#and we were children. we were children then we started middle school in 2010 and YET

[beholdthemem]

Listen I'm not gonna pretend that the 2010s-2020s don't have plenty of bodyshaming unpleasantness of their own, but if anyone starts reviving the PARTICULAR brand of fatphobia that ruled the early 2000s to try and fuck up the body image/relationships with food of the little girls of today like they did with the little girls back then, I'm killing them with my bare hands.

[n0wav]

My Miku Obsession...

Hello chatters!!!

I am currently coming at you guys from my pc in which i use to play video games such as, overwatch, fortnite, destiny 2, league of legends (i feel off fr on that game) and good ol' roblox and minecraft.

if anyone wants to play any of these games with me (mostly fortnite) please dm me and we will play at any point you'd like!

Now back to the topic at hand

she has blue hair, blue eyes and she hides in your wifi...

IIIIIIIIIIIIITTTTTTTTTTTTTTSSSSSSSSSSS

HATSUNE MIKU!

Now my story starts aaaaaalll the way back to the year 2010, I was age 5 in my daycare/pre-school. Now my time in that daycare has many many many stories, but i will not be talking about those at the moment. Now as a child i did not enjoy nap time at daycare. I was not able to sleep thanks to my ADHD, so instead I was allowed to stay up and like draw or play with toys and stuff. At this daycare, maybe at many more I've only been at the one, they had highschool interns working there and helping the main teachers take care of and control the little children.

There was one high schooler who, instead of just making me draw, she would take me to the office and watch youtube, and majority of the youtube videos were miku music videos. As a little 5 year old i was automatically hooked, to the point to where I would beg our roommates (we lived with another family for a large part of my life) to let me use their computer so I could keep watching more and more videos over and over all day long.

Now through the years I stopped watching many of the videos mostly because i was scared people would think i was weird for watching them so in middle school i basically fully stopped and ended my love for miku.

up until high school in my freshman year where i came across a random miku video and decided to click on it....

I was then hooked again.

i kept it a big secret however, not even telling my close friends.

near the end of highschool i kinda stopped again mostly because i was going through a whole lot and i just really could't watch much things anymore so I had a small break.

Recently i've been falling back into miku and its been awesome and i now remember why i loved her so much. I cannot stop wathcing videos and listening to songs and once i have money i will spend it all on plushes and figures!

we love miku

miku is our everything

here is a miku song i suggest yall should listen to

thank you all for listening tomorrow i will make another post where i will do an analysis of a band and it will be very very good and def wont be another rant :3

last note this is the best miku song (joke)

[timberpass]

Timberpass Welcome Centre

Hello! And welcome to the coziest town west of the Rogue! Founded in 1848 during the early days of the infamous Gold Rush, Timberpass stands as a proud example of some of the bustling logging towns that sprung up to help support the newfound industry of the west coast. Here you'll find some useful resources on the town's history, landmarks, culture, and industry. We hope you enjoy your stay, and remember! Home is just through the pines!

Town Founding:

Timberpass boasts a storied history following its founding in 1848. The town's founder, Obadiah Sinclair, originally struck ground in what would become the Timberpass town square looking for gold. However, his hopes of finding glinting minerals would be dashed when he discovered that both the ground and nearby rivers were unideal for housing the precious mineral. Undeterred and ever a resourceful man, he set out to build a homestead for him and his family. Obadiah's brother, one Terrance Sinclair, happened to be both a woodcutter and a carpenter, and assisted in building up the homestead for their wives and children. Soon though, other settlers looking for a place to stay amongst the endless sea of pines came to stay with them and eventually build houses of their own. And so Timberpass was born. Named after the passage in between the pines that the Sinclairs navigated to reach their settling spot, the fledgling town as soon abuzz with the business of cutting and selling lumber to other towns and mining operations further south near the California border. Logging soon became the legacy of the town as well as Obadiah and his brother, with dozens and eventually hundreds of loggers and lumberjacks working in and around the town. The rest, as they say, is history! In 1867 the town received much needed infrastructure support in the form of an extended railroad system being built onto the already existing single track. This revitalized the town's economy, and gave the logging industry a much needed shot in the arm. The sponsor of this expansion was a friend and long time benefactor of the Sinclair family, Archibald Silver. Silver's family had a successful business in managing mines and railroad supply lines during the westward expansion.

Modern History:

From during the 1900s Timberpass was relegated mostly to local happenings, though the construction of Highway 199 starting in 1926 brought a bit of life back to the otherwise quiet town. For decades the town served as a historical vacation spot for those wanting to appreciate the forests of Oregon from a closer perspective. In the 1980s the then mayor Harold McAlister launched the "Children of the pines" initiative, vowing to revitalize the town for future generations. The program saw the construction of Timberpass Community Middle School, as well as the renovation of the Obadiah Sinclair Elementary School. During the years of the initiative ten public recreation projects were launched, with four of them being completed by 1992, with the rest seeing completion by 2001. Among them were the Pinerange Shopping district, Will'o'west Community center, and of course the Camp Timber Summer Retreat. The retreat would see many years of use by schools both local from around the county until its unfortunate shut down due to diminishing use in 2008. The former campgrounds are still a popular attraction for sightseers and campers alike, with the town's Parks and Recreation department declaring the area a free-camping area, though any buildings remaining on the property were condemned during its shut down. Today Timberpass enjoys a whole host of modern amenities. Highspeed internet brought new businesses and residents in the 2010s, and the local government has been hard at work to renovate the core infrastructure systems like power and waterlines.

New to town? Need a job? Opportunity is just through the pines!

Hello! And welcome to your new home! We here in Timberpass love welcoming new faces to our ever-growing community out here in the pines. This welcome pamphlet is provided by the Timberpass Department of Employment to give you your best chance at settling into your new life here. Listed below is a current list of the top employers available in Timberpass! No matter your skillset, we know you'll be able to support yourself and your new life! Foodservice:

Baa-Baa Burger

Moonlight Coffee

Cafe Sachet

Pineview Tavern

Retail:

Swayback Antiques

VergeTM

Boutique Lavonte

Timber Freight and Tools

Calloway's

Bounty Mart

Sunrise 24/7

Office:

Timberpass Town Hall Reception

Telezoft

Oberon Home Safety

Labour:

Druid Logging

G.E.B Construction

Cosmobolt Deliveries

Timberpass Town Map:

[duchessofostergotlands]

I know it's not a charity, but I was wondering what you think about Party Pieces ?

I often see anti-kate people saying that there must be some shady business with the Middletons because there's no way a company like that could make them into millionaires. I know you probably don't know their inside business, but I would like to know your opinion.

Hello :) They do have some accounts for some elements of the company but I am actually not very well versed in reading company accounts. But I'd say a few things.

They had money before Party Pieces which some people have suggested paid for the kids to go to school. It was an inheritance from Mike's side of the family. So they had time to build up their fortune and their business before Kate met William.

But I think there's a few misconceptions. Firstly, when we say someone is a millionaire we are really talking about the value of their estate. That does not translate to cash in the bank. So I truly don't know enough about the Middletons' finances to know the ins and outs but it's possible their value is in the millions without them actually having millions in their bank account. The other thing I think people do is they view the company through today's lens. They started in 1987. The internet was a niche thing that had just been createdt. So they were really the first major company to do what they did in the UK. I think nowadays you might think "how could someone be a millionaire from selling paper plates for £2?" But we're thinking that because there's 57 knock off sites selling the same paper plates and of course there's Amazon where the whole business model is to sell things at a loss to drive other companies out of business. Those things simply didn't exist so if you think about all the middle class mums (obviously dads can buy stuff for kids parties but this was the 80s lol) competing to have the best children's birthday parties, this was one of the few places they had to go outside of a supermarket (where they have a limited range which everyone will have) or a local party shop (which not every area will have). And because they had been going for so long, they had built up a market share which has of course only been helped by the Kate connection.

