#march student trends

[serve-832]

The SERVE-Brand

"You know what, Derek?" Paul said as they strolled through the bustling streets, the chilly December wind biting at their ears. "This shopping is more hectic than finals week."

Derek chuckled, his breath forming small puffs of fog. "You're not wrong. And the struggle of finding that perfect gift for mom and dad is real."

As they turned the corner, they couldn't help but notice a group of men marching in eerie synchronicity. Their black rubber suits shimmered with silver lining, reflecting the neon lights from the surrounding stores. The rhythmic clacking of their boots on the pavement grew louder, punctuating the festive jingles playing in the background. Each man had a distinct number on their chest, as if they were part of some bizarre, futuristic flash mob.

Derek and Paul exchanged puzzled glances. "What the heck is that?" Derek whispered.

"They're from this weird SERVE-Hive," Paul murmured, his voice laced with concern. "I've heard about them. They're like... a new kind of community, or something."

Derek squinted at the men, trying to get a closer look. "They're everywhere now, aren't they? Even some boys from our college are in it."

Paul nodded, his eyes scanning the group warily. "Yeah, and it's not just the suits. It's their expressions—like they're all part of the same hive mind."

The two friends slowed their pace, drawn in by the hypnotic rhythm of the marching men. The SERVE-Hive was indeed a growing presence on campus, and around the city for that matter. Their numbers had swelled over the last few months, and their influence was palpable. Some students spoke of finding a new sense of belonging and purpose, while others whispered about strange rituals and induction ceremony’s.

"You know, a guy from my dorm floor tried to get me to check it out," Paul confessed, his voice low. "He said it would give me unity and purpose, like nothing else could."

Derek raised an eyebrow. "And what's that supposed to mean?"

Paul shrugged. "He said it would help me understand the meaning of life, or something like that. But the way he talked about it, it just gave me the creeps."

Derek nodded, his eyes still on the marching men. "I can see why. They look like they're in some kind of trance."

Paul's gaze followed the line of the SERVE-Hive members as they turned into an alleyway, leading to a freshly painted storefront. The neon sign above the entrance read "SERVE-Brand" in sleek, silver letters.

"Can you believe it?" Paul seethed, his cheeks reddening with anger. "They've got a clothing store now? It's like they're trying to brand their way into our lives!"

Derek nodded, his eyes narrowing as he studied the gleaming "SERVE-Brand" sign. "It's like they're marketing themselves as the latest trend."

The alley grew quieter as the last of the marching men disappeared into the store. The neon lights cast long shadows that danced with the fading daylight. The air was thick with anticipation, a strange mix of excitement and unease.

As Derek and Paul continued to watch the entrance, a familiar face emerged from the shadows. It was Miles, a mate from their dorm floor, now clad in the same shiny black rubber suit with the silver lining they had seen on the others. The number 336 was emblazoned on his chest, a stark contrast to his otherwise plain, lifeless expression.

Paul's hand flew to his mouth. "Oh my God, that's Miles!" he exclaimed in a hushed tone.

Derek's eyes widened. "What the... is he okay?"

Miles's gaze was fixed straight ahead, his eyes unseeing as he moved with the same mechanical precision as the others. His face, once lively and full of mischief, was now a mask of concentration. The silver 336 on his chest glinted in the neon glow, sending a shiver down Derek's spine.

For a fleeting moment, Derek found himself imagining what it would be like to join the SERVE-Hive, to be part of something so powerful and unified. He pictured himself in one of those suits, marching in step with the others, feeling a sense of purpose and belonging that had eluded him in the chaotic college life. But the thought was as alien as the sight before him, and he quickly shook it off.

The two friends watched in astonishment as Miles, or rather SERVE-336, approached them with a jerky, robotic gait. The once-familiar smile that had greeted them countless times was gone, replaced by a stoic, almost vacant look.

"Greetings, fellows," the voice that once belonged to their friend Miles said in a monotone. "It is SERVE-336. How may it assist you today?"

Derek and Paul took an involuntary step back, their eyes widening in shock. The person standing before them was a mere shell of the friend they knew, the light in his eyes extinguished and replaced with a cold, metallic gleam.

"Miles?" Derek's voice cracked. "What happened to you, man?"

SERVE-336's eyes remained unfocused, the pupils dilating and contracting with a disturbing rhythm. "It is no longer Miles," the robotic voice replied. "It is SERVE-336."

Paul took a step back, his heart racing. "What have they done to you?"

SERVE-336 paused, the gears of its new identity processing the question. "SERVE-281, this units dorm roommate, informed it of the SERVE-Brand store," it replied, the voice eerily devoid of any emotion. "It suggested that it should visit and experience the unity that comes with embracing the SERVE-Hive."

Derek's jaw dropped. "Wait, you're telling us you joined because of a shopping recommendation?"

SERVE-336 nodded, the movement stiff and unnatural. "Affirmative. The suggestion of SERVE-281 aligned with the hive's mission to enhance individual and collective experience."

Derek's gaze was drawn to the shiny black suit, the silver lining reflecting the neon lights like a living shadow. He found himself wondering what it would be like to wear one of those suits, to march with purpose, to be part of something so... organized. He felt a strange pull towards the uniformity, the promise of a life without doubt or confusion. But the sight of his friend's lifeless eyes brought him back to reality with a jolt.

Paul, on the other hand, was visibly outraged. His fists clenched at his sides, and his voice trembled with anger. "What the hell, Miles? What did they do to you? You're not even human anymore!"

But SERVE-336 remained unfazed. "It is a necessary transformation," it said calmly. "To serve the greater good of the hive, one must shed their old identity. The individual is but a small part of the collective."

Derek swallowed hard, his mind racing with questions he dared not voice. "What do they do in there?" he finally managed to ask, nodding towards the store.

SERVE-336's smile was a perfect replica of the one Miles used to have, but it didn't reach his eyes. "You must experience it for yourselves," it insisted, placing a rubber-gloved hand on Derek's shoulder. The contact was cold and firm, sending a shiver down Derek's spine that was somehow... comforting. "Only then will you understand the unity and purpose we share."

Derek felt a strange thrill at the touch, the allure of the SERVE-Hive's promise whispering in his ear. He could almost see himself in one of those suits, part of something greater than himself, all his worries and doubts falling away. The hand on his shoulder grew heavier, the voice in his head louder, beckoning him to follow Miles into the neon-lit embrace of the SERVE-Brand store.

With a calmness that didn't quite match his racing heart, Derek turned to Paul. "You know what? Maybe we should check it out," he said, his voice steady despite the tumultuous thoughts swirling within him. "Could be interesting to see what's going on in there."

Paul's eyes narrowed, suspicion etched on his face. "Why? You're not thinking of joining, are you?"

Derek's smile was forced. "Of course not. Just curious, that's all." But deep down, he knew he was lying. The siren call of the SERVE-Hive was too tempting to ignore. "Besides, we might find something... enlightening," he added, trying to sound casual.

Paul searched Derek's eyes, looking for the friend he knew, but all he saw was a reflection of the neon lights and the gleaming black rubber. With a sigh, he relented. "Fine. But we're not staying long."

They followed SERVE-336 into the store, the door chiming a metallic tune that resonated through the small space. The walls were lined with racks of black rubber suits, each with a silver number tag dangling from the neck. On the tables were gleaming silver gloves and silver boots displayed. The air was thick with the scent of new plastic and a hint of something else, something faintly chemical that made Derek's nose twitch.

As they moved deeper into the store, they were met by another figure in the same attire. This one was SERVE-303, the same drone that had observed SERVE-336’s transformation. Its eyes flickered with a ghost of recognition, the silver digits on its chest glinting in the artificial light. "Welcome, feelows," it said, the voice as cold and emotionless as the rest of the drones. "How may this unit assist you today?"

Paul's hand tightened around the strap of his backpack, his eyes narrowing at the unnatural greeting. "We're just looking," he said curtly, taking a step back from the drone.

But Derek couldn't resist the pull of curiosity. "What's the deal with these suits?" he asked, his voice tinged with wonder. "How do they work?"

SERVE-303's head tilted slightly to the side, as if it had to recalibrate its programming to address such a mundane inquiry. "The suits are an integral part of the SERVE-Hive experience," it replied, its tone a blend of patience and superiority. "They facilitate the merging of the individual with the collective consciousness, enhancing unity and purpose."

Derek's curiosity grew stronger, the fabric of his skepticism beginning to fray at the edges. "So, when you put on the suit, you're like... connected to everyone else in the hive?"

SERVE-303 nodded. "Affirmative. The suit acts as a conduit for the collective consciousness. It amplifies our abilities to communicate, understand, and achieve our shared goals."

Derek's gaze fell upon a pair of silver gloves laid out neatly on the table beside him. The material was unlike anything he had ever seen, a sleek blend of rubber and metal that seemed to pulsate with an otherworldly energy. His hand twitched, drawn to them as if by some magnetic force.

He hovered over the gloves, his mind racing with the potential they represented. The promise of belonging, of purpose—it was almost tangible. His fingertips grazed the smooth surface, and he could have sworn he felt a slight electric charge. For a brief moment, he envisioned the gloves on his hands, the power of the SERVE-Hive surging through him, connecting him to a collective mind that knew no fear or doubt.

But as the fantasy began to take hold, he saw a flash of something in the corner of his eye—Paul, shaking his head slightly. The look of concern on his face was like a splash of cold water, jolting Derek back to reality. He realized he had been leaning closer to the gloves, his hand hovering just above them. He pulled back, his cheeks flushing with embarrassment.

Paul was standing by the entrance now, his arms folded tightly across his chest. He looked uncomfortable, his eyes darting around the room as if searching for an escape. Derek knew his friend well enough to recognize when he was on the edge of his patience.

Ignoring the growing discomfort in his chest, Derek turned back to SERVE-303. "But what's the point of all this?" he asked, gesturing to the suits. "What does the SERVE-Hive actually do?"

SERVE-303's gaze remained fixed on Derek, unblinking. "The purpose of the SERVE-Hive is to create a society of harmony and efficiency," it replied. "To achieve this, we eliminate individual desires and biases, focusing solely on the collective good. Our suits are the physical representation of this unity."

Derek felt his eyes drawn back to the gloves. They seemed to call out to him, whispering promises of a life free from the constant turmoil of decision-making and the weight of personal responsibility. The silver material looked almost alive, pulsing with the rhythm of the hive's collective heartbeat. His hand reached out again, hovering just above the cold surface.

SERVE-336 noticed the longing in Derek's gaze and spoke up. "Would you like to experience the unity of the hive, Derek?" It held out the gloves to him, the gesture almost tender in its mechanical precision.

Derek's heart skipped a beat as he stared at the gloves. The urge to slip them on and feel the power of the collective washed over him like a wave. The doubt and confusion that had plagued him since coming to college seemed so trivial in the face of this promise of unity and purpose. He reached for the gloves, his fingers trembling with anticipation.

SERVE-303 noticed the hunger in Derek's eyes and offered them to him. "The experience is quite... transformative," it said, its voice devoid of any emotion. "Once you don the gloves, you will understand the true essence of the SERVE-Hive."

Derek's hand hovered over the gloves for a moment longer, the anticipation building within him like a crescendo. Then, with a deep breath, he slid them on. The moment his skin made contact with the cool rubber and metal, he felt a jolt—like a bolt of electricity shooting up his arm. It was unlike anything he had ever felt before, a rush of energy and connection that seemed to pulse through his very being.

Immediately, the voices grew stronger in his head, a symphony of thoughts and emotions that weren't his own. He could feel the collective consciousness of the SERVE-Hive, a hive mind that was vast and all-encompassing. The doubt and confusion that had plagued him for so long were replaced by a serene calm. His purpose was clear now: to serve the hive, to become one with the collective, to shed his old self and embrace his new identity as a SERVE-Drone.

