#for personal interest stuff or career change up (the latter requiring much more money though lol)

[fitgothgirl]

I kinda hit a wall with my Russian on Duolingo after starting to get into the genitive case. With Russian, both verbs AND nouns change within 6 cases (nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, instrumental, and prepositional) AND 3 genders (he, she, neuter, they, you (inf), you (for), etc.). So there are multiple ways to say any noun... And sometimes it won’t even be a new suffix - a singular feminine noun in a sentence in the genitive case will have the same ending as if it were plural in the nominative case (I might be off with this clunky description but hopefully the gist comes across). So you're conjugating verbs and declining nouns at the same time. So I’m just losing track of everything and can’t seem to work out the rules of conjugation & declension. However, I had been supplementing Duolingo with my own research on YouTube university and a “Russian Course” book I bought on top of making my own notes, and I haven’t been doing those things as much anymore, right when I need them most lol.

But the community college I went to has a Russian class… it’s online and Russian 1 is only in fall quarter, with Russian 2 & 3 only in winter and spring respectively… I looked up tuition and for the 5 units it’d be $207… And they have payment plans… Ntm the teacher is crazy highly rated on ratemyprofessor!

I could work more with Duolingo but it’s only going to get me so far regardless even if I do get back to my extracurricular studies; Russian is hard. The temptation for an actual class (when I’d have a great baseline going into it) is so strong, and the window of opportunity for this is only so often.

Eeee idk haha but I have a few weeks to decide and get the money together before I could even register for classes. I did already register for admission for the fall term though just to be prepared! 🇷🇺

[caramida9]

Well... I wasn’t exactly tagged. But I saw @inquisitivemoth​ post on this, and they said that I’m now legally required to make this post. I thought it was pretty interesting so I went with it. I’d recommend my youtube vlogs for those more interested in finding out more stuff about me ;)

🌙 LAST

Drink: glass of fuzetea. I have no idea where this nestea spin-off came out but it tastes about the same.

Phone call: My little bro

Song you listend to: Since my bro called me, and I have Undyne’s soundtrack on my ringtone, you can guess ;)

Time you cried: A few days after new years I think.

🌙 HAVE YOU EVER

Dated someone twice: Yes... not sure they know it tho’

Kissed someone and regretted it: not got to that stage yet

Been depressed: I’ve been sad... like very sad. But I’m not sure if I can call it depression just like that.

Been drunk and thrown up: Never been that drunk. I detest alcohol. 

🌙 IN THE PAST YEAR HAVE YOU

Made a new friend: I’ve made a few from across the world.

Fallen out of love: Myeah... I think.

Met someone who changed you: They all have had a bit of impact on me. Nothing too life changing though.

Found out who your true friends are: Not yet. Hopefully they are ready :)

Found out someone was talking about you: A couple of times I guess... it’s a mixed bunch, but there’s few things that excite me more than the feeling of having had an impact on the world.

🌙 GENERAL

How many people on tumblr do you know in real life?: Only 1 in person, a few more online.

Do you have any pets? No, too much work. I had a cat once :3

Do you want to change your name?: I’m fine with my name or whatever nickname I get. In fact I don’t give a damn if people call me using some generic “yo, dude” .

What time did you wake up this morning: 8... family easter breakfast... too early for my taste. >.<

What were you doing last night: After coming home from the church... just the usual... workout, shower, youtube.

Something you cannot wait for: idk... there’s many things that I want... AND I WANT THEM NOW! Fame? Money? A Job? A relationship?

Have you ever talked to a person named Tom?: No... unless you humanize my cat :)

What’s getting on your nerves right now: The envy for the certain things other people have and I don’t... there’s also homework I guess.

Blood type: I think it was A-.

Nickname: Lenin. So much for hiding my political agenda XD

Relationship status: single as of 1995. If you’re interested in the “girlfriend” position please submit your resume on my tumblr,facebook, or youtube page. @caramida9

Zodiac sign: Leo. Rawr

Pronouns: I’m fine with he.

Favourite show: I just finished Game of Thrones so that is currently my favorite. There aren’t many others, I’m more on videogames.

College: Computer Science obviously.

Hair colour: Kind of a light brown. I was thinking of trying up a few hair dyes :)

Do you have a crush on someone: Yes. Well to be fair, I can crush on pretty much anyone who gives me above average attention and looks alright. I should probably work on that...

What do you like about yourself: my resilience to emotional trauma... I cover that up with humor and some optimism that I don’t know where is coming from. There’s also my calm, my patience and my openess to new things.

🌙 FIRSTS

First surgery: Ehh... I had one when I was young. Not quite something I want to talk about.

