#science is literally another language why are they not teaching it as such

[what-even-is-sleep]

"Phospholipids comprise the membrane's matrix." WTF am i reading T-T

[onewomancitadel]

It really baffles me when talking about the media literacy/illiteracy question online - and those who defend the brevity of their reading choices - that we first point the finger at laziness... sure, I don't think you are civically or politically responsible in the way you conduct yourself online, you're not doing responsible government messaging - and I think 'laziness' is often removed from the conversation too quickly - but I would view laziness as the very last influence to really be discussed when it comes to people struggling with reading and children struggling with reading.

And certainly, I think there are many individuals online who cannot see past themselves and their persecution complex - and the free license they've been given to accuse everybody else of reenacting their trauma - and this is not something I would think of as being a left- or right-wing issue - and trust in others, or lack thereof, and solipsism most of all is not a modern issue. But I just think it is wrong to read this cultural situation as a personal failure. There are so many factors at hand:

Are people less literate, and in what way? That they're reading less is probably broadly true; across what populations? Literacy is a loaded question in Australia due to the conflict between Aboriginal languages being neglected in view of teaching English literacy (this was and is a huge problem with previous - certain - Liberal governments ignoring linguistic evidence on English As Another Language learning and supplanting the use of their native language in schools for Aboriginal children, which implicitly - or not so implicitly - neglects the natural and continued use of those languages; "White Australia" policy without the "White Australia" so openly; anti-science - which itself has been employed in racist ends to be fair - but most of all racist at heart. I realise I am speaking largely with a US-based audience, but I really think this is a serious matter to consider when discussing the concept of literacy. Who is empowered, and why? Literacy is entangled with everyday linguistic practice, and different needs are met in different ways. (Later, I will get into the question of artistic/reading traditions).

Per that Atlantic article causing a stir: we cannot accurately compare tertiary students of today with tertiary students of twenty or more years past; not from the professor's day either (whose standards of academic bearing, based on their own student experience, could be inflated - somebody who ends up professor was probably a pretty good reader!); the progressive commercialisation and privatising of university and college institutions is too big of an influence here, including encouraging students to attend who would probably be much better off at technical colleges - that is, the student population is not academically minded, and curricula has been "dumbed down" to support this, except we do want broad education, probably ideally (maybe it all needs reform!); inflation of Bachelors degrees; ask any Classics department how they are feeling about everything (they're always the first to go) - Ancient Greek and Latin just "aren't relevant"; universities are cultivating hostility to learning for the sake of learning, and taking your time with a text in the first place; well, worse than that, academia suffers from publish-or-perish which overwhelmingly affects the type of research being done and consequently the perception of that research; burgeoning anti-intellectualism (both left and right) surely isn't helping; all this foments anti-reader culture

Not done yet. People do not read for leisure as much anymore. The demographic that reads for pleasure (women) is quite conspicuous given the fact that fiction reading now suffers from being viewed as accessory to reading self-help or shitty pop-[science, linguistics, history, etc.] books, and ignoring the way gender influences cultural theatre would be silly; the fear of women doing things that men mostly do is the fear that it will no longer be intellectual and serious - meanwhile, the reverse often happens (most of the professional fashion designers, chefs, hairdressers, are all men, yet in our day to day lives it's supposed to be and generally may be women who like clothes, cook, and do their hair - once upon a time programming and literally threading computers together was just gruntwork conducted by forgettable female secretaries - now it's the cutting edge of society); if (largely) reading for leisure does not enjoy cultural prestige (worse - accusations of pretension or, contradictorily, vapidity) then of course people are going to by and large read much less and be capable of reading much less

Even if they're reading on their phone. There is actually nothing that says you can't read little bits of lots of books the way that you read little bits of lots of tabs in your browser or on your mobile phone applications. It is just not habitual. Habits are everything, and learning how to think outside your everyday habits is a skill in and of itself

Pedagogy: I have written in the past (and shared articles on the subject) about the much much broader problem which is how children are taught to read - at the word-level understanding (not just reading a text and expecting what is written) but also at how to tackle "age-appropriate" reading, or what that even means. The habit (see above) of reading is not something that's necessarily easy to encourage, or even permitted within the curricula, and really I think my personal issue - from having learnt other languages - is that children are not appropriately challenged with the material they're given. From the get-go teachers have low expectations of children's reading ability and it is all basically based on junk science and a perception of how one ought to read and not how reading is practically learnt. Many people on Tumblr often remark it was strange that they were reading "college-age" - whatever that means - books at age ten or eleven or twelve and this, in my view, is actually ideal. I also think it is a mistake to treat texts as something that are intended to teach critical lessons ("Aldous Huxley wrote about eugenics; what can you tell me about eugenics") because, though this is good for exams, it's also not interesting and not fun and anti-reading and anti-thematic. Never have I hated reading more than under the English teachers I had (sorry to English teachers on Tumblr - though in my experience they hate me too on here)

Mass literacy is historically aberrant. It is actually remarkably impressive how swiftly literacy programs have worked to make so much of the population at least literate enough to navigate a literacy-driven society which depends on said literacy to do things such as pay their taxes, read roadsigns, know for whom they want to vote, know their rights and duties and the law in civic society, conduct jury duty, etc.; my point here is the fact that it is actually kind of impressive how people talk about literacy in a way that the way to mass educate and to maintain literate education is actually a closed matter. It's not at all, and it's an enormous privilege to know how to read and write (it is a human rights issue as a matter of fact to deny education); further to that I think that many people undervalue it (part of the issue here) and that some people overvalue it (in the sense that they assume literacy is a special characteristic everybody has access to dip into in and out, and some people do so nobly and some do not do so, ignobly). I don't defend the value of reading on the basis of cultural prestige, but for the very opposite fact that it cultivates an inner sense of self-determination artistically and you know what, maybe even politically. But I would say that this is true for all art; reading is one way of communicating that fact and after all, many of our greatest texts come from or were influenced by oral traditions (Homer, the Bible), see also my vendetta with little shits who masturbate about their superiority to audiobooks. It is true that there are probably many specific cognitive "benefits" to reading, but need we justify it that way? Must everything be justified by it being "good for you"? It's very biologically minded in a way that I don't think is responsible. Spiritual and emotional goodness is sufficient.

Which circles back around to primary, secondary, and tertiary problems, everything from condescension and counter-evidence based science about how students are supposed to learn and what they're supposed to learn to financial incentives in universities to make their subjects easier because failing students means less money and fewer enrolments for those subjects (see my Classics example). What was interesting about the Atlantic article discussing students reading less - and what they didn't criticise as far as I could see it - were universities in turn limiting their curricula; they are responsible for setting the standards which students are supposed to meet. Greek and Latin face this issue particularly hard because you cannot dumb down Greek and Latin where you might be able to pare down how much students are being forced to "read" in other subjects - and they say humanities is easy! Pah! - and I have had endless arguments with other students about how hard Greek/Latin are and how the tutors are too mean with marking etc. etc. and archaeology students are not wanting to learn ancient languages anymore because they're hard etc. etc. and now you are bereft of the opportunity to make more clear assertions about a text. A particularly laughable example was from a peer of mine who tried to make the accusation that a Greek text was racist on the basis of the English translation which used English racially-loaded words when in the Greek text itself it did not have the same connotations. It was a translator problem, not a Greek problem (it's not like the Greeks even need defending). Anyway - sorry - it's getting away from me. Basically, Classics faculties are facing this issue in a particularly concentrated way, and some want to make it easier because of accessibility reasons (limit of intellectual ability is not accessibility definitionally or actionably but okay; I say this as a crazy person who has been "suggested" help in the past and refused it lol, not having done so proudly, but because of intense stigma), but it's that or closure

Maybe, maybe laziness figures in here, eventually. But I don't think it's right (within the narrow purview of university) to point the finger at students when you're widening the goalposts anyway - and making the deal miserable for the rest of us - holy fuck classes were so fucking painful because clearly nobody else wanted to be there. I don't think it's right just to assume people whose habits neglect libraries (including uni libraries), or texts that can come up on a websearch, or secondhand books, or even brand new books, are doing so out of clear laziness, and rhetorically I do not think it is helpful to think of it as laziness - nobody likes to think of themselves as lazy, and nobody likes to be persecuted - especially when laziness often has manifold influences which much better explain the problem. No, I am not accounting for individuals with exceptional experiences which influence their struggle with reading - you have your own journey I could not possibly account for - but equally I think everybody's got something going on. I hated doing uni readings on a screen, so I printed everything out four pages to a page, double-sided; usually about 70-80 pages became 17.5-20 pages, which was completely doable for each of my subjects that I took and minimised how much I actually felt like I was reading. Now I have an e-reader (Kobo) I have an even easier time for leisure reading as well as extra research.

Why does any of this even fucking matter? It fucking matters because as much as I think there will always be people who don't want to read or don't need to read, this is an issue which influences how people navigate society and how many people don't understand how storytelling works, which makes them annoying to be around, and they get on my fucking nerves. To be well-read is not, in my view, a special prestige afforded to the very few and the very pretentious; to be well-read is to be somebody with a well-rounded sense of their surroundings and their environment and other people and the artistic potential of the narrative form. We're rather lacking in our highly literate culture in folkloric traditions; we view fairytales and folklore and mythology as beneath our very enlightened selves; but it's all for the lesser, because we don't have a consistent body of narrative shared in society. The reason your teachers appeal so much to Shakespeare is because his work is foundational to the English literary form and actually comprises a traceable influence. When you are actually empowered with the body of these ideas - even if you hate them - then you really can have something to say (though outsider art is, sometimes, very valuable). And I guess that's where Campbell feels really relevant: this is part of how you relate to the world and yourself and your place in that world. (I also agree with reading well outside your own cultural bounds, without a view of exoticism; all worldwide traditions offer this local richness).

What constitutes that shared tradition is commercially-driven pop culture, manufactured for hyperpalability*. Is it always bad? I don't really think so, since if it were entirely artifice, I think people would be able to tell (and they can tell). Parts of it are genuine. For every Marvel film, you might have one Dark. For every [popstar whom I am allowed to hate without people losing their minds], you have Susanne Sundför (who does write pop structured songs so she's a great comparison; the issue is not the pop form itself). Everybody's worried about what sells, and to be sure, for such expensive endeavours you have a right to be worried, but it does get pretty narrow - but it's not like a one-woman workhorse author should be worried about the hyperpalatability of her work, but she is, because authors don't get paid very much. You can't exactly survive off of this stuff. But I'm just a bit averse to the immediacy, the ignorance, the complacency; even readers will point at other readers and say they read the wrong thing (romance - fanfiction - science fiction - fantasy - dark fantasy - Sartre - fuck that guy). Maybe, bone-deep, we're petty and judgemental.

*Totally hilarious to me when anti-intellectual online edgelords masquerading as counter-cultural punks think It's Hip To Be Square. Yeah you tell 'em baby, you're so right.

