#and yes the bottom text is from Wikipedia

[sunsolii]

Finally got the chance to make a Duroc poster.

I think it's safe to say that Duroc is starting to become my favorite person of Napoleon's circle

[honkhonk-ducky]

I typed this out at the same time as my attempts at putting things into the computer, so if someone's already done this already I'm sorry :(

I'll edit as I find more and/or see more mentioned on the internet or from friends.

SPOILERS under cut.

Hectoring - A funny little song accompanied by a preacher narrating the tale of when someone in church confessed to meeting Bill Cipher.

Bill Cipher/Cipher - Takes you to the Wikipedia page on triangles.

Dipper - A note from Bill pops up telling Dipper there's secret messages in TBOB that one can only be seen if he stares at the sun for 13 hours.

Mabel - Stickers start popping up around the workspace. If you enter Mabel enough times the computer says 'Lab now fully Mabelized".

Stanley/Stan - Takes you to ebay where you can purchase a set of brass knuckles! If you enter it repeatedly it takes you to even more ebay pages with Stan-themed items, and eventually to the "Wheel! Of! Shame!" where Bill offers some commentary on Stan.

Stanford/Sixer/Ford - A case report pops up on Ford talking about his extra finger.

Soos - A long letter from Soos pops up that is a little bit of him warning us not to read TBOB, and a lot of him rambling about himself.

McGucket/Fiddleford/Old Man McGucket - Takes you to the Cotton Eye Joe music video.

Wendy - A note from Wendy pops up (don't look in the bottom right corner).

Pacifica - A note from Pacifica pops up with her version of a warning not to read TBOB.

Robbie - Brings up excerpts from a chat between Robbie and Thompson talking about searching for Bill in the woods. There's also an image from a video of them running away from him.

Gideon - An audio recording of Gideon humming a song comes on (I don't know what song), before he whispers "I'll love you forever Mabel".

Waddles - Takes you to the website pigplacementnetwork.org

Tad Strange - A video of someone cutting bread plays on the computer, with romantic saxophone music in the background.

Mystery Shack - Brings you to a Google search on Confusion Hill, California.

Axolotl - Text shoes up on the computer saying "You Ask Alotl Questions".

Blendin Blandin - Text shows up on the computer saying "Time Agent Lost and Presumed Incompetent".

Theraprism - A card pops up saying "IN CASE OF (symbols) DO NOT USE ELEVATORS". There's a picture like a road sign of a man running down the stairs from Cthulu(?)

Globnar - Takes you to a 90s commercial titled "CROSSFIRE".

Euclydia - Text shows up on the computer saying "Dimension Not Found".

Weirdmageddon - An excerpt from the Gravity Falls Gossiper shows up, presumably displaying an article from directly after Weirdmageddon.

Gravity Falls - Text shows up on the computer saying "Never heard of it".

Toby Determined - Brings you to a Google search on restraining orders.

Bill - Takes you to a Sesame Street video titled "Jazzy Triangle Meets A Square Square"

Journal 1 - Text shows up on the computer saying "The Journal of Fun"

Journal 2 - Text shows up on the computer saying "The Journal for You"

Journal 3 - Text shows up on the computer saying "The Journal for Me"

Sevral Times - Text shows up on the computer saying "Sevral Times - Luv u Girl/Dawg/Fool/Beef"

Baby/Baby Bill - An ultrasound image if baby Bill shows up with text underneath saying "CONGRATS, GUESS WHAT'S GROWING INSIDE YOU RIGHT NOW! SEE YOU IN 9 MONTHS PAPA!"

Deer Teeth - Text shows up on the screen saying "FOR YOU, KID!"

Glass Shard Beach - A picture from "The Wildwoods by the Sea, New Jersey" shows up. I think it's from an amusement park??

Gun - Text shows up on the computer saying "Oh yes oh yes oh yes they both" (the Tik Tok trend???????)

Portal - Text shows up on the computer saying "Portal.exe has been deleted. I bet you could build one."

Pines - Text shows up on the computer saying "A Good Family Tree."

Trigonometry/Pythagorus/Math/Shapes - A note from Bill shows up talking about his experience with Plato and Pythagorus in Ancient Greece.

T.J. Eckleburg - Text shows up on the computer saying "Never mention that name again".

Triangle - Text shows up on screen, alternating from ")" to "Tri Harder".

Universe - Text shows up on the computer saying "Hologram"

Book of Bill - Text shows up on the computer saying "Hide it Under Shirt During Pledge of Allegiance".

Alex Hirsch - Takes you to a Google search on flannel.

Blind Eye - Takes you to one of those eye exam posters with all the letters. There's a colour code at the bottom, but if you click on the poster it gets progressively blurier and I don't know if I can revert it.

Weird - A video of someone (It might be Weird Al but I'm not sure???) shows up on the computer. The guy was apparently trapped inside the computer by Bill.

Mystery - A question mark shows up on the computer.

Life - Text shows up on the computer saying "Life: 72% Complete. Now Loading: Death"

Death - Text shows up on the computer saying "Life's Goth Cousin".

Blanchin' - Takes you to a Youtube video explaining how to blanch vegetables.

Dippy Fresh - Takes you to a Reddit post with a picture of the Burger King Kid's Club.

Morality - A fun game pops up where someone (Bill, probably) asks you to find morality in the natural world.

Disney - Text shows up on the computer saying "Rat.gif Censored for Your Protection".

Giffany - If you enter Giffany repeatedly she eventually downloads a bunch of files onto your actual computer.

Matpat - A video of Matpat shows up saying we're on our own for TBOB. (NO, PLEASE COME BACCCKKKKK)

Vallis Cineris - An animated gif of child Bill being held by two staticky triangles shows up on the computer. Is also accompanied by a robotic voice saying "WHY DID YOU DO IT?"

Mason - A note from Dipper regarding anagrams pops up.

Tyrone - A picture of Paper Jam Dipper pops up with the caption "Here, he's your problem now! Just keep this guy from liquids!"

Sorry - A picture of McGucket and Ford in college pops up. Flipping over the picture gives writing from McGucket on how he became friends with Ford.

Monster - Brings you to a Google search on the book "THERE'S A MONSTER AT THE END OF THIS BOOK"

BABBA - An audio recording of Dipper singing Disco Girl (with an interruption from Grunkle Stan that I think is from Dipper vs. Manliness?) plays.

Creepypasta - Brings up a photo of The"Always Garden" with some commentary from Bill.

Skibidi/Rizz/Gyatt - Text appears on the computer saying "Life privileges revoked. Now releasing poison gas."

Titans Blood - Text shows up on the computer saying "Hoot Hoot. Password please!" (This is a reference to The Owl House)

Pinata - A video of someone beating a pinata of Bill appears on the computer.

Ad Astra Per Aspera - A two page journal entry from Ford pops up detailing what he and Mabel did when they discovered Bill's statue.

Love - A book titled "The Love Triangle" pops up on screen. If you click it, someone begins reading it like an audio book.

God/Help Me/Save Me - A video of a real life axolotl swimming by a statue of Bill plays on the computer.

Even His Lies Are Lies - An excerpt from, presumably, one of Bill's therapy sessions from the Theraprism pops up.

Caryn - Text shows up on the computer saying "I knew you were gonna write that."

Filbrick - Text shows up on the computer saying "I'm not impressed."

Fuck/Shit/Bitch/Milf - A paper with an image of soap appears on screen, captioned with "Not S&P approved. Wash your mouth out with soap!"

Platinum Paz - A story shows up on screen of the night after Northwest Mansion Mystery. It details how Pacifica has a dream where Bill disguises himself as Nathaniel Northwest to try to trick her into making a deal to steal a "snowglobe" (the dimensional rift) from the shack. Pacifica doesn't take the deal and the dream ends.

Divorce - An image of the O' Sadley's logo pops up on screen. (THIS IS WHAT BILL DRANK AFTER FORD STARTED HATING HIM, LMAO)

Lies - A vintage image of people playing The Game of Lies (a spin on the boardgame Game of Life) pops up on screen. Underneath is a several paragraphs long commentary of Bill talking about how lying is amazing and we shouldn't shy away from it.

[aperture8]

BG3 Digital Character Book

Enneagramm Typ Description (Wip) Part 1

Actually, all the bottom line is simply notes and scraps of the test results and my interpretation of it… everything a bit confused and not really comprehensible. I just had to write them down and I will pick them up later and write a text which is more understandable...yes, I'm not sure where I want to go with is :D

The Enneagram denotes a nine-pointed esoteric symbol which, as a graphic structural model, is intended to distinguish, arrange and relate nine qualities assumed as fundamental.

[pic from here]

In contrast to the four ancient temperaments choleric, sanguine, melancholic and phlegmatic, the personality chart is used to divide people into nine personality types.

[source: wikipedia]

Once again, it's funny to use such things for for developing a dnd/bg3 character and of course there is justified criticism such as that there are no standardized type definitions.

After answering a lot of questions- nearly the same like for the MBTI comes here the result. It is a mixture of the pure test results and my interpretations and desicion to chose wing 5 for the narrativ. I made a counter check by an AI to see if I get different results - stupid me, of course, yes. 🙄😄

THE CHALLENGER (Type 8)

Enneagram Type 8 in Brief Eights are self-confident, strong, and assertive. Protective, resourceful, straight-talking, and decisive, but can also be ego-centric and domineering. Eights feel they must control their environment, especially people, sometimes becoming confrontational and intimidating. Eights typically have problems with their tempers and with allowing themselves to be vulnerable. At their Best: self- mastering, they use their strength to improve others’ lives, becoming heroic, magnanimous, and inspiring. Basic Fear: Of being harmed or controlled by others Basic Desire: To protect themselves (to be in control of their own life and destiny) Enneagram Eight with a Seven-Wing: “The Maverick” Enneagram Eight with a Nine-Wing: “The Bear”

[source: here]

Key Motivations: Want to be self-reliant, to prove their strength and resist weakness, to be important in their world, to dominate the environment, and to stay in control of their situation.

Core Motivation: Independence and Control Ardreyth's actions are characterized by a tireless urge for self-determination. She considers herself a tool, created and shaped by the Mother Matron and also Bhaal. This desire for self-determination can be interpreted as a kind of survival strategy within drow's society. She uses her role as an assassin to secretly build a network of powerful allies. This makes every murder not only an order, but also a step towards independence from Mother Matron Minaste. However, their pursuit of self-determination (I determine when and where) hides a deeper fear of being vulnerable or manipulable.

->fight against foreign determination

Protection mechanisms to avoid weakness: Ardreyth shows neither physical nor emotional pain. When she is injured during a mission, she retreats to heal alone - no one is allowed to recognize her weakness. Control by aggression: She begins conflicts to demonstrate her dominance and. According to the motto, whoever strikes first has power. A practice fight with Callimar then turns into a showdown.

Key fears: powerlessness and vulnerability A melancholy void, understood as existential despair (more than just being a tool for someone else), represents the type 8 fear of being powerless inside despite all the power.

WING 9 - THE BEAR Diplomatic control fits better than 8 with wing 7, as Ardreyth is patient and prudent and does not act impulsively… she watches before she strikes… one could interpret this as Type 9's striving for harmony, which, however, was distorted by the drow policy. Ardreyth initially lets rivals weigh in on triumph to purposefully humiliate them later. Protective loyalty: Loyalty is a foreign word, an exception here is Callimar. Their loyalty to him should not be regarded as a kind of affection, but as a rational calculation… Only much later, after many years, does an affection and the resulting loyalty develop.

WING 5 - IINVESTIGATOR fits from a narrative point of view because: Type 5 characteristics:Obsession with knowledge: studies, magic, etc. to have as much control over all variables as possible. Emotional distance: Analyzes all people like chess pieces that are useful and when, etc. Exception: Callimar. Paranoid: preparation: for each possibility or scenario there is a plan B (escape tunnel, etc.) Shadow aspect: In stressful situations, she shows paranoid traits, obsessively collects information and causes unnecessary suffering - the price of growing up in a gloomy society and dark desire.

I will write a summary :D

[1moreff-creator]

A Correction of my Roman Numerals Post (About IX - Levi)

Hey, it’s me again. So I made a post about the LGI MV and the Roman numerals attached to each character as well as a quote connected to each. However, I actually fucked up pretty badly on the background text in the Levi section, so I decided to make a post addressing that.

So, in my original post, I claimed the background text here related to the discovery of Pluto, since that’s what Google spat out when I put some of the keywords at the bottom. However, I have to admit something always felt off: the image in the background has nothing to do with Pluto or its discovery, as far as I could tell.

I didn’t look too much deeper into it, and that’s my bad. Turns out, the text is actually talking about something else. What tipped me off was this:

The text there on the forefront mentioned Jupiter, which made me think of Levi’s text. And turns out, it actually is related.

This is about a comet named Shoemaker-Levy 9, which yes, has both “Levy” and “9” in the name, I’m pretty sure that’s why Levi was even given IX in the first place. After a bit of research, I’m pretty confident this is the thing Levi’s background text is actually about. In particular, I want to give a shout-out to weightedblankettt, who in their downright spectacular post dissecting the MV managed to find the original image used for the background, which yes, was Levi’s.

So what’s the deal with this thing? It’s a comet which crashed into Jupiter in the 90’s, but the really noteworthy thing about it is that it was the first asteroid discovered in the Solar System which did not orbit the Sun (it orbited Jupiter), and its crash was the first extraterrestrial impact between two celestial bodies we where able to see via telescopes. This is thanks to the scientists it’s named after, who made predictions based on its orbit to figure out when the impact would happen.

The one thing that throws me off a bit is that you can clearly see 1930 in Levi’s background text, but… nothing regarding this comet happened in 1930. It wasn’t discovered until much later, and according to Wikipedia, it didn’t even start orbiting Jupiter until 1970, 1960 at the earliest. However, I did find a singular, notably shady source saying it may have actually started orbiting Jupiter in 1930, so there’s that.

So that’s cool and all, but how is this connected to Levi? Well, I actually think the comet is connected through Jupiter.

You see, the mere existence of this comet is actually proof of an astronomical phenomenon where, occasionally, Jupiter “protects” the planets of the inner Solar System by “sucking up” asteroids which would have otherwise impacted them into its orbit. According to Wikipedia, some astronomers claim mass extinction events on Earth caused by asteroids would have been much more common if Jupiter didn’t exist.

It’s not difficult to connect this to Levi.

As his quote states, he’s a very protective character. Like Jupiter protects Earth from asteroids, Levi offers protection to the cast. So there it is.

… And then there’s my theory. For like the fiftieth time, I’ll remind you I believe Eden’s the killer and Levi’s an accomplice. At first this protectiveness seems like a problem for that theory, but it really isn’t. Part of the theory already was that Levi lost faith in the rest of the group, and his protective instincts shifted over to Eden. In other words, the “inner planets” aren’t the rest of the cast anymore, just Eden.

In fact, the analogy may actually work better under that interpretation. Jupiter sometimes is struck by the asteroids it protects the inner planets from, as was the case with Shoemaker-Levy 9. In fact, this particular comet left behind a “bruise” even more noticeable than the Red Spot (or whatever that thing’s called). So it can be said (if you’re dramatic) Jupiter sacrifices itself for those it protects. Apply this to Levi, and the impact of Shoemaker-Levy 9 with Jupiter would be like Levi getting executed for protecting Eden. Though you could argue the “bruise” is actually an analogy for that scar on Levi’s shoulder, so it’s definitely not conclusive either way.

So, yeah, that was the main correction I wanted to make. Another small ones:

• Footnote 12 is actually on the screen after Min’s numeral, which wasn’t made clear, and I actually missed footnote 6 on Min’s section. It flashes on screen next to the hands in prayer, and the footnote is just “(Prayer)”. Not much to say about this one. I guess Min may have been praying because she was about to die? Idk.

