#bc most of them were rich international students

[infernumequinomin]

"Kipperlily hates Riz because she's got a crush on him," this, "Kipperlily hates Riz because he somehow snubbed her," that... First of all, this boy imprinted instantly in a bully throwing him in a trash can thinking they could be friends, Riz wouldn't just forget someone he met in any sort of positive or negative way for zero reason. If they met, even if she didn't make a huge impression, Riz was SO desperate for companionship in Freshman year I don't think he'd have forgotten or ignored her.

I think a lot of people are forgetting the complexity of Riz's story as a poor kid who is of a "monster race" going to somewhere like Augefort through sheer working really fucking hard on the part of both him and his mom, and that they have explicitly in canon faced adversity both for their financial class and race. One of Riz's driving forces to do really well this year is so he can even GO to college. Sklonda EXPLICITLY lost her pension from YEARS of sleepless nights working as a detective and working her way up through the ranks this year (and I don't think it's something to overlook that Kipperlily's mom works as a county clerk and may have had some say there). I think Kipperlily may just be a graden variety privileged bigot who thinks some "gutter scum goblin shouldn't be in classes with normal people." And that a lot of her work with Jawbone has probably been unpacking these internalized biases.

Like, from the outside, the Bad Kids were ressurected by the principal the very first day of school, throwing the whole school into chaos and got DETENTION for it. Riz not only killed, but ATE the vice principal, after they defeated Kalvaxis! They were all on the verge of failing if they didn't complete their Sophmore year spring break project (it was 70% of their grade or some insane shit!), and while most of them may still have passed, Fig and Kristen DEFINITELY needed that credit and that is mentioned in the season, Adaine is insanely stressed about them completing their quest for "school credit".

If Kipperlily grew up rich and entitled, with all the biases about poor people that can grow (especially if her dad's real estate office owns Strong Arm Apts and she thinks of it as a slum, because it's kind of described as low income public housing lbr here) and saw that some lower class goblin was EATING PEOPLE after defeating them (you know, like a monster does, clearly not taking any time to understand his motivation OR culture), and getting preffered treatment because the principal just happened to LIKE HIM and his party (because they took the time to become closer to him over the years and Augefort clearly values students who will absolutely kick his teeth in bc adventurers are "insane violent psychopaths" citation: the Seven), and breezing through his classes without doing ANY of the work (because she doesn't SEE the work or the sleepless nights or all the stress he's taking on for others) it absolutely tracks for her to grow this huge chip on her shoulder about it and for it to reinforce these biases she may have already had about goblins and esp abt POOR goblins like Riz.

I don't think Riz did anything wrong. I think Kipperlily just has shit to fucking work thru in regards to how she views the kinds of people she doesn't know or has had no opportunity to associate with. Even among her party, they're all rich to middle class for the ones we know the class of. She's 17 and has a bunch of internalized biases, likely from her upper middle class upbringing, and major anger management issues. Idk it just makes sense to me. I met all kinds of girls like her in college who were type A to all shit who resented me for seeming to "have it easy" despite how hard my life should have been coming from a poorer background than them.

[malaierba]

What is so bad about lore Olympus?

ough i dont wanna be a hater, i just wrestled my wretched hand from continuing the haterism train.

i'll try not to let this get too long. for my own health. (although I had a lot of fun hating on LO lol, my problematic era)

1st of all, feminist retelling my ass. The original hymn of PERSEPHONE ANNNNDD DEMETER was more feminist than whatever she did. and I do want to note trying to find feminism in cultures before the emergence of feminism as an actual thought, cultural & human rights movement is not very useful for several reasons (which wave of feminism are we using? From which cultural origin? somehow we always end up using NorthAmerican or French or German authors. but I digress)

Long story short, the original hymn focuses on a mother's grief at losing a daughter. It focuses on how Persephone being stolen by Hades broke both of their hearts. A mother's grief that made her go up to Zeus and yell and plead and, upon going unheard, made her commit to starving the world. Persephone returns to her mother, but only after she's tricked, tied down, and changed.

It was a story that comforted greek women who were given away to a husband and their mothers who let them go. it was one of the very, very few stories that put the experience of womanhood at the center of its story. The original myth IS ALLLLL about female bonds, female grief, female rage. It wasn't a traditional love story at all, although I'd argue its a type of lovestory.

Rachel fell for a stupid retelling that some gringa feminist concocted in the 70s or 80s I really can't be bothered to be precise with this, who thought "wow these greek myths are kind of dark and sexist, I don't want my baby daughter to read them! let me rewrite them so they're empowering by my own cultural standards" <- gringa ass take.

It's hilarious because the feminism here is supposed to be that Persephone CHOSES to be with Hades, and fights her mom (who is turned into an unsympathetic helicopter parent), his current situationship (mynthe my beloved, with whom he has a wildly uneven power-dynamic. they're both BAD for each other, but the narration only ever criticizes and punishes Mynthe for it), and is socially isolated over it. but its fine! because Hades is RICH and pampers her at every turn.

The focus on the wealth and status signifiers that Persephone gets from Hades are so. so vapid lol. Hera gets her a job with Hades easily bcs Hades already likes her, she gets paid way more than an intern should make despite lacking qualifications (this never comes to bite her back in the ass, its just a plot device to justify her having money), she's literally just there because she's pretty and he likes her. He'll say that its because he respects her but, respect what? he barely knows her name and who her mom is.

Another thing about how wealth and luxury are used in Lore Olympus (by the way. most of the culture and symbols of status you see are soooo USAmerican. it's a bit charming when it starts but when you see the reporters look like they came from a gringo news channel it gets super lame) that's really funny is that they become a symbol of Persephone rising up in life, CLAIMING WHAT IS HERS!! yes girl go get it eat the world get the money raise in status! Nevermind that Demeter literally has a cereal empire and a monopoly on grain production on earth like. what? Persephone is old money, lol? but we're meant to think she's a country bumpkin bcs Demeter forced her to be a star student ohnoooo how terrible. I'm crying as I type. hashtag heartbreaking.

Finally, Persephone keeps receiving these gifts, these dresses, she has like 1000 outfit changes and maybe one or two are actually chosen by them. literally most of what you see her wear is either magically given, or a gift from Hades, or from Hera, or from some other godly bestie. It's actually really funny. She has NO agency not even when it comes to how she looks. Which is like, the basis of modern capitalist girlboss feminism.

Like, she's just a prop. a stand-in. she has no discernible personality because she's, at her core, just a bunch of aesthetics thrown together, a vehicle for readers who crave that lifestyle, the story of a tortured rich man coming to the rescue and being soooo obsessed with you despite your lack of depth, to project on. She'll say she stands for something, then she'll forget about it 5 chapters down the line. Oh I care about nymphs! until they forget that she is a goddess and thus above them. Oh I care about my studies! You forget she even was in university by the time she's working with Hades. Oh I'm trying to empower myself! Things keep happening TO her, she doesn't make ANYTHING HAPPEN. She's reactive, passive, and only ever flexes her power when a nymph does something to Hades. Or when his daddy gets mean with them.

That's the other thing, the plot is such a fucking messssss dude. The pacing is the worst thing I've ever seen, and I watched Hazbin Hotel. They keep like... setting up these storylines that never go anywhere. I don't understand why Rachel thought it necessary to include all of the popular Greek myths and literally force them to fit around Persephone and Hades. The story will set up a big bad guy, and you won't even see them mentioned until you've forgotten they were supposed to raise the stakes because the story also MUST talk about other myths like, Cupid and Pysche (this one wasn't too terrible tbh), Apollo and Daphne, Eris comes in and you think she's going to be huge and then she's just like an annoying cat. lol.

Eris pisses me off a lot bcs you think Rachel dared give Persephone a flaw (RAGE!!!) and then. plot twist. it was Eris all along! im puking and throwing up in actual, flawed anger

All of that ^^^ is almost whatever to me, until Rachel tries to tell you: Okay this isn't JUST a GIRLMINIST MWAH retelling this is also about childhood trauma! So we'll see Hades struggling with Kronos! The execution though... there's like. one or two chapters where I can almost take Hades trauma seriously, but Kronos is such a non-entity, that more often than not gets defeated by the power of girlminism (there's no symbolism here btw. Oftentimes Persephone just magic girl transforms and that's that. power always finds her conveniently). It's like he's just there to make Hades an uwu soft boy, and I just really, realllyyyyy struggle to see him that way when you're also telling me he's like the Elon Musk slash King of the Underground.

There's some other comments to be made about classism and how Nymphs are treated as 2nd class citizens and it never gets addressed by the narrative. It's such a waste, to set up a world with so much tension and do nothing with it. Did I mention that the Nymphs are ALWAYS punished by goddesses? feminism babe.

Persephone's characterization is stupid. I can see what Rachel was trying to do, the transition from teenage to adult, naive girl who was overprotected trying to get in touch with her sexuality, girl who is book smart learning to navigate a world with people who don't have her best interests at heart (although most of the time they do. Persephone gets a lot of help, and a lot of it comes from people who likes her bcs she's... pretty? Again. She has no personality.), but the execution is bad, and I get the feeling that her obsession with portraying Persephone as demure, doe-eyed, girlish does most of the harm. Can't have her be mad without being pretty! or look at Hades with anything other than submission in her eyes! yikes.

The art is very bad. It was cute when it started, but you can tell when the art style changes that they put a lot of pressure on Rachel to churn out episodes quickly, and they must've given her the worst assistants in the history of Webtoon bcs Goodlord... Honestly? this may be one of the main reasons why the pacing and plot are so bad (also ngl Rachel doesn't strike me as a particularly deep person lol. again. girlboss feminism mwah), it was poorly managed.

