#life and times in the Wikipedia pits

[eggtrolls]

Can you restore the ‘Hazbin Hotel’ Wikipedia page ‘That’s Entertainment (Hazbin Hotel)’ on Wikipedia? The same person keeps blanking it.

Hi, thank you for your question! I appreciate the request - I’m actually really flattered! - but I’m not going to do that at this moment. This is actually a very interesting microcosm of Wikipedia backdoor activities and we can use it as a learning opportunity.

Background: anon said the same person (not the same person) keeps “blanking” the page and that’s not entirely true. People have turned into it a redirection page or a redirect (let me know if the terminology is too technical). A redirect is one of the series of pipes that keeps Wikipedia moving smoothly; it would be a massive time waste and hassle to have to enter every article title perfectly to search for it. This is also helpful when you have multiple names for the same topic. Okay great now we all know what a redirect is.

Timeline: on 23 July 2023, someone made a redirect for the Hazbin Hotel pilot.

Then on 6 November 2024, as if I didn’t have enough problems, someone turns that redirection page into a standalone article and adds a massive increase in characters to go with it. This page is user Hazbin girl. Remember this one.

And we all sort of putter around improving that until 6 January 2024, when someone redirects the page, which is currently using the title Pilot (Hazbin Hotel) to That’s Entertainment (Hazbin Hotel).

They also do a kind of sloppy job (see the tag about having not left a redirect). People add meme categories to it a few times, they get removed, and the activity goes back and forth until one of the admins gets fed up and reverts it back to a redirect to Hazbin Hotel on 13 January 2025. And I see the logic behind this - there is very little that is stated in the episode article that isn’t already stated in the show’s article. Between production, development, the actual episode summary, and the references, having an article for every single episode would be a massive reduplication of efforts. Wikipedia is also not a fandom site - what’s notable to fans of the show is not notable per our general notability guidelines. Some episodes get that but at this point, I don’t think the pilot of HH cuts the mustard. So the redirect from 13 January stands.

Then on the same day, someone reverts the redirect to restore the standalone article. That person is Debopamsikder. Also remember this name.

It’s fine to have a difference of opinion as to what should be on Wikipedia. We can work that out with community census-building which is a beautiful thing.

Here’s what’s not fine: sockpuppetry.

Shortly after the redirect is undone, both Debopamsikder, whose account had been created on 13 January 2025, and our old friend Hazbin girl get suspected of being sock puppets and get blocked. More specifically, they are suspected of being sockpuppets for a user who was blocked back in 2017 for, get this, creating multiple accounts to argue for articles about their favourite franchises. You can check out the original sockpuppetry investigation here

Conclusion: I’m not sure if this is the same person behind TotalTruthTeller24, although that would be wild, but I think it’s extremely poor form to ask me to wade into something like this and haha yeah man can you just fix it there’s no larger issue happening ahhahaha nooooooo don’t use critical thinking skills ur so sexy, someone keeps blanking the page that’s it I prommy. That’s simply not true, and now I have spent over 40 minutes digging into this because you want more fandom cruft for your favourite show to repeat information that’s already present or would get immediately removed for being non-notable to anyone but a hardcore fan. No thank you. Go write something on the fandom wiki and be done with it.

[eggtrolls]

This is just not true.

On 12 September 2005, an unregistered editor added that Tina Blacker was born to a Jewish family in New York City (see highlighted blue text below). No references given. Note the year (not 2015, 2005) - 2005 is part of the Wild West era of Wikipedia editing when people could and would just add whatever they wanted and very often no one would notice for years. Small editor base, still very Web 1.0.

On 15 March 2022, editor Nohomersryans added the following citation (highlighted in blue). It took almost 17 years but we have a citation!

We’re in a very different period of Wikipedia editing between 2005 and 2022. Automated tools, scripts, templates, bots to make rote edits, high vigilance especially on popular pages — we’ve arrived. And this is a very famous person so it has a lot of eyes on it. So, unsurprisingly, someone checks the added reference and sees that is doesn’t actually confirm what’s claimed. This is a particularly neat trick that vandals will do, but also just people who are kinda clueless. Many people will take the existence of a reference as confirmation without stopping to see what that reference actually says. Luckily this is not always the case. On 2 June 2022, editor HanginOn removes the claim because it is not supported by the inline citation. See the edit summary that also claims that the edits were done by a “persistent antisemitic witch hunter”. Can’t comment on that.

And this version, which has no reference to Tina Louise’s Jewishness, sticks around until May 2024. For those of you keeping up at home, the 10/7 attacks happen in the middle of this period. If there was ever going to be a time when Tina Louise’s article is going to be vandalized because she’s Jewish, this is it. And it just doesn’t happen. There aren’t even any defamatory edits or vandalism happening on her page around 10/7. All of the below are minor tweaks about her acting career.

Finally between 22 and 23 May 2024 (possibly in response to op whose post was from 20 May 2024), we get some movement on the question of Tina Louise being Jewish.

To recap these edits: very new editor Onomatopée adds that she’s Jewish (cool!) but puts it in the first sentence of the article which is against the MOS (Manual of Style) guidelines on how to discussed ethnicity, race, sexuality, etc. Then slightly more experienced editor RJ4 moves it into the body of the article under the ‘Early life’ section, but does kind of a messy job (“Jewish Enthnicity”), and so finally administrator Jayjg cleans up the formatting a little bit. You can see the changes in the little triptych below.

And that’s the format it’s been in ever since. Last edit was 29 December 2024 and Tina Louise is still Jewish. That being said, I will be looking for additional sources to see if I can expand on this part of her life and make sure it is never erased again in the future. Thank you for bringing this to our attention.

However. I am annoyed by the claim (and the 30+ minutes I’ve spent looking into it) that “before 10/7, there were at least 3 to 5 references to her Jewishness on Wikipedia” - no there were not! Go through the edit history! There was one (1) statement that was unreferenced for almost 20 years and then one (1) insufficient reference was added. There are plenty of issues of antisemitism and ugly, hate-fuelled editing on Wikipedia that need to be removed and fixed without making up one. An actual problem, like the guy who went around saying the religion of Yemeni Jews is Islam, which I personally fixed, comes to mind. If anyone is interested in working on issues like this, WikiProject Judaism (which I’m semi-active in) has a backlog of articles to create, review, and edit as long as your arm. Lmk if you want to work together on something.

Fin.

Another Jew on here commented that people were going onto Wikipedia and removing references to certain people's Jewishness, and I just saw for myself that this is true. As a Jew and a fan of old movies and history, I was looking up a list of Jewish actors on Wikipedia. I saw Tina Louise (you know, from Gilligan's Island) pop up. So I popped over to her actual page on Wikipedia. And there were zero references to her being Jewish. So I hopped on over to the Wayback Machine (bless you, Internet Archive) and put in the URL for her Wikipedia page. And wouldn't ya know it: before 10/7, there were at least 3 to 5 references to her Jewishness at any given time on her Wikipedia page. Wtf is happening.

[dickgraysonisnothereforthis]

didn’t realize this was the liberal arts

Jason goes to college. You’re there. And then you show up in his nightlife, which throws him for a loop.

I wish I could tell you what this is but I can’t. i set out to write a meet cute. that's not what happened. Jason is a sad little dude. You’re in one of his college classes, but don’t get the idea that you’re nice about it.

Swearing as always. No use of y/n. I don’t know how long this is.

Edit: whoops, it's a series. rest of it is here

————

Jason’s trying.

He is. He’s taking the tattered remains of his life and trying to shove them together, mash them into something liveable. Or at least, manageable. Something he can stand to survive.

