#belly dance tutorial

[angelique-diabolique]

https://www.tiktok.com/@madisondancelife/video/7190503269691624746

Love the way she describes the moves!

[hedgehog-moss]

Here are before/after pics of my two shorn llamas ✂ ✂ Pampoldine was the one with the most wool, which makes sense seeing as her father looks like a long-necked Komondor dog. I didn't shear Pampelune, she's my least woolly llama so I decided to leave her alone until next year, to her great satisfaction.

Shearing Poldine made me discover new aspects of her, like the fact that her tail is very impressive! It's not as striking when the rest of her is covered in equally thick hair but look at it now:

I had tried to prepare Poldine in previous weeks by stroking her with a stick in increasingly annoying ways while going bzzzzzz (we had reached a point where her only reaction to being bothered in this way was glaring at me). I should have bzzz'ed louder, though. Or maybe bothered her with an electric toothbrush instead, or sat on the couch with her to watch youtube shearing tutorials together with the volume turned up—because when the moment came she was very alarmed by what an ugly noise the shears made. Every time I turned the thing off to reapply oil to the clippers then turned it on again she was like aaaahhh what's that noise all over again.

I bought cordless shears so I could shear her in the pasture, surrounded by the emotional support of her loving family, but as soon as they saw Poldine tied to a post and heard that ominous robotic wasp sound, Pampe & Pampy went okay Poldine it was nice knowing you! And left. Abandoning their daughter / granddaughter to her grim fate.

(the very bad quality pics in this post are screenshots from bad quality videos) (oh and the grey fur you see at the bottom right is Pandolf's, my mum brushed him a few days ago. I promise I didn't shear Pandolf—although he would have probably volunteered, to share Poldine's suffering.)

Considering it was her first ever shearing, I think she was very brave and stoic! There was no spitting, no dramatic hyperventilating, no attempts to lie down on the ground and play dead as llamas sometimes do. (But wait for Part II.) She just danced around a lot to escape the shears, and made plaintive HMM sounds in a vain attempt to awaken some deeply-buried maternal instinct in Pampérigouste. Who never came.

The only (tiny) incident was when Poldine stepped towards me as I was shearing (surprising; she kept moving away before) so I took advantage of this spark of goodwill to lean over her back to shear on the other side, and then she abruptly stepped away and almost made me fall !

This second pic is the most malevolent Poldine has ever looked. She looks just like her mother!

But other than that, it went really well. The process was long and tiring (the shears get heavy after a while) and I kept discovering hidden unshorn spots when I thought I was almost done (look at these Niagara Falls of wool in the pic below!), but Poldine was very sweet. I didn't insist too much on her legs or under her belly as those were her least favourite parts, and I also left a little goatee at the top of her neck so she can stroke it pensively and look wise, and I gave her muesli afterwards and she gave me a kiss, no hard feelings. I couldn't have asked for a better llama partner for my first shearing.

My second shearing, however.

(Continued in Part II...)

[museenkuss]

loving and moving my body this week (04.11.-10.11.) 🌹Rose bride inspired🌹

Monday. waist winding workout [23 mins] // [9 min surprise]

Tuesday. relaxing evening pilates [18 mins] // [13 min surprise]

Wednesday. hip sways & body rolls tutorial [20 mins] // [14 min surprise]

Thursday. dancer-inspired yoga workout [30 mins] // [8 min surprise]

Friday. ballet-inspired stretch and strengthen workout [22 mins] // [12 min surprise]

Saturday. bollywood belly dance choreo [20 mins]

Sunday. lengthen and sculpt pilates [20 mins]

–

Another installment of the Rose Bride inspired workouts! The idea, as always, is to focus on the ideal of a rose bride, rather than the reality Anthy suffers through. In this sense, the goal is to build a graceful, ethereal strength, flexibility and a deep connection to the self. (There is also a discussion to be had about the body as a beautiful tool, which imo suits ballet and the rose bride extremely well).

In case the suggestion doesn’t feel right for that day, here are some alternatives (13 minutes or less, can also be used as add-ons). No shame in taking it slow! Let’s move according to our needs! :) bedtime yoga stretch to release stress & tension [13 mins]  // beginner’s ballet flexibility [8 mins]//  slow & smooth beginner belly dance workout [12 mins]  // lazy girl full body workout [7 mins] // express pilates [10 mins]

[rosenbraut]

🌹rose bride inspired🌹 - loving and moving my body this week (11.08.-18.08.)

Monday. Dancer workout [31 mins] 

Tuesday. feel good pilates flow [20 mins] // beginner’s ballet flexibility [8 mins]

Wednesday. beginner’s bellydance tutorial for slow and fluid movements [20 mins]

Thursday. pilates for flexibility and mobility [22 mins]

Friday. slow & simple sensual floor flow [21 mins]

Saturday. pilates - barre fusion [20 mins]

Sunday. full body, deep stretch for beginners [24 mins]

–

After trying a week of workouts inspired by the duelists of Shōjo Kakumei Utena some time ago, I'm using the concept of the rose bride as an inspiration for this weeks' workouts! This isn't about Anthy as a person or the 90s Shōjo body image, but rather the idea of what the rose bride is. An elegant, ethereal, irresistible creature. A blank canvas people project their wishes on. In honour of my new url, I've decided to put together a set to reflect of what I think would go into embodying this almost-human wish fulfilment: Sensuality, quiet strength, grace and flexibility. Disclaimer: One could argue that one very vital point of the whole anime/manga is that Anthy's situation is a tragedy she's rebelling against.

In case the suggestion doesn’t feel right for that day, here are some alternatives (13 minutes or less, can also be used as add-ons). No shame in taking it slow! Let’s move according to our needs! :)bedtime yoga stretch to release stress & tension [13 mins]  // beginner’s ballet flexibility [8 mins]//  slow & smooth beginner belly dance workout [12 mins]  // lazy girl full body workout [7 mins] // express pilates [10 mins]

[eatmangoesnekkid]

One of my belly dance teachers demonstrated how to do the “hip drop” which has made my core more supple yet tighter + she’s sooo cute 🫀🥰 She has a sweet, joyful, fierce spirit too. Such a lover-warrior. Belly is the art of the internal dance, of moving your body and its tissues from the inside out. I’m in love with this tutorial. 🫀🫀🫀

All women who live in places where we won't be persecuted for dancing in public, should consider dancing in public if it is accessible to your body. In many places around the world, dancing in public continues to be illegal and women are being arrested everyday for challenging these archaic laws. Women’s undulating bodies are massive power sources which is why they are so obsessed with dictating and controlling us. We can heal ourselves and the world of everything. They just don’t want us to know it or be free and fearless enough in our hips, spines, and bellies to do it. Women and other female bodied people were born to dance.