Ultimately I wrote this post because I am frustrated with "but my little baby books are hopeful, whereas boring adult stuff is mean and not hopeful" because the bizarro age dichotomy shits me off (yes I think there can be books "for" children which are rewarding to visit/revisit as adults) but also because adult fiction encompasses the wide, vast range of human experience - yet I am also frustrated with the self-important, pretentious individuals who are busy fingerwagging - fucking FINGERWAGGING, ops normal on this shit for brains website - about the ostensible laziness of people who do not read and implying that reading must be a painful experience to be good or not that reading widely you will discover whole new worlds through doors you never thought to open... me, I am an optimist. These things should be approached with joy. Reading is not painful, you are not ill-equipped to read because you're on your phone.

Habits are habits, but anybody trying to proliferate "dopamine addiction" theory is high on humours theory (that is: pseudoscientific bullshit) and I think is actually dangerously encouraging people to feel locked in to their phones and the reward of notification by virtue of saying you are locked in to your phone and the reward of notification, and you are conditioned out of reading. None of this is closed science, not least on the matter of a biological addiction to your own nebulous brain chemicals. None of this says anything significantly major about your habits and the mental roadblock of "I am a little phone addicted baby" is a tangible roadblock to sitting down and letting yourself read indeed, on your phone, like you may be doing now. The irony of this post's length merely adds to my broader point. Now you may be a stalwart defender of modern pseudoscience because it is reassuring to think of yourself as "tied to dopamine", but in which case surely you are too ensnared by the draw of dopamine to source where, exactly, you read about "dopamine addiction". And no I'm not saying it's all in your head (like, say, dopamine addiction is all in your head), personal and mental roadblocks are a whole different thing to untangle. Some people are scared of reading because they used to get in trouble a lot at school about it. Some people hate reading because they think it's boring and stupid. People are beautiful and complex.

This topic is really picking up steam on Tumblr - many people are upset about the Percy Jackson remark at the end of, again, the Atlantic article, but I think that was meant to cause a stir, and frankly I think if you are proudly ignorant you're just a regular anti-intellectual; if Percy Jackson is so powerful then make the case for it (I enjoy a range of low-brow and high-brow art and even kind of reject the distinction - Percy Jackson is just not that good - also the article made an excellent point everybody's ignoring: it draws on Greek mythology! It has a literary lineage!) - and people are saying many, many annoying things on the matter, which perhaps demonstrates the matter best: they would all be so less annoying if they were reading instead of leaving inane little comments from the painfully small window of their worldview.

[starandcloud]

Dee Metal Family Headcannons

Lil head cannons I have about Dee, WILL be added on to- without a doubt- There probably won't be any explanations for these

He uses He/They pronouns.

"Low Support Needs" Autistic with special interests in: - Music - Languages - and Technology

Usually has his earbuds in for a sensory thing, not always listening to music.

His favorite subjects are: - Math - Art - Science - and Tech

His hair used to be longer, and he used to braid it but the way it laid against his back triggered sensory overload.

Same thing when he cut his hair to look like Glam's. Everything was okay, except for the fact that he could feel the air on the back of his neck, and it freaked him out. So, Glama and Vickey got him some thick chokers and a hoodie with a thick hood to wear while his hair grew out again.

When Dee was younger a teacher cut his hair, making him cry because of sensory issues. It kinda traumatized him.

He might be tone-deaf, but he plays the drums really well!

He can sing amazingly.

If he likes you, he'll charge less for his services.

He has a bunch of sketchbooks filled with random bullshit.

He's a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to his grades and gets mad at himself if he gets below a 90% on anything.

He has AMAZING handwriting

Loves cats and feeds a stray one that's by the video store

Dee and Lif briefly dated but decided to just stay friends, she's his dealer now

Dee smokes weed/vapes to deal with stress but only when Heavy/his parents aren't home or it's late at night

100% has a Love/Hate relationship with his hair being played with. On one hand its soothing and on the other it's a massive overstimulation.

It's big on PDA but will hold your hand

Dee's a silent romantic. Which means: he'll stand behind you when you're on a stool/chair to catch you if you fall. When you're in the store he'll have his hand on the center/small of your back, when he walks you home he'll make sure you're on the "inside" of the sidewalk, his arm is around your waist (or his hand is on your waist), at random times. When/if he's at your/your are his house, he makes sure you're the farthest away from the door. "Just in case, you'll be safe", he told you that when you asked why you HAD to sleep on the inside of the bed. He'll order you gifts, and have them ordered to your house. If you bend down near something with a sharp corner, he'll cover it with his hand so you don't hit your head.

He labels EVERYTHING the two of you do as a date

He has a lot of picture of you, you make his heart happy

His favorite date with you, so far, was sitting/laying on a hill teaching you how to correctly vape with music playing in the black ground

His favorite flavor is literally ANYTHING strawberry

His vape is rainbow colored

Makes you playlists as a way to show his affection

NEVER hesitates to help you

Loves it when you wear his clothes

He has Life360 so he knows you're safe

Dee is always acutely aware of your body language, mood, and how you dress and talk. He knows when your period (if you possess a V) and leaves chocolate on your desk for you

Hasn't charged you for his help since you started dating

He'll never admit it, but he gets separation anxiety with you

He's acutely aware of your clothing and jewelry sizes

He got you and him promise rings with yours and his birthstones in them, he wears his around his neck because overstimulation

Applesauce is a safe food for him

He's not big on Energy Drinks but does like the C-4 Skittles

His favorite candy is the Wild Berry Skittles

Dee likes modern music but loves the walkman. He got one when he was twelve (12) and it broke after a few years it broke, which really upset Dee. So Chive MacGyvered it to work again and Glam bought another one, just in case Dee's broke again

Dee prefers colder weather because he, then, has an excuse to wear comfort/heavier clothes

He doesn't really do parties but goes if invited, so he's not seen as rude

He's touch-starved so, he loves it when you spontaneously hug him

He loves forehead kisses, "They're gentle and soft"

Dee tends to get clingy if it's been a while since the two of you saw each other (outside of school). He'll hold you from behind and hide his face in your neck to whine quietly. But if you're at his house/he's at your house he'll be little spoon or be cuddled up to your chest

If the two of you can't be alone while he's being clingy, he'll be irritable and hold onto you tightly

I can see him having BPD or Bi-Polar Disorder, he NEEDS to see/talk to you at least once a day so he doesn't start overthinking that you don't love him or you're leaving him

Has Anxiety and OCD

He loves to kiss you randomly, he revels in the sight of you blushing and hiding your face from him

Craves Skin-to-Skin contact. Hates the feeling of clothes against his hands/skin when he's trying to be affectionate

Can/Will/Has beat the crap out of someone for making you uncomorrtable when you had dressed up for a date. His mom helped while his dad and Heavy distracted you.

Before he was actually dating you everyone already thought you were. E.g.: #1 - "Love?" "Yes Dee?" "Did I leave my sweater at your house?" "The black and blue one?" "Yes, that one." "Yeah, I washed it" "..." ":)" "..." "?" "So it smells like you?" "Mhm!" "Good." #2 - "Dee?" "Yes Darling?" "Can I come over tonight?" "Of course, is everything okay?" "My parents-" "Enough said, Just wear my clothes" "Okay!" #3 - "Angel?" "Yes Dee?" "I love you Sweetheart." "I love you too Darling." #4 - "Sweet baby?" "Yes Batty?" "Can you check over my work please?" #5 - "Are you taking a shower?" "Mhm" "Okay." *Ten minutes later* "STOP GIVING ME YOUR CLOTHES!" "No, like how ou look in them." "..." "*smug ass grin* "... Would you like to cuddle?" "... Yes... Please..." "Come here sweet baby"

Dee REALLY likes Calypso Lemonade

He does listen to Pop, but its sparingly

Loves to play with your hair, he usually does your hair and make-up

He gets jealous easily, and it shows

Calls you; "Love", "Darling", "Angel", "Sweetbaby"

You're one of the few people he lets play with his hair

He goes to pop concerts with you. He says it's just to make you happy, but he enjoys the music

He wears whatever you get him, no matter how silly or stupid it seems

He loves watching you do mindless things. Like draw or bite your like or start blankly into space, he usually gives you his notes from the class when that happens

Doesn't deal with yelling well, it's an over stimulation thing

He has TikTok so you can tag him in the vidoes you make with him

The next few could be seen as NSFW so here's the line to stop-

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

He kisses your neck when you're sad to make you feel better

"God damn... You look so perfect like this...

Never hesitates to praise you; EX: - "This is perfect, you did so well" - "You're doing great baby, I'm so proud" - "You're handling this stress so well, good job" - "Good God... Look at you, doing such a good job..." - "Such a pretty baby." - "Did you do your makeup? You look great Love"

"Fuck... You're so pretty when you blush like that..."

[fanaticsnail]

OH. MY. GOSH??!!! I was fully just sharing some thoughts and you just took it and ran lol. Absolutely blew it out of the water <33.

In honor of this amaaaazing fic, have a collection of my fav parts:

○ nor was it due to the fact that he wouldn’t likely tell you “no,” should you ask to enjoy an embrace with him.

● ok, but just imagine asking him for the first time? Knowing he needs it but beeing too proud to ask for himself. Only caving because he's down bad (down horrendous, even) and can't say no to you.

○ he would constantly fall by your side and sleep within your shadow.

● The secret 6th love language, using eachother as pillows

○ You were ships counselor, it was your job to be privy to the thoughts of your captain and crew

● This made me think of school counselors and now I'm thinking of a one piece teachers au. Gym coach Zoro, econ teacher Nami, culinary teacher Zeff and TA Sanji, school nurse Law. The list goes on.

○ He gently reaches his hand down and takes your cheek in the palm of his hand. Running his thumb over the apple of your cheek, his expression softens further.

● hnnnnnnnghhh

○ he moved his hand to the back of your head, running his fingers through your hair and smiling softly.

● ok now I need to touch his hair too. Community Debate: is Zoro's hair soft?

○ I need someone in my arms at all times. I am a sucker for comfort, and I need to cradle someone

● Me too, Zoro. Me too.

○ Zoro, do you know anything about a country called ‘Wano’?

● 😱 😶 💀

○ you enjoy nuzzling into his chest and you press a soft kiss against the indent of Mihawk’s stab-wound over the swordsman’s heart.

● Zoro in his sleep wondering why his heart just started beating faster

○ Dinner, moss-head! Get your idiot-ass down here and eat!

● Lmaooo he so would

-♡♡ lots of love

Hey, hey now. You were the one who was like: "Snail, have some thoughts". My hands were bound, and your prompt was so, so beautiful.

Oh my gosh, your commentary. I am so here for it, and I love it.

A strawhat-teaching au? Here are my thoughts:

Luffy: Principal (the fun-kind that lets his vice-principal do all the work)

Nami: Vice Principal and business management teacher.

Zoro: Gym coach

Sanji: culinary teacher and runs the canteen.

Usopp: literature and creative writing

Chopper: nurse

Robin: history and philosophy teacher

Brook: music teacher

Franky: woodwork and computer science

Literally laughing at the concept, it's funny as. And asking Zoro to cuddle for the first time 👀👀. I should do another fic 💀.

Is Zoro's hair soft? I think if he bathes, absolutely. It's spectacularly fluffy and soft. For every day? It's greasy and prickly.