It’s difficult. He rose from the Pit with a brain that didn’t quite work, didn’t crank like his half forgotten memories told him it did when he was fifteen. He couldn’t string two thoughts together, couldn’t make the synapses fire. Nothing at the helm but the searing pain he brought with him when he woke up, telling his heart to pulse just to find something to do about the feelings of rage and despair that submerged him.

Which, of course, led him to his stupid plan to kill Bruce.

It didn’t work. And it wouldn’t have helped anyway.

His head finally cleared when the dust settled. It dawned on him that he was blessed (ha) with a new lease on life, or something, and he should probably act like it. He should probably get off his ass and make the most of it.

He ends up doing the only things he knows how to do. Jason patrols and goes back to school to get his GED.

The fighting is obvious. He’s lead with his teeth his whole life, he’s not about to start pulling punches now. And a little purpose never hurt anyone, he figures. It helps, most of the time.

More surprising is how much Jason enjoys going back to school. It had started as a passing thought, but he’d forgotten how much he missed it, the freedom to relax and let his mind whir in circles. Bruce had given him the stability to clear his head and focus in the classroom, and he’d soaked everything up like a sponge. When he goes back he discovers, much to his delight, that he’s actually alright in the head. The lights are on, thank god, and soon enough learning comes easy to him, just like it did when he was a teenager. What a relief, to have that back.

He finishes out the GED and figures what the hell, he might as well keep going, and enrolls himself in Gotham U. He is, he realizes, fulfilling a long-lost dream he’d spun for himself back when he was living on the streets. It makes him quietly satisfied, and he pushes through his first semester.

So this is where he is. He comes home at 4am, showers, sleeps for a few hours, then wakes up for class. Dick calls every other week, Barbara patches herself into the line in his helmet without his permission, and he ignores them both. He registers for a course on seventeenth century literature and reads don Miguel de Cervantes, and Margaret Cavendish, and Shakespeare, of course, but also Galileo, which is fun. He brings his books to class, he makes notes in the margins. He searches the authors’ lives on Wikipedia and tries to make text to world connections, just like he learned in school. He looks around the table at the other students and reckons with the fact that they are not, and will never be, like him. Or rather, Jason is not like them. They’re younger, for one thing, but also infinitely more innocent, which feels stupid to say, but it’s true. Whatever they’ve had happen in their uniform lives is absolutely nothing compared to his, and Jason can put that right in his pipe and smoke it for all the good it’ll do him. But he can’t help thinking it, as he eyes them carefully. There is a chasm separating him from them a mile wide, and that’s all there is to it. He’s not like them. Not like you.

You sit next to him, sometimes. You smile at him briefly as you sit down, then remain silent. You don’t speak often, which is notable in a small seminar. Not that Jason does either. A few weeks in he realizes you speak once per class, unless asked a direct question. Your comments are always summarizing, reminding others of the various ideas discussed and offering options of where to go next. It is immensely helpful when you direct traffic like this, and the discussion tends to be clearer after you speak. He peeks at your copy of Paradise Lost spread open under your fingers to find neat little notes, passages underlined, a few question marks. You’re never late, and you always thank the professor before you leave.

Imagine his surprise, then, when he finds you after dark, kicking the shit out of his perp.

You don’t hear him approach, climbing into the man’s apartment with a thud as he realizes someone had started his work for him. He thinks he recognizes you from behind, except that would be crazy, so it can’t be you. What would a university student be doing here? Jason doesn’t count.

It can’t be you, but he’s not sure, so he clears his throat to interrupt. You look at him over your shoulder with a look of such savagery he almost takes a step back.

Yeah. That’s you. Huh.

The cognitive dissonance threatens to give him a migraine. You look him up and down, raise an eyebrow, then turn back to the man lying on the floor and deal him another blow. The man groans, which doesn’t faze you, but Jason snaps to attention.

“I gotta question him.” It’s true, Jason thinks this man has intel on Black Mask’s dealers.

You whirl back around. “That doesn’t seem like it’s my fucking problem.”

Holy shit. Who the fuck are you, anyway?

“Listen, princess,” he begins, grabbing your wrist and pulling you towards him. This is the first time he’s spoken to you, and it amazes him that he’s doing through the modulator. “I got shit to do here, you gotta get out of the way.” You try to slam onto his foot, then recoil, hissing in pain. “Steel-toed, sweetheart, that won’t get you anywhere.”

“What do you even need to know?” you ask furiously. “You target Black Mask, right? You’re wondering if Black Mask is his supplier? He is, there’s checks on the table.” You nod to a modest desk in the corner.

Okay. Yeah, he did want to know that. “Thanks, princess, but I’ll take it from here.”

You wrest yourself from his grip. “No,” you say stubbornly, “I’m not done.”

“Yeah, you are.” Jason eyes the perp, realizing he’d fallen unconscious. Shrugging, he turns to the desk. You’d clearly gone through it, receipts and bills are littered on the table, but there’s a locked cabinet you hadn’t opened. Kneeling, Jason takes out his lockpick.

He keeps an eye on you as he goes to work. You haven’t left, although he’s not sure where you would go, or even what you’re doing here. You watch him warily, folding your arms over your chest. It takes him a few minutes, but eventually the lock clicks, and he slides the drawer open. It’s pretty bare, mostly cash and, aha, a notebook that’s gotta be important.

He holds it for less than a second before you rip it from his fingers, moving across the room and flipping the book open. He grunts in surprise and follows you, only to find himself with a glock in his face.

Instinct tells him to draw his own weapon, and his hand drops to his hip, but he forces himself to freeze. You’re definitely a civilian, despite whatever the fuck you get up to in your free time. You’re not dressed in any kind of practical gear, just a loose fitting sweatshirt and leggings. Jason scouts you out and realizes that the gun in your hand probably isn’t even yours, you don’t have a place to put it. You must have disarmed the perp before Red Hood had gotten there. Jason files that away for later.

“Let me look,” you demand, and Jason nods. You keep the gun on him, holding the notebook open with one hand and studying it intently. It is so like the image of you in class that he almost laughs out loud. Whatever you’re looking for, you clearly find it, and you mouth something over and over, memorizing it. Then you shut the notebook and hold it out to him.

He takes it cautiously. “You need a ride out of here?”

You roll your eyes. “No thanks, dipshit,” and with that you shimmy through the window and bolt down the fire escape.

Jason blinks. Okay.

He follows you anyway, watching from the rooftops as you make your way across town. It takes you a long time, nearly an hour, and Jason worries that something nasty’s gonna go down, but it doesn’t. You trek resolutely across the city, same steady pace, before letting yourself into a nondescript apartment building, an easy bus ride to the campus. He stays for about twenty minutes, but you stay put.

Jason raps a gun against his helmet. Weird.

He tries and fails to wrap his head around it as he finishes out the evening. It’s just not adding up. Jason doesn’t know you well from class, obviously, but you’re such a far cry from what he saw tonight that it’s hard to believe. He’ll have to do some research, he decides, scope out what else you do besides studying and beating up on Jason’s bad guys. Maybe he’ll even ask you about it in class.

He laughs to himself as he heads back to his own apartment. Weird weird weird. Weird performance you gave him, weird enough to keep him up at night. Oh well. You don’t know it, but he’ll see you tomorrow.