Now, that being said, I do know they did some things that are frowned upon now. So back in 2010 it was suggested that they were selling their customer database. They will have had contact details and information about purchasing trends for thousands of middle class parents, a lucrative group of spenders, and so other companies would pay Party Pieces a lot of money to access that data which they could then use for targeted ads etc. They no longer do that, although it's still perfectly legal as long as you tell people and they opt in. So that could be classified as ethically dicey but I also think data rights didn't really become a big topic of discussion until the early to mid 2010s and all of us still willingly give away our data to companies who sell or share that every day. So I'm not minimising that that is a bit dodgy but it's kind of just general capitalism lol.

[shockinteague]

            MICHAELA ‘MICKS’ TEAGUE.

the perfect word to describe micks teague is unhinged. at her birth, her mother either played a sick joke or genuinely had no idea that nicknaming her child something dangerously close to the town mayor’s name would be detrimental in their development. it came with no bullying from their peers, because they were all afraid of her, but micks resented both her name and her nickname. and, of course, her mother, because she left the three of them to their own devices on jasper skellington’s doorstep. she considers herself more of a menace than sadie teague ever could be, and tries her best to live up to the teague name, solidifying her status as a crazy, chaotic bitch with a penchant for violence just for the heck of it. she’s crazy, and you’ll absolutely hate her for it.

inspired by; bellatrix lestrange ( harry potter ) , stormy ( winx club ) , myranda ( game of thrones) , clove ( the hunger games ) , edward hyde ( the strange case of dr. jekyll and mr. hyde ) , the queen of hearts ( 2010 alice in wonderland ) .

GENERAL.

BIRTH NAME. michaela teague. NICKNAMES. micks. DATE OF BIRTH.  november 1st. AGE. 23. GENDER. demi female. PRONOUNS. she / they. SPECIES. 3/4 human, 1/4 demon. POWERS. brief bursts of spirit control. PLACE OF BIRTH. an alley on the outskirts of elias. CURRENT RESIDENCE. wherever she can. OCCUPATION. high school dropout, tattoo & piercing artist.

APPEARANCE.

HEIGHT. 5′6" BUILD. average, slim. HAIR COLOUR/STYLE. dyed blonde / straight ish, cut herself, usually worn loose.  EYE COLOUR. brown. GLASSES/CONTACTS. neither. PIERCINGS / TATTOOS. many in her earlobes / many. FACECLAIM. sophie thatcher. VOICECLAIM. sophie thatcher.

HEALTH.

PHYSICAL AILMENTS. anorexic. ALLERGIES. n/a. SLEEPING HABITS. night owl, usually only gets and needs 5 to 6 hours. EATING HABITS. lots of takeout, not picky at all. BODY TEMPERATURE. permanently cold. DOMINANT HAND. left. DRUGS / SMOKE / ALCOHOL. yes / yes / yes.

PERSONALITY.

TROPES. ax-crazy, hair-trigger temper, one-woman army. POSITIVE TRAITS. ambitious, creative, precise. NEGATIVE TRAITS. impulsive, temperamentful, irrational. USUAL MOOD. aggressive, chaotic. LIKES. causing chaos and mischief, exercising, drawing. DISLIKES. goody two shoes, the law, her mother. BAD HABITS. chews her lip, eyes sometimes involuntarily roll into the back of her head.

RELATIONSHIPS.

MOTHER. sadie teague ( biological ) , victoria everglot - skellington ( adoptive / foster ) . FATHER. unnamed drunk client ( biological ) , jasper skellington ( adoptive / foster ) . SIBLINGS. rafaella & gabriella teague. BIRTH ORDER. middle. CHILDREN. n/a. GRAND-CHILDREN. n/a. SIGNIFICANT OTHER. n/a. CLOSEST FRIENDS. wes skellington, tba.

TESTS.

zodiac sign. scorpio. temperament. choleric. hogwarts house. slytherin. moral alignment. chaotic evil. primary vice. wrath. primary virtue. diligence.

SKILLS & STATS.

LANGUAGES SPOKEN. english. DRIVE. yes. JUMP START A CAR. yes. CHANGE A FLAT TIRE. yes. RIDE A BICYCLE. yes. SWIM. no. PLAY AN INSTRUMENT. no. PLAY CHESS. no. BRAID HAIR. yes. TIE A TIE. no. PICK A LOCK. yes. SEW. no.

COMPASSION. 3/10.

EMPATHY. 3/10.

CREATIVITY. 9/10.

MENTAL FLEXIBILITY. 8/10.

PASSION. 8/10.

LUCK. 4/10

MOTIVATION. 5/10.

EDUCATION. 4/10.

INTELLIGENCE. 5/10.

CHARISMA. 4/10.

REFLEXES. 7/10.

WILLPOWER. 8/10.

STAMINA. 8/10.

PHYSICAL STRENGTH. 7/10.

BATTLE SKILL. 7/10.

INITIATIVE. 7/10.

RESTRAINT. 2/10.

STRATEGY. 6/10.

TEAM WORK. 6/10.

[la-storia-di-lola]

i read some post about having a fear of being perceived due to the constant criticism you received as a child.

and to be honest i never really thought of that as an issue i was dealing with, even though i do have a very strong tendency to avoid being perceived and definetly have troubles with it. but i always just kind of assumed the criticism had to come from parents. and mine were really lovely in that department, like no complaints.

but reading that post i suddenly remembered a certain sentence i kept on hearing as a child from other children... "why are you doing this?" and "why is she doing that miss?" and like those children weren't bullying me or anything (some were, but like i managed to get out of kindergarten and primary school fairly well with minimum bullying, nothing drastic, just the usual kids stuff that everyone deals with). and yet i still have a physical negative reaction remembering that sentence hahaha

but anyway that is not the point, it only got me thinking.

in high school i was quite severly bullied by two of my friends. one luckily failed her first year so i got rid of her. but the other stayed. her bullying was by far the worst in first year at the time when we were best friends (she'd make up rummors about me and spread them around the school, like not only around our class, or was telling me how unatractive i was because i looked like a hanger or how she felt sorry for boys whose girlfriends had drawn on eyebrows (i was filling mine in, because i have naturally very thin and fair eyebrows and it was the 2010s) or she'd straight up tell me i shouldn't tell people about certain things i liked doing cause they were weird and so on). but even after she cut me off as her friend, she kept on like observing me i guess and making comments about me and my behaviour in front of everyone. especially in the last year, when i got off my hormonal therapy and as a result became a bit more social and happy again she would constantly pick on me. like it really was mainly just about observing my every move and making comments about it.

and i guess it really fucked with my head.

i never really took it all that seriously. but then i was taking a criminology class in 2021 and the professor held a class on bullying and its effects. and i just remember how tense i became at the start of the class, i almost didn't want to hear about it. and then she got to talking about how it is proven that bullying leads to higher rates of anxiety and depression and so on and so forth and how teachers don't really understand how they should handle bullying. that they handle it as a conflict between two students, when that is the worst way to do it, because one child has all the power over the other and if they try to "resolve it on their own" the one with the power will just continue to dominate the other etc. and by the second half od the class i was shaking and almost crying (it was over zoom, so i was in the privacy of my apartment and my boyfriend actually had to comfort me in the middle). and as much as it was hard to think about it, it was also so healing. like for the first time in my life not only someone acknowledged what happened to me was bad and that it had lasting effects and explained everything, it was also that it came from an authority figure, an adult. because NONE of the professors (and almost none of our classmates) ever picked up on what lana was doing to me. for the first time i felt like it really wasn't my fault.

and that is why i think it is so important to teach kids not to bully. and especially for us as adults now not to bully kids!!!! because i know why lana was that way, i know what her family life was like and i know why she picked me. like i understand. but that doesn't actually help with the issues i'm still dealing with. it really stays with you for life. it gets better and therapy and working on it can definitely do wonders. but yeah, please lets do better and not teach kids bullying. please. DO NOT BULLY KIDS, it stays with them forever and that is also where they learn to bully others.

be kind and gentle and understanding to kids. love them and show them love. please.