First piercing: Nope.

First sport you joined: The very first one was probably swimming... although I was also playing football with friends before that, and backetball was the first one I did competitively.

First vacation: Back on our not so extravagant romanian sea side.

First pair of sneakers: I didn’t have that many pairs so I should remember them... but I don’t. Probably Adidas.

🌙 RIGHT NOW

Eating: Writing this post, right?

I’m about to: go for some CS:GO with ma bros!

Listening to: The endless void.

Want kids: Ehh, it’s complicated. I wish to have kids to fullfil my biological duty, but I don’t think I will be able to raise one and dedicate the time and energy until much much later. So I guess not right now.

Get married: I don’t believe in the concept of marriage. I wish for a relationship with someone with whom I can spend the rest of my life with. But it doesn’t need to be made official in any way.

Career: Create and explore. Mostly video games, although I’m also experimenting with other art forms.

🌙 WHICH IS BETTER

Lips or eyes: Probably eyes.... but considering that I struggle to maintain eye contact with whomever I’m talking, I will only notice them from afar.

Hugs or kisses: y not both?

Shorter or tall: I’m happy being tall, and I don’t really mind the height of my partner.

Troublemaker or hesitant: I used to be very hesitant. Prudent to the point of inaction. But once you get to know me, that barrier gets crossed easily.

Older or younger: I’ve talked with both. For me it matters more that your spirit is young :)

Romantic or spontaneous: Can’t romance be spontaneous?

Sensitive or loud: Nice and easy...

Hookup or relationship: While I would prefer a relationship, I wouldn’t mind a hookup if we connect that way.

🌙 HAVE YOU EVER

Kissed a stranger: nu-uh

Drank hard liquor: A bit with my friends. Peer-pressure.

Lost contacts/glasses: I did lose my glasses at school one day. Boy I was sad.

Sex on first date: Nope, but I keep an open mind ;)

Broken someone’s heart: None that I know of. If I did, I’m sorry and please reach out... maybe we can work things out.

Been arrested: haha, no. That is an experience I don’t think I want to go through.

Turned someone down: I’m not sure if there ever was someone interested enough to turn down... so probably not.

🌙 DO YOU BELIEVE

In yourself: Most of the time. There are some moments when I need some... determination.

Miracles: It depends if you define miracles as supernatural or as unlikely events. If it’s the first, then no, if it’s the latter, then yes.

Love at first sight: I like to believe everything is possible. But it’s probably not love at that stage.

True love: People keep talking about it...so I suppose it must exist :)

Alrighty... now that so many core elements of my personality have been exposed to the public I take @elysiandragon and @xxsickx6x to take the plunge.

[mrsspidermanmaryjanewatsonparker]

Part 2

Comics Cube bullshit knows no end!

“There never was a whole lot of substance to Mary Jane Watson, and that was fine when she was the occasional love interest. I liked that Mary Jane Watson a lot. (When I was a kid, she represented the ideal girlfriend that I would someday like to have.)”

 Translation:

 I have never read much Spider-Man or paid much attention to the Spider-Man comics that I did read or apparently really bad at just understanding the stuff I read because I apparently missed the last page of the Death of Gwen Stacy, all of Gerry Conway’s run after that and DeFalco and Peter David’s 1980s runs on the character all of which give and showcase tremendous substance to MJ’s character.

 Also I don’t think I know what a character with substance actually is maybe because I was too busy thinking how kewl it would be to fuck a total hawt babe party gurl like Mary Jane who obviously loved the drugs too. My ideal girlfriend!

  “It’s when she became Mary Jane Watson-Parker, that writers and editors had to try to find something to do with her...”

 Yeah. She the writers and editors had to invent stuff for MJ to do like having her act as a friend, a confidant, a medical aid provider, emotional bridge builder, partying in order to cope with the stresses of life but recognizing that wasn’t always the answer and caused problems itself, fighting off villains who attacked her due to connections to Peter or other people...or target her in general.

 All these things the writers had to INVENT for the marriage.

 She never did anything like that before.

 ASM Annual #19 is just 40 black pages for instance.

 “...and she’s just not that interesting on her own”

  Mary Jane is so uninteresting on her own that she has been the lead in multiple issues of 616 Spider-Man, Ultimate Spider-Man, Renew Your Vows and supported an entire all ages comic book series dedicated to her teenage soap opera life that found success in a time period where such a book was suicidal.

 ...Because she’s just THAT uninteresting on her own...You know when she is alone. Individually. Which was obviously the default setting for her during the course of an era called a MARRIAGE.