————

lol what is this? what is this? a series, hopefully. otherwise I have no freakin’ idea

[plounce]

my scion animal assignments (aka the daemon au that lives in my brain)

alphinaud: fancy rat (very smart and social, a little scurrying guy, busy little hands, can learn tricks, good to ride around on a shoulder, prey animal)

alisaie: coati (clever little omnivore with prehensile tails. females are very social with each other and form lifelong social ties (and also have bigger frontal cortexes than the males!) (my original thought was ocelot/margay although im veering away from that bc kit miqosquat @sunquail pointed out those are rather solitary critters. they also suggested magpies or woodpeckers? i also admit i have some biased fondness for coatis since they were in a local zoo when i was growing up heheh. this one might change - luckily in a daemon au we can sort of fudge when the twins settled. i think alphinaud settled earlier than alisaie.)

minfilia: luna moth (i knew i wanted a moth bc of flying towards light, the mythological tie to death, and the fleeting life - adult silk moths (which luna moths are) live an extremely short adult lifespan and literally cannot eat in their adult bodies. i went with luna moth because they're very striking and pretty)

yshtola: some species of pit viper (venomous, and an ambush predator. the duality between the venom and the association with healing. pit vipers (rattlesnakes, for example) have very poor vision but have extremely good heat-sense and sense of smell. y'shtola to me is someone who waits for the right time to do things and then does them very dramatically. snakes are also just sort of occult.)

thancred: coyote (has to be SOME type of canine. scrappy little scavengers who are so good at thriving under pressure. seen as a pest. evolved as a secondary predator. canis latrans = talking dog. social patterns can vary and adapt throughout an individual's lifespan - solitary, in a pair, in a pack. i have more coyote facts if you want them)

urianger: bearded vulture (so augury was a roman practice of divination through birds (also the source of the words 'auspicious' and 'inauguration' - and augurelt!), and augurs were the people who read the will of the gods through birdwatching. so it has to be a bird. vultures were a majorly important bird in augury, and i like the parallel you can draw between a scavenger of carrion and the hvw and shb gambits urianger was part of. i settled on bearded vultures bc i also wanted to pick something visually suitable as well - bearded vultures have a head of feathers, and have a sort of gawky golden elegance that suits urianger well. hey wikipedia also just told me that in ancient egypt vultures were associated with motherhood - i always win and i NEVER lose.)

ryne: cheetah (a lightning-fast predator who is also extremely anxious and needs companionship. the emotional support dogs from zoos also ties nicely to thancred being canine. her unsettled forms were mostly small little prey animals - rabbits (baby birch by joanna newsom), little songbirds (for the cage association - nightingales and canaries), lambs (sacrificial slaughter), and a lot of trying to force her daemon to be butterflies/moths to match minfilia.)

graha: meerkat (a funny little clever guy who builds a big city and needs to be in a group of people and also he can fight a poisonous viper. ballsy. the sweetest of the mongooses. to quote kit: "they're weirdly possessive over Their people. like they're cliquish kinda, they're extroverts and love to hang out with people, but they have THEIR special people also. who are favoured")

tataru: potbelly pig (extremely intelligent and cute. and PINK! my reasons are simple but effective.)

estinien: [placeholder] (i haven't put much thought into it bc my main thoughts for a daemon au would be about ryne settling during the events of shb and he isn't in the scions for that. has to be some type of predator that can survive in harsh conditions and isn't very social. a few of you are saying hunting bird, which is intriguing... like a heron or a cormorant. maybe an albatross? i'm also thinking snow leopard maybe, but also :/ lord asriel from hdm :/ )

krile: mourning dove (migratory. i think she'd be a domesticated animal, and they're close relatives of passenger pigeons. my main theme i identify for krile is constantly being the lone survivor/arriving late to the grief (minfilia, the isle of val, eureka story choice, the ninth). the colors also suit her. and there's a certain melancholy calm to her... also there's a huron/wyandot story about mourning doves guarding the entrance to the underworld that made me go HEY. OKAY LET'S GO)

[eggtrolls]

quick corrections for the wiki-curious:

there are 848 admins on the English Wikipedia but each project by language and topic (ie Spanish Wikipedia and WikiCommons and so on) has its own admins. It’s not as rare as it seems which is good but we do need more admins.

anyone can revert edits (18,000 bytes isn’t that bad, I’ve done like 42,000 and that was a bitch) but when the admins show up it’s like your boss’s boss catching you fucking around at work and you are likely to catch a block

That being said there is a higher level of user on Wikipedia by editing privilege and it’s called bureaucrat of which there are, on the English Wikipedia, 15. These are the ones to fear.

Can you restore the ‘Hazbin Hotel’ Wikipedia page ‘That’s Entertainment (Hazbin Hotel)’ on Wikipedia? The same person keeps blanking it.

no but i can fuck your mum and give her a kid she can finally be proud of

[genderqueerdykes]

Really appreciate this blog and what it shares. Got into an arguement with someone who was a transfem TIRF (didn’t realize that was even a thing at the time lmao) and it left me feeling really upset due to the both gross ways she’d talked about trans men and the fact that she got a lot of support in the notes. So coming here and seeing in fact most people love and care about us transmascs is nice.

Won’t argue again next time I see an account like that cuz it’s kinda obvious people in those circles are prolly not getting out but yeah.

i am so sorry you had that experience. i'm glad you're advocating for yourself and choosing to not argue with that person again.

i honestly refuse to socialize with a person when i see them be that openly hateful with no attempts to change. i stopped talking to one of my old roommates after he started saying all kinds of transandrophobic shit, shitting on transmascs bodies and calling them gross because he's "gay" and could never be into vaginas or breasts. my ex (trans)gf literally fucking yelled at me for not wanting to be his friend after this. like actually fucking yelled at me numerous times. i asked her if she would be comfortable staying his friend if he was transmisogynistic toward her and told her her body was disgusting, and she said yeah of course, as if somehow that wouldn't cause her pain. nobody gave a flying fuck about how transandrophobia affects transmascs, so i said fuck all of you and stopped being their friends.

there are so many people who have gladly jumped on the rad fem train and it's so sad. that's no way to live your life. that's such a hateful ideology. rad feminism is nothing but hate. it's hate for yourself for being a woman because you equate womanhood to suffering. it's hate for other women because they're not women "right" like you are. it's hate for transmascs and trans men. it's hate for nonbinary people. it's hate for genderfluid people. it's hate for trans, nonbinary, genderqueer, genderfluid, gnc, bi, & pan lesbians. it's hate for butches who are men. for TIRFs in specific, it's hate for other trans people because they're "trans wrong". rad feminism is hatred all the way down no matter how you look at it. rad feminism will never be productive or progressive. it's about wallowing in your misery, mining for sympathy and pity, and crying about how you're powerless and defenseless instead of doing something about it. it's admitting defeat.

as a fellow transmasc, i'm just over it. i'm not gonna stew in self hatred. i had a friend who WAS transmasc who basically forced me to hate myself for being a trans man. always going on and on about how they hated certain transmascs and trans men, how they were "Whiny and entitled"... yikes dude. you can keep hating yourself over there, but i genuinely love being transmasc & a trans man. coming out as a trans man literally saved my fucking life. i was a depressed mess that hated myself before i came out. i've never loved myself more. and if someone else can't love what i love about myself? they're not worth my damn time.

i'm not here to throw transmascs under the bus just to kiss up to transfems to try to look progressive for brownie points. that shit is underhanded and dirty. we can support all trans people at once. we aren't football teams. you don't have to pit random queer identities against one another. we're on the same side. none of us are enemies. none.

thanks for taking the time to stop by! take care of yourself, i'm glad that i could help in any way. i am just OVER people forcing transmascs and trans men to hate themselves and exist solely to talk about trans women and transfems and nothing else. i am just over people making men and mascs feel like shit. it's done. it's over. i'm not participating, and neither are you. pack that shit up into a box, and throw it in the garbage. we're working together whether or not you like it. the only way we get out of this is together. our fight for liberation is NOT a crab bucket- you do NOT have to pull someone else down when you see them rise up and advocate for themselves.