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A post shared by Sarah Safi Harb ~ The Dance Movement (@sarah.safi.harb)

[asktubbygoatasriel]

yo Chara how's the date going man? Your belly handling the food? (By the way for Alphas I know you like anime and what not how do you feel about Duel monsters would you duel me one day lol)

I think he did go well... despite me unconsciously gobbling 5 bread baskets from anxiety, eating a steak for 2 alone & the booze. Even went as far as dancing country in the restaurant my belly sloshing & my heart pumping to the point Clover thought I needed a doctor, here's how we were at the end of the date.

we actually slept together in a motel btw, it was awkward...

_chara

(This feels like a challenge I cannot refuse, just give me 5mins so I can watch a youtube tutorial about duel monsters)

_alphys

[efendimacarmisinizkapiyi]

Fark ettim ki youtubedaki belly dance tutorial yapanlari ben cebimden çıkartırım napsam ben burda belly dance kursu mu acsam parayı kırar mıyım acaba

[ivyprism]

Sona Nicknames

Character Info

Many of My Sonas: Persona - Ivy Traveler Persona - Henna (also goes by H) Trainersona - Anemone Spidersona - Lycoris Underfell Persona - Marguerite Underfell Silver - Camellia Underswap Persona - Primrose Underswap Silver - Embellia Alluretale Persona - Azalea Fellswap Carnelian - Nerium Fellswap Amaranth - Crocus Swapfell Persona - Willow (W) Swapfell Glaucous - Belladonna (Bell) Dancetale Persona - Marigold Dancefell Persona - Flori Danceswap Persona - Primula (Prim) Figure Skating Persona - Snowdrop The Witch in the Woods - Rosemary Final Boss AU - Helia

Mafiatale Persona - Lotus Mafiafell Persona - Nucifera Mafiaswap Persona - Bellis Mafiadancetale - Lantana Mafiadancefell - Astrantia

Farmtale Persona - Hollis Farmfell Persona - Viola Farmswap Persona - Fawn Farmhorrortale Persona - Alouette Farmhorrorswap Persona - Delia Farmhorrorfell Persona - Anthea

The Seamstress - Marginata The Knight - Salix The Betrayed - Atropa The Guide - Rosea The Dancer - Holligold The Informant - Cosmos The Violinist - Marsilea The Writer - Hebe

Horror AUs: Horrortale Persona - Hollyhock (Holly) Horrorfell Persona - Helix (Hel) Horrorswap Persona - Lisianthus (Lisi or Lis) Horrorswapfell Amethyst Persona - Achillia Horrorfellswap Carnelian Persona - Eustoma

Hero/Villain AU: Hero and Villain! Underfell - Zinnia Villain! Sona - Oleander The “Angelic” Villain! Sona - Angel The "Devilish" Villain! Sona - Datura

Medieval-esque sonas: The Pirate of Vividus Sonas - Begonia and Narcissa The Duet of Medieval and Modern AU Persona - Dione The Duet of Medieval and Modern AU Underswap Persona - Flora The Duet of Medieval and Modern AU Underfell Persona - Petunia The Younger Fallen Royal Twin Persona - Alyssum Cursed Persona - Verbena The Soul Persona - Celadine

Angels Fall Sonas/Skelesonas: Angels Fall AU Angelsona/Persona - Lillium Horror Angelsona/Persona - Alstroemeria Corrupt Angel Persona - Chamomile Demonsona/Persona - Eucalyptus Horror Demonsona/Persona - Lonicera Rogue Demon Persona - Freesia Goddess of Magic Persona - Fleur Goddess of Dark Magic - Ione Goddess of Potions - Olearia Goddess of Magical Objects - Wisteria

Outcode Sonas: The Book Keeper - Floryn Old AU - Deidamia Old Fell AU - Myrthe Old Swap AU - Iris Old Fellswap AU - Liliane Old Swapfell AU - Sylvie Old Horrortale AU - Sireli The Melody of the Universes - Carnation The Melody of the Universes Underfell - Kalina The Melody of the Universes Underswap - Meadow Tenebrous Persona - Hepatica Luminus Persona - Calanth Fairy Sona - Lobelia The Veiled Guardian - Baptisia Dance! Dreamtale Sona - Mimosa Dreamtale Sona - Rivea Dreamswap - Polyantha Dream Walker and Wish Granter Sona - Bluebell Underfell Dream Walker and Wish Granter Sona - Orchid Underswap Dream Walker and Wish Granter Sona - Daffodil The Caged Bird - Laurel The Forgotten Human - Ixia The Mermaid Mercenaries - Lilac

Familiar Persona - Abelia Fell Familiar Persona - Spirea

Zombie Apocalypse Sonas: Undertale - Hesperis Horrortale - Helichrysum Swapfell Amethyst - Hydrastis

Pirate AU: Piratesona - Blossom Pirate Captain - Heliconia (H) Fell Pirate Captain - Gloxinia

The Puppeteer and the Creations: The Puppeteer - Ianira The Ninth Creation - Petal The Tenth Creation - Cliantha The Eleventh Creation - Evanthe

The Heroine and the Villainess Who Ruins Plots for Funsies: The Heroine - Halldora The Villainess - Haizea

The Dating Sim Guides: Tutorial Guide Persona - Forsythia Story Guide Skelesona - Callaia

The Stars Sonas: The North Star - Bellatrix The South Star - Astria The Fallen Stars - Calytrix The Dying Stars - Meissa The Fading Stars - Yvaine

The Adventurers of Millenis - The Cleric Persona - Calendula The Warlock Skelesona - Nolana The Lead Bard Persona - Cadence The Princess Bard Skelesona - Sonata The Villainous Bard Skelesona - Minuet The Wizard Skelesona - Peony The Barbarian Skelesona - Jasmine

The Past Lives of the Adventurers of Millenis - The Gentle Warlock Persona - Linnea The Cold Cleric Skelesona - Cecilia The Sorrowful Bard Skelesona - Rue The Paladin Skelesona - Ianthe The Druid Skelesona - Iolanthe

Ghostsona/Robotsona - Magnolia

Mermaidsonas/Sirensonas/Tieflingsona: Mermaid Sona - Hibiscus The Trapped Mermaid - Althaea Sirensona - Roselle Tieflingsona - Dicentra Farmtale Tieflingsona - Harmony