 I guess not reading due to masturbating to Mary Jane centric fantasies before 1987 also means I do not know the meaning of the word marriage.

    “The fundamental problem with her becoming the wife of Spider-Man, was that it made it mandatory for her to appear in every single story, no matter if she had anything relevant to do.”

 Er....no.

 No it didn’t.

 There was no rule she HAD to appear any more than it was ‘mandatory’ that Aunt May appear in every story, even when she and Peter were living together.

 Harry Osborn didn’t mandatorily appear in every story when he and Peter were living together either.

 And guess what...Mj didn’t either during the course of the marriage.

 There are dozens of issues between September 1987 and December 2007 in which Mary Jane and Peter are married and living together (and Peter is the central protagonist) in which MJ is never seen on panel.

 Dozens.

 Now sure did she appear more frequently than she needed to.

 Yes...but that was the fault of the writers and editors for CHOOSING to include her mandatorily when it wasn’t needed or else not having something for her to contribute.

 It wasn’t an intrinsic dilemma of the marriage.

 There are issues of modern SUPERMAN comics where Superman’s wife and son do not BOTH appear and I’ll bet some money there are some issues where NEITHER appear. I will bet even more money that there will be even more issues in the future where Superman will be living with Lois and Jon but neither appear.

 This statement is only confirming that the author doesn’t know much about you know...writing.

 “Story is born from conflict, and there’s only so much conflict you can present in a marriage without it becoming unbearable to read.”

 Maybe, maybe not. Here is the kicker though.

 In a SUPER HERO series...you don’t actually NEED his marriage to be the primary or a constant source of conflict.

 The series was never ABOUT the love life of Peter Parker.

 It was about the LIFE of Peter Parker and as part of that he had a love life. So...why not present some fucking conflict ELSEWHERE in his life.

 Or is the author’s understanding of writing and the notion that it’s born of conflict so unsophisticated that he believes that literally every goddam interaction between characters requires conflict?

  Consider this...how much conflict is there REALLY between Peter Parker and Aunt May?

 How much conflict between Batman and Robin?

 How much conflict between even Holmes and Watson?

 In the latter I know for a fact from this website that people love seeing the pair either shipped together or friendshipped together way more than the times they are just arguing or fighting.

 Shit an utterly acclaimed issue of Batman from LAST MONTH was about a double date between Lois Lane,Superman, Catwoman and Batman. And the points of praise MOST heaped upon the issue WASN’T the clashes or conflicts between the characters, which were minimal to begin with.

 The same is true of Renew Your Vows AND JMS’ run on Amazing Spider-Man, which is not only credited with the best take on the marriage but the marriage itself was PART of the praise for that run...as it was for the Eisner nominated issue of Spider-Man which again featured little conflict between the couple.

 Want to go a little international with this?

 Okay. Sailor Moon and Dragon Ball Z

 Iconic anime/manga series from Japan.

 Sailor Moon has strong romance elements to it in both it’s original manga and it’s very different anime adaptation.

 The two power couples of the franchise are Sailor Moon and her primary love interest Tuxedo Mask and same sex couple Sailors Neptune and Uranus.

 Neptune and Uranus are without a shadow of a doubt WAY more popular a couple within the fandom than anyone else. They also tend to not be in conflict with one another much at all and their relationship is a huge part of their pooularity as individual characters too.

 In the manga Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask as a couple are more well regarded in the fandom than their anime counterparts who ARE in conflict with one another much more often, especially early on and consequently these early interactions are actually lambasted fairly frequently.

  Now onto Dragon Ball Z. There are three couples I want to discuss. Goku (the lead character) and his often beleaguered and bad tempered wife ChiChi. Villain turned protagonist Vegeta and his wife Bulma and Gohan (the secondary protagonist) and his fellow school student and later wife Videl.

 Goku and ChiChi are often for comedic effect placed at odds with Goku’s love for training and battle (meaning he isn’t around much) trigger ChiChi’s temper.

 Vegeta and Bulma whilst slightly butting heads at first have tended to be depicted as more cool and calm as a couple. Vegeta is somewhat aloof but cares beneath it all and Bulma kind of just rolls with his gruff attitude.

 Gohan and Videl are the most normal couple but the single most popular episode for shippers of the couple is the episode where Videl’s negative attitude towards Gohan really starts to go away and they grow closer as he teaches her for to use her chi and defy gravity.

  Yeah...Goku and ChiChi are unambiguously less popular with fandom than Vegeta/Bulma or Gohan/Videl.

 Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm. It’s almost like in an ongoing series the need for constant conflict within a romantic relationship is NOT necessary, and mostly portraying a couple as loving, supportive, working together and punctuating this with conflict is a far clearer road to success than going the constant conflict route.

     “Now, I’ll grant you that many writers were able to handle the marriage fairly well.”

Well which was it?

 The marriage was consistently unentertaining for 20 straight years and MJ lacked the substance to have anything to do or generate conflict...or you know MANY (implying the majority) of writers actually did the marriage well thereby invalidating the entire bullshit argument up until this point?

  “It wasn’t exactly entertaining, but it wasn’t an anchor dragging down the series.”

 It wasn’t damaging the series and it was handled well but it wasn’t entertaining.

 Is this guy from like a universe sideways to Bizarro world or something this makes little sense.

 And I think he’s not even made an attempt to distinguish good quality storytelling from his personal preferences...or anybody else’s.

  “However, the majority of writers did not do a very good job at all with the marriage and Mary Jane’s role in the comics.”

 Let’s see ONLY counting writers who worked on the main titles with actual runs let’s go through them shall we.

 David Michelinie: Had Peter and MJ both confront married life as a change of pace and negotiate a balance between their own wants and needs and careers and the same for their partners. Showed MJ as supportive, but also acknowledged she could get anxious (which is realistic) and also depicted her coping by dancing which was in character. So...for the first half of his 8 year run...no he wasn’t very bad at the marriage or MJ’s character. Next.

 Peter David. Showed MJ as an important comical balnce to Peter’s down in the dumps attitude. So no he wouldn’t count either.

 Gerry Conway. Jason Jerome aside he also didn’t really fail either because he GAVE MJ shit to do like handling her mentally ill cousin Kristy.

 J.M. DeMatteis: Aggressively NO. He was the best marriage writer of the 90s.

 Tom DeFalco: Some rocky patches sure but in general he could write the marriage competently in spite of over relying upon MJ getting worried about him.

 Howard Mackie: Pre Gathering of Five Mackie wrote MJ as a strong woman who had Peter’s back. So again...no. Post-Gathering of Five Mackie wrote MJ as garbage but was also deliberately trying to sabotage her and the marriage so that hardly counts.

 Terry Kavanagh: Yes he wrote it badly. Now name me one thing in any of his Spider-Man work he didn’t do badly

 Todd Dezago: He wrote MJ and Peter competently and as a cute loving couple. So...no again.

 JMS: The best marriage writer ever. Need I say more?

 Sacasa: Wrote the marriage well and wrote an MJ focus issue dissecting her feelings about Peter in light of becoming a fugitive. So again...no.

 So....actually the overwhelming majority of Spider-man main writers tended to handle the marriage and Mary Jane competently-very well.

 So Comics Cube is talking shit...again.

   “With that in mind, here are the 10 worst ways Mary Jane dealt with the stress of being married to Spider-Man, in no particular order.”

 I need a breather after this one so I’ll post another instalment later.

[yujachachacha]

Get to know me

Tagged by @symphonyalpha​ (I forgot the URL for a second and was like, “Why isn’t Jaewhy showing up when I type it in the user mention???” lol).

Rules: Answer these 92 statements and tag 20 people.

Last: 1. Drink: Barley water, because that’s what my family drinks ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 2. Phone call: My grandma, telling me what time she needed me to drive her to her doctor’s appointment. 3. Text message: To my little brother, telling him to STFU because he kept sending me dumb shit on iMessage. 4. Song you listened to: Does SIF count? If so, “Sore wa Bokutachi no Kiseki”. If not, I was headbanging to “Paradise Lost” by Chihara Minori after dropping my grandma off at her friend’s place the other day, lol. 5. Time you cried: tbh I probably teared up a little when I was watching the footage from the Lantis preview of the Aqours 1st Live BD/DVDs ｡ﾟ( ﾟஇωஇﾟ)ﾟ｡

Have you: 6. Dated someone twice: I haven’t even dated someone once :’))) 7. Kissed someone and regretted it: I’ve kissed exactly one person, so...hm. There was a period of time when I had conflicting emotions over what happened, but in the end, I don’t think I regret it. 8. Been cheated on: See #6. 9. Lost someone special: I’ve had a grandfather pass away, and this is probably going to sound bad, but...I really appreciated him, and he was nothing but kind to me. However, since I’d only seen him about three times in my life, the biggest way his death affected me was through my mother. It took her a while to get over my grandfather’s death, so it changed the way I behaved around her during that time. 10. Been depressed: Yes. 11. Gotten drunk and thrown up: Exactly once, because I made the mistake of keeping pace with my uncle in Korea who takes soju shots like a champ. This also happened to be the night before Lunar New Year, so I got chewed out by my aunt (older sister of my uncle) once she realized why I was so lethargic during the festivities. _(:3 」∠)_ I don’t regret it though, because before that I had never been hungover before and was wondering what my limit was, haha.