•Also, I just completely forgot to mention footnote 7 is on Arturo’s section? The footnote states that 7 is considered lucky in Western cultures, before saying “Let’s skip it”. I guess I took the footnote too seriously, since I completely forgot it was there.

Anyways, it’s not like I know what it means. There’s nothing inherently lucky about Arturo, so it’s just weird. Though it’s worth noting this numeral appears right after the “correct/incorrect” code, which uses footnote 13, and 13 is an unlucky number. Again, cannot tell you for the life of me what the hell this has to do with Arturo of all characters, but it’s there.

Anyways, correction complete, thanks for bearing with me! Now, back to rewatching this video until I find wherever the fuck footnote 8 is! Seriously, has anyone found that one? It’s the only one I’m missing.

[nsfwmiamiart]

Incoming Text for Mila Kunis (@MILAKUNISV):

Dear Mila,

I just want to let you know that you should stop overthinking. You know I’m not a monster; I’ve got your back, but you’ve lost your royal privileges—that’s all.

You wanted to be royal, but you can’t handle the pressure that comes with the title. That’s why I had to kick you out of my royal family.

As long as you don’t come to my palace to spy on me, we’re good. You can consider this a solved problem. You go your way, and I’ll go mine; that way, we don’t have to shoot each other.

Do you remember that movie back in 2010 when Katherine Heigl and Ashton Kutcher had to kill to survive? That movie flopped, but the story was still relevant. Well, I’m going through something very similar—it’s kill or be killed.

And you should never get pissed off when I throw around threats. I’m living this in real life, just like Ashton did in that movie with Katherine. I experience it every day, so you can imagine why I always have my gun ready to defend myself.

A lot of people read my blog posts and think I’m an entertainer; they forget that I’m a target. There are many people trying to eliminate me, so my tolerance level is very low. I get angry when people try to hurt me, and I’m always quick to get my guns wavin’ in the air.

Long story short, don’t get mad at me for saving my own life. These fuckers are trying to kill me, so excuse me if I have the audacity to insult you for all the snake activities. You know very well that I was right, and you were all spying for my enemies.

So, from the bottom of my heart, go f*ck yourself, my dear Mila. And I’m being polite here; you should be glad I’m still being nice to you after all the sh*t you girls have been plotting to overthrow me.

I know you’re mad that you just discovered I have a love story with Chloë Sevigny. I’m crazy about her; I love her so much.

You can hang out with my girl Chloë (@chloessevigny), but you must promise never to hurt her by spying on her for the enemy. Be nice; she is a sweetheart, okay?

Tell Dax and Kristen I said hello. I’ll try to find movie ideas for them. I have to admit that lately, Kristen Bell’s movies have kind of sucked. The last one I watched was "Queenpins" back in 2021, and I enjoyed it; it was a nice movie.

You all struggle to find good movie projects lately, and I’ll try to share ideas with Dax, Kristen, and you, Mila. I know you feel some type of way when you see all the billion-dollar ideas I’ve given to Angelina, Gwyneth, Charlize, and Natalie.

I know you, Zoe, and Rosario are furious because I always give the best ideas to those same women. I don’t do it on purpose; I just felt like giving them those ideas. It’s not that deep.

I won’t find another billion-dollar movie idea in a while, that’s for sure. But I could find you some multi-million dollar movie ideas—are you interested? If you can reach the 300 million mark at the box office, it’s still a win, right?

I’ll try to find some movie ideas that will bring in at least 300 million at the box office. Be patient; when I have an idea, I’ll post it.

Also, you should work with Margot Robbie’s film company, LuckyChap Entertainment. Here’s the Wikipedia link: LuckyChap Entertainment. (click on the blue link)

You and Margot could sign a multi-million dollar deal with her film company. You could also bring Kristen with you. I’m sure you’ll all be stronger if you unite as a team.

The latest film they produced was "Promising Young Woman" in 2020, and it was such a classic. I enjoyed that movie; truly a masterpiece, written by Emerald Fennell.

You should contact screenwriter Emerald Fennell and ask her to add you to her next movie projects. She might say yes; you never know. As a screenwriter, she can vouch for you during casting.

I encourage you to become good friends with Emerald Fennell because she has a very bright future in the film industry. She’s a genius screenwriter.

I’ll let you know when I have a new movie idea for you, my dear Mila. You should relax and take it easy. I’m still your friend. You and Natalie are my idiot sisters because you make rookie mistakes.

Say hello to Walden Schmidt and remind him of Alan Harper’s quote: “When you put it that way, it sounds like a soap opera on Telemundo.”

And also this quote: "Oh, si, Señor Strongman es muy loco."

Okay, this chat was fun.

Love you, Mila! Have fun. Big hugs for you.

Angelo (Crown Prince)

P.S.:

Synopsis of the letter:

In a candid and confrontational letter, the author addresses Mila, urging her to stop overthinking and reminding her of the consequences of her actions, including the loss of her royal privileges. The author expresses frustration over her inability to handle royal pressures and warns her against spying, emphasizing a "kill or be killed" mentality. Drawing parallels to a film featuring Katherine Heigl and Ashton Kutcher, the author discusses the real-life dangers they face and the constant threat to their safety. Despite the tension, the author reassures Mila of their friendship and expresses excitement about their romantic connection with Chloë Sevigny. They also offer to help Mila and her friends with movie ideas, encouraging collaboration and connection with other industry talents like Margot Robbie and Emerald Fennell. The letter concludes with a lighthearted note, reminding Mila of their bond while acknowledging the challenges they face.

[dragon-phoenix-along]

… Sigh.

Context: On mobile sometimes we (me and other mobile users) will get little pop ups at the bottom of our screen that don’t go away.

It’s annoying but most of the time it isn’t animated or flashing so you can ignore it.

This doesn’t stop me from being annoyed at the little bright colored bar that keeps changing its luminance.

So today I click on it to see what new bs is being shoved at me, and it says pretty much the following:

“Hi! We have started selling new ✨badges✨ so you can show your support for Tumblr via buying them!”

And I’m along the lines of ‘eh Staff hasn’t been the best recently and they have been being transphobic for a bit so I’m not inclined to’

So when I see the [Click here to ask why I should support Staffs bs] button, I click it.

Directly QUOTING THE RESPONSE:

“vast majority of our time, resources, and energy are spent working on ways we hope to make Tumblr a sustainable business. This latest, badge-inspired effort is many things, but it is primarily a way in which we hope to keep the platform going. It is also, we hope, another way with which we can move closer to a user-led business model”

…

Breaking this down it’s-

It’s not Tumblr. This website has best been described as ‘None capitalist, left lore’ (ish).

First bit:

“vast majority of our time, resources, and energy [Red text ends] are spent working on ways we hope to make Tumblr a sustainable business. “

The first bit in red text, not only feels ingenue, but feels like a lie. But combined with the orange, it’s just ridiculous.

Is staff even looking at the same app? Tumblr is a proud hellsite that lost Millions of dollars, and dragged down another company with it For Fun. AND YOUR TRYING TO MAKE IT INTO A BUSINESS????

Like, the rest of it makes sense, I understand Staff trying to keep Tumblr afloat. But You Sure As Fuck Don’t Do It By Blasting It Full Of Adds.

Seriously staff, we have porn bot issues you could focus on, and your worried about Capitalism? On the stile I got the lovely “I want violent things to happen to millionaires picture from?” Are you kidding me?

And yes it’s true I could totally be taking this out of pocket. But honestly, I think if staff removed quite a few features, all the adds, and had the merch shop be hidden inside a collapsable bar? The’y get more money.

I’m sure everyone has seen the differences between Wikipedia, and Ao3 when it comes to asking for money.

Both are big websites know to be full of text, but one keeps begging for money (and we do keep ignoring it) and the other will occasionally ask, and when it does gets At Least DOUBLE The Amount Asked.

And that’s because we love Ao3 so much.

I bring this up because I think if staff set up their system to be as stable as Ao3 and ask occasionally for money, they’d be surprised at how much they’d get.

But I digress, I am simply a jobless teen ranting on a hellsite like no other.

[shins-rpc-sources]

COLOR TEXT TUTORIAL

so i made a tutorial in the past explaining how to do add color to your text on my previous blog @shinsources but unfortunately it's no longer active. and not only that but i found it a bit complicated so i'm gonna go ahead and remake it. the things you will need will be Beta Text Editor, Roleplay Formatter, and a website that provides you with color hexes. here are a couple that i recommend using:

encycolorpedia

color-hex

wikipedia ( a - f ) ( g - m ) ( n - z )

so the reason you have to use BTE is because colored text is only available in BTE and not LTE. and the reason i recommend you using Roleplay Formatter is because the number of options BTE supplies us with is ... uh ... limited, to put it bluntly. we literally only get eight colors which sucks. but whatever. eight is better than nothing i guess. idk.

anyways! let's get to the actual tutorial, yes? because it's relatively long i'mma throw everything under a READ MORE for simplicity's sake.

now all you have to do is type out your response on Roleplay Formatter, highlight the text you want to color, and then select color text font as shown down below.

once you click on that the image on the top will pop up. i need you to do me a favor and click on more options which will trigger the image on the bottom to pop up.

now obviously you're gonna want to pick out your color in advance because that'll make things 1,000,000 times easier in the long run. i'mma choose emerald green because that's what i use for my ulquiorra blog over @segnuda ( shameless self promo ). the color hex for emerald green is #50C878 for any of you wondering, fyi. you will do like i did in the image on the top and paste it in the second or bottom box. once you do that you click on okay and it will turn out like it does in the image on the bottom.

now i recommend you going ham and doing anything fancy shmancy with your text — bold, italics, strikethrough, small font, etc. — because who doesn't like fancying up their writing, right? i decided to make my text small ( in which you click on Styles until you see Small and click on that ) and bold / italicize / underline the first line as seen in the image on the top. once you get everything to your likings click on Source as highlighted in the image on the bottom.

NOTE: don't pull a me and actually underline your stuff because i forgot that BTE doesn't support underline. it won't register it at all.

once you've done that, you'll see something similar to the image similar to the one on the top. i need you to copy the whole entire source code via CTRL + C and then get onto tumblr followed by getting a text box open. i need you to do like i did in this tutorial here and completely backspace to where it goes from the middle image to the bottom image.

once done, click on the settings widget in the top right corner and go from Rich text to HTML as seen in the top image. it'll now look something like the image in the middle. after you've done that, paste the code you just copied and it'll look a little something like the one on the bottom.

when done you'll click on the settings widget again and go from HTML to Rich text. once done it'll look a little something like this!

literally all you have to do now is add any icons you want and the whole nine yards then you're good to go! simple as that!

[volkswagonblues]

a lil guide to the Fire Nation for the ATLA fic writers out there

(aka. a no means exhaustive primer on east asia by an asian person)

This is a guide for fic writers want to write a canon-era story set in the Fire Nation, or featuring Fire Nation characters. A quick little primer on the tiny details of everyday life that you might not think about, but certainly stuff that would make me, an asian person, wince if I were to encounter it. BRUSHES, not quills. CHOPSTICKS, not forks. 

(note #1: this was partly inspired by a chat with @elilim​) 

(note: #2:  I originally intended it for zukka fic writers before realizing that other writers might find it useful. so apologies for a slight Zuko-bias for that reason)

(note #3: this is all stuff i was thinking about when writing firebender’s guide, in case anyone was wondering)

1. CLOTHING

Okay, I think the most straightforward way to describe what everyone’s wearing most of the time is “tunic”. They’re all just...tunics of different colours and varieties. Later when Zuko’s the Fire Lord he wears robes. The show provides a better visual guide than I could, here are a few notes to keep in mind:

a) Japanese people wear their collars LEFT crossed over RIGHT

I don’t think this would come up in writing as much as it would in art, but it’s considered bad luck to do it the wrong way because that’s only for dead people. Let my boy Zuko demonstrate:

b) There are no buttons

This is picky, but Wikipedia says “Functional buttons with buttonholes for fastening or closing clothes appeared first in Germany in the 13th century.[6] They soon became widespread with the rise of snug-fitting garments in 13th- and 14th-century Europe.” I kinda believe it. If you look closely, characters’ clothes are always tied together or wrapped in some way with a belt. If there are fasteners, they’re braided frog closures that go into a little loop, like the qipao-style dresses women wear in Ba Sing Se, or Zuko’s casual prince’s clothes in the topmost image. Anyways, I don’t think Zuko or Azula or the Gaang would technically button or unbutton anything when they’re changing clothes. Clothing is designed to be tied, not buttoned.

[so much more under cut]

c) This isn’t a real rule, but there’s something called koromogae, or the seasonal changing of clothing in Japan.

This is something I learned when I was writing firebender’s guide, and I just liked the fun detail about there being a strict calendar for when to wear something. I liked the idea of someone like Zuko, who actually spent most of his formative years outside of the Fire Nation, coming home and just suffering mutely through the summer heat because upper class etiquette says no changing into cooler clothes until August 15. 

From My Asakusa: 

And this website:

Generally, people change from thick, heavy, dark-coloured clothes for winter to thin, lighter, bright-coloured clothes for spring and summer. In traditional Japanese culture, particularly in formal settings such as tea ceremony, it is important to acknowledge the changes of seasons—in such circumstances, not only the patterns and colours of the kimono that are worn but also the utensils and furniture that are used are required to change. By changing their clothing, people notice and appreciate the change of seasons. [Japan Foundation]

Here are some visual guides from the official creators for clothes: (notice how it’s pretty much always left over right)

2.FOOD AND EATING

a) Traditional cuisine

It seems like the most common foods in canon are Fire Flakes and meat, to the point where poor Aang had to eat lettuce out of the garbage at some point.

HOWEVER, the Fire Nation seems to basically a big subtropical archipelago, so I would guess that seafood and rice are common. If you want to write about characters eating, a. quick google for “traditional japanese cuisine” would help you come up with a menu really quickly.

Wikipedia says:

The traditional cuisine of Japan, washoku (和食), lit. "Japanese eating" (or kappō (ja:割烹)), is based on rice with miso soup and other dishes; there is an emphasis on seasonal ingredients. Side dishes often consist of fish, pickled vegetables, and vegetables cooked in broth. Seafood is common, often grilled, but also served raw as sashimi or in sushi.

But before we get too serious, at one point the Gaang eats a “smoked sea slug” (Sokka’s Master) 

Oh ATLA, never stop being you.

b) Utensils

One thing to keep in mind is chopstick etiquette. Someone like Zuko or Toph, for instance, would have completely internalized all of these.

Another thing is that there are no glasses. Cups and bowls are made of ceramic or clay. Let the Gaang show you:

And another note: characters won’t eat “bread” in the European sense, ie. a baked lump of dough. Steamed buns, yes. Fried pancakes made from batter, yes. Flatbreads, okay I’ll give it a pass. Rice or noodles should be the most common carbs of choice.

3.ETIQUETTE

���In the homeland, we bow to our elders” - angry schoolmistress in The Headband.

Japan Guide has a list of etiquette rules for visiting Japan, which is interesting but not too necessary to read. In general, based on what The Headband tells us, Fire Nation characters would have been raised with a strong nationalist curriculum that values communal contribution over individualist expression. Even someone like Zuko, who openly rebels against that, probably couldn’t help but be affected by it. In general the Fire Nation seems to have an East Asian-ish set of values. It’s patriarchal, all the positions of authority are filled by men; there seems to be a strong emphasis on patriotism; there’s a sense of diffidence and respect towards one’s elders; and finally, there’s an emphasis on “knowing” one’s place in society and fitting into what’s expected of oneself.