Selkiesonas: Selkiesona - Lutea Otter Selkiesona - Plumeria

AU Skelesonas: Skelesona - Hydrangea Fellswap Amaranth - Jade Fellswap Carnelian - Juliette Dancetale - Hyacinth Dancefell - Calluna Danceswap - Hattie Underfell - Halesia Underfell Silver - Harleen Underswap - Jamesia Alluretale - Hadria Swapfell Amethyst - Jovellana Swapfell Glaucous - Justicia The Final Boss - Aspera

Mafiatale - Hedera Mafiafell - Rowana Mafiaswap - Bellum

Horror AUs: Horrortale - Hydra Horrorfell - Alchemilla Horrorfellswap Amaranth - Protea Horrorswapfell Glaucous - Lathyrus

Villain/Hero AU: Heroes and Villains Underfell - Hayley Villain - Hemlock

Medieval-esque Skelesonas: The Duet of Medieval and Modern AU - Esme The Duet of Medieval and Modern AU Underswap - Ambretta The Duet of Medieval and Modern AU Underfell - Celadine The Pirates of Vividus Skelesonas - Holliane and Harmony The Queen of the Deep Seas - Poinsettia The Wingless Fairy - Gaillardia Cursed Skelesona - Lewisia Dragon Undertale - Silene Dragon Underfell - Bergenia Dragon Underswap - Angelonia Dragon Horrortale - Ornella Dragon Swapfell Amethyst - Penthia Dragon Fellswap Carnelian - Cleome The Female Lead - Edelweiss

Halloween Skelesonas: Werewolf - Larkspur Vampire - Helvine

Angels Fall Skelesonas: Angels Fall AU - Helianthus Horror Angels Fall AU - Ixora Swapfell Angel - Jewel Demon - Heuchera Fellswap Red Demon - Jayla Goddess of Magic - Helvina Goddess of Dark Magic - Bellona Goddess of the Deep Galaxies - Boronia

Outcode Skelesonas: Old AU (?) - Hailey The Melody of Universes Skelesona - Cantrelle Dream Walker and Wish Granter - Helaina Underswap Dream Walker and Wish Granter - Kyria Underfell Dream Walker and Wish Granter - Hecate Ink - Laurestine Tenebrous - Hesper Luminus - Halleria The Flowery Weapon - Geranium The Forgotten Asisstant - Senna The Wandering SOUL - Dianthe The Suffering Oblivion - Myrna

The Stars Skelesonas: The Fallen Stars - Hespera The Dying Stars - Delphinus The Fading Stars - Phoebe

Monstersonas: Monstersona - Sunflower (S) Half-Deer Monstersona - Lavandula Horrortale Monstersona - Daisy Horrorswap Monstersona - Alstromeria Underfell Monstersona - Chrysanthemum (Chrys) Underswap Monstersona - Tulip Angels Fall Monstersona - Nerine

[nerdysblog]

Mz_Essor: The Dancer Who Inspires Us All

Believe Enyonam Essor, with the stage name Mz_Essor, is a female Ghanaian dancer, born on Sunday, March 3rd, 1996 in an urban area in Ashaiman called Newtown.

Mz_Essor began dancing at a young age, and quickly fell in love with the art form. She trained in a variety of styles, including hip hop, contemporary, jazz, belly dance, ballet, and salsa, and quickly developed a strong sense of rhythm and movement. As she grew older, she began to focus more on contemporary dance, and quickly became one of the most sought-after dancers in her local scene.

When it comes to dancers, there are few as talented and inspiring as Mz_Essor. This dynamic performer has been captivating audiences with her stunning moves and electrifying energy for years.

One of the things that sets Mz_Essor apart from other dancers is her ability to bring a unique and powerful energy to every performance. Her movements are smooth and fluid, yet also full of strength and intensity. She truly commands the stage and leaves audiences in awe.

Mz_Essor is a talented and accomplished dancer who has made a name for herself in the dance community. She is known for her fierce and energetic performances, as well as her dedication to her craft.

Mz_Essor’s performances are always a crowd pleaser, as she brings a unique energy and style to the stage. She is known for her powerful and precise movements, as well as her ability to connect with the audience. Her choreography is always fresh and innovative, and she never fails to surprise and delight her fans.

Mz_Essor’s talent and dedication have earned her many accolades and recognition in the dance community. She has performed on stages with some of the biggest names in the industry, the likes of Sarkodie, Shatta Wale, Stonebwoy, Kuami Eugene, Bisa Kdei, Medikal, Davido etc, and her works has been featured in music videos, commercials, and on television.

In addition to her dance skills, Mz_Essor is also known for her positive attitude and her dedication to her craft. She is always pushing herself to improve, and is constantly seeking out new challenges and opportunities. She is a role model to many aspiring dancers, and is always willing to share her knowledge and experience with others.

Mz_Essor has also been active on social media platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, where she shares her dance videos and tutorials with her followers. Her videos have gained a huge following and have been praised for their high-quality and engaging content.

In conclusion, Mz_Essor is a highly skilled and talented dancer who has made a significant impact on the dance community. Her dedication and passion for her craft is an inspiration to many, and she continues to amaze audiences with her dynamic and energetic performances. Keep an eye out for her performances and be ready to be mesmerized by her electrifying moves. If you have not yet had the opportunity to see Mz_Essor perform, be sure to catch one of her shows in the future. Her performances are truly something special, and she is sure to leave you feeling inspired and uplifted. So if you ever have a chance to see her perform, don’t miss it!

[king-of-bottoms]

i pity people without a fat ass which shakes every time they walk tbh

that sounds like a sad life

watched a tutorial on belly dancing and uhm i walk that way that they dance-- all the time. thats just how i walk

no wonder i get catcalled when on im walks

i mean i would never catcall but i would definitely be looking respectfully. so i understand

[museenkuss]

loving and moving my body this week (11.03.-17.03.24)

Monday. Energising Total Body Pilates [14 mins] // Exhale to Split Day 1 [31 mins]

Tuesday. Full body toning Pilates [15 mins] // Exhale to Splits Day 2 [30 mins]

Wednesday. Apartment Friendly Ballet Cardio Workout [12 mins] // Exhale to Splits Day 3 [28 mins]

Thursday. Pilates to lengthen and sculpt [20 mins] // Exhale to Splits Day 4 [26 mins]

Friday. Full Body Pilates - thighs, arms, obliques [15 mins] // Exhale to Splits Day 5 [23 mins]

Saturday. Bellydance [15 mins, ad break] // Exhale to Splits Day 6 [23 mins]

Sunday. feel good pilates [20 mins] // Exhale to Splits Day 7 [23 min]

___

* After a few weeks of quiet on-and-off morning workouts, I'm finally getting back into the flow of working out regularly. This week, the plan is to do something in the morning (20 mins tops!) and then finish off the day with the first week of the Exhale to Splits challenge by Bright&Salted. I'm really excited, I've been wanting to do this for ages!! :) And with how stressed I've been lately, this seems like the perfect challenge!