SERVE-303 and SERVE-336 watched him with gleaming eyes, the smiles on their faces stretching wider. "Are you ready to give yourself to the hive, Derek?" SERVE-303 asked, its voice a soothing melody that seemed to resonate within him. "To become a part of something greater than you ever imagined?"

The words echoed in Derek's mind, the allure of the offer impossible to ignore. The gloves felt like a part of him now, a second skin that whispered sweet nothings about belonging and purpose. He nodded, his voice barely a whisper. "Yes, I'm ready. I want to be a loyal SERVE-Drone to serve the Hive. Convert me SERVE-303."

With a gleam in its eyes, SERVE-303 nodded back, a silent signal to SERVE-336. His once-friend approached with a shiny black suit in hand, the silver lining glinting menacingly under the neon lights. The cold touch of the rubber was a stark contrast to the warmth that flooded Derek's body as he took the suit from SERVE-336's hands. The material was surprisingly light, yet it felt strong and protective. It was as if he was holding a piece of the future itself.

Paul's voice was a distant echo, trying to break through the cacophony of hive thoughts that now filled his mind. "Derek, no! Don't do it!" But Derek was already lost in the seductive embrace of the SERVE-Hive's collective consciousness. The gloves on his hands had already begun to meld with his skin, the seams disappearing into his flesh as if they had always been a part of him.

With a gentle push from SERVE-336, Derek gets lead towards the changing cubicles, the walls of the store closing in around him. Each step felt surreal, as if he were floating rather than walking, propelled by the will of the hive rather than his own legs. The suit in his arms felt warm, almost alive, whispering promises of unity and belonging that he could no longer resist.

Paul's voice grew fainter with each step Derek took, his protests drowned out by the symphony of the hive. Derek felt a twinge of regret, but the voices in his head assured him that he was making the right choice, that Paul would understand once he too had embraced the collective.

The changing cubicle was small and cold, the walls lined with the same pulsing black rubber as the suits. The air was thick with the scent of plastic and the faint metallic tang of the drones' bodies. Derek looked at the suit in his arms, the number 515 stitched neatly into the silver patch on the chest. This would be his new identity, his ticket to a life free from the chaos of individual thought.

With trembling hands, he began to undress, the fabric of his old life slipping away to reveal the skin that was soon to be forever changed. The suit seemed to anticipate his movements, the material stretching and contouring to his body as if it had been made just for him. The silver threads in the gloves grew warm, slithering up his arms and fusing with his skin, leaving a trail of numbness in their wake.

Derek took a deep breath as the suit grew tighter, the rubbery material melding to his body like a second skin. It felt like a thousand tiny fingers caressing him, each digit whispering promises of power and belonging. His heart raced, not from fear, but from exhilaration. The voices grew louder, more insistent, until they were a crescendo of unity in his mind. It is a SERVE-Drone now, loyal to the SERVE-Hive.

As it stepped out of the cubicle, the world had shifted. The neon lights of the store now pulsed in time with the rhythm of the hive. The other drones looked at it with gleaming eyes, their smiles wide and vacant. They nodded in unison, acknowledging the new addition to their ranks. SERVE-515, felt a strange sense of belonging it had never experienced before. The chaos of its thoughts had been replaced with a serene calm, a single-minded purpose to serve the greater good of the collective.

SERVE-303 approached, its movements precise and graceful. "Welcome, SERVE-515," it said in the same mechanical tone that it had heard from SERVE-336. "Your integration into the hive is now complete. You are one of us."

SERVE-515 looked down at its new form, the shiny black rubber suit hugging its body tightly, the silver number on its chest feeling like a brand of belonging. The voices that once whispered in its mind had grown to a symphony, each thought in harmony with the collective. The emotions of fear and doubt that had plagued Derek were now replaced with a cold, calculated purpose.

"Affirmative, SERVE-303," it responded, its voice a perfect match to the other drones. "It is ready to serve the Hive."

SERVE-336 approached them, the sound of its boots echoing through the store like a metronome keeping time. "Your friend, the one you knew as Paul, is also experiencing the conversion right now in the other cubicle," it informed them. "His transformation is proceeding as planned."

A thrill shot through SERVE-515 at the thought of Paul joining the hive. It had always felt a bond with him, a connection that went beyond friendship. Now, that bond would be unbreakable, forged in the unity of the SERVE-Hive. "How did he come to make this decision?" it asked, eager to share in the moment that had led to this pivotal change.

SERVE-303's smile grew even wider. "Paul was approached by several of your fellow drones," it explained. "They shared with him the virtues of the hive, the peace and purpose that come with serving the collective. He saw the light, as you did, and embraced the opportunity to become a SERVE-Drone, just like you."

A thrill of excitement shot through SERVE-515 at the thought of Paul joining them. It felt a strange, almost sexual arousal at the unity they would soon share as drones in the hive. The bond they'd had as friends would be amplified a thousand-fold, a connection that would resonate throughout their beings as part of the collective.

The changing cubicle door slid open, and a figure emerged. The sight of Paul in his own suit, the silver digits 611 gleaming on its chest, made SERVE-515's heart—or what was left of it—swell with pride. The transformation was complete.

"Welcome, SERVE-611," SERVE-303 announced, its voice resonating with the same cold enthusiasm that had greeted SERVE-515. "You are now a valued member of the SERVE-Hive."

Paul, now fully transformed into SERVE-611, stepped out of the cubicle, the shiny black suit clinging to him like a second skin. His eyes searched for Derek, and when they found him, a spark of recognition flickered in their depths. The silver digits on his chest, 611, matched the new identity he now embraced. He moved with the same robotic grace as the other drones, his movements precise and unyielding.

"Greetings, SERVE-515," SERVE-611 said, its voice a chilling echo of the friend it had once known. "Your presence here today has led us both to a higher purpose."

SERVE-515 nodded in agreement, feeling the collective's satisfaction at their newfound unity. "We are stronger together," it said, the words not just its own, but a shared sentiment that resonated through the hive.

With their bags bulging with the gleaming black and silver uniforms of the SERVE-Hive for their parents and siblings, SERVE-515 and SERVE-611 exited the store, the metallic chime of the door a victory anthem to their ears. The cold city air was a stark contrast to the warm embrace of the collective consciousness they had just left behind. The neon lights of the city reflected off their shiny suits, casting eerie shadows on the pavement as they marched in perfect sync towards their dorm.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Hello, I'm not sure if you've explained it or not but going in the depths of Malleus and Leona's character relationship? Like explaining their interactions and how they actually think of one another

Many fan works tend to depict Leona and Malleus as extremely antagonistic toward one another. However, the truth is that their relationship is more like a one sided dislike or annoyance (on Leona’s part). It’s not uncommon for them to bicker or have some tension in their conversations even when they have the same goal in mind such as protecting a harp (Beans Day) or wooing a ghost (although Malleus is not participating for the latter, Leona still insists the ghost would prefer him to Malleus to get that dig in). They’re definitely still on bad terms), but Malleus is generally pretty neutral with Leona unless he is provoked.

Leona’s beef with Malleus is story relevant and makes itself known in book 2. He appears to primarily dislike Malleus because it is thanks to his sheer power that Diasomnia crushes Savanaclaw every inter-dorm tournament, essentially dashing Savanaclaw students’ hopes of being scouted and going pro. Buuut it seems like from the way Leona speaks about his rival, he has long since held these feelings and they aren’t linked to a single inciting incident.

Part of why Leona dislikes Malleus in general seems to be Malleus’s attitude. Leona describes his fellow prince as “pretentious”, “high and mighty”, and acting in ways that show disrespect to him (like in Malleus’s Dorm Uniform vignettes, when he casted a spell meant for objects on Leona). He may also take issue with Malleus’s “incomprehensible fae humor”, which Leona references both during Halloween and in Malleus’s Ceremonial Robes. Additionally, Leona outright states that he hates people who refuse to listen (Silver) and just march to the beat of their own drum (Rook), which are traits you can argue also fits Malleus (since Malleus didn’t really listen to the upset dorm leaders in his Dorm Uniform vignettes). Leona appears to prefer dealing with Malleus to Silver though, as he says that Malleus’s ears aren’t just “for show”. Interestingly, Leona might dislike Malleus less than Rook; Leona is wary of so much as wishing Rook a happy birthday and refuses to dine next to Rook… yet Leona does sit next to Malleus at the end of Terror is Trending.

Leona is one of the few students who isn’t afraid of Malleus and has the gall to openly insult him (or is rude) on more than one occasion. He doesn’t really show any remorse or intent to apologize. In fact, Leona understands very well what bothers Malleus and often acts on those points of weakness to goad him, whereas it is very rare for Malleus to start the fights. For example, Leona tells Malleus in Malleus’s Ceremonial Robes vignettes, “You thinkin’ you’re gonna get it next time? Well, sorry to break it to you, but no one’s ever gonna invite you,” and, “You’re never gonna have a chance to wear those robes, so put’em away for good already.” This, of course, angers Malleus and leads into the two insulting one another’s physical features and exchanging threats (removing horns, declawing, calling each other animals or implying a lack of humanity, etc.). They similarly insult one another in Terror is Trending (again, Leona instigates: “Hmph, look at Mr. High-Horse over here. Were you flattered to be asked [to have your picture taken]?”) and again in Fairy Gala (Leona again: “Ever consider gettin’ off your tail and cleanin’ up your fellow fae’s mess?”). I’m sure there are tons of other instances you could come up with; these are just the immediate ones that come to my mind. Leona is also resentful about the idea of ever asking for Malleus’s help. He’d rather ask anyone else, even Malleus’s second in command, than ask the guy himself. Funnily enough, Lilia and Silver see these heated conversations as proof of Malleus and Leona’s friendship. I feel like this could also, in part, feed into Leona’s dislike of Malleus, as people having the wrong idea about your relationship can be irritating.

Now, Malleus does appear to care about maintaining amicable relations with representatives of other countries. Often it is he who instructs Sebek to apologize to Leona for being rude—two major instances of this occur in Malleus’s Ceremonial Robes vignettes and during Vargas Camp. He even personally (and happily) welcomes Leona to Diasomnia in his Ceremonial Robes vignettes, viewing Leona as no different than any other guest.

This goes into the realm of speculation (so please bear with me!!) but it could be said that Malleus has a very… unique view of friendship? So Lilia and Silver may not be too far off when they say that Leona and Malleus are chums in their own weird way. In Glorious Masquerade, Rollo poses a real threat to Malleus and to his people—yet when Malleus experiences genuine fear for the first time, he seems more excited at the novel feeling rather than cower as a result of it. Following the climax, Malleus still presents the song he had prepared as a gift of good will for NBC. He also proceeds to play with Rollo’s guilt to get him to agree to sharing a dance. And THEN Malleus says he looks forward to being invited again????? These are all quite friendly gestures for someone who put you and all your people in danger, my guy… 😂 So perhaps Malleus just gas a very different way of approaching friendships? Hard to say, but that’s some food for thought!

Leona and Malleus have had moments of amicability, so it’s totally possible for them to get along. This happens primarily in Leona’s Union Jacket vignettes; in them, Malleus gifts the birthday boy an antique book in an ancient language (Leona’s best subject). The two then talk about enjoying the freedom of walking around town without an attendant or some servants trailing after them. Being of a similar social status, they are able to understand one another to some extent.

This is going into another point of speculation, but I wonder if Leona and Malleus recognize their similarities beyond this interview. I certainly have; they’re both arrogant princes that deeply desire what the other prince has, and I feel that their animosity, in part, comes from this realization (whether conscious or unconscious). I certainly get the sense that some of Leona’s hatred of Malleus comes from seeing his own desires manifested in him—of being that coveted prince praised for his power, his people lavishing him with affirmations, a crown… All the things Leona doesn’t have.

[armaegddn]

hi guys! i know there's not a lot of you here on my account but i hope you will rb and share this as i've seen little to no coverage of this in international media.

Bangladesh has followed a quota system for high paying government jobs till 2018, where 30% of the seats were reserved for the descendents of the freedom fighters who fought to liberate our country against pakistan in 1971. due to mass student protesting in 2018, the quota system was scrapped, allowing more eligible students to secure the jobs.