[helloanthy]

🗒️ 24.04.2024 ⋅⋅⋅ 🥀

some notes for 20.09.2023 post and a separate cut out for utena because i spent a very long time rendering her ... the original concept i had in my head for this art was very different. it was just supposed to be a style study of this an official anime prop design art, and i'd thought to draw anthy in a similar pose across from her like in the shown version, but with her wearing her prince outfit from the manga. something something another form of female competition under the patriarchyyy stop pitting 2 girlprinces against each other omg etc (side note, how sick would it have been in an AU where akio made anthy fight against utena in the ring? like i dont think it would hav added more to the story or made it better really ... probably would've diluted the message to be honest ... but everytime i see that manga art of prince anthy i imagine some convoluted black rose arc AU where utenas dodging anthy getting her hair hacked off left and right like himemiyaaa nooo snap out of it this isnt uuu while anthys silent and dead eyed hahaha) but then after i drew prince anthy, the picture looked rather empty ... so i thought to add a few decals or borders in the style of the show & official arts but aaahh ... there was still too much negative space. i had to scrap anthy's prince outfit and put her back in her rose bride dress 😭 man !!! he cant keep getting away this !!! [blames akio the figurehead of patriarchy instead of taking responsibility of my own actions] which made me sad because i was pretty satisfied with the way i drew her pose and legs ! but i had to cover it up 🥲 ... the composition overall looked better though. and then after that it kept spiraling. i just kept adding more and more things until i lost control of this drawing and it plagued my WIP folder for months ... i dont want to try and connect all of it in words so ill just lay out all the pieces for you so you can connect them yourself. and you can experience my art thought process in fraction of erraticity and frustration as i experience it myself. this is a lot neater than what happened in my head though because i bothered to put it in order. honestly if i can make you feel a little bit insane trying to scroll through and read all this than i can make you understand how annoying my brain is when all i wanted to draw was utenanthy girlprinces fighting starting references & inspiration: utena prop reference sheet & manga prince!anthy

the tower & the lovers tarot

above: the lovers as depicted in the tarot of marseilles deck, tarocco bolognese deck, & tarocco piemontese deck the lovers (tarot card) wikipedia: The Lovers is associated with the star sign Gemini, and indeed is also known as The Twins in some decks. Other associations are with Air, Mercury, and the Hebrew letter ז (Zayin). In the Rider Waite deck, the imagery for this card is changed significantly from the traditional depiction. Instead of a couple receiving a blessing from a noble or cleric, the Rider–Waite deck depicts Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.

a.e. waite, the pictorial key to the tarot, part III, section 3, no.6: UPRIGHT: Attraction, love, beauty, trials overcome REVERSED: Failure, foolish designs. Another account speaks of marriage frustrated and contrarieties of all kinds a.e. waite, the pictorial key to tarot, part II, VI. the lovers: In the foreground are two human figures, male and female, unveiled before each other, as if Adam and Eve when they first occupied the paradise of the earthly body. Behind the man is the Tree of Life, bearing twelve fruits, and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil is behind the woman; the serpent is twining round it. The figures suggest youth, virginity, innocence and love before it is contaminated by gross material desire. This is in all simplicity the card of human love, here exhibited as part of the way, the truth and the life. It replaces, by recourse to first principles, the old card of marriage, which I have described previously, and the later follies which depicted man between vice and virtue. In a very high sense, the card is a mystery of the Covenant and Sabbath. The suggestion in respect of the woman is that she signifies that attraction towards the sensitive life which carries within it the idea of the Fall of Man, but she is rather the working of a Secret Law of Providence than a willing and conscious temptress. It is through her imputed lapse that man shall arise ultimately, and only by her can he complete himself. The card is therefore in its way another intimation concerning the great mystery of womanhood. going off of the rider-waite tarot deck: the pictorial key to the tarot—biddytarot's interpretation of the lovers: UPRIGHT: Love, harmony, relationships, values alignment, choices REVERSED: Self-love, disharmony, imbalance, misalignment of values In its purest form, The Lovers card represents conscious connections and meaningful relationships. The arrival of this card in a Tarot reading shows that you have a beautiful, soul-honoring connection with a loved one. [...] The Lovers is a card of open communication and raw honesty. Given that the man and woman are naked, they are both willing to be in their most vulnerable states and have learned to open their hearts to one another and share their truest feelings. [...] On a more personal level, The Lovers card represents getting clear about your values and beliefs. You are figuring out what you stand for and your philosophy. Having gone through the indoctrination of The Hierophant, you are now ready to establish your belief system and decide what is and what is not essential to you. It’s time to go into the big wide world and make choices for yourself, staying true to who you are and being authentic and genuine in all your endeavors. At its heart, The Lovers is about choice. The choice about who you want to be in this lifetime, how you connect with others and on what level, and about what you will and won’t stand for. To make good choices, you need to be clear about your personal beliefs and values – and stay true to them. Not all decisions will be easy either. The Lovers card is often a sign that you are facing a moral dilemma and must consider all consequences before acting. Your values system is being challenged, and you are being called to take the higher path, even if it is difficult. Do not carry out a decision based on fear or worry or guilt or shame. Now, more than ever, you must choose love – love for yourself, love for others and love for the Universe. Choose the best version of yourself. Finally, The Lovers card encourages you to unify dual forces. You can bring together two parts that are seemingly in opposition to one another and create something that is ‘whole’, unified and harmonious. In every choice, there is an equal amount of advantage and disadvantage, opportunity and challenge, positive and negative. When you accept these dualities, you build the unity from which love flows.

the tower (tarot card) wikipedia: The Tower is widely associated to danger, crisis, sudden change, destruction, higher learning, and liberation. In the Rider–Waite deck, the top of The Tower is a crown, which symbolizes materialistic thought being bought cheap, downcast. a.e. waite, the pictorial key to the tarot, part III, section 3, no.16: UPRIGHT: Misery, distress, indigence, adversity, calamity, disgrace, deception, ruin. It is a card in particular of unforeseen catastrophe REVERSED: According to one account, the same in a lesser degree also oppression, imprisonment, tyranny (the wikipedia included a.e. waite's upright meanings, but i have no idea where they got the reversed meanings) going off of the rider-waite tarot deck: the pictorial key to the tarot—biddytarot's interpretation of the tower: UPRIGHT: Sudden change, upheaval, chaos, revelation, awakening REVERSED: Personal transformation, fear of change, averting disaster The Tower shows a tall tower perched on the top of a rocky mountain. Lightning strikes set the building alight, and two people leap from the windows, head first and arms outstretched. It is a scene of chaos and destruction. The Tower itself is a solid structure, but because it has been built on shaky foundations, it only takes one bolt of lightning to bring it down. It represents ambitions and goals made on false premises. The lightning represents a sudden surge of energy and insight that leads to a break-through or revelation. It enters via the top of the building and knocks off the crown, symbolizing energy flowing down from the Universe, through the crown chakra. The people are desperate to escape from the burning building, not knowing what awaits them as they fall. [...] The best way forward is to let this structure self-destruct so you can re-build and re-focus. [...] with a card like The Tower, you have no choice but to surrender to the destruction and chaos, no matter how unwanted or painful [...] After a Tower experience, you will grow stronger, wiser and more resilient as you develop a new perspective on life you did not even know existed. 