List 3 favorite colors: 12-14. Red, blue, and...uh...other than those two I don’t have any definite faves. I guess the third would be either yellow or purple...? I’ll just go with purple for the sake of completion.

In the last year have you: 15. Made new friends: #TeamONIBE 16. Fallen out of love: That would require me to fall in love with someone first. 17. Laughed until you cried: I think it might have been when Mayushii and King did that disastrous cooking niconama. Like...what the actual fuck, do they seriously not know anything about basic kitchen safety and hygiene??? 18. Found out someone was talking about you: The number of times I’ve gone on to Discord and found out that someone in ONIBE was talkin’ smack about me... (｡･ˇ_ˇ･｡) It’s all in good fun though, haha. 19. Met someone who changed you: See #15. 20. Found out who your friends are: Nothing says "friendship” like screaming your heart out at an anisong concert, eating McNuggets while insanely drunk, sleeping while squished together in a seedy neighborhood, wotaing loudly in a moving vehicle, and other various activities I did with people I had never met in real life. ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ AX 2017 was hella great for ONIBE bonding. 21. Kissed someone on your Facebook list: I don’t think I’ve even used FB for non-work stuff since 2016 lol

General: 22. How many of your Facebook friends do you know in real life: If this means “I’ve actually met them in person and have had a decent conversation with them”, then maybe a few hundred? But if this means that I actually talk to them on a semi-regular basis, then, like...10, maybe. :’) 23. Do you have any pets: See my answer in the previous chain post I did. tl;dr I had a turtle and a dog in elementary school, but after that, no pets. I’d like to have a dog when I get a place of my own, though. 24. Do you want to change your name: Nope. 25. What did you do for your last birthday: Watched LLS Episode 13 in the morning and ate Korean BBQ in the evening. 26. What time did you wake up: Today? I honestly don’t remember. Sometime before 9? 27. What were you doing at midnight last night: Laughing at dumb shit on Twitter and Discord, probably. 28. Name something you can’t wait for: The Delayed Viewing for the 2nd Live for the US! I’m making plans to meet up with ONIBE folks again and it’s gonna be ~L I T~ 29. When was the last time you saw your mom: Early in the morning. She was like “lol get up and lose some weight” while I was still in bed so I groaned back, “You’re one to talk,” and went back to sleep. 30. What is one thing you wish you could change in your life: I was gonna say “how about eliminating my student loans haha” but I suppose this is supposed to be a more serious question. I guess it’d be nice if I was a neater person. Like, my room is a total mess right now and I’m terrible at keeping track of things I should be working on... 31. Listening right now: Fun fact - I actually only listen to music while I’m driving. Otherwise, it distracts me from what I should be doing. 32. Have you ever talked to a person named Tom: Yup, that was the name of my debate coach when I was in junior high. 33. Something that is getting on your nerves: People who hate on LL seiyuu. Like, they’re actual human beings who are working really hard to live up to the expectations of thousands - no, millions of people worldwide. To be quite honest, I invite you to tell me if you legitimately want to shit on any one of them (both µ’s and Aqours), because I have yet to see a single person who has had a good justification for doing so. 34. Most visited website: Probably Tumblr/YouTube/Twitter/Reddit, too lazy to figure out which one of those it is.

Jaewhy put in random questions here because they were missing for some reason, so I guess I’ll continue those: 35. Mole(s): I have a few around my face, but other than the one on my right cheek I don’t think they’re that noticeable? I don’t spend a lot of time in the sun like other Californians. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 36. Mark(s): I have a birthmark on the backside of my right shoulder that I’m sort of self-conscious about. It’s the perfect shape for getting a tattoo of a sunflower around it, so maybe I’ll do that some time in the future? 37. Childhood dream: Lawyer. 38. Hair color: I feel like I’ve answered this in a previous chain post, but it’s black. Duh. Though if you hold it up to the sun, some of the ends are more like dark brown. 39. Long or short: Long. 40. Do you have a crush on someone: See #16. Nope. 41. What do you like about yourself: I’ve spent an unhealthy amount of time staring at computers/video games and I still don’t need glasses. :D 42. Piercings: No, but I should probably get my ears pierced at some point? 43. Blood type: O. 44. Nickname: Yujacha, but a lot of people shorten it to “Yuja”. 45. Relationship status: Single. 46. Zodiac: Libra, Dog. 47. Pronouns: I feel like it’s obvious what gender I am, so just go with those. 48. Favorite TV show: I don’t really watch TV these days, but if I’m kicking back with some hot cocoa at like 2am I might watch Criminal Minds or something. 49. Tattoos: Nope, but like I said in #36 I’ve been thinking about it. 50. Right or left hand: Right. 51. Surgery: Wisdom teeth removal is technically dental surgery. 52. Hair dyed in different color: I had highlights in my hair a few years ago, but they faded real quick. I’m vaguely considering dyeing it brown in the distant future...? 53. Sport: It’s fun to watch the occasional match when there’s a World Cup or Olympic thing going on, but otherwise I have no interest. 54. (A question I came up with since #54 was missing) Extracurricular activities: I was a debate kid for most of my school life, and in college I was in the Korean Club and Student Union. 55. Vacation: Does the 2nd Live DV later this year count? 56. Pair of trainers sneakers *American anthem plays in the distance*: I actually need new ones because I’ve tripped while hiking on at least two separate occasions due to my shitty old sneakers.