[alixx-black]

2010-2023: A #BodyAppreciation & #BodyPositivity Post

I am 5’2” and weigh 248 lbs. I wear an XL shirt and size 18 jeans, size 2XL in leggings, and size 2 in professional pants. My shoe size in female sizing is a size 8 adult and my shoe size is male sizing is a size 6 children’s. My bra size is a 40DDD, and I usually buy hipster underwear in a size XL.

My blood work has me as far away from diabetes as I can be, and my healthy cholesterol is in perfect range every time I get my blood work done. Everything that is in my control, is always in the healthy and normal ranges.

The things that I am diagnosed with are independent of my weight. Sure, some of them might be less hard if I were smaller, but they wouldn’t be cured if I was half my size. The biggest change losing weight would award me besides more clothing options is that doctors would stop blaming my weight for everything when they meet me for the first time.

But I have never, ever been a tiny person. Growing up, my friends worse and shared their size 3 - 5 jeans, while I bounced between a size 8 and 10. Wearing even numbered jeans were for “fat girls.” When my peers rolled up their shorts, I kept tugging them down because my thighs rubbed together and it hurt. In elementary school, girls were stuffing their bras with tissue or getting padded bras, while I wore a sports bra over a regular one just to make my C-cups look flat. In the summer, my peers wanted to sport their barest bodies to show off how fit and thin they were. I got into arguments with my mom because I wanted to wear goth pants and hoodies.

By some miracle, I never developed body dysphoria. I never had unhealthy eating behaviors. I never struggled with the extremely damaging experience of an eating disorder. I had people, friends and family, comment about my breasts and weight. I was always given clothes that were too big or too small. My body was sexualized by everyone - and I do mean everyone.

In middle school, a friend told me I was too fat to have short hair. In high school, I was told nobody would ever be intimate with me because I had rolls and a double chin. My first employer told me I was too fat to work the register because he had to put the pretty girls up there so that customers came back to look at them. As an adult, I was told during a job interview that I almost wasn’t called in for it because my cleavage made me look to sexy for the brand.

I have fallen for the toxic beauty standards. I have body shamed people, and made comments about females being too sexy when it wasn’t my business. I have been the “I am not like other girls” and “one of the guys” brat that every friend group hates. By no means am I innocent in this strange world of our bodies being perceived as public property.

But I have also been someone else’s idea of beautiful. I have been someone’s else’s idea of fashion bravery. I have been someone else’s idea of strong. I have a body that has made others feel safer in theirs. I have made others want to be more free in their skin.

Sometimes I hate my body just like everyone else, but more than ever - I love this body for all I have put it through. I love what it has allowed me to do. Even when it doesn’t work right and leaves me crippled in bed, it keeps doing what bodies are meant to do - keep me alive.

Fat isn’t a bad word. Not in my house, not in my conversations. I encourage you to start changing the way you see your body and the way you describe it. These bodies have done a lot for us, and we should love them before anyone else gets to.

[sleepysarah13]

Unit 4: Communicating via the Internet

The fourth unit of this course focused on communicating via the Internet.

I learned… 

The Internet is not making communication briefer or less formal

Communication has always been brief to some extent (Telegrams were a form of brief communication that existed across three centuries)

Communication has always been informal to some extent (Slang words in text date back centuries, and emoticons, the precursor to emojis, have existed since the late 1800s.

Instead, the Internet is demonstrating our preference for transient, asynchronous communication.

Transient communication refers to the long-lasting nature of the written communication that most forms of communication via the Internet take on (when you send a text or an email it doesn't disappear)

Asynchronous communication refers to the flexible nature of communication via the Internet by allowing us to read and respond to messages at a later time (because texts, emails, etc don't disappear, you are able to go back to them and reply later)

Next in this unit we learned the proper way to email a teacher. Recommendations include:

Use your school email account

Use your teacher's last name in your salutation

Start with a new message unless your current message is on the same topic as a previous message

Write an informative subject heading

Do not address a teacher by their first name unless they have explicitly instructed you to do so

Use paragraph breaks to help organize your message

Write grammatically, spell correctly, and use appropriate capitalization

Use paragraphs breaks to help organize your message

Don’t use email to rant or whine

Write the body of the email message first; fill in the address line last

These recommendations are important for middle school students too!

Next, there is no scientifically supported reason to believe that children texting and using textisms will negatively affect their literacy.

Research done by Kemp (2010) revealed that text messaging frequency was not related to differences in literacy scores.

Those who sent and received more text messages could read the messages quicker, write them out quicker, and understand more “textese” (Kemp 2010)

Participants used textisms more for smaller words than larger phrases (Kemp 2010)

Research done by Plester et al. (2008) revealed mixed results regarding texting’s effect on children’s literacy.

The number of texts sent negatively impacted participant’s scores on non-verbal and verbal cognitive abilities (Plester et al. 2008)

However, the use of textisms positively impacted participant’s verbal reasoning abilities as well as spelling abilities (Plester et al. 2008)

Research done by Wood et al. (2011) revealed no significant differences between children who engaged in text messaging and those who did not. 

However, the results indicated that there may be some potentially positive impacts on verbal skills over time (though this could not be verified due to the shorter length of this study) (Wood et al. 2010)

Older generation's constant slander of online slang does not account for these benefits of using textese!

Furthermore, communication on the Internet is also beneficial in research.

Research surveys conducted via text message are more accurate than surveys conducted via telephone

Respondents are less likely to straightline (answer a series of questions similarly)

Respondents are less likely to satisfice (round their answers so they are no longer specific, accurate estimates)

Respondents are less likely to fall prey to socially desirable responses (Changing answers to be more positively received by others)

[wutbju]

Karen Lorene Godshall Hicks passed into eternity on Wednesday, January 19, 2022. She was born May 22, 1949, in Sellersville, Pennsylvania. At the time of her passing, she resided in Justin, TX.

Psalm 37:23 declares that a person's steps are "ordered by the Lord." Certainly, this was true of her well-spent 72 years.

Karen grew up in Telford, PA. In grade and middle school, she won numerous singing and athletic events, as well as competing on the Souderton Swim and Diving Team. As a Souderton High School beauty, she was especially known for her sewing and cooking prowess. She received her high school's Crisco Award for Outstanding Student in Home Economics, the Junior Women's Clothing Contest Winner, and Membership on the prestigious McCall's Magazine National Sorority of the Teen Fashion Board. She graduated with honors in 1967.

She attended Bob Jones University in Greenville, SC, from 1967 to 1971, graduating with honors with a Bachelor of Science degree in Home Economics Education and a minor in science. While there she met Darryl Hicks, a student from Oklahoma (He has often said, "We met in a psychology class. She made an A+, and I made a C, which pretty much explains a lot!) They married in Sellersville, PA, on August 14, 1971.

During the next years, Karen and Darryl taught school (Big Oak Christian Academy near Biscoe, NC; and Temple Christian School in Rockingham, NC). For eight years she was a featured singer with The Servants and The Darryl Hicks Trio, touring extensively across the United States, recording four albums, and featured in churches, auditoriums, music festivals and national television programs. They appeared in concert with numerous major artists. Three songs featuring her solos hit numerous regional and national radio charts, and were featured in The Singing News (Southern Gospel music's equivalent of Billboard Magazine).

When they moved to Charlotte, NC, Karen continued teaching at Heritage Academy near Fort Mill, SC, while Darryl began a new career as author and television writer/producer. She also attended Winthrop University Graduate School in Rock Hill, SC.

Major changes came when the couple started a family with the arrival of daughter Charnee and son David. Eventual career moves to High Point, NC, Galveston, TX and the DFW area of Texas saw the family tree flourish with seven grandchildren. Karen's teaching career continued in Texas until she retired in 2004 to travel with Darryl and to enjoy her children, grandchildren, cats and original jewelry designs.

From 1983-2018 she served as an advisor and contributor on a variety of nutrition and recipe books for noted authors and publishers, and from 2010-2020 she hosted Karen's Kitchen, a popular internet recipe and back-story feature.