infant stars taken by NASA hubble used in the background overlay of akio's tower star birth | cool cosmos: Stars form from the simplest of building blocks - huge clouds of gas and dust that permeate the Galaxy. [...] While these big clouds of dust and gas lay dormant for many millions and perhaps billions of years, eventually some of them are disturbed. This can happen gradually, maybe caused by the approach of one of the Milky Way's spiral arms as it slowly sweeps around the center of the galaxy, or it can be a sudden event, like a nearby supernova explosion that blasts a shockwave through the cloud. Either way, a small increase in the pressure and density of the cloud forms knots in the gas and dust that eventually collapse under their own gravity, pulling more and more of the surrounding material in, and forming the stellar "seeds" known as protostars. From Protostar to Star: As the clouds collapse, they start to rotate, and, like a spinning skater pulling in her arms, each of these seed protostars begins to spin faster the more it collapses. The material falling towards the protostar flattens out into a rotating disk of dust and gas encircling the central core. The protostar warms up, as the potential energy of the material falling in is converted into kinetic energy, but it has not yet ignited to form a fully-fledged star. For the next few million years, the protostar's gravity pulls in more material from the surrounding cloud into its disk. That disk transports the gas and dust onto the protostar, causing the protostar to grow. The increase in mass causes the gravitational field of the protostar to increase and so even more material is pulled into the disk. The addition of more material, in turn, increases the gravitational field even further, pulling in more material, and so on, creating a feedback loop that keeps the whole process going. [...] The density and temperature of the protostar keep climbing higher and higher, until eventually the core grows to about one tenth the size of our Sun, and becomes hot and dense enough for hydrogen nuclei to spontaneously stick together to form helium, in a process called nuclear fusion. At that instant, the core ignites, and the new star is born. Meanwhile, in the disk, clumps of material have been forming, which are the seeds of new planets. These seeds sweep up material in the disk in a process called accretion, forming the planets of a new solar system. Once the star has started nuclear fusion, the heat and wind from the infant star begin to blast the gas and dust away, creating a cavity in the cloud. As more and more matter gets funneled onto the star from the disk, the star gets larger and larger, causing it to push harder and harder against the cloud and the disk, enlarging the cavity, vaporizing the disk, and halting the growth of planets.

deadheading (flowers) wikipedia: Deadheading is the horticultural practice of removing spent flowers from ornamental plants. Deadheading is a widespread form of pruning, since fading flowers are not as appealing and direct a lot of energy into seed development if pollinated. The goal of deadheading is thus to preserve the attractiveness of the plants in beds, borders, containers and hanging baskets, as well as to encourage further blooming. Deadheading flowers with many petals, such as roses, peonies, and camellias prevents them from littering.

[...] Ornamental plants that do not require deadheading are those that do not produce a lot of seed or tend to deadhead themselves [...] if the plant bears attractive seeds or fruits, deadheading is normally avoided

ladybird, ladybug, lady beetle: scientific name "coccinellidae" wikipedia: Etymology: [...] The common English name ladybird originated in Britain where the insects became known as "Our Lady's birds". Mary ("Our Lady") was often depicted wearing a red cloak in early art, and the seven spots of the species Coccinella septempunctata (the most common in Europe) were said to represent her seven joys and seven sorrows. Trophic Roles: Coccinellids act both as predators, prey and parasitic hosts in food webs. The majority of coccinellids are carnivorous and predatory. [...] Cannibalism has been recorded in several species; which includes larvae eating eggs or other larvae, and adults feeding on individuals of any life stage.

Defense: The bright warning colouration of many coccinellids discourage potential predators, warning of their toxicity [...] Species with more contrast with the background environment tended to be more toxic. Coccinellid haemolymph (blood) contains toxic alkaloids, azamacrolides and polyamines, as well as foul-smelling pyrazines. Coccinellids can produce at least 50 types of alkaloids. When disturbed, ladybirds further defend themselves with reflex bleeding, exuding drops from their tibio-femoral (knee) joints, effectively presenting predators with a sample of their toxic and bitter body fluid.

despite said being named after the lady virgin mary they are known to be promiscuous breeders, who's habits have been documented to result in epidemics of sexually transmitted infection in large populations, subject to various academic studies

lyric from lady oscar's theme song "the rose perishes beautifully"

ok there was more but its been like 8 hours it turns out trying to put my thoughts into words even if its just a bunch of copy pasting is even more annoying than just thinking them im ending this post 😭

[copperbadge]

His time approaches.

[ID: A small Starbucks branded paper coffee cup, which does not have coffee in it; instead, emerging from the mouth of the cup is a blue witch's hat with a star on it. The hint of one wide, staring owl eye, belonging to the figurine known as Prowly, looks up at you with menace in his gaze.]

If you’ve been here more than a year you probably remember Prowly; if you haven’t, well, that’s why we do the Ritual Retelling of the Story of Prowly, the Owl On The Prowl. (Screenreader users, you can read a full description of Prowly here.)

Nine years ago, as a gift, my mother gave me a terrifying owl figurine. After I posted it on the internet so that if I died mysteriously you’d know why, @thewalrus-said suggested that it was the spiritual kin to Elf On The Shelf: Owl On The Prowl.

Wikipedia doesn’t properly explain that part of the psychosis of Elf On The Shelf is that parents have taken to setting up daily tableaux with the Elf figurine for their children to find during the Christmas season. I came of age well before the existence of Elf On The Shelf, so when I googled it I fell into a terrifying pit of Elf Tableau Ideas, Elf Bad Tableau Ideas, Elf Hate, and Elf Recrimination.

But the suggestion was an intriguing one, so ever since Prowly came into my life I have been staging Owl On The Prowl tableaux for your entertainment every October.

At least he’s got one up on the Elf on the Shelf: Prowly isn’t a snitch.

[eggtrolls]

they found her!!!

The Lost Chestnut Bee.  Have you seen this bee lately (that bee would be Andrena rehni)?  No you have not unless you have been looking on blooming Chestnut or the blooms of Chestnut’s mysterious sister,  Chinquapin. As far as we can tell no one has seen this species for decades. Why?  It seems that this is likely due to the fact that this bee is a chestnut specialist and since the American Chestnuts disappeared in the 20’s and no one looks at the obscure Chinquapin, then, of course, there will be no records.  Many do not realize that the chestnut was a pollinator powerhouse back before they all died.  Providing tons of pollen in a forested environment in late spring/early summer when nothing else was blooming in the woods.   There is so much about this tree that is special and stands out and now it appears we have one special thing to add to that special list.   This specimen was found by Morgan Lowry on one of the state of Connecticut’s chestnut groves.  You can also make a contribution by looking for this species on American Chestnuts and Chinquapins.  Photo by Cole Cheng.  

[wh0re4women]

Anticipatory Grief. (Larissa Weems X Reader) SFW.

Summary: Anticipatory grief refers to a feeling of grief occurring before an impending loss. Typically, the impending loss is the death of someone close due to illness — Wikipedia.

Warnings: So much hurt, loss, grief. No comfort. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK. inspired by this beautiful fic by @weemssapphic and a bunch of poetry on grief.

Larissa shuffles out of bed at four in the afternoon. You're chopping vegetables for dinner — the same dinner you've cooked every day this month (the only thing she can stomach these days). She's up later today, just like all week, despite the early night. She steps into the kitchen; winces at the ache in her spine. You turn around, force a smile, try to bite down the thought that she's almost gone. Two hours later will turn into four, then eight and suddenly her hands are cold and—

"How did you sleep, sweetheart?" you nervously ask and the way her breath catches in her throat as she takes a single step forward creates a pit in your stomach.

Larissa looks tired, pale; when you wrap an arm around her waist and guide her gently, slowly towards a leather, cushioned chair — out of place in the kitchen, in replacement of a stool that Larissa could no longer hop onto — she feels frail, light. It's a sick reminder that you've already lost so much of her.

In a way, grief is nice, it proves you've loved. But today, grief is cruel. When Larissa brokenly replies “Well, darling,” the words are swollen with guilt from telling the white lie, but Larissa cant stand seeing the worry knitting your eyebrows together, cant stand the sound of concern in your voice every time you ask a question. She's ridden with guilt; notices that your phone is never on mute anymore — always on alert in case the doctor calls, notices how you used to find joy and comfort in cooking, but now preparing any meal means hours of hand-feeding every bite to her while she cradles a sick-bowl in her arms. Even the simple things — the things no one would analyse — keep Larissa's mind occupied. Like how she hasn't seen you wear a dress in months. Not since Larissa was diagnosed and you had to make sure you always kept emergency medication in your pockets (something that dresses lacked).