In case the suggestion doesn't feel right for that day, here are some alternatives (12 minutes or less, can also be used as add-ons). No shame in taking it slow! Let's move according to our needs! :) nightime flexibility stretches // bedtime yoga stretch to release stress & tension // 8 min beginner's ballet flexibility. // 10 min | Beginner Belly Dance Workout | Slow & Smooth Tutorial // 15 min Gentle Pilates Workout For Beginners

[rosenbraut]

loving and moving my body this week (22.07.-28.07.)

Monday. summer glow - playful full body stretch & strengthen yoga [30 mins]

Tuesday. full body, all levels pilates [23 mins]

Wednesday.  beginner’s bellydance tutorial for slow and fluid movements [20 mins]

Thursday. sunrise pilates flow [23 mins]

Friday. sleek technique ballet fitness [20 mins]

Saturday. beginner full body pilates [22 mins]

Sunday. all levels Hatha Yoga [20 mins]

–

Start here for Yoga: Day 6 [14 mins] // Day 7 [13 mins] // Day 8 [12 mins] // Day 9 [16 mins] // Day 10 [12 mins]

–

After a lot of stress and not enough time to myself these last few weeks, I'm looking forward to enjoying summer and moving my body this week!!

In case the suggestion doesn’t feel right for that day, here are some alternatives (13 minutes or less, can also be used as add-ons). No shame in taking it slow! Let’s move according to our needs! :)bedtime yoga stretch to release stress & tension [13 mins]  // beginner’s ballet flexibility [8 mins]//  slow & smooth beginner belly dance workout [12 mins]  // lazy girl full body workout [7 mins] // express pilates [10 mins]

[eatmangoesnekkid]

Belly Dance Observations Week 4

I am now going on record to state that belly dance is an essential ingredient for every female body interested in accessing its innate divine feminine power in a more accelerated journey. What I noticed this week was that my breasts have reverted back to their 20 year old texture. But it’s not about the aesthetics —they are lovely don’t get me wrong, but I'm 47 and not looking for my 20 year breasts...it is just what happened naturally. What enlivens me, what lights up my eyes and dilates my blood vessels, is that I have accessed another portal to tapping into larger untapped kinetic potential (energy, mystery, and freedom) held in the female body. More inner sunlight!

Speaking to another dance student in my class —a 60 year old body-aware ex-ballerina, she shared how she felt the same way when she first started and continues to feel that heightened radiance after each class. I get it though! The hips, spine, and belly hold power that fuels our entire ecosystem. They are the sunlight currency systems! Because I’m a pole dancer, a building/strengthening and flexibility-inducing sexy art, I felt the clarion call to nurture my center of reality with more fluidity and yin, to soften my belly and hips sort of speak. A soft belly with strong flexible legs means that the body is receiving an abundance of earth and water energy from the ground, the earth. Water and earth energy create a strong healthy lubricated female body wellspring. A lubricated female body is actually pulsing with the universe, which isn't about sex, as lovely and delicious as heart-connected sex can be. It is about creation. The creation of new narratives. The shimmies, hip drops, and belly shakes/pumps heat up or activate kundalini to help clear densely-blocked channels in our bellies from unresolved emotions in this recent life and past lives and the detached depression we continue to carry from our foremothers/forefathers trying to navigate inhumane, insanity, predatory Western systems, AND the repression from violence against our grandmothers and the accompanying terror of living in a female body throughout lifetimes.

Whew chile! No wonder so many of us behave out of alignment with our highest potential. But the beauty is that we are shifts and plot twists in our grandmothers' narratives. We have the opportunity NOW to heal in ways that our beloved grandmothers didn't have the opportunity to. Couple that with the fact that if we had a rough childhood, we must process those suppressed emotions throughout our bodies—loosen the shit up so that they can decalcify and be transmuted into more space and love that opens the way to making NEW CHOICES and IMPLEMENTING NEW HABITS🕊️! If you are highly-sensitive and empathetic like I am as well and have been working to open up your heart—to increase your frequency/magnetism through accessing more of your heart space, belly dance (or some other passionate movement like belly self-massages or other belly/hip grabbing, ass-gripping, and spine-undulating, deep-breathing touch during lovemaking) is essential and completely non-negotiable. Hot damn!

My teacher asked the other day how old I was. And she had to sit down in a chair in disbelief when I told her. I live a regenerative life and am always discovering new ways this body my soul essence lives inside of can come alive so that I share the discoveries with other women and non-binary people. I am sooooo in love with belly dance! If you are not resourced enough to get to a class, go to YouTube and find tutorials there. Play around there with moving your belly, back and hips in 4-dimensional ways. Trance out with it.

Such a big part of what I believe my role as a woman/myth being is to bequeath other women with the wisdom to navigate this human existence, to land fully in their bodies in this incarnation, and know in deepest sense that all of us is worthy and welcomed. We get to be in relationship with our bodies and all the feels-- from deep love to deep anger to sadness to pristine ecstasy. To feel them and let them run/drip/leak/undulate and be seen/felt in them and sometimes go deeply into what’s underneath when desired. In my last class, I cried for some unknown reason. It was incredibly liberating to just let it flow and move on.

Sometimes what I witness happen with women is that when we start feel our denser suppressed emotions like anger or rage, we stay in them for years....unconsciously-- without awareness, creating other calcifications like fibriods or tumors from either being easily triggered by the external world, not detoxifying and moving enough through our processes, or of course, never accessing what has been suppressed. And I get it too--it's a lot happening all at once and it can be a tough game to play . But this is the times we are living in and sometimes it's just hard so learn to be okay with life being hard while also keenly aware that it doesn’t always have to be. We have to be lovers again. A lover state of being is essential for our bodies' highest harmonies. But we also must be a bit like martial arts and warriors. Capoeira-style in the shape of belly dancers. We have to be here for all of it.