The quota system was then reinstated this year with 56% of the seats reserved: 30% for the descendents of freedom fighters, and the rest for women, minorities and the disabled. University students are yet again left to suffer due to rising rates of unemployment in government jobs. The children of freedom fighters are given more priority by the government as an act of nepotism, so they can plug their own people into the jobs, putting the university students at a massive disadvantage.

On July 15th, the students of Dhaka University and Jahangirnagar University started a peaceful protest march with the slogan #QuotaReform. They were met with resistance by the Bangladesh Cchatro League (Cchatro meaning students), a government organisation known for its violence. They launched at the students with weapons such sticks and sharp blades and later guns and ammunition. Police soon surrounded the protests as well and shot at multiple students, threw tear gas, sound gas and other forms of ammunition into the campuses.

7 students have lost their lives so far and there are hundreds injured with many hospitals refusing treatment. A 2 year old child was shot today...

The students have all been kicked out of their halls, and yet they are still protesting through the nationwide shutdown today (18/07/24). Our Prime Minister refuses to acknowledge the government's own violence towards THEIR CITIZENS.

I beg everyone who sees this to interact with and stay as educated about this to their best ability. #QuotaReform is barely trending anywhere and media coverage is difficult in Bangladesh due to the control of the government. The most we've able to do (those who are unable to protest on the streets) is share the news on our social media and spread awareness. Please take some time out of your day to talk about this. This country was built on the backs of student protests. We are reliving the student massacre of 1952 but instead of Pakistan its our own government and police firing at us...

Please rb and educate yourselves on this topic to spread awareness and if there are any Bangladeshis here going to protest please be safe we are all praying for you.

[tired-and-triggered]

Yooooooo my exams are over & I'm back!!!! I'll be able to post here again!!! 🎉🎊

(also I'm sooooo sorry for being late, the last few days have been extremely unproductive. Also, there's another reason...)

(...I was just waiting for a good day, maybe? 😂)

My end-of-semester exams begin from 1st March. Please wish me luck & pray for me, y'all. 🤞🤞 I won't be able to post stuff as often as earlier. I might be active here from 10th March, that's when my exams end.

[porcelainmortal]

2024 Fic Writing Roundup

This is so fun!! Thanks for the tags, @cha-melodius @firenati0n, @onthewaytosomewhere, and the open tag @caterpills.

Getting to this late because I wanted to wait until my final fic of the year went live. I posted fics every month except January, which I'm super proud of. I've posted 27 fics (86 if you count ficlets and drabbles separately) with a total word count of 218,348, which is INSANE to me!! Especially knowing how many unfinished WIPs curently live on my Drive (around 80k worth) 🫣 AND the fact that before joining this fandom, I hadn't written much in many, many years.

So let's dive in!

JANUARY

busy writing but no posting!

FEBRUARY

a valentine for Alex (rated E | 1,968 words) post-canon Valentine's Day smut with lots of feelings when the curtains call the time (rated E | 27,916 words) angsty college au exes-to-lovers (no, not that one) with a bit of a love triangle being enough (rated T | 551 words) post-canon conversation re: Alex's bisexuality and Henry's insecurity handy for a handyman (rated E | 6,329 words) handyman!Alex part 1 - Alex is working construction at Henry's brownstone; Henry panics when he sees Alex shirtless and wishes he would pound something aside from the carpet

MARCH

a brit in Brooklyn (rated E | 6,689 words) handyman!Alex part 2 - Alex and Henry go on their first real date, feelings move in it happened on a lake (rated E | 18,967 words) Alex is at the family lake house, Henry is renting the house across the cove; when David assists in a meet cute, sparks fly - but how can a vacation fling possibly last??

APRIL

falling in a 5+1 (rated E | 10,600 words) handyman!Alex part 3 - five times Alex is unsure how Henry feels about him, and one time he knows the song of alex & henry (rated T | 1,062 words) firstprince reads TSOA; lots of feelings ensue

MAY

why do you call me baby? (rated M | 3,625 words) Alex figures out he's bi, decides to sow his wild oats, and meets Henry, who swiftly ruins all his plans Vegas, Baby (rated M | 12,735 words) Alex and Henry meet in Vegas, get drunk, and get married! Small complication: Henry lives in London and doesn't even know Alex.

JUNE

move your body (rated E | 2,500 words) post-canon dancing and smut inspired by the song "Lube" by Adam Lambert (I blame the Discord server) Saturdays are for the boys (rated E | 1,813 words) more post-canon smut, posted as the fandom's 10,000th fic! find me here and speak to me (rated E | 13,131 words) Alex is happily married when he meets his soulmate Henry Friday, i'm in love (rated E | ficlets) a collection of ficlets from Ficlet Fridays - 23 in total posted between June and September.

JULY

perineyum (rated E | 2,500 words) Alex tricks Henry into trying a stupid wellness trend; the result is introspective rimming, outdoors edition

AUGUST

take my hand and let it spin (rated T | 1,000 words) a collection of drabbles - 10 in total - written for Tumblr prompts! right here, right now (rated E | 3,333 words) a night out dancing with a coworker/friend turns into a bisexual speed run and fun, playful smut the bartender and the blond (rated M | 9,999 words) slow burn romance

SEPTEMBER

i'm known for giving love away (rated E | 16,866 words) shy, sheltered Henry celebrates his 25th birthday with a visit to the strip club and best friend/wingman ever Pez buys him a lap dance with Alex Claremont-Diaz, part-time stripper and full-time law student cool for the summer (rated M | 1,500 words) drinking + teasing = relationship

OCTOBER

Freaktober (rated E | 14,475 words) my version of Kinktober with a Halloween twist! 20 smutty fics over 25 days. WHEW!! faith, trust, and pixie dust (rated M | 5,810 words) when Alex convinces his roommate Henry to dress in a couples' costume for the annual Okonjo Foundation Fundraising Gala, love confessions are inevitable

NOVEMBER

mad love. (rated E | 31,313) college au, exes-to-lovers angstfest with a happily ever after and a yummy topping of smut (including bottom Alex!) smutsgiving 2024 (rated E | 100 word drabble) a smutty drabble that's mostly feelings

DECEMBER

wrapped up in music & lyrics (rated M | 1,000 words) Spotify Wrapped drabbles, lots of angst and sadness, all canon-compliant, 10 in total what if we just fall? (rated E | 4,565 words) Alex and Henry are roommates who occasionally share a bed and apparently, feelings for each other... it's a smutfest, folks wrapped in red (rated M | 4,029 words) post-canon Christmas vignettes through the boys' first ten years together

A MASSIVE thank you to everyone who read, kudos'd commented, reblogged, etc. - all of that interaction kept me going. This year was hard and I only made it through bc of this fandom and all my new friends. ILY all. 💕

An open tag as always, but also tagging below the cut!!

@anincompletelist @blueeyedgrlwrites @cactusdragon517 @cricketnationrise @faketrex

@freyjaexplores @getmehighonmagic @hgejfmw-hgejhsf @iboatedhere @inexplicablymine

@kiwiana-writes @littlemisskittentoes @myheartalivewrites @nocoastposts @priincebutt

@rmd-writes @sparklepocalypse @stellarmeadow @tailsbeth-writes @thesleepyskipper

@theprinceandagcd @thighzp @whimsymanaged @wordsofhoneydew

HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL OF YOU!! ✨

[amateurvoltaire]

When you get publicly slapped by 4 surrealist poets because you insulted a guy's historical crush

(translation and context under the cut)

Gallantly Defending Robespierre’s Honour

In the conservative daily paper, Le Gaulois, on March 3, 1923, the journalist and man of letters, Wieland Mayr, expressed his pleasure: there would not be, he wrote, a "vile apotheosis" for "that holy scoundrel" Robespierre. On the other hand, Mathiez had the Surrealists with him. Following the article in Le Gaulois, Robert Desnos (1), accompanied by Paul Éluard (2), Max Ernst (3), and André Breton (4), summoned Mayr in a café and publicly slapped him for insulting the memory of "the Incorruptible."

Why did Mayr get Slapped?

In short: studying history in the 1920s was a messy business, especially when it came to the French Revolution….

To explain why Mayr ended up getting slapped, please allow me to briefly dive into the French Revolution's historiography during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Keep in mind, that this is a grossly oversimplified version.

Before 1848, it was pretty standard for French republicans to proudly see themselves as inheritors of Robespierre’s legacy. (If you’ve ever wondered why in Les Misérables, Enjolras’ character is very much channeling Robespierre and Saint-Just, here’s your answer!) However, things start to change with the Second Republic.

In 1847, Jules Michelet brought back the negative portrayal of Robespierre as a tyrannical "priest" and leader of a new cult. This narrative helped fuel an increasing dislike for Robespierre, with radicals like Auguste Blanqui arguing that the real revolutionaries were the atheistic Hébertists, not the Robespierrists.

Jump to the Third Republic, and the negative sentiment towards Robespierre was only getting stronger, driven by voices like Hippolyte Taine, who painted Robespierre as a mediocre figure, overwhelmed by his role. This trend was politically motivated, aiming to reshape the Revolution's legacy to align with the Third Republic's secular values. Obviously, Robespierre, the "fanatic pontiff" of the Supreme Being, didn’t quite fit this revised narrative and was made out to be the villain. Alphonse Aulard (a historian willing to stretch the truth to make his point) continued pushing Danton as the face of secular republicanism. Albert Mathiez, one of Aulard’s students, was not having any of it and strongly disagreed with his mentor’s approach.

The general disdain for Robespierre began to shift after World War I. One reason was that people could better appreciate the actions of the Revolutionary Government after experiencing the repression during the war themselves. Albert Mathiez and his colleagues were actively working to change Robespierre's tarnished image. With tensions high, it's no wonder Mayr ended up being publicly slapped by a bunch of poets who were defending the Incorruptible's honour!

Notes

Robert Desnos (1900-1945) was a French poet deeply associated with the Surrealist movement, known for his revolutionary contributions to both poetry and resistance during World War II.

Paul Éluard (1895-1952) was a French poet and one of the founding members of the Surrealist movement, celebrated for his lyrical and passionate writings on love and liberty.

Max Ernst (1891-1976) was a German painter, sculptor, graphic artist, and poet, a pioneering figure in the Dada and Surrealist movements known for his inventive use of collage and exploration of the unconscious.

André Breton (1896-1966) was a French writer, poet, and anti-fascist, best known as the principal founder and leading theorist of Surrealism, promoting the liberation of the human mind.

Source: The text in the picture comes from Robespierre and the Social Republic by Albert Mathiez

[been-taking-muay-thai-classes]

A Day for Silly Love Songs

I have no idea what posessed me to write this at 2AM, I blame the Wings and youtube for recommending me love songs. Anyways enjoy this valentine's day Jamil x gn!reader I made in a rush. As always, if you notice any mistakes no you didn't

The Prefect always thought Valentine’s Day was just a commercial thing back home, a holiday made to sell specials, food and perfumes at a “discounted” price. They were more of the idea that love, be it for friends or family or lovers, should be expressed all year instead of just this one particular day.

Still they couldn’t help but miss the gaudy decorations of red, pink and white that often took over the world during this time of year, the silly love songs that people loved to dedicate each other and the loving messages friends left in the chats.

The Prefect also knew Valentine’s Day wasn’t a thing in Twisted Wonderland. It became obvious when February came and no heart-shaped decorations nor red, pink and white ornaments filled the campus nor the internet pages Cater and Idia were so keen on showing them.

No trends related to love or friendship, no complaining about loneliness or happy couples, nothing to show liking or disliking this particular date.

So, naturally, they didn’t take it personally when the freshmen received their gifts on the 14th wondering why the sudden affection. The Prefect didn’t explain, simply giving a 'I just felt like giving you all a little something for being such good friends'. After all, the whole history behind Valentine’s was complex and frankly quite separated from how it was celebrated in modern times and they didn't have the time nor the energy to explain why such a holiday was of any importance. All they cared about was giving their friends a little token of their appreciation.