I don’t really know how to describe it, but in China and Japan I sometimes feel like there’s rules for everything, and even people born and raised there acknowledge it could be stifling at times. You could go down a rabbit hole researching points of etiquette (for instance, rules on who has to sit where in group dinners...), but to me the most important thing is acknowledging that Fire Nation has a rigid system of etiquette, and also, they’re an imperialist power who’s pretty prejudiced against foreigners. Poor Aang/Kuzon gets called “mannerless colony slob” just for being slow on the bowing action (!!!)

(in firebender’s guide I had a lot of fun imagining the stupid microaggressions Ambassador Sokka has to face in the Fire Nation, so obviously I’m just biased)

4.WRITING AND DESKS

Characters would probably write on paper, with a calligraphy brush. Not quills or pens -- a brush. Technically, old Japanese and Chinese texts should be written top to bottom, right to left, but the show itself doesn’t do this, so I think you’re fine. 

One fun thing about traditional calligraphy is that you don’t use bottled ink. You have something called an ink stone, and then you grind your ink yourself by rubbing the ink stone in a special little dish with a bit of water. In my (very few) encounters with this stuff in the calligraphy lessons of my youth, the ink stones can be plain or have beautiful designs on the side. It looks something like this: 

ATLA is an East Asian-ish universe, so characters are likely to be kneeling at a table, not sitting. To demonstrate, here’s my boy Sokka doing his famous rainbow at Piandao’s:

and here’s the war chamber meeting when Zuko speaks out against a general’s plans to sacrifice some soldiers:

THERE ARE EXCEPTIONS: This is Zuko’s cute little setup when he’s writing his goodbye letter to Mai. In this case he’s writing in a chair and table. It’s possible that some furniture items, like a sitting desk and a bed in a bedframe (not a bedroll or futon) are special royal palace features. Normally in a private setting we see characters sitting on the ground or on a slightly elevated platform with a low table. Maybe Caldera is just different? Or rich people are just different: the Bei Fongs also have a sit-down dining table + chair setup.

(That little rectangular box is his ink dish!!)

5.A NOTE ON GENERAL CULTURE

It’s worth talking about a few general points of East Asian culture. I can’t claim to speak for ALL of Asia, and I don’t think I should. But I do think ATLA fic writers who want to set something in the Fire Nation should take a few moments to at least skim the wiki pages for filial piety and Nihonjinron (literally, "theories/discussions about the Japanese"). There’s a certain...vibe to...asianness... that I’m not sure I can explain without like, a doctorate degree in sociology. 

It’s a bit like gender, I guess. There’s no definitive checklist to what is a woman and what is a man, and we can argue that gender is performative, that it’s a construct, but at the end of the day gender is still (tragically) real in the sense that it still shapes people and affects how we walk and talk and dress and think. Nationality is the same. Obviously, the Fire Nation is a made up place in a made up show, but out of respect to the cultures that inspired it, I do think it’s worth familiarizing yourself with some of these cultures’ codes and values.

Also, ahem, if I can direct you to war crimes in the Japan’s colonial empire. Again, worth remembering that the Fire Nation was an imperalist colonizer too.

I might do a continuation of this post and talk through my more abstract takes about Fire Nation culture - Is Zuko an example of filial piety gone right or filial piety gone wrong? Why I think Zuko’s flashbacks are like, at least part teenage melodrama bullshit (the reason is son preference), how someone like Sokka might be treated once he’s openly Water Tribe in the Fire Nation (probably with racism...), specific aspects of asian homophobia and racism, etc. We’ll see.

This is not a definitive guide. Comments and critique welcome.

If you think there’s a factual mistake, PLEASE hop in my asks and let me know. I also think there’s a huge blind spot in ATLA for South and Southeast Asian representation, so I acknowledge that I can’t speak for all Asians, and there is no such thing as a “pan-asian” identity.

If there’s something else you’re curious about, I’m not a historian or anything, but I like research. Ask me and I’ll try to answer the best I can.

And oh, one last thing, this is how I do research when I wrote firebender’s guide, in case anyone’s interested in learning more (LINK)

[nevermindirah]

Yitzhak!

is a character! who Gregadiah What-Is-Math Rucka gave us almost no information about!

I've gone through Tales Through Time #6: The Bear and #1: My Mother's Axe with several magnifying glasses and done a lot of googling and taken my copy of the Tanakh off my shelf for the first time since (well, since the last time I needed to read Torah for TOG reasons, which I think was Booker Passover headcanons) and here's the best I can come up with.

In The Bear we meet someone who goes by the name Isaac Blue:

Read on for a lot of comic panel analysis and historical research and Jewish flailing!

So what do we know about this Isaac Blue person?

He's Lorge, he's got curly hair, he's basically a taller version of Joe as drawn by Leandro Fernández (ie an antisemitic stereotype why the fuck did they approve this character design?? and then why did they double down and copy-paste it to Yitzhak??):

He's got a mezuzah on the doorpost of his house in Alaska!

I screamed about the mezuzah way back in January in this post where I (very reasonably) assumed this character was Joe and spun myself a tale about how Booker is still Joe's brother so the mezuzah stays up even though Booker isn't welcome in that house for a century. Bottom line: the mezuzah is a tradition with origins in the commandment from Deuteronomy 6:9 to "write the words of G-d on the gates and doorposts of your house" and evolved over the course of the Rabbinic period into the modern mezuzah we see here.

I did unnecessary levels of google image search to glean absolutely no useful information about Yitzhak’s origins from this panel:

I've decided the variant cover of TTT 6 is Yitzhak because of a panel in My Mother’s Axe, shown here, and what's likely an unnecessarily deep reading of Exodus, discussed further down:

The person at the right of the bottom panel is wearing the same clothes as in the TTT 6 variant cover and has the same shoulder-length curly hair and hairy forearms.

Left to right, the people in this panel are Lykon (I'll never get used to him being white in the comics), Andy, Noriko (I think? why doesn't Andy mention her by name here?), and Yitzhak. Andy's robe has a stereotypically Greek design on the sleeve cuff, and I had to stop myself 10 minutes into a Wikipedia rabbit hole because Gregorforth doesn't think that deep about this shit. The solid clues as to timeline that we get in this panel are:

Andy's iron axe

the presence of Lykon, who Andy first met in 331 BCE

So all we know is that Yitzhak is an immortal, he was a contemporary of Lykon, and he's Jewish.

Isaac is the most common Anglicization of Yitzhak (which in turn is the most common Anglophone transliteration of יִצְחָק‎), and Greg always uses the (transliterated) Hebrew when he refers to this character. Yitzhak is the long-awaited child of Abraham and Sarah in Genesis, the child who G-d commanded Abraham to sacrifice but spared at the last minute. I see what you did there, Gregory.

Why Isaac Blue? This is where I pulled out my Tanakh. According to the New JPS translation, blue is the first of three colors of yarn listed in Exodus 35:6 among the gifts requested of the Israelites to construct the priestly garments for the Tabernacle and later the Temple. Then in Numbers 15:38 the Israelites are commanded to "make themselves fringes on the corners of their garments throughout the ages; let them attach a cord of blue to the fringe at each corner."

And now for sandbox timelines party! Gregadiah gave us ALMOST NOTHING to go on, so I'm gonna make my own fun.

I, like many modern Jews, think the stories in the Tanakh are foundational mythology that are valuable because of how they've shaped our people but that contain some fucked-up shit and either way aren't meant to be a record of historical facts. Modern scholarship generally agrees that the community we now call Jews emerged as a distinct group of Canaanites sometime in the late Bronze Age (cw this video's host says the Name of G-d aloud despite being a religious studies scholar who knows that is not a name anyone but the Temple priests are allowed to say). The first non-Biblical written record of the people Israel is from an Egyptian source c. 1200 BCE, and the Biblical kingdom of David and Solomon was probably an exaggeration of whatever really happened during the Bronze Age Collapse. We start getting into historical-fact territory a few centuries into the Iron Age:

588 BCE Solomon's Temple destroyed, Babylonian exile begins

538 BCE Cyrus of Persia allows Jews to return to Jerusalem

515 BCE Second Temple construction complete

332 BCE Alexander the Great At Something I Guess conquered Judea, beginning the Hellenistic period of Jewish history — 331 BCE Andy & Lykon find each other

167 BCE another jerkface Greek king desecrated the Temple and basically outlawed Judaism

164 BCE recapture of Jerusalem and Temple rededication during the Maccabean Revolt

70 CE destruction of the Second Temple by the Romans, beginning of the Rabbinic period of Jewish history that we're still in now

What if... and hear me out... what if immortals come in pairs, and the pairs are:

Andy & Quynh

Joe & Nicky

Booker & Nile

LYKON & YITZHAK

What if Yitzhak was a priest of the Second Temple? What if he and Lykon killed each other just like Joe and Nicky would in the same city around 1300 years later, but instead of enemies-to-lovers speedrun with an absurdly long happily-ever-after, when Lykon died permanently Yitzhak decided to separate from Andy and Noriko and become the hermit we later see in Alaska?

We don't know how old Yitzhak is compared to the others, only that he was a contemporary of Lykon at a time when Andy was using an Iron Age version of her mother's axe. Other plausible origins for him:

a Jew of the early Rabbinic period, maybe a child or grandchild of people who were still alive before the Second Temple was destroyed

a Judean of the Second Temple era under the Romans or Greeks or Persians, maybe a priest, maybe not

an exilee in Babylon, maybe of the generation who got to return, maybe of the generation who was exiled (he doesn't look like he was 50 at his first death but who knows, he could've been mortal for both)

an Israelite of the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah, maybe a priest of Solomon's Temple or again maybe not

an Israelite wandering in the desert with Moses

THEE Yitzhak, ben Avraham v'Sarah, our patriarch who was brought up for sacrifice and then spared, and then spared again, and then spared again, and again, and again...

or! he could also be a Canaanite or other Levantine who predates the people Israel, who at some point in his very long life chose to join our mixed multitude, who like Andromache before him (and like Avram and Sarai would in this case do after him) took a new name to reflect the magnitude of influence this people has had on him

Why do I keep saying Yitzhak might have been a priest? It's thanks to the one detail in the artwork I could plausibly connect to solid research without getting a PhD real quick. Take a look at the gorgeous detail on the opening of his robe in the TTT 6 cover. He's dressed in rags, holes and dirt everywhere, rough stitches probably from hasty repair work — except for the neck opening. Compare that to this description from Exodus 39:23 of the construction of the priestly garments for the Tabernacle: "The opening of the robe, in the middle of it, was like the opening of a coat of mail, with a binding around the opening, so that it would not tear."

The next verses describe the intricate designs for the hem of the priestly garment. Yitzhak's ragged garment looks like the hem was torn off entirely.

Am I overthinking this? Yes I am! You're welcome!

My friend and historical research hero @lady-writes​ is in a Discord server with Gregadiah and asked the man himself some questions about all this. He clearly thinks he's being sneaky?? No shit Yitzhak is Jewish, dude, I want DETAILS!

I will not be giving up my Jewish Booker headcanon, I've put too much thought into it by now, the internalized shame of antisemitism explains Booker's depression too well for me, and it just adds so much richness to Booker/Nile both being children of forced diasporas. Fortunately (for him, not me, bc I'd do it anyway!) Gregothy supports fan headcanons even when they're not in line with his own:

One last thing before I close like 100 research tabs and go back to writing historical fantasy and/or porn! I love that, despite that atrocious caricature of a face design, our canon Jew and our fanon Jew are both Lorge and Soft and Kind, flying the face of the antisemitic stereotype of Ashkenazi Jewish men as small and weak, but also not falling into the New Jew / Muscle Jew stereotype that Zionism created. (I am trying SO HARD not to talk about Israel/Palestine for once ughhhhhhhhhh) Anyway here's a (US-centric but very good) primer on both these stereotypes of Jewish masculinity. Is this why I'm forever projecting my transmasc diasporist feels onto Jewish Booker the service sub? 🤷🏻‍♂️

I’ll reblog a second version of this with full image descriptions so that there’s a version accessible for folks who need IDs as well as a version accessible for folks who get overwhelmed by walls of text.

[occasionally-victor]

"Let's dance! (The dance of death)" — Last Life!Grian&Mumbo playlist

+ songs that are not in the playlist for one or another reason, but they need to be mentioned as they were in the first drafts of a playlist year ago: Madds Buckley - The Red Means I Love You (G); Hamilton - You'll Be Back (G); Tom Lehrer - The Masochism Tango (M); Ferry - anger management – жаль (Both); Hooverphonic - Mad About You (G);

some notes (mostly doing the *points on lyrics* "THEM!" thing):

The part where i do a bit more talking for one or another reason:

Ferry's songs (DEAD HAND, Occam's razor, dopamine_machine, Convergence) are talked about in this post (clickable).

Danse macabre is here because i was describing their dynamic as "some sort of 'danse macabre'" because this tone poem (i looked it up in Wikipedia lmao) was getting recommended to me the whole time and i guess the name of it really got into my head (oooh dance, ooooh of death). The fun part of it, i haven't even listened to it until after 7th session, so i was very pleasantly surprised to hear that it actually fits (here my criteria was "can i daydream about an animatic with this song?" and yes, i could (basically, the pacing and the vibe of the Danse macabre fit the story))

The Front Bottoms - Be Nice To Me & Mumford & Sons - Little Lion Man: so, these two are grouped together. Why? Because when talking about my boys I'm mostly looking at first verses (well basically everything before second verses) of each (as you could see in my little spreadsheet, Be Nice To Me is applied to Mumbo (theres also an animatic (clickable) i found, it basically shows what i mean here) and Little Lion Man is applied to Grian). But hey, what about the second verses? Well, it's just theres another LL duo these two songs fit very well (Ethubs. I'm talking about Ethubs. Be Nice To Me - Bdubs, Little Lion Man - Etho). This makes sense in my head and i needed to explain my vision and it does go deeper than that.

Will Wood and The Tapeworms - -ish: i added it here because of this animatic (clickable). what more do you want from me, i am a simple man.

Unknown Mother Goose - Will Stetson (English cover, og - wowaka): ok, so at first i wanted to just put some lyrics here, but then i realized i just started copying the whole song, so yeah. i will just put this part, because i really like it: "I’ve grown to take it, the pain welling in me, the breaking and hurting//Joy, grief, rage, and pleasure, they all blend together, through every endeavor//If happiness that I cherish is real and is out there somewhere lost on this earth//Will I wander forever and ever in agony in this darkened and cold world//As the blackened, the sheep that will never belong anywhere as I live forever?//--Don’t leave me like that!"

Jhariah - The Great Tale Of How I Ruined It All: "In the lens through which some eyes will see//This tale is one of failure//And though I don’t think I’m your enemy//I’ll never be your savior//And in the lens through which some eyes will see//This tale is one of victory//And though I don’t think I’m a failure//I don’t deserve your sympathy" - this part is totally the only reason this song in this playlist HOWEVER! The whole song is actually very much post 6th-7th session Southlands vibe.

Kenshi Yonezu - Décolleté: funny example of "I'm aware that this song in fact doesn't fit at all (i have read the translation), but the vibes captivated me so much so i just. decided to ignore text at all"

The main part №1:

The Puget Sound - Terrified of You: ok i was trying to get some of the lyrics here (specifically the part from 1:40 to 2:05-ish), but i literally cant understand what some of the words are. Like, i get the meaning of the sentence, yeah, but the words. That's what i get for putting an old ass song with less than 70 views here.

Flira - My Eyes Your Eyes: another one of "bitch i wish there were some lyrics online" because im annoyed that i can't pick up all words. However, i can say, that it was 5:19-5:42 part that made me add this song to the playlist.