On the topic of the art being bad, there's a lot of inconsistencies when it comes to character design. I'd recommend that you try to look for editors who "correct" LO panels on Instagram, they do a great job fixing & pointing out how wacky the anatomy gets. Personally my main gripe is that sometime Persephone is dick-height with Hades, sometimes she's navel-height, sometimes she's smaller, but by god she must always look like a toddler next to him. Sometimes! she's given boobs and hips to signify that she's an adult. but no one would be able to tell you if she's thick or petite.

Okay, because I'm not 100% mean, I'll highlight a couple of things that I think they do well:

Mynthe is accidentally the best character in the series, because she's flawed and her social circle + the narrative react in accordance to what she does. When she's smart, things kinda go her way. When she's petty, there's consequences later on. Most of all, her story is so... human. Again, I'm certain this is 100% accidental but damn. she has poverty trauma, racial trauma, I'm not one for diagnosing fictional characters but I could see her having BPD? And you see how it affects her life? You see the way she WANTS to be better, but her own beliefs and bad behavioral patterns sabotage her, hold her back. God, she's just... she's so interesting. She's easy to hate, she can be easy to root for in a doomed way (we all know she gets turned into a plant by the end), but whatever the case she doesn't leave you indifferent. She's the most compelling character, funny, a bitch, self-aware yet powerless to change. She has a complicated relationship with Hades, and its the only thing that gives Hades even a semblance of a personality. Whenever she appeared the comments went wild lol. She has a toxic friend but it's also easy to see why she can't let her go. Rachel accidentally did so much commentary through her that sadly doesn't go anywhere bcs the metanarrative doesn't care about inequality, but it's still there, and it stays with you. I could go on. She's easily the best part of LO IMO.

I kinda like Hera event though everything that happens around her is super hypocritical lol. it's just this, idk, Desperate Housewives drama? idk. she's super racist but she's also trapped in a marriage with Zeus. she's the most messy woman to have helping out Persephone yet she IS there goddammit. Persephone both admires her (wants to be like her (girl....)) and is jealous of her (she was Hades 1st love and they had an affair. really shows that Persehpone is like, 20). she's sooo messy. ah, something about it.

So the reason why I read LO is because I read somewhere that I had a good representation of sexual assault and sexual trauma. That the event is shown respectfully, non-graphically, but still impactfully. And I agree. The event is one of the best chapters in the 1st season, and Apollo is an uncomfortable, looming figure for a good while afterward. Unfortunately after S1 the pacing + storyline problems get to them, and sometimes you forget that Persephone is supposed to be traumatized, that Apollo was an actual treat rather than a dumbass (although I supose that can be commentary too? He's characterized as a fratboy, a golden boy type of figure, and I'm for the most part okay with it in some scenes). Honestly, if you read LO just to get to that part + a little bit after what happens there, that's fair. Just, be aware that it gets resolved by sending Persephone to Therapy (gringo style!!) and she only goes once. and that's it. (okay ngl that's kind of funny actually. it went nowhere!)

TL;DR LO suffers from a case of "let's make this story that's really not that deep into a cash cow even though it: 1. doesn't have the elements to be taken that far. it's fine! we'll just squeeze them in!!!, 2. the author is not talented enough to milk it for that long and make it worthwhile, 3. we (WebToon) are also not going to AT LEAST give them a team that helps counteract that, no sir, instead we're going to pressure them with long-ass updates every week"

They really, really shouldn't have included Kronos, let alone the rest of the myths. I'm telling you if the story had ended with Mynthe being turned into a plant and Persephone yelling at Demeter "MOM! me inheriting your big ass empire is YOUR dream, not mine!" and leaving with Hades, and also landing Apollo's ass in court, I would've been like. eh. another mid story from the ~let's make the Greek Myths girl powery!~ crowd, but it at least would've had Mynthe's drama and the portrayal of Persephone's trauma, and that to me would've been very salvageable, like. I can see those elements resonating with readers in meaningful ways.

Bad choices were made etc.

[pan-de-queer]

was thinking of this post (i also have a screenshot of the post at the end) and now i can't stop thinking of a uni!supercorp au set in the fucking philippines like

au is set in 2016. this is very vital to the story

lena's an international student to dlsu manila for a term (i was thinking business rich kid [so dlsu] and not lawyer/politician rich kid [admu]) bc when lillian suggested she join an international exchange program lena decided to choose the country the farthest away from lillian's influence (luthor corp has no hold in most of SEA [minus singapore obvs] and lena chose the philippines mostly because of the slightly less difficult language barrier) and majors in both science and business courses

kara got into up diliman through blood, sweat, and tears. her parents were researchers during the marcos era who were killed during martial law. kara was adopted by the danvers as jeremiah was the zor-els' co-worker and eliza was a traveling doctor. the danvers took kara and alex back to the states (usa) but kara wanted to figure out how and why her parents died and the ph is a great place to get a journalism degree so she studied up on not only the language but ph culture, history, and news as well before transferring to the ph the summer before her third year of high school. alex got a job as a medical consultant in the ph soon after and the two live together in qc (quezon city)

kara and lena meet when lena accidentally finds herself in the middle of a protest march passing through taft (kara started in up manila, not diliman hahaha)

she has no fucking idea what it's about

kara assumes lena's part of the protest and asks if she'd like to borrow one of her signs but then lena's like "what the fuck is happening"

"we're protesting marcos's burial in, uh, the national cemetery for heroes," kara explains and lena still looks so lost and kara feels both bad for the woman and awestruck that someone so beautiful exists. "marcos, like, ferdinand marcos? the country's ex-president that declared martial law, plundered the country in horrible debt, and then was banned from returning?"

lena knows some of those words, she thinks. she'd studied up on philippine history a little bit before she arrived but the textbook she'd read felt incredibly racist if not colonialist, but she's sure she read about a president declaring martial law before, so she nods as if she gets it

the protest keeps marching forward and lena finds that she can't really escape the crowd unless she wants to get crushed, so she sticks closest to kara who's both a friendly (gorgeous) face and also has the closest accent to hers

kara shares with lena more details about why they're marching and helps translate some of the more unfamiliar words of their chants

almost twenty minutes after lena accidentally joined the march, practically drenched in sweat but too moon eyed towards the blonde to care, lena finally asks where they're marching to

"to the cemetery in taguig."

taguig. taguig city. more than two hours away on foot

"oh."

when kara sees lena's face fall, she gently takes lena's wrist and manages to maneuver them to the side of the protest, away from the wave of people. kara asks what's wrong and lena admits that she's already super fucking tired and would never be able to finish the march

kara understands and decides to accompany lena while they wait for a grab ride to arrive. as lena orders her ride, kara texts her activist and journalism friends to let them know that she won't be at the final rally anymore

while they wait, they learn more about each other and find themselves even more smitten than when they first met (sometime during this part, kara also gives lena one of her extra shirts [because she's a seasoned commuting pro and knows to never leave home without an extra shirt and small towel] so lena's just looking super comfy and cute in kara's shirt)

when lena's ride arrives, kara double checks the grab because she's That Kind of person before helping her in

"thanks for waiting with me. it was nice meeting you," lena says and kara smiles, wide and toothy.

"it was nice meeting you, too. ingat!" and kara closes the card door before she remembers to even ask for lena’s number

still, the lack of contact details doesn't deter her. she knows enough about lena that hopefully dropping by dlsu more often would mean being able to see her again

and she does

anyways if this was a short fic I'd def end it around here with kara and lena getting that date but if it were a long fic then i'd 100% make kara investigate and study the ejks (extra judicial killings) during duterte's time and lena learning and falling in love with the ph the way kara has which includes lena learning how to commute (which someday, when she leads l-corp, means that she helps build and fund a better fucking public transport system)

this was suuuuppppeeer fun to even just think about and I can't promise I'll write it but just this idea has me pumped! hope the 3 pinoys who see this enjoy 💕

*edit: here's parts 1.5, 2, 3, and 4

[raevenlywrites]

Ramble incoming

I know I'm not the only one who looks back on their youth and sees the hypocrisy. But now with some distance I can see that all those "only here for an MRS degree" chickies, we were not so different you and I. On a surface level and even a motivational level yeah, we had wildly different goals. But I could not put an ounce of focus on classes my first freshman year (yes I had two) bc 100% of my attention to was on my love life.

I was just thinking today how different that year might have been if smart phones had come along just a hair sooner. I missed classes specifically bc I felt so isolated from my friends that I prioritized staying at home on the laptop and chatting with them over AIM or Yahoo if they were around. I don't know if I would have paid any attention in class if I'd had messengers I could take on the fucking bus with me (phone plans still charged by the text back then), but at least I would have been in attendance.

But like, more than that, I knew on some level I was just going to school bc that's what you did. I had no interest or motivation in my gen eds bc I didn't see any path between taking this class and making enough money to live. The economy was already starting to seriously crash.

What I could see was how important figuring who my Person was would be. Whatever else time was gonna bring, I Needed the right person or persons by my side to make it through it. Not bc marriage was also just a thing you did, but bc I'd spent way too much time alone in my own head and I knew I needed an outside force to help balance the bullshit that is me

(in fact, one of my potential Persons breaking up with me included the phrase "you don't want to be in love you just want someone to help you with the burden of being you". Like yeah, I do. I want to help you with the burden of being you too, asshole, that's part of what love is)

I never have a tidy way to close these kinds of thoughts out (who does?) but I guess if I have a point it's that sometimes Queer is a verb. I queered the normative "went to college to find a husband" narrative even though on the surface it looked the same. And not just bc I wound up in same sex marriage (in fact we didn't even get married until we'd been together for over a decade) but bc the whole process was simply not the same. I wasn't checking off boxes, I wasn't looking for someone to complete me. I was putting my effort into the one area I felt could make a difference in my quality of life and wellbeing. School was the normative backdrop to a very queer metamorphosis going on inside me. On some level I knew I was arming myself with the people who would help support me on furthering my journey.