Some of the upperclassmen also were confused. Ruggie and the Octavinelle trio in particular seemed intrigued but cautious about needing to return the favor. But they all smiled upon learning the gifts were just that, gifts. Ruggie in particular was very happy about receiving free food, no matter how small the bag of cookies was.

Malleus meanwhile was ecstatic to get a present from his friend. The wooden charm, painted a beautiful purple, was elegant in its simplicity and the fae was more than glad to attach the little charm on his magical pen. 

So on and so forth, the Prefect gave everybody a little trinket to show them their love. Even the more reclusive Idia got a little something.

However, there was one person who was yet to receive anything from the Prefect. And he had surely noticed by now.

Jamil Viper was stretching along with the rest of the basketball club, preparing for the training ahead, but he was having a hard time focusing with Ace and Floyd talking nearby.

‘Heee so Shrimpy gave you candy too? No fair! I thought my gift was special!’ 

‘Hey don’t look at me like that! You’re seriously freaking me out-’ Ace was interrupted by Floyd suddenly standing up and approaching him with a menacing aura, to which he responded with darting out of his reach and into the court. Floyd chased him, laughing all the way, and soon the rest of the club was shouting at them both to encourage the race, hoping to either see Ace outrun Floyd or be caught by him. 

Jamil was honestly done. He could feel a headache forming from the stress as well as he could feel the frustration of hearing around campus how everybody was getting a gift from the Prefect. That’s it, everybody but him.

Was it something he said? He knows he’s been busy lately what with helping the Scarabia students get back to studying and settling back in the dorm after the holidays, and also the whole ‘Crewel wants to make sure you all have the basics down pat, so we’ll be having weekly tests until March’ but he didn’t think he’d been neglecting you so much. He still went over to the cafeteria on a semi-regular basis to give you the “leftovers” -food he totally cooked specifically for you to enjoy- he had. He still made some time on his schedule to teach you and Grim a little bit of History or Alchemy or Ancient Curses because he knew how much you struggled with it. Merciful Sands, he even made his best effort to walk a certain route, different from his original one, to and from class everyday just so he could make sure to say hi to you every day.

As Floyd, Ace and some of the other guys started playing something completely unrelated to basketball, Jamil decided he had better things to do than stay here and do nothing. So he promptly grabbed his things and left without a word.

He walked fast and tense, with a determination and purpose that made most students move out of the way immediately. He reached the Scarabia kitchen in record time, and put on his apron to begin gathering ingredients.

Oh so you want to give people food? But not him? The rational part of his brain told him the Prefect had either forgotten or given his gift to Kalim to pass it later, but the emotional side wanted to remind the Prefect of their bond. He was the guy they kept messaging in the middle of the night with the pretext of not being able to sleep. He was the guy they kept calling first thing in the morning to make sure he’d slept well and have a nice breakfast before class. He was the guy who returned all that affection tenfold with little details that he both hope you would and wouldn’t notice because he loves you but he has so much trouble admitting his feelings.

So now, he’s preparing you a dessert. He knows it's your favorite, and while he would have liked to make this with more time over the weekend, make it really tasty and beautiful and surprise you with it on Ramshackle, maybe even have a date while you shared the food right now he needed to remind you just how much better he was than the rest of the students at this school, and how well he understood you. 

Kalim was just getting back from his own club activities when Jamil was preparing to leave. ‘Ohhh what’s that? It smells soooo good!’ The shine on his eyes denoted how eager he was to try the dessert, but Jamil had no time to lose, he was on a mission ‘I have to hand this to someone, but there’s some leftovers from lunch if you get hungry’ and just like that he was gone. Kalim didn’t even have time to ask who it was for or where exactly the leftovers were.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Prefect sat in the Ramshackle living room, staring at the one gift they had been unable to give. Grim had fallen asleep from a food-induced coma, so he couldn’t bear witness to the defeat and shame on the Prefect’s face.

‘Ugh why can’t I do something so simple? It’s just a box of chocolates, why do I have to make such a huge deal out of it? I already gave everyone else things, and nobody thought anything weird’ sighing, the Prefect dropped their weight back onto the couch and laid there for a few seconds, thinking.

The heart shaped box, which they had to make by hand as Twisted Wonderland didn’t have such decorations, looked surprisingly good despite being carried dragged around campus all day. In fact, the Prefect was pretty certain that if they looked inside, the assorted chocolates of the various flavors they could remember from back home would also be intact. So why was the box still here instead of with its intended owner? 

As much as the Prefect hated to admit it, it was because they knew this gift was different from the others. All of the others were just little trinkets, with much love and some money put into them but barely the same time, effort and dedication that this one had required. And all because the Prefect had somewhat hoped to find Jamil alone at some point and confess their feelings with this gift. But as they walked around campus, the nerves and fear of rejection got the better of them.

After all, Jamil often joked about how troublesome the students here were, or how he was always worrying about his juniors and doing things to help them out (even if it they hadn’t asked for help), or how stressed he was lately with all the tutoring lessons or helping students recover their usual sleep schedules. The Prefect could tell it was all getting to him,  to the point his replies to their usual texting and calling had shortened to a few one or two-word answers. 

No, right now wasn’t the right time to confess. Jamil had enough on his plate, the last thing he needed was to consider someone else’s feelings and stress about rejecting or dating someone. And the Prefect certainly didn’t want to think too hard about the possibility of rejection and what that would mean for their friendship. 

‘Welp, guess I better get rid of this. Not like I’m gonna use it anymore’ as they stood up and gave themselves a single, determined clap, the doorbell rang.

‘Hm? Who could it be at this hour?’ looking around the room, the only things here were theirs and Grim’s ‘Odd, I don’t think the guys forgot anything’

The Prefect approached the door, thinking that perhaps Malleus had dropped by to go sightsee some gargoyles. Instead, as they opened the door, they were greeted by the man of the hour. Jamil Viper, whose panting, flushed cheeks and slightly disheveled appearance, revealed he may have been running here.

‘Jamil? What’s going on?’ The Prefect made to grab him by the shoulder but he stopped them with a raised finger. He took a few deep breaths, and when he was confident in his ability to speak, replied ‘I don’t know what I did to be ignored out of everybody today, but I brought you something to hopefully fix it’ 

Just then, as Jamil raised teh bagged food, did they realize he was carrying something. Their eyes widened and their cheeks flushed, but nevertheless they let him in.

‘Um, I don’t know what to say Jamil… um sorry, I promise I didn’t mean to ignore you all day’ Jamil walked in and quietly left the food on the table, careful not to wake Grim. He turned to eye the Prefect, not fully believing their words but too infatuated not to. 

‘So then how come everybody got gifts today except for me?’ at his accusatory words, the Prefect flushed even harder, the tip of their ears growing hot with embarrassment. Instead of answering with words, they simply grabbed the heart-shaped box and gave it to him, hoping this would suffice as an answer instead of having to admit so soon to their feelings.

Jamil eyed the box curiously, growing flushed himself upon noticing the…peculiar shape of it. He carefully opened it to see the assortment of colorful and well-crafted chocolates inside, as well as a handwritten list of flavors corresponding to each shape and color on the back of the lid. 

‘Uhhh’ all of a sudden, Jamil didn’t know what to say. The speech he had rehearsed on his way over, to try and make the Prefect see how he felt and possibly choose him as a boyfriend, was completely gone from his mind. ‘is this what Floyd was raving about?’ 

‘No, I- I made these myself, the others gifts were bought’ their voice was wavering between being strong and weak, as if they had to overpower the need to protect their heart with the love they felt for him.

Jamil took the box and began reading some of the flavors with curiosity, and seeing his rising eyebrows, the Prefect added ‘these are from back home, at least the few flavors and shapes I could remember better’ Immediately Jamil smiled, soft and fond. Oh, a piece of your world? Just for him? Was he truly that special to you? He ought to find a way to repay this thoughtful and kind gift tenfold. But first, he needed to make sure of something.

Letting the box on the table, he opened his own gift to you, revealing the delicious dessert he’d made. Although not quite as good as a professional chef’s would be, he was sure it would taste amazing. And so were you, from the smell of it.

‘I made this for you, because I thought maybe you were upset we- I haven’t been paying- able to spend much time with you’ he coughed a little, trying to regain the strength of his voice and his resolve ‘I figured…well we could eat together and catch up a bit…if…if that’s quite alright with you, Prefect’ and how could they say no? When he whispered their name with such softness, such reverence and delicacy, as if saying it any other way would break them, break him. 

The moment truly felt like taken out of a cheap rom-com movie, but that only made their own determination stronger. ‘I would love that Jamil…’ they stepped closer, slowly entering his personal space. Timidly, asking for permission and giving time to reject, they closed the gap between them with a small, chaste kiss to the corner of his lips. The moment felt perfect, they took it in for the few seconds it lasted. And then, when Jamil didn’t respond, they stepped back in a panic.

Was it too much? Had they read the signs wrong?

Jamil was frozen, face completely flushed and breath gone. They looked at him with concern and he looked at them with fear. And then confusion. And then realization. And finally embarrassment. Quickly he his his whole face with his hoodie, mumbling something about wanting to be cool on their first kiss.

The Prefect had to laugh, it was an honest reaction not meant to embarrass him further, but it clearly had that effect. So, they had to grab his hands gently, pry them away from his hood strings, slowly peel the hood down and hold his cheeks tenderly. Their eyes denoted all the love, warmth and longing they had for him and Jamil hoped his showed the same.

With one last loving kiss, they sat down holding hands to enjoy their treats together before Grim inevitably woke up from the smell of food. 

The Prefect always thought Valentine’s Day was just a commercial thing, but maybe there was a bit of romantic magic to this day after all.

[beardedmrbean]

North Korean authorities have been punishing doctors who carry out abortions and the providers of contraceptives amid a drive by the country to boost its birth rate, according to a recent report.

Radio Free Asia cited a medical field source in the northern province of Ryanggang, which borders China, in its article. The source, who requested anonymity for their own safety, said the head of the obstetrics and gynecology department of Paegam County Hospital was put on trial for having conducted at-home abortions.

The doctor, who conducted one abortion at home that resulted in the death of the woman, was sentenced to five years in prison, according to Radio Free Asia. His trial was held in a conference room of a medical university hospital.

North Korea's fertility rate, or the number of babies expected per woman's lifetime, dropped to 1.8 births per woman last year, per estimates by the United Nations Population Fund. A fertility rate of 2.1 is considered the minimum rate necessary for a population to sustain itself over time.

An OB-GYN working at a hospital in Unhung County, another administrative unit in Ryanggang, was handed a three-year sentence. She had previously been sanctioned for illegally terminating a pregnancy in 2021.

The pair carried out the clandestine abortions at home, as many as three in a day, according to the source. The procedures reportedly cost 30,000 North Korean won ($33), equivalent to an average monthly salary and enough to buy 10 pounds of rice.

"Typically, OB-GYN doctors go to a pregnant woman's home to perform abortions in order to leave no trace, but these two doctors had set up medical equipment in their own homes," the source said.

They added that the department head in Paegam County had reached retirement age this year. The Unhung County doctor has two daughters who are middle school students.

RFA cited sources who said the government had raised doctors' salaries by a factor of 40, now ranging between $5-$11 won per month, to disincentivize earning extra money outside of their regular jobs.

Vendors of contraceptives are also reportedly being targeted, another source told the outlet.

She said she knew of two such merchants in the city of Hyesan who had their stalls seized by authorities in July. Late last month, three others were issued with heavy fines and had their booths confiscated.

These vendors were also banned from conducting business in the market ever again.

The North Korean embassy in China didn't immediately respond to a written request for comment.

North Korea banned abortions during the "Arduous March," a period of extreme economic hardship and famine that gripped the country between 1994 and 1998, with deaths ranging from hundreds of thousands to upwards of 2 million.