I'm glad you enjoyed your One-Shot. It was really fun to write. Needed to give the stinky man kisses.

[izicodes]

Don't know if you've touched on this topic before, but do you have any advice on dealing with discrimination within comp sci (specifically sexism)? I have bad anxiety and have constant thoughts telling me how I'll never be good enough or don't belong. My brother who is a senior dev has had a passion for computers since a small child while I just developed an interest within the past two years. My family takes his career seriously but then turn around and tell me how great of a secretary I'll be lol. Thanks for your time!

Hiya 💗

Just some background on me: I haven't had any sexist experiences in during my whole journey of learning software development during my apprenticeship and now working as a Junior Web Dev. I'm the only girl in the Dev team (6 of us in total), the only other woman is the Manager of the Dev team but she does databases + business oriented work so she doesn't code at all. I'm the youngest in the team also so they see me as "oh let's teach the kid of the group" kind of thing. So at work I don't feel any type of sexism, the lads are really open to teach me a lot stuff which I am thankful!

I don't know any other irl developers besides work so I'll move on to online. Online I know a lot more women developers; Tumblr, YouTube, Instagram and Twitter (or X whatever it's called). Maybe it's because I've like cultured the content I see to them idk. I'm really glad to have that constantly on my timeline as it inspires me to push and do/become better because if those girlies can do it, so can I.

Though all the teachers/instructors I had were all men, they didn't make me feel small or not worthy to be in Computer Science, they were the opposite and pushed me to do it more. My Dad did Computer Science with CyberSecurity at university and he always pushed me to do computer science when I got older - not force but inspired me to do it (wanted to do medicine but too hard so switched to comp sci/programming)!

So, in my experience, I never had a really bad sexist interaction because I did computer science. People are shocked I am in programming in general but more like "Oooooh that's cool! Didn't know you did that!" kind of thing!

Now, this doesn't mean I haven't seen sexist remarks online, because I have but more through memes. I always ignore. Everyone, man or woman, should ignore such remarks/meme and move on. Don't let a bunch of people determine what you want and what's best for you! If you did, they would be controlling your life and not you yourself.

I don't know if that's easier said than done for you because I'm a hard person on people saying bad things to me. I just ignore you literally. I'm polite yes, but what you will say to me will go through one ear and out the other if it's really negative. Pretty much a "I don't care about your opinion, I will do me anyways" kind of person. E.g. if my brothers were to tell me "oh you a girl, don't do computer science" I won't listen to them at all.

And at the end of the day, what are they gonna do? Will your family members that are saying those stuff to you physically stop you from learning computer science? Especially since it's so accessible online so all you need a is a computer? All around the world, women are leaning computer science one way or another to change their lives and/or the lives around them.

They are making so much effort so for me to say "oh well.. you know some lads in my comp sci class say I can't do comp sci so I shouldn't" or "oh well I don't think learning programming is a woman's thing yknow because it's so dominated by men" - excuse my language here but that's flipping ridiculous!

This isn't some feminist or even anti-feminist thing here, it's a plain simple human thing: proving yourself and even the people around you wrong. Go into it and succeed. You're not too old or too young.

Why are their programs like SheCodes or BGIT (black girl in tech) that are making effort to help women push into tech? There's more women in tech now than there has been ever so if you're a woman and want to go into Tech but some lads are saying no? Do it anyways.

If a company has lads like that in them, that's the company's fault for hiring a sexist non-team player - says a lot about that company.

As humans we are never good enough so just get that out of your mind, less stress. Good enough for a job? all you got to do is keep going out it. Keep learning the theory, keep building the projects, keep redoing your resume and applying for jobs - keep going.

You quit, you let yourself down - especially when programming/ computer science is your calling!

I went on a bit of a rant but I hope some of this helps 🥳👍🏾💗

[thelongestway]

some very sudden and unoriginal Star Trek Prodigy thoughts

do we know from anywhere that the Living Construct was developed by the Vau N'Akat?

because I was just thinking on the thematic parallels of two civilizations suddenly tearing themselves apart. to a point, this could be a product of the Vau N'Akat sense of poetic justice. but I am suddenly not so sure it was. now, I might be deeply misremembering, but I woke at 1 AM to write this, so hear me out.

either the fault lines in Vau N'AKat society need to run deep enough that slight provocation could tear them wide open, or… the Living Construct is neither Vau N'Akat nor Starfleet. Instead, it's entirely its own. Perhaps something of an eldritch opposite to the Borg: an entity which tears apart social connections instead of forging them by force. Most obviously by messing up language; a living punishment for daring to build a Tower of Babel. But perhaps also in more subtle ways?

and who should be able to work on that ship if not people whose existence has hitherto been defined by profound, destructive loneliness? who are always resigned to the possibility that it could, in the end, be their fate?

there is nothing more the Construct can do to those who have lived and breathed loneliness and know it as the baseline norm of existence unless they do something about it with their own hands. Who would it attack? Dal, the only one of his kind, raised by a particularly ruthless Ferengi? Rok-Tahk, perceived as monstrous and dimwitted when she is curious, smart and kind? Zero, who has already lived through being torn away from their people and their link, and has been used as a weapon for who knows how long afterwards? Jankom Pog, alone on a Sleeper ship, with his bitter "if there's one more problem I can't fix, how can I call myself an engineer" and dreams of royalty? Murf, who is too alien to participate in most forms of communication the others form together? The only person who has had even shreds of recent belonging was Gwyndala, and that ended on-screen, with "You chose the ship."

and Janeway. the right way, the wrong way, and the Janeway way, as that recent post said on the insane, warping loneliness of command and loyalty when you're 70k light years away from home (or however long it was). and the Protostar Janeway cannot even rely on her experience being lived.

but the Construct knows Protostar Janeway, and it knows what she misses. so it stays dormant and infects an optimistic Starfleet, used to Community.

In this context, the Construct could easily be the first cause, and at the same time the Vau N'Akat could just as easily have thought it originated from Starfleet. Imagine if the Protostar came in with that weapon embedded in it (from Wormhole shenanigans*), and collectively Chakotay and the Vau N'Akat figured it out too late, at which point the Vau N'Akat decided it was Starfleet's plan all along. Chakotay crashing his ship Prophets knows where makes sense: isolate the isolator. In this case, the Borg being weird about the construct makes sense (need to rewatch), and also Zero being able to just walk out on them. Way less attack surface.

And another thing: the training the Diviner puts Gwyndala through is insane. he wasn't just preparing a wartime interpreter, that'd be a couple of languages plus a Drednok. Teaching a child… Dozens if not hundreds of languages? Why? What past war and experience was he preparing her for? Why make her learn ways of thinking until she could know most of the races in the galaxy blind? Was he ensuring that, no matter what, she could reach someone? Even if everyone else were to be affected - in the land of the blind, the one-eyed lady is queen.

I really, really want to see how season 2 will handle it. and I have faith that they will, and that they will find a new home. we need more linguistics in our science fiction, and even if this theory is totally bonkers, the themes of loneliness, understanding, and literally being able to speak to one another will be there. because the writers are good, and that's what they chose to explore, and showed it like 5 min in of episode 1.

I think Suzette Haden Elgin would've loved Star Trek Prodigy, and that it would be a high compliment.

*crack version: it's a stray Pah-wraith. Instead of "why do you exist here", it goes "you HAVE and WILL ALWAYS exist HERE". The Bajorans were mostly immune to them for the same reason the Prodigy crew is: there is a limit after which loneliness and uncertainty become the default, and then those beings lose their power (and the people thrown into it? die or have the kind of scars we're shown). And also this is how they get Kai Winn - after what, four decades including concentration camps and empty prayer? Took 'em a while EVEN WITH the seeds planted for them by Winn Adami herself!

[xeter-group]

Just some thoughts about my experience with arts and humanities

Something I realised recently is that like...my high school self had no sense of anything outside stem. Like I could not comprehend any kind of art.

Like I would look at a painting and just be like...ok thats a depiction of something. So what. If it was abstract I'd just sort of look at it and be like ????

I would look at dancing and be like...huh I guess they really are moving around. I remember being so confused why people danced.

I would hear music and just not really pay attention, or when I did it was at most because I found the lyrics funny or catchy. I didn't really listen to music in high school, or dance. I knew a load of epic rap battles of history though. I certainly didn't appreciate music at all.

When I read fiction as a young child it was mainly plot related. Which sure, is a valid and normal kind of thing to enjoy, but I don't know if I'd call it "art" as much as generally "culture". I didn't love any storytelling techniques or anything or read into meanings. I didn't love certain characters or anything.

When I was forced to read and analyse books and plays for a while I literally thought counting your analytical devices was the purpose. And at another point I thought that nobody could REALLY believe what we had to write. It was just made up stuff, or at best just using language devices for fun while explicitly saying something. Why people used language devices was kind of foreign to me, but I knew I got points for identifying them.

I didn't really watch movies or anything either.

I understood geography and history somewhat well as a type of science, or at least an inquiry into how reality works if you think its not science. And I understood things like economic politics from a similar lens. But I think there is a significant difference here between what I mentioned before.

And yes, you don't need to be able to analyse and write essays about a thing for it to be art but I wasn't feeling anything at all. Which is just...confusing to me? How did this happen? Because now I listen to music because I enjoy it. I watch TV shows when I have time. I'm super into reading about philosophy, politics, and economics. I dance to my music when I'm at home and can feel some sense of satisfaction watching dancing. I still don't really get visual art but whatever. How did I go my entire childhood not understanding art? Was someone meant to tell me or do you guys just figure it out on your own? I feel behind now when I listen to people gush about certain lines or characterisations of people and I'm just like ???? oh I guess now you point it out I see it. Huh.

This vaguely reminds me of how I basically didn't care about people as friends for all of primary school. I had 'friends' but it was more of 'oh lets do stuff with these people' and not like 'i care about this person as a person'. At the end I remember just being like "yep ok don't need to see them again, bye..". Only in high school did I start to care about people as humans and want to spend time with them and know them and care about them.

I don't know if this is some kind of developmental delay or something. At least it did wonders for the stem part of my brain because I basically never had to try hard to understand any stem subject. I instead focused all of my trying into improve test performance, which i fucking DESPISE. what a waste of my life. At least at the end I started teaching myself chemistry at a pace I enjoyed.

[aayushis-blog-01]

Students Empowerment Through Media Literacy: A Guide through the Media Maze

Introduction:

Information is everywhere in today's interconnected society. The sheer volume of information available at our fingertips, from news to articles to movies to social media posts, may be daunting. But remember, not everything that shines is gold. The information we take in may contain both accurate and false claims. Understanding how to separate fact from fiction in this rapidly shifting environment is more important than ever. Students need the superpower of media literacy to evaluate information sources critically and make educated judgments. Learn the fundamentals of media literacy, why it's so important, and how it may help your kids successfully navigate the media landscape.

Acquiring an Awareness of Media Literacy:

Reading, watching, and listening are only the beginning of media literacy. Media criticism is the practice of dissecting and analyzing the messages presented in different forms of media. People who are media literate are better able to evaluate information presented in the media, form their own opinions, discern between truth and opinion, and understand how different forms of media can influence one another.