Without the support of my polyamorous triad, I wouldn't have had the strength and foundation and support to choose something other than the path that had been laid out before me. Without my mentor in kink, I wouldn't have developed the internal fortitude to be my own master. Without the unconditional love of my wife, I wouldn't have had the courage to explore my own gender and figure out how to shift the pieces around so I wasn't so miserable in my own skin. The people in my life have been so much more important to me than whatever education I missed out on by skipping class to hang out in AIM.

Could I be wildly successful and wealthy by now by that American Dream Bootstraps story by now if I buckled down and studied hard? Maybe, but most likely not. That dream is a lie and almost no one is actually a "self made man" - they all get help from networking. Well guess what? I was doing my own networking at the time, and Im rich in things money can't fucking buy.

Still wish I didn't have all that stupid student debt tho :/

[mostlikelyshutup]

What do you consider to be middle class born and bred people and what are some tell tale signs these people belong to that demographic? Could you also share the video about growing up poor in the US?

Okay so I was watching this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QNFDtmNPW0

I think they have other ones with similar topics but this one came up on my algorithm and i just deleted tiktok and will watch anything (and honestly i didn't even finish this video, but I found what I did watch pretty interesting)

My answer to the actual question is below the read more because it got very long lmao

Honestly middle class born and bred, to me, are people who have had generational wealth, even on a smaller scale. They are definitely closer to me and other poor Americans than they are the rich but there are some key differences.

For me, growing up was realizing that I didn't have money, it was coming to terms with the fact that I was going to lose the house i grew up in, and in a lot of ways, as I grew up I missed out on things that are part of the stereotypical American upbringing. For me, growing up was filled with lots and lots of grief and loss, not just for people, but what my childhood and life could have been without certain circumstances.

I will add a giant caveat that I was actually pretty well off until around third grade ish (so around 8-10 for non-Americans). I had a house that we weren't in fear of losing, my parents worked different shifts so one was always around, I felt cared for, and, though there was definitely things I didn't have, I never really felt like I was missing out on things. I had birthday parties with my friends, I went on trips with my family, etc etc. I was not rich at all, or even middle class, but I was pretty protected from any financial issues that we did have.

Even taking these things into account (and that it would all eventually go away bc of some bad mistakes/events in my childhood(including but not limited to the 2008 financial crisis and both of my parents being laid off)), my parents did not necessarily have those things and neither did their parents. My grandmother was born during the great depression and before that her mother was an Irish immigrant in the beginning of the 20th century. Every single one of my great-grandparents was an immigrant, which while is a long time ago, is not long enough to have built generational wealth in America (at least for them and the decisions they made and circumstances they were in)

My family has never, even when they were financially okay, been secure in that financial well-being or even really known what to do with it. My parents didn't have savings, my mom had a retirement plan but that's because she worked in retirement benefits, but overall there was not much financial literacy to be passed down. I didn't know what a HYSA was until my second year of college, I didn't know how to invest until maybe six months ago, and I am in 55 thousand dollars of debt going into my first job out of college. I still am not sure the material difference in retirement accounts and why I would need more than one. Neither of my parents finished college, and my father didn't even go to college. My mom, though she went, had no clue how financial aid worked. Along with the lack of passed down financial literacy, there are also no connections to be passed down.

One of the most mind-boggling and culture shock-y things I had when beginning to intern in the accounting profession was how many people's parents or grandparents knew each other. We talked about networking in class and school and I had some contacts from school itself, but these people had parents that golfed with other people's grandparents and had a network basically built in. They ran in the same circles and they had their entire lives.

Even on the level of what colleges we went to, I was one of three interns from my school (an on the cheaper side state university that I used student aid to get through) interning in the summer of 2023, and there were places (more expensive public colleges, private colleges that their parents probably went to or knew about and could partially/fully support them through) that would have lunches of thirty or forty people to network with.

They mention this in the video linked above, but I think the middle class has a much higher threshold for second chances than someone who is closer to my financial level/class. My parents made mistakes and their parents made mistakes and my family has lived in poverty this whole time. I have almost been homeless, my mom has worked 100 hour weeks just to make rent, the price of groceries has had more impact on my mood than most personal grievances at times.

A lot of middle class people (I wont say all but I would bet most) have not experienced that on the level that me and the people like me have. This isn't a bad thing and I wouldn't want them to have experienced this but it is a huge difference between me and them.

If they did experience something like that, I bet they recovered a lot better because of their passed down financial literacy and connections than my family did when the same happened to us. They had savings, they had retirement accounts to pull from, they had grandparents or parents to depend on in case they didn't. They lived with a bit of a safety net built in because of these things. A safety not that neither I nor other poor people had and we now have to build for ourselves, if we even can.

For me, middle class Americans exist in this realm of financial privilege where their parents set up savings accounts for their college and their grandparents gave them inheritances and they had a house their entire life (not all have to be true, but a generalization). They are a lot more comfortable with dinners and events and free drinks at work than I am. To me, this is all new, this is entirely different than anything I have been around for at least a decade and half (when my mom lost her cushy job and went on unemployment for close to two years) and most likely my entire life.

They don't know what it's like to be on food stamps or rent assistance or to not have enough money even with those helping out. They don't know what it's like for your mom to sleep on a couch for eight years while you sleep in the only room in your apartment. They don't know what it's like to become used to seeing eviction notices and even being somewhat okay with them because now you can prove to assistance agencies that you actually need their assistance. They don't know how much having to buy staples like oil or shampoo or soap or salt can bankrupt you. They, largely, don't know what its like to lose your childhood home and most of the possessions in it. They don't know where the cans they donate to the food drive go and if they do, they have not actually had to "buy" groceries from there. They had fresh baked goods that they didn't have to inspect for mold on the way into their house. They had fruit and vegetables that didn't rot in a week, and weren't frozen. They don't have the experience of trading cigarettes for food with neighbors some weeks just to have a protein to eat with dinner. They have never had to return food to the dollar store to get money for other shit.

I am happy that they don't have those experiences because they are hard and, frankly, humiliating to live through. However, because I have had those experiences and because of what I have had passed down from my parents and their parents (along with the lack of what was passed down), we have vastly different outlooks on life and how things work. I feel entirely different about things than they do, and we look at things with different viewpoints. Things they may take for granted and are normal for them are completely mind-boggling to me (team dinners in an accounting office are so strange, i had filet mignon for the first time on a partner's dime and I was one of five other people that ordered it. There was bone marrow and octopus and creme brulee and all of these things that I have never had and I definitely was not used to ordering for someone else to pay for, though this is definitely an extravagant example.)

Like I kinda hinted at throughout this fun little rant, this isn't true of some middle class Americans. I am willing to bet that it is true of a lot and maybe even a majority of middle class Americans. If they have experienced a majority of these things, I would challenge them to take a good hard look at their finances and history and maybe rethink their idea of their class.

Overall, it's pretty hard for me to really pinpoint what makes me, a poor person, different than a middle class person beyond that safety net and security that comes with inherited wealth going back even one generation. We don't act all that different, on a day to day basis or in general, but there are some moments where it becomes very apparent to me that we didn't go through the same things growing up.

It's kinda like when you first go to college and there are all these people there that you don't know and lived in different towns or states or even countries and you start going over differences and you're like oh that's cool I didn't know that happened where you lived and there are some similarities, but less as their home town gets further and further away from yours. A middle class person is like someone that lives in the same state but a few towns over. You've been to the same restaurants and malls and things like that, but your sports teams played in different divisions and you knew maybe one person from their high school that they may or may not have known and there are just these differences that you have to reconcile with by being like duh of course its different they're not from my hometown.

As a person from Massachusetts, the uber rich are like people from Singapore. I have no clue what it's like there and I probably won't visit anytime in my life and though there may be some similarities, it is vastly different in our two hometowns. (They also probably robbed my great grandparents to move to Singapore, but that's not really what we're talking about)

[evansbby]

the thing is

[all-about-seggs]

If Jujutsu kaisen were to have typical shojo manga troupes/ Cliches-

Warnings- Headcanons about what kind of story would the JJK folks be in if they were in a shojo manga. Shitposting basically. Ngl this is not my best but they've been sitting in the drafts for so long, so i decided to just post them.

______________________________________

Gojo Satoru - Lets say hes not the clan head yet, so its a Contract marriage for him, ya'know the higher ups from his family won't leave him alone, saying he should settle down and though he ignores it at first it gets to a point where he can't get anything done without having his family interfere so he offers an unsuspecting relatively 'normal' girl aka you a tantalizing offer.

It'd start of with that Love- hate relationship with you bc of his inherent personality defects. You had your own reasons to accept his demands bc uhhhhh *insert any reason that works for you pls*

You thought he doesn't take anything seriously until you saw him teaching his students. His methods are far from conventional but it was the most genuine you'd ever seen him be. That was probably a turning point in your previously distorted relationship.

You'd live together, but in seperate rooms. His acting skills during the whole ceremony+ any family visits are top notch tho.

The type who'd annoy you the most but will also secretly help you from behind the shadows without you even knowing.

A little side note. He is the one who falls for you FIRST. But will think up of a way to manipulate you into confessing first and then would never let you live it down, how you were "SO MADLY IN LOVE WITH HIM" or so he says. Pls woop his ass.

Geto Suguru- If we're taking about Geto before going rouge then its, The bodyguard and the threatened girl. It's pretty simple how you two met. He had a mission to help you survive and you fell for his *charms* or his sexy man bun you can choose🤷

Villan! Geto- Since he started as a good guy I'd say his story would be one of those where you'll end up chasing after him even after your contract ended bc you could see the internal conflict he was going through during his teen/ highschool years.

He wouldn't push you away tho. He wants to take you to hell with him if his heaven doesn't come before.

