#go play socrates jones!

[mathysphere]

Science Humanities Minis: Philosophy

A little jaunt over to celebrate some of the humanities with two friends sitting and debating the day away 🤍

This was inspired by the HD rerelease of the classic flash game Socrates Jones: Pro Philosopher. It's a beautiful little gem of a game, perfect for anyone who likes indie games or philosophy or Ace Attorney-style visual novels. You can get it for free on Steam today!

[Pattern here] [Series here] [🏛️Socrates Jones here🏛️]

[theimpossiblescheme]

“ i find myself in this position of finally being able to do things the right way. “ + whatever you'd like!

“Stubborn old thing isn’t going to leave, is she?”  Socrates could tell that Bustopher Jones was tracking the same familiar silhouette behind the window, and his voice was as steely as he’d ever heard it.  It was almost frightening to hear out of the old tom.  “Here now—take the lads and get under the counter.”

Between that and the feeling of Gareth and Carbucketty suddenly squeezing his tail, Socrates felt as if he’d been pulled from a trance.  “But what are you going—?”

“Don’t fret over me, just get out of sight!”  His tone was sharp and urgent—another jarring novelty—and Socrates had no choice but to obey.  He couldn’t risk an open fight, not with two Trainees with him and certainly not in the middle of a crowded club, and there had been too many close calls with Macavity’s goons even closer to the Junkyard.  If that wasn’t even safe, and neither was the Stage and Screen of all places, then where was?  What was he going to tell Munkustrap when they made it back—if they made it back?  There had to be a fire exit somewhere in the room, he just had to find it—

“What’s she gonna do?”  He almost didn’t hear Gareth’s question, soft as it was in his tiny crackling voice, as he yanked the three of them behind the bar, and the shape from the window grew and gained flashes of red, green, and white amidst the black of shadow.

“Hopefully nothing,” he whispered back, wrapping both arms around the kittens and drawing them tightly to his sides.  “Her bark’s always been worse than her bite.”  The one consolation he had was that Zephyra didn’t have the ferocity of someone like Cesare or the stamina of someone like Pallas.  None of Macavity’s little passel of showcats did.  They were more like sticks of dynamite—a great deal of buildup, but only a quick flash of action to show for it.  He just hoped Zephyra hadn’t picked up any new tricks since he’d been gone.

“Think we could take her, then?”  Carbucketty tried to sound brave and determined, but he was trembling too much to be convincing.

Zephyra was through the door now, so all Socrates could do was shake his head, close his paws gently over the boys’ mouths, and hold his breath.  The henchqueen’s fur stood on end like a Pollicle’s hackles under her shredded silk bow, and he could hear the knife’s-edge click of her unsheathed claws on the tile.  A few months ago, she could have fit in here perfectly, but now… she didn’t resemble a former showcat so much as a hyena anymore, and Socrates felt his own blood run cold.

Jones, on the other hand, was all smiles and open paws, any trace of his earlier tension gone as he stepped toward her.  “Evening, dear lady!” he boomed cheerfully, stepping closer like he hadn’t a care in the world outside of serving his guests.  “You’ve caught us at a bit of an awkward hour, but I’m sure we can still accommodate you!”

Zephyra wasn’t having any of it.  “Where is he?”

“Who?”  Socrates could practically hear Jones blinking innocently at her, even all the way across the room.

“Don’t play stupid with me,” she sneered. “That big patchy tom that just came in here—where’s he hiding?”

“My dear, there are multiple cats who fit that description here tonight, so you’ll have to be more specific.”

A growl rattled in Zephyra’s throat, and the next thing Socrates heard was a loud thud against the wall as she slammed Jones against it, claws wrenching through the fabric of his suit, his back feet dangling just off the floor.  There was a low gasp across the club, a screech of chairs and a clattering of silverware, but all Socrates could do was clutch Carbucketty closer as Gareth stiffened against his shoulder, fighting the instinct to bury his face in his mentor’s fur.  “Now you listen to me,” the henchqueen was hissing, teeth bared inches from Jones’s whiskers.  “You’re not as smart as you think you are, so I’m gonna be crystal clear.  That tall bastard with the patch over his eye—I’ve got a score to settle with him, and I’m not gonna let some old creampuff get in my way.  So unless you wanna be a smear on the wall, I suggest you tell me where he is.”

“Whatever score you two have is no affair of mine,” Jones retorted, not a hint of fear in his voice.  If anything, he sounded like he was merely scolding one of his nephews for tracking in mud.  “What’s more, I haven’t the foggiest idea what you’re—”

A paw clamped around his throat stole the end of the sentence.  “Think harder,” Zephrya snarled.  “Or do I have to go through every tom in here to find him?”

“By y-yourself?”  Jones had just enough air to scoff.  “Hardly.”

There was a horrible yowl of frustration and disgust, and Jones was thrown bodily to the ground as Zephyra folded over like a jackknife in anticipation, claws scraping even louder.  This was the final straw for the clubgoers, and Socrates could see many of them starting to rise from their tables in outrage.  Carbucketty tried to crane his neck to see, but Socrates hurriedly nudged him back down.  The first to reach Zephyra was an enormous tabby queen who could have easily given Pallas a hard time just from muscle alone.  Within moments, she’d swiped out with one massive paw and sent Zephyra skidding across the floor.  Howling like a fury now as many onlookers clapped paws over their ears, Zephyra charged again, but her opponent was ready for her.  The two queens struggled across the foyer, slashing and throwing and filling what had once been a peaceful space with a hellish din, until finally Zephyra was forced to retreat, holding one front leg to her chest.  She tore off into the night with a warbling caterwaul, weakly promising revenge, and Socrates heaved what felt like the biggest sigh of relief of his life when the sound faded.  He couldn’t tell how long the fight had lasted, but he could feel himself aging five lives every second… thank Heaviside they were safe now.

