spears almost every day, criticizing and mocking her. Hilton scribbled text across these photos with phrases like “I Miss Rehab,” “Unfit Parent,” and “TRAGIC.” Hilton was notorious for this kind of press in those years, publishing stories about celebrity drug use and despair.

Perez Hilton, Britney is NOT With The Children, 8/22/2007

Tired of all of the cars and cameras following her every move, Spears wanted to take some control back. With the stress of her divorce and custody rights still on her mind, Spears “drove to Esther’s Haircutting Studio and shaved her own head” (5) . When she left the salon, she was followed by paparazzi to a nearby gas station. Spears emerged from her car and attacked a paparazzo with an umbrella. The photos of her, bald and enraged, were memified and spread all over the tabloids and gossip blogs. The photographer, Oliver Mirguet, sold the iconic image of Spears shaving her head for a large sum, reportedly around $300,000 to $500,000. (6) The photographs were plastered all over the gossip blogs she resented, mocking Spears and implying she shaved her head to avoid drug testing. Later on her website, spears wrote “If I were you I’d be unhappy too if I had to read what I’ve been reading every day. But trust me, I get it. I know I’ve been far from perfect and the media has had a lot of fun exaggerating my every move.” (7)

Shaving Her Head (2007), x17online

Attacking the Paparazzi (2007), x17online

This new Britney did not resemble the Britney she was before. This Britney was not going to let the cameras take advantage of her, she wanted to send a message to the celebrity media that she was not going to be the submissive good-girl she used to be. Other celebrities have assaulted paparazzo. Ron Galella, known as America’s first Paparazzo, asked actor Marlon Brando to take off his sunglasses for a photo. Brando “not only refused… but also punched Galella in the jaw,” resulting in the paparazzo losing five teeth. (8) Brando left the assault with an infected fist and a fine of $40,000. The next time Gaella and Brando saw each other, the paparazzo wore a football helmet. The ruthless tactics of these photographers disregards their own safety and the well-being of their subjects.

Currently, there are no set rules or standards for paparazzi, they are only limited to what they, individually, feel comfortable with. (9) Now, paparazzi will chase stars’ cars and run red lights just to get a shot. Some will even travel in packs, surrounding the celebrity’s car and slow down, until they are forced to stop, trapping them in a circle of cameras. Nicole Richie, a reality TV star, got into a car accident when two paparazzi were trying to photograph her and her children in her car. In fear of another accident, she took this issue to court and the two photographers were required to stay at least fifty feet away from the star and her children for three years. The unwritten rules of ethical photography practiced by the older generation of paparazzi has disappeared, as these photographers only want to snap “the one,” make their millions, and retire. The older paparazzi respected the space of the celebrities, giving them privacy during emotional and difficult times, such as hospital visits and funerals. Now, every moment of stars’ lives is for sale. (10)

This is not how celebrity news coverage has always been. Celebrities used to be a part of studio systems, meaning the celebrities would be protected by the company they represented. The studios had a relationship with the media, agreeing to give them news, interviews, and appearances of the stars they represent if they maintain the image of each star set by the studio. If a magazine or columnist “printed bits of unfavorable or unsanctioned,” the studio would cut off information from the magazine. (11) Once the studio system ended, the celebrities were no longer protected as they were before. All of the stars’ secrets were easily accessible to the public; extramarital affairs, homosexuality, and addiction all came to the public eye. As a result, celebrity gossip magazines, such as TMZ were created. Unlike magazines like People or Entertainment Weekly, TMZ was not afraid to spread the worst rumors, slandering the image of even the most angelic stars. In the old system, the studios would have cut off contact with these magazines, but some of these magazines have been funded by the studios representing the stars they slander.

In 2006, Emma Watson, star of the hugely successful Warner Bros. series, Harry Potter, was caught drinking alcohol on vacation while she was below the legal drinking age. Time Warner, who funds TMZ and owns Warner Bros., allowed the gossip source to publish this information because it brought in more money for them, profiting off Watson and the smear. (12) The rise of internet gossip blogs allows these companies to make more money, as these blogs receive thousands of views every week, resulting in more money from advertisers.

         5 “10 Years Later, Britney Spears’ Head-Shaving Moment Is Still Unforgettable | HuffPost.”

     6 Chéroux, Clément, Paparazzi! Photographers, Stars, Artists. 56

     7 “Britney Spears Goes Bald | PEOPLE.Com.”

     8 Murray, “Keeping the Paparazzi an Arm’s Length Away.”

     9 Chéroux, 36

     10 Murray

     11 Peterson, Anne Helen, “Smut Goes Corporate.”

     12 Ibid.