Gonna be toxic af tho. Gaslighting champ will make you his trophy wife and no one will ever know your whereabouts.

Kamo Noritoshi- The rich nobility and the commoner. Let's throw in a little bit of debt on y/n as well shall we.

So, at first he doesn't even spare you a glance but after realizing how your home condition was not something to be taken lightly he felt an odd connection to you, and remembering his mothers words to always help people out he gave you a place to stay and work....in his own mansion, commence the awkward but sweet mutual understanding and pinning between you two.

Aoi Toudo - Bullied girl and the Savior. For the sake of this cliche let's say y/n is a 'big' girl okay (big in what way? you can decide that for yourself reader) so you get bullied for your size/ weight/ stature in general.

One look at your ass and he's already hooked, so he trails after you and eventually sees you getting harrassed by a group of girls and guys.

He was so angry, all the veins of his mascular forearms bulged as he clenched his fists to stop himself from flinging the entire mob of bullies out of the damn window.

He may have held himself back for the sake of not frightening you any further but the intimidating scowl and cusses he threw was enough to make your bullies flee like tiny little flies.

From that day onwards you got yourself a fan and a bodyguard combined. Or maybe even more?

Toge Inumaki- A case of mistaken identity. This may come off as a bad attempt at humor but weirdly enough , Toge was wearing a skirt (maybe he Gojo lured him into doing it or maybe just for funsies) and since he's not able to talk normally either so being the pretty boy he is, you end up mistaking him as a girl.

The second time you met, you saw him enter the mens washroom and you just🧍stood there processing why?

The third time? You had to change cloths and it was crowded everywhere so you just chose an empty class room which was not exactly empty since toge was there. But since you thought he was a she, you just quickly shit the door and off goes the t shirt.

Poor Toge was so confused and flustered, he couldn't speak nor could he look up after getting a peek at your bra. If he wasn't such a gentleman he'd think you were trying to seduce him.

So what happens when you do find out that hes actually a guy?

Cue the mutual blushing and struggling to communicate.

[iampikachuhearmeroar]

i know i’ve gone on about it before on posts about uni….. but one thing i couldn’t stand in uni was those internship companies that gave advice like “to pay for your living expenses while you’re on this program, start a gofundme and beg off your friends and family for your rent/bills/food!!!” but like dude. for many of these programs, you’re moving halfway across the world, like to the US/canada/the UK or even china and south east asia….. like the probable conglomerates that i could work for, should fucking well pay me for the length of time that im there???? just say these programs are specifically for rich kids who can rely on their friends and family who can afford to send bulk payments of like $1,000 for rent or car insurance or $500 for bills or whatever the fuck…. instead of lower income students who in the first place probably don’t have a spare $7,000-$10,000 for the initial payout fee for these types of programs. obvs this was way before covid. but since australia has opened its borders again, finally, international travel to the us & uk is on the cards again.

like how the fuck can someone move halfway across the fucking world for an internship and not get fucking paid???? absolutely fucking ridiculous and horrendous. like obvs there were options to do it in sydney, australia, which i live near. but even then, for the time i would’ve wasted travelling to and from work everyday, and doing bs internship things like getting a carrot cake (as a memory from business college from one of the girls in my class) for someone in the office, or idk doing inventory or spreadsheets or whatever else….. i should be getting paid something to reimburse me for the travel each day??? like 1hr 50mins to central sydney or over 2hrs (or sometimes longer) and two trains to some other part of sydney is a waste of my fucking time if i don’t get paid for my days work imo.

like i get everyone will say “oh but look at all the opportunities you MISSED to build your resume!!! that’s you’re own fault that you didn’t have money for the flashy international experience!!!” or “why would you turn down experience near you??? suck up the fact that you’re not getting paid, like an adult would, and grind through the internship experience and be humble to the employer for even taking you on! STOP thinking that you’re special and precious enough to get paid!!” but like. still. i deserve to get paid for trying to source that carrot cake or idek doing the basic excel spreadsheet work or whatever else i’m tasked with??? and more especially so if it’s an international experience!!!

and even though i could’ve been doing it domestically and i still live at home, i still have expenses that i’d like to have money for??? like meds. like clothes for the job??? like idk…. to save up for a car/buy a car so that i can drive to a northern suburb of my area to cut at least 25mins off of my train journey to sydney in the morning (even if it means sacrificing a seat for most of or the whole journey to sydney)??? pay your domestic interns too!!! and pay them for online versions as well, when lockdowns happen or they want to do online bc it’s more convenient for them.

like if i moved to fucking san francisco or ontario or london tomorrow for some flashy (but realistically shitty) boutique advertising firm or something else artsy (since i did english and philosophy) internship, i deserve to get paid if i’ve moved halfway across the world from australia. i shouldn’t have to “prove yourself (myself) to the employer for the privilege of getting paid and being able to feed yourself and have a roof over your head!” i should just get paid, period. it seems like a waste of my time, money, energy and mental health if i don’t get paid to work as an international intern… or let alone as an intern domestically as well.

like why the fuck should the one piece advice of all these companies to have money for living expense always be “start a gofundme for your living expenses so your friends & family can help you have this amazing chance at some international work experience 😊😊!!! be part of the grahsham intern fam today, and reap the AMAZING international benefits of this incredible program and what it can do for your career progression!! fast track yourself to success today!!! your friends and fam will understand!!!” like no!!! THE FUCKING COMPANY SHOULD FUCKING PAY ME DURING MY INTERNATIONAL WORK EXPERIENCE and also for setting up internationally!!!! and let’s not forget the other outside expenses like a passport and stuff. like i didn’t have a spare $500 or whatever to apply for a passport back when i was in uni, so i obvs couldn’t do international stuff.

but even for just doing the programs domestically in sydney, i should still get paid as an intern for wasting half my day travelling then working in idk roseberry in like the inner west for some type of social media marketing firm or whatever they’d pair me with as an english and philosophy grad. like. yeah. i just hate that these programs think that everyone can beg off their friends and family for living expenses, when the reality is that the stupid fucking host companies should pay the interns, most especially if they’ve moved internationally from their home country to do the program. and plus it would help them then have (hopefully, but realistically probs not) build up their savings again after spending like $10,000 (for me as an aussie) they’ve blown on these programs for perceived “job exposure and experience”. like i get these programs apparently come with “24hr career coaches” and meetups with other interns on the program and the diff streams they hire etc etc; and that’s rolled into the cost. but still. i should get fucking paid if i spent $10,000 on a program like this lmao.

just. my point is that all interns should be paid, period. but most especially if they’re doing an international program. no amount of “proving and humbling yourself for your intern employer for the privilege of earning your keep and having somewhere to sleep and eat” should be needed to be paid as an intern. just pay them for fucks sake. because otherwise it’s just a waste of time & money; and even more so for lower income students, who will obvs not take part if there’s an exorbitant fee of $7,000 minimum for the program for starters even if it’s domestic or online (since covid).

[vanhelsingenthusiast]

.... Omg! Can you please give us analysis of each character and how they are portrayed in the book and then the movies?

Oohh ok! (I’m just gonna go thru the characters and how they are in the book vs how they are usually portrayed in adaptations. These things do not apply to every single adaptation, or even necessarily one specific adaptation, full disclosure, lol) (also this will be very long, so, it’s under the cut.) 

Mina: 

~ In the book: kind, sweet, caring, motivated, intelligent, interesting, funny. I could go on and on. The protagonist. She IS the moment. She could defeat Dracula without the men but the men could not defeat Dracula without her. I said what I said. 

~ In adaptations: typically kind, but may or may not be any more intelligent than the men. Typically portrayed as a damsel in distress, though in the book she isn’t. Almost always Dracula’s love interest. Sometimes she even low-key betrays the Crew to help him. Her personality is very often reduced to one or two traits/archetypes so she can better fit the role of Dracula’s love interest. 

Jonathan: 

~ In the book: Damsel in distress. He can sometimes come across as boring, because he’s the only very average person in the book, but that’s because he’s supposed to be. It’s a compare and contrast type of thing. Even then, he’s incredibly brave, and incredibly determined. He represents the average person, rising up to the challenge. 

~ In adaptations: oh, Jonathan?? You mean the only reason why Mina and Dracula can’t bone??? Yeah but it’s fine if Mina cheats a little bc also he’s an asshole for no reason ://// 

Lucy: 

~ In the book: A delight. Absolute angel. Everyone loves her and she loves everyone but not always in the way they want. If she could she would move all of her friends into a little cottage and bake bread and make tea for them for the rest of forever. Part of the reason why her transformation into the Bloofer Lady is so scarring is because she was genuinely so good-hearted before that. 

~ In adaptations: lol she has three suitors so she must be suuuuper promiscuous (side note: not a bad thing but most adaptations portray it as such), and also because of that she definitely wanted Dracula to turn her into a vampire. 

Arthur: 

~ In the book: Lucy’s fiancée. Also he’s fuckin loaded so he helps fund the whole expedition. Interpretations of him change kinda drastically because he’s not given much canon personality or back story, but he’s overall a pretty decent guy. He can be mean but, like, in a loving way. 

~ In adaptations: if he’s there at all he’s usually Just Some Guy. Which, like. fair.  

Jack: 

~ In the book: a psychiatrist who desperately needs to see a psychiatrist but he is not self aware enough to know this. Used to be Van Helsing’s student. He definitely can be an ass (especially to Renfield), but it’s usually more that he just doesn’t think how his actions affect other people all the way through than him actively being a terrible person on purpose, if that makes sense. Him and his interest in science and technology symbolize the heralding of the new age, which is in contrast with Dracula, who is only ever “living” in the past (bedum tsss). 