Shayfer James - Bayonnettes: "And his eyes speak his past//Colorful, wild and totally ruthless" • "In a fight to the death//Where these broken promises fix bayonnettes" • "And that look in your eye//Is certain to try and divide us//As the sun in it's sky//Is threatening, is threatening violence"

Will Wood - Kill me if you can: "Fix that twitch, it makes me fiddle like a schizophrenic, how am I gonna get through my life like this?//Neurotic and catatonic, idiotic, not enough psychoticism to corroborate the sin" • "Take me towards the light//When it leaves my eyes//Give me a sec to catch my dying breath//Forgive me if I cross the flatline" • "Six-feet deep from six-foot-tall, don't bother, give it some, or lose it all//Please come kill me, kill me if you can"

The Brobecks - Die alone: "Can I die away from you?//What you do, it isn't ordinary too//There's nothing to do, but lie//I guess I'll die, guess I'll die a lonely guy"

Shayfer James - Grind My Bones: "I am a moment slowly dying//Soon I will only cross your mind from time to time" • "Now as the walls around us crumble//Watch all the idiots and hypocrites rebel//You are two dashes and a number//And all of your complaining couldn't save you from yourselves" • "Oh I was lost and nothing found me//You better know that when I go//I'm going fast"

Jhariah - PRESSURE BOMB 3?!?!: "Slow down//Those words mean nothing//My brain just revs up faster//Pressure bomb in a goddamn knife fight" • "Ecstatic pathways runaway, flood my mind//Overstimulation makes me feel like I’m alive" • "It drives me forward every moment//Makes sure I don’t stop too long to//Smell the flowers//I been here too long, I might burn up and explode"

The Crane Wives - Curses: "There's a fire in my brain and I'm burning up//Oh my, oh my//Keep running for the sink but the well is dry//Oh my, oh my" • "Every word I say is kindling//But the smoke clears when you're around//Won't you stay with me, my darling//When my walls start burning down, down, down?" • "Oh ashes, ashes, dust to dust//The devil's after both of us//Oh, lay my curses out to rest//Make a mercy out of me" • "All my aching bones are trembling//And I may yet fall apart//Won't you stay with me, my darling//When the war starts in my heart?"

Des Rocs - Used to the Darkness: "I've made mistakes, the Lord struck me down//Caught in a landslide, lost underground" • "And then my eyes got used to the darkness//And everyone that I knew//Was lost and so long forgotten after you" • "Now would you pray before you twist the knife?//Yeah, would you take my hand and take a life?" • "And now there's no one else left to love//I'm used to the darkness, I'm used to the darkness"

Ricky Montgomery - Snow: "When I go, bury me six feet in snow" • "Here we are wasting our chances for the last time//Oh, and when we go I'll try not to be so slow" • "Say it once, say it twice, try to be nice//Well, let's not lose ourselves" • "Summer's over, love had left her screaming at the screen//Oh, and it's understood that the both of us are no good"

QUEEN - Will Stetson (English cover, og - Kanaria): "Lie, bye Baby//My, my, my life//Give me your hand, we'll dance a tune throughout the night so//Lie, bye Baby//My, my, my life//That's the signal you're fading from the light//My love" • "One, my only self is jumping for love//The dreams are never enough//Too far away to touch" • "Overflowing, Overflowing//It really takes me back into the end we left to die//You never know it, You never know it//It's falling//Cry cry cry" • "Nebulous, abandonment, a weapon//I'm none and no one, never needed I cling//With hazy eyes in the night, loving words to disguise//Stuck crying out for the world that wasn't mine//Those fates all just remain in place, no matter//How hard you fight the future never will change//My vision's starting to fade//Heart's a smoldering flame//They sing in shame for a spark we couldn't make, my love"

Jhariah - Needed a Change of Pace: "I’m so glad I woke up today//A different life in a brand new place//I think I maybe outgrew the last//I needed a change of pace//No more talk of what my burdens say//They’ve been left behind, and that’s where they will stay" • "Oh, how could you love me so?//Oh, with all I’ve done and the things you know?//My dearest, you better never forgive me//'Cause if you forget what I’ve done, I’ll do it again" • "I died that night and killed god in the morning//Left without a warning or even informing the coroner//I was a foreigner//Never belonged in that place, played along in that place//Till I had enough of the games//I couldn’t find the time from the afterlife//To apologize or even say goodbye"

GARANDO/AIRHEAD - djalto (English cover, og - Picon): "So it was just me and you//Such a stupid rendezvous//And now look at us both//Indifferent and disconnect, just barely hangin' on. Just what i thought" • "Sure, I already know what I'm crying for//The same old "goodbye", i've seen it all before//Is it okay if i stoop this low, low, low?" • "Remember those glaring eyes of yours//Just stabbed my soul straight down to the core//While we danced in room number 10884//From dusk till dawn" • "Living life everyday just sucks me dry//Even "sleeping forever" sounds way more fun//Then it's fine for me to stoop this low, low, low"

EYE - Will Stetson (English cover, og - Kanaria): "Pray for me while my mind is flickering, burning//Thirteen, fourteen, rotting and eating spices as we please, see//Watch me sleep with a dagger up my sleeve, hurting//Thirty, forty, stabbing like crazy, smiling as I bleed, see" • "L-L-LIFE, you and me, E-E-EYE, and so we//Play bad and hold on tight and lie and lie and lie and lie//K-K-KNIFE, you and me, E-E-EYE, already//There’s evil deep inside, a lie and lie and lie and lie" • "Without behaving to please//They flow and bleed, all of the words I set free"

Will Wood - and if i did, you deserved it: "and we're alone now//high up and low down" • "you know i'm not the type of guy to turn my back on a knife//it's just my luck these motherfuckers talking smack on a guy//but i'm deserving every word they could begin to apply" • "i really don't care what you think or what you say//i'm a cancer, i'm malignant, yeah, you oughtta stay away//my heart's fucking empty and i trying to fill it up//but it's not big enough for the both of us//no it's not big enough for the both of us" • "if i keep beating myself up//i'll keep on winning the fight//and get my ass kicked//i'm poisonous, not toxic" • ""don't meet you idols"//hey, fuck you, i'm your idol!"

The Crane Wives - Know How: "I am not brave, I am not brave//I blind my eyes to what won't stay//You kissed my mouth, you pushed me out//And now I'm struggling to free myself" • "I gotta wrap my head around//What my heart is telling me//I've been trying to drown it out//Just because I know what I am//I am supposed to do now//Doesn't mean I know//Doesn't mean I know how"

Mother Mother - Burning Pile: "All my style, all my grace//All I tried to save my face//All my guts, try to spill//All my holes, try to fill" • "It goes, all my troubles on a burning pile//All lit up and I start to smile//If I catch fire then I'll change my aim//Throw my troubles at the pearly gates"

The Crane Wives - Never Love an Anchor: "And I tried to do the best that I could//But try as I might I couldn't bring myself to hold you" • "With this heart of mine that's guilty not remorseful//There is love that doesn't have a place to rest//But it would have buried you if it had settled on your shoulders" • "I am selfish, I am broken, I am cruel//I am all the things they might have said to you//Do you ever think of me and my two hands//... //And wondered why they never held you gently//And wondered why they never had the chance to lose you?"

Shayfer James - Godspeed: "There’s many ways to hide a heart that bleeds//But I prefer the ease of rolling up my sleeves" • "I used to be someone that you could believe//But it’s been a while, been a while" • "Let me not make mazes with words//Get yourself, get the hell, get yourself out of here" • "Good luck, godspeed, I know I’ll see you again//I’ll always call you a friend indeed"

Fall Out Boy - Miss Missing You: "Don't panic, no, not yet//I know I'm the one you want to forget//Cue all the love to leave my heart//It's time for me to fall apart" • "Now you're gone, but I'll be okay//Your hot whiskey eyes have fanned the flame//Maybe I'll burn a little brighter tonight//Let the fire breathe me back to life" • "Sometimes before it gets better, the darkness gets bigger//The person that you'd take a bullet for is behind the trigger//Oh, we're fading fast, I miss missing you now and then"

Eva - Kuraiinu (English cover, og - Hiiragi Kirai): "I want you who’s dying to look at me//Greedily, I hope for what’s blasphemy//All alone, purity then devours my heart//Oh, I wish I could be the Lord of the Flies and restart" • "Hey, how mediocre//Hey, peaceful time is over//I’m so fed up, I’m burning up//I think I’ve had just enough//Hey, how mediocre//Hey, peaceful time is over//Abandon all, just make your call, I’ll still leave after all" • "Tell me why, ah…tell me why//Like a waterfall, all the pain flows down torrentially?//When I desire all your love to only be for me//But it the end it’s all a fantasy" • "In a moment, daydreams are all destroyed//From the core of my being, they rot me away//Those who persevere and survive today//Worry all about the future—who they’ll be, who they’ll betray//They try so hard, but they can’t deny the human nature calling out" • "Don’t dare to be irrational!"

Jhariah - BAD LUCK!: "This time around’s no different//I’ve played with chance like you//I loved to toy with fate//But, oh, I didn’t have a clue//That I would lose, oh, I would lose//... //“You’re not like me, I’m not like you, I’m not who these things happen to“//And that’s exactly what you say before they do" • "Still somehow they’re looking down on me//Laughing ’cause I got what I deserved//(You got what you deserved)//And I would do it again//I’m not sorry, but thank you for enduring me//As long as you did//That’s more than I’d ever ask of you"

Des Rocs - Don't Hurt Me: "But now is not the perfect time//To say I was lonely//To say I wanted the trouble" • "I bet the stars and stones//One hurts and one glows//I bet you think love was none of your business//None of your business" + honestly the chorus part ("Baby, don't hurt me, baby//...") vibes with them really well

Will Wood - I Can't Wait To Die: "You shook my soda, should've owned it, my mistake//Took my volcano, shifted my tectonic plates//I'm at rock bottom out of options or so I hope//'Cuz if I'm not then how much lower should I go" • "I can't wait to die//You've got me so god damn excited, I've been waiting my whole life//I can't wait to die//Can't wait to die, 'cuz you remind me of what it's like to be alive" • "You're close to me enough to breathe secondhand smoke//My misery's now your disease and it loves your company and" • "Never letting no people before I look through the peephole//See no evil, speak no evil, speak to me, no I don't hear you"

Jason Webley - Dance While the Sky Crashes Down: "We've all begun to die and don't know what to do//Since it hurts to pray to God when God is dying too//Takes strength to laugh when you start to drown//And we dance while the sky crashes down" • "Like that the earth begins to quiver//And all the oceans turn to black//A ship of maniacs with knives are playing blackjack with their lives//To kill the time until the giant rats attack" • "A band of skeletons is playing//Don't act like you don't know the tune//Your part is echoed in the path of every dead leaf blowing past" • "And every one of us is damned until we start to understand//That living is to gorge ourselves at our own wakes"

MIRA - Will Stetson (English cover, og - Kanaria): "Too old that I can't get a shake//From dreams a crumblin' away, a self centered hate//Worn down but I'm feelin' the weight//While slowly loosing my place//Too starved of love to wait" • "A superficial trust, an agonizing touch//A portrait drained of blood//Keep away from me my love//I'm doubtful of my love" • "Keep away from me my love//A lame lying love//Burn away your trust, never feel much"

Shayfer James (feat. Will Wood) - Ferryman: "Never again can be innocent//And everything ends, well, it just makes sense//If up has a down there's another side//In there's an out so it's worth a try//People want each other but they want themselves more//Even when your lover's something new to live for//Is to die for, therefore to kill for//Black has white so go to the light, my love" - if I'm being honest, the biggest reason i added this song here is because i really liked the vibe. Like, it works in my head, plus the vibe is the first thing i look in the songs i want to add in this playlist.

tallyhall - Misery Fell: "Why, oh, why this//Town without love too much faith in above?//Can you feel the//Force that it brings not to worry 'bout things?//Just the stars in the sky all enjoying their time//With a hope for peace" - another one of "based on vibes tbh" songs.

tart - enigma: "here we go again//the devil's watching from below//so just keep writing//see it in my eyes//i never wanted to survive//so i'll show you who i've learned to be" • "i've seen a perfect crime//... //i've seen an angel watching devil with his greedy eyes" • "Next comes the pain of the way//You’re falling into me[You’re crashing into me]//I know it’s closed reign[‘Cause in the domain]//But the flame[Of my brain]//Is sinking in again[I’m getting lost again]//See thousands of words through my eyes//And when you finally realize//That you’re the one holding the gun[That I'm the one holding the gun / That you're the one holding the gun]//I’ll say my first goodbye[just recite my goodbye / I'll say my last goodbye]" • "Time’s still turning, yet my memory is running low//... //Tell me now, how do you want this to go//I’ll cast my hand, don’t wanna know" - i decided to color it because it was getting confusing.

Will Wood - Cicada Days: "She said "It just feels inhumane to lose this much."//'Cause when you leave you know you take more than your love//Just one week of cicada days, we're losing touch//And I know it just feels inhumane to lose this much" • "Let all my red flags fade to white, yeah, I give up//Don't let me leave, I'll only take more than I gave//Okay, I'll pack my stuff//Here at the end of days, my god, what have I done?"

cavetown - Pigeon: "Fuzzy feelin' and I miss you//Why can nothing stay the same?//Fuckin' stupid head, I’m gonna kill you//Melt all your art and drink the paint//I am not a beast, I’m not a monster//I don't care what you say//You can’t have the bad guys without a hero//And I’m the only one who’s got a cape" • "Didn’t give me time to say goodbye in the way that I wanted to//So honey close your eyes and stay like you’re supposed to do//Don’t know how I’m gonna live without//But I’ll stay strong for you"

The Amazing Devil - Elsa’s Song: "Your voice it carries over//The hubbub and the hum//And it paints the sky and circles high//Like the beating of a drum//You will scream "I won’t forget you"//But I’ll cover my cold ears//It cannot be a lie//If no-one hears" • "'Cause although you say good day to me//I know I don’t belong//And although you hold my hand and say//"I love you," you are wrong//Because love does not exist here//In this garden, there’s no feeling//And you say the words so often//That I barely know the meaning" • "And then you’ll cry to our painted sky//"I loved him then, I love him still""

The Crane Wives - How to Rest: "Go on stack the cinder blocks in a cold sweat//Build yourself a citadel amid the foothills of regret//And though you've convinced yourself, you're safe and sound within//The thing you fear the most never need get in" • "Those of us who vow never to love again, to love again//Are making liars out of honest men//It's not something that you put to bed//Hang your head and just forget//No, love don't know how to rest"

Mother Mother - Arms Tonite: "I fell in your arms tonight//I fell hard in your arms tonight, it was nice//I died in your arms tonight//I slipped through into the afterlife, it was nice//White light in your arms tonight//I lost sight in your arms tonight, it was nice" • "And hey, you, don't you think it's kinda cute//That I (I) died (Died) right inside your arms tonight?//That I'm fine even after I have died?//Because it was in your arms I died"

The Vultures - Risk It All: "Do you know this certain feeling//This feeling inside of you//Well, maybe you´re not clearly seeing//But I have that feeling too//I´m living an empty heart//Got no reason to feel unwell//But still I crave for more" • "You only live once//You better give it all you got//Yeah you live only once//So you better take that shot//Again and again and again and again//´Till your time is up" • "Truth be told//I can´t hold that feeling anymore//I´m living a lifeless heart//I feel so outworn"

The Vultures - Get What You Want: "It's that time of the night again//I'm thinking of us//My head in the clouds and then//You doubt my trust//I can't change the way i am//At least i would try to do//I want to be together, babe//Together with you" • "You and me, we could be free//Why is this so hard to see?" - more of "based on vibes tbh"