Students' Requirement for Media Literacy:

Students' minds are like sponges, constantly soaking up whatever is presented to them in the media. They are bombarded with media every day, whether for study, conversation, or entertainment. In the absence of media literacy, pupils are more likely to take things at face value, become the targets of misinformation, and develop skewed worldviews.

The harmful effects of uncritical media consumption, such as the spread of misinformation and stereotyping, can be mitigated with the help of media literacy. Teaching pupils how to evaluate media content critically and be mentally tough is like arming them with intellectual armor.

Enhancing One's Capacity for Critical Thinking:

Critical thinking skills can flourish in an environment of media literacy. Students learn to approach information with a critical eye by learning to question the trustworthiness of sources, evaluate the facts offered, and explore other views. They learn to eliminate preconceived notions, identify truth from fabrication, and base their judgments on objective data.

Promoting Involvement in Political Life:

Educated people are the driving force behind change and development in a democratic state. Students who have been taught media literacy are better equipped to question authority figures, investigate issues, and participate in civic life. Media literacy encourages civic engagement and accountability by helping kids develop critical thinking skills.

How to Get Around in a World Full of Falsehoods:

Disinformation spreads rapidly in the Internet age, making it hard to determine what is true. Students need media literacy as a compass to find their way through the maze of propaganda and false news. Students who are equipped with media literacy skills are more likely to seek out reliable sources, check facts before sharing them, and grow into ethical users of the internet.

Including Knowledge of the Media in Classrooms:

Instruction in media literacy should be mandatory. Students can acquire these abilities naturally through the integration of relevant content across disciplines, including language arts, social studies, and even science. Teachers should also promote free and open dialogue regarding media in the classroom, encouraging an atmosphere where students feel safe to express their opinions and constructively debate those of their peers.

Conclusion:

To thrive in today's information society, fluency in the ways of the media is essential. Those students who have this skill will be better able to sort the useful information from the useless. Student media literacy is an investment in a better and more informed society since students are both media consumers and future leaders. Media literacy shines a light of hope in an age when misinformation often veils the way to knowledge through cultivating critical thinking, supporting active civic participation, and countering disinformation. Let's help our kids become the kind of knowledgeable, conscientious, and compassionate global citizens the world needs.

#talentserve

[sagehqs]

hearing the short version of his story, she couldn't help the giggle that came out of her; whether it was pride or sheer disbelief that she was allowed the full story, she wasn't so sure. "wait, your counselor said that? what an ass. i mean, clearly it helped fuel your want, but it's still an asshole thing to say to a kid." her thoughts drifted for a moment, remembering why she had stopped perusing teaching very, very early on in her college career. teachers and school administrators always had bad attitudes and acted like kids were a burden, even though they're the ones that chose the career. his question caused her face to scrunch before she quickly admitted, "nope, it's a found passion. i've always been into the english language; creative writing, literature, editing -- all of it. when i got here i knew i didn't just want to let my english degree die... but i also knew there wasn't much i could do with it, god do they make that known in every english program." with a small huff they shrugged and carried on, "my position was posted literally the day after i got moved in, i applied thinking it would at least be a stepping stone into a career, but after a year i realized how much i actually loved working here and being involved in the library." without hesitation, she added her secret yearning into the conversation, "i've kind of actually been thinking about getting my masters in library science so i could do this work officially and not just out of interest... but i don't know." it wasn't that they couldn't do it, they figured they could do it, but they had just never imagined themselves getting anything more than the average college degree. the concept that she was capable of more wasn't fully developed yet.

maybe they were in their own bubble, but the concept of loud wasn't registering for them when most of their conversation was completely silent, they joined in with laughter, figuring if anyone had a problem they would make it known (library patrons were not the patient and forgiving type). "exactly! you get it! we can't be all that's here. i mean, sure it'd be really wild if in the whole entirety of space we were the only ones, but that fuels our egos. i think it's more comforting to just assume others are out there and the fate of all existence isn't on the shoulder of earth-folk." they may be thinking too much about it, but the fate of the universe being on humans wasn't a thought that gave them much ease. her grin grew as owen admitted his own affinity to aliens, as did an inkling of wanting to binge dumb alien flicks with him. instead of romantic interest, she pushed her energy to teasing, yet again -- their natural default. "fourteen? way to make eighteen year-old-me feel too old to be into aliens. it's not like... totally lame that i still heavily like that stuff -- right?" another round of laughter burst from her, fully assuming that her interests might be a little lame.

his reaction to the food made her features light up; she was already excited, but him thinking so highly of it made her ecstatic. trying food that he was clearly a little passionate about had her stomach in knots again, but this time the feeling didn't leave. her attempt at teasing just turned into her getting him to say what she desperately wanted to hear from him, even if she hadn't been aware of that fact. "ah..." her nose scrunched up as she fought off a blush with gritted teeth, "don't do that, otherwise i will be legally obligated to annoy you every day... more than i already do." with her focus on his hands, she nodded, "i could say the same about you, honestly." at the question she shrugged softly, quickly grabbing her phone to check over her hours once again, "i'm free at one, but i don't think that gives you much sleeping time. what about five or six?" it gutted them to offer the niceity of extra sleep, but she wasn't about to be selfish in a way that could affect his wellbeing. as she looked over his face, she let her lips fall into a small pout, noticing ever just slightly that his energy was waning -- a gut feeling that this was about to be the end of their little library rendezvous. realistically, it was probably for the better end of her job for them to part at some point, despite how much she wanted to live in little moments like these. heightened feelings aside, sage lived for moments with friends; craved the intimacy of others in a platonic way that would creep up and haunt her every time she was alone.

"Thank you." Owen signed back to them, his face so gentle as he looked across the table at Sage. There wasn't many people that knew about his past, about what had happened to land him being adopted. But if there was anyone he wanted to know, it was Sage. He felt like he could tell them anything, wanted to tell them all there was about himself and in turn, learn all he could about her as well. He ripped down every wall that had been built so high up over the years, let her in within a second thought. Trusting her fully, not a single doubt in his mind. "Usually people get the other short but also still true version. That my school counselor told me I couldn't be a nurse do I became one." He shrugged with a laugh- which was also true. But it was his experience when he was younger that really fueled him to become a nurse. And Owen loved every second of his job, despite how emotionally draining it could be at times. "What about you? Have you always wanted to be a librarian?" He asked, truly interested in everything Sage had to say. Wanting to learn all he could about them.

Owen gave another laugh as he watched their hands, before quickly giving an apologetic smile, hoping that he wasn't being too loud in the middle of a library. "Yeah, there's no way we can be the only living life forms in the universe. It's so big, so much still undiscovered that there has to be something else out there. Just waiting for us to find." Even the ease of talking about something like this came so natural with Sage. "I went through a big science phase hen I was fourteen so I totally get it. That and I probably marathon way too many alien shows on my days off." He admitted, making a face before his playful smile was once back settled onto his features. Aliens and cryptids was something he would never talk about with someone, well besides Phoenix, so it was nice to let this side of him out. The one that was into very random things that a lot of people weren't really into.

"Their food is some of the best, I swear. Burgers the size of your head, milkshakes of every flavor-" Pausing his hands for a moment, moving one to place over his heart, fluttering his eyes as he thought about the food. At Sage's comment, Owen raised his eyebrows at her. "There is no way I could get sick of you. Not ever." And that was beyond the truth, he cherished every moment he got to spend with them. Soaking it up and always looking to spend more time with Sage. So getting to see her this morning and knowing he would see her later tonight as well, he was beyond thrilled. "The more time spent with you, the better." Doing his best to keep his cheeks from tinting red once more. "It's going to be the best way to spend the rest of my way, hanging out with you." He added a few seconds later, his hands stilling for another movement. As he sat there, Owen could feel the night shift slowly catching up with him. Knowing that sooner or later he would need to get some sleep. Even though he didn't want to leave, wanted to keep sitting her and talking to them. "What time would work best for you tonight for dinner? I'm not doing anything rest of he day besides napping so I'm good for whenever."

[luulapants]

Being able to explain a subject in a way that is accessible to laypeople is a better indicator that you understand your field than being able to use all of the big words and dense, pedagogical language you learned in your grad class. People say they understand the difference between intelligence and education, then they turn around and claim a subject is too complex for someone who never went to college. No, it probably isn't! You just don't understand enough about your own field to determine what concepts are essential to a basic understanding. You're just too preoccupied with how educated and correct you want to sound, and you won't take the time to consider the knowledge background of your audience and alter your language to fit.

I talked to a biologist a couple days ago, who said she felt stupid for asking me what linguistics even was. My first attempt to explain didn't land very well, but she said she knew people who did speech pathology. "Okay," I said. "If linguistics is like wildlife biology, speech pathology is veterinary science." Boom, instant comprehension.

I keep Randall Munroe's Thing Explainer on my coffee table. It explains literal rocket science using only the 1000 most common English words. Go read Simple Wikipedia. It's a version of Wikipedia targeted toward people who speak English as a second language and don't have very broad vocabularies. It's still manages to explain incredibly complex subjects.

Language is a tool that we use to move information from one person to another. If that information isn't moving, we aren't using the language correctly. If the language you want to use is more important to you than being understood, why even open your mouth?

In a world where education is often intentionally and systematically attacked and dismantled, we have to remember that people aren't getting stupider. They're just getting less educated. That means that getting through to people, getting them to understand essential issues in our society, requires us to let go of ego and meet people where they are. They're smart enough to learn. Are you smart enough to teach?

[theramseyloft]

Cognitive and social information to make selecting, bonding with, and training your pigeon easier:

There are lots of things I can go into more detail on, but here are the hows and whys of pigeon cognition and sociology that form the basis of our research into communication and Therapy work, laid out as a guide to building your relationship with your bird, starting with generalities universal to the species, and ending with an in depth look at the mechanics behind the typical behaviors and temperaments of cocks vs hens and what to expect.

Though they are extremely social outside nest space, Pigeons, whether cock or hen, are life-or-death viciously territorial of their specific nest space.

For reference: 

A free flying bird with no cage considers nest space to consist of the actual nest and about their own body length around it. 

Because they are crevice nesters, a pigeon with an enclosure considers the entire enclosure to be nest space.

Only a pigeon's mate is allowed to enter their nest, and that's exclusively by invitation.

Peeps are hatched into it, and once they wean, they are not allowed to re-enter.

Anything entering their nest space that is not that bird's mate is instinctively considered to be either a predator, or a rival.

 A rival won't eat them, but is coming explicitly to attack them to drive them out of a good nest, which will involve killing their nestlings if they have any.

So, to avoid triggering the predator/rival defensive response, it's important to open your bird's enclosure to invite them to come out on their own terms when you want to spend social time with them. 

This rewards their natural curiosity and  makes you feel more like a cohabitant/potential flock mate than a potential predator or attacker.

While your bird is out exploring, you can strengthen your bond with them by treat priming; Address them by name, ask "Want a treat?" and toss a safflower seed in front of them, but not straight at them. Praise them when they eat it with something along the lines of "Yes, that is for you! Good bird!" in a pleased tone of voice. (even birds who hate handling and refuse treats respond positively to a pleased tone of voice.)