~ In adaptations: sometimes he’s Van Helsing’s peer rather than ex-student. Usually he doesn’t still keep a phonograph, or even an active interest in technology, which is...a disservice. He can either be nice, or mean, usually not very nuanced or interesting. Honestly I feel like usually in adaptations he’s kinda just used as the gap to get Van Helsing there and then he does nothing after that.  

Quincey: 

~ In the book: literally the guy who kills Dracula. A Texan, as well, which seems funny now but at the time it was a fairly common trope to add in a foreigner. He’s pretty calm always, especially in a crisis, and also willing to step up and do whatever’s needed of him. And, again, he literally kills Dracula. Easily one of the more important characters in the book, except he doesn’t keep a diary so most people don’t acknowledge this. Also at one point it’s stated he’s rich af iirc so that’s funny. 

~ In adaptations: what do you mean we should add the guy who killed Dracula??? Nah it’ll be fine without him 

Van Helsing: 

~ In the book: he’s the hero of the story (not the protagonist, that’s separate). Him and Dracula are character foils. He’s the guy who knows everything about vampires, and also the guy who specifically knows how to stop Dracula. Even then, he isn’t a professional vampire hunter, or even, like, an expert. He just happens to know a shit ton about this. His name means “father of multitudes” and he is the Designated Dad of the group. He probably makes everyone hot cocoa and tells them weird stories about spiders drinking oil from lamps after a long day. 

~ In adaptations: murder grandpa is an asshole who also has no idea what he’s talking about because it makes Dracula look better 

Count Dracula: 

~ In the book: the villain. He could represent a lot of things — anything from a plague, to the past creeping up and not staying buried where it should, to Stoker’s internalized homophobia, to Stoker’s own xenophobia or antisemitism, or all of the above, or none. He has a lot of layers and each layer is a new level of villainy. We don’t know a lot about him, admittedly — who he was in life, why he became a vampire, what all of his powers are, or even his motivations for coming to London. He can represent any evil we want at all, which makes him a very affective villain. Also he’s supposedly related to Atilla the Hun which is funny af to me for no reason 

~ In adaptations: incel!Vlad III 

Renfield:  

~ In the book: admittedly, he does not have much baring on the plot. He tends to act as a meter for how close Dracula is at any given moment, until his death when Mina takes over that role. However, he introduces many themes and topics into the story: insanity, corruption, idealization of evil, etc., and he and Lucy work together to showcase how vampirism corrupts and how it can destroy even relatively innocent people. Even though Renfield has a bit of a reputation of being violent and volatile, he only ever really does something violent once, which wasn’t even entirely of his own volition and he sacrifices himself for the greater good. 

~ In adaptations: oh no scary evil insane man1!!11! he’s obviously just horrible it’s not like Dracula is manipulating him!11!! if Dracula were to manipulate him then Dracula wouldn’t be a sympathetic antihero :((( 

The Three Weird Sisters: 

~ In the book: the antithesis to Lucy’s suitors. They are supposed to be seductive, and dangerous, above all. They might be Dracula’s victims, or they could be some other vampires unrelated, we don’t really know. Not much is said about them and that’s likely very much on purpose. They have the same air of mystery about them as Dracula does, if not more. A lot of the horror in this book is based in the fear of the unknown. 

~ In adaptations: walking boobs with fangs. Usually so much is changed about the story that none of the above is even relevant or can be applied to them. 

Anyways thanks for the ask and I hope this answers your question :) 

[fmdrorinarchive]

INT.  UNDISCLOSED MUSIC VIDEO SET  ●  EARLY MORNING. *  ♡  MICHELLE FILMS ❝ ONE&ONLY ❞ MV  →  JULY 20, 2021.

It’s still baffling to her that in only a few years’ time, she’s gone from waitress to nursing student to now K-pop idol, and despite it all, she’s managed to adjust as quickly as possible to her ever-evolving career; not at all thinking that being a public figure was in the cards for her. Firstly, she had no desire to be famous or an entertainer. In her mind, she imagined her future being typical—finding someone to settle down with, going from paycheck-to-paycheck in order to pay their bills and support their lifestyles ( in the outrageously expensive southern California area, mind you ), and being happy with the simplicities that life has to offer. Secondly, she and her mother had long since discussed the nursing program at SNU as it seemed like it would provide them with the most promising financial stability upon graduation, but now, the two of them harbor tense feelings toward each other due to Michelle’s reckless, last-minute decision to take a risk and join BC Entertainment’s idol trainee division—one that may or may not promise her heaps of riches after her debt is paid off post-debut. Lastly, it seems as though her full-time home has changed from the beaches of Valley Glen and Los Angeles to the metropolitan area of Seoul—and honestly, that’s the only change that she’s having difficulty adapting to.

Back home, she would spend long evenings hanging out with friends; smoking so much weed, drinking poorly-mixed drinks until their cheeks were rosy, and overall, letting the night take them wherever it felt like. There was a comforting sense of spontaneity forever present in her life, but now, all that’s been replaced with back-to-back training schedules, and now, preparations for a debut that she’s not once dreamed of having. That thought alone troubles her, mostly because she can’t help but feel like she accidentally fell into this world, betrayed people who’ve worked hard for their dreams, and in essence, took a place that may have been rightfully theirs. She’s aware that she didn’t make the decision to be placed in Chroma herself, but that doesn’t help the small guilt she feels about her stance, and these uncomfortable wonderings are plaguing her worse today as she’s on-set of the music video for her solo single. She just hopes that the director and other crew members aren’t picking up on her incredibly distracted mindset. Never wanting to appear rude or cold, she tries her best to push her way through each take; annoyed ( slightly ) at the amount of times they have to cut in order to fix her hair and makeup, and adjust the cameras and lighting. When it’s time to change locations and costumes, she sighs; relieved.

Ushered into the small changing area designated to her, she sits before her vanity and readies herself for the beauty department to work their magic—freshening up her skin, placing her hair where it’s needed to be, and ensuring that her outfit doesn’t look one bit wrinkled or disheveled. Throughout it all, she gazes upon her reflection; finding it unbelievable that she has a dedicated team assisting her when she used to just sloppily smear on cosmetics every morning before she left for work. It’s then when reality hits her and she starts to freak out a little internally, but uses all of her strength to keep herself composed in front of everyone—faking smiles, forcing laughs, and asking for a moment alone before the shoot continues. Thankfully, everyone seemed fine with her request and allowed her five minutes of quiet. She told them she needs to get “in the zone” for the scenes to come, but the truth is, she needs space in order to slow herself down—her wildly volatile emotions surging intensely all of the sudden. She knows that it’s likely due to the lack of sleep, the anticipation for what’s to come, but being on-set has made everything feel all the more real to her—and she feels as though there’s no way to escape if she wanted to. Feelings of permanence have never sat well with her. It’s unfortunate, but true.

Placing her hands on the vanity before her, she rises up from her seated position and continues to study herself in the looking glass; reminding herself to take a few deep breaths... just like her coach taught her way back when. When she felt more centered and less shaky, Michelle started to give herself a pep talk. “You’ve got this... you were chosen for a reason...” She self-soothes, still doing her best to keep her heart rate steady and soft. “Maybe you don’t know what you’re doing yet, but you’re here and you’re figuring it out... and you’re apparently doing a good job.” In moments like these, she’s learned how to be her own therapist. What’s said is that she has a hard time taking her own advice. Before she realizes it, one of the production assistant’s knocks on the door before entering; waving her over to let her know that it’s time to proceed. Nodding, she follows; doing her best to mentally repeat the words she just spoke over and over again.

Hopefully it’s enough to get her through the day... or better yet, enough to get her through the whole promotional period once the song is released. She doesn’t think that’ll happen, though.

[ao3gingerswag]

Learning

Prompt Submission by modernurbanfantasy:

I would love some sort of future situation (if/when) Dean, Cas and Sam when they are back at the inn around how smart Sam is. Like we know how smart Sam is (and I think Dean probably does as well) and he wants to get Sam some education (in the church or in some local school) but that is obviously v difficult. So he is all sad thinking about what he would need to do to get Sam into a school and is trying to hide it from Case and then like idk Bobby or something is able to help get Sam some sort of deal with the local school bc they see how smart and talented he is. Idk just an idea. 

WARNING: SPOILERS FOR THE OUTSIDE

To: Pastor Murphy

My name is Sam and I am 10 years old. I saw your pamflet on the phisics of momentem posted on the church bulitin borde. I liked it a lot. I am writing to you becase I think you made a mistake tho. You cubed the largest side of the triangel when I think you meant to square it. If you square it it solves the problem you were talking about. I tride to go in to tell you but the man at the door said no I cant come in becase theres no church today and only the students can go in. And I dont go to the college. I tride to say I need to see you becase you made a mistake and tride to show him but he said i dont know what your talking about. So I am writing this note and leaving it here on the borde for you.

Thank you.

-Sam

Dear Sam,

In all the years I have posted my articles on the church bulletin, I have not once received a response from the local population. I have always continued to post them regardless, just in case anyone is reading them. I was so happy to discover that my efforts have not entirely been in vain.

I have received several letters from my colleagues since the publication of my paper pointing out my error, but none have been so polite as yours. Did you know, none of my own students caught the mistake you so kindly made me aware of? Authority is the bane of progress, I often think, as it seems since I took my position none but the few others in similar positions dare to question whatever I say.

Sam, I am delighted that Whitecreek is blessed with a child as inquisitive and bright as you. It is not often that I meet ten year olds who are interested in physics, much less those who can follow my published papers. If you like physics, I would be happy to meet with you and your parents this coming Sunday to discuss the subject and the possibility of furthering your education.

I am leaving this note with the guard you spoke to last week, and have asked him to give you this letter if he sees you again. If you have another letter for me, you can leave it with him and he will pass it along. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Pastor Murphy,

The Whitecreek College of Natural Sciences

Hello Pastor Murphy,

Sorry I didnt come to the church Sunday I didnt get your letter until now. I dont live in whitecreek we only come once a month to get suplies. I live at the inn outside of whitecreek they call it the willow inn becase it is near a willow tree. Maybe you have heard of it maybe not if you dont travel.