The main part №2 (these songs are not on english, so it's a bit if a warning: in this post i will just use some english translations i found)

Dirt Poor Robins - Enchanté: "Alas, the muses through their glasses//Drift away as only madness//Drowning in the din//Of our animal skins" • "From chagrin I've been released//Paint me in a portrait sans//The fig leaves, fig leaves//And I will not be concerned//Or ignore the things I yearn//My hunger is the rule I cannot overturn" • "Alas, the virtues through their glasses//Hid themselves from our madness//All we have within//Is our animal skins" • "Greet your beast and let 'em streak//Into the fray" • "Enchanté, enchanté, enchanté, enchanté//Name the powers "meteors"//And let us go insane//It's okay, it's okay, it's okay//If we can't raise the dead//We're gonna raise, we're gonna raise//We're gonna raise hell instead"

mewithoutYou - Everything Was Beautiful And Nothing Hurt: "Heard you call for me//Saw you die for me//Only you'd burn for me//If only you'd come for me" • "And so you'll be to me//Who must obliquely run//Thy firmness makes my circle just//And makes me end where I begun" • "There's nothing wrong//As I'll be somewhere singing all along//No! Tell me, where have you gone, my love//Where have you gone my love"

Arctic Monkeys - The Jeweller's Hands: "Fiendish wonder in the carnival's wake//Dull caresses once again irritate//Tread softly, stranger//Move over toward the danger that you seek" • "And now it's no one's fault but yours//At the foot of the house of cards//You thought you'd never get obsessed//You thought the wolves would be impressed//And you're a sinking stone//But you know what it's like to hold the jeweler's hands//That procession of pioneers all drowned" • "The inevitables gather to push you around//Any other voice makes such a punishing sound//He became laughter's assassin//Shortly after he showed you what it was"

Eve ft. 38ban - Therefore You and Me: "Paired up, they mean something//My avatar!//It's two-in-one//You and me//Don't ever let go of what's beloved" • "Therefore//You and me, you and me//You and me, lovey-dovey//As a result of loving//As a result of forgetting//... //As a result of acquiring//As a result of losing//... //As a result of living//As a result of dying" • "Because, I and myself, we're all ghosts//Very selfish ghosts." • "You and me, you and me//You and me, lovey-dovey//As a result of trusting//As a result of being betrayed"

しとお - 枉ゲラルルラララ: "I want a talking partner who yells and fidgets around, badly//I'd just get bored with a sympathetic person//As partners, we'd talk while making weapons with our hands" • "If someone goes bad, grudges will start//If living at limits is a fun thing, well then...//"So, this is a fun thing?"//So basically, you don't even know"" • "Claw-like bullets replaced words, you know, right?//Hey, rely on me//Tell me if it hurts, tell me what you can't say//... //Well, it's definitely your "right thing", so...//Come on, let's play, like we're gonna throw up and really start living!//While being strangled..."

WADATAKEAKI - Green, Green: "We are just hopelessly//Small to make a difference//No matter how much we cry out and butter up//Nothing will change anymore" • "Not so much anymore, fall in line, loss of identity//Hold hands to each other, just to be saved, just to be robbed" • "I don't wanna die without having done something//No afraid if we all hit it"

Kenshi Yonezu - Flamingo: "I can't even laugh at this cheap and lowly fight//The crimson hair ornament you wear. Hated love enemy//I wanna touch the velvet tail of your eye//And that slight cold smile of yours" • "You're floating with a smile, never to return//Leaving only sorrow and jealousy behind//Thanks as always, darlin', can you love me better next time?" • "Oh King of Hell, i appeal to you//Please judge her charms for me//The story of drunk paper-mache doll//Playing this silly game till the day i die"

Lacrimosa - Alleine zu zweit: "At the end of truth//At the end of light//At the end of love//At the end - there are you//(The heart empties - there goes a part of me )//Nothing has survived" • "Lonely - together//We have forgotten to find us a new//Habit gaggs//Dullness suffocates//Arrogance makes you drunk//and closeness drives to flight"

Mozart l'Opéra Rock - L'Assasymphonie: "Tonight, intolerable insomnia//Madness awaits me//I am what i flee from//I endure this cacophony//Which saws my head//Trite harmony" • "The enemy lurking in my mind//Celebrates my defeats//Without respite, he defies me//I renounce the fatal heresy//That eats me away//I wish to be reborn//Reborn" • "The violins of my life weep//The violence of my desires//Deranged symphony" • "I drown my boredom in the music//I kill my fears in the disharmony//I devote my nights to violent symphonies//To requiems//Killing out of spite what i sow//I devote my nights to violent symphonies//And to blasphemies//I admit that i curse all whom love one other"

Hiiragi Kirai - Galleria: "We have nothing left now//That's why we can't be healthy and well//When i realized that//It was too late//Too late//Theres nothing i could do//That's why there's no turning back" • "Please, give me//The life of my dreams//Even though i have nothing left//And couldn't do anything//Are you still going to corrupt my tower of fantasy?//The room with you in there//Was supposed to connect out future//Like a galleria//It should have been like that//Yet here we are" • "I'm sorry//So sorry//I have finally realised//That it's impossible to fulfill my dreams" • "Now i have lost it all//Like nothing left in our galleria//Shouldn't end like this"

Ophelia's English cover of Galleria: "We've not a thing//So it seems, so it seems//That's just exactly why we can't be healthy and free//Deep within my grief//Late to see, late to see//There's nothing I can do//I can't turn back there and leave" • "Begging you, begging you//Vesting in me//Give me a life of all my dreams//If i can't do a thing with nothing, it would seem//Would you still kill my towered fantasy//You're in that room and you stayed there, my love//Joining out futures in galleria//That should have been, that should have been//How we would live" • "Sorry dear, I realised, i realised//The dreams of my own mind//Would've been impossible to bring to light" • "I have lost everything//Even my love//Empty as ever, a galleria//This shouldn't be us"

Segodnyanochyu - Герда, икай: "Listen to the new CD//Don't build illusions and schemes//We all will end badly//Who cares with whom" • "But what are you gonna do if I stay here//If I go off again, go off the slippery rails again//But what are you gonna do if I stay here//Do you want us both to go off the slippery rails?" - i had to translate those bits from russian myself if you even care.

TOOBOE - oxygen: "“Shall we try defiling each other?”//To say everything about thinking like that is beautiful//doesn’t hit the mark, not even close" • "With my bloodshot eyes, everything around me has gone pitch dark//We put it on the table and enjoyed it as if it were delicious" • "I’m sorry, ah, dear sun, please, if I can see it, show your face one more time//How absurd, to think I could just wash it off//Ah, all my life, I’ve been mediocre. You’ll be outnumbered to confront them//if you think it’s going to be easy down the road" • "My heart grew hotter, making my head spin in an instant//If you want to hear the melody that you’re imagining, let out your voice" • "Ah, the treat that we’ve finally got hold of,//as if it was a dream, disappeared with the fog//We took a long hard look at it as we held our breaths"

natori - 猿芝居: "Weatherbeaten and suspicious of you//Only bittersweet irony here//Not even making the slightest movement//At any rate, I've got no time to lose//Intertwining together briefly, hand to hand to hand" // "Ah, let us play, let me play, towards the sound of the applause//Atrocious, boisterous, fastidious//Without any place to go, that's merely rubbing salt into the wound//Look, this night is making a fuss" • "A restless breeze blowing through the greenery//Locking eyes with the quiet beauty, eye to eye to eye//Is that person my rival in love?" • "The two of us, unable to mix//If you leave yourself in the care of this disordered world//I'll say goodbye for now, let us meet again in a city we don't know" • "Ah, what a shameful sight, saying goodbye forever//Becoming more sinful as we seek for one another//Drink it all, until the end, until it's finished//At any rate, I'll be alone in this world"

MARETU - ナミダ: "Getting hurt, you curse the colorful blue sky//With your sadness, you hope for a stormy weather to come" • "A rusted steel, a slashed and tattered armor//For how long will you be wearing it?//The one and only, crystal-clear sincerity you held//Unable to protect it, you let go of your hand and gave it away" • "What must be finished is this resentment//Flowing out with blood, the tears, the tears//Dyeing you in a dark, in a dark color//Unsheathe and draw out, the blade, the blade//The one thing that hasn't stop yet//is your heart." • "I don't know them//All they do is laugh and laugh//All the things I treasured, they were taken away" • "Over and over//as time passes//you are still//unable to be recovered//Now//let's end it//Why//the pain//the blood//the hesitation" • "Get out of my way, these tears! these tears!//You will be burned into crimson red, crimson red, flames.//Cut and slash them down, with the blade, with the blade.//Let the thoughts of yours, awaken from now on." - i found several english translations to this song with slightly different wordings, so of course ive just chosen the one that fits the most (from this video (clickable))

Superfly - Kakusei: "The black sky is appearing//The repeating thunder pulses//Before the storm begins//I will cast that spell on you" • "I will resuscitate//Your lovely heart//Throw off that body//Now it’s time for you to return to me" • "No mater how many times the thunder hits//I will go beyond the darkness while singing"

Mozart l'Opéra Rock - Le bien qui fait mal: "Now where does this strange feeling//Come from//That fascinates me//Just as much as it disturbes me//I shiver, stabbed by the beauty//It's like a knife in my soul//The wound going right through my heart//And I feel joy in the pain//I intoxicate myself with this poison//Until it makes me loose my mind" • "I can feel//A violent urge//I feel like//I'm sliding towards the ground//If I don't find out//Where this plague is coming from//I adore//Having it under my skin//Bewitched by mad ideas//Suddenly//All my cravings take off//The desire becomes my prison//Until I loose my mind"

[team-heavenly]

Chapter 17 - Part 3

As a reminder, this is where we left off last time:

(Oh and here’s Part 1 hehe)

If you’re like me and went “What the heck is a yurt?”, well:

(Don’t make the same mistake I did and search with images. All I could find was a bunch of gentrified yurts that the rich apparently rent out for vacations?? Different worlds, man. Anyway, if you want to see more traditional yurts, click on the Wikipedia link above.)

(...Wait... Affluent Yurt... Gentrified yurts... Affluent... *groans*)

(*I think we can discover more. Sorry.)

Totodile tells us to spend the rest of the day getting ready, but Team Heavenly lingers behind to eavesdrop on some juicy tidbits...

“G-Guildmaster! Forgive me if I’m out of line, but... please, let me go to Affluent Yurt!”

Good for him, honestly.

Oooooooo, Totodile playing hooky?! 👀

I am curious to see who replaces Lapras, though! Will it be someone we can reasonably ride? Or are things about to get absurdly hilarious? Guess we’ll find out relatively soon!

Tropius pre-emptively scolds us to not hold him back or let him down *nervously looks in the direction of the Perfect Apple stash* and then we head out to prep our bag. But just moments before that, beyond the bottom of the staircase...

The return of Team Water Meanies! Otherwise known as “Getta load of this guy!”

They probably think “Precious Butte” translates to “Precious Booty” or something 🙄

...Hope he’s gonna be okay 😬

Also I nearly screamed when I saw the merchandise at the Finkecleon shop because:

DO YOU KNOW HOW IMPOSSIBLE IT IS TO FIND ORAN BERRIES IN THIS RUN?? HECK, I could not pick this up fast enough.

We should go over to where? (Yes, I know I overuse this joke.)

At this point though, I’m dropping my 3DS with a groan because dear god there’s been so much dialogue, enough with the events already!! End my suffering. (I cut a LOT more than you might think.)

So fiiiine, grumble grumble, I got a job to do, so we mosey on over...

No, but *Microsoft Outlook notification sound* You’ve got mail!

The text gets pretty wonky throughout the rest of the letter for some reason.

*realization hits*

I would Also prefer for us not to be dead, so I guess you have a point :/

OK so funny story, it’s been long enough since my last playthrough that I kind of forgot the pacing of the story. So we’re at the intersection near the well, right? And we go down to that little transition area before the beach. After passing through there...

Suddenly, Chapter 18 title card! (What a weird place for it, right?)

I was SO SHOCKED that instead of hurriedly trying to capture it, I just stared at it blankly until it was long gone sdkjhfjgfjgs

The worst part? The last time I saved... was the guild’s bedroom. Meaning I had to go through everything from Riolu visiting the guild onward all over again. Fun times.

Well, if you’ve made it this far, thanks for reading 😊 I know it’s been a bit since the last update, and I appreciate your patience. Also, I don’t want to speak too soon but... *glances around, then lowers voice to a whisper* I miiight be able to finish the main story before the image limit rolls out?? I certainly expected it the change to happen by now, anyway. *Knocks on wood, makes the sign of the cross.*

Anyway, look forward to Chapter 18: (Insert nonsensical title here), which will surely be just as dialogue heavy as the last! *eye twitch*

[dannypuro]

How do the amis react when R and Enj finally get their shit together and admit they love each other please please please tell me they like throw my dysfunctional sons a party

( Something Telling verse, takes place between chapters 8 and 9. thank u for the prompt xoxo... to everyone else... send me prompts/questions/thoughts. thank u.)

Combeferre hasn’t heard from Enjolras in a week, but it’s not like he’s worried, or anything. That would be ridiculous. They’ve totally gone a week without talking, before. Granted, that was a while ago--back before he got Enjolras a phone; back when Enjolras was still so cautious, so stiffly polite around him; back when Enjolras had only been in the 21st century for a couple of weeks and still had lingering bruises, places rubbed raw by centuries-old street. But still. He’s not worried. Only-

Only, of course, the last time he had seen Enjolras, he’d spent the day lying face-down on Combeferre’s couch, bemoaning his love life and totally not pouting. So. Like. Maybe he’s a little concerned. And he’d been trying to be cool about it, trying to, like, respect his agency, or whatever, but. 

But it’s been a week, and Jehan hasn’t heard from him, either, and to make a long story short-- (Sometimes, Combeferre gets it into his head that Enjolras might just flicker out of their lives, just like he blinked into them--without warning, without spectacle; sometimes, Combeferre has nightmares pulled together out of the scraps of those of Enjolras himself--dreams of him not falling away quite fast enough from a bristle of muskets and bayonets, dreams of him being back there, there, in the instant of silence, and reaching backwards to find himself at a wall, not a window, dreams of him waking up, sudden and to the crack of grapeshot, and- ; sometimes, Combeferre worries, because- because Enjolras is his best friend, and he doesn’t really know what he would do if something else happened, if anything else besides the fucking horror he’s already known were to happen, so-) he finds himself taking the elevator up to Grantaire’s apartment. Because it’s been a week. Because he’s a little freaked out. Because he’s his best friend. Because he pouted at his place for hours, so now it’s Combeferre’s business how it all went, if he’s okay, if he needs to snap some sense into Grantaire for him.

He knocks. 

It is… suspiciously quiet. (God, he hopes they aren’t in there ignoring their problems and, subsequently, each other. If he finds out Enjolras hasn’t talked to him in a week because he was busy pouting in his own bedroom, he’s going to be kind of pissed, if only on account of him not having the decency to pout over at Combeferre’s place so that they could finish watching that documentary on Napoleon III together.) He knocks again. 

Nothing.

Maybe they’re just out. Maybe- (Maybe Enjolras is gone, maybe the next time Combeferre pulls up his Wikipedia he’ll see some kind of horrible line like died: 1832, maybe-) they’re grocery shopping, or something, but the light is on, through the crack at the bottom of the door, and Combeferre’s heart is beating a little too fast for his taste, and it doesn’t take much more waiting for him to reach up and feel around for the spare key at the top of the doorframe. 

He opens the door slowly, quietly. “Enj?” he calls. The apartment is quiet, save for a strange noise that he can’t quite- can’t quite place. Hm. “Enj?” He rounds the corner to the sitting room, when nobody answers, when nobody moves. (He’s- He’s maybe a little bit worried.)