Calling their name every time primes them to look at you when you address them.

Little by little, as they get comfortable with the distance, you should be able to toss treats less and less far from yourself.

The end goal is for your bird to come into willing physical contact with you.

From there, you can start offering a treat on the tip of one or two fingers.

Once the bird is reliably accepting that, offer the treat held by the narrow end between your thumb and index finger. 

This makes your hand more similarly shaped to the head of a bird than the scary giant talon with extra toes or giant snake it usually looks like to a bird.

In every flock of pigeons, there are at least one or two teen or older birds that will feed any weaned baby that cries. 

I call these "Flock Aunties/Unkles", and this is the mantle you take up for your bird once they get they hang of hand feeding.

It's best to start having out times in the evenings, so that bed time is after dark. Lights Out training makes returning them to the enclosure less stressful for both you and your bird.

When you want to put the bird away, address them to get their attention, and say "Lights Out or Bed Time soon!", wait about 10 seconds, Then walk over to the light switch, make a note of where your bird is, repeat "Lights Out/Bed Time now", and flick off the lights.

Pigeons are diurnal and non-migratory. They can't see in the dark, and just sort of turn off. 

This differs from the learned helplessness shut down in being instinctively  associated with sleep, rather than inescapable distress.

In the dark, you can pick up your bird and gently return them to the enclosure without the stress of having to chase and catch them.

After a few repetitions, birds that don't enjoy being carried to bed will use the ten or so seconds between "soon" and "now" to fly back to their enclosure on their own. Birds that do like being carried will assume the position and wait for you to turn off the light and carry them.

There is no getting around the fact that feeding, watering, and cleaning require you to reach into your pigeon's enclosure, and if you can't do that while they are out (for example, if you feed in the morning before leaving for work) you can help them overcome their defensive response by talking them through what you are doing without reaching for the bird themself.

"It's food time. I need your dish." while reaching in only as far as needed to remove the dish, and withdrawing with it as quickly and unobtrusively as possible. Same for the water dish, and talking them through cleaning.

For example, the floor of my hospital cages slide out, so I tell the birds "I need your floor." and then repeat "Back up, back up, back up" in a soft, encouraging tone until they are off, then praising with "Thank you!" to signify they have done what I asked and I will not bother them now until time to put the floor back in.

When the floor is cleaned and repapered, I tell them "Here's your floor back." and repeat "Step up." as I slide it in until they have both feet on the floor. 

When I have finished cleaning, watering, and feeding (All three get done at once for the hospital cages) I signify to the bird that it's over by "Ok! We're done now!" and then praising "Good bird! Thank you."

It's important to talk them through EVERYTHING because they are literally five-year-old-child intelligent.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090212141143.htm

Pigeons and baboons have similarly high cognition.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/12/171204144805.htm

Pigeons have an innate understanding of the concepts of space and time.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/04/140402095107.htm

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/02/070220131646.htm

They categorize like we do.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/07/130717095336.htm

Their brains are wired similarly to ours.

https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/s13295-014-0057-5/html

So much so that they are considered an excellent model in the study of cognitive neuroscience

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0197458019304270

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0166432814007554

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0166432820306471

With TONS of alzheimer-specific research

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/04/110411171847.htm

Their facial recognition is similar to ours.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/07/110703132527.htm

They recognize humans as individuals.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120622163056.htm

By both face, and voice.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080613145535.htm

They surpass the ability of human children up to three years old to recognize that their reflection in a mirror is their own reflection, and not another bird.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/02/150204184447.htm

They can learn the equivalent of words by the same mechanic as human children.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/09/160919111535.htm

They can learn to differentiate a written word from an acronym with the same number of letters.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/04/170418094512.htm

And flocks build what can legitimately be called a culture by building knowledge across generations.

The take away from this is that pigeons are intelligent enough to learn what your communication means, and can be taught by the same mechanic as a human toddler.

Language is a pattern of matching words to objects, actions, individuals, places, and concepts. Pigeons are pattern mappers, hard wired to latch onto stable patterns.

It is vitally important that you talk a pigeon that you are training through absolutely everything, the way you would a toddler who hasn't quite gotten that word down yet.

They can eventually learn to answer yes and no questions, if you give them a template. (this is already going to be enough of a novella, I can go into detail about that later.

A pigeon flock is basically one gigantic extended family living together in their equivalent of an ancestral apartment complex.

Pigeons only join a flock by hatching or marrying into it.

Pigeons are one of extremely few species that remain year round in the same breeding colony AND cooperatively forage; not just all going the same place, but actively voting on what to look for, how to best get there, and how to best get back.

Babies only rarely leave the flock. 

When they leave the nest, they are taught by their fathers to be pigeons for the first month or so. Where safe food and water are, how to find nest materials, how to defer to a higher ranking flock member. 

The rest of the flock line up to each teach the peep that they are higher ranking than the peep. (Peeps instinctively expect this hazing and are very skittish from five to eight weeks of age)

At about eight weeks, the peep is as big as it will get, and starts to earn their place in the hierarchy by experimentally pushing back against the older birds to see who gives and who won't.

 By four or five months, the young bird has a solid place in the hierarchy, has found out what it's good at, and has usually won a mate.

At this point, a cock earns the right to claim a nest space among his parents, grand kin, aunts, unkles, cousins, and so-on.

Young pigeons only leave their flock to form a new one if there aren't enough nest spaces or isn't enough food to support every one.

So stability and finding a place in the social dynamic are EXTREMELY important to them.

Pigeon Flocks are democratic meritocracies.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/04/100416214045.htm

They vote on everything they do as a group

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/11/061106145043.htm

Parties with differing opinions compromise.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/06/150609213053.htm

Because they need to be able to depend on the support of their flock mates to cooperatively find resources, watch out for predators, and navigate home.

https://www.audubon.org/news/in-homing-pigeon-flocks-bad-bosses-quickly-get-demoted

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/09/160914143044.htm

Pigeons will not follow a leader they can't depend on, be that due to a loss of capability, or an unwillingness to heed cast votes or attempt to compromise.

This adds up to a bird that is hard wired to expect a say in everything they are involved in and be keenly, my-life-depends-on-this aware when their say is being ignored.

Pigeons do not have a concept of “Reasons I could not discern”.

If they can’t discern a reason you ignored their vote or any attempt to compromise with them, they just think there wasn’t one, and you're either incompetent or being an ass hole. 

And Pigeons consider themselves to be well within their rights to refuse to cooperate with an incompetent ass hole.

This is a BIG part of why talking them through everything is so vitally important.

Pigeons are EXTREMELY communicative.

Once they trust you as a flock mate, The more they understand about what you are doing, what you want them to do, and how that affects them, the more willing they are to cooperate with you.

Those are the cognitive universals.

When selecting a companion or therapy animal, it’s important to know what temperament to expect, and the typical temperaments of Cocks and Hens differ pretty drastically!

We touched briefly on mate behaviors earlier, and now we need to go into that to explain sex-typical behaviors, by which I mean the instinctive behavioral and base line personality differences between typical cocks and hens.

To explain sex-typical behaviors, I have to walk you through the pigeon courtship ritual called Driving, which has three phases.

It starts with the Chase phase.

The cock struts up to a hen he'd interested in and alternately chest-bumps and bites her until she runs away.

He continues to strut after her, occasionally charging with a sweeping tail to push or bite her until she bursts into flight.

Hens will initiate for a cock they are EXTREMELY interested in, but in pigeon society, the hen having to initiate means the cock just is not remotely interested in her. 

This is less than ideal for the hen, and she will divorce him for the first cock that shows enough interest to initiate the chase.

Once they are in the air, the hen is trying to break away and flee, and the cock is trying to herd her towards the nest area he's picked out.

Ideally, she crashes into it, too exhausted to keep flying.

To a human, this looks really violently aggressive.

But the Rock Dove, from which our domestic pigeons descend, evolved in a Thompson's Gazelle vs. Cheetah style arms race with the Peregrine goddamn Falcon.

If the cock cannot out pace and out maneuver the hen, and his stamina is lower than hers, then her children by him will be slower and less maneuverable than she is, with lower stamina.

This all adds up, to her, as her peeps by this cock being easier than she is for a falcon to catch.

If she can get away from him, he is an inferior potential sire, and she will reject him.

The Wrestling phase begins after the hen has recovered her breath.

As soon as she can, she will try to blow past the cock and vanish into the sky.

He has to body block her to prevent her from leaving, grab her by the scruff if she tries to push past, and fight her until she stops trying to get up.

Again, this looks REALLY violently abusive to a human!

But nest location is a status symbol in pigeon society.

A good nest is high up, wide enough for two adult birds side by side, with an entrance ideally narrow enough for only one at a time to get in.

This also makes it really hard for a hawk, rodent, or snake to get in after the eggs, peeps, or parent defending them.

Other cocks will want a good, safe, defensible nest for their wife, and absolutely will kill nestlings to drive out a less fit pair, hoping to impress a (usually specific and very picky) potential mate.

If the cock cannot fight the generally smaller, weaker hen who just recovered from the Chase phase to prevent her getting out, he hasn't got a snowball's chance in hell of defending her from a healthy rival who wants that nest for his wife and peeps.

It's only after he's completed the Chase and Wrestling phases that she allows him to prove that he's an excellent forager by offering to feed her from his crop. (the kissing behavior that immediately precedes the act of treading.)

This translates VERY poorly to a human partner, and is what makes bottle raised baby boys such a monumental pain in the ass.

Pigeons are INTENSELY social.

The drive to bond is stronger than the drive to actually reproduce, so your bonded pigeon will treat you like a mate.

Which means that a cock will be compelled to attempt the initiation, chase, and wrestling phases of Driving.

Imprinting does not just make a specific person a baby bird's mommy.

It tells the bird what species it is and sets Mommy as the ideal mate.

A pigeon that thinks they are human expects their human to understand these instinctive pigeon behaviors.

Their human's failure to respond as expected comes across as ignoring them.

Which leads to human-imprinted pigeons going from trying to court their caretaker, to feeling intentionally ignored for no reason and attacking out of furious frustration.

This is why I don't hand raise nestlings unless the peep will die if I don't step in.

Pigeons who are parent-raised, but socialized by humans the way you would nursing puppies or kittens, understand that a human is not a pigeon.

Instead of expecting their caretaker to understand them by default and getting overwhelmed with frustration when they can't, a parent-raised, human-social pigeon tries to work out how to bridge the communication gap.

If your human-social cock approaches you and tries to start a fight out of the blue, he doesn't hate you.

He loves you, and is pulling out all stops to prove to a freaking KAIJU, via hand to hand combat, that he's strong enough to protect them and their nest.

I tell people that "Cock love is pinchy."

This is what I'm talking about.

Physical contact is a mate/baby-exclusive privilege for cocks.  Only his mate allopreens him, and he only allopreens his mate and their peeps.

Flock mates other than his mate only attempt to make physical contact with a cock to start a fight or ask for sex. 

So all associations for a cock, aside from mate and peeps, are rivalries and side-chicks.