I like everything not just phisics I like biolagy and astranomy and math and I like reading and I like learning and I like looking at bugs and plants and things in the woods. My dad didnt like it when i read tho becase he didnt know how and he said do you think your better than me. I said no but he still got mad at me. But I dont live with him anymore.

I really like learning a lot. I would like to meet you and talk about phisics and other things but I dont have parents I just have Dean and Cas. They run the inn and I help them. They said I can meet with you but Cas said to tell you that we have no money for school becase he said maybe you think I’m rich becase I can read and write but we are not rich. I learned to read by myself becase I like it. So I cant go to school and cant further my educatin like you said but I would still like to meet with you please if you want to.

Do you have any books I could look at? I like books but no one has any books. Cas has a book and he let me read it but I read it like a hundred times now and memerized it. If you have any books I could look at I would be very gratful and I would not mess them up I would be very careful. But if you dont have books or dont want me to look at them thats ok i understand i would still like to meet you please. I have a lot of questins. Like is the moon hot or cold. And lots of other things. I used to ask my dad but he yelled at me and sometimes he hit me i think especially when he didnt understand the questin.

It is better now becase Dean was always nice to me and listened to my questins and Cas I dont know him so well yet but he is nicer than dad and he hasnt gotten mad at me for asking questins yet. He says you are very smart Sam and it is good to ask questins which is nice. But even tho Dean and Cas let me ask questins alot they sometimes know the answer but usually they dont. They say you know more than me Sam. I think I do know more than them but only becase they dont know how to read I think everyone could learn everything if they just knew how to read. Thats how i learn things.

Please let me know if you still want to meet with me even tho I didnt see your letter in time. The guard said you are not here today becase you are at a lectchure about math in a diffrent city that is so exciting maybe you can tell me about it when you come back. I will be here again in four weeks I will come and maybe I can see you or maybe there will be another letter eether way thank you I am so happy.

-Sam

To: Sam, ten years old. Willow Inn, outside of Whitecreek.

Dear Sam,

I was truly overjoyed to receive your most recent correspondence. I had worried that I had scared you off or that your interest in science had faded. Clearly, these were merely the fears of an old man, who has become a bit too paranoid in his old age. I have in fact heard of the Willow Inn, and in fact I have stayed at it a few times when traveling that direction for a conference or a lecture. It has been a few years since I last had the pleasure of receiving their hospitality, but I had thought it was run by only a man and his son, who was about 13 at the time. Has the inn changed hands, since I was last there? Or has my faulty memory yet again betrayed my years?

In any case, I have sent a courier with this letter to the inn, in order to avoid missing you yet again when you again make your way into town. Sam, I am absolutely still interested in meeting you, regardless of your financial situation. Your literacy and thirst for knowledge is made all the more impressive by your lack of formal education. I will happily share all the resources I have with you, if you would like to learn. The college’s library has many books on all of the subjects you have expressed interest in. We have collections on physics, biology, astronomy, math, and several thousand others. All of these can be made available to you, and if you are as careful as you promise you will be, you can borrow almost any of them and take them home with you for the month. I would be happy to meet with you and discuss your readings when you make your regular trip to town, and could suggest which books you may want to start with, and which to continue with once you have studied those.

I am sorry that you have had difficulty in the past when you have tried to express your curiosity. Unfortunately there are many in the world who don’t care for knowledge, and resent those of us who seek it. I am glad to hear that you are now living with people who are more understanding of your interests, ignorant though they might be of them. I must say that I am struck by your optimism regarding the natural learning capabilities of the general population. I strongly agree with your statement, which I have quoted here because it means so much to me: “I think everyone could learn everything if they just knew how to read.” This is an opinion which I have always agreed with, and have been trying to convince many of my colleagues of for most of my long career. I am glad we are of the same mind in this area.

In answer to your question: Unfortunately, no one knows for sure if the moon is hot or cold. The prevailing theory currently is that it is cold. The reasoning here is that we are fairly certain it is made of stone, and stone is cold unless otherwise heated. In the absence of an internal heat source, we assume the moon is likely cold to the touch. However, we cannot know this for sure without knowing exactly what it is made of and how this material would be affected by the heat of our sun at its current level of exposure. Perhaps when you grow up, you will be able to figure this out for us.

I look forward to hearing your other questions when we meet, and I of course will be happy to share what I learned at my conference with you. If I am correctly understanding your schedule, I believe you will be in town again two Wednesdays from when this letter should reach you. I will be at the church from dawn to dusk on that day. The guard will know to let you and your family into the building, and we can discuss the possibility of further meetings then. Please give my best to your family, and I wish you the best until then.

Pastor Murphy,

The Whitecreek College of Natural Sciences

Hello Pastor Murphy,

I asked the man to wait for a minit so I can write a letter back and he said he would but I cant take forever he said so I wont. I am so excited to meet you in two weeks I am going to write all of my questins down. I am so excited to see your books I am so excited to learn. Cas said we can all come meet you together and then they will go do shoping and I can stay if thats ok or Dean can stay with me if you want. That is so intresting about the moon i didnt think about that thank you for explaneing. I will be so careful with your books if you let me take them home and I will read anything you say I should I will be good and learn fast and you will be happy you let me learn I promise I will be good and you will not regrat it. Thank you I am so excited sorry this is mesy and there are stains I am crying a lot. I would wait to write later but the man wants me to hurry up. I used to dig in the trash to find anything with words on it to read and Dean would let the man at the church do bad things to him so he could bring me pamflets sometimes. I said dont do that but he did anyway and I was always so happy to get them even tho I said dont do that. Which I felt bad about but I still read the pamflets. Anyway if you let me take lots of books home I will learn everything and I will read to Dean and Cas so they can lean too and I will be very happy. I am so excited thank you I will see you in two weeks.

p.s. i forgot to say. Cas’s dad died and now he runs the inn with Dean who is my friend.

-Sam

To: Sam Winchester, ten years old, of brown hair and brown eyes. Willow Inn, outside of Whitecreek.

Dear Sam,

I have sent the courier along once again with this letter. The suggested coursework I promised you is enclosed. I also again wanted to express how wonderful it was to meet you and your family, and how excited I am to have such a bright young man under my tutelage. Your questions were delightful, and I can only hope that I have answered them to your satisfaction.

Please do reiterate to your friend Dean that it was lovely to meet him as well, and that he will always be welcome in my church regardless of the content of his past.

I look forward to seeing you all again in person next month, and wish you the best until that time comes.

Pastor Murphy,

The Whitecreek College of Natural Sciences

Hello Pastor Murphy,

Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love,

Sam :)

[jeff-kamikow]

Florida: A Rich and Extensive History By Jeffrey Kamikow

Over the years, the state of Florida has garnered the international reputation of being the ideal location to party and soak up the sun. Annually, thousands of students make the trip here in March to have a memorable spring break. In the winter, retired folks travel to Florida to escape the harsh weather conditions, earning them the title 'snowbirds.’ Less known about the state of Florida is its rich and compelling history, dating back thousands of years, long before it was a spring break hotspot. Let's take a look at some of the major historical events that ultimately culminated in Florida becoming our beautiful 27th state.

12,000 BC

Believe it or not, at the end of the last Ice Age, Florida was roughly double the size it is today. In modern times, as the sea level continues to rise, the land area continues to diminish. Around 12,000 BC, the Paleo-Indians first came to Florida in search of food sources. Their main sources of food were mastodons, horses, and giant armadillos. (Yes, giant armadillos!)

It is believed that the Paleo-Indians first came to Florida from Asia, crossing the Bering Bridge from Siberia to Alaska. Once in North America, resources and the hunt for them led the Paleo-Indians as far south east as Florida. Today, the indigenous population of Florida stands at roughly 53,000, after years of colonization, mistreatment by settlers, and disease significantly reduced the population.

5000 BC

Still long before Europeans would ever set foot on North American soil, Paleo-Indians established a permanent settlement along the coast of Florida. By living near the warm ocean waters, they became dependent

on the plentiful resources the sea had to offer, thriving on marine life as a primary food source. This period is referred to in history as the ‘Archaic Period’.

500 AD

Fast forward roughly five thousand years, Paleo-Indians develop a significant change in lifestyle, taking to the woodlands to hunt game, rather than using the sea as a primary resource for food. It is at this point as well that the population begins to take to agriculture as well, establishing farms.

This period, referred to as the ‘Woodland Period’, is also defined by Paleo-Indians adopting new technology. Not only did the indigenous peoples begin farming around this time, but tools such as ceramics and the bow and arrow also came into the picture. Using the locations where these tools were discovered, archaeologists can roughly determine where the Paleo-Indians had settled.

1500’s 

It is widely known that in 1492, Spanish explorer Christopher Columbus visited North America, and so began America’s colonization. There are many documented interactions between European explorers and Native Americans in Florida around this time period. Juan Ponce De Leon is credited with naming Florida in 1513 after ‘Pascua Florida’, meaning ‘Flowery Easter’.

With the arrival of European settlers came the spelling of dark days for the Native Americans, as the settlers brought disease with them. By the end of the 1500’s, smallpox had already claimed the lives of 90 percent of the Native Americans living in Florida at that time. The population unfortunately would never fully replenish.

In 1559, the first 1500 European settlers attempted to establish a permanent settlement in Florida. This ultimately failed, with most of the settlers retreating to Cuba within a short period of time. Around this time period, the French also began to explore the territory.

Late 1500’s to 1750

This period is referred to in history as the ‘Spanish Period’, as in the late 1500’s the Spanish established the first permanent settlement in  Florida, known today as St. Augustine. Around this time, the first Christian missions were established in an attempt to convert Florida’s remaining native population.