A lull of shock lay over the Stage and Screen for a moment.  Then a few stray whispers grew into full volume, and everyone went back to their meals and conversations, determined to act like nothing had happened.  Jones rose very gingerly from the floor, wringing out his tail like a wet towel and readjusting his monocle.  “I do despise making a scene like this,” he muttered before drawing himself up to his full height.  “Thank you, Phaedra… oh, dear, your eye,” he exclaimed, reaching up a paw to an ugly-looking scratch under her eye.

Phaedra merely brushed it aside, her touch surprisingly dainty.  “It’ll heal.  And we won’t be seeing her around again, don’t worry.  You all right, Jones?”

“Nary a scratch except for this poor shirtfront,” he replied with a wry chuckle, pulling down the torn garment under his jacket and giving it a swipe as if to clean off some dirt.  “Thank goodness I have more than just the one.  You boys can come out now,” he added, calling out over his shoulder.  “The coast is well clear.”

Socrates had to peel his back from the underside of the counter, but Gareth and Carbucketty wasted no time running over.  Gareth got to Jones first and grabbed his paw in both of his as if trying to comfort him, concern radiating through his little frame.  “You sure you’re okay, Mister Jones?  We could go get Cori and Tanto if you need them.”

“Yeah, she really could have kicked your—” a quick reproachful look from Gareth, and Carbucketty changed tack—“I mean, she really could have hurt you just now!”  Both Socrates and Phaedra couldn’t help chuckling, and Phaedra gave the kitten’s shoulder a little scratch before returning to her perch.

“Oh, I’ll be quite all right, lads.  You don’t get to be my age—or my size, for that matter—without learning how to take a few knocks, eh?”  He patted the front of his still-pristine waistcoat in satisfaction before raising his head to Socrates.  “And thank you for the warning, my boy.  Not a moment too soon, I should say.”

Socrates shook his head, still feeling both very heavy and very lightheaded as he put a paw on his Trainees’ shoulders.  “I just wish we could have gotten here faster.  I’m sorry you got mixed up in all this, sir—it wasn’t yours or anyone else’s battle.”

“Just consider it a favor repaid.  I, ah…”  He suddenly looked a bit bashful, at least as much as his pride would allow.  “I suddenly find myself in a position of… being able to do things the right way, after a fashion.  Seems only fair, doesn’t it?”

So that’s what this was all about…  “We don’t expect favors from family, sir.  Old Deuteronomy would tell you that, so I’m telling you that.  Just you coming to see us is favor enough.”

“Yes, well… don’t you lot stay away long either.  You know these doors are always open.  Especially for more pleasant circumstances.”  He cleared his throat, visibly regaining some of his composure.  “But I suppose you’ll be moving on for the night?”

“We have to, I’m afraid.  I have to get these two to bed, but we’ll be back soon.”

“We promise we will, Mister Jones!” Gareth piped up, still holding his paw.

“I’ll be holding you boys to that.  And please, just call me Bustopher—family needn’t stand on ceremony, after all.”  And with an affectionate pat to both kittens’ heads and a paw reclaimed and laid on Socrates’ shoulder, Bustopher escorted them both out of the club in a much friendlier manner.

[aceattorneybot]

Welcome to the PHILOSOPHY BOT

This is a bot that makes custom SOCRATES JONES: PRO PHILOSOPHER posts!

Here we celebrate the greatest visual novel of all time: the critically-acclaimed 2013 indie Flash phenomenon SOCRATES JONES: PRO PHILOSOPHER, a game where you play as a SILLY ANIME MAN and his ANIME DAUGHTER as they LEARN PHILOSOPHY and KICK IMMANUEL KANT'S ASS

This bot posts every HALF AN HOUR because we want to make sure YOU get the MAXIMUM AMOUNT of PHILOSOPHY possible!

This bot also sometimes makes posts with characters from other visual novels, like the SLIGHTLY LESS CRITICALLY-ACCLAIMED """""ace attorney""""" series, but do NOT be mistaken! This bot is for PHILOSOPHY ONLY and EVERY POST reflects that non-negotiable FACT

if you would like to see SLIGHTLY BETTER pro philosopher posts at a GREATLY REDUCED PACE, go check out the nice folks at @pro-philosopher

[theloniousbach]

CECILE McLORIN SALVANT/SULLIVAN FORTNER, JAZZ ST LOUIS, 17 (stream)-18 NOVEMBER 2022

My second jazz singer in a row! No need for concern, I feel fine. But it is out of character for me even as I join the bulk of the human race. Veronica Swift two weeks ago was also evocative in selling songs and reinventing them, including mash ups across genres. CECILE McLORIN SALVANT was a bit more jazzy, if only because she had the irrepressible SULLIVAN FORTNER, not so much accompanying as offering a sympathetic parallel melody. But, even more than Swift, she sold her songs.