Pigeon bites can't break the skin (all they can do is pinch), unless it's just a massive monster of a pigeon, but the tenacity sexually selected for by hens makes cocks relentless until they are satisfied that they have suitably impressed you.

Hens, in contrast, are approached by flock mates to proposition for sex, to engage in allopreening, or to invite to feed, bathe, or loaf together.

They are generally more cuddly, more forgiving of restraint (Joke's on you, she's into that shit!), and more accepting of other family members making contact with her.

Cocks who are satisfied with their relationship can be a lot of fun, but their nippiness can be an anxiety trigger if you don't know to expect it.

In order to consider himself bonded to his person, a cock has to feel he has impressed you, like he would be expected to impress a hen. 

It is much easier to convince a parent raised cock that you really are impressed and don't just see him as beneath your notice than it is to convince an Imprint.

Parent raised cocks will be more gentle when they initiate driving, as the drive is more like a compulsive need to complete a symbolic gesture for them than the actual hand to hand combat to manually overpower a titan that these matches are to an imprinted cock.

To convince a cock that he really has won your admiration fair and square, Start by putting up some resistance when he initiates. 

Push him back, shake your hand, ruffle and wrestle with him like you would a very small kitten.

You will need to do this WAY longer for an imprint than a parent raised bird, but when you want to wind down the match, pay attention to what he's doing.

He is never just biting.

He is trying to maneuver your hand either by tugging or shoving. 

Follow where he directs until he stops either pulling or pushing, and just pushes down. That is where he wants your hand to be. 

Relax it there until he turns away, then go about your business.

It will take a few sessions, but once he's satisfied he's impressed you, he'll have no need to go all out like that anymore.

Ankhou (an imprint who is extremely satisfied with a now five year long extremely stable relationship) doesn't engage in driving fights with me anymore, but we do have lots of brief, very gentle wrestling sessions.

Hens don't need human mates to impress them in hand to hand combat like they require a cock to.

They are intelligent enough to assume that nothing her size is going to stand a chance against something your size.

The peaceful simplicity of bonding with a hen tends to make them more desired as therapy and companion animals.

Bonded cocks are just as cuddly and sweet, but you have to go through his Driving impulse to get to that point with him.

This doesn't make cocks bad pets or therapy prospects, but they are definitely not the ideal match for everyone.

@tinysaurus-rex ‘s Battar is an excellent example of a bonded hen.

If you would like to see how his owner applies the constant biting of a feral Imprint towards physical therapy for nerve pain flair ups, check out the blog @homeofhousechickens and search for Loki.

They also have a parent raised, human social emotional support cock named Fluffernutter and have made a lot of great posts illustrating the contrast between imprinted pigeons and pigeons who were raised by their parents, but socialized with lots of gentle handling.

I hope this helps the people who have their bird’s physical needs planned out to pick the bird whose emotional needs they can best meet, and whose personality will best match their emotional needs. <3

[starshipsofstarlord]

💕 reader turns into a baby and obsessed with Bucky. Awww 🥺

Infant Issues

bucky barnes x reader / masterlist

warnings; fluff, morgan definitely being tony’s kid, biting, swearing, spoilers for IW and Endgame, mention of the blip, childish behaviour from adults, terrible humour (I really am sorry), spoiler for WV, mention of age gap, kinda a crossover, an absolute mess 😂

“Morgan?” Bucky frowned, as the girl tried to speed past him. It was not wise for anyone to allow the mischievous child run around the compound alone, she always got up to nothing but trouble, and there was such a glazing in her brown eyes.

She didn’t spare him a glance, instead, she bolted, causing the super soldier to sigh. He would have went after her if there weren’t already footsteps recurring from the path that she had just came from; it was his father. It so happened that there was a bundle of joy in his arms, crying like the sudden crack of dawn.

“What were you going to do, wait another five years to tell everyone about this one, Stark?” Bucky asked with a chuckle, though the cries from the infant muted at the sound of his voice. The child wiggled in Tony’s grasp, trying her utmost to reach out for the vibranium armed hero.

“She’s not my daughter, if she was, I think me and you would be having conversations.” Tony’s words spurred a frown to combust out onto Barnes’ face, and the billionaire sighed, shifting the baby so that the baby was in Bucky’s arms.

The child cooed up at him, her eyes were a baby blue, sure to avert possibly into a different colour once she grew elder. “Look, I didn’t ask if I could hold her, she’s cute, but why do you-“

“Morgan did it.” Tony willingly blamed his own daughter. With her various experimentations, she was definitely taking after him. He’d be sure to keep this one quiet from Pepper, otherwise he was almost certain that he’d be banned from bringing Morgan on expeditions to the compound.

“I though y/n was supposed to be watching her.” Stated the enhanced soldier, cocking his head at the information that he recalled. He promptly remembered you abandoning him half way through training the newbie recruits, because Happy was dropping Morgan off, and you had offered watch over her, despite the associate being there.

“She was, and now you’re going to have to watch over her.” Tony pointed specifically to the child in his arms, and that was when realisation hit Bucky. He gulped, breathing through his nose to calm himself, as all the pieces clicked perfectly together.

This was not just a child - it was you. As he gazed down at you, he could finally see the pouted expression that would fixate upon your face when you paid attention to him when you were drunk, there was a glazing over your eyes as you raised your small and innocent hands, scraping down the stubble of his chin, as you curled further into his arms.

“I am going to kill you.” He steadily spoke, huffing as Sam went to walk past, but stopped himself when he saw the bundle of joy that was content in the brooding soldier’s arms. 

“What the hell! Did you and y/n have a baby or something without telling anyone?” Oh, how he wished those were the circumstances, and if the pair of you were to ever have a child together, then he would be impartial to the idea of doing so.

"This is not my child, it's y/n, thanks to Stark over there." He bounced you in his arms, he even felt a small dribble of spit seep through his shirt, but he didn't mind, not as his icy glare was intently prized upon the philanthropist.

"Hey, it was my daughter's fault, not mine!" Tony excused himself from the blame, holding his palm against his chest, as he received as such. Sam ogled at him for a second, before returning his attention back into Bucky, and little you.

He came forwards, reaching his hand towards you, keening as you went to grasp his. As you did so, a smile broke out upon the man’s face, until it contorted into a sharp frown, the noise of a yelp escaping from his lips. “That little bitch bit me.”

“Language.” Steve rounded the corner, his golden brows raising when he saw the infant contently resting in his best friend’s arms. “Did you and y/n have a baby without telling us?”

“That’s what I said!” Sam beckoned to the blonde, as he averted a strong gaze to you and your normal sized partner. "Until she bit me, it reminds me of that time that I tried to steal her fries."

"I don't see why your complaining." Bucky rolled his eyes, bracing you up straighter so that your forehead was pressed lightly against his shoulder. "I'm the one whose partner is an actual child."

"Yeah, tell me about it." Sam rolled his eyes in reference to how you were beforehand, before Steve cut in, directing his leading tone towards the men that were stood idly by.

"What actually happened?" Tony found his enquiry to be an opportunity to avert the fault from himself; how lucky indeed was it that Steve asked such a thing.

"Technically it's your fault capsicle. Morgan found your prototype of your unsuccessful time machine. As you can see, she turned into a baby, much like Lang. And if you want to push the blame off of yourself, blame these two for their asses disappearing."

"Hey, if I wanted to disappear, I wouldn't have made such a dramatic exit. I'd have just left for my sister's." Crossing his arms, Sam shook his head at the man that was not wearing his iron suit. He was unable to take any responsibility, unless it was for his genius brain wave of creating the true transportation for the time heist.

"Well I'm going to keep that noted for any future repercussions." Oh, how Wilson regretting mentioning that now.

"You left it out, within your daughter's reach." Bucky quirked his brow, as he prepared to head towards the storage of the private laboratory that was shared between the two science bros.

"Technically, that was the big green guy." Bucky vouched not to listen to Stark, instead, he continued to walk, leaving the three other men in his rear view, though for the most part, he could still hear them bickering.

"Maybe we should turn you into a baby, I doubt much would change."

"Maybe we should turn you into a baby, I doubt much would change." Tony mimicked Steve, thus only proving his point. He was certainly a man that enjoyed pressing people's buttons, it was a shining attribute of the once playboy, and god, did it annoy the hell out of Barnes.

As he entered the laboratory, he found the lab to be in a state of havoc. "Hey, it wasn't me this time." Scott laughed, as he used an extinguisher against the frayed machine, that was blubbering sparks from its ruined exterior.

"Smash!" A small green child, wearing glasses that were far too big for him, ran across the room, followed shortly by a child with long blonde hair wrapped up in a red cape, as though it were some kind of makeshift diaper.

"Explain." Bucky bluntly stated, clenching his jaw, as he cooed lightly at your cries that pierced the air. He bounced you in his arms, not quite certain of what he was supposed to do.

In his time, there wasn't exactly an education system to teach the men going to war how to parent, or even care for a child. A part of him panicked; it was you, he hated seeing you cry in general, but now he couldn't attempt to find out the cause for your falling tears.

"Aw is that y/n?" The man half dressed in his ant man suit asked, a bright smile on his face, as he reached out to hold you. To say Bucky was hesitant to pass you to him was an understatement. "I have a daughter, I've looked after a baby before."

"From jail?" The white wolf asked, as he heard a crash exhibit from the connecting room, obviously being the fault of the two most destructive avengers, or at least, their little versions. Being aged down was definitely certification for trouble, everyone knew that.

"Okay I wasn't in there for that long." Scott reassured him, he picked up a bottle of milk from the table, handing it to the metal armed man, whom had never fed a child before. He found himself, cautiously, keeping a watchful eye, passing you over to the former criminal, intently watching every movement that the man made.

Lange simply fed you. "Always thought you and y/n would have a cute baby, imagine its- oh yeah, well after all that stuff that happened with vision and SWORD, we thought it best to destroy any technology that was recovered from the old base. This part survived, and well, I went into its- okay, you don't want to hear the science, but basically Thor insisted he could break it with his hammer, albeit whilst I was inside of it, and it sent energy around the room that turned them into pubescent children."

"I can see that it did nothing to you. And I thought Morgan did it.”

"I was so relieved, lucky I- wait, was that an insult?" Bucky remained primitively silent, and that answered Scott's question. The hero sighed, as you finished nursing, and your arms reached for Bucky, to whom he passed you to. “And I lied...”

He literally blamed a five year old for the screw up of grown men. Tony was going to thrive off this information, whence he knew that his daughter was in fact not the culprit.

"What do we do now?" He was eager to find a cure for this betrothed science. Those whom were responsible for your decrease in age, well, one was running around the compound, and the other, well, he was even younger than Morgan currently.

"You could wait twenty years, I mean you two already have quite a big age gap, and please don't kill me. I'm not sure that Cap would approve, I am a vital source to the team!"

"I'm not going to kill you tic tac. Or at least not at least until we fix these three."

"Phew." Scott wiped his brow, blowing air from his mouth. "Wait thre- oh yeah, the little guy carrying the hammer that is bigger than himself, and the

"Okay, we need someone smarter." Bucky sighed heavily, as he hugged you in thought. "You tried hitting it again with the hammer?"