She was known in jewelry, fashion and shopping circles as "The Purple Lady" for her stylish fondness for wearing clothing and accessories in that color.

For several years she also enjoyed being a member of two Red Hat Society chapters and was immortalized in the song, "Red Hat Woman," performed at the society's 2009 international convention in Dallas, Texas.

During 2021, the couple celebrated their golden wedding anniversary.

Karen is predeceased by her mother, Mary (Nase) Allebach, her father, Harold Allebach, her maternal grandparents, Herbert and Olivia (Price) Nase, paternal grandparents, Ellis and Mabel (Schurr) Godshall, and parents-in-law Gifford and Mabel (Sledge) Hicks.

Left to carry forward her notable legacy are her husband of 50 years, Darryl Hicks, daughter Charnee (James) Barker, son David Hicks, sister and brother-in-law Sharon (Sheri) and Michael Curry, seven grandchildren -- Daniel Hicks, Richard Bennington, Adam Hooper, Kevin Hooper, Taylor Moreno, Dylan Hicks, and Jacob Hicks, as well as a host of beloved nieces and nephews.

Psalm 116:15 declares, "Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints." Certainly this is now true for Karen Lorene Godshall Hicks as the celebration of her home-going continues among the golden mansions and the heavenly throne room, the inheritance of every believer, to which Karen looked forward many times as she read or heard John 14.

And while her family mourns the unthinkable loss of this remarkable, talented and beloved woman, we also celebrate her reunion in heaven with the Lord Jesus whom she served so faithfully, even as we cherish her memory and strive to fulfill the noteworthy heritage she left us to follow!

A Celebration of Karen's Life will be held Saturday, June 18, 2022, at the First Baptist Church Youth-Fellowship Hall, 101 South Highway TX-156, Ponder, TX 76259. Dress is casual., but you are welcome to wear something purple as a tribute to the Karen's favorite color. A lunch buffet will be provided beginning at Noon, with the memorial to take place afterward. A time of dessert, coffee, tea and fellowship will follow the service. To allow the family to prepare for food and seating, please RSVP to onlylogan3@yahoo.com if you plan to attend (and how many will be in your party). The response to your RSVP will include lodging options.

[potdrita]

Adventure capitalist without unity web player

#Adventure capitalist without unity web player tv#

The consequence of that was to fall into a lifestyle that led to joining a gang, being kicked out of school, developing issues with addiction, and eventually getting arrested and incarcerated. However, as one of the inmates put it, “the only job I ever had was selling drugs” (CBC, 2010). They too aspired to getting the money that would give them the freedom to make their own lives. In some respects the Aboriginal gang members interviewed were like Ted Rogers in that they were willing to seize opportunities, take risks, bend rules, and apply themselves to their vocations. Moreover the statistical profile of Aboriginal youth in Saskatchewan is grim, with Aboriginal people making up the highest number of high school dropouts, domestic abuse victims, drug dependencies, and child poverty backgrounds. The CBC program noted that 85 percent of the inmates in the prison were of Aboriginal descent, half of whom were involved in Aboriginal gangs. At that time just three families, the Rogers, Shaws, and Péladeaus, owned much of the cable service in Canada.Īt the other end of the spectrum are the Aboriginal gang members in the Saskatchewan Correctional Centre who we discussed in Chapter 1 (CBC, 2010). By the time of his death, Rogers Communications was worth $25 billion.

#Adventure capitalist without unity web player tv#

He bought an early FM radio station when he was still in university and started in cable TV in the mid-1960s. Then he attended Osgoode Hall Law School, where reportedly his secretary went to classes and took notes for him. Ted seized the opportunity at Upper Canada to make money as a bookie, taking bets on horse racing from the other students. The family was still wealthy enough to send him to Upper Canada College, the famous private school that also educated the children from the Black, Eaton, Thompson, and Weston families. His mother took Ted Jr. aside when he was eight and told him, “Ted, your business is to get the family name back” (Rogers, 2008). was five years old, and the family businesses were sold. went from this invention to manufacturing radios, owning a radio station, and acquiring a licence for TV broadcasting. His grandfather, Albert Rogers, was a director of Imperial Oil (Esso) and his father, Ted Sr., became wealthy when he invented an alternating current vacuum tube for radios in 1925. The story of Ted Rogers is not exactly a rags to riches one, however. In many respects, he saw himself as a self-made billionaire who started from scratch, seized opportunities, and created a business through his own initiative. In his autobiography (2008) he credited his success to a willingness to take risks, work hard, bend the rules, be on the constant look-out for opportunities, and be dedicated to building the business. When he died in 2008, Ted Rogers Jr., then CEO of Rogers Communications, was the fifth-wealthiest individual in Canada, holding assets worth $5.7 billion. Who gets monumentalized in Canada, and who gets forgotten? (Image courtesy of Oaktree/Wikimedia Commons) The Ted Rogers statue with Ted Rogers Centre for Heart Research in the background. Introduction to Social Inequality in Canada Figure 9.2. Understand and apply functionalist, critical sociological and interpretive perspectives on social inequality.Theoretical Perspectives on Social Inequality Understand how sociological studies identify worldwide inequalities.ĩ.4.Describe different sociological models for understanding global inequality.Recognize cultural markers that are used to display class identity.ĩ.3.Apply the research on social mobility to the question of whether Canada is a meritocracy.Characterize the social conditions of the owning class, the middle class, and the traditional working class in Canada.Distinguish the the differences between Marx’s and Weber’s definitions of social class and explain why they are significant.Describe the current trend of increasing inequalities of wealth and income in Canada.Define the difference between relative and absolute poverty.Identify the structural basis for the different classes that exist in capitalist societies.ĩ.2.Distinguish between caste and class systems.Define the difference between equality of opportunity and equality of condition.Break the concept of social inequality into its component parts: social differentiation, social stratification, and social distributions of wealth, income, power, and status.

[inspiredlovers]

Arrogant’ Stephen Curry Was Among Big Group Whom Eventual Wife Ayesha Didn’t Want to...

Arrogant’ Stephen Curry Was Among Big Group Whom Eventual Wife Ayesha Didn’t Want to... The road to Ayesha’s heart was not simple for Steph. The couple has shared their romantic yet challenging love story. It all started way before Steph made his NBA debut. The couple first met in 2003. At that time, they both were teenagers. Steph was 15 and Ayesha was 14 when they first meet in a Church. Sometimes it feels like their story is like a movie. The couple has their own YouTube channels where they share their untold stories and fans are eager for their collaborated videos to come. Five years later, in 2008, the couple reconnected. At that time, Ayesha had a rule that she will not date any athlete. She shared her rule and said, “My parents found this paper from my high school theater class where you had to write down what you wanted in a significant other, At the bottom, it said, ‘No athletes because they’re arrogant.” Arrogant’ Stephen Curry Was Among Big Group Whom Eventual Wife Ayesha Didn’t Want to... It is clear that Ayesha broke her rule. Then they went on their first date on Hollywood Boulevard. And the world is aware of the story when Stephen bought an over-budget gift to impress Ayesha. Then it was Ayesha who took the initial approach and expressed her love for Steph. She said, “I told him I loved him first” and Steph said, ‘I feel like I love you too, but I don’t want to say it unless I’m sure because I just want to be sure that when I say it, I really mean it.” Then comes the main moment of their love story. In 2010, Steph proposed Ayesha, the Warriors legend narrated the story and said, “The plan was to act like we were going to a family cookout. So we pulled up to the house and I stopped in the middle of the driveway, got down on my knee, and went into my spiel. Little did I know the whole family was looking out the window.” READ MORE: Stephen Curry beat LeBron James in a battle yet again, this one just being off the court That was the day and today’s the day. Stephen Curry and Ayesha Curry were always standing by each other’s side no matter whatever the situation is. The couple is blessed with three children. The world admires the couple a lot. Do tell us your thoughts about them in the comment section below. Read the full article

[notwiselybuttoowell]

The fringe never stopped being an education for me. When I was starting to write hourlong shows of my own, I went to see Bridget Christie and realised everything I was doing was shit and needed to be overhauled. I have watched shows by contemporaries, such as my ex-flatmate turned sitcom superstar Rose Matafeo, the sketch masters Lazy Susan and the genius/serial award-loser James Acaster, that reminded me why I fell in love with comedy.