You try not to ask too many questions as you feed Larissa dinner, yet one pulls at your tongue the entire time — how am I supposed to live without you? There's desperation in your eyes and Larissa catches a glimpse of it right before you turn away to wash the dishes. She insists she can manage to stay up and watch TV in the living room with you tonight. You insist she goes back to bed. There's tension in the air — the usual now; it dissipates as you compromise with a shared bath.

The porcelain fills with water gradually and you wonder if this is the last time you'll bathe with Larissa — is it the last time you'll ever see her naked frame? In another life, you're fifty-three and Larissa is seventy-two; you eat berries as you watch the sun rise and drink tea as you watch it set. In this life, you're just unlucky.

You slide into the tub behind Larissa and ease her back onto your chest, thankful that the running tap muffles your sniffle, thankful that Larissa's head falls onto your shoulder and her thin, blonde hair unknowingly brushes the tear off your cheek. You've technically already lost her — she barely resembles the Larissa that you fell in love with; you almost wish you could stop loving her just for that, so that the grief would quit cutting at your heart strings, so that you could finally swallow without the lump in your throat being in the way.

You close your eyes and your lungs burn with the breath you're supposed to take and when you do take it, it comes out shaky and fuck, Larissa wasn't supposed to know that you're upset but you feel her tense and no amount of cascading your nails along her arm is enough to melt her back into your skin, but she doesn't ask because she already knows and there's nothing she can do to help but just be there; she isn't even sure if she can do that.

The washcloth is soapy; leaves a trail of suds as it slides along Larissa's skin. She winces, bites her lip in frustration with herself, apologises, asks you to please, just a little lighter, it hurts today and you use your bare hand for the first time ever, knowing it's now routine.

Larissa cringes visibly as she swallows her medication, like usual, and you pray to whoever is listening to let you trade places with her, as always. She falls asleep an hour earlier than normal and you note the change in the back of your mind; scribble it in your notebook before you leave the room.

The wine bottle is emptied within two days and Larissa's washcloth grows cold and mouldy on the edge of the tub by the end of the week; you don't dare throw it out. You wonder if all of the TV shows you started would ever get finished, or if maybe some things are just meant to end unexpectedly and too soon.

"A couple of weeks maybe," the doctor tells you when you stupidly ask again. He looks directly into your eyes with sorrow and you're angry, you're so angry — because it's not just a couple of weeks, it's also a lifetime of grief and heartbreak and longing; it's walking down the cereal aisle and breaking down because Larissa loved that brand of granola. Because the doctor was supposed to save her. Because you were supposed to grow old together and Larissa won't get to do that anymore and you're not sure whether you can do it without her.

When the Pharmacist calls you darling, you dial Larissa's number immediately to make sure it isn’t a sign from a higher power telling you that something is wrong. And when you hear an ambulance on your way home, you don't think twice before sprinting. Every coughing fit, you wonder is this it? And every night you cant seem to sleep, constantly thinking and thinking and thinking of that one poem that goes,

In all of time,

I wonder how

Many lives I

Will have to

Live, until I

find my way

back to you.

- dj.

[eggtrolls]

Look at my article, boy

[strangedreamings]

S3E4 (spoilers abound)

Portia, Prudence, and Philippa listening at the open door while Debling calls on Pen. The three of them are anything but subtle.

Aww, he gave her a potted plant so she can have nature indoors with her. I hope somebody in this house has a green thumb. He is sweet but he'd better be honest with whoever he ends up marrying about his actual reason for finding a wife.

Has Pen truly given up on Colin? It's sad if that's true.

"I will surely eat all of the biscuits" You mean we FINALLY have an appearance by Colin's bottomless pit of a stomach? It only took what, TWO AND A HALF SEASONS?!

Violet knows when something is up but she also knows a dismissal when she hears one.

Benedict and Lady Tilley. Yeah, she's this season's Siena, though I will say I like her a lot more than I liked Siena (which isn't hard). She won't last but at least they'll be fun to watch while she's around.

Agatha and Marcus. Their dynamic is interesting -- "Do whatever, I'm too busy to get involved." I doubt he'll last beyond S3, but you never know.

"to become the new Marquess Samadani" OH MY FUCKING GOD, SHONDA, YOU DID NOT!!! The wife of a marquess (or a female marquess in her own right) is not called a marquess, but a MARCHIONESS! I know marquess isn't a common title in the British peerage but Shonda, you have access to Wikipedia, FUCKING USE IT!!!

"You read me too well." God, I love Charlotte and Brimsley.

Violet, El, Fran, and the kids are expecting Lord Samadani but Maybe-John has dropped in instead. We'd better learn his name soon, this is driving me nuts.

"John Stirling, Earl of Kilmartin." FUCKING FINALLY!!!! I don't care that his accent is wrong, I love this guy already! Is your cousin Michael in town too, John? Or is he earning his title of the Merry Rake elsewhere?

John and Fran are simply enjoying the silence and the rest of the family is completely baffled, I love it. And here comes Samadani, lovely. John, your timing is awful.

Samadani seems like a nice enough guy, he's just wrong for Francesca.

Love the library, hate Portia's internalized misogyny. I really feel for Cressida now. Can Debling marry her once Colin finally gets his head out of his ass and marries Pen?

I take "revelry" to mean Colin's friends are going whoring and want him to come with, lovely.

Debling is finally being honest? Well, not directly, but still, I'll take it for now. Oh, he's being subtle but he is being direct, got it. Poor Pen, she's torn between the life she wants and a good life that's being offered to her.

Colin with his two ladies again but this time, he's not into it. If you've already paid, Colin, you could've just bid them goodnight and left, you didn't have to stay.

Francesca running into John on the street. These two are a little too quiet for their own good, but I'm sure they'll be fine, maybe with a little help from Violet.

The Cowpers' sitting room has to be the most depressing room on the planet. Lord Cowper's forbidding Cressida from being friends with Eloise? Is it because of Colin? Or Pen? Or maybe he thinks she's putting too much effort into the friendship and not enough into finding a husband. Cressida, I'm guessing you're the same age as Daphne, so I believe that makes you 23 now. You're a legal adult and have been for two years. It would be highly irregular but you could move out of your parents' house. I'm sure the Bridgertons would take you in if Eloise explained everything.

Uh oh, the Mondriches' pub needs saving (again). We'll have another last-minute save by a Bridgerton by the time S3 is over, I'm sure. Frankly, most of the ton can fuck themselves, and that includes Colin's "friends," especially Fife. Pig.

Colin wanting more out of sex is a great sign of both his maturity and him falling in love.

So Debling's serious about proposing to Pen. Poor Pen and poor Cressida.

BTW, I love how the subtitles keep calling the music this season "pensive," it feels like an unintended pun.

For a woman who can't come up with a decent metaphor to save her life, Violet is very wise when it comes to her kids. Oh, she is playing Colin like a fiddle! Go, Violet!

I really like her and Marcus together, he seems like a great guy, though apparently somewhat estranged from Agatha.

Cressida came to Eloise. El really brings out the best in her, something her parents really try to keep hidden. I swear to God, Shonda, if you don't give Cressida a happy ending, I will.

Be careful, Fran, especially with the Queen watching.

Colin has finally outgrown his "friends," halleluiah!

Well, at least Debling bowed out gracefully. And Cressida still has a chance, as slim as it is.