There’s a strange snorting noise. He turns, takes it slow to move a little further into the room, looks down, and-

Ah.

Enjolras and Grantaire lie, passed out cold, on the couch, their legs tangled together, outside arms dangling floor-bound. Enjolras is drooling into Grantaire’s chest. Grantaire is snoring like a fucking buzz-saw. Grantaire’s got an arm wrapped around Enjolras, holding him close, even in sleep.

Christ.

Huh.

Well. That’s one question answered.

Combeferre crouches down beside them. “Enjolras,” he whispers. “Hey, Enj.”

Nothing.

He prods him in the cheek. “Jolras. Hey.” He pokes him again.

Enjolras wakes with a snort. “Ghuh,” he mumbles, looking around blearily. “Hmng, gah, Combeferre, what-”

Combeferre refuses to be swayed by the sweetness of it all. “Have you seriously been ignoring me because you got a boyfriend?”

His brow furrows. His cheek is still all creased up from Grantaire’s t-shirt. “Ignoring you?”

He can’t help but to bite back a laugh. “Uh. Yeah? You haven’t texted me back in like a week?” he says, but his heart’s not really in it. It’s a lot harder to freak out about the whole Enjolras-might-be-gone situation when Enjolras is, in fact, indisputably not gone.

Enjolras runs the words over in his head--and Combeferre knows this, because what he really does is mouth through the whole sentence and stare off into space, for a few seconds, like he always does when he’s trying to parse something, and- “Texted you back in?” he asks. He also sits up, a little more, awkwardly poised around Grantaire’s limbs. 

“On your phone. You haven’t texted me.” He tugs Enjolras to his feet, when he holds an arm out for it, looks him over. He looks… Good. Well-rested. 

“My-” The bleary look makes way for something a little more sure. “Oh, heavens, I’ve completely forgotten about it. I haven’t the slightest idea where it’s gone.” He bites his lip. “Ah. Apologies?”

Combeferre rolls his eyes. “So I guess things worked out?”

On the couch, Grantaire snorts a snore and turns over. When Combeferre looks back over to Enjolras, he’s looking at Grantaire with such soft eyes that all the stress of the past week was almost, almost worth it. 

Enjolras nods. He doesn’t quite succeed in holding back the hints of a smile.

God, Combeferre loves him. “Oh, come on, then,” he says, and he lets Enjolras tug him out to the balcony and close the shutters behind them. “So?”

Enjolras shoves his hands in the pocket of his hoodie, leans back on the railing. He’s quiet, for a while. “He… loves me,” he says, finally, and he can’t help but smile, then, crooked and sheepish and hopeful, too. 

Oh, man. Combeferre can’t help but smile, too, can’t help but nudge his shoulder gently. “‘Course he does, man,” he says.

He smiles a little broader, jostles Combeferre back. “Oh?” he prompts. And-

Yeah, okay, Combeferre can’t take it--he feels like his heart is going to fucking pop, with how much he fucking loves his best friend, right now. “Just-” He pulls Enjolras into a hug, broad and tight and warm against the hints of autumn chill in the air. Enjolras squeezes him back, buries his face in Combeferre’s shoulder and lets Combeferre pick him up for a few seconds, all embarrassing-like. “‘Course he fucking loves you, Enj,” he mumbles into Enjolras’s hair, once his feet are back on the concrete of the balcony. “God, I’m so happy for you.”

Enjolras laughs, bright and easy. “Why, thank you, sir,” he says, and the effect is only a little bit ruined by the fact that they haven’t quite managed to let each other go, yet. Combeferre’s fucking missed him, honest, he-

Oh, speaking of, “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me you got together for a week!” Combeferre lets him go, to tell him, if only to impress the severity of the situation onto him. (He’s still beaming, so, like… it doesn’t work very well.) 

“I was otherwise occupied!” He’s laughing. This is serious. (If only Combeferre could believe that, himself.)

“A week, Enj! You didn’t tell me for a week!” He grasps after Enjolras, makes to ruffle his hair where it’s already sleep-mussed, but he dodges, steps out of the way, damn his good reflexes, damn all that secret revolutionary training. 

“I was occupied!” Enjolras dodges again, and Combeferre is laughing too, now, and Enjolras makes to escape back into the apartment, and-

There is a loud thud. 

They both stop. Combeferre draws in a deep breath, wills himself not to start laughing, again. Enjolras hazards a look inside.

“Grantaire has fallen from the sofa,” he announces, all serious, and then they’re both laughing, gasping for breath as Grantaire grumbles his way to consciousness in the other room. 

“God,” Combeferre says, when he can breathe, again. “God, Enj, that one? You’re sure?”

Enjolras shrugs. “Yes, well, it seems-” he chances another glance inside. He flushes pink. “It seems that I love him as well. So.”

And, oh, man, Combeferre just needs to haul him in to another hug, there, and so he does.

[vivelareine]

Down the ‘Hameau de la reine’ Wikipedia rabbit hole...

aka: “How I procrastinated on doing other things by hyperfixating on a paragraph on Wikipedia for 2 weeks.”

So, if you’ve ever wandered over to the Wikipedia page for the Hameau de la Reine, you’ve probably noticed that it contains the familiar “she dressed as a shepherdess and masqueraded herself as a peasant” myth.

This particular paragraph on the Wikipedia page stands out because it has been used repeatedly on various social sites (twitter, reddit, etc) and in some cases garners hundreds or even thousands of comments about the behavior the article is attributing to her:

“While still in power, Marie Antoinette enjoyed acting as a tableau vivant, as if she were part of a painting. She brought her idyllic, picturesque village to life by stocking the barn with animals, and bringing in "simple" people, such as milkmaids and herdsmen, to act like residents of the Hamlet. Marie Antoinette would stroll around her perfect world in simple peasants' garb with her children, part of an idealized Nature. Her closest friends joined her in her ornamental village, where they also enjoyed pretending to live a simple life. Their isolation at the Hameau caused suspicion among the French people. Already resentful of Marie Antoinette for her profligate spending in times of economic depression, the secrecy surrounding her life of amusement led to suspected hedonism and scandal.(1)”

The last sentence is the only one footnoted in this entire paragraph, and I was curious as to what exactly was being said in the book used as evidence for this particular section. The book in question, according to the Wikipedia notes, is: Pérouse de Montclos, Jean-Marie. Versailles. Trans. John Goodman. Paris: Abbeville, 1991 

I couldn’t find a digital version (not surprising for a coffee table book published in 1991!) so I found a used copy for $4 on ebay, snapped it up, and received my copy in the mail this morning.

The book only contains 2 short paragraphs about Marie Antoinette, plus a quote from a 19th century book.

Is the information footnoted present in the book? Yes! And no. And the book should definitely not be used as a footnote for this information.

Placing the rest of this under a Keep Reading for people on the dashboard! This got really long and is just me rambling about my findings, tbh.

Click “Keep Reading” to... Keep Reading!

First: Nowhere in the book do they mention anything resembling “already resentful of Marie Antoinette for her profligate spending in times of economic depression, the secrecy surrounding her life of amusement led to suspected hedonism and scandal.” The information is true--the hameau’s secrecy and Marie Antoinette’s visible spending did lead to widespread rumors. It’s just not mentioned in this book.

But now for the meatier element...

Some (but not all) of the information about ‘life at the hameau’ does actually come from this book.... but using the book as a basis for a description of life at the hameau (and footnoting this book for it) is misleading at best.

The text from the author of ‘Versailles’ actually argues against the traditional view of the hameau as a faux village. The text written by the author says that “this complex has acquired the dubious reputation of being a kind of operetta version of a small village .... the buildings intended for the queen’s use must be judged as precious and artificial, for behind their rustic exteriors were rooms worthy of the small Trianon. But the service buildings and working farm were more accurately conceived than has generally been realized.”

and

“[The hameau] is widely believed to have been  a kind of operetta version of a small village, but this reputation is unwarranted...”

The “lifestyle” information from Wikipedia is not taken from the book itself, meaning the author’s text. It’s actually derived from a quote blurb included above a photograph. The quote was translated from ‘Souvenirs d'un médecin de Paris,’ 1847 by François Louis Poumies De La Siboutie.

Reproduced here:

Siboutie, born in 1793, was a well-respected physician who--after breaking his knee, causing him to reflect on his breakneck pace of working--decided to travel extensively, keep a journal with notes, and then write memoirs based on his experiences.

His book contains countless anecdotes about history, his travels, and experiences etc. He is one of the many people during this time period to publish memoirs relating extensively to the Revolution. He relates many anecdotes about seeking out various people who played roles, large and small, in the final years of the ancien regime and subsequent revolution. He claims to talk to men who tried to save Robespierre, a woman who witnessed Marie Antoinette’s execution, and even claimed to visit Zamor and witness the man burst into tears when he was reminded of testifying against Madame du Barry.

Whether these anecdotes are true or not is... well, inconclusive. Siboutie was known to be a seeker of people with notoriety and fame, and he donated an extensive collection of autographs to the Archives nationales before his death, sparking the response that he must have known ‘many little secrets.’ It’s not impossible to believe that someone who specifically admitted to wanting to be around famous figures might seek them out and get enough information for his anecdotes.

However, in regards to the hameau description: Siboutie was not a historian and was merely relating anecdotes he’d heard about the hameau. He was not an eyewitness to life at the hameau and he wasn’t even quoting a conversation someone had with him about the hameau, as he does for other anecdotes. He merely relates what seems to be the popular image of the hameau at the time. By 1847, then, we can see the “faux peasant” style myth is already in full swing.

(Note: He also wrote that in 1847, the hameau was in a state of ‘complete degradation’ and that ‘in a few years, all these houses will have disappeared, and only the memory will remain.’ Thank goodness for the restoration work that was done within the next decade or so.)

I also noticed that the text from the ‘Versailles’ author actually directly contradicts Siboutie’s included quote--not just in the assertion that the traditional view of the hameau needs to be reevaluated, but dismissing the notion of the 19th century names of the buildings which Siboutie uses:

“In assessing the accuracy of this view, we should begin by jettisoning the names assigned to these structures in the ninteenth century (lord’s house, mayor’s house, vicarage, etc)...”

Using a quote from Siboutie (someone relating anecdotes in 1846 and not even claiming to have heard this information from a contemporary) as evidence for anything about the real activities of the hameau is insufficient for basic scholarship.

The fact that the footnote used to source the information in the Wikipedia paragraph leads to a book which 1) does not contain author-derived text confirming the information and 2) directly contradicts the quote blurb used as the basis for the Wikipedia paragraph is a frustrating example of why it’s important not to base what you know on Wikipedia articles--even if they’re sourced. If something seems off, research the sources. You’d be surprised at what you might find. (Or at what you might buy, on impulse, on ebay just to find out what was going on with a Wikipedia footnote.)

Fittingly enough, one of the links provided for more information at the bottom of the Wikipedia page leads to the official Chateau de Versailles description of the hameau:

“Contrary to the deeply-entrenched public image of Marie-Antoinette, the queen and her entourage did not “play at being farmers” amidst these bucolic surroundings, complete with sheep trussed up in ribbons. The queen actually used the hamlet as a place for relaxing walks, or to host small gatherings. The fact that the hamlet was also a functioning farm, a point upon which the queen insisted, meant that it served an educational role for the royal children.”

[tiblog158]

Where To Find Your Ip Address

Enter an IP address (or hostname) to lookup and locate.

What's My Wifi Ip Address

Where To Find Your Ip Address Iphone

How To Find My Ip Address

My Computer Ip Address Windows 10

Your Chromebook's IP address and MAC will appear in a small pop-up window. The Mac address is listed as Wi-Fi. Double-check on the Your Wi-Fi name and it will pop up on the Settings page. Click on Network, you will also see the IP Address, Subnet Mask, and Default Gateway.

Dec 10, 2020 Your Chromebook's IP address and MAC will appear in a small pop-up window. The Mac address is listed as Wi-Fi. Double-check on the Your Wi-Fi name and it will pop up on the Settings page. Click on Network, you will also see the IP Address, Subnet Mask, and Default Gateway.

Step 1, Open a web browser. The IP address you'll find with this method is the one assigned to you by your internet service provider (ISP).1 X Research source Tip: If you're using your computer behind a router or wireless access point, your local IP address will be different than your public IP address. See one of the other methods to find out your local IP address.Step 2, Navigate to 3, Type what is my ip and press ↵ Enter. Your IP address will now appear at.

Oct 21, 2020 How to find your internal IP address Windows. Open up the Command Prompt via your Windows Start menu. Type in “ ipconfig ” and hit Enter. First, click on the Apple icon in the top-left corner of your desktop and open System Preferences.

IP Address Location Lookup

Find IP Address is designed to provide you information about a given IP Address. The details include location, region, ASN, Maps position, ISP and many more. By default, Find IP address will lookup your IP Address. In the box above you can fill in any given IP Address.

Last found IP address

200.8.212.226 111.119.187.20 109.104.93.153 194.156.228.111 150.109.190.31 139.45.193.10 61.19.1.145 72.14.185.43 150.109.190.33 121.241.45.21 172.221.114.33 177.39.74.141

Mar 16, 2021 Share FAQ, Technology

You can find your IP address in your computer’s settings. An IP address is four numbers (usually) that make an important part of how your devices connect to the internet, as well as how you are seen and tracked online. It usually works behind the scenes making sure that the data you request makes it back to your computer, but sometimes you need it when troubleshooting your home network or internet connection. There are several ways you can find your IP address, so we’ll go through some of the basic ones.

How to find your IP address in a browser

No matter what device you’re using, one simple way of finding your IP address is simply asking Google. The steps are pretty easy:

Open a browser like Chrome or Safari.

Navigate to Google.

Search for “What is my IP address?”

Google will display your IP address at the top of the search results.

What's My Wifi Ip Address

This method requires the extra step of running a browser (which you’re doing anyway if you’re reading this), but it’s still pretty simple on any platform. There are also other sites that will tell you your IP address, along with other information, such as guessing your rough location based on your IP address.

How to find your IP address on a PC

The fastest way to find your IP address on a PC is to use the IPCONFIG command. To do this, follow these steps:

Open the Command Prompt. This can be done by finding it in your Start Menu, by right-clicking on the Windows icon at the bottom of the screen, or by just searching for “Command Prompt.”

Type the command “IPCONFIG” into the Command Prompt and press Enter. This will list all the Windows IP configuration information.

Your IP address is the IPv4 Address. which should be four numbers separated by periods.

Where To Find Your Ip Address Iphone

Click the Apple icon, and choose System Preferences.

Select Network.

Find and select your network, and then click Advanced at the bottom of the window.

Under the TCP/IP tab, the IP address should be listed next to IPv4 Address.

Navigate to Settings.

Select Network & internet.

Go to Wi-Fi and click on the Wi-Fi network you’re using.

Hit Advanced.

Your IP address is listed under IP address.

Open Settings and select Wi-Fi.

Find and select your Wi-Fi network.

Your IP address is listed under IP Address.

Having issues with your internet connection? See what other options are available in your area.

What is an IP address?

An IP address is a number that identifies your device on the internet. IP stands for internet protocol, or the rules and standards that devices use to communicate with each other over the internet. This protocol is responsible for making sure that all of your online requests go where you want them to go and come back.

Any time you interact with a website, your device has to send a message to a web server, telling it what you want to do. If you click on a link, your device sends a message to the server asking for the new page. Your IP address tells the server where it needs to send the new page.

Every packet of information that travels across the internet has both the IP address of its source and its destination, along with other information about the packet. These addresses ensure that your information is routed in the right direction as it winds its way through the pathways of the internet.