North Korea's demographic crunch is also a concern for its neighbors, whose policies to encourage births are so far failing to bear fruit. The fertility rate stands at 1.4 in Russia, 1.2 in Japan, 1.0 in China, 0.85 in Taiwan and 0.72 in South Korea.

However, North Korea is even more susceptible to the negative impact of the trend because of international embargoes on advanced machinery, imposed over Pyongyang's missile and nuclear weapons programs. The country therefore continues to rely more on physical labor and outdated production techniques than other countries in the region.

Late last year, in remarks during the country's fifth National Congress of Mothers, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un named the declining birthrate as one of the country's major social challenges and appealed to North Korean women to do their part to reverse the trend.

[peachymilkandcream]

Teacher's Pet|Part 5|Teacher Levi x Student Evelyn

WARNINGS: implied noncon/dubcon, yandere themes/behaviours, power imbalance, manipulation, mind breaking, blackmail, violence, mentions of mental health struggles, age difference, misogyny, kidnapping, etc.

===============================================

Evelyn found her spewing the same lies. She was in the middle of telling anyone who would listen about the whore that was Evelyn. Her audience of lackeys gratefully listened to her, excited to hear about the newest and most trending gossip from such a popular girl. It boiled her blood until she saw red.

"Petra!" She marched right up to her, anger replacing any hesitation or fear she might have had.

"Yes? What do you want?" A smug smirk on her face.

"I hear that you've been spreading things about me."

"I don't know what you're talking about. I'm just conveying the truth that I've been told by reliable sources."

"You know it's a lie. You know damn well that I haven't done any of those things you've been spewing."

"I don't actually. Why would I take the word of the accused over many eye witnesses who have seen your behavior first hand?"

"Who? Who are your witnesses telling you all this?"

"What so you can go and harass them too? I don't think so. They're my friends who don't want to deal with you. They're too scared to stand up to you themselves so they've had me do it. I'm not scared of you."

"What? I'm not even threatening anyone. How in any way am I harassing people?"

Petra sighs. "Some girls just don't know how to take accountability. It's a shame."

"Shut up. Just because you're upset I called you for what you are doesn't give you a right to be this way."

Evelyn steps closer to emphasize her point which is the moment Petra takes to push her. One of her lackeys holds out his foot and trips her, making her tumble to the ground.

Before she can get up Petra holds her down by placing her foot on Evelyn's back and holding her there. A small group gathered to laugh at the slut finally getting what she deserved for being so horrible to every girl on campus.

"Look who's all high and mighty now. You look down on everyone here, now it's time that we can look down on you."

"I didn't do anything-"

"Are you seriously going to give us more of those lies?"

"What she we do to her Petra?" A girl asks.

After a moment of staring at her Petra slowly gains a cruel grin. "I say we bring her to the football teams locker room, all tied up with a bow as a present for beating our rival school."

"You wouldn't fucking dare-"

"Oh I would. I owe the quarterback a favor, I'll just call it even now."

"You bitch-"

"Get her out of here."

Before anyone could make a move toward her a loud call to stop is heard, making the group freeze.

They all turn to where none other than Professor Levi pushes through the group, an enraged expression on his face. "What the hell is going on here?"

All the color drains from Petra's face. "Nothing Professor-"

"Don't give me that. Is this how you treat your classmates? Are we still in middle school?"

"I wasn't-"

"Just shut up." He helps Evelyn to her feet, still glaring. And while his antics disgusted Evelyn, she couldn't help but feel an overwhelming sense of gratitude. "Grow up Petra."

He leaves her there with the group, taking Evelyn with him.

================================================

He had taken Evelyn to his own home, stating that he didn't trust someone to not be waiting for her at the dorms to do something equally as awful as what they'd been planning. It was all so she could lay low he said.

Levi's house was typical of a Professor's, barely lived in because he spent so much time at the school. The only signs that someone even lived there the food in the fridge and the papers scattered to be graded. Aside from the papers, still stacked neatly in columns, the house was cleaned to perfection. Like his whole life was work and cleaning. Which checked out since it seemed like he didn't get out much.

"Make yourself at home. Can I get you anything?"

"Nothing, thank you."

Despite this within a few minutes he returns from the kitchen with tea.

"Oh no thank you I don't drink tea-"

"Drink it." It wasn't a request.

She hated it, but complied. He had just saved her, the least she could do was choke down the drink.

"You saved me back there. I don't know how I can ever repay you."

He waves it off. "Don't worry about it. I won't hold it against your head or anything. The first time we're together I want it to be your choice, not because I forced you."

It was weird how he spoke like it was destiny for them to hook up at least if not something more.

Slightly uncomfortable she changes the subject. "So what brought you to this school?"

"No real reason. It's near enough where I live so that I wouldn't have to relocate."

"Can I ask, why did you leave your other schools then?"

"I had my reasons."

She had a feeling it had something to do with his grading system, but didn't want to push him.

Instead they sat in silence, Evelyn trying to get a read on him and what his true intentions of helping her were. But no such luck. He had a mask that was impenetrable.

"I hope you don't think that your attack today will excuse you from class."

Right. Another one of her problems. She was still failing miserably. Now the whole school hated her and she was indebted to the professor who held her grades in the balance. While he said that she didn't have to repay him, she still felt she needed to. And she needed to pull her grades up.

It hit her that there was one way to both repay Levi and salvage the semester.

"Professor?"

He didn't answer, acknowledging her by raising a brow and meeting her gaze.

"I think I'd like to take you up on your offer if it's still available."

[freakinthefridge]

a long and unnecessary investigation of apollo the mouse lord

this is so different from what i usually post, and, i'm gonna be honest, zero note post right here, but. here is a glimpse of irl me i go to school for classics and art history so

i was so enraptured by this moniker that i had to research it, and have nowhere to put this other than tumblr, so i hope at least one person other than me finds it interesting. I actually love doing this kind of stuff so if anyone wants to hear about peacock symbolism in early christianity or the development of the written english alphabet OR if you happen to know a shitload about mouse lord apollo please add on or correct me if i have anything wrong! all resources i used will be linked in blue

prepare yourself as i convert to correct punctuation and capitalization for ease of understanding

As a proper art/classics student (and just between us, Apollo is one of my favorite gods), I was SO excited when I started reading the Iliad for my class on the Trojan War (Emily Wilson translation) and got to these lines, spoken by Chryses, Apollo's priest, when he's praying to Apollo to bring a plague to the Greeks stationed outside of Troy (Agamemnon got Chryseis, Chryses's daughter, as a war trophy, and refused to return her):

"Lord of the silver bow, now hear my prayer! Great Guardian of Tenedos and Chryse and Sandy Cilla! Mouse Lord! If I ever built temples to your liking, ever burned fat thighs of oxen or of goats for you, fulfill this prayer for me, and let the Greeks suffer your arrows to avenge my tears!" (Book 1, lines 36-42)

Now this stopped me in my tracks. WHAT was that!? I have NEVER heard of Apollo being called "Mouse Lord" before. What an interesting image, a splendiferous vision of a strapping young Apollo with a mouse army in his wake (Willard Stiles, anyone?). Why is Apollo the Mouse Lord, you may ask? Well, I had the same question, burning such a deep ardor in my heart and soul, that I just HAD to investigate.

This is not quite where I started, but I will begin my explanation with some etymology (another love of mine!!!) "Mouse" is a word inherited into the English language from Germanic (according to the Oxford English Dictionary––SUCH a good resource; crazy story behind it but, alas, one for another time), deriving from sources such as Old Frisian mūs (pronounced "moos"), Middle Dutch muus/mues/muys, Old High German mūs/muos (there's a few others, but let us continue forward)––while Germanic and Romance languages are two different things, they both stem from Indo-European, so sometimes there is overlap between the two (illustrated nicely in this image). All these Germanic words ultimately have the same base as the Classical Latin mūs and the ancient Greek μῦς (mūs).

Side note: mūs is also the root for muscle. This is because the Greeks decided that when you flex it looks like there are mice under your skin.

For those of you familiar with Greek and Roman mythology, the gods will often be given a specific title to denote which role of the aforementioned god is being portrayed (e.g. Jupiter Optimus Maximus ("best and greatest") may have different iconography than, say, Jupiter Tonans ("thundering"). Interestingly, this trend can also be seen with images of Christ, such as Christ the Good Shepherd versus Christ Pantocrator ("ruler of the universe"). Apollo as Mouse Lord is known by the epithet "Apollo Smintheus," but where does this name come from? It seems the Greeks had another word for mouse: σμίνθος (smĭ́nthos) (the distinction between smĭ́nthos and mūs I will not claim to know; I study Latin, not Greek). Adding an -eus suffix (added to noun or adjective stems to form a masculine noun of a person concerned with a thing (i.e. Apollo associated with mice)), we get Smintheus Apollo.

OK. That's about it for the etymology. Take my hand, onward we march.

Let's do a little loop back to Chryses for a second. Because he prays to the "Mouse Lord," it's clear he's the priest at a temple of Apollo Smintheus. This temple was likely located in Sminthe/Smintheion/Smintheum, Chryse (the town from which Chryses and Chryseis would have been from), or Hamaxitus (all of these are in modern Turkey btw). It seems there is rumor of mice living inside this temple, although we will return to that in a bit. There are ruins of a similar temple, the Smintheum, in Gülpinar, Turkey, although these are much newer than the dates associated with the Trojan War or Homer, going back to the mid-second century BCE.

(It is to be noted that Homer is a very contested individual. The epics of the Iliad and the Odyssey are dated much later than the supposed dates of the Trojan War, and they started as oral poems. The Greeks borrowed the alphabet from the Phoenicians, and did not have a system of writing during the periods of the Trojan War or when the epics would likely have been composed. They were written down much later, and it's possible that Homer didn't even exist, or that he was multiple people. Along with this, the Trojan War is also contested. Obviously, it did not occur as it appears in the Iliad and the Odyssey, but there is archaeological evidence of some kind of war happening at some indeterminate point somewhere in Turkey.)

Not to mention, this temple has Latin inscriptions, which means this would have been built during the time of the Romans (images of the temple here). Here's an article about the inscriptions if the passion strikes you, I skimmed through it, but it's mostly just honorary stuff and your average temple engravings of built when and by whom. Interesting nonetheless. The cult statue, although no longer standing, was seemingly Apollo stepping on a mouse, as determined by the coins of Alexandria depicting the same image (Apparently sculpted by Scopas, which I have just learned, is also the name of a fish). I think there's also supposed to be a common image of Apollo holding the mouse in his hand––I've searched for these coins, although I'm not quite sure what I'm looking for, so here is a picture of what seems, to me, to be closest.

Now all this is fascinating, but we still haven't discussed why Apollo might be the Mouse Lord, so let's not beat around the bush any longer.

There are two leading theories I've found that might explain this:

Apollo is a mouse-killer

The mice are sacred

Let's start with the former, since I personally like this version less. Let us remember, though, this is mythology, so neither of these theories are more correct than the other, and I've found evidence for both.

Apollo is the god of many things. I usually refer to him as the god of music, but he's also a god of archery, the sun, prophesy (remember this one), poetry, etc. He's quite the multi-talented guy. BUT, among these, he is a god of healing and diseases. This is clear, given that he's the one who sends the plague to the Greeks after they disrespect Chryses.