With feeling, also *practice* feeling the emotions that may be less natural for you to feel right now like joy, gratitude, appreciation, tenderness, ecstasy, softness, sweetness, relaxation, and serenity. Normalize these states so that your body receives neurotransmitters, endorphins, oxytocin, and serotonin that help to nourish and repair it. Rest, hike, touching, kissing, really good sex, good nourishing food, healthy relationships, laughter, limiting social media/tv, creativity/finishing projects, good music, and of course dance. As you release and open, you may find yourself rarely usurping emotions like "anger." Not that anything is bad/wrong about the very useful emotion of anger but when you consciously create your life, the more fulfilled you become, the less necessary the energy of anger becomes for you in how you process or experience life. But if ever needed again, you know how to access your anger, embrace it, and hold yourself in it by feeling it into a warm flow.

[bios-hzrd]

Dumping this shit here because making scripts for video essays I have neither the time nor willpower to edit is just something I do now. Not my best work but my best work is 80% plagiarized and about topics people actually care about. Theoretically. I assume some people care about classic literature but I imagine they’d be terribly dull and I’d like to avoid meeting them.

———-

I love Pizza Tower. I fell in love the first playthrough, again on the second, and once more on the third, and when I love something, I strap it to the operating table, cut it open, splay its organs, and try to see what makes it tick. Now that I’ve completed my examination I need to yap about it and because I’m the worst I don’t have any friends, so random internet strangers will have to do.

God where do I even begin.

Chapter 1: Peppino’s Moveset and Beginner players

Unlike more traditional platformers, in Pizza Tower you are always moving towards your next obstacle. If you try to take it slow it's gonna be a rough ride.

Speed checks are baked into the obstacles. If you are running at at least Mach II you can run straight through enemies and metal blocks without stopping for a second. Metal blocks exist to force a newer players hand, there’s no other way through, and once you do bash through you might as well keep running. Combat with enemies, much like a stealth game, is a punishment for slipping up. You can't just hit them, you have to pick them up then throw them. That’s two more inputs than your usual zero.

While you might think that it'd be rather difficult and tumultuous to play a platformer where you can’t stop, these levels want players, even brand new players to sight read the levels despite moving at such high speeds. After all, with no health bar the player can’t be sent back to checkpoint and is expected to beat each level the first time they see it.

Boiling it down as much as I can, on a first run Pizza Tower levels challenge players by demanding they turn up, left, right, and down at high speeds. For each direction the game demands you turn you are given a move that slows you down to let you get your bearings, then gives you all your speed back again. I’m speaking of the super jump, belly flop, and turn around drift.

Because each corresponds to a direction the opportunity to use them is intuitive, and additionally the timing for each is rather lenient. Most notably with how the super jump lets you waddle to the left or right to readjust your position if you did it too early or too slow.

With these moves the player is constantly afforded a brief respite to get their bearings and use the zoomed out camera to acknowledge what’s ahead and figure out how to respond to it.

Now I bet some of you are wondering when I’m going to mention the wall climb. You see the player has two ways to gain elevation. The wall climb lacks the short pause but its context sensitive. There’s a move like this for each direction, namely the piledriver and wall jump, but only the wall climb is given to you in the initial tutorial. The wall climb gives you a foot in the door, shows you what it’s like without the short pause, and leaves you to figure the others out for yourself.

The way I’ve described it so far makes it sound kinda like DDR with extra steps, minus one dance mat. What I haven’t mentioned yet, is all the fun ways the game changes when you take off the kiddy gloves and go for those p ranks

Chapped Too: Pizza Ranks

Beating the game for the first time is a relatively smooth experience. While it can be a bit tricky to wrangle the controls, by making the player functionally immortal for most of each level the biggest threat the game has is a less smooth play experience. While Pizzaface does force your hand a bit by throwing in an explicit time limit, there’s plenty of time to escape so long as you’re playing the game the way it wants you to. Pizza Tower shows that while common, threats of death and gating progression behind skill checks are not necessarily required for a good action game, and you can get players to impose challenge upon themselves by simply making safe play less optimal and pushing yourself intuitive and accessible.

The first playthrough emphasizes reducing friction and making its core appeal more accessible, so now that the game has got its hooks in, it can throw in some external challenge to push you to your limits.

Getting all the P ranks is the hardest challenge the game gives you, it requires that on each level you reach a certain amount of points, complete all three secret rooms, grab the secret treasure in the janitors closet, complete a lap 2, and maintain a singular unbroken combo from the first room to the exit.

Getting all of the secrets and needing to hit the point total encourages the player to thoroughly search the level and attain a strong understanding of not only its layout, but its gimmicks.

The secret challenge rooms play around with the levels gimmicks in interesting ways and are a great opportunity to learn time saving tricks.

Further, the point requirement has some extra interesting interactions as the requirement is more continuous than discrete. The most obvious way to get points is through collecting the 5 sentient toppins in cages, the marginally less sentient floating pizza toppings arranged like breadcrumbs to guide you through the level, and the giant versions of the non sentient toppings. Because they all contribute to the same point total, it’s worth considering skipping some of them to save time. Is any of the 5 caged toppins too out of the way, which of the big toppings are close enough to the main route to be worth grabbing, are the breadcrumb toppings distracting me from a shortcut.

If you’ve ever so much as watched a “10 tips to make a great super mario maker level” video, you’re probably familiar with the way game designers place these minor collectible bits like breadcrumbs to guide you through the level. If you’ve ever played neon white though you should know that sometimes those breadcrumbs exist solely to distract you from all the cool shortcuts you can pull off.

I find it valuable to break a level down into its critical path, and all of its possibility space. Take this little dash pad guy in Neon White. The green one gives the critical path, it’ll always get you to the end. However there’s also all these black ones, every dash pad has them, usually they throw you into the bottomless abyss, but sometimes taking one will throw you into a shortcut.

Because you always have the option, there’s no obvious indicator of when you should take one. You have to figure it out, which makes you feel clever.

It’s not just breadcrumbs though, players will assume that unless directed otherwise to progress they’ll have to move forwards. Most of the time they’re correct, but sometimes they’ll have the option to super jump instead. Players don’t look up, but with a little familiarity with the level design, gained from having already done the level, they just might. If you think that having the super jump as your only tool for shortcuts is a little simple and there’d oughta be more, you’d be right. After all, it’s only there to get your foot in the door, but more on that when we discuss the third playthrough. We still need to get to how the other P rank requirements change how the game is played, namely the lap 2 and the unbroken combo.