Last night, in person, they were in serious cabaret revue territory with seven tunes on marriage. That the first one was Never Will I Marry tells me the arc. It included Bessie Smith’s Sam Jones Blues wherein our hero returns after a year to find that his wife has moved on. Dividing Day from Light in the Piazza was devestatingly bleak and the following Guess Who I Saw Today was slightly less so. If Mama Was Married was comic, but her own Obligation built on a friend’s line that expectations are premeditated resentments.

They brought out Jazz St Louis’ President/CEO Victor Goines for the last two tunes, including Billy Strayhorn’s brilliant but poignant Lush Life.

I paint too dark a picture. This was delivered with good humor by both McLorin Salvant and Fortner (as I’ve seen from my streams over the last few years, he is extremely clever and enjoys discovering fresh things in the tunes each time he plays them). She has remarkable range and control which she uses to great dramatic effect. She can go from little girl seeming to growl within a measure. She dances around melody and rhythm as jazz singers do, but without some of the affectations.

They opened with Some People from Gypsy after which she reported that they had nominated Jennifer Lewis (a Webster University alumna who was on campus very recently) as Mama Rose for a future production.

And they have a deep book, witness no repeats from the previous night’s set, and remarkable telepathy. Fortner launched into No One Knows Better Than I Myself and it took half a chorus before McLorin Salvant gleefully recognized it and summoned up the lyrics. On Thursday night, they nailed Getting To Know You having never played it together. He also proposed the If Mama Was Married and then mouthed the words for her.

We were sitting in the balcony looking at him and therefore got to see some of those interactions. I couldn’t see his hands for most of the set when he played grand piano. But he played Fender Rhodes for a tune each night and I was stunned when he played both. That put him playing treble and melody with his left hand while chording/arpeggiating accompaniment with his right hand. That complete reversal is rather like Elizabeth Cotton or Albert King playing left handed on a guitar strung the usual/right handed way. But piano isn��t a handed instrument. Usually.

The streamed set was a wonderful preview with an equally eclectic set, including a few more of her tunes, some more established show tunes but also newer ones that McLorin Salvant the singer would be on the look out for. I had heard an instrumental of Bacharach/David’s catchy melody Wives and Lovers which was familiar. Looking it up it showed up a list as one of the most sexist songs—and it is. But they did it in part she was asked why she didn’t sing feminist songs. That’s not the reason, but she/they are charming contrarians (at least that’s how I’ll reconcile myself with the marriage suite).

Above all, she’s flat out charming with stories of her French existentialist/Socratic music teacher who gave her Bessie Smith records and asked her what she wanted to learn, how much she treasures Victor Goines, and the sources of the tunes.

Cecile McLorin Salvant is the third member of Artemis we’re seeing this season to go with Anat Cohen and Allison Miller in a season with women artists prominent in the mix.

My ears get bigger all the time.

[after-zeno]

Of zeno and paradoxes

Nobel Prize-winning physicist Frank Wilczek explores the secrets of the cosmos. 

Appeared in the WSJ April 3, 2021, print edition.  

Paradoxes arise when different ways of thinking about a situation lead to contradictory conclusions. Since nature cannot contain contradictions, physical paradoxes point to flaws in our thinking. They invite us to do better.

Paradoxes have played a glorious role in the history of physics. Young Albert Einstein, at the age of 16, saw that if he could catch up to a light beam he would see things that contradicted the existing laws of physics. Ten years of thinking later, his special theory of relativity showed why it was impossible to catch up with a light beam.

The pre-Socratic philosopher Zeno of Elea, who lived in the 5th century B.C., produced several famous paradoxes concerned with the nature of change and motion. Almost 2,500 years later, Bertrand Russell wrote that “Zeno’s arguments, in some form, have afforded grounds for almost all theories of space and time and infinity which have been constructed from his time to our own.”   

Zeno’s paradoxes can be boiled down to three: the paradox of infinity, the paradox of nullity and the paradox of stasis.

Zeno’s story about a race between Achilles and a tortoise nicely illustrates the paradox of infinity. Achilles starts at point A while the tortoise starts ahead, at point B. By the time Achilles gets to B the tortoise has moved on to point C. Rinse, lather, repeat. Each episode takes a finite amount of time, and there are an infinite number of episodes. How does Achilles manage to catch up (in a finite time)?

The paradox of nullity goes as follows. Lines are made from points. But the length of a point is zero, and no matter how many zeros you add together, you still get zero. So how do lines achieve nonzero length?

In both paradoxes the “right” answer is a finite quantity, but Zeno’s analyses suggest infinite time in one case and zero space in the other.

Logically satisfactory answers to those paradoxes only emerged relatively recently. In the 19th century, mathematicians learned how to deal with infinite sums of decreasing terms. The theory shows that when the sum “converges,” there is a well-defined, finite answer. In the 20th century they learned to accommodate the fact that by adding zero enough times you actually can get past zero. This kind of question is treated in an advanced chapter of mathematics called measure theory, which is notoriously tricky and unintuitive.

Zeno’s arrow introduces the paradox of stasis. At every instant an arrow is at one place, and the tip of the arrow, a point, takes up zero distance. No matter how many instants we add, we never achieve a finite distance, so the arrow cannot move. In present-day physics, based on a space-time continuum, the arrow paradox is solved using the same tricky mathematics that resolves the paradox of nullity.

If space and time were both discrete, then the arrow could just hop, at each tick of time, from one position to another. That simpler alternative seems more in tune with our digital age. A movie, after all, is really a series of snapshots.