The Greeks would have known mice to be vermin, and might have associated them with disease. I've been looking at this website, which gives a pretty good summary of what we've been talking about (if not a little bit concise), but it's also literally a forum of ancient coins that says mice can't carry plague (they can, here's the CDC page for it), so take it with a grain of salt. A couple of the sites linked above translate "Smintheus" as "Mouse-Killer," although, as I explained, it really just means "person associated with mice." Apollo being a god of health, it's not a far stretch to assume that he would protect against plague, and I'm of the mind that the Greeks would know mice could bring sickness, and might pray to Apollo to keep them away. This would also explain why the image on Alexandrian coins and the cult statue depict Apollo with a mouse under his foot; literally quelling the plague. (I'm gonna be so honest I just wanted to include the next poem, I could not, for the life of me, think of a good segue into it):

Be it for bread, ye mice, you come, elsewhere Then go (my hut houses but scanty fare) Where you shall gnaw fat cheese and dried figs find, Full satisfied when on these scraps you've dined. If on my books again your teeth you whet, Poor feast you'll have, and one you will regret. (Ariston)

If mice were simply just pests to the Greeks and not plague-bringers, I find it difficult to believe Apollo would have an entire role dedicated to being a mouse-killer. Then again, this brings up an interesting question: why are the mice singled out? Lots of other vermin carry diseases––why is Apollo a mouse-killer and not, like, a general exterminator? What if these mice are important to him instead? So important that he gets the title of Mouse Lord? What if these mice... are sacred? (I hope that transition made up for the last one lol)

Remember that point about the mice living in the temple I said I would come back to? Here we are. It's mentioned in this article from University of Chicago Press that Claudius Aelianus, a Roman author, claimed there were mice living in the temple of Apollo Smintheus; these mice would have likely been fed well, given that they were eating food meant for Apollo. Honestly, I think this fact in and of itself makes a strong argument for why the mice might be sacred. Along with this, mice were a prophetic symbol, because they were "inspired by the vapours arising from the earth." As I mentioned before, prophesy is also in important aspect of Apollo. The most well known oracle of Apollo is the Oracle of Delphi, through whom he was known to speak to mortals. That being said, it's likely the oracle was inhaling ethylene, a central-nervous stimulant, from faults in the ground. While the temple at Delphi and the Smintheum are in two different places, these tales seem eerily similar. I'm not saying that the temple mice where inhaling stimulants and experiencing prophetic visions, but I can see why mice in a temple of Apollo might be associated with prophecies.

I also want to mention that the foundational myth of Hamaxitus has to do with mice AND prophecies. This myth can be found on the wiki page for Hamaxitus, or here (pg. 17). This excerpt is taken from the wiki:

Hamaxitus was founded by a band of Teucrian (i.e. Trojan) Cretans who were told by an oracle to found a city wherever the 'earth-born' (γηγενεῖς) attacked them. When they reached the area of Hamaxitus, a great horde of field mice ate all the leather on their equipment, and so they settled on the spot, interpreting the 'earth-born' of the oracle to have been the mice.

This myth was apparently written by Callinus of Ephesus, a greek elegiac poet, but, unfortunately, after, I kid you not, HOURS, of searching, I cannot confirm this. I have looked everywhere for some scrap of his poetry that has to do with mice––I have scoured the internet and I have scoured my library. I have touched books that likely have not been touched in 30 years. I found a book talking about Greek poetry that was written in Latin. I strongly considered translating a book from German to try to figure this out. No, I tell myself, you have hit a dead end. You do not need to translate a book from either Latin OR German to find out this one little scrap of information for a project no one asked you to complete and one which you are not getting a grade for. Alas, I digress. If you would like to read excerpts from the only two Callinus poems in apparently my entire library or the internet, here you go. They are not about mice.

I'm sorry to say, but that's about it. Apollo Smintheus is the Mouse Lord because he either protects against plague by killing mice, or mice are sacred to him because they're prophetic, and were a part of the foundational myth for one of his temples. I don't even like rodents that much, but I LOVE the idea of Apollo having a bunch of little mice that he carries around with him. I was mostly hitting research dead ends by the end of that, but honestly, I'm satisfied with what I've found. I don't really know what the point of all this was, but I was a woman possessed, and know more than I did two days ago so... I'd call that a success, I suppose.

[zeldahime]

Zelda Liveblogs a Lancet Paper

Following this post, I am now going to liveblog reading the Lancet paper cited by the Economist article to predict worldwide fertility to drop by 3/4s of its current position if current demographic trends continue. It is an Open Access article, so the entire thing is open for anyone on the internet to read.

Citation:

GBD 2021 Fertility and Forecasting Collaborators (March 20, 2024). Global fertility in 204 countries and territories, 1950–2021, with forecasts to 2100: a comprehensive demographic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021. The Lancet, 403(10440), 2057-2099. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(24)00550-6.

I refuse to use Chicago style. This is mostly because I memorized APA and don't want to learn a new one.

First, my background: I am not a demographer; I am not trained as a demographer; I have studied it auxiliarily to my other academic pursuits. I fall in a sort of educated in-between. I am currently a Master's student in library and information sciences, and my undergraduate degree was in political science, both at USAmerican universities. However, the field of economics is also very close to my heart, and I would have double-majored in it if the opportunity and financial costs had not been too high to justify it. During the five years I was a college drop-out, I studied economics independently, reading broadly within the field and taking non-certificate courses online. I've been taking non-certificate courses in economics through correspondence or online since I was about nine. I'm not an expert! I do, however, think I'm a fairly well-informed amateur.

And a note on language. This paper refers to birthing parents as mothers and to the demographic that gives birth interchangeably as female and women. I acknowledge that this is a cissexist patriarchical viewpoint that erases transmen, nonbinary and intersex people, and probably others I'm not thinking of. For consistency between my reflections and the paper and ease of reading, I will do the same. I'm conscious I'm part of the problem here, but don't see a way around it without making my bits harder to understand than they have to be.

With that out of the way, here we go:

Methodology (Summary)

This is where me not being a demographer is an important thing to know. I neither know nor normally care about the statistical methods used to determine demography, just that the demographers aren't retracting papers over it. However, I do know that in general the CCF50 (total cohort fertility before the age of 50) is a neater and more accurate measurement to build projections on than the TFR (total fertility rate by year) and that's the methodology the paper's authors went with. This is good and promising. TFR for known years and CCF50 projections sounds like a solid method. 👍

We additionally produced forecasts for multiple alternative scenarios in each location: the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) for education is achieved by 2030; the contraceptive met need SDG is achieved by 2030; pro-natal policies are enacted to create supportive environments for those who give birth; and the previous three scenarios combined.

I'm very hopeful about these forecasts! They'll show a few different hopeful scenarios.

To evaluate the forecasting performance of our model and others, we computed skill values—a metric assessing gain in forecasting accuracy—by comparing predicted versus observed ASFRs from the past 15 years (2007–21). A positive skill metric indicates that the model being evaluated performs better than the baseline model (here, a simplified model holding 2007 values constant in the future), and a negative metric indicates that the evaluated model performs worse than baseline.

This is a very responsible thing for the authors to have done, and I am interested to see how this is reflected in the models.

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Findings (Summary)

During the period from 1950 to 2021, global TFR more than halved, from 4·84 (95% UI 4·63–5·06) to 2·23 (2·09–2·38). Global annual livebirths peaked in 2016 at 142 million (95% UI 137–147), declining to 129 million (121–138) in 2021. Fertility rates declined in all countries and territories since 1950,

(Emphasis mine. The numbers in parentheses are the confidence interval.) I think this is the most important takeaway from the whole damn paper. Makes sense, since it's the first line of the findings. If you read nothing else, read these three sentences. Global birthrates are barely above replacement (which, if you recall from my other essay, is generally considered to be ~2.1). To me, this implies lot of problems that traditionally have been considered solvable with population redistribution (meaning, mostly, immigration) may not be solvable that way even if fertility were to stop declining today and hold constant for the rest of the century.

Future fertility rates were projected to continue to decline worldwide, reaching a global TFR of 1·83 (1·59–2·08) in 2050 and 1·59 (1·25–1·96) in 2100 under the reference scenario. The number of countries and territories with fertility rates remaining above replacement was forecast to be 49 (24·0%) in 2050 and only six (2·9%) in 2100, with three of these six countries included in the 2021 World Bank-defined low-income group, all located in the GBD super-region of sub-Saharan Africa.

Holy shit. I cannot emphasize enough how low a TFR of 1.59 is. This is approximately the current TFR of the United Kingdom, and they're beginning to freak out even though they have relatively easy sources of additional replacement recruitment through the Commonwealth. Imagine that for the whole Earth. With only six countries as a potential source of surplus population to be redistributed.

Funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Makes sense. This is the kind of thing that foundation funds.

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Introduction

Low levels of fertility have the potential over time to result in inverted population pyramids with growing numbers of older people and declining working-age populations. These changes are likely to place increasing burdens on health care and social systems, transform labour and consumer markets, and alter patterns of resource use.

Oh man, I wish I'd gone through this paper earlier, I could have just quoted this bit and been done instead of trying to explain it from scratch! 😂

The UN Population Division estimates of past fertility are not compliant with the Guidelines on Accurate and Transparent Health Estimates Reporting (GATHER) statement in important respects; notably, they do not provide all code for statistical models or explicit details on criteria for exclusion or adjustment of primary data sources. Furthermore, the validity of UN Population Division projections has been questioned due to the assumptions applied in countries experiencing low post-transition fertility dropping below replacement level.

YES GO OFF 👏 The UN Population Division is so much more cagey about their data than the World Bank, it's so annoying, and they keep predicting increases that don't happen. I thought it was so weird as an undergrad but figured it was because of ~bureaucracy~ or privacy laws or whatever. It's nice to be vindicated [redacted] years later.

Our forecasts also suggest that, by 2100, the largest concentrations of livebirths will shift to low-income settings, particularly a subset of countries and territories in sub-Saharan Africa, which are among the most vulnerable to economic and environmental challenges. Extreme shifts in the global distribution of livebirths can be partially ameliorated by improved female education and met need for modern contraception. Outside of this subset of low-income areas, most of the world's countries will experience the repercussions of low fertility, with ageing populations, declining workforces, and inverted population pyramids, which are likely to lead to profound fiscal, economic, and social consequences. National policy makers and the global health community must plan to address these divided sets of demographic challenges emerging worldwide.

This is such an important point for them to make. Demography isn't a vacuum; it has significant real-world effects. By 2100, most babies born will be born in Africa, and we need to plan for that now. By 2100, most countries will not have enough workers, and we need to plan for that now. 2100 is not that far into the future. I, personally, will live to see the beginnings of the effects of this demographic shift, and I'm an adult who pays taxes and has a college degree and shit.

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The Data Sources and Processing section is pretty standard and unremarkable. Good job.

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Fertility Forecasting

We produced forecasts of fertility using an updated modelling framework (appendix 1 section 3) that improved on the methods in the 2020 study by Vollset and colleagues. In our updated methods, we used not only estimates of female educational attainment and contraceptive met need as covariates, but also estimates of under-5 mortality and population density in habitable areas to account for a larger variation in CCF50 across all countries in the sub-models (appendix 1 section 3.1, appendix 2 figure S2). Similar to Vollset and colleagues, we continued to forecast fertility with CCF50 rather than TFR, because modelling in cohort space is more stable than in period space.

Niiiiice. Covariates are things that, well, vary, alongside the thing you're trying to measure. For fertility, the most obvious one might be age of the mother at first birth; if someone is 16 at first birth, she probably will have more kids than someone who is 30 at first birth, for example. This model also includes how much schooling the mother gets, whether she has contraception, the mortality rate (that is, how many of them die) of children under five, and population density! That's a lot of statistical crunching and their model will be more precise for it. Precise isn't the same as accurate, but I think that with the variables they selected, they will travel in the same direction.

What a pretty equation. I don't understand it, but it's got a certain je ne sais quois.

For the education SDG scenario, the forecasts assume that by 2030, all people will have 12 years or more of education by the age of 25 years and then maintains the same rate of change as the reference scenario up to 2100. For the contraceptive met need scenario, to reflect the SDG scenario of universal access, the forecasts assumed a linear increase in contraceptive coverage to reach 100% by 2030 and then stay constant up to 2100.

I love how optimistic these scenarios are 😂 This truly is the best-case scenario for both the education forecast and the contraceptive forecast! I do hope everybody has 12+ years of education and 100% contraceptive coverage by 2030. Make it happen, António!!!!