The most obvious purpose of the Lap 2 is to tighten the time limit for experienced players. The game has a very nice balance where it feels like a new player has just enough time to simply escape whereas an experienced player has just enough time to do two laps. The second thing it does is that it allows the player a bit more leniency with their mistakes. If they make a screwup and don’t quite reach a topping or a secret, they don’t have to dwell on it, don’t have to stop, go back and try again. They can just snatch it during lap 2.

Additionally it’s just really satisfying. It’s treated as your victory lap, you’ve already gotten most to all of the collectibles, most of the challenge lies in simply getting here, this lap will be much easier than the last. It feels good.

Finally the unbroken combo. The combo meter is what the game has instead of a health bar. Once you kill an enemy a timer is set to seven seconds. Once the timer is active you can roll it back by gaining points or reset it by killing another enemy, but you won’t ever have more than 7 seconds stored. If your 7 seconds run out your combo ends and you can start a new one by killing another enemy. Obviously this exists to put you under constant pressure, keeping you on the move, but what’s interesting is that getting hit rolls the timer forwards 2 seconds.

Unlike more traditional damage systems which either give you a few seconds of invincibility to recuperate after making a mistake or immediately send you back to the last checkpoint diffusing the situation, Pizza Tower uses this as an opportunity to light a fire under the players ass. When the player makes a mistake, and they will make a mistake that’s what separates us from machines, they have 5 seconds or less to unfuck themselves or else their run dies here and now. Whether that’s desperately scrambling to fight back against your attacker, making a mad dash for the nearest floating toppings, or pulling out your emergency screen nuking super taunt.

I didn’t get on well with Celeste, and thought Neon White and Hotline Miami were just alright, because I tended to find my optimal strategy long before my hands could pull it off. In these games it’s one slip up you’re sent back to checkpoint, and I got very familiar with the bit of the level just after the checkpoint. Once I’ve examined the level, formed a strategy and beating the level is just down to the execution, I start getting bored.

Neon White and Hotline Miami are good at creating an open possibility space that keeps your eyes peeled but that only goes so far, Pizza Tower makes it so that making mistakes, your execution not being up to par, not being able to beat the level yet, spices shit up, throws you into the unforeseen and makes you think on your feet just like you had to in your first go through.

Further it’s not just the combo meter that switches things up when you get hit, getting hit makes you lose points, forcing you to readjust your strategy regarding them and make long term strategic changes on top of the short term scramble.

Chapstick Tree: Noise

Pizza Tower refers to beating the game all over again as a new character designed to blaze through it as “pseudo new game plus” and I’m just gonna keep calling it that. I’ve seen two other examples of platformers doing a pseudo new game plus, Kirby Super Star Ultra with Meta Knight and Shovel Knight Treasure Trove with Plague Knight. What do these two have in common with the Noise? Well they can all fly for one.

I think Yacht Club games put it well on their page about how they designed Plague Knights mobility. Shovel Knight has the ability to jump about 4.5 tiles high and cross 4.5 tile gaps. He can attack in front or below but never above. Plague Knight does this.

Playing the level as Kirby, Shovel Knight, or Peppino has given you all kinds of assumptions on how the level should be navigated. Being able to fly is just one way to break those assumptions and find all kinds of new possibilities.

For the Noise it doesn’t stop at flight, almost all of the small pauses in Peppinos moveset have been removed or be easily circumnavigated. Instead of having to do a turn around drift you can do a drill into a spin, instead of having to waddle on the ground to readjust your super jump position you can do so midair.

Further the changes in moves allow for significantly more freedom in looking for shortcuts. Because you can move from left to right during the super jump any vertical skips no longer have to be a straight shot. You no longer need to climb up a wall to break metal blocks below you, because you bounce off walls instead of climbing them you can gain much more height in unique spots.

The Noise is able to enhance everything that makes being good as Peppino because he doesn’t have to be held back by the consideration made to make Peppino easy to pick up.

The player only picks up The Noise after they’ve beaten the game as Peppino, and likely after they’ve P ranked the whole game as Peppino too. The character is designed assuming the player is at a far higher skill floor, and as such it can push the skill ceiling as high as possible.

——-—

Chat per For: The Boss Fights

Now don’t get me wrong the bosses in this game are good, really good even! In a vacuum, why are they here? In this game specifically I mean. Standing around in a single room hitting one guy isn’t exactly congruent to the madcap speedy momentum based platforming that defines Pizza Tower. It feels like they were grandfathered in because Wario Land had them. But Wario Land had them because Mario had them. And Mario had them because, uhhhhh… Whatever. I mostly just want to talk about The Noise and Pizzaface phase 3. Here’s my thoughts on the rest, pause to read.

PEPPERMAN

Pretty good starter boss, mostly attacks in straight lines, and I like how the butt bounce attack forces players to come up with their own strategy for dealing with it. Additionally I like how the randomly appearing projectiles force players outside of their simplistic canned responses and demands on the spot decision making. I like that you almost certainly won’t beat him first try, and I how you have to desperately scramble to catch him the first time but can figure out a consistent strategy.

VIGILANTE

Kinda weird for a follow up, why has the game suddenly handed you a gun, but still a good one. I like how there’s a much more interesting variety of attacks on display, the dynamite and cow travels in arcs, the grandpa homes in on your position, the flamethrower, pistol, and boot sweep the ground while the uzi has the Vigilante leap onto the air. I especially like how your gun has a charge shot, allowing you to build up damage while freeing you mobility, at the expense of potentially missing the shot. It does lead to a pretty easy cheese (haha cheese) strat where you charge up a shot while he’s invulnerable then land two normal bullets and he’s down before he can even throw out an attack. Also pretty good.

FAKE PEPPINO

Once again, pretty alright. Phase 1 is a bit slow as the attacks from the clones drag on a bit too long but I like all of the unique patterns provided, and it’s all worth it for Phase 2. My favorite is the one where the clones run on the ceiling. Chase sequence could use some rubber banding.

I think the Noise is super cool. While it’s clear from the start that something is different about him, I’ve never seen anyone articulate what.

He seems to be designed to throw the player off their game. He starts the fight in his vulnerability state, but without tech Peppino is too slow to catch him, and he’ll get caught by The Noises spin attack. Whenever the player fails to attack The Noise after his vulnerability state, he does that little spin. This immediately puts a sense of anxiety in the player every time The Noise is vulnerable. If the player can’t make it in time they’ll get hit. They need to be ready to back off.