This period is also defined by the arrival of the first African slaves, brought over by the Spanish. In the late 1500’s, not long after St. Augustine was established, Sir Francis Drake arrived and wreaked havoc on the settlement. This paved the way for a long conflict between British and Spanish settlers, both aiming to establish new colonies for their native countries.

1763 to 1783

This short period of time is defined by British control over Florida and  the American Revolution that would be seen as a significant blow to that control. At the end of the war between British loyalists and  revolutionists, the remaining loyalists fled to Florida, mainly settling in  St. Augustine. They would later flee once again, heading back to England or on to the Bahamas.

At around this time, Native Americans known as “Seminole’ or ‘Runaways’, would establish populations in northern Florida. These people, originally known as the ‘Creek People’, would remain in Northern Florida for quite some time and engage in conflict with Spanish settlers. 

Seminole Wars

The next era of Spanish control quickly began where the British control left off. With the arrival of this era, conflict began between colonists and the Seminole people. The beginning of the first Seminole War is defined by colonists burning down Seminole villages in northern Florida. Soon after, President Andrew Jackson ordered an invasion, targeting the native population. The Seminole Wars resulted in the deaths of fifteen hundred soldiers and civilians.

1920’s

The population of Florida subsequently exploded in the early 1900’s in an event known as the Florida Land Boom. This period during the 1920’s led to the establishment of many communities we know today, such as Coral Gables, Miami Springs, and Hollywood. The economy was booming until around 1926, when a powerful hurricane led to the destruction of the market, causing bankruptcy which plagued the local real estate market. The economy in Florida would not recover until World War II.

1940’s to Present Day 

Florida’s modern land boom took place just after the end of the Second World War. During this time period, important points of interest were established, most notably Everglades National Park in 1946. The state of Florida also began to open up educational institutions, such as Florida State University and South Florida University a decade later.

With the beginning of the Cuban Revolution in the late 1950s, a large number of Cuban refugees landed on the shores of southern Florida. Soon, a large Cuban population was established, with an estimated 70 percent of all Cuban Americans living in Florida.

In 1962, John Glenn became the first man to orbit the Earth, after being launched into space from Cape Canaveral. Just seven years later, in 1969, Neil Armstrong became the first man to set foot on the moon, being launched at the Kennedy Space Centre, just a short distance away.

There are so many reasons why you should make the trip to the Sunshine State if you haven’t already, but one of the most frequently overlooked reasons to visit is the state’s rich and extensive history that has made Florida the tourist hot spot it is today. Every year, millions set out to make memories here without realizing the historical significance of the location. With its history in mind, Florida is truly a place like no other and its past is just as much worth exploring as the state itself!

[blush-and-books]

British Tumblr I need your help because I just saw the trailer for the BBC series Get Even and I am pressed

Why am I pressed, you ask?? Lemme tell you

The BBC series Get Even is a TV adaption of the Gretchen McNeil novel of the same name, which also has a sequel titled Get Dirty. I have read these books and loved these books and have been waiting for an adaption to come --- but not quite like this.

BEFORE I START: I understand that things get changed in film/TV adaptions of books. I am still going to watch this series when it comes out, and I am sure that it is great!!!! HOWEVER, I have a lot of problems with what I've read about the characters and subplots that aggravate me because I am pretty sure that Gretchen McNeil was not a part of production.

First of all, McNeil wrote the books to take place in America. This would typically carry zero importance and I wouldn't have an opinion on it taking place in the UK in the TV series, but it is important because one of the main characters, Bree, is the daughter of a U.S. Senator and this plays a CRUCIAL part in her character and personality. She often rebels for attention and feels like she is incomparable to the achievements of her older brother. In the show, it sounds like she is just the daughter of some rich dude like the rest of the kids are at the school, which takes away her edge and ability to be so intimidating to get away with things.

Following this thought on Bree's character, the black eyeliner I saw in the trailer is not it. At all. Bree is more makeup-free, slightly clueless about fashion, alt music hippie girl than emo, all-black, headphones 24/7 girl. She not supposed to look threatening but is internally the most threatening. I feel like the creators just said "well we can't have a sarcastic, edgy character who looks chill and normal, she has to wear black and leather and lots of eyeliner." Boo.

*I would make commentary on the fact that Kitty Wei is supposed to be like 6'2" but I know that's hard to find in an actress so I'll let that one slide*

Continuing, the AESTHETIC. Y'all the original takes place in California. It has sunny, words-written-on-bathroom-walls, fresh cut grass, light blue and yellow school color vibes. Not rainy dark academia vibes. Yes they are in a private school in the book but it's a private school that has the administration quality of a public school. It's more fresh and... Idk how to describe it. Teenager energy. Not whatever was in the trailer?? Its just different

《 Other less specific things that you might not know about if you haven't read the books, IF YOU'VE SEEN THE SHOW PLEASE ANSWER MY QUESTIONS 》

- Mika and Rex are not supposed to be siblings!!!!!!! Akshhdjskahaj

- Donte and Olivia are not supposed to be dating. They are ex bf/gf in the book and Kitty and him get together

- on this note, IS THERE A GAY STORYLINE BETWEEN OLIVIA AND AMBER??? AMBER IS A LITERAL TOXIC PSYCHOPATH BUT OKAY

- Coach Creed is just a violent fucking asshole!!!! He never has any relationships with any students in the books!!! He is angry bc he got fired from his last job after accusations of him coming onto male students (even tho I kinda dig the change they made in the show with him being in a relationship w a student and am excited to see how it turns out)

- Do the 'Maine Men even exist!!?!? Do they just rename them bc obviously they changed the school name so that it isn't Bishop DuMaine??

- The internet describes Margot as a gamer, does the show even talk about her past with depression and self harm!?

- if Bree and John don't get their arc I quit

- CHRISTOPHER BEEMAN IS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE ALIVE OR AT THEIR SCHOOL WHAT THE---

- Rex and Bree were NEVER FRIENDS EVER

- they literally wrote Peanut out. They wrote my baby out. RIP

My biggest question to anyone who has seen it: is it any good?????

I rest my case thank you

[legallyhermione]

i started following you bc i’m curious about your experience going into law and completing law school! as someone who’s thought about doing law myself and is still considering law school in the future (though i’ve gone on to do a diff grad school program). what’s it been like? how did you know if it was right for you? (:

Hi Anon!  This is a great question, and I think anyone you ask will probably have a different answer.  The truth is, I didn’t know for sure that it was right for me.  The process of getting into law school was difficult, expensive, and confusing.  I’m a first gen grad/law student in my family (my mom and I actually graduated with our bachelor’s degrees on the same day, I’m so proud of her!).  But I knew I wanted to be a lawyer.  I had done mock trial all through high school, interned at a law firm, and had a government internship that all convinced me that this was something I wanted.  I also had watched my parents go through a messy divorce that took over ten years to finish, in part because my dad had a lawyer and my mom got kicked out of legal aid because her case took too long and they could no longer afford to help her with her case.  And knowing now what I didn’t know then, my advice to anyone who asks me about law school is always this: don’t do it unless you know you want to be a lawyer.  

Law school is the most difficult academic experience I have ever had (it’s also up there as a general most difficult experience in life).  I started having panic attacks and developed anxiety during law school.  It’s challenging in so many ways.  You never feel comfortable taking free time.  Even when I was relaxing there were a million things I could’ve or should’ve been doing.  Studying, joining more groups, volunteering more, being on law review/a journal/moot court. It’s stressful and I didn’t always know how to handle it.  And I chose a law school that did not have the added peer-sabatoge that I’ve heard about from other schools (particularly T-14 ones).  Almost everyone I was in school with was willing to share outlines or notes or discuss whatever you were having trouble with.  I also often felt out of place as a lower-middle class woman in a school of (mostly) rich white people.  I literally took the megabus with two suitcases to move to law school.  Many of my peers had never had a job before and could not understand why, for example, pro bono legal services were necessary when law firms are perfectly willing to do fee arrangements.  I thought about dropping out at least once a week.  Also the bar exam is a whole other story haha!

That being said, I don’t regret going to law school.  I met some of my best friends there, absolutely incredible humans who are going to do amazing things and are truly some of the best, kind people I have ever met.  I learned so much, and I grew as a person.  I had and have incredible mentors who want to see a healthier experience for law students and lawyers.  And I enjoy my work now.  For me, it was worth it, because I knew what I wanted in the end.  The people who went to law school because they weren’t sure what else to do, or just did it because their parents wanted them to, those were the people who ended up leaving.  I also highlyyyy recommend taking a little time off between undergrad/grad school and law school.  About half of my classmates did that, or were coming from other careers (I didn’t), and I think that served them well.  

I could talk about this stuff forever, so if you have other questions feel free to message/ask/etc.  There are serious problems with law school being inaccessible to a lot of people, which is not unique among higher ed programs, but is a big problem. I also have many issues with the expectation from a lot of older lawyers/faculty that you will develop alcoholism/other addictions/mental health problems in law school or as a lawyer.  It’s a super unhealthy culture and some firms definitely feed into that.  That being said, finding the right support system for you can truly be a lifesaver.  Anywayyyy like I said, I’m happy to answer whatever questions you have! Whether it be about the application process, law school itself, the bar, career search, etc.  