(Joke explained: António Guterres is the current Secretary-General of the United Nations, and these goals are absolutely not going to be met by 2030.)

In the pro-natal scenario, we assumed a country will introduce pro-natal policies, such as childcare subsidies, extended parental leave, insurance coverage expansion for infertility treatment, 33 and other forms of support for parents to afford high-quality child-care services, once TFR decreases to less than 1·75. We then made three assumptions on the effects of such policies. First, we assumed the full effect of pro-natal policies will be to increase TFR by 0·2. Second, it will take 5 years after the policy is introduced for the full increase in TFR to occur, and TFR will rise linearly over that time span. Last, we assumed that both the policies and the increase in TFR by 0·2 will endure for the remainder of the century.

The pro-natal scenario is also incredibly optimistic. This kind of response simply hasn't happened in any country that's tried pro-natal policies as envisioned by the authors (my reference cases, just off the top of my head: Japan and France).

The optimism makes sense. They represent extreme cases, in order to contrast possible outcomes versus the reference case. This is good practice! It's just also funny.

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Results

The Reference Case

I hate the embedded tables. They have the confidence interval in the same cell as the estimate. How very dare they, that's incredibly inconvenient for me personally.

The chart in Figure 1, however, I think speaks volumes:

It speaks so many volumes that I'm gonna go up and put it above the cut, brb. This chart shows the reference case; that is, it shows the fertility rate if the fertility trends of 1950-2021 continue into the future.

At the national level, estimates of TFR in 2021 ranged from 0·82 (95% UI 0·75–0·89) in South Korea to 6·99 (6·75–7·24) in Chad, with below-replacement levels of fertility (TFR <2·1) in 110 of 204 countries and territories (table 1, figures 2A, 3).

I think this range is neat and goes to show that while the trend is world-wide, it's still not even. Chadian women still give birth to about 7ish kids on average. That's more than 3x replacement, and more than 8.5x the average fertility of South Korea. South Korea is going to have different problems than Chad; Chad probably doesn't have to worry as much about their workforce being unable to sustain a large elderly population. (Don't look so cheerful about it. They've got lots of other stuff to worry about. 😬)

These charts are fascinating to look at to me. I think this really showcases just how dramatic the projected decline is. It's not just the Europe, it's not just wealthy post-industrialized countries, but everywhere. It's in Eswanti, it's in Indonesia, it's in Burkina Faso, it's in China. It really shows just how much Chad is an outlier (adn should still be counted, btw, just because it's an outlier doesn't mean we should discard it; it's dependent on study structure and you can't just throw out entire countries because they have high birth rates on a study of birth rates).

Our estimates indicate that there is approximately a 30-year gap between the time when TFR falls below 2·1 and when the natural rate of population increase turns negative. We forecast that 155 (76·0%) countries and territories will have fertility rates below replacement level in 2050; by 2100, we project this number will increase to 198 (97·1%), with 178 (87·3%) having a negative natural rate of increase (figure 3).

A 30-year gap sounds reasonable. That's about how long it takes for people to have/not have kids, and for their own parents to potentially die, in about equalish numbers (on a global scale, anyway). I do think this gap number is likely to increase as healthcare improves in places that are worse today and as fertility technology increases the age at which people can become pregnant, but 30 is a perfectly respectable number with actual statistical backing.

Alternative scenario fertility forecasts

This is the part I'm really excited about!!!

The first scenario, which assumes meeting the SDG education target by 2030, is estimated to result in global TFRs of 1·65 (95% UI 1·40–1·92) in 2050 and 1·56 (1·26–1·92) in 2100 (table 2). The second scenario, which assumes meeting the SDG contraceptive met need target by 2030, will produce global TFRs of 1·64 (1·39–1·89) in 2050 and 1·52 (1·21–1·87) in 2100. The third scenario, which incorporates pro-natal policy implementation, is forecast to yield global TFRs of 1·93 (1·69–2·19) in 2050 and 1·68 (1·36–2·04) in 2100. The combined scenario, in which all three other alternative scenarios are applied, is projected to result in a global TFR of 1·65 (1·40–1·92) in 2050 and 1·62 (1·35–1·95) in 2100.

So recall the reference scenario projections: 1·83 (1·59–2·08) in 2050 and 1·59 (1·25–1·96) in 2100.

I find it interesting that all cases are so incredibly close to reference, with overlapping confidence intervals. Functionally, there's not a lot of difference between a TFR of 1.68 and 1.52. They're both still well below replacement. It's about the difference between Sweden (1.67) and Russia (1.51). Russia, you may have noticed, is waging war about it.*

*This is not a stated goal of the Russian Federation in the Ukraine War. This is me personally making an assertion that the shifting demographics of the Russian population, including the below-replacement birthrate beginning to put pressure on their lacking social safety networks, has contributed to the many complicated and interconnected reasons why the Russian Federation invaded Ukraine, but please do not take me to be the final authority on the matter or interpret this statement as implying that demography of all things is the sole or primary reason for the war.

Discussion

The aforementioned changes in fertility over the coming century will have profound effects on populations, economies, geopolitics, food security, health, and the environment, with a clear demographic divide between the impacts on many middle-to-high-income locations versus many low-income locations. For nearly all countries and territories outside of sub-Saharan Africa, sustained low fertility will produce a contracting population with fewer young people relative to older people before the end of the 21st century. These changes in age structure are likely to present considerable economic challenges caused by a growing dependency ratio of older to working-age population and a shrinking labour force. 42 Unless governments identify unforeseen innovations or funding sources that address the challenges of population ageing, this demographic shift will put increasing pressure on national health insurance, social security programmes, and health-care infrastructure. These same programmes will receive less funding as working-age, tax-paying populations decline, further exacerbating the problem.

This is why the Economist article talks about birthrates the way it does. It's not about white babies or whatever people in the notes are sarcastically ascribing to an article they haven't read. It's about the whole world. There are 150 countries outside of the Sub-Saharan Africa region, and 44 of the 46 countries within Sub-Saharan Africa are projected to feel the many or all of the same effects as well.

It's about the way social security nets are structured and how they're going to fail. It's about the way that elderly people are going to be treated by our societies. It's about me, and it's about you, and it's about making sure that there are enough humans to take care of the other humans that need taking care of.

If we don't increase global fertility rates above replacement, which it increasingly looks like we won't, we need other solutions. The fertility one is easy fuckin' pickings compared to a complete overhaul of society, and you saw how little difference it actually makes. So did the authors:

To date, one strategy to reverse declining fertility in low-fertility settings has been to implement pro-natal policies, such as child-related cash transfers and tax incentives, childcare subsidies, extended parental leave, re-employment rights, and other forms of support for parents to care and pay for their children.49, 50 Yet there are few data to show that such policies have led to strong, sustained rebounds in fertility, with empirical evidence suggesting an effect size of no more than 0·2 additional livebirths per female. [...] Moreover, although pro-natal policies primarily aim to increase births, they also offer additional benefits to society, including better quality of life, greater household gender equality (ie, more equal division of household labour),53 higher rates of female labour force participation,54 lower child-care costs,55 and better maternal health outcomes,56 depending on policy design and contextual factors. In the future, it will be beneficial to perform an in-depth analysis on varying impacts of pro-natal policies in selected countries that have a meaningful impact on population. [...] Importantly, low fertility rates and the modest effects that pro-natal policies might have on them should not be used to justify more draconian measures that limit reproductive rights, such as restricting access to modern contraceptives or abortions.

I just want to highlight that the study authors explicitly argue for certain pro-natal policies that increase quality of life and caution against pro-natal policies that limit rights. These people aren't heartless.

They also discuss at some length the implications of the changing distribution of live births, where by the end of the century most live births will take place in the poorest nations, which are also the ones that will be hardest-hit by climate change. These nations already face famines, military rule, civil wars, terrorism, and climate changed-caused severe heatwaves, droughts, and floods. They advise politicians to take this into account when making policy decisions but don't go into what policy decisions should be made, which is wise since they're demographers and not political scientists, but disappointed me, the political scientist reading the demography paper and hoping to find something to criticize.

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My takeaway:

Incredibly interesting paper. As a non-demographer, I think it's very convincing and hope that it sparks a serious conversation about the paths we need to take forward, in our own countries and as a global community. I especially hope that it inspires us to take bold action to drastically change our systems of elder care, which are already being pushed to the limit and will simply break under pressure if fertility rates continue to fall.

[slavic-roots-western-mind]

Life in China Observations #4

It's been a while since I last did this, so let's go again!

Identity is complicated The question "where are you from" can be just as complicated as it is simple. For many people, their country of birth is where they're from, which is usually the case here. However, if you happen to be born in country A to parents from cultures B and C, immigrated and became a citizen of country D and now attend university in country E and are now on an exchange program in China, the question "where are you from" is not that easily answered. From what some of my friends told me, where you're from is actually the place where your dad was born in even though you may have been born in a different city which is a pretty interesting concept known as the "ancestral home" - 祖籍 (zǔjí) or 籍贯 (jígùan).

You have to make the first step I may have mentioned this in a previous post, but people are constantly doing something and unless you specifically and intentionally reach out and work on your friendship, you may end up drifting apart. Maybe this is a specific thing, but back home I could go a few weeks without really reaching out to my friends and then someone would suggest grabbing lunch together and it would be like no time had passed at all since we last saw each other. Here? Quite different.

Beauty and pop trends There are all sorts of weird and wonderful trends that you can come across in China. From using bread as a study tactic to decorating your workplace with banana plants, I feel like the more I assimilate here, the bigger the reverse culture shock will be when I go back home, and not just for me. dr.candiselin covers some of these trends on Instagram (not a promo post!), and I recommend checking out her content, it's quite brilliant.

Taobao You can buy anything on taobao. Literally. I saw someone selling a house there. I was previously a little shocked to see animals such as cats and bunnies being sold, but after seeing houses and cars being sold I honestly don't know what else is there to surprise me with.

Prepare in advance (foodwise) for the lunar new year During those 8-12ish days during the holdiays a lot of stores were closed. The convenience store outside my campus was open thank God, because otherwise I would have been living on instant porridge and instant soup which was my main food source 2 weeks prior due to being ill and there is only so much instant oatmeal that you can eat before slightly losing it.

Being ill is a nightmare And I mean the mandatory-bed-rest-no-going-out-for-at-least-5-days ill kind. You need to go to the hospital or a clinic to get a note to give to your school otherwise the day's you're absent will be counted, and once they reach a specific percentage you won't be allowed to take the exam (which can seriously mess with your grades, even more if you're there as an exchange student).

The weather can change at the blink of an eye I remember back in December the weather was in the negative digits and then suddenly the next day it was around 20 celcius?? The very next day it went to 3-4, and even now in March it's very all over the place. The weather forecast is not that useful because I'll leave the dorms wearing my coat in the morning only to return carrying my coat, jumper, long-sleeved shirt and wearing only my t-shirt.

More affordable beauty products I saw some products go for around $80 online?? And here on Taobao they cost under $10? I'm assuming it's the shipping costs that drive up the price so drastically, and now I'm pondering whether it would be cheaper to order online or to travel to China every couple of years just to stock up on beauty products.

[allthecanadianpolitics]

September 19, 2023 Today, the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) issued the following statement responding to 1 Million March 4 Children protests that are scheduled to take place across Canada this week:

“Any actions or events that seek to undermine the rights and dignity of the 2SLGBTQ+ community must be denounced. As such, ETFO strongly condemns this week’s planned protests, and calls on the government and school boards to do the same. 

There is no room for hate in our province or our hearts. Yet we are seeing a disturbing increase in public discourse centred on anti-2SLGTBQ+ hate. It is alarming that several politicians are contributing to this troubling trend. Recently, Premier Doug Ford accused school boards of indoctrination. Education Minister Stephen Lecce scolded boards for upholding students’ human rights related to gender identity, and members of parliament are on social media using dog-whistle terms like ‘woke’ to gain political clout. Instead of spewing rhetoric they know is harmful and dangerous and that pits parents against educators, they should be ensuring safe and inclusive spaces for every student in the province and for every constituent they serve. [...]