"Oh my god, I could be worthy!" Gasped Scott, running off to the next room, only to come back limping, a pained expression on his face. "Little Asguardian bastard hit me!"

Bucky contained his smirk, and instead passed you to Lang, venturing into the other part of the lab, finding that Bruce was asleep, a blob of snot hanging from his nose, he could see the hammer in the middle of the room, almost as though it were waiting for him to attempt grabbing the handle, and Thor was-

The minuscule god jumped from one of the shelves, wrapping his arms around the front of Bucky’s neck, as he put all his weight on the super soldier’s back. In all practicality, Thor was strangling him, and Bucky tapped his arm, trying to convince him to let go.

“I know who Noobmaster69 is.” Thor quirked his head, lessening his hold, as he promptly awaited his now older friend to continue. “It’s, its- his name is Wade Wilson.”

“Wilson!” No, gosh no. Bucky stood completely, making sure to keep Thor in the vicinity, he needed him to be so so that he could reverse the affects on the son of Odin.

“Not Sam. Wade.” He had never met the man before, but god did he seem like a dick. When the pair of you were getting a taxi, the driver Dopinder just could not shut up about his friend, who liked to wear red, and had a kink for unicorns.

Wade certainly sounded like a weird one, but right now, his pass time was getting Thor to pick up that hammer. “Where can I find this Wade?” It practically left his mouth as a hiss, if the imagery and proven death supposed otherwise, he’d possibly think it was Loki instead.

“I will tell you, if you pick up that hammer, and hit it against that old machine. Got it buddy?”

“It’s name is Stormbreaker!” Bellowed the norseman, who tried to slide off his back, but Bucky kept a hold of his legs, refraining him from going anywhere. “Get peter to do it, I don’t want to play that game anymore!”

“Uuh, hi Mr Barnes...” That voice, oh he knew it, and the majority of the time it irritated him, he was Tony's little pet. “And, baby avengers?”

“Don’t ask kid.” Peter nodded, as he went to reach for a spanner. “Can you pick the hammer up, are you worthy?”

“Am I worthy?” He wondered aloud, his eyes fixated on the hammer, as he stepped towards it, holding his hand out, and clasping his palm around the handle, it feeling weightless in his grip, as he picked it up without effort. “Oh my god (it’s Robert Downey Junior)!”

“Great, now take it out there, I’ll deal with these two. And don’t do anything yet.” He was certainly feeling like a sergeant, throwing all the orders to the others, Peter complied, carrying the hammer as though it were an empty duffel.

“Can I try?” Instantly, after Peter passing it to him, Scott had such hope, until the force of gravity hit, and it fell on his foot, causing a light scream to ripple through his throat. “Get it off, get it off!”

Peter did so, as Bucky kept Thor on his shoulders, and grabbed a hold of Bruce’s chubby little ankle, dragging him into the other room. “Shit he’s heavy.” He saw that you were sat in the grand spinny chair, making Bucky relived that you weren’t in Lang’s arms as he attempted to have a moment of worthiness.

“What’d you do, go all Winter soldier on his ass and knock him out?!” Half screamed the prodigy of Hank Pym.

“Of course not, I think Thor did it.”

“Oh yeah, blame the kid because I did the same.”

“Put your suit from Stark on kid, unless you want to become a fetus.” Bucky ignored Scott for the moment,

“I got Hope to send her outfit, it will stretch to accommodate you, but I also think it would hug your shape nicely.”

“That was fast.” Muttered Peter, and Bucky shook his head, eyeing the outfit with weird eyes.

“I’m crazy, but not crazy enough to wear that.” Sighing, he grasped it in his hands, walking to the other room to squeeze into it. He noticed you watching, and thus he turned the chair around so that you couldn’t see anything. Little did he realise until he came out, that you had spun it around again, and was giggling. “Don’t laugh at me, or you won’t be allowed to see it when you’re returned to normal.”

A pout settled on your small lips, and it appeared as though you were getting ready to cry again, but before you could do so, a distraction intervened. An uninvited, and confusing one.

“Stop. Can I just say, that is some cruel declaration for the both of you, you’re my fave ship, after me and Hugh Jackman of course, but he doesn’t even know that this version of me exists.” A newfound imposter called out, his arms raised in the air. Leather gloves crinkled as he twitched his fingers, his white eyes freaking Scott the fuck out. “May I join you on this journey? I read about you guys in comics. And can I just say, I want to see these hunks and that hottie all grown up.”

“You want to see me go Winter Soldier on someone Lang?” Bucky gritted his teeth, prepared to murder this man for ever posing such words about you into the open air. Him speaking obviously drew some attention to him though, but it was not his rage that was mentioned, instead, it was his attire- or well, Hope’s.

“Nice suit Buck Buck. Can you do a twirl for me, I wanna see if it competes with America’s ass. Damn, does that man have some buns on him.”

“I know right!” Scott eagerly agreed, earning a smack in the nuts, to which had made him close to crumbling.“You had to use the metal hand, didn’t you.” Whimpered the Ant to the false Wasp, clamping his hands over his goods as he half hunched over. “I thought you often forgot to use it coz your right handed.”

“You’re on my left.” Gross, he sounded like Sam.

“Who the hell are you?” Thor spoke, and it felt familiar on his tongue. It was as though he had asked an enemy the same thing before...

“I, am Noobmaster69.”

“Hi, I’m Peter. Oh, we’re using our made up names, I thought Sam said it was that guy from that tech place.” Peter scratched his head through the mask, providing a small verbal distraction, as Thor willingly set himself free, launching at the intruder, whilst snatching the hammer from a suited up Peter.

“Aaasrrrghh.” He screamed like a true deity of the vikings.

“Thor, no!” Lang screamed, knowing that he’d have to come up with another excuse. The cameras had been fused whence Thor had first struck the hammer in the room, and it abused the guy in the red suit as he went for his legs, attacking the friend of Dopinder.

[apollopleasant]

1. Are you named after anyone? Nope! My parents looked at me, picked a name that they liked, and everyone since has agreed that it’s the correct name for me.

2. When was the last time you cried? Today tbh. I cry at general stress and any really strong emotions.

3. Do you have kids? Nope again, and probably won’t for a while.

4. Do you use sarcasm a lot? Literally without even realizing it. Sarcasm is the first language of both sides of my family so it’s genetic for us. (I do try and tone it back to avoid coming out mean though)

5. What’s the first thing you notice about people? Smiles. A good smile immediately makes me like you and think you look nice. A frown or angry expression makes me concerned.

6. What’s your eye color? It’s supposed to be light blue, but generally people will say anything from dark grey to blue to green and any shade of those depending on the day.

7. Scary movie or happy endings? Depending on my mood, either one or both combined. I’m not a huge horror fan, but I do enjoy a solid scary movie if we’ll done. I also love happy endings too!

8. Any special talents? I’m actually really good at teaching! I spent years teaching everything from reading and writing to math and science to my younger brother and many of my friends. I’m good at explaining things clearly and simplifying them, which is why I’ve also spent years being in charge of younger students and teaching them in the lab.

9. Where were you born? Midwest US, but I lived in the Northeast for most of my life.

10. What are your hobbies? Reading about almost anything, walking, drawing or singing if I’m in the right mood. My dad and I enjoy watching scary movies together as my mom refuses to watch them, most of my friends can’t stand horror, and my dad loves them.

I also listen to music constantly, hours each day if I can do it with something else at the same time. Music is a special love of mine and always has been, it’s another thing I share with my dad.

11. Do you have any pets? Two fairly big dogs! One is a rescue so she’s shy, but very sweet. The other we got as a puppy and she’s my buddy. Both are velcroed to whoever moves out of their line of sight.

12. What sports do you play/have you played? A lot over the years! Softball, racket ball, soccer, volleyball, tae kwon do, tennis, and many more. I’m not fond of team sports, but I do enjoy walking and hiking!

13. How tall are you? Smol (5’1”)

14. Favorite subject in school? Biology! Not even a contest.

15. Dream job? Research honestly! I really love problem solving, biology, and working in teams so research is a good fit for me.

@prolifeproliberty @lilaccatholic@jurassic-arthurian@irishironclad

15 Questions/15 People

tagged by @the-ritzy-raven, thanks!

1. Are you named after anyone? Jacob from Genesis if that counts.

2. When was the last time you cried? I'm not much of a crier but I shed a few tears when Mike Leach passed away in December. Before that it was probably in 2014 when our dog passed away.

3. Do you have kids? I do not.

4. Do you use sarcasm a lot? A lot, once I'm comfortable around their personality.

5. What’s the first thing you notice about people? Their demeanor and dress.

6. What’s your eye color? Blue 

7. Scary movie or happy endings? I'm very much a sucker for happy endings.

8. Any special talents? I don't know... I was a pretty good marimba player. And a top 100 Madden player lol

9. Where were you born? Germany, on an Air Force base.

10. What are your hobbies? Reading, playing piano, enjoying the outdoors, gaming, and watching sports.

11. Do you have any pets? The sweetest black lab/coonhound named Bennie.

12. What sports do you play/have you played? Baseball for 11 years and football for 3

13. How tall are you? 6'1"

14. Favorite subject in school? Economics.

15. Dream job? Meteorologist or a football coach.

since a lot of my mutuals have already been tagged, tagging @gettothestabbing @quiet-but-not-blind @snarkitect @walden-west and anyone else who wants to!

[izicodes]

hello izzy loa! i started watching supersimpledev's html and css youtube tutorial and wanted to follow along. i've been taking notes and sometimes im scared i'm wasting time on the video when there are many other resources, for example, that freecodecamp video you linked, the 21hours one and i saw another blogger is watching the brocode video.

would it be bad to switch videos even though i've already taken notes to see how other people teach it? idk i feel like if i keep switching i wont actually learn anything.

also - do you still recommend that 21 hour video? how do you feel about beginners learning java first?

Hiya 💗

🔍 "would it be bad to switch videos even though i've already taken notes to see how other people teach it? idk i feel like if i keep switching i wont actually learn anything"

There is no shame/guilt in switching between video resources. I do this all the time and I even would recommend other people to do the same! It's like researching for an essay; teachers encourage you to have lots of references in your essay so you can make a more developed point of view. This is the same! I don't rely on one resource because there could be a bunch more out there that can 1) explain things more plainly 2) go in much more detail and 3) show tips and tricks that I can use in the future.

Like I mentioned in the resources I made (resource 1 | resources 2) I talk about having multiple resources to help you learn. Literally, for me, imagine I wanted to learn PHP right now, I would look online for:

Free PDF PHP book

YouTube Tutorials

Website/Articles on learning PHP like W3School

(If I am really committed) Find a Udemy course on PHP to follow along

And for each, I would have like 1 or 2 places/books/videos to refer back to when stuck! So, yes, of course, it's okay! If you truly get stuck at the abundance of resources and how to study from each one, build a study schedule for the resources, not just the subject e.g.

9-10am - YouTube video resources

10-11am - PDF Book resources

11-12pm - Websites/Articles

Personally, I just do my schedule by subject and use the resources simultaneously. The key thing is don't overwhelm yourself with resources. Pick the ones that help YOU not because "oh it helps this person so I'll use it too even though it confuses me" no.