More general: 57. Eating: Haven’t yet. 58. Drinking: Wasn’t this literally the first question? 59. I’m about to: Eat. 60. (This question was missing so I'll make one up again) Thinking about: What to eat lol 61. Waiting for: 2nd Live DV~ 62. Want: Money tbh 63. Get married: I’d like to at some point, but at the moment I’m kinda tired of hearing about it from every middle-aged woman who talks to me (including my own mother). 64. Career: Working on it.

Which is better: 65. Hugs or kisses: Hugs, because they’re warm and comfy and can be shared by complete strangers. 66. Lips or eyes: I was gonna repeat a previous answer and say “eyesmiles” but since this is “lips or eyes” rather than “smiles or eyes”, I guess my answer would fall more under “eyes”. 67. Shorter or taller: Bruh, if someone’s shorter than me then I’d need to check their ID to make sure they’re not jailbait. Taller. 68. Older or younger: I’ve never dated anyone so I honestly wouldn’t know, but I’d probably look for someone close to my age first? 69. (Lmao why was 69 missing :3c I’ll just make something up again) Outgoing or shy: The former, since I’m lazy. If someone doesn’t drag me to places I’ll just lay in bed all day. 70. Nice arms or stomach: It’s actually really hard for females to have a toned stomach, so any gals with abs are like ooh~ 👀 But I actually like hands! I have smol stubby fingers so I really dig people with nice hands. 71. Sensitive or loud: The former, because I don’t need the entire neighborhood to know when I’m gettin’ laid kthnx 72. Hook up or relationship: Relationship, because sure why not? 73. Troublemaker or hesitant: Maybe the former, but if they’re being too much of a lil’ shit then I’d go for the latter instead. I’ve dealt with friends who take like 20 minutes to decide what to order from a menu so I know that feel. :’)

Have you ever: 74. Kissed a stranger: Nope. 75. Drank hard liquor: Yup. 76. Lost glasses/contact lenses: I’m pretty sure I annoyed half of ONIBE during AX when I went “haha y’all are blind af” after I found out I was pretty much the only one who didn’t have corrected vision. 77. Turned someone down: I was about to say “no” and then I got a sudden flashback to a certain incident in college, wow thanks for making me remember something I had tried to forget...sooo, uh, yup. 78. Sex on the first date: See #6. 79. Broken someone’s heart: IDK if turning someone down counts as breaking their heart. 80. Had your heart broken: ...yes. I think? 81. Been arrested: Nope. 82. Cried when someone died: Do fictional characters count? 83. Fallen for a friend: Uhhhhh...kind of? It was complicated.

Do you believe in: 84. Yourself: I’d like to think that I do. 85. Miracles: KISEKI DA YO~ ...sorry, I had to. Yeah. 86. Love at first sight: Shukashuu is living proof of this. 87. Santa Claus: Nope, sorry Maki!!! 88. Kiss on the first date: Sure.

Other: 90. Current best friend(s) name: IDK if I have one. :’) 91. Eye color: I’m Asian, take a wild guess. 92. Favorite movie: I don’t really have a favorite, but I did like “Kimi no Na wa.” (Your name.) so much that I made it my phone’s lock screen.

Tagging: I've only tagged people the first time I did one of these and I’m gonna try to keep it that way. If anyone who reads this wants to give it a go, feel free~

[clothestop]

Hi, I'm not sure if this will be weird to ask but i've read that you have a math degree and knows how to code so i hope you can give me some advice regarding my career choice. If that's okay. Tbh i'm still not sure if i should take up computer science or pure mathematics. Math is my favorite subject in school and the more i study college-level theoretical math, the more i realize that i would want to do this professionally.