[evansbby]

im in uni rn and ive never seen income disparity this bad. a lot of people around me are not just international but are rich as well, and it’s a struggle to tell them no and try and conserve money. it’s like i need to spend in order to keep our friendship sometimes, even when i know they would never make me do that.

yeah. i know these issues are trivial and i should be grateful im here. but sometimes it’s hard, you know? seeing everyone get so easily what you might work days, hours, years for.

oooof when i tell you i feel this so hard!! like at first i was in shock bc i’d never been around super rich British people before??? so that was a shock lmao… and the things these people take for granted is INSANE

but what you said about needing to spend to keep up the friendship… that gave me flashbacks to secondary school where my bffs would all go to concerts and festivals where the tickets were like £200+ and I was so confused bc I couldn’t imagine asking my parents for that money and i obv didn’t have a job or get any kind of allowance. So it sucked having to miss out on all that.

for uni thankfully I was okay bc I had a job plus student loans so I had spending money that i never had when I was a kid (not that I’m complaining, my parents would mostly get me what I wanted within reason). But it’s funny now, bc before as a teenager on most days I’d leave the house without a debit card or a single £1 coin on me ajdhsjsjajak even my Oyster card would have bare minimum money on it and I was just out there vibing bahahaha

[dillydedalus]

january reading

why does january always feel like it’s 3 months long. anyway here’s what i read in january, feat. poison experts with ocd, ants in your brain, old bolsheviks getting purged, and mountweazels. 

city of lies, sam hawke (poison wars #1) this is a perfectly nice fantasy novel about jovan, who serves as essentially a secret guard against poisoning for his city state’s heir and is forced to step up when his uncle (also a secret poison guard) and the ruler are both killed by an unknown poison AND also the city is suddenly under a very creepy siege (are these events related? who knows!) this is all very fine & entertaining & there are some fun ideas, but also... the main character has ocd and SAME HAT SAME HAT. also like the idea of having a very important, secret and potentially fatal job that requires you to painstakingly test everything the ruler/heir is consuming WHILE HAVING OCD is like... such a deliciously sadistic concept. amazing. 3/5

my heart hemmed in, marie ndiaye (translated from french by jordan stump) a strange horror-ish tale in which two married teachers, bastions of upper-middle-class respectability and taste, suddenly find themselves utterly despised by everyone around them, escalating until the husband is seriously injured. through several very unexpected twists, it becomes clear that the couple’s own contempt for anyone not fitting into their world and especially nadia’s hostility and shame about her (implied to be northern african) ancestry is the reason for their pariah status. disturbing, surprising, FUCKED UP IF TRUE (looking back, i no longer really know what i mean by that). 4/5

xenogenesis trilogy (dawn/adulthood rites/imago), octavia e. butler octavia butler is incapable of writing anything uninteresting and while i don’t always completely vibe with her stuff, it’s always fascinating & thought-provoking. this series combines some of her favourite topics (genetic manipulation, alien/human reproduction, what is humanity) into a tale of an alien species, the oankali, saving some human survivors from the apocalypse and beginning a gene-trading project with them, integrating them into their reproductive system and creating mixed/’construct’ generations with traits from both species. and like, to me, this was uncomfortably into the biology = destiny thing & didn’t really question the oankali assertion that humans were genetically doomed to hierarchical behaviour & aggression (& also weirdly straight for a book about an alien species with 3 genders that engages in 5-partner-reproduction with humans), so that angle fell flat for me for the most part, altho i suppose i do agree that embracing change, even change that comes at a cost, is better than clinging to an unsustainable (& potentially destructive) purity. where i think the series is most interesting is in its exploration of consent and in how far consent is possible in extremely one-sided power dynamics (curiously, while the oankali condemn and seem to lack the human drive for hierarchy, they find it very easy to abuse their position of power & violate boundaries & never question the morality of this. in this, the first book, focusing on a human survivor first encountering the oankali and learning of their project, is the most interesting, as lilith as a human most explicitly struggles with her position - would her consent be meaningful? can she even consent when there is a kind of biochemical dependence between humans and their alien mates? the other two books, told from the perspectives of lilith’s constructed/mixed children, continue discussing themes of consent, autonomy and power dynamics, but i found them less interesting the further they moved from human perspectives. on the whole: 2.5/5

love & other thought experiments, sophie ward man, we love a pierre menard reference. anyway. this is a novel in stories, each based (loosely) on a thought experiment, about (loosely) a lesbian couple and their son arthur, illness and grief, parenthood, love, consciousness and perception, alternative universes, and having an ant in your brain. it is thoroughly delightful & clever, but goes for warmth and humanity (or ant-ity) over intellectual games (surprising given that it is all about thought experiments - but while they are a nice structuring device i don’t think they add all that much). i haven’t entirely worked out my feelings about the ending and it’s hard to discuss anyway given the twists and turns this takes, but it's a whole lot of fun. 4/5

a general theory of oblivion, josé eduardo agualusa (tr. from portuguese by daniel hahn) interesting little novel(la) set in angola during and after the struggle for independence, in which a portuguese woman, ludo, with extreme agoraphobia walls herself into her apartment to avoid the violence and chaos (but also just... bc she has agoraphobia) with a involving a bunch of much more active characters and how they are connected to her to various degrees. i didn’t like the sideplot quite as much as ludo’s isolation in her walled-in flat with her dog, catching pigeons on the balcony and writing on the walls. 3/5

cassandra at the wedding, dorothy baker phd student cassandra returns home attend (sabotage) her twin sister judith’s wedding to a young doctor whose name she refuses to remember, believing that her sister secretly wants out. cass is a mess, and as a shift to judith’s perspective reveals, definitely wrong about what judith wants and maybe a little delusional, but also a ridiculously compelling narrator, the brilliant but troubled contrast to judith’s safer conventionality. on the whole, cassandra’s narrative voice is the strongest feature of a book i otherwise found a bit slow & a bit heavy on the quirky family. fav line is when cass, post-character-development, plans to “take a quick look at [her] dumb thesis and see if it might lead to something less smooth and more revolting, or at least satisfying more than the requirements of the University”. 3/5

the office of historical corrections, danielle evans a very solid collection of realist short stories (+ the titular novella), mainly dealing with racism, (black) womanhood, relationships between women, and anticolonial/antiracist historiography. while i thought all the stories were well-done and none stood out as weak or an unnecessary inclusion, there also weren’t any that really stood out to me. 3/5

sonnenfinsternis, arthur koestler (english title: darkness at noon) (audio) you know what’s cool about this book? when i added it to my goodreads tbr in 2012, i would have had to read it in translation as the german original was lost during koestler’s escape from the nazis, but since then, the original has been rediscovered and republished. yet another proof that leaving books on your tbr for ages is a good thing actually. anyway. this is a story about the stalinist purges, told thru old bolshevik rubashov, who, after serving the Party loyally for years & doing his fair share of selling people out for the Party, is arrested for ~oppositional activities. in jail and during his interrogations, rubashov reflects on the course the Party has taken and his own part (and guilt) in that, and the way totalitarianism has eaten up and poisoned even the most commendable ideals the Party once held (and still holds?), the course of history and at what point the end no longer justifies the means. it’s brilliant, rubashov is brilliant and despicable, i’m very happy it was rediscovered. 5/5

heads of the colored people, nafissa thompson-spires another really solid short story collection, also focused on the experiences of black people in america (particularly the black upper-middle class), black womanhood and black relationships, altho with a somewhat more satirical tone than danielle evans’s collection. standouts for me were the story in letters between the mothers of the only black girls at a private school, a story about a family of fruitarians, and a story about a girl who fetishises her disabled boyfriend(s). 3.5/5

pedro páramo, juan rulfo (gernan transl. by dagmar ploetz) mexican classic about a rich and abusive landowner (the titular pedro paramo) and the ghost town he leaves behind - quite literally, as, when his son tries to find his father, the town is full of people, quite ready to talk shit about pedro, but they are all dead. it’s an interesting setting with occasionally vivid writing, but the skips in time and character were kind of confusing and i lost my place a lot. i’d be interested in reading rulfo’s other major work, el llano en llamas. 2.5/5

verse für zeitgenossen, mascha kaléko short collection of the poems kaléko, a jewish german poet, wrote while in exile in the united states in the 30-40s, as well as some poems written after the end of ww2. kaléko’s voice is witty, but at turns also melancholy or satirical. as expected i preferred the pieces that directly addressed the experience of exile (”sozusagen ein mailied” is one of my favourite exillyrik pieces). 3/5

the harpy, megan hunter yeah this was boooooooring. the cover is really cool & the premise sounded intriguing (women gets cheated on, makes deal with husband that she is allowed to hurt him three times in revenge, women is also obsessed with harpies: female revenge & female monsters is my jam) but it’s literally so dull & trying so hard to be deep. 1.5/5

the liar’s dictionary, eley williams this is such a delightful book, from the design (those marbled endpapers? yes) to the preface (all about what a dictionary is/could be), to the chapter headings (A-Z words, mostly relating to lies, dishonesty, etc in some way or another, containing at least one fictitious entry), to the dual plots (intern at new edition of a dictionary in contemporary england checking the incomplete old dictionary for mountweazels vs 1899 london with the guy putting the mountweazels in), to williams’s clear joy about words and playing with them. there were so many lines that made me think about how to translate them, which is always a fun exercise. 3.5/5

catherine the great & the small, olja knežević (tr. from montenegrin by ellen elias-bursać, paula gordon) coming-of-age-ish novel about katarina from montenegro, who grows up in  titograd/podgorica and belgrad in the 70s/80s, eventually moving to london as an adult. to be honest while there are some interesting aspects in how this portrays yugoslavia and conflicts between the different parts of yugoslavia, i mostly found this a pretty sloggy slog of misery without much to emotionally connect to, which is sad bc i was p excited for it :(. 2/5

the decameron project: 29 new stories from the pandemic, anthology a collection of short stories written during covid lockdown (and mostly about covid/lockdown in some way). they got a bunch of cool authors, including margaret atwood, edwidge danticat, rachel kushner ... it’s an interesting project and the stories are mostly pretty good, but there wasn’t one that really stood out to me as amazing. i also kinda wish more of the stories had diverged more from covid/lockdown thematically bc it got a lil repetitive tbh. 2/5