According to Isaac Newton, “Nature does nothing in vain when less will serve; for Nature is pleased with simplicity and affects not the pomp of superfluous causes.” Why doesn’t it go digital, thus avoiding Zeno’s subtleties? You could say it’s a paradox. Zeno lives.

Copyright ©2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8

[soulwillower]

I know you really like the 1975, especially for their lyrics, would you be able to suggest some of your favorite lyrics by them? I'm trying to use them as inspiration for writing!

sure baby! sorry it took me so long to respond to this lol

here’s a few lyrics (in no particular order) that help when im writing! i left out all the politically charged lyrics that i like bc they don't so much for writing fics L O L  

it’s not living (if it’s not with you)  (a brief inquiry into online relationships) -

and i know you think you're sly but you need some imagination

all i do is sit and think about you if i knew what you'd do collapse my veins wearing beautiful shoes it's not living if it's not with you

jesus christ 2005 god bless america (notes on a conditional form) - 

i'm in love but i'm feeling low for i am just a footprint in the snow i'm in love with a boy i know but that's a feeling i can never show

fortunately i believe lucky me i'm searching for planes in the sea and that's irony

give yourself a try (a brief inquiry into online relationships) - 

i found a grey hair in one of my zoots like context in a modern debate, i just took it out the only apparatus required for happiness is your pain and fucking going outside and i was 25 and afraid to go outside a millennial that baby-boomers like

the sound (i like it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it) - 

it's not about reciprocation it's just all about me a sycophantic, prophetic, socratic junkie wannabe and there's so much skin to see a simple epicurean philosophy

you say i’m “such a cliche” i can’t see the difference in it anyway and we left things to protect my mental health  but you call me when you’re bored and you’re playing with yourself

girls (the 1975) - 

i know you're looking for salvation in the secular age but girl i'm not your savior

sincerity is scary (a brief inquiry into online relationships) - 

you try and mask your pain in the most postmodern way you lack substance when you say something like, "oh, what a shame" it's just a self-referential way that stops you having to be human

and why would you believe you could control how you're perceived when at your best, you're intermediately versed in your own feelings?

loving someone (i like it when you sleep...) -

 just keep holding their necks and keep selling them sex it's better if we keep them perplexed it's better if we make them want the opposite sex 

i'm the greek economy of cashing intellectual cheques and now i'm trying to progress but instead of selling sex i think i should be loving someone

chocolate (the 1975)  - 

oh, you bite your friends like chocolate

pressure (the 1975) -

my broken veins say that if my heart stops beating we'll bleed the same way

well i stay tuned, i listen to the news and try to fall asleep at night

love it if we made it (a brief inquiry into online relationships)

oh, fuck your feelings  truth is only hearsay  we're just left to decay  modernity has failed us

and poison me, daddy i've got the jones right through my bones write it on a piece of stone a beach of drowning three-year olds rest in peace lil peep the poetry is in the streets jesus save us modernity has failed us

paris (i like it when you sleep...) - 

she is a pain in the nose and I'm a pain in women's clothes and you're a walking overdose in a great coat

mr. serotonin man, lend me a gram you call yourself a friend? i got two left feet and i'm starting to cheat on my girlfriend again

sex (the 1975) -

and she said, use your hands and my spare time we've got one thing in common it's this tongue of mine

and i'm not trying to stop you love, if we're gonna do anything we might as well just fuck  she's got a boyfriend anyway

she’s american (i like it when you sleep...)  - 

she calls on the phone like the old days  expecting the world don't fall in love with the moment and think you're in love with the girl

love me (i like it when you sleep...) - 

you've got a beautiful face but got nothing to say (oh!)  you look famous, let's be friends and portray we possess something important do the things we like, meaning we've just come to represent a decline in the standards are what we accept

UGH! (i like it when you sleep...) - 

hey, boy, stop pacing 'round the room using other people's faces as a mirror for you

settle down (the 1975) - 

do you get what i mean now? i'm so fixated on the girl with the soft sound and hair all over the place

but you’re cold and i burn i guess i’ll never learn

heart out (the 1975) -

god, i love the way you love yourself

and once we started having friends round you created a television of your mouth

don’t worry (notes on a conditional form) - 

when you're in love but you don't know what to do with it when blackness hangs overhead like a cloud

talk! (the 1975) - (for the richie vibes lol) 

and i've been thinking lots about your mouth a conversation superseded by the way he talks i'd be an anchor but i'm scared you'd drown it's safer on the ground

totally wrecked and polemic in the way he talks vocal sabbatical, delayed by churning out the same why you talk so loud?

i couldn’t be more in love (a brief inquiry into online relationships) - 

and you said you had enough what about these feelings i've got? i couldn't be more in love i could've been a great line, i could've been a sign but i overstayed my time say what's on your mind

a change of heart (i like it when you sleep...) 

and you were coming across as clever then you lit the wrong end of your cigarette you said I'm full of diseases your eyes were full of regret

and she said, "i've been so worried about you lately you look shit and you smell a bit” you're mad thinking you could ever save me not looking like that

[thatshortdudety]

Types of Ravenclaws - Nicholas Black

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usDdoAXxk_c

The Stereotype

Raven Qualifications: love knowledge, kind of witty

- Whenever they are around, people run

- They are insufferable

- They're just annoying in general and constantly act like they're better than you

- At least one or two of them exist

- You may not find them very often but when you do... you know

- They're the type of person that will debate you until one of you dies, so just give up and let them think that they are right, because it's just not worth it. Just fuckin leave