How do I get an IP address?

Every device that connects to the internet is assigned an IP address. This is usually done by your internet service provider (ISP), though it can’t just make up a new number for you. There are large international organizations that divide up available numbers by region. These regional organizations then give them out to ISPs that operate in those regions so that they can assign them to devices—like yours—on their network.

Is my computer’s IP address permanent?

Your IP address isn’t permanent and can change periodically. This can happen for many reasons, such as turning your modem off or having certain kinds of service disruption. Although older dial-up connections assigned a new IP address every time you connected, most modern internet connections will keep the same address most of the time.

Your IP address will also change if you connect to a different network. For example, if you take your laptop to a coffee shop and connect to its Wi-Fi, the coffee shop’s ISP will assign you a new IP address so that it knows where to send the information you’re requesting from the internet.

Can I be tracked by my IP address?

Yes, you can be tracked by your IP address. In fact, that’s the whole point. Your ISP tracks your IP address in order to make sure the information you want—which could be text, images, video, or more—gets to your device. That also means that lots of other people on the internet could see where you’re going on the internet. For example, advertisers might use your location to sell you products or media companies might restrict access to content in certain countries.

Since IP addresses change fairly often, it’s pretty hard to trace them back to a specific person or home address (unless someone subpoenas that information from your ISP). It does, however, give a fairly good idea of where information is going. For example, one developer was able to create a program that tweeted every time someone from the US congress edited a Wikipedia article.1

How To Find My Ip Address

Your IP address can be used to track your online activity, even if you’re browsing in private or incognito mode. If you don’t want your location to be public, you can use a VPN service to hide your IP address. For more information, check out our review of the best VPN services.

Ben Gilbert, Engaget, “The United States Congress edits Wikipedia constantly” July 11, 2014, Accessed February 25, 2021.

Author - Peter Christiansen

Peter Christiansen writes about satellite internet, rural connectivity, livestreaming, and parental controls for HighSpeedInternet.com. Peter holds a PhD in communication from the University of Utah and has been working in tech for over 15 years as a computer programmer, game developer, filmmaker, and writer. His writing has been praised by outlets like Wired, Digital Humanities Now, and the New Statesman.

My Computer Ip Address Windows 10

How to Pause Your Internet Service Apr 30, 2021

How to Find Wi-Fi Hotspots Apr 27, 2021

15 Things You Didn’t Know About Your Internet Apr 27, 2021

How to Know If Someone Is Stealing Your Wi-Fi Apr 14, 2021

Why Can I Only Get a Few Internet Providers? Apr 14, 2021

[semper-legens]

108. Phantom Manor: Decrypted

Owned?: Yes Page count: 99 My summary: An overview of the creation of the Disneyland Paris ride Phantom Manor, focusing in particular on the 2018 renovations. My rating: 2.5/5 My commentary:

Oh hey, a book about Disney theme parks, how unexpected. Yes, it’s time again for me to remind you that I’m a Giant Nerd, with a pretty but ultimately kind of meh book about DLP’s Phantom Manor! I love Phantom Manor a lot, so when I chanced upon this in the Disney store, I knew I had to have it. Like many of the Disney-produced books about the parks, it’s not really anything to write home about. It’s got concept art and images for days though. It’s pretty, but the actual text content is pretty sparse - you could probably get a more comprehensive guide to the Manor from its Wikipedia entry. The fact that it is in both French and English just leaves less space for actual content, as everything has to be stated twice. Though I have to admit, I laughed at the section with the punny names for the ghost bride Melanie’s dead suitors, where the French section is longer because they have to explain the puns. Sawyer Bottom ressemble phonétiquement á l’expression enfantine <<j’ai vu ton derriére>>, saw your bottom! indeed.

Not a lot to say here, honestly, it’s a nice thing to have for me, but otherwise just filler.

[ladyhistorypod]

Episode 9: Monkey See, Monkey Do

Sources:

Helen Martini

Museum of the City of New York

IMDB

British Pathé (YouTube)

New York Heritage Digital Collections

Further Reading: My Zoo Family,  Cubs in the Tub, Mother to Tigers

Dian Fossey

Biography

BBC Earth

National Geographic: The Renegade Scientist Who Taught Us To Love Gorillas

Zoologist Dian Fossey: A Storied Life With Gorillas

Lady Science

DW: Made For Minds

Alana’s Surprise Lady

The Age

SF Gate

Kokoflix (YouTube)

PBS

Gorilla Foundation

New York Times

NPR

Washington Post

ABC News

National Geographic

National Geographic (YouTube)

60 Minutes Australia (YouTube)

Attributions:

birdsong, water splash, Zoos & Young Animals, Under Water

Click below for a full text transcript of this episode!

Haley: A brief warning about the following episode of Lady History: this episode contains sensitive topics such as murder, violence, and racism.

Archival Audio: Gorilla at Large! The most murderous, destructive beast man has ever seen! Gorilla at Large! In 3D and color by Technicolor!

Lexi: Alana, do you want to share your good news?

Alana: I do, I have very good news. So, in– I think it was episode five– we very subtly mentioned that GW had to let me into school so that Lexi and I could live together and um… Actually the same day that episode seven came out, we found out that GW let me into grad school.

Lexi: Woohoo!!

Haley: I feel like that's a universe telling you like “here is why” if it aired on the same day.

Alana: Yeah, definitely. I really think like. My dad was like “did you put– did you talk about your podcast on your application” and I was like yeah. I listened to– the suffragist episode? I listened like four times the day it came out. I was like this is so good. We're so good at this.

(Lexi laughing)

[INTRO MUSIC]

Alana: Hello and welcome to Lady History; the good, the bad, and the ugly ladies you missed in history class. I’ve run out of ways to say that we're on Zoom but Lexi what's the difference between monkeys and apes?

Lexi: Like. You want me to scientifically give you the difference?

Alana: Sure.

Lexi: Monkeys have tails.

Alana: Monkeys do have tails.

Lexi: There's a lot more but like monkeys do have tails. And that's the easy way to tell. So please, when you take your child to the zoo do not call the chimps or gorillas or orangutans or bonobos monkeys. As someone who previously worked in a zoo, and witnessed mothers and nannies telling their children “look at the monkey sweetie” to an intelligent ape, I… Nope. Mm. Okay.

Alana: That's why I picked that question for you. Also, Haley. Haley, what’s your favorite zoo?

Haley: I am a zoo connoisseur. I love zoos. Love me some animals but I'm going to have to go with my hometown, my first zoo ever was the Bronx Zoo. I have many memories, some scary, some pleasant, some very confusing but generally just like would ten out of ten live there.

Alana: And I'm Alana and my personality is fifty percent I love aquariums.

Haley: No.

Alana: Why are you shaking your head at me Haley?

Lexi: I also love aquariums.

Haley: Fish freak me out.

Lexi: Aquariums freak you out?

Haley: Fish and birds like, scare me on a personal level.

Lexi: Those are my favorite animals! I had a fish tank in my nursery as a baby. I think that's where my parents went wrong because I got a degree in museum studies and I just want to work with living collections that would be fantastic, so hit me up, any zoo in America. Actually, any zoo in the world. I am mobile. I am single. I do have a parrot so if your country does not allow parrots to come in from foreign countries please consider me off your list. But if I can bring a parrot into your country and you want me to work in a zoo or aquarium hit me up.

Haley: Cal Academy is right for you, that's where I– very close to where I currently live and they have like their live collection. I thought their penguins were fake. Like I did not realize because the way– Okay, the way the Cal Academy is set up is that when you walk in you’re greeted with this like giant forest– like what is called, atrium? Aviary is for the birds, right? So this is just like a whole encapsule of foliage and you can see some like butterflies go around and you can see the beginning of the aquarium, and the whole bottom floor is the aquarium and it's really really cool. You also have like an albino or white alligator. I forget what the guy's name is called, but it's like a white alligator that they have to– if he ever gets hurt and like he starts bleeding, since he’s white it's very noticeable they have to like hide him to not scare the children it’s a whole thing. Oh, the penguins. The penguins are in like their African, early human wing which are all taxidermy animals or like faux bones those like display of human origins like the Smithsonian and then one wall it's just penguins and then they started moving I truly just jumped out of my skin. This was like at a…  the first time I went was at like an adult night, 21 and older, you get a drink, you walk around the like, museum.

Alana: That’s sexy. I want to go to that.

Haley: I had like a beer in me and then the penguins started moving. People have like very mixed feelings on the Cal Academy but it's mostly people who like hate zoos, and like don’t understand that like some zoos are actually decent. Like it’s– we're not talking about GW Tiger King zoo, we’re talking about like–

Lexi: That's not a zoo. That's just not a zoo.

Alana: That’s not a zoo!

Haley: The amount of people who have fought me when I'm like “I love zoos” they're like “animals should be wild” and it's like “no. You do not put a hurt penguin back with its herd.” Like the elephant missing a tusk? Is not going to do well. Like GW Tiger King zoo? Not a zoo. That’s just–

Lexi: Science is important.

Alana: Science is important!

Lexi: The zoos on Tiger King, not science. When you go to a zoo, or are considering going to a zoo, look up what their contributions to scientific research and animal welfare are. If they are not AZA certified, do not go there. There was an incident recently in which the Pittsburgh Zoo, which used to be AZA certified, became un-AZA certified. It’s still an okay zoo but like in general look for AZA certifications. But the thing about AZA zoos is they follow a species survival plan, which means they don't decide when and where the animals go. There is a larger conglomerate that decides when animals need to be moved around. And so if one zoo needs a gorilla that will breed with another gorilla because that is what is best for gorillas all over the world, they will move the gorilla. They get a private plane and they take the gorilla with the keeper to meet its new keeper and that's where the gorilla moves because it's all about the science and the species preservation.

Alana: I really like the New England Aquarium and I'm not just saying that because I hope Erin Keif is listening. Um, even though I do hope she’s listening. Hi, Erin! We think you’re really cool!

Lexi: The aquarium in your homeland is beautiful.

Alana: It's so cool. I love the big old tube and then you like walk up around the tube. I think that's dope. I love that. That's like their main exhibit and I think it's so cool. I also saw like– I was in Boston maybe ten years ago; little more, little less, and there were like jellyfish! Right off the docks! Because we’re killing the turtles! That’s what I learned at the New England Aquarium!

Archival Audio: The llama family and cousins are all in the market for babysitters. While Mrs Helen Martini serves in that capacity for 3 little tiger kittens, born of parents themselves born and raised at the zoo, the triplets are concerned mainly with calories and vitamins and rather resent the working press. They're not up to scratch, yet, but they sure know the proper facial expressions. What a picture they make! (Tiger cub meowing sound)

Lexi: So, Haley, we were talking about your favorite zoo in the world. What was that zoo?

Haley: The Bronx Zoo.

Lexi: And do you know much about the history of the Bronx Zoo?

Haley: I probably used to, you're gonna have to fill me in on this one.

Lexi: Do you know who the first female zookeeper of the Bronx Zoo was? 

Haley: Your lady?

Lexi: Yes! Helen Martini!

Alana: Her name is Martini? 

Lexi: Yes, her name is Martini. So like, wonderful. We’re already off to a great start. But yes that is when talking about today so I thought it was very relevant that you mentioned how much you love the Bronx Zoo, that it's your home turf, because it was her home turf too. So a quick preface to our upcoming story, finding digital sources on Helen is extremely difficult. I had a really hard time with it. It appears very little has been published about her, particularly online and she doesn't even have a Wikipedia page, so for information about her life I had to use an IMDB page that exists for her, which I'm not sure if it's accurate and I'm not sure why it even exists, she was not a movie star. So take all this info on her early years with a tiny grain of salt. Once she actually starts being involved with the zoo that's when the information gets a little more accurate. Helen Martini was born on June 5, 1912 in Newfoundland, Canada. Her father, Matthew Delaney, was a merchant seaman and Helen was born with an eye problem that doctors told her parents would result in her eventually going blind. After father's death in 1925, her mother took her to New York to undergo eye operations. These operations helped protect her sight. Some attribute her caring personality to this turning point in her life. As an adult, Helen married a man named Fred. He worked as a jeweler and the couple lived in an apartment in the Bronx. Fred and Helen decided to have a baby, but unfortunately lost their child due to miscarriage. Helen was told by doctors that she would never be able to have a child. Helen turned her attention to caring for fur babies instead. She and Fred became diligent pet owners and avid animal lovers. The couple also lived close to the Bronx Zoo, and frequently visited the furry friends that lived there. One day, Helen saw an ad for an open position at the Bronx Zoo. At the time, American zoos only hired men as zookeepers. So Helen did what any sensible woman in mid-century America would do. She encouraged her husband to quit his job as a jeweler and apply to become a zookeeper. Fred had no formal training or experience in zoology, but he got the job. Fred became the keeper of the lion house, which was home to an array of big cat species. In 1942, a lioness had a cub and refused to care for it. Worried it would die, Fred decided he needed to enlist the help of the best animal mom he knew- his own wife Helen. Helen took in the cub and named him Macarthur, in honor of General Macarthur. Helen cared for the cub in her and Fred’s apartment, following the zoo’s protocols for care. At the age of 2 months, Macarthur was thriving and he returned to the zoo to live among other lions. Two years later, the zoo’s female tiger gave birth to three cubs. She abandoned all of them, refusing to nurse or care for them. Helen, who had successfully saved Macarthur, was again called upon to care for the baby big cats. She cared for the three cubs in her apartment, just like Macarthur, but the zoo had no set protocols for abandoned baby tigers. There was no guide for her to follow, as the Bronx Zoo had never successfully raised orphan baby tigers before. Helen, determined to succeed and help save the animals, used her own motherly instincts, her previous experience working with lions, and extensive research to develop a method for rearing the cubs. Much of her method was improvised, and used trial and error. Eventually, she developed the perfect diet to get the tigers fit; milk and water in the early days, then the addition of chopped meat as they grew. All three cubs became strong and were able to go back to the zoo. Helen had become a successful zookeeper, all without ever being paid or rewarded in any way. So the Bronx Zoo decided to do the unthinkable- hire a woman. Helen was officially hired as a zookeeper and became America's first woman to work as a professional zookeeper. Her role was to care for baby animals, and she established the Bronx Zoo's first nursery. She converted an old storage space into a place for orphaned and abandoned baby animals. Helen still cared for the youngest babies who needed round the clock care in her apartment, but the older couples are able to thrive in a space all their own. In 1945, Helen was a household name in the Bronx, known by many as a woman with tiger cubs in her apartment. Photographers from Look magazine visited her home, documenting the unique situation of her and her husband. Baby tigers rummaged through the fridge, sat in Helen's armchair, and even rummaged through the cameraman's bag. Helen did not stop at just lions and tigers. She knew other baby animals at the zoo would not be able to thrive if their mother stopped caring for them. Throughout her career, she also raised black leopards, marmosets, jaguars, gorillas, deer, antelopes, and even skunks. Her favorite of this was still, of course, the tigers. Before her retirement in 1960, she had raised 27 tigers in total. In 1951, newsreel video of Helen shows her caring for a baby gorilla named Mambo and refers to her as an “ardent disciple of Spock and Gessell” two child care experts of the era. In the video, Helen feeds baby Mambo from a bottle and sets him in his crib for a nap. You can watch this clip on YouTube and I will include the link on our Tumblr. In 1953, Helen and Fred published a book of photographs and stories which they called “My Family Zoo.” In this book, Helen mentions personal accounts of her favorite animals- Bagheera the leopard, Ugly the howler monkey, Zambezi the lion, Dolly the deer, and Dacca, her beloved tiger cub who went on to have cubs of her own, making Helen a tiger grandma. Unfortunately, this book is out of print and extremely rare. The cheapest copies seem to cost around $60 today. Helen has also inspired several modern children's books including “Cubs in the Tub” and “Mother to Tigers” which are both about her raising the three initial tiger cubs. Helen's work establishing a nursery at the Bronx Zoo was revolutionary in the world of zoology and zoo management. Through her efforts, dozens of vulnerable baby animals were saved and went on to live healthy lives as ambassadors for their species. Her observations of their behaviour and reflections on the issues of raising baby wild animals in captivity provided a foundation of understanding for future zookeepers. Helen, who brought motherly kindness and a caring nature to the zoo, is proof that sometimes a woman's touch is all an industry needs to progress. Also, I just wanna make a quick plea that if any of you are skilled Wikipedia editors, please help my girl Helen get on there and link it to the Bronx Zoo page so that people can find her because she is so cool and there are not many resources on her out there.