But i also considered computer science because i’m weighing the employability of both majors and i know that i could get a more stable job with comp sci. I’m so confused i’m sorry if my ask doesn’t make much sense but i have so many questions. May i ask what age did you start coding? And like my dilemma, i’m wondering why you went with pure mathematics and didn’t take up computer science. What put you off? Also, how did you start coding/ what made you start learning how to code? Did you take up comp sci classes? I’m a 17 yr old girl heading to university next fall but i just started learning how to code last year so i feel a bit left out. I’m really enjoying it so far but thinking of a possible career with it, i’m also scared as a woc in that kind of field. This may sound silly but like what the tumblr saying goes: i don’t want to be a sell out while i work for something i love. Lastly, i know that even if i’m still a beginner and there are a lot more things that i could learn in university. But in the meantime to prepare for that, what advice can you give to someone like me who is a beginner (words of encouragement, pros and cons, skills to develop etc etc)? Btw i’ve read that you lived in Southeast asian countries and i’m from SE asia currently living in the US so i relate to what i’ve been reading in your blog. Thank you for reading and sorry for

Hello there! No worries, I didn’t think that your ask is weird. And ofc, I’m more than glad to give you my advice :)

Well, I started with basic coding at around 12 or 11, eventually studied it extensively and moved to more complicated programming languages when I was 15 or 16—but I was already in uni during that time (uhm, yes I was younger than most of my peers). I play games a lot, and when I was younger, I dreamt of developing my own video game or website. And as a kid, you wouldn’t be surprised that I even thought of using my knowledge of coding with making cool stuffs™ like robots haha. To be honest, I wasn’t “put off” of taking up Computer Science; it’s just that my head had always been gravitating towards Pure Mathematics ever since. However, I admit that I did fancy taking up that degree because I was opting for another major that would *complement* my Pure Mathematics track, since my mum initially wanted me to have a degree that is “lucrative” to her standards. Basically, even if I didn’t end up pursuing Computer Science, we met at a compromise with me double majoring in Pure Mathematics and an applied maths major which relies on heavy programming as well. Despite being good at maths in school, programming was unarguably one of the most difficult things that I’ve studied. Not to mention that at the beginning, I was self-taught. After uni, I became more serious with my self-study, and even took up few short courses in Computer Sciences just because I’m really interested with it. Never considered to pursue it professionally, though.

If you look at the macro statistics of how students perform in different subjects, Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan and China (particularly Shanghai) has always ranked really high in maths and sciences. Yet, until recently, most of the technological breakthroughs are happening in the West.. Or perhaps, most technological advancements that happened in Asia (mind you, not only in East Asian and Southeast Asian countries) weren’t relatively discussed and/or recognized in a global scale during the past few years. Furthermore, living in Caucasian-dominated countries, I know that minorities would always have to go through the eye of a needle to have our voices heard and our efforts recognized and properly credited; otherwise the achievements we had produced would never see the light of day, or worse, People in the Position of Power™ would take credit for what we worked hard for. (Disclaimer: I don’t live in the US)

Additionally, two years ago, reports disclosed by large tech companies like Google and Facebook show that females make up less than 20% of technical employees. Unfortunately this figure drops to single digits for the larger tech community. But you shouldn’t be fazed with these facts. Yes, this is a sad reality but we can do something to change the system. At present, females working in most industries (not just in tech companies. Believe me *sighs*) should work twice as hard as a man to get to the same place, and it was made into a norm that we should just be prepared to do that. Thus, at least eventually in the tech sector, the more girls who learn how to code, the less unequal it would get. If you think about it, apps and websites like Instagram and Facebook (and uh well, Tumblr) have a wide female user base. And I truly believe that women need to be part of the voice in creating this technology to serve the users more effectively.

Yes I’m Southeast Asian as well currently living in a Caucasian-dominated country (again, not the US). But I lived in different Asian countries, so I also understand how tech startups in these regions lament the lack of local talent. Universities produce graduates who are well-versed in computer science, yet the latter go after paths that only require an understanding of programming languages suited for banking and finance. Conversely, startups use something much different and more modern—something that tech companies want to see more of. Moreover, a few years ago, tech giants like Microsoft, Facebook, and SAP appealed to the European Union education ministers to tackle skills gap in information and communications technology, saying that an estimated 900,000 jobs in Europe would be left unfilled by 2020 if not addressed. The UK has since implemented computing into the national curriculum. Again, Tumblr Politics™ could make an asinine analogy of this to Destroy Capitalism™, but the reality dictates that we need this to achieve growth in the foreseeable future. (Another disclaimer: I’m very much against classism and capitalism, but I can be level-headed as well to understand the global economic and political atmosphere that we live in. Less whining, more tangible actions to abolish these systems.)