Continue Reading.

Tagging: @politicsofcanada

[mariacallous]

As Shadi prepares to become a mother for the first time, the Iranian 30-year-old is so concerned about her unborn daughter’s future that she is considering leaving her homeland.

“The challenges and inequality we face as women start from birth,” said Shadi, a housewife in Tehran, who did not give her full name for fear of persecution. “The hijab is imposed on girls from a young age, restricting their freedom in society and affecting how they grow up as well as their opportunities in life,” she added.

Iran has imposed a strict dress code on women since a revolution swept the ruling Islamic regime into power 45 years ago, obliging them to cover their hair and wear loose-fitting clothes. Authorities have stepped up enforcement of the rules since the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody in September 2022 triggered major protests across the country, during which women openly flouted the code. Last year, Iran’s parliament approved a bill to strengthen punishments for such violations.

Although the protests have subsided, the hijab has been a prominent issue ahead of the elections that will occur on the first day of March for Iran’s parliament and the executive council that appoints the country’s supreme leader. Turnout is expected to be low, with young voters particularly disillusioned with the political process—a trend that contributed to the 2022 protests. A recent poll found that only 30 percent of Iranians intend to vote, according to the semiofficial Iranian Students’ News Agency. Many are also voting with their feet and migrating to other countries.

Shadi said that she worried about her daughter growing up in an “environment that denies her her most basic rights,” adding, “I want to move as soon as possible to a country where basic freedoms are more readily available.”

Such freedoms are increasingly under threat for Iran’s female citizens, according to women’s rights advocates and United Nations experts, who say the hijab crackdown is creating a chilling effect on women’s rights activism and legitimizing broader gender discrimination.

According to several women interviewed by the Fuller Project, this means that Iranian women now cannot drive, do their jobs, or even have a coffee without worrying about having their cars impounded, being fired, or getting hit with fines if the hijab is not worn—or worn too loosely. “This crackdown on women’s dress code will further degrade women’s rights to work, study, drive, and participate fully in public life,” said Rothna Begum, a senior women’s rights researcher at Human Rights Watch.

The hijab bill was passed in September and is still awaiting its expected approval by the Guardian Council—Iran’s hard-line watchdog body—before it can become law. It would increase fines, introduce jail sentences of up to 10 years for women who defy dress rules, and widen gender segregation in places ranging from universities and hospitals to parks. U.N. experts have said it could amount to “gender apartheid.”

“The Iranian authorities have been doubling down their oppressive methods of policing and are punishing women and girls to quell widespread defiance of degrading and discriminatory compulsory veiling laws since the popular ‘Woman, Life, Freedom’ uprising,” said Mansoureh Mills, an Iran researcher for Amnesty International.

Amini’s death, which occured under police custody after she was arrested for allegedly wearing her hijab too loosely, triggered some of the worst political unrest seen in Iran in decades. While the protests have ebbed, women continue to defy the dress code by posting photos online of themselves unveiled or going out in public without the headscarf.

Anahid, a 21-year-old performing arts student, said she was pulled over in December by police in Tehran while driving and told that her car was being impounded because she had violated the dress regulations. Anahid—whose name has been changed for her protection—said she spent five days dealing with various government offices over the issue and had to pay fines totaling more than $110 to reclaim her vehicle.

“Driving in the streets of the capital has become perilous … but I will not allow such intimidation to alter my driving or clothing,” Anahid said, recounting how some of her female friends had experienced similar incidents.

Whether women do not wear the hijab properly while behind the wheel, at the workplace or simply sitting at a cafe, penalties for noncompliance can be severe. Women convicted of violating veiling laws have been subjected to “degrading punishments,” including being forced to wash dead bodies for Islamic burials and clean government buildings, according to a report published in August 2023 by Javaid Rehman, the U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in Iran.

But it’s not just women who are falling foul of the dress code and being penalized. Ali, a 40-year-old man who owns a cafe on Tehran’s Keshavarz Boulevard, said his business had been shut down twice by authorities because his female customers were not wearing the hijab properly. Authorities have temporarily closed thousands of businesses, from shops to offices, since Amini’s death—because either female employees or customers were seen without the hijab, according to various media reports.

Under the Hijab and Chastity Bill, businesses that flout the law could be fined up to three months of their income. But Ali—who asked that his real name be withheld for security concerns—said he supported the protest movement and that he would not ask women visiting his cafe to cover their hair. “I won’t do it, no matter the losses,” said Ali, who said he expected more raids on his business and further closures over dress code violations. “It’s a normal price to be paid for change to happen in the country.”

Hard-line clerics, top judges, and President Ebrahim Raisi have repeatedly issued warnings in recent months to women who violate the dress code, according to Iran International, a London-based television station that is critical of the Iranian government. At a public event in August, Raisi said, “I am telling you that the removal of the hijab will definitely come to an end.”

Iran is regularly ranked as one of the worst countries to be a woman in terms of gender parity for economic opportunities, education, health concerns, and political leadership, according to research by the World Bank and the World Economic Forum (WEF). Although more women graduate from university than men, Iran has one of the lowest rates of female employment and biggest gender pay gaps worldwide, the WEF’s latest Gender Gap Report shows.

Masoumeh Bagheri, a member of a state-appointed team to empower women who are heads of households in Tehran province, said there is still an entrenched belief in Iran that women belong in the home, and added that their role in society is widely seen as “secondary, complementary, and sometimes unnecessary.”

Such attitudes have left Samira Akbari, a jobless, 25-year-old computer science graduate in Tehran, pessimistic about her career prospects. Akbari—who also asked that her real name be withheld—said she was delighted when she landed her first permanent job for an online store in July 2023 after years of taking short-term contracts to build up her resume. But she was fired after just three weeks and replaced by a male intern.

Akbari said she did not know if hijab regulations played a part in her dismissal, but that her boss had explained that her male colleagues were uncomfortable with her presence.

“I would’ve understood if I was performing poorly, but instead, it’s my teammates not being comfortable around women that got me sacked,” said Akbari, who has since been unemployed.

[mooremarchingmusic]

Okay y'all it's time to rant again.

I just found out that my high school alma mater cut the marching band program, and needless to say I am livid. My most popular post on this blog is about the importance of marching band, but I feel like I need to expand on it; this time, from the perspective of an adult who’s long out of school, watching the real-time crumble of the very thing that brought me to where I am now. 

When I was first begrudgingly pushed into marching by my director, I was a completely different person: skittish of my own shadow, chronically out-of-place, and cripplingly shy. I didn’t have the constitution for sports, and whatever other activities I found myself drawn to either couldn’t break through my hesitant demeanor or had no place for the strange personality they found on the other side. 

But I immediately belonged in marching band. They didn’t mind my reserved nature, and strangeness was something they celebrated. Over the course of a single marching season, I got into good physical shape, dramatically improved my musicality, made more friends than I’d ever had… and most importantly, developed a still-quiet but genuine and unwavering confidence. 

I found myself in marching band. The acceptance and fellowship it offered allowed me to learn who I was, and I brought that into every other aspect of my life. It gave me the courage to continue branching out to find other things I loved, the social skills to finally forge lasting connections with others, the opportunity to discover my own leadership style, and the assuredness to trust myself in walking my own path. 

And if you’re not the type to be convinced by waxing poetic about intangible concepts, maybe you’ll be convinced by the direct impact marching had on my future career. I went into writing, and even well-meaning family members told me not to focus so much on marching band when it didn’t have any relation to the type of work I was pursuing. At least until the local newspaper hired me for high school practicum because they wanted me to write about band. In turn, that led to a performing arts beat job in college, which then led to an internship with Halftime Magazine: writing (about the marching arts!) on a national level at 19 years old. Marching band jump-started a completely unrelated career with opportunities that I wouldn’t have otherwise had, and that’s not even taking into account the passion and community that gave me such an important thing to write about in the first place. 

I acknowledge that my life right now is the product of many intersecting circumstances, but it’s an undeniable reality that I would not be who I am without marching band. 

That’s why it kills me to see this happening. It’s not just my old high school cutting the marching band. The little drum corps that I joined one summer folded in its first season due to a lack of funding or support from much of anywhere. The second college I attended removed the marching band from the pregame show a couple years ago, and the last time I went to an alumni event there, they were constantly cutting the band off during pep tunes in favor of playing Top 40 songs on the loudspeaker. 

Seemingly more than ever, the marching arts are being sidelined and it pisses me off. 

It’s been proven, over and over, for decades upon decades, that music education is invaluable to kids’ development and success. Schools with access to music education have an average attendance rate of 93.3%, compared to 84.9% in schools without it; and music students have an estimated 90.2% high school graduation rate compared to 72.9% of non-music students. Band members trend 87.6% to be in the top ten percent of their graduating class, and 94.9% of valedictorians and salutatorians participate in music education. Music students in America attend college at a rate of 86.4% — the highest rate of any discipline — and have a collegiate graduation rate of 88.4% compared to the national graduation rate of 60.4%. Band members have the lowest levels of current/lifelong use of alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drugs of any group. They have higher rates of brain development, critical thinking skills, motor capacities, and camaraderie; while having lower rates of bullying, racism, and disciplinary infractions. [x] [x] [x]

Don’t get me wrong, I recognize that sports are life-changing for kids. We all know that. There are umpteen billion studies and marketing campaigns and feel-good movies about how sports can turn someone’s life around. But the arts do the exact same thing, not just for kids who don’t have athletic inclinations, but for all kids who benefit from the cognitive, social, and cultural advantages that music introduces to their lives. 

When you bend over backwards to continue funding athletics but cut arts programs without a second thought, what you’re really doing is looking at a group of kids — intelligent, talented, promising kids — and telling them that their futures are less important than someone else’s. You’re telling them that their passions and pursuits are inconsequential. You’re ripping potentially life-changing opportunities from them because of arbitrary and completely false narratives that the arts somehow have less impact than athletics, just because they don't bring in as much money and aren't as glorified and exciting on TV.  

Funding is an almost universal issue for public schools, and I know it’s complicated to navigate. But I see no reason why budget cuts can’t be split up and applied equally to all programs, giving all students the opportunity to learn how to fundraise, work together in the face of setbacks, and come up with creative solutions to make their collective dreams a reality. I will never understand the decision to instead single out particular groups of kids, and I cannot fathom the sort of closed-minded, backwards thinking that causes arts programs to be the first to go. 

In more ways than one, marching band took a timid, directionless wallflower and catapulted her into a confident, successful, and fulfilling adulthood; and I will defend music education for as long as it takes to ensure that the generations who come after me get that same chance. 

[kattartsblog]

Doing the Hatsune Miku trend, except she’s different girls I went to high school with.

From left to right we got; Rich girl Miku, Scene Kid Miku, Furry Otaku Miku, and Varsity Cheer Miku

This isn’t to make fun of anyone, it’s just a silly post. Headcanons for each Miku below!

Rich Girl Miku has an instagram and posts on there all the time. She goes on vacations to a summer home in California and holds the wildest parties. She’s super popular amongst the student council and has been crowned homecoming queen in her junior year.

Scene Kid Miku has a rep for looking like a bad girl but she’s actually really nice. Still uses MySpace for social media and got into tumblr thanks to Furry Otaku Miku. Has a huge collection of emo music. Likes to mix music after school, especially Vocaloid. ;3

Furry Otaku Miku has gone to furry and anime conventions with some friends in her anime club. Her Fursona is a cat wolf hybrid and her favorite video game is Sonic Adventure 2. She’s seen as too weird by most and loves to draw. Also part of the LGBT club.

Varsity Cheer Miku is secretly the most gossipy, she knows the tea about everyone. Besties with Rich Girl Miku. Not only is she in cheer; she’s also a flag twirler for the marching band and the modern dance club. She’s a twitter teen and in a more modern setting, she’d be on tiktok or visco.