Oh, is this THE carriage scene? Not quite how the book one went but hey, if we get the same outcome, I'm all for it.

Aww, Colin looks like he's about to cry.

"Are you going to marry me or not?" Colin, I could kiss you but I'll leave that to Pen. WE GOT OUR BOOK PROPOSAL!!!

And we don't even get an answer before the episode ends.

Nice cliffhanger, Shonda.

[rabbitcruiser]

Craters of the Moon National Monument & Preserve, ID (No. 5)

King's Bowl Lava Field erupted during a single fissure eruption on the southern part of the Great Rift about 2,250 years ago. This eruption probably lasted only a few hours to a few days. The field preserves explosion pits, lava lakes, squeeze-ups, basalt mounds, and an ash blanket. The Wapi Lava Field probably formed from a fissure eruption at the same time as the King's Bowl eruption. More prolonged activity over a period of months to a few years led to the formation of low shield volcanoes in the Wapi field. The Bear Trap Cave lava tube, between the Craters of the Moon and the Wapi lava fields, is a cave system more than 15 miles (24 km) long. The lava tube is remarkable for its length and for the number of well-preserved lava cave features, such as lava stalactites and curbs, the latter marking high stands of the flowing lava frozen on the lava tube walls. The lava tubes and pit craters of the park are known for their preservation of winter ice and snow into the hot summer months due to shielding from the sun and the insulating properties of basalt.

A typical eruption along the Great Rift and similar basaltic rift systems starts with a curtain of very fluid lava shooting up to 1,000 feet (300 m) high along a segment of the rift up to 1 mile (1.6 km) long. As the eruption continues, pressure and heat decrease, and the chemistry of the lava becomes slightly more silica-rich. The curtain of lava responds by breaking apart into separate vents. Various types of volcanoes may form at these vents: gas-rich, pulverized lava creates cinder cones, and pasty lava blobs form spatter cones. Later stages of an eruption push lava streams out through the side or base of cinder cones, which usually ends the life of the cinder cone (North Crater, Watchman, and the Sheep Trail Buttes are notable exceptions). This will sometimes breach part of the cone and carry it away as large and craggy blocks of cinder. Solid crust forms over lava streams and lava tubes are created when lava vacates its course.

Geologists feared that a large earthquake that shook Borah Peak, Idaho's tallest mountain, in 1983 would restart volcanic activity at Craters of the Moon, though this proved not to be the case. Geologists predict that the area will experience its next eruption sometime in the next 900 years, with activity most likely to occur within the next 100 years.

Source: Wikipedia

[muse-rising]

How to Name Your Dragon

AKA: How I spent the last hour and a half of my life on something that should be simple and straight-forward. Specifically, this dragon (who is not finished yet):

My new(ish), Solstice-hatched gen 1 with all gem genes and eyes (cries in that's all my current funds).

1. Stare at your dragon in their final state. Try to figure out the vibes they give you. Tip: Use their hatchdate for inspiration. 2. Websearch for names that mean things the dragon makes you think of: names that mean something relevant to the dragon's appearance, theme, or hatchdate. Check out a few of the resulting (usually baby naming) sites that pop up. 3. Write down possibilities as you come across them. I do this in the dragon's bio. 4. Play with some of the names and sounds to try a few of your own creation too. Or combinations of meaningful names. 5. Stare at the dragon's picture some more while trying each name out loud. Pit them against each other to the death. Last name standing wins. 5a. This sometimes involves cross-referencing the meaning of each name because some of these sites are literally just making it up rather than giving you the actual meaning from the actual origin. 6. Do a little spot research on the name source (ie language, fictional work, mythology, and or country of origin. 6a. This sometimes provides inspiration to plop down for creating some lore later. Either way it just makes sense to at least learn a little about the source before you use it. 7. Remember that there was a thematically appropriate pendant or something Galadriel gave Frodo on the whole "Light in the darkness" theme your Solstice dragon has going on.

8. Research Galadriel looking for the name of the thing. 9. Find pretty names and words in that research you might use, research those to see if they're appropriate. 10. Increase your in-depth knowledge of Galadriel and Tolkien's possible folk and myth inspirations on elves as angels. 11. Find what you're looking for and realize that name's not right. 12. End up researching Luthien/Tinuviel (forgot how I got here lol) to learn a little more about her than just the basics. 13. Realize while you like the meaning of "nightingale" for your dragon, Tinuviel doesn't seem to really suit them. 14. Check Silmarils just in case they might yield a gem or two and because you're only aware of the basics. 15. Go back to nightingale. Look up more names that mean nightingale. 16. Cross reference those in case the source is making things up. 17. Highlight the Latin "Luscinia" from nightingale wikipedia. It's a good one. 18. Research the symbolism of nightingale for both lore inspiration and verification it suits the dragon meaning-wise. 19. Read a pretty line by a poet named Percy Shelley. 20. Look him up before officially quoting it in the bio to make sure he's not a horrible creep. 21. Discover he was into political justice and free love way before the US went wild for it in the 60s and 70s and was an atheist in a time that got him shunned for it. 22. Read about his love affair and eventual marriage to Mary Godwin - wait...wouldn't that make her Mary Shelley. 23. Realize this poet is the same poet you knew Mary Shelley had married. 24. Read more about Mary Shelley while you're at it because while you know some of it, it's from an episode of Dr. Who primarily and you're curious about some of the things brought up in Percy Shelley's wikipedia. 25. Write a post about how it took you WAY too much of your life to pick a name. In my defense, I learned a whole lot tonight about a lot of random things. Even more if you count the hour and a half before that where I spent naming a different dragon and learning a bunch of stuff about Azerbaijani, Iran, Persia. + their modern and historical views of queer people. and the Ghost Busters universe/timeline.

Final name for the pictured dragon: Luscinia (Latin name for nightingale - which etymologically could mean "Little seen (as in the twilight) singer" or even "famous singer." Might also be "Little understood singer" referring to the mystery of their nightsong. Oh! 26. Remember that somewhere in there included research into the Greek language for many other names and in what order they tend to use adjectives+nouns. Also Circe, Callisto, and Kalliope research. My brain is full of learning. Azerbaijani/Ghost Busters research-prompting dragon was named Zulejxa. A day later: 27. Remember you also did a bunch of reading up on Amaryllis flowers both in general and according to flower language.

[beepofsleeplessdreams]

thinking out loud about some anime an illustrator i like worked on

so, one of my favorite illustrators (at least, I think that's the right term for him) is yoshitoshi ABe. recently i made the decision to look through a bunch of projects he had a hand in, mostly because i wanted to see what kind of stuff he'd attached himself to over the decades. prior to this i'd only seen Serial Experiments Lain, but i feel like basically everyone's seen that so that's not saying much lol. this was partially spurred on by a friend of mine telling me Texhnolyze was among their favorites. at time of writing, i've finished Texhnolyze and NieA_7, and i'm watching Haibane Renmei on-and-off and loving it. the world is bizarre and beautiful, and the character designs are lovely and have so much personality in my eyes. so that's where i started. so below is a series of rambles and thoughts i've had on this little journey of mine up to this point. i've still got a ways to go.