Then he’ll throw out his attacks, in random order. The player can’t memorize what’s next. Then oh boy oh boy there’s the actual attacks.

There’s 3 where The Noise moves horizontally. The game thus far has trained the player to respond to such attacks by jumping over them. Peppermans shoulder barge, the Vigilantes boot slide and flamethrower.

The pogo stick has The Noise jump over Peppino. If the player jumps, they’ll get hit. As such they try to stay grounded. The player is forced to calculate his trajectory and avoid his landing by shifting to the left or right. However he also drops bombs that close in on you, reducing the space you get to work with. You might have to look for an opportunity to jump over one.

The skateboard has The Noise deciding seemingly at random whether he’s going to jump over the player or not. He can stay grounded to make you jump over him, get close and jump over you to trick you into jumping when you should’ve stayed grounded, or jump early to try to trick you into staying grounded when you should’ve jumped. It plays around with how committal jumping is. If you stop jumping you won’t just be warped to the ground, you’re stuck until gravity brings you back down. The boss waiting to get close until he jumps forces you to hold out until you’re certain. Jumping early forces the player to not rely on instinct and actually account for what the boss is doing and where they are.

The jet pack creates an especially difficult pattern. When he initiates his jet pack dive, he repeatedly bounces along the ground. When he gets close, he’ll either be at the top, bottom, or middle of his bounce. If he’s at the top, go under, if he’s at the bottom, go over, if he’s at the middle you need to identify the situation before he gets close, and move left or right to put yourself into one of the other positions. This gives you six ways to dodge.

Arced attacks move along the x and y axis at different speeds. They force you to proactively acknowledge where the attack is heading and choose from multiple responses based on your prediction.

All of these attacks mix up the player, forcing them to consider if they need to jump, where, and when.

While the last attack throws The Noise into the sky, it likewise forces the player to deal with offense on both vertical and horizontal fronts. Bombs are dropped from the air that walk in your direction on landing. They begin to close in the open area that you use to dodge vertical attacks, and force you to reposition while dodging the aerial strikes.

When he enters the second phase, he gets even trickier. Every attack gets a little bonus attribute when it ends that punishes the player for being too hasty. The Noise will kick his skateboard at you, preventing you from hitting him if you don’t dodge it, he’ll suddenly explode, he’ll do an extra slam attack. When you anticipate the attack ending, if you go for the throat too fast, you’ll get punished.

All of The Noises' attacks are designed to throw the player off, but at the end of the day he does run on recognizable patterns. The game is testing you on how long it takes for you to break a habit and adapt.

Fighting The Noise for the first time feels like you’ve picked a fight with Bugs Bunny. But as you learn his tricks you dodge his bullshit and beat the prick into a bloody pulp. I love that a game as cartoony as pizza tower is consistently able to communicate its goofiness through more than visuals.

Now, Pizzahead phase 3 is generally considered to be kinda weak from what I’ve heard. Allegedly the developers had something a tad more elaborate planned where Pizzahead would lose it and get serious, but that was scrapped because that’s not how they wanted to characterize him. They wanted him to be a clown, a joke, talking a little too much shit behind his walls of goons.

That direction is fine. What irks me is that they were on the cusp of brilliance. With a few minor tweaks I think this fight could’ve come together a lot better. Let me elaborate.

So, assuming you’re not watching a 4305 word video essay on a game you never beat, you know how this goes. Pizzahead pretends to be defeated, reveals he’s perfectly fine, pulls up every previous boss and laughs, but stands aback in horror as Peppino proceeds to go apeshit on Pepperman. The players preexisting knowledge of the bosses patterns, along with their shortened health bars and the removal of their stage hazards should lead to a smooth ride, however where this gets interesting is in how as each boss is defeated, the player begins to take the pace of the fight into their own hands. Pepperman proceeds as normal, but of course for Vigilante you don’t have the gun, so Gustavo pops up, and you can pick him up and throw him at the boss to put them in their vulnerability state manually. The you fight The Noise, and not only does he go into his vulnerability state after finishing each attack, you still get to force him into it by throwing Gustavo at him. Of course Fake Peppino is next, and we finally gain full control, as we can speedrun his phase by alternating between two smacks and a hit from Gustavo, wrecking his shit. Killing each one faster than the last, anxiety becoming wrath, finally taking control back,

And then we’re back to turn based combat with Pizzahead. He gets six turns, you aren’t familiar with his moves and one of them doesn’t actually damage you, you just lose your turn. You lose all control and the pace slows to a crawl. The cusp of brilliance. The cusp.

—

Bonus Cracker: Because when else will I get to talk about this

Golf and Oh Shit make an interesting dichotomy, using the same format to tell a good and bad joke. Golf is funny because it’s clever. Both of these levels should theoretically be bad, but while sewer levels just carry a bad reputation for being cramped, ugly, and unfun, Golf fundamentally should not work. As a sport golf is known for being methodical and slow paced. Pizza tower is incredibly fast paced and chaotic. It is a bad idea for this game specifically. Then once the title card boots up it takes the chance for another really great joke that plays with your expectations. They portray golf like a super badass action movie which is hilarious on its own, and only gets funnier when it cuts to the actual level, the goofy music cuts in and no, no, it’s just regular ass golf. By contrast the joke in Oh Shit is primarily that the title contains a swear word. This is pushed a little with an allusion to the Mario Brothers contrasted to how gross being in an actual sewer is, but not exactly groundbreaking material I’m sure there’s a hilarious robot chicken sketch about it.

Finally we have the real kicker, or nail in the coffin depending on which one we’re talking about, the integration of gameplay with the joke. The part that requires a great deal of understanding and effort. Golf is actually a really good level, whereas Oh Shit is terrible on purpose. The unique mechanics of Golf blend surprisingly well with Pizza Towers gameplay, you can just crash into the golf ball to push it, and only need to make a brief pause to grab it when you want more precise control. On the other hand Oh Shit intentionally throws in a transformation that is slow and awkward to control, contains multiple elements that temporarily rip control away from the player, as well as enemies that are difficult to impossible to identify at high speeds making getting through a slog for anyone who hasn’t memorized their locations. (The way to tell the difference between the cutouts and the hidden enemies is their nose color, reds are cutouts, whereas the actual enemies range from blue to orange to pink to also red because fuck you.) The joke is supposed to be that the sewer level is even worse than could be expected. Do not respond to an expectation by meeting it, that’s not funny. Respond by defying it, putting in a little elbow grease, make us spit out our drinks showing us something we didn’t even know was possible.