Correct me if I’m wrong (this could easily be googled), but from what I’ve read, the average salary for a good fresh graduate programmer in the Silicon Valley is around 100,000 USD. So you can verify that this is indeed an in-demand job. But I definitely agree with your outlook as well. I quit my last job despite the high pay, advantageous position, connections and opportunities in the corporate ladder™ because I lost my passion and felt like I no longer learn something of value from it. I felt like I was just a small cog of a devious capitalistic machine, operating at an auto-pilot, and can never make an actual difference to society (contrary, I felt like I was actually working against it D:). BUT! Please. Please. Please. Never fully absorb everything you read in this hellsite as a clear reflection of how the world works. Always take everything you read with a grain of salt, because despite of the positive things we could see and the amazing people we could meet here, Tumblr is a very, very problematique™ place to take inspiration from. Of course I’m not generalizing, but sadly, some people here (despite their charisma and very persuasive convictions) proclaim revolutionary™ ideologies that only promote hateful agendas. Thus, even though I would always believe that money should never supersede passion, I also understand that the system is working against us and that it wouldn’t be as easy as we imagine it to be. So, I always seek to find balance in every decision that I make. It would also help to have a concrete plan of how you would like to see yourself in a few years (I know it sounds cliché, but I promise it’ll help), and to choose to work for a company that you know would create progressive measures to aid society as a whole, and would promote sustainable growth for the planet and the human race. Sorry if that sounds so cheesy and pretentious, but I mean it. I would like to think that that wouldn’t make us corporate sellouts™, rather, we are dreamers trying to survive and thrive in this very demanding society. [Hmm. To be honest I think corporate sellouts are the ones who exploit the society, and trample over others just to achieve their goals. Soulless creatures, I tellss ya. But yeah, maybe tumblr SJW vocabulary made another revolutionary™ breakthrough.]

That said, I know that you are already in the right track. And even though you seem to be in a dilemma, I could see that you’re geared towards computer science already :) Both maths and programming are your passions, and I’m glad that you discovered that at an early age. Don’t be afraid to take the leap. And if later on you realize that perhaps the degree you pursued wasn’t where your heart is, I can only assure you that you are not the first and last person who would feel this way—and that’s perfectly okay. Lots of people end up in jobs that are radically different from what they took up in uni, and they excel and feel really satisfied in those fields. And there are others who eventually go back to school to fulfill the academic approach that they had missed. Whatever happens, don’t be afraid to troubleshoot and start again. Don’t think that you had a late start on coding. I’m in my late 20s and I know that I still have a lot more to learn—not just with programming—and that really excites me. Remember, formal education isn’t the only place where we could learn and harness our skills. We’re so lucky to have lived in this digital age where everything could be presented to us with just a click or a tap of a button, so we should take advantage of that.

My last advice to you is to master BOTH the technical and creative skills needed in this science, both of which are essential to be a good programmer—bridging the technical side of coding with the creativity to solve problems. I know I still have a long way to go, but somehow, I think I could consider myself as someone who already has a good foundation and an in-depth knowledge of programming. This skill is something that does not only aid me in my career, but it also helps me with problem solving and thinking about issues structurally. With coding, I can solve problems and think of multiple solutions for the same problem, and can see the pros and cons for each solution. Further, I’m able to challenge my own assumptions in all of these solutions. However, like I’ve said, I don’t think that programming is something that I could do professionally. Despite excelling in the technical side of it, I believe that in this industry, the creative ability of a programmer is the one that is highly sought after. I totally concur that one should never underestimate how HARD programming is, and I guess that’s the beauty and challenge of this discipline. I know that I have the dedication and patience for this skill, but even if I master the complexities and technical skills needed in programming, admittedly, I still lack the creative elegance that I see in a professional programmer. But I hope that you could find the equilibrium in these factors and excel on them.

It will never be my intention to discourage you, on the contrary, I hope that with these information, you could objectively weigh the reality of the field that you would get yourself into. Which is why I’m glad that you did your research because it shows how serious and passionate you are to take time in educating yourself with these details. More importantly, I hope that you could talk to someone you look up to and trust in real life, because choosing a career is a serious life-changing decision. But feel free to DM me if you want to add or discuss something else :)

Thank you for your question, gotshineboc. I really hope that this could help you out. Very best of luck!