When I hosted Edinburgh Nights for the BBC in 2018 and 2019, I was even forced to watch things that weren’t comedy. I saw Rachael Young marry live music, dance and Afrofuturism in Nightclubbing, a show that paid homage to Grace Jones. I saw Pussy Riot and was fortunate enough to interview them, where I was informed that they hadn’t been smuggled out of Russia to perform at the festival, as reported in the press, but had travelled “by unicorn”.

When I wasn’t watching shows, I was performing; learning how to be a comedian, step by excruciating step. In 2010 and 2011, I performed in a sketch double act with Tom Neenan. We were called the Gentlemen of Leisure and the show was a parody of The Culture Show on BBC Two and was exactly as financially profitable as it sounds. But we learned a huge amount about joke-writing and the partnership ended up with Tom becoming my partner in crimes against comedy on various radio shows and The Mash Report.

Meanwhile, I was doing standup on the Free Fringe, where the audience members aren’t charged, but can offer a donation to the performers on leaving the venue. The aim is for the donation to be in cash, but we were often compensated in old playing cards, flyers for our own show and bits of string. Still, these were formative experiences, performing on 25 consecutive days, accelerating my development more than months of infrequent gigging on the open mic circuit in London possibly could.

[...]

At times, it can feel as though defending the fringe is morally indefensible, like eating meat or supporting Manchester United. Landlords have been encouraging students to stay in their flats in August, leading to a shortage of properties and driving up prices. The Fringe Society was forced to launch a drive to find Edinburgh residents who would be willing to rent properties to performers for less than £280 a person a week. Some performers are staying out of town in caravans or on campsites.

Meanwhile, the Fringe Society is facing criticism for scrapping its app, a valuable tool for performers to direct audiences to their shows, sell more tickets and hopefully mitigate some of those astronomical rents.

The fringe is supposed to be a place where performers can come to experiment and evolve. However, it is turning into a playground for those born wealthy – like Monaco, but with more people who went to clown school.

It has been heading this way for years – and I am not exactly an example to the contrary. I grew up middle class and went to a fancy university that subsidised my first two trips here. More significantly, when I started doing solo standup shows, my first three were paid for by a management company. At the time, the going rate for a solo show (including venue hire, accommodation and PR costs) was about £10,000. I was performing in venues that were so small that even if I had sold every single ticket I would still have lost money.

It would be disingenuous not to acknowledge my fortune. It would make me no better than the swines in our cultural and political life who are the children of wealth, but proudly proclaim that they “did it on their own, without any help”. It is our most pernicious myth, aside from the one that brussels sprouts taste nice if you fry them with bacon. Your dad bought you a flat and the thing that tastes good is bacon. Sprouts taste like small, hard farts.

This is to say nothing of the woeful underrepresentation of female acts, ethnic minorities and members of the LGBTQ+ community. Organisations such as Fringe of Colour and Best in Class work hard to address this, but wholesale change is needed. No one seems to be able to put the finger on who is to blame. Landlords, venues, PRs, Edinburgh university and the Fringe Society blame each other, but in the end the bill is footed by performers.

It is no wonder that younger comedians are increasingly seeing the benefits of social media exposure to their careers; the startup costs required are minuscule in comparison to those of doing a show on the fringe. But allowing the fringe to slip slowly into obsolescence would be a shame. At its core, it offers performers a boot camp to hone their skills and a collision of different styles of performance.

Being a performer at the fringe can feel like being a character on a film set in Las Vegas, because the house always wins. And I mean one of the bleak Vegas films, not Ocean’s Eleven – there is no sign of Clooney or Pitt. The only time it resembles Ocean’s Eleven is when you hear some drama student attempt a truly disgraceful cockney accent that would make even Don Cheadle say: “Bleeding heck, guvnah.”

I still believe in the fringe. Perhaps that is inevitable, given my whole life is tied to it, like a pointless Forrest Gump. My birthday is in August, so I can measure my life through the festivals I have attended. My first years I was there, I spent almost every waking moment with Tom and Ed Gamble. In the past three years, I have been best man at their weddings. In 2010, I met a woman who was funny and charming, but whom I presumed disliked me intently. In October, we will have been in a relationship for 10 years. I cannot separate my own life from the fringe and the city of Edinburgh. It has given so much to me, professionally and personally.

But even I understand that it stands at a crossroads. It must find a way to recapture its egalitarian spirit to remain relevant. It is not enough for charitable organisations to fill in the gaps; systemic change is needed. I say this not out of malice, but simply because I strongly believe, to quote my own mother: “If you love something, you must be willing to relentlessly point out everything that is wrong with it,” a phrase she often says to and about me.

[april-is]

April 16, 2022: Will You?, Carrie Fountain

Will You? Carrie Fountain

When, at the end, the children wanted to add glitter to their valentines, I said no.

I said nope, no, no glitter, and then, when they started to fuss, I found myself

saying something my brother’s football coach used to bark from the sidelines when one

of his players showed signs of being human: oh come on now, suck it up.

That’s what I said to my children. Suck what up? my daughter asked,

and, because she is so young, I told her I didn’t know and never mind, and she took

that for an answer. My children are so young when I turn off the radio as the news turns

to counting the dead or naming the act, they aren’t even suspicious. My children

are so young they cannot imagine a world like the one they live in. Their God is still

a real God, a whole God, a God made wholly of actions. And I think they think I work

for that God. And I know they will someday soon see everything and they will know about

everything and they will no longer take never mind for an answer. The valentines

would’ve been better with glitter, and my son hurt himself on an envelope, and then, much

later, when we were eating dinner, my daughter realized she’d forgotten one of the three

Henrys in her class. How can there be three Henrys in one class? I said, and she said, Because there are.

And so, before bed we took everything out again—paper and pens and stamps and scissors—

and she sat at the table with her freshly washed hair parted smartly down the middle and wrote

WILL YOU BE MINE, HENRY T.? and she did it so carefully, I could hardly stand to watch.

==

Also: Good Bones, Maggie Smith

Today in: 

2021: After Graduate School, Valencia Robin 2020: in lieu of a poem, i’d like to say, Danez Smith 2019: from The Invention of Streetlights 2018: Returning, Tami Haaland 2017: An Ordinary Composure, James L. White 2016: Verge, Mark Doty 2015: Reasons to Survive November, Tony Hoagland 2014: Unhappy Hour, Richard Siken 2013: Just Once, Anne Sexton 2012: Talk, Noelle Kocot 2011: Why They Went, Elizabeth Bradfield 2010: Anxiety, Frank O’Hara 2009: The Continuous Life, Mark Strand 2008: An old story, Bob Hicok 2007: you can’t be a star in the sky without holy fire, Frank X. Gaspar 2006: For the Sisters of the Hotel Dieu, A.M. Klein 2005: Other Lives And Dimensions And Finally A Love Poem, Bob Hicok

[thecarnivorousmuffinmeta]

How long would it take the volturi to solve the Kira case?

Fascinating question, anon, I like it. So much so you get answered much earlier than you normally would be.

Shinigami and the World of Twilight

In Twilight there are few supernatural creatures that remain in our world. There's vampires, children of the moon, and the shapeshifter. However, these need not be the only supernatural creatures.

There have likely been mass extinctions (seen in Children of the Moon) and there may be more creatures that are so uncommon that we just don't see any hint of them.

Death Note's Shinigami easily fall into this category.