- The assholes in social media comments that start their comments with 'uM aCtuALLy' and like 'sOurCeS'

- Elitism is so thick that they might as well be in Slytherin

- They love knowledge so they are actually pretty smart

- They have some wit, but no wisdom or creativity

- They get really good grades, so teachers have a love-hate relationship with them as they're a know-it-all but make the class look better

- Usually in the library studying

- Makes you feel stupid in .3 seconds

- They probably drink tea and write Shakespearean lit in their own time [like fucking nerds]

- the LEAST RAVENCLAW Ravenclaw in the tower

The Weird One

Raven Qualifications: Intelligent, wise, creative, original, individual, acceptance

- Basically Luna Lovegood

- They're weird and you know it

- Tend to be obsessive over a few particular topics, eg. if they love crocodiles and you ask them a questions about crocodiles they will whip out an encyclopaedia from their pocket [and you wonder how it fit in there in the first place then you remember you're a wizard]

- They have porcupine teeth under their bed and you don't know why. Nobody knows why, all we know is that we live in fear

- They're the person you call when you know you are being haunted. They know about that spiritual shit. They have the sage ready, they know how to relieve you of your demons [basically if you have a ghostie problem, they gotchu bitch]

- They talk very rarely, but when they do, they either sound like a wise monk or a crackhead... or both [and that, my friends, is entertaining]

- They are divination experts [fuck you, Hermione, they know your future, whatchu gonna do about it]

- They have an ongoing "experiment" since like the first day they were at Hogwarts, and everybody knows there is an experiment, but nobody knows what it is [so the Ravenclaw power lives in fear. The Gryffindor tower should also live in fear, but those fucks aren't scared of anything so like honestly fuck 'em]

- They're like Socrates, sometimes, they're basically like "I know that I know nothing," all humbly-wise like that [and you're like "huh that's why you're a ravenclaw hm ok"]

- Despite having no social skills and scaring everyone shitless all the time, these Ravenclaws are the most mindful and spiritual, most open Ravenclaws

- They accept any theory or idea because "fuck it, we know nothing and anything could be real"

- Scary but pretty cool

The Mum

Raven Qualifications: Intelligence, WIT, wisdom, creativity, originality, SHARPNESS, ACCEPTANCE

- Has a first aid kit on hand and knows how to use it. Basically a doctor. Didn't go to med school, but they know their shit.

- Has a remedy for every illness. Pretty sure they're not allowed to have a potions cabinet in their dormitory, but Flitwick allows it, and so they've just got med potions in the dormitory [even though we have... a-uei- even though we have a hospital wing]

- The best advice giver in both complicated and stupid situations. They will give you some fucking common sense, they will spell it out for you

- NUMBER ONE Ravenclaw

- eg. If you have a boyfriend who has cheated on you multiple times and you ask them for advice they will look you straight in the eye and say "BITCH you deserve better, break up with that hoe" and you should probably listen to them because most everything they say is correct

- They will not tolerate stupidity [she will not tolerate your stupidity, richard, get out of the damn tree]

- They read the entire unabridged Lord of the Rings to their children, A.K.A. first year Ravenclaws and all Hufflepuffs

- The voice of reason [please just listen to her it.. it's all i ask.. please she's right, don't... don't question it]

- Knows all the answers to your homework assignment and knows how to effectively teach it to you [but fuck off dan she will not do your homework for you.. not again]

- If you get into some stupid shit, they'll say 'I told you so' and continue to fix your shit like a GODDESS [honestly she needs more love]

- Breaks up fights and sends people to their rooms. They're not having your bullshit.

- Such a smart person! eg. amazing war strategist [she-she knows. She knows all manipulation tactics, sh-she knows how to get her shit done, she is the strategist of the century, i swear]

The Artist

Raven qualifications: Intelligence, WIT, wisdom, CREATIVITY, originality, INDIVIDUALITY, sharpness, acceptance

- They're probably on Tumblr. That's just how it is.

- They don't give two shits about grades. The school system is rIgGeD............. okAy maybe they do care a little bit, but they'd DIE before they'd admit it

- They're an ex Emo and an activist

- They like politics

- They are the second debater in the house. For the love of god, don't put them in the same room as the Stereotype. Do you wanna fucking die? [i mean i do too, carol, but not now. It is unstoppable force vs immovable object, do you want to explode? didn't think so]

- They're either a music, theatre or art nerd... or possible poetry if you're.. that bitch. [but um if you don't know the difference between a play and a musical, we're judging you- WE'RE JUDGING YOU SEVERELY it's not that difficult i know what a fucking touch-down is]

- They're probably a communist, socialist, anarchist because fUCK CAPITALISM HELL

- Music and art is subJECTIVE YOU CANNOT TEACH IT, KAREN [and that's when the Stereotype walks in and starts a debate on that]

- They're pretty depressed

- They like musicals

- They have an aesthetic Instagram but all the captions are like 'aha lmao i wanna fucking die' and 'i crave death'

- Not gonna lie they cry after a debate even though they started it

- They have high standards that they don't meet themselves

The Bookworm

Raven Qualifications: INTELLIGENCE, wit, wisdom, CREATIVITY, originality, individuality, ACCEPTANCE

- They're kind of like a stereotype too, but they're the good stereotype

- They're like, the chill

- They're only passionate about like books and shit, so if you wanna have a 24 hour conversation with them, just bring up their favourite book series and they won't let you go

- They have a very popular fanfiction account. They are a veteran stan that wrote a 300k word fanfiction that is a STAPLE in the community. They are the fandom's mum

- They have like 30 books to read but for some reason they just read Junie B. Jones again. For the 5th time.