Alana: I have a question. Is Bagheera named after The Jungle Book Bagheera?

Lexi: I believe so, but it could just be a coincidence. But it sounds like it, probably.

Alana: It seems like it.

Lexi: Yeah.

Alana: I remember people were talking about the… it's like my mom's favorite song from Jungle Book, where King Louis, the orangutan king, is like singing with Mowgli and people are like “that's racist” and I'm like. I have bad news for you guys. About the Jungle Book. Bad news about Rudyard Kipling.

Lexi: Ruining their childhoods.

Alana: Yeah, for real. It’s like I… I… I have bad news, you know that guy, the guy who wrote The Jungle Book? He also wrote something called “The White Man's Burden” about how it's white people's job to civilize people of color. So maybe… beating a dead horse a little bit.

Archival Audio: In a land, in a forest grim and grand, where the chimpanzees and the cinnamon trees live a simple life with the simianese, a big gorilla he.

Haley: Born in 1932, she is known as the woman who gave her life to save the gorillas. Dian Fossey lead an incredible life and this story is definitely a roller coaster. Honestly guys this might have been the like hardest story for me to write because one, there's so much information about her out there, a lot of that information is conflicting. Based on the author's bias. It is also something that like. Like 1932 is not that far away it's less than a hundred years and it's not like she was– she… born and died between like before 1950. She's kinda more relevant. She knows Jane Goodall, we'll get into all of that. A lot of that information was hard to dissect. Let's– let's hope I did a good enough job for y’all. Please don't come out– come after me if I left something out. I could honestly go on for hours this could have been like a two parter for me. Alright. Let's start this history book at the beginning. Dr Dian Fossey was born and raised in San Francisco, California and she grew up in an environment surrounded by animals. So much so that she wanted to be a veterinarian, and fun fact she was an avid horseback rider so we got a horse gal for us here. Fast forward a little bit. Dian Fossey didn't really study veterinary, but she was still in the whole helping people, helping animals– because like humans are animals– and graduated with an occupational therapy degree. Moved to Louisville, Kentucky where she was the director of the Kosair Crippled Children’s Hospital as an occupational therapist or she was the head of that department. This was in 1955 hence the dumb name. I really hope that wasn't the name but it was in 1955. There she also was living on a farm so she couldn’t super get away from animals because she did own some, had the whole farm life. But it wasn't enough to fulfil her adventurous side, and as the years went on, she was kind of itching to do something more and going back to animals seemed like the obvious choice. So in September 1963, Dian went to Africa for the first time ever. This trip not only cost her her entire life savings, but also an entire bank loan had to be taken out just so she could like go to Africa and do some research. Well, this clearly paid off because while visiting Kenya, Tanzania, and other places, she met paleoanthropologist Mary Leakey and her husband archaeologist Louis Leakey. And this is a side note like snaps they introduced her as Mary Leakey and her husband and my jaw just dropped I was like yes I was going to do this anyway! It was also the relationship that she had with the Leakeys, that she met up with Jane Goodall. And the Leakeys at this point wanted to find ways to make sure other areas– because paleoanthropology is the study of like really really old things, fossils, before human life– they are the guys who did Lucy. Af- Afric– Africanus– what was it–

Alana: Australopithecus

Haley: Austro– Someone please say it.

Lexi: Australopithecus africanus, right?

Haley: There we go. Yes, that is Lucy. It was also this relationship with the Leakeys that she was able to meet Jane Goodall. And Jane Goodall was part of this whole Leakey corporation, society, relationship, business type thing, because the Leakeys as paleoanthropologists were really interested in studying primates and how they worked genetically, historically, all that stuff with our ancestors as Australopithecus Africanus etcetera etcetera etcetera. We can truly visit this for hours and hours and hours. However, we don't have the time. So Dian kind of got the gorilla side of it and she also met with native wildlife photographers who were working on a documentary about African gorillas, and it was there that Dian was like “yes, I love gorillas, I really want to continue this, this is where I was meant to be.” And back in the States Dian kept thinking about Africa, endangered gorillas, and how she can get more involved. She ended up accepting an offer which allowed her to live among the mountain gorillas in the Democratic Republic of Congo and then Rwanda, because of like the civil war that was happening she had to move around, be safe. In Rwanda, she established the Karisoke Research Foundation in Rwanda's Volcanoes National Park to be like the base camp for her research. She grew her name in the primatology field and was the leader on the physiological and behavioral side of mountain gorillas. So really looking at how they interact with each other, and what individualistic qualities they resemble, so not seeing them as purely these hungry animals that will rip you from limb to limb. How did they act with their children, how did they act with their others like the male versus female, how do they act with other species in the area, all that good stuff. And her work also extended to the protection of our furry comrades by shedding light on how poachers kill gorillas and the violence against them overall. This opened up for international recognition of her work and the work to protect specifically the plummeting numbers of gorillas. So by this time, a lot of people knew her name. During this time, as she was building her framework for her research foundation, doing research herself, she obtained a PhD from Cambridge and then was now Dr Dian and continued more research through Cornell University. However, here on Lady History we have to cover the bad or the ugly. And… So… Look at the show notes for more, but I'll just give you the gist of why her as a conservationist wasn't necessarily a great woman. Like the two didn't have to blend. You can be a great conservationist but a shitty human being. Because in the eyes of the local Rwandans, they were often offended by the way she treated them. This is really like, reading this back I feel– I am getting such– just nervousness I– these are not my words, these are hers. So she would kind of call like a group meeting and go down the list of things and she just turned to locals and be like “my Africans.” It's not great. Even if it's like a little bit racist, it’s still racist. There's also instances of people not being paid on time, but I couldn't find concrete evidence more on like the foundation and research headquarters as a whole, because like she obviously, while was the head, she's not the only person in charge of things, like that’s not how like, a budding foundation worked. Many people– this is like a heavily debated topic in the fields of like how much praise do we give her because she had… she was racist at times, and she was discriminatory. But she did make these huge contributions and the lives of like endangered gorillas. She did devote much of her life to protect the “gentle gorillas” as she would call them from the human and environmental hazards. Unfortunately, her life was cut short because on December 26, 1985, she was found hacked to death. And a lot of this was kind of like circumstantial because they have not found the guilty party and prosecuted them for murder, but they believe that she was murdered by poachers at her Rwandan forest camp. Yeah, Alana’s face is dropped. It took a turn.

Lexi: You’ve never seen Gorillas in the Mist?

Alana: No!

Haley: So I watched Gorillas in the Mist, and I get to that, it's in her legacy. But my mom like turned it off or somehow– I don't remember this ending. I didn't remember that she died. And I read it again and I was like racism… Murder!

Lexi: She did that classic mom thing where you turn off the bad part of the movie.

Haley: I really think that’s what happened.

Lexi: I didn’t know there was a second VHS tape to the Sound of Music for twenty years.

(Alana laughing)

Lexi: Because the Nazis! And I’m German, so I wasn’t allowed to know there were Nazis.

Alana: Oh, that’s such a big problem!

Haley: Yeah, yeah. As you all know I like to just add a little bit of the legacy, and her legacy is still living through the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International, formerly named the Digit Fund, that's also linked in the show notes. Otherwise the book she wrote in 1983, Gorillas in the Mist, was turned into a movie, as Lexi said, which starred Sigourney Weaver in 1988. I don't know. I'm kind of stuck on this girl, on whether like, I think she's a great– she's definitely not a great human, personally, but like her contributions to science. But I just want to provide all information and be like… and let's respect that she did help the gorillas out, but probably did it in a way that we all cringe now.

(Archival music)

Alana: We've been talking about zookeepers, zoologists, primatologists, you know, that's the theme of the episode. But I feel like we're leaving a key demographic out of this discussion. So my lady for today is Koko the gorilla.

Haley: What?

Alana: Yeah.

Lexi: Fantastic.

Haley: I'm so on board for this.

Alana: Gorilla ladies are ladies.

Haley: I'm speechless

Alana: I’m so glad.

Haley: Bravo. This is fabulous, I’m excited.

Alana: Thank you. I'm also excited. So Koko was born on July 4, 1971 and her full name was Hanabi-ko which means fireworks child. And as I'm saying it I'm realizing that that's a Fourth of July reference… like, fireworks. I just got that. Isn’t that fun. And she was born at the San Francisco Zoo. She was a western lowland gorilla who– they have the best Latin name ever it's gorilla gorilla gorilla. And another woman, Dr Francine “Penny” Patterson, started working with her on sign language in 1972 when Koko was only a year old. And then Dr Patterson started the Gorilla Foundation in the Santa Cruz Mountains in 1979. Koko learned a lot of sign language. She knew at least a thousand signs and probably understood about two thousand words because Dr Patterson would talk while she was signing. And that's about the vocab of a toddler. but also like what are non human animals but toddlers? Because I walk a dog, her name is Missy, I love her very much– if she won't leave the park with me, you do that thing that you do with three year olds– “okay bye Missy”– and you walk towards the gate. And what does she do, every single time, she comes running up to me. I say “bye Missy” then she comes. Really what are animals but toddlers. She had a companion named Michael who was rescued from the jungles of Africa and they were supposed to be a breeding pair because it seemed like Koko really wanted a family, in addition to western lowland gorillas being an endangered species. And that's that whole thing about gorillas getting on airplanes with the keepers and private jets, that we were talking about earlier. They didn't actually end up breeding they just became best friends. Like just best friends and they were playmates and it was very fun. He was also learning sign language and potentially learned how to tell the story of watching his mother get killed by poachers. Which… you can learn a little bit more about that I'll leave a link to that in the show notes. So Michael died of a heart condition that's very common in gorillas, and they brought in a second breeding partner whose name was Ndume... also learned sign language. Koko did get pregnant, but she had a miscarriage and couldn't get pregnant after that. So, similar to Lexi’s lady. So instead they got her kittens. Lexi is so happy about this. This is the best story ever. In 1984– 

Lexi: Kittens… I’m sorry.

Alana: I know!

Lexi: It’s just so cute!

Alana: I know! In 1984 she adopted a kitten named All Ball that she named, by signing, because she apparently loved rhyming words in sign language. And that inspired a book called “Koko's Kitten” and it's a little kids’ book and it's still in elementary schools all over. But then the cat got hit by a car and died, which is too bad. But for her forty fourth birthday, in 2015, they got her two more kittens and she named them Miss Gray and Miss Black because they were gray and black. Here's where the story gets maybe not as fun. In 2005 Koko kind of got Me Too’d? Three employees at the foundation, three other keepers claimed that Koko asked them to lift their shirts and show her their nipples, which Dr Patterson encouraged. They settled out of court, but like they were sued. That is kind of weird, but– and I was a little bit in disbelief– but also Robin Williams, who famously met her in 2001, talked about her doing that to him. It's just– it's jarring. So that's all very Tiger King, except Dr Patterson is actually like a scientist and has published real papers and isn't horrible. When Michael died, Koko actually expressed grief for him, the same thing when Robin Williams died. The Nat Geo article announcing her death, they had a quote from some guy who really had the audacity to talk shit about zoos while they were talking about how Koko died. And this person was like “yeah she did all these cool things for science but also she shouldn’t have been in a zoo.”And I was like oh my god… Let the people mourn an icon. But she is also– Koko herself has had a lasting legacy. She expanded how we think about animals and language. Like humans have to keep adding to the definition of language so that we can exclude how other species communicate. And some people think that she was only mirroring Dr Patterson or Dr Patterson and her associates were projecting, but Koko signed to herself and there's video in a 60 Minutes Australia segment where she's signing to herself. She has a hat, that is a flowered hat, it's a flower bucket hat. It's real cute, it's something baby Alana would absolutely have worn. And so she's signing “flower” and “hat” to herself. She would also invent signs. Like, she didn’t have a word for “ring” so when she saw Dr Patterson wearing a ring, she signed “finger bracelet” which is pretty much what a ring is. So I just think that Koko… it's a lot that we can learn about grief, and how animals express grief, and how we express grief, and how we can communicate with things. Because animals absolutely learn words. Like we teach dogs words. We teach them– you know– sit, stay, all that. So they know some human words. You can teach animals words in whatever language you speak. There's a dog who comes to the park who speaks Spanish. His name is also Coco! I don't think it's the same kind of Koko though, but. Yeah so that's the story of Koko. I'm so glad you guys liked my surprise.

Lexi: I love it. I'm a big nerd about the whole Koko situation because I am a big nerd about animals talking. Linguistic anthropology has always fascinated me, and I think it extends to animals, and a lot of anthropologists don't think it should extend to animals. But I read this book in high school, because I was reading all the books about birds I could possibly find because I had one, I have one still. And the book is called “Alex and Me” and–

Haley: I know that book.

Lexi: The person who is the scientist in that story was inspired by the Koko experiments to do something similar with a bird, and because birds don't have hands, it was vocal- completely vocal communication. And the bird learned to say phrases and even once asked an existential question. So… he asked “what color Alex” which is technically an existential question. And that's how he learned what the color gray was, because he was gray. So that's really interesting that animals do that stuff.

Haley: So my grandparents, I believe I've talked about this before, basically got a male and female cockatiel, started breeding them, and would often give them to their friends as like “hey you're really old, you live alone, here's a friend.” And I remember visiting one of their friends who had one of these birds and the bird would just start talking. And like she taught the bird how to speak, I– at least Spanish, because they're all Spanish speakers. And the bird I think was like a bilingual bird. Because I think he would respond to me and I'd speak English to it. And this bird would just like talk and be like “hello. How are you?” And I just remember as like a small child being like “this bird's talking to me. I thought this was just in movies.”

Lexi: There’s actually a lot of evidence that birds know their names too because parrots, specifically, their moms give each baby a name that's a sound, and while they don't sound like human names, each baby has a sound that is associated with them. So when we raise a parrot in captivity and we call it it's name, it learns it has a name which is–

Haley: Yes.

Lexi: Really, really cool.

Haley: We had them–

Alana: That is amazing.

Haley: –before cockatiels.

Lexi: You can find this podcast on Twitter and Instagram at LadyHistoryPod. Our show notes and a transcript of the show will be on ladyhistory pod dot tumblr dot com. If you like the show, leave us a review and tell your friends, and if you don't like the show, keep it to yourself.

Alana: Our logo is by Alexia Ibarra, you can find her on Instagram and Twitter at LexiBDraws. Our theme music is by me, GarageBand and Amelia Earhart. Lexi is doing the editing. You will not see us, and we will not see you, but you will hear us, next time, on Lady History.

[OUTRO MUSIC]

Haley: Next week on Lady History, it's the witching hour. We’ll be casting a spell on you and discussing some women of witchcraft, women of vampirism you name it, it's spooky season, and we're here to celebrate.

Alana: Dogs are liberal because they love people, cats are liberal because they're smart.

Lexi: Yes. Mhmm. All animals are liberals. 

Haley: I also believe dogs can't be evil.