I just don’t get how these both come in the same game from the same few guys.

—

Conker Illusion: this is the part where I wrap things up, in the event in which you, the viewer not the collective, were unaware

So yeah Pizza Tower. 6.3 out of 10

-Too much pizza

-too many towers

-Not enough gay sex.

-but the comprehensive manner in which its depth steadily increases as your understanding of it grows is pretty unique

-also the way it subtly guides you down that path while also gently making sure that newer players are pushed out of their comfort zones but still have a degree of control over the pace is cool

-also the way that it prevents itself from getting stale by switching itself up whenever you get stuck is neat

I dunno it’s okay I guess.

[shop-korea]

Belly Dance | Beginner's Tutorial & Workout | Step-by-Step: Mastering

[taiyona]

Weeks in the Womb

Thank you to Unmargin for originally publishing this piece. Bao Phi, love to you for your stewardship.

Weeks in the Womb

By Taiyo Na

Written for our first born child, who was in my partner Sarah’s belly for most of 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.

It’s April. 20 weeks in your mother’s womb, when she and her sister take a walk through the neighborhood park, a man calls them “fckin chinks" and spits towards them. Such occasions mark your beginning.

The man’s hatred and delusion doesn’t notice the baby inside her, that there is life on top of life in her body, so if he had a knife or acid to throw like some other lost souls in this city, he would have ripped you open or burned through twice the sanctity of my family. This marks your start.

10 weeks prior in the womb, we share momos and taro buns with Malaya who is visiting from San Jose. We talk Duterte, the plight of the people, Rapsody, D Smoke. We satiate the meal, talk about the 20 years between us. When he leaves, we hug. I clean the plates, notice purple crumbs that smile. 

10 weeks prior in the womb, your mother and I weep over the film Queen & Slim. We stand in the lobby of the theater, arms wrapped and sobbing, braced in the heartbreak of a fictional reality we know to be true. This is your first movie. 

8 weeks prior in the womb, Annie and Mas have their baby shower for your baby buddy Dash. This is your first party. 9 weeks prior in the womb, my old bandmate Takenori plays his Wes Montgomery fingers over his hollow body guitar at Tomi’s. I know you heard that reverb by the way you dance in the womb. This is your first concert. 

Our friend Abe plays drums, delivers lines and belts at the Signature Theatre like we’ve never seen him before, like audiences have never seen before. Cambodian Rock Band, this is your first play. 

At a Day of Remembrance at the JA Church, you and your mother love the inarizushi. You come from a long line of people who love inari, across seas through barbed wire fences. 

The Lakers went on a run in March, only to be stopped by Brooklyn. We are on the couch. Your father watches the games on the TV while your mother naps. We rest while caressing you over your mother’s belly. These warm hands, your first blanket. 

20 weeks in the womb, we are alive during a genocide through federal neglect. Over 10,000 dead, and no sign of the number slowing down. From Queens to Brooklyn, Detroit to Chicago, New Orleans to Newark, there aren’t enough beds, ventilators, masks, gloves, scrubs, care, compassion, generosity to adequately deal with this pandemic.

20 weeks in the womb, those nurses, doctors, grocery store clerks, farmers, delivery folks on the frontlines continue to go to work. Their courage moves us. Your uncle, the baker, lost his job, like millions of other people in this country. He, like all of them, did not deserve this. He's still baking though, making tutorials online. He makes a dough as tender and beautiful as his heart. His bread is waiting for you. Your mother persists, too, holds space for her team. Your father holds space for his students. As best we can in virtual spaces. 

20 weeks in the womb, the earth is reshaping itself. We are breathing in an age where there is a shortage of breaths. You take your breaths amidst water, through a cord to your mother, underneath the cocoon of a belly, soft like milk bread.

21 weeks in, your mother starts experiencing Braxton Hicks contractions, brief cramps that are said to prepare her body for your birth. Nature, true to her programming, invites us into signals of what is to come before it is fully present. 

The deaths keep ballooning. Public school staff. MTA staff. Folks in prison. 

Arundhati Roy once spoke about the era of New Genocide, a byproduct of globalization. New Genocide occurs when human imposed conditions lead to mass death without people actually going out and killing other people. An example would be economic sanctions against Iraq when in ‘97 and ‘98 US sanctions on Iraq claimed more than half a million children's lives. New Genocide is created when there is a purposeful withholding of necessary resources for a population.

You are in the womb during a New Genocide. Its capital is the city of your father’s birth. Your parents’ friends and colleagues are losing their fathers, mothers, friends, grandparents. These are swift, pummeling deaths. Cleaved lungs and vocal cords, like Eric Garner, say their names: they can’t breathe. 

By the end of May, we know the names of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and more. Something cracks open. The streets flood with protestors. Statues fall, statements and more statements fly. Former students lead the way while we quarantine with your mother. A tipping point, a rebellion and reckoning in response to double pandemics. Black/American Spring. This birthed here right before you. 

30 weeks in the womb, your mother and I decide a name for you: Jayu. In Korean, it means freedom. Free. Both noun and adjective. You are jayu, can be jayu, feel jayu. May you know what this year means, this moment, and may it be in our mother's tongues. 

At 36 weeks, we welcome a monstera deliciosa to add to our plant family. The “swiss cheese" plant grows holes in her adult leaves so light cascades to the smaller leaves below. What holes will we grow to let love shine through to our young? What do we let go to give space for?

Week 41. Contractions accelerate. Muscles tighten and release in the rhythm of a storm. Divinely dangerous, the labor which begets all labor, the work that precedes all work. Rings of fire. 

Week 41, you're here. Jayu is late, is on time. Wednesday, August 26th. The Milwaukee Bucks, an NBA team goes on strike, the first time for any professional sports team to do so. The Sunday before, Wisconsin police hail seven bullets and paralyze a 29 year old Black father Jacob Blake in front of his children. At a protest in Kenosha, two protestors are shot to death. Other major sports athletes also act in solidarity with the Bucks. It's four years to the day when Kaepernick first kneels in a game. Freedom contracts. Freedom cascades. 

When you first slide out of your mother’s womb, you take a moment and realize you’re no longer in a world of amniotic fluid. You wail. Skin to skin with us soothes you. Your mother can’t believe how small you are--a miniature nose, feet, hands. To think we were all that tiny once, small bundles turning into tall things.