- They're very kind, usually patient, the most empathetic [other than maybe the Mum in the house]

- They do tend to be alone most of the time

- They have an internal debate on whether or not they should focus on their grades or read the 30 books they have to read [they.. somehow... do it both. um... i hate you]

- They're usually friends with the Mum Ravenclaw, they're like the parents of the house. Without them somebody might mysteriously disappear, or like, die [the weird one hasn't come back for three weeks send help]

The Junkie

Raven Characteristics: Wit, creativity, ORIGINALITY, individuality, acceptance

- [i know what you're thinking: 'come on nick, ravenclaws are smart, they wouldn't do drugs!'..... that's where you're wrong, bitch. they would do drugs.. but only the smart drugs. only the safe drugs]

- They only do marijuana. They don't even do any other drugs, and when they DO marijuana, they eat it in a pot brownie so that they don't get cancer from smoking it [like, they're pussies basically, i'm sorrty but]

- Okay, I take it back, they might do LSD once because the Weird One told them that they'd "see god" on LSD, but they'll never do it again cos it was a bad trip and probably killed some of their braincells, so they're a little overce

- They're anti-capitalist, but they never specify what their political and economic beliefs are, so they just kinda say 'fuck capitalism' then they go to bed high as Snoop Dog

- Usually friends with the Weird One [...i'm scared all the time]

- They're high all the time, but they never get caught because they're a Ravenclaw, and Ravenclaws don't get caught [take notes, Slytherin]

- They once woke up with a surrealist painting in one hand and the communist manifesto in the other... they don't know what happened the night before, but they got rid of the evidence real fuckin quick because you can't be too safe

- They claim to be Buddhist and trying to find the real meaning of life, but like they don't practice Buddhism really well.. they-aie- I think they're just doing it for the aesthetic, they know a lot about Buddhism they just don't practice it very well

- They're trying to open their third eye. [none of us want them to. their two eyes are problematic enough, we don't need them to have a third

[blogaboutmusic]

all the playlists !

did this a while ago, but my spotify changed so much that i decided to do it again, and also because i have a lot of new followers! thank you & thank you if you follow my playlists! Be sure to check the list out bc i have a playlist for almost every genre & mood!

● ✧･ﾟ*✧･ﾟ* existential crisis:  everything i have that is sad ● 2019 ; letz getit: music i discovered so far in 2019 / music that is important to me in 2019 ● 20(18)GAYTEEN: every album that came out in 2018 (at least of artists i like) ● 20(19)BITEEN: every album that came out in 2019 (/artist i like :) ) ● 5sᴏs ; complete: i think the title says it all ● ａｌｉｅｎｓ: a mix full of alt. songs. dope. 10/10 recommend to aliens ● all of it ; alternative ?: stuff that is alt but not quite, pop punk but not quite, rock but not quite, etc! ● all of it ; emo music: EVERYTHING YOU NEED. EVERYTHING SAD. EVERYTHING ANGRY. EVERYTHING GUITAR. pop-punk punk-rock emo/rock indie/alternative ● all of it ; k-pop: all the k-pop music that I listen to, stuffed into one mix. ● ᴀʟʟ ᴛɪᴍᴇ ʟᴏᴡ ; ᴄᴏᴍᴘʟᴇᴛᴇ: all of all time low’s music ● angry k-pop bops: a playlist that was inspired by district 9 of stray kids ● autumn, baby: perfect songs for fall! ● back to the future: idk some albums that i love listening to that go really well together ● bandito tour ; twenty one pilots: a playlist for an upcoming concert ● b͓̽a͓̽n͓̽g͓̽ ͓̽c͓̽h͓̽a͓̽n͓̽: a playlist for my bias of stray kids! ● ʙᴀɴɢᴛᴀɴɢ sᴏɴʏᴇᴏɴᴅᴀɴ ; ʙᴛs: all of bts’ music in one playlist ● best intro's, no argue: okay but really 505 is one of the best songs ever don’t fight me on that one ● bi bops: actually it doesnt matter if you’re gay, straight, pan or bi, these all work. just bops. ● b-sides, : songs i tend to forget about because i mostly listen to other songs on the albums... but they deserve the world so there you go ● 𝖇𝖎𝖙𝖊 𝖒𝖊: kinda angry, kinda alternative. ● bon voyage: i listened to this a lot when i went to paris and when i have to travel a lot. travel worthy. ● bop that Bussy ; emo version: FAV EMO JAMS AND BOPS AND BANGERS ● bring me the horizon ; complete : all of bmth’s music ● bts amsterdam 13.10.18: SETLIST ly tour amsterdam but also europe. i miss them a lot & wanna thank them for one of my best nights ever