They live in another dimension, and in the human world (which they rarely visit in person), they're invisible to the eye save for those who have touched their death note. Their methods of killing are so unobtrusive, (heart attacks by default or whatever method they please), that they're unlikely to be noticed unless someone (i.e. Light) is trying to make a point. And in the grand scheme of things, Shinigami also kill relatively infrequently, meaning that any odd death gets passed off as that: an odd death. Also being forbidden to kill for the sake of a human being means that the deaths tend to be a) random b) whatever amuses them the most. That'd be hard to pick a pattern up of.

Shinigami exist in such a manner that I doubt even the Volturi are aware of them.

Some Ground Rules For the Post

I don't see why vampires would have an innate ability to see Shinigami that humans lack. As a result, the Volturi are in the same boat everyone else is, they can't see a Shinigami unless they touch that Shinigami's notebook.

Also, per the manga, the Kira case takes place from 2003-2010, meaning that as Twilight is happening (or before if Aro and the gang somehow solve this faster than L would), the world is mired in the Kira case.

Bella would certainly have been talking about it in Twilight. As would Edward, as he once had his Kira foray as well if on a much smaller scale and with a lot more junkies.

For the sake of my nitpicky need to have everything line up, we're going to push Death Note back a few years, to the beginning of Twilight.

Also, we're taking out L. If L's there, Aro can rely on him doing most of the work for him and only show up at the end to either murder or turn Light once L's narrowed down exactly who it is. That's not really fair per the ask, we have to leave the Volturi on their own.

With that, let's start.

Kira Makes His Appearance

Light's appearance was by no means subtle, he wanted to be noticed immediately, but he also didn't want to be noticed as a human being.

He made no televised announcements, left no messages, sent in no letters saying, "I am God, tremble before me". Instead, he let his silence speak.

He killed via heart attacks those he considered having broken the law to some heinous degree and then he sat back and watch. The public dubbed him Kira first and he only became a confirmed presence, something more real than a specter and a human who could be caught and brought to justice, when he murdered Lind L. Taylor in a public spectacle.

But this is a world without L, which means no Lind L. Taylor, instead we have Volturi and company in Volterra, utterly unconcerned with the human world.

Of course, they immediately notice once an undeniable pattern becomes clear. Human criminals are dying en masse of heart attacks, someone is making a message. The question is, to what end?

Aro wouldn't immediately think this is a human. This kind of power, this kind of gift, to be able to seemingly kill any person in the world at any time no matter the distance, is something too strong for a human. It would be unheard of to have this much power as a human.

Which means Aro believes he's looking for a vampire breaking the law.

The trouble is, it's only humans. The newborn wars are raging as always, every major coven he's ever heard of remains untouched, and there's been no noticeable uptick of deaths among the vampire population.

The only difference to them is that more of them are dangerously close to breaking the law, as crime rates are now plummeting as criminals live in terror of a spiteful god who might strike them down at any moment. This makes murders performed by vampires, in certain areas, far more noticeable.

(As Light is probably killing off known gang leaders, drug lords, etc. left and right, it's probably pandemonium in certain cities/countries. So vampires are probably alright in these places as I'm sure there's a lot of murder going on as survivors try to fill the power vacuum.)

Still, the Volturi have to put their heads together and try to think why any vampire would do this? To what end would they murder all these humans, in such a noticeable manner, and not even to eat their victims?

Aro concludes he's looking for a very young vampire, likely newborn, someone who still thinks of himself as very human and beholden to human society and who isn't aware of Volterra or else does not consider them a threat.

The Volturi Investigators

I think Aro's going to take the lead on this one. There's his gift, obviously, but he'd by far have the most interest.

Caius would be upset by the nerve of Kira, but he has no patience to track him down either when it becomes exceedingly obvious that this is going to be tricky. That, and it just doesn't seem like his thing to me. He's going to mostly sit this one out.

As for Marcus, he's not up to it.

Which makes Aro our lead detective.

The Investigation

Like L, the first thing they do is try to pinpoint the first deaths. There was the immediate deluge, of course, but that screams of confidence in this assassination gift.

Kira likely needed practice to perfect his gift or even realize he had it at all. There's going to be a first victim and it will probably be messy.

Given enough investigation, this probably leads Aro to Japan, where a man taking children hostage suddenly dies in the middle of the hostage situation when televised on national TV (though not outside of Japan). Given that Kira's a vampire, he could have moved from where he started quite easily, but Aro's willing to bet he's still somewhere in Japan.

What Aro does know is that Kira's keeping close to human society. Kira will be reading human papers, watching human television constantly, and appears to be very well-informed concerning his future victims. Both locally as well as internationally. Kira is likely still in a human settlement.

So, the first thing Aro does is look for an unusual number of casualties in any city or town in Japan. Kira will probably be in the newborn phase, may truly be only a few months old, and given his actions has probably been abandoned by his sire. Even if he has unusually high control, he's got to eat sometime, and thanks to his own actions the murder rate in major cities is way down.

Except... there's no uptick.

Crime, murder, in Japan is universally on a downwards trend. Major cities like Tokyo and small rural villages it's all the same, there's nothing noticeable.

Kira either isn't in Japan or... he's not eating.

Aro wonders if, perhaps this assassination gift of his, somehow feeds Kira. He is, after all, stealing life. He does it via heart attacks but maybe, somehow, the very act of stealing life is all Kira needs. Perhaps he doesn't have to drink blood due to this.

This blows Aro's mind for a few days but eventually he decides that, no, he's never heard of this. True, he's never heard of this gift either, but all vampires drink blood. Even Carlisle, who drinks animal blood, still drinks blood and suffers great negative effects for his avoidance of a natural diet.

Kira the vampire must still eat.

Which means, in the absence of any other explanation... Kira's not a vampire. Kira is likely a very gifted human.

Aro's mind is blown again because Holy Fuck, what a gift. Kira has blown Jane and Alec, who were only immediately noticeable in their own village, completely out of the water.

Except, the trouble is, neither Aro nor anyone else in the Volturi is a detective. Aro knows enough about human society to pay his taxes, to hire secretaries, and keep on the up and up, but he doesn't actually solve human crimes.

What he's looked for for thousands of years are vampires who break the law: and they have certain patterns, motivations, etc. that are more or less easy to spot. More, the entire point of his law is that, if Aro notices then it means you broke it. There are those that can and do fly under his radar.

How is he supposed to find a gifted human who can kill anyone in the world any time he pleases? From a brief perusal of Japanese news, there's no one immediately obvious as gifted or strange by local papers.

From earlier killings, Aro notes that Kira doesn't seem to kill between 8 in the morning to 4 pm, which might make him a student but also could mean he's working those hours.

And even if he is a student? How in the world is Aro supposed to touch the hand of every student in the entire country of Japan? Aro, who makes it a point not to navigate the human world.

Aro Calls in the Expert

When you want to hang out with the humans, there's only one vampire to call: Carlisle Cullen. As we're setting this in early Twilight, neither Eclipse nor Breaking Dawn have happened. To the Cullens, and Carlisle, Aro is simply a wise king and Carlisle's old friend.

And I'm sure Carlisle has been watching the Kira case very closely and is very disturbed by the entire thing. Kira's methods are very much not Carlisle's m.o.

Aro gives Carlisle what he knows: Kira's probably a gifted human, probably somewhere in Japan, probably in school, and has access to an extensive amount of human media.

That's it.

That's all Aro's got.

As for the police at large, without L, they haven't even narrowed it down to Japan yet.

Carlisle points out that, as much as he hangs out with humans, he doesn't think he could find the needle in the haystack either. However, he definitely wants to help in any way he can.

However, they do have something. Aro can't touch the hand of everyone in Japan, however, Edward can unobtrusively listen to a much larger segment of the population.

(Alice is off the table as she's best able to see the future of those close to her. Without knowing who Kira even is, let alone being close to him, she has no idea what he's going to even do next. She's likely very frustrated by this.)

Surely, whoever Kira is, he or she will be contemplating their victims more often than not. It's a long shot, but Edward might be able to find that needle in a haystack.

How's Edward Feel About That?

Edward's extremely conflicted. On the one hand, he doesn't want to disappoint Carlisle, and this is the first time Carlisle has ever asked him for a favor of this magnitude. And, in theory, Carlisle is right, all creatures are worthy of life.