Also, That feeling of wasting time is okay, it's natural when you want to learn so much in so little time, but that's why I stress about taking your time. If you don't, you'll be like scanning a book - not actually taking things into your brain. That will result in you forgetting and having to start back at square one. Learn at a pace that's right and gives you a good time for your brain to comprehend what you're learning!

🔍 "do you still recommend that 21 hour video?"

Yes, I learnt a lot from that video and really laid down the foundations for me then I used other resources to build on top of that!

🔍 "how do you feel about beginners learning java first?"

That's your personal choice, I don't have a stance on if it's a good first language to learn! Java is used to all sorts so if it aligns with what you want to be building in the future then go right ahead! I recently was looking at University courses for Computer Science and a lot of them teach either Java or C++ as the students' first programming language so yeah!

Hope this helps! 💗

[yourreddancer]

*WARNING: LONG POST ALERT*

I’m a teacher. I have a Bachelors of Science in Elementary Education with a minor in Human Development. I graduated with an endorsement in English as a Second Language and I’m one term away from earning my Masters of Science in Curriculum and Instruction. Let me explain what is happening in this state right now and why it’s making teachers angry. 

These current bills are masquerading as a fight for transparency in education. It states that districts, schools, and educators must make their curriculum and standards available to their stakeholders (i.e. parents and the general public). The proponents of this bill are aggressively spreading the narrative that educators are trying to hide their lessons from parents. They are being sneaky in an attempt to indoctrinate your students. This is absolute bullshit. 

The reality is that curriculum materials and state standards have ALWAYS been available to the public. Have you ever looked? I can show you where to find them. You could look up every standard for every subject K-12. This has never been a problem. So why are teachers pissed?

This bill requires teachers to submit a year’s worth of lesson plans for “approval.” Changes to these lesson plans must be submitted five days in advance for “approval.” Otherwise, the teacher could be subject to discipline in some way or another. This strips teachers of the ability to change their lesson plans to meet the needs of their students. I have literally had to change a lesson plan IN THE MIDDLE OF TEACHING IT because my students were missing core skills that needed to be reviewed. I’ve had to extend a lesson into two or more days because students were struggling, we had a snow day, we had a last minute assembly, library was rescheduled, a teacher was absent and a sub didn’t show so we had to figure out how to take care of those students, etc., etc., etc

. I am a teacher. I have spent YEARS learning how to adapt curriculum and instruction to meet the needs of my students. Students I spend 7 hours a day with 9 months out of the year. And now I need approval from someone who has never met my students, never been in my classroom, and has no clue what they need. 

And this is what you think will make education better? Having your child’s teacher and lessons controlled by people who have never spent one minute with your child?  

Taking away a teacher’s ability to meet the needs of the individual students in their classroom. That’s what we will be getting. Do your research. Talk to a teacher or two. Think about who benefits here. 

Because I can tell you right now it is not teachers, schools, or students. Teacher working conditions are student learning conditions. Let us teach. Let us do the job we are professionally trained to do.

[ghostiiiee]

Just Like Me

To read at my Ao3 CLICK HERE This is the first chapter. sorry is its a little rough. :sweatdrop:

Almost forgot! Tw: i will be going heavy on quirkless discrimination and mental health issues. Theres not much in the first chapter but i do want to touch on it at some point.

School was never something he looked forward to. After all, what was there to look forward to? He was used to getting bullied, made fun of for being different, called names, shoved around. The irony wasn’t lost on him. Many years ago, maybe he would have been the normal one? 

Then again, what even was normal?

It used to be normal to go to school- learn history, math, science and whatever language the school taught. 

It used to be normal to not have any powers, after all -  superheroes were a dream. Stories people made up to tell themselves. Heroes existed, yes, but they never had powers. Heroes were just people, average people. 

Again, there's another word that's changed. Average. 

Normal. Average. 

Two hundred years ago, it was normal for the average person to look human.

Two hundred years ago, it was normal  for the average person to have no powers.

Two hundred years ago, it was normal for superheroes to only be a thing of stories.

That was two hundred years ago. Not now.

Now it's weird to not have powers.

Now you get bullied for being regular. Quirkless.

One of 20%. 

Mathematically, he thought it was stupid that so many people get treated so differently. He did remember Mr. Lancer telling him of people getting treated for less. Mr. Lancer told him two hundred years ago, 10% of the population was seen as satanic because of what hand they used to write with. A similar estimated percent was discriminated against because of who they loved, or what they identified as. 

“Sadly, Mr. Fenton, the human race has a history of not tolerating those who they see as a minority.”

“I remember that from history Mr. Lancer.” Danny sighed, leaning his head on his hand. His eyes stared out the window, looking at the stormy weather. “I remember you talking about how things used to be.”

The teacher pursed his lips, staying quiet and looking at him with concern.

Lancer had asked Danny to stay after class to speak to him. He never did like how Daniel’s peers would gang up on him after school ended. The best he could usually do was this. Casper’s principal was... far too likely to be accepting of anything the more wealthy students’ parents had to say.

“Is that why you’ve been spacing out all day then, Danny?” 

It was asked gently. Danny’s eyes glanced over to the balding teacher before darting back to the window. He hummed for a moment. “...Kinda. I got a lot on my mind.”

“Penny for your thoughts then?” Lancer pulled his chair next to his desk.

It was quiet for a few minutes, the sound of rain gently pattering against the classroom windows filled the room while Danny collected his thoughts. Blue eyes watched raindrops roll down the glass.

“I don’t get it, Mr. Lancer.” His voice was quiet as the floodgates opened. “Everyone in my family has quirks. Dad is strong. My mom can copy anyone’s fighting styles just by watching. Jazz can look at someone and-.... well you know.” He sank down into his chair. “Aunty A, even has a quirk. I've never seen her miss a shot. And then there's me. Daniel James Fenton. The first quirkless person in our family in a long time. Don’t get me wrong either, it doesn’t bother me too much.” Liar. “It’s just... it feels like the cherry on top of everything else.

“My parents got an invitation to teach some classes at UA in Japan. In Japan, I've never lived anywhere but here. Amity Park. It’s not like they can leave me here. PLUS, Jazz has always wanted to go there for the General studies.”

“I understand your concern, Danny. But I’ve seen your work,” There was slight amusement in Mr. Lancers voice. “Aren’t you good at building things? I know I’ve caught you tinkering with something more than once in class.”

Danny’s face flushed red. “...My parent’s usually make those. They’re old models of support gear they have made. I was seeing if I could get a glitch out.”

“And?”

“...I keep shocking myself.” He mumbled. “It hurts like hell.”

“While I can’t say I’m happy that you are getting injured. As long as you are safe, I'm glad.” Mr. Lancer offered a smile to the teen. “As for the other predicament, you are always open to contact me if you need me after you move.”

“Thank you Mr. Lancer.”

~~~~~~~

Danny was thankful that they moved over the summer and not in the middle of the year. School was already hectic enough as was. Moving in the middle of the year was not something he ever wanted to do, let alone moving across the globe in the middle of the year.

He kept to himself for the first few weeks. He liked to walk around, exploring the new area. It felt different than Amity park. More crowded. He noted early on there was definitely more hero around too. It didn’t bother him too much.

That's a lie.

More heroes means more villains.

He didn’t like villains.

He also didn’t like being a hostage.

Lucky him!

He was held hostage by a villain not even before the end of the second week. Not that this was a first time experience for him, having been a favorite target back in Amity Park. He knew all the heroes back home personally because of it. People just loved to take quirkless people hostage. One would think, with the target that seems to hang over his head, that Daniel James Fenton wouldn’t take such risks as walking around alone at night. One would think that if he did, it would be out of necessity, and he would at least have something on him to defend himself.

...yeah no that's not the case. Why in the world would that be the case?

Danny was shoved onto the ground, air leaving his lungs as he hit. He gasped for air, trying to look at who was targeting him now. He couldn’t really tell much about the person, ratty clothes and a hoodie pulled up to cover their face. Nothing could be seen under the hood, it was just shadow, pure, black shadow.

“What’s a runt like you doing out right now?” The villain crouched next to Danny. Chuckling when he tried to scoot away. They put a foot on one of Danny’s wrists, “Ah-ah. Now that’s rude. I’m talking to you punk.”

Danny didn’t respond, wincing at the pressure on his arm. 

“It’s rather rude to ignore your elders.” The villain put more pressure, adjusting so they were crouched like a vulture next to prey.

“F-fuck you. I’ve seen worse.” He growled

The regret in saying that was nearly instant. In the blink of an eye, the ground next to his head - that was solid concrete what the hell- was shattered. The villain was making an inhuman noise, a low gutteral sound coming from them. “You haven’t seen my worst. I wasn’t gonna do much to ya, but I’m starting to change my mind kid.”

He knew he should do anything else - he was already on a thin line - but fuck it. He had a free hand anyways. He grabbed something from his pocket and slammed it against the villain. “As I said before. Fuck. You.” He pressed the button on the side.

The machine sparked to life. Quite literally. Danny still didn’t know what it was supposed to do, but he could make it shock things. Like a weird taser. Unlucky for Danny he was literally pinned to the ground beneath the villain getting tased. And as everyone knows. Humans are conductive. Very conductive. 

Strangely the villain didn't even flinch. The growl getting louder as they grabbed the device from their shoulder and crushed it with their hand. Danny started shaking. Okay so that was a horrible idea. 

The shadows of the alley gathered around the villain. Climbing up their clothing and slowly slithering along their arm. They held Danny down, forming chains around him. In the villain’s hand, a knife, absorbing all light, The villian made the move to attack, and Danny closed his eyes, waiting for the pain to come.

It never did.

It lessened. 

Weight lifted from him, a weight he hadn’t realized was there besides his arm. Tentatively he opened his eyes. 

The villain was on the ground a few meters away from him, knocked out and tied up to a fire exit- similar to how Batman would leave criminals for the cops. Danny blinked. He hadn’t heard anything. So what in the world happened? And how could that have happened so fast? 

Standing up, he looked around for a sign of anyone being there to help him.

Oddly enough. It seemed no one had caused the villain to go down, at least not that Danny could see. Blue eyes scanned the area for a moment, looking for anything that wasn’t there before. Nothing popped out. Nothing was out of place. It looked like no one had been there.

He let out a breath he didn’t realize he had been holding. The air condensed, forming mist as it left his mouth and floated away. It was like when he first stepped outside in the winter. Which was strange- it was the middle of summer. A small frown formed on his face. The nights here weren’t that cold normally. 

He brushed it off, ignoring the goosebumps running along his skin as the air chilled. Perhaps whoever knocked the villain out had a rather cold quirk, he mused to himself. Heroes normally make themselves known at this point, checking to see if he was okay. 

He had an inkling it wasn’t a hero. At least not a licensed one. Not that he minded. He didn’t care who it was really. They saved his life… he was grateful for that.

Danny looked up to the clear sky, moonlight peaking over the buildings enough to illuminate the alley where the street lights glowed. He smiled up to the stars. “Thank you.” He said softly. “I wasn’t paying attention tonight.”

He left the alley, starting his way back home. He never caught sight of the figure watching him.