● calm my anxious ass: what i need when i’m breaking down & alone again ● chanyeol (っ◔◡◔)っ: a playlist for my exo bias, mostly english sung songs though ● chilly billy doobop: so nice to have as background music or for when there’s a friend over. just ever so fckn CHILL ● classical // piano: classical music, mostly piano ● current mood: songs i’m probably listening to right now (lmao still) ● daniel james howell: a playlist for my fav youtuber!!! ● daydream: my playlist with music that makes me dream for a better version of me ● ᴅᴀʏ6 ; ᴄᴏᴍᴘʟᴇᴛᴇ: every day6 song ever. stan talent stan day6 ● death / school mix: songs about dying & other relatable stuff for school, ha ha ● dizzy tummy: stuff i listen to strolling through the city or being in a specific trainride ● dope on a rope: no, this isn't a playlist for the growlers' song, it's old beats. ● emo & alternative: sum emo tunes! totally random *insert that one crazy emoji with the tongue out* ● energize this tired bub: upbeat tempo music that really energizes me ● energetic appleflap: playlist for a friend (that i have crush on) ● eɴᴛᴇʀᴛᴀɪɴᴍᴇɴᴛ ᴛᴏᴜʀ ᴡᴀᴛᴇʀᴘᴀʀᴋꜱ: music i  listened to before & after my waterparks concert + every waterparks song ever & the setlist ● ᴇxᴏ ; xᴏxᴏ: exo complete. please give us a ot9 comeback ● exploring: stuff i have yet to listen to ● fᴀʟʟ ᴏᴜᴛ ʙᴏʏ ; ᴄᴏᴍᴘʟᴇᴛᴇ: all of FOB’s music. can you believe i’m still emo trash? ● frickity freck!: fresh alt-ish music ● fuck me up: a ReAlLy gOoD aLterNaTiVe / IndiE / eMo playlist? ● funky dunky business: the bass in these is mostly really mcflipping good ● geez, morty: playlist for fake friends ● ɢᴏᴛ7 ; ᴀʜɢᴀsᴇ: all of got7 their music ● ɢʀᴇᴇɴ ᴅᴀʏ ; ᴄᴏᴍᴘʟᴇᴛᴇ: all of green day aka my fav band their music ! every.thing. ● grrr. : just metal and grunge. heavy shit ● guitars: really good guitars like guns ‘n roses & beatles and just guitars that i love??? ● guns  n' roses setlist: setlist g ‘n r Europe 2017 ● halsey: indie artist, all her music in a playlist ● happy vibes: music that makes me smile!! ● hoe anthems (k-pop ver.); k-pop bops that make me go wanna hoe the heck out ● homework // calm: music i listen to when i make homework ● hug me pls: acoustic songs i wanna listen to while cuddling ● i’m a mess: a good, short playlist i- lol- unironically made when i discovered Michael Clifford had a girlfriend lmao i hope theyre happy they deserve it ● i, an intellectual: a nerd: music from movies and series i really dig ● interactive introverts: music they played and i listened to before interactive introverts ● jae = bae: this one goes out to jae, guitarist and vocal legend in the band day6 ● jazzin' away: jazz, my friend. ● j-pop ; rock 'n soul: my favourite j-pop songs!! yes, that includes all one ok rock songs. ● journal writings: i attempt to keep up a journal. this gives me vibes. sometimes a bit more uptempo, but mostly a bit softer ● judith.eliza: for a friend ● jughead's tape: for jughead jones, of riverdale ● just guitars, nothing else.: just acoustic guitars of some of my fav songs, really good for while studying i think ● k-grooves: korean r&b and indie ● k-pop ; essential jams: my favourite k-pop songs, which are quite a lot! ● k-pop ; girls: all my girl groups’ music ● k-rock ; you make myday: all my favourite k-rock songs, yes that includes every day6 song because they are just that good sorry ● last young renegade tour: music i listened to before & after my all time low concert + the setlist ●  letters to you: songs that made me think of my crush. i think people can realate? ● let there be luf: some new alt, sum songs about love ● lilacskyjimin ; fav: playlist for a friend ● lone hours: in: feeling lonely? we do, too, dont worry. youre not alone. ● mama: stuff i grew up with / stuff my mother and i both like ● marina & the diamonds: apperantly she’s only called marina now? one of the best female singers i know, indie as f*ck ● ᴍᴇᴇᴛ ʏᴏᴜ ᴛʜᴇʀᴇ ; 5sos:  playlist for the 5sos concert, setlist and the songs in between! ● micmicbudgee ; fav: playlist for a friend ● mom jeans, tired eyes: mostly 70s and 80s BOPS ● ᴍᴏɴsᴛᴀ x ; ᴍᴏɴʙᴇʙᴇ: all of monsta x’s music in a playlist ● muse ; complete: all of alt rock band muse their songs ● my chemical romance ; complete: emo rock band mcr all of their music ● my youngblood chronicals: alt rock songs. the reason why i’m still fighting ● nederlandse bodem: my favourite Dutch songs! ● ɴᴇᴏ ᴄᴜʟᴛᴜʀᴇ ᴛᴇᴄʜɴᴏʟᴏɢʏ ; ɴᴄᴛ: nct complete, in a playlist ● nienisneckdeep ; fav: playlist for a friend ● nights: songs i like to listen to before going to sleep ● noa.myg: fav: another playlist for a friend ● non-english bops: jewish, french, spanish, swedish, irish and celtic music like omnia (which is partly english but i think it fits here so tough luck) ● one ok rock ; complete: one ok rock is a japanese rock band that sings in english in their latest work ● ᴘᴀɴɪᴄ! ᴀᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ᴅɪsᴄᴏ ; ᴄᴏᴍᴘʟᴇᴛᴇ: all of panic! at the disco’s music in a playlist ● paramore ; complete: paramore was a punk rock band with a female singer, and now they make alt rock ● paris: a playlist for a city that i miss, a time that i miss ● ᴘᴇɴᴛᴀɢᴏɴ ; ᴄᴏᴍᴘʟᴇᴛᴇ: aka all of k-pop group Pentagon their music in a playlist ● pizza punk: waterparks, neck deep, with con and music like that. perfect for skating eheh ● power vocals: beautiful voices ! voices that make me jealous ● problems with sleeping: lovely alt songs, some of them are about not being able to sleep ● queen discography: you know that movie, bohemian rhapsody..? ● rad activist shit: end gun violence. black lives matter. abortions should be legal, pedophiles and rapists should not be able to walk free. oh and love is love, get over it. angry songs, songs about revolution. ● rainbow: love songs, some sad (rain), some ever so happy (sun). together they make a rainbow ● red hot chili peppers: the red hot chili peppers are rock band and if you dont know them, look them up!! ● revolution radio 2017: music i listened to before & after my green day concert + the setlist ● rev up my spaceship, bois: modern hard rock in a playlist! ● sad boi o’clock: another sad playlist, you can never have enough of these ● sᴀʏ ᴛʜᴇ ɴᴀᴍᴇ ; sᴇᴠᴇɴᴛᴇᴇɴ: seventeens (k-pop) complete music discography ● skylinn ; khaleesiqoyi: first playlist i made for a friend: my best friend ● slytherin headgirl: this is what the people in slytherin listen to, i swear ● socrates would deffo stan: indie and alt, only for intellectuals (i’m just kidding) ● soft; rock™: soft (old) rock ● soft; k-pop: for if you wanna weep along with exo, bts,, etc ● soundtrack of my life 🌙: the basics to my music ● space jams 🚀: most songs are about wanting to run away, perfect for when you’re in space ● spoopy rave: i secretly listen to this through the year, idec ● starry skies, snazzy beats: mostly cute beats, perfect for studying or staring at the sky ● sᴛᴀʏ ; sᴛʀᴀʏ ᴋɪᴅs !: all of stray kids songs, go stan them already and please stay ● stranger things: songs that give me a stranger things vibe ● supernatural ; rock & grunge: stuff Dean Winchester would listen to, blue oyster cult, aerosmith, black sabbath, stuff like that ● tae tae: a playlist for v of bts, one of my biases ● the 1975: an alt band, latest work: an brief inquiry into online relationships ● the neighbourhood: very chill music. kinda rap, kinda alt ● these physically turn me on: really, really good songs, or nice vocals, idk how to explain ● tits out for harambe: the closest thing i have to pop music / rap i guess, with khai dreams, frank ocean, childish gambino, ari, troye, ya know ● tokyo: a playlist for dreaming about the feeling of a city ● travel back in time: 50s, 60s music, stuff i listen to with my grandpa but also alone cuz its fun ● twenty øne piløts ; complete: all of twenty one pilots their music ● underappreciated alt songs: alternative songs that i think deserve (even more) hype! ● waterparks ; complete: nice new pop punk band that deffo has a lot of talent! ● when the week ends: a mix for the weekend ● wubbalubbadubdub: old bops that make me forget about my sadness ● year in review: 2018: music i discovered in 2018 / music that was important to me in 2018 / songs that came out in 2018 ● yoongi: songs where you can sing yoongi really clearly and songs that make me think of him ● you’re making me feel miserable: songs i listened to after i confessed to my crush and he turned me down sksksksk