On the other hand, Edward's on Team Kira. He thinks these rapist, murderer, pigs all deserve to die and is rooting for Kira to put the fear of God into them. Emphasizing this is when Bella was nearly raped in Port Angeles, but her would be rapist suddenly remembered himself and vomited in terror at the idea that he might be next should he get caught raping her. (As it is, Edward catches him, and a few weeks later he dies of a heart attack in prison. Edward pops the champagne).

More, if Edward goes to Japan, it means he has to leave Bella. Bella has proven she cannot survive without his personal protection. More, he's not sure he can survive without her presence. He can hardly contemplate the idea of leaving Bella, though he ultimately must, but to do so soon? He though he'd have a few more years, likely until they graduate, but now he and the family would have to move all the way to Japan in a matter of days.

Not to mention this would be letting Aro know that Edward's... not technically breaking the law but not not breaking the law either. Bella clearly suspects he's not human, she just doesn't have the right word.

And then to give Kira up to the Volturi? To have his activities stopped, to be turned and placed into the guard, or else murdered? Edward feels like he'd be selling out the brother he never knew.

But also Carlisle and imagining Carlisle's sad, disappointed, face.

Edward says yes but he really wants to say no.

He sneaks into Bella's room in the middle of the night, and for the first time, makes her aware of his presence. He tells her that regretfully he must leave her, he's off to do a man's work and catch Kira, and that they will never see each other again.

Then to Edward's horror and disappointment, Bella's completely on board for Edward catching Kira and thinks it's the noblest thing he could do. Charlie, being a chief of police, utterly despises Kira and Bella carries forward this sentiment. People deserve the due process of law, not being murdered off by some jackass conning people into believing he's a god.

Bella wishes him luck and tells him to return as soon as he can.

Edward just numbly says he won't be returning. This really is it. Goodbye forever.

Bella's utterly broken (though not nearly as much as canon as Edward didn't dump her for being boring).

Edward in Japan

Well, turns out, Edward's not actually that useful. There's a few problems.

First, there are a lot of people out there claiming to be Kira, or even convincing themselves that they're Kira. They do this to brag, to feel special, for any number of reasons.

None of them are Kira.

Second, Edward can only go out on cloudy days or at night, this severely limits when he can wander the streets and the people he'll run into. More, even if he starts with Tokyo, Tokyo's a big place. That's a lot of wandering to do.

Third, say that Edward does come across Light Yagami. Edward immediately dismisses him as being utterly insane. See, Light Yagami is talking to his imaginary friend, Ryuk, bickering about which apples they should buy from the store. Edward sees the giant clown demon that Light believes only he can see and goes, "Ah, another lunatic, cheerio."

Edward does not find Kira.

The Investigation Continues

Aro likely keeps Edward at it for months. It doesn't matter how long it takes, they're going to track down Kira and they're going to find him. It might take years, but dammit, they'll find him. Edward despairs that he will ever be able to go back to normal life.

Luckily for the gang, Bella saves their bacon.

Bella, ruminating on Edward's mission and on Kira, starts doing her own internet investigation. She doesn't get very far, but she does have those prophetic dreams to help her out.

Bella has a seriously weird dream about the moon, night gods, Kira, demons that look like giant crows, notebooks, and Light Yagami's face. Somehow, just as in canon with vampires, Bella's able to somehow put this together.

She calls up Edward (as they parted on more amiable terms, and so quickly, Edward did not yet disconnect his number) and tells him that Kira's name is Light Yagami, he's attending the University of Tokyo as the top student, and his murder weapon is an evil notebook.

How does she know this?

She looked it up on the internet.

Well, Edward isn't sure how to take that, but he also has nothing to lose. They find Light Yagami, Aro shakes his hand, and holy shit, Bella Swan was right. (Aro now decrees that she will be turned, much to Edward's horror and insistence that she has no idea he's a vampire, and has plans to recruit her for his guard).

What Are We Going to Do About Light?

Well, on the one hand, Aro discovered a new species today that he can do nothing about. Luckily, they seem to have their own laws that have more or less the same result as the Volturi laws: don't get noticed.

On the other hand, he's disappointed that this all-powerful gift was not a gift at all.

On the other other hand, Light does not seem to be an ordinary human. He's... lucky, for lack of a better term. No, it's more that he doesn't need luck, he somehow has such an awareness of everything around him that he assimilates it perfectly into his own plans. As if he can manipulate the very universe to his favor.

That's intriguing and useful, and in any other situation, Aro would jump on taking that chance and at least seeing what happens.

So the question becomes, does Aro turn Light or not? On the one hand, that's a useful gift, on the other hand, this kid's a loose cannon and a lunatic.

This Kira thing cannot continue, and Light, even as a vampire, would likely insist on continuing it somehow.

Luckily, there's a solution to this.

Aro burns the notebook, much to Ryuk's protesting despair. Light loses his memories of Ryuk, the notebook, and having been Kira. Before Light even knows what's happening, Aro turns him.

Three days later, Light wakes up a very confused vampire, gets the Volturi pitch with Chelsea there to help loosen bonds, and accepts a position in the guard to, oddly enough, stop those like Kira.

Aro's confused, but hey, they'll see how this Light thing works out. Aro also likely tells himself that he will watch for Ryuk trying to drop Light another notebook like a hawk.

The Kira case is never solved for humans: Kira just disappears one day as if he never existed. As for Light, I imagine he plots the destruction of the newborn armies, and Caius watches in utter fascination as this kid ruthlessly exterminates them all.

Bella is shortly turned into a vampire, much to Edward's despair, and due to the giant mess of this is also likely recruited to Volterra.

How Long Does This Take?

Given the need for the Volturi to first investigate, then Edward, I give them at least a year. Maybe a year and a half.

And really, it's Bella who saves their bacon.

[thesquidkid]

So my favourite cartoon growing up just got renewed for a 4th season and I wanna properly talk about it. It’s called ‘Foot 2 Rue’ (you might recognize from me talking about it every occasion I can lmao), and this is what I have to say about it, about the reboot, and about the fourth season.

First of all, what is foot 2 rue? It’s a French/Italian show that follows 7 kids (5 at first) that play street football in the fictional town of Port-Marie. Their team name is ‘Les Bleus’, and they are aged 11-14. This show originally aired 2005-2010, with the reboot airing 2014-2015 and the 4th season starting in 2022. I will first talk about the original 3 seasons, then the reboot, and finally the fourth season.

Now, why is it my favourite cartoon, and how did it impact my life so much? (putting this under a cut for people who don't want to see one of my rants about foot 2 rue) Here you can find more information of the show

Well, for starters, let’s talk about the three rules of foot 2 rue: “Amitié, respect, solidarité!” or in English: friendship, respect, solidarity. The fourth unofficial rule (tho it is repeatedly pointed out) is that each team must have at least one girl. These ‘rules’ meant that as a kid, I played football with the guys, putting backpacks on the ground to make the goals. It teaches kids that you should treat others with respect, that you should help each other out, be nice to one another, and that girls can play with boys too if they want.

Another aspect that makes this show so special to me and to many other kids, is one that I only really realised once I was older. Diversity. These kids, who play football all together, come from many different backgrounds. And I don’t just mean diversity when it comes to skin colour. We have kids who are orphans, or whose parents are divorced, or whose parents are busy with work. We see kids who feel left out because they are the eldest of 10, or kids who are only children yet their parents aren’t much present. We have kids who were raised by grandparents, or raised in an institute. Some of the kids live in a homeless shelter, others live in council housing. Some kids are disabled, whether that be physically or mentally. The one thing they all have in common? Football.

I am lucky enough that when I was a child, I didn’t really realise that there was such prejudice against other people, simply because they are different. My parents raised me to look at everybody the same, to treat everyone with the same respect. And as a kid, I never questioned why my friends were different, they just were.