misc. spoilers for Texhnolyze in the next section

texhnolyze was a show i really enjoyed, but falls into the same pit as serial experiments lain in my brain. i struggle to understand what it's trying to say below the immediate surface and i end up primarily enjoying it as a surface-level product. not to say that i didn't make some connections in my head along the ride, i have so many questions about the world that i want answered, and some really fun observations I made. ichise's conversation with the voice in the chair was something that i had a lot of fun picking apart because it tickled that little goblin in my brain that loves social science. with the whole idea that height relates to authority, the pile of stones bringing images of gods on mountains in myth, but the chair tying all that powerful imagery up in this idea of boredom. apathy of the gods and all that. the entire trip to the surface is something that had me on the edge of the seat, and kinda tied into my greater sci-fi brainrot. that whole idea that one a society stagnates and rots people seek "better times", and this is how you end up with so many space prussians/germans being bad guys in older sci-fi anime like classic gundam and legend of the galactic heroes. it's people clinging to an idea of a """better time""" to larp that they're better than they are. this is what was going through my head during the arc of the story on the surface, whenever i saw that outdated technology that lives only in old b&w movies and period pieces. despite these obversations, i feel like i can't formulate a big picture, this is by no means bad, but i can't help but feel like i'm "missing something". though, this might be rectified in lain's case when i get around to it, it's been close to 10 years since i last watched it.

misc. spoilers for NieA_7

this is one that i don't think i ever heard someone talk about prior to me just plucking it off of ABe's wikipedia page. it's this weird slice-of-life comedy about living in poverty but there's also humanoid aliens that are kinda just around and comically failing to integrate into society. that whole second point, with the aliens, i feel it kinda detracts from a lot from the show's actually really simple and touching heart about just trying to escape being poor. the whole thing is kinda tainted with this mild xenophobia for the sake of "comedy" and the vast majority of the recurring aliens are these really mean-spirited racist stereotypes. eventually i came to ignore the vast majority of that aspect of the show, besides the titular NieA, and focus on the part of it that really spoke to me. the main character, Mayuko, is a young adult working 3 jobs on top of going to cram school in a desperate attempt to get into a good college and escape poverty by getting a """real job""" and a """future""". the reason why i use quotations is the same reason why her character really spoke to me. she was so focused on the mere act of survival and vaguely working towards the future that she never found the time to really think about the future. no plans, no dreams, inching towards a success she has no idea how to capitalize upon. something similar happened to me, personally. i spent the vast majority of highschool and college fighting for good grades and accolades with no other plan than to just get away from a very toxic family situation. and i succeeded. i gave up a social life for the sake of advancing and was rewarded by getting poached right out of college into a fairly comfortable. i moved out 6 months later and subsequently broke down. without that constant pressure of ESCAPE ESCAPE ESCAPE i had this sort of psychological explosive decompression and became incredibly depressed, and almost made some very poor and very permanent decisions. i saw a character that was flying towards the same mistakes i made and i was wondering all along if the show would propose some kind of "solution" that i'd failed to see. it didn't offer anything concrete, but something much simpler that i nontheless really appreciated. a loving promise that things will be okay somewhere, someday. the same sentiment helped me when i needed it. i get that that's corny as hell, but i'm a stupid mushy man-thing. it's a show i really recommend people look at, because while the lows are INCREDIBLY low and mean, the heart is there and beautiful.

[naturelove106]

Online Counselling for Students: Because Adulting is Hard (And Yes, We’re All Faking It)

Let’s kick this off with a confession: I once wrote an essay on sleep deprivation while sleep-deprived. The result? A masterpiece that somehow cited “Wikipedia” as a primary source. Spoiler: My professor wasn’t amused. If you’re cringing right now, congrats—you’ve just identified with 90% of students who’ve ever existed.

Welcome to the circus of academia, where burnout is the unofficial mascot, and “I’ll sleep when I’m dead” is the anthem. But here’s the twist: What if I told you there’s a way to survive this chaos without mainlining energy drinks or adopting a monk’s meditation habits? Enter online counselling—the underrated hero for students who’ve mastered the art of looking composed while internally screaming.

Student Life: A Netflix Series Where Every Season is Finals Week

Picture this: Your to-do list is longer than a CVS receipt. You’re oscillating between “I will conquer the world!” and “I can’t even conquer laundry.” Your social life? A group chat that’s 97% memes and 3% actual plans. Oh, and let’s not forget the piñata of modern woes—comparison culture. Nothing says “mental health hazard” like scrolling through LinkedIn at 2 a.m. and realizing your peer from Chem 101 is now “disrupting the blockchain space.”

But here’s the kicker: None of us signed up for this. Not the all-nighters that leave you hallucinating Excel formulas. Not the guilt-tripping voice in your head that whispers, “Shouldn’t you be productive?” during your one (1) hour of leisure. Academic stress isn’t just about grades; it’s about feeling like a scrambled egg in a world that expects omelettes.

Why Online Counselling? (Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love My Wi-Fi)

Let’s get real. Traditional therapy can feel like ordering a salad at a burger joint—admirable, but awkward. The commute? A hard pass. The waiting room magazines from 2017? No thanks.

But imagine this: You’re in pajamas, clutching a mug of questionable instant coffee, spilling your existential crises to a therapist who doesn’t side-eye your chaotic bookshelf background. That’s Hulm Counselling’s online therapy in a nutshell. No pants required. No judgment doled out. Just raw, unfiltered support for when you’re one bad grade away from adopting a pet rock as your emotional support companion.

The Nuts, Bolts, and Glitter of Online Therapy

Hulm’s approach isn’t some rigid, textbook snoozefest. Think of it as a choose-your-own-adventure book, but for mental health:

Procrastination Pit-Stops: Because “I work better under pressure” is a lie we tell ourselves until the pressure works us.

Anxiety Alchemy: Turn “What if I fail?” into “What if I… don’t?” (Mind-blowing, right?)

Imposter Syndrome Smackdowns: That voice whispering “You don’t belong here”? Hulm helps you evict it.

Grief GPS: Lost a loved one? A dream job? Your ability to care? They’ve got maps for that.

And the best part? You can do it all while wrapped in a blanket burrito. Take that, societal expectations.

But Does It Actually Work? (Asking for My Skeptical Inner Child)

Fair question. Online therapy used to sound as legit to me as “guaranteed unicorn sightings.” But then I tried it during my Masters—a time when my stress levels could’ve powered a small city. My therapist didn’t fix my deadlines, but she taught me to:

Spot burnout before it starts masquerading as “productivity.”

Say “no” without drafting a 10-point justification essay.

Treat my brain like a friend, not a faulty Uber app.

Was it magic? Nope. But it was like finally finding glasses for my blurry emotional vision.

Why Hulm Counselling Doesn’t Suck (A Rare 5-Star Yelp Review from Life)

Hulm isn’t some algorithm-driven app that asks, “How does that make you feel?” in a robot voice. Their therapists are humans—actual, licensed humans—who’ve seen the academic trenches. They speak Student, fluently.

Case in point:

They won’t flinch if you admit to crying over a group project. (Been there, graded that.)

They get the cultural baggage—helicopter parents, caste dynamics, the whole “arts vs. STEM” rivalry.

They’re cheaper than a semester’s worth of textbooks and your monthly frappuccino budget.

How to Start (Without Falling into a TikTok Vortex)

Step 1: Visit Hulm’s Blog. It’s like therapy-lite—zero calories, all insight. Step 2: Book a Session. Takes less time than picking a Netflix show. (No, really.) Step 3: Show Up. Even if you’re 40% zombie, 60% caffeine.

Final Thoughts: Your Brain Deserves Better Than Crumbs

Look, I’m not here to preach—I’m the person who stress-baked 3 loaves of banana bread during exams (carbs > coping skills). But here’s the raw truth: You can’t pour from an empty cup. And if your cup is currently holding the dregs of sanity, maybe it’s time to refill.

Online counselling isn’t about being “broken.” It’s about upgrading your emotional software so life doesn’t keep blue-screening. So next time you’re doomscrolling instead of studying, give Hulm a click. Or don’t. But hey—what’s the worst that could happen? (Spoiler: A+ support, zero regrets.)

P.S. If you’re reading this instead of studying, welcome to the club. Our mascot is a sloth with a degree. Meetings are never.