But then I started middle school, where I got bullied for being different. And that sucked. But I also made really good friends there, people who had also watched foot 2 rue growing up, people who didn’t see differences as a weakness but as a strength instead. One of the girl who bullied me started off as my friend, and I may be a small insignificant thing, but I know that her parents didn’t let her watch this cartoon growing up because it would be a bad influence on her.

Now, I may be naive to believe that such a little cartoon could impact people into respecting others, but I believe it does indeed make a change.

One of my cousin’s classmates was in a wheelchair, and I remember clearly the day we watched the episode where one of the kids who plays football is also in a wheelchair. Because she drew the kid that was on the tv and gave it to her friend.

I could go on and on for days, talking about the major and minor characters in depth, and maybe one day I will. The characters all have layers to them, their personalities are so distinctive, yet they cover a pretty large ground when it comes to representation. I’m pretty sure that if everyone here watched it, you would relate strongly to at least one character, major or minor.

So, you can see how foot 2 rue is such a great show and how it impacted me so much, right? Okay, now let's talk about the reboot.

Foot 3 rue extrême. Or as my cousin likes to call it, the "bland" foot 2 rue. Because we went from a show that put forward diversity, telling kids that it was okay to be different, that you could even find strength in being different to a show that was mostly only about winning.

We went from a show which was mostly about kids of colour, kids from all sorts of backgrounds, to a show that was moslty about white rich kids.

When I say the reboot is moslty about winning, I don’t mean that the original wasn’t. Les Bleus were twice world champions, and they didn’t often lose a game, we saw them lose in other aspects. Many episodes centered around the captain, Tag, an orphan, looking for a father figure. We saw these kids be kids. They argued, and made dumb choices, and cried. But together, as a team, they fought back, they won, they laughed.

In my opinion, the reboot feels like the studio wanted to tone it down, to please a greater audience. And to make it more interesting, they added the idea of a challenge before each game. These challenges, once again imo, make it less ‘real’. What I mean by that, is that foot 2 rue was about taking 4 backpacks or coats to create goals. Or using pre-existing objects, like benches or bushes. It was about a game that kids have always, and will always play: street football.

There are no rules in street football, only to show respect. On the other hand, the reboot and the challenges meant you needed preparation, you needed rules and perhaps even an audience.

The main reason why I am not a fan of the reboot is that the characters seem to lack layers. Which is ironic considering the original is in 2D and the reboot in 3D. I don’t like the reboot in many ways, but I won’t shit on people who enjoy it, everyone has different taste.

Now, talking about the fourth season. So far I have only watched the first 2 episodes, but I needed to write this out while I still had it in mind. It supposedly takes place a few months after the end of season 3, though there are some major changes, like the presence of smartphones. We follow a minor character, P’tit Dragon, as he takes the lead of Les Bleus and builds his own team.

We are back in Port-Marie (the reboot takes place somewhere else, can’t really recall where) with the same background characters. The locations are the same: the institute, the marketplace, the old port etc (oh I forgot to add, the reboot only takes place in the building site of a shopping center). The drawings are back in 2D, in a similar style (which is totally bringing me back to childhood).

And most importantly, we are back with a show that puts forward diversity.

[collisiondiscourse]

Man, why does it feel like the threshold for success has a time limit? I always feel like if I'm not an insanely popular artist or powerful influencer by the time I turn eighteen, then I am an utter failure and a waste of my teenage years. I think one of the biggest pitfalls of how the generation of kids today has been raised is that we've basically been socialized to think that our best achievements have to come in our youth or else they become virtually worthless.

Like... Oh? you're a talented pianist and played in front of an auditorium of hundreds at an opera house? how old were you when that happened?

A forty-seven-year-old would be met with a few impressed nods, maybe, and people congratulating them for all their hard work and experience.

A fourteen-year-old would get news articles. they'd go viral on the internet and thousands of people would be clambering over each other to sing praises of how they were blessed with such innate talent.

I get it. It's impressive, right? Because they're young and haven't had plenty of years of experience. These kids, by all means, deserve all the praise and attention for working hard to get where they were!

But that's not the case, is it? And the culture of people putting more credit for young people's achievements doesn't even fuckin end there.

Because not only does this exact same pattern happen with literally every single thing ever, even totally non-competitive hobbies like painting, it happens with such frequency that it's considered normal. Articles use age markers about successes to serve as clickbait for their articles. Cable companies start shows purely about young prodigies and how they've beaten their adult competitors. Because who wouldn't wanna hear about a ten-year-old chess champion, right?

And what's even worse is that it then becomes a competition even among young people themselves! You scroll down on a video of a pre-teen playing Winter Wind and I promise you there will be at least one asshole saying shit like "This kid is not impressive. I saw a nine year old do the same thing the other day!"

It eats away at you! It really fucking does! because we go down this stupid rabbit-hole wherein younger and younger kids get paraded around and raised to be prodigies and meanwhile here you are, sixteen, and having a panic attack because you can't go back in time and force your eight-year-old self to keep playing the violin. It's stressful. It aches. Instead of bringing up younger people around us, we're stuck in this miserable zone where we constantly get compared and pitted against each other because we couldn't "maximize our childhood".

Isn't it enough to just... exist?

There have already been many conversations on the nature of college. How it's utter BS that people have to choose what career they want for the rest of their lives as early as junior year in HS. But what a lot of people don't talk about is just how early people are forced to decide what hobbies they want to do for the rest of their lives. People who start learning how to play an instrument at 28 can't do so without constantly being questioned why they started so late. A drawing with decent coloring garners more credit and attention for the average tween than the struggling middle-aged woman, despite both having an equal amount of experience with visual arts.

Parents constantly tell their children to study harder, to practice more--to just keep on work, work, working until their children become the perfect model dolls they use flex to one another over brunch. It's constantly having your name be followed up by your latest achievement and not anything about who you are as a person.

"This is Codi. She is a straight-A student and got invited to compete at Harvard."

"This is Codi. She is on her school's math team and knows how to play the piano."

"This is Codi. She is--"

I am a human being, thank you.

It's never "This is Codi, and he loves fashion and losing at video games." or "This is Codi, and he likes listening to annoying pop songs from the early 2010s and laying down in the rain."

Why? because none of that matters! None of that is worth listening to because anything less than what I can do to represent my family, my school, my team, my country will never be anything more than a waste of time. It's toxic, how today's generation of teenagers have to be celebrities or important figures or champions or prodigies before they are people.

It gets worse, though.

People start counting your talents like tally marks for points. You can't "just be an artist" anymore. If you draw, then you also have to be good at writing. And poetry. And graphic design. And a sport. Oh, you only know one language? Oh, you've only learned the basics of the guitar? It's like a fucking marker, ticking off boxes to determine the worth of these teenagers on the marketability of their achievements.

And, okay, it's a misrepresentation to only blame parents, right? Because it's a systematic thing. A new societal expectation for kids to be the next fucking Renaissance--with peer pressure for things like relationship experience and wild stories too. We kids now worry about not being special enough, not phenomenal enough, or beautiful enough, or talented enough, or smart enough, or experienced enough. And it's weird!

It's weird how teens now flex how tired and burnt out they are! It's weird how I've had conversations that turned into competitions of how many bullshit responsibilities we have on our plate. It's weird how I've met kids on the honor roll that are so adamant to prove to people that they've gone to parties, had alcohol, and slept around.

It's a goddamn tragedy, watching so many of my peers turning into burnouts before they've even graduated high school.

We are expected to be the most. If that one singer could do it, if that one global warming activist could do it, if that one Olympic athlete could do it--then why can't you? Why can't you have over 20.7k followers on Twitter? Why can't you have started your own band and release a popular album? Why can't you have published your own book by now? Why can't you be good enough?

I sit here, typing away at this stupid post and being unhappy and feeling like I am not good enough. I am an artist. I am a writer. I speak more than one language and play more than one instrument. I used to be a straight-A student and nationally competed in maths and sciences competitions. I am an international finalist for my sport and have multiple gold medals from foreign countries.

Yet still, I feel like my timer is running short.