please reblog, it helps my blog a lot, tysm

[jellicle-home-for-jellicle-ships]

Character guides

Confused about some of the characters named on the list? This is a hub of links for everyone.

Note: At the moment these links just point to the character’s page on the CATs wiki, but I’ll be going through and making proper character guides over the next week or two (especially for the lesser-known characters), to help anybody who wants to play ‘getting to know you’ with a new character and work out how they’d like to ship them.

Bill-Bailey (Swing)

Tumblebrutus

Admetus (2019) (Swing)

Plato (2019)

Socrates

Old Deuteronomy (2019)

Gus: The Theatre Cat (2019)

George (Swing)

Jonathan

Babylonzo

Growltiger (2019)

Macavity (2019)

Munkustrap (2019)

Bustopher Jones (2019)

Etcetera (Swing)

Jemima (swing)

Sillabub (2019)

AJ (London) (Broadway)

Mistoffelees (2019)

Quaxo (Swing)

Exotica

Olivia

Caramel

Alonzo (2019)

Griddlebone (2019)

Rumpus Cat (Shiki)

Firefrorefiddle

Electra (2019) (swing)

Lightning Electra

Spike (Broadway) (US Tour)

Cassandra (2019)

Jennyanydots (2019)

Tantomile (2019)

Calico

Gilbert

Chorus Macavity

Bombalurina (2019)

Chorus Tugger

Babygriz

Young Deut

Asparagus

Coricopat (2019)

Tabbygirl

Carbucketty (Swing)

Pouncival

Victor (Swing 1, 2 )

Grumbuskin

Patches

Demeter (2019)

Grizabella (2019)

Jellylorum (2019)

Victoria (2019)

Hysperia

NBQ/Greycat (London) (Broadway)

Mice 2019

Roaches 2019

Mungojerrie (2019)

Skimbleshanks (2019)

Murad

Noilly Prat

Maitre D’

Rum Tum Tugger (2019)

Rap Tugger

Rumpleteazer (2019)

[lilibug--xx]

We'll Be Alright

here’s a little drabble i dipped into, based on sabrina carpenter’s song, ‘why’.

it just seemed like bughead to me. 

i’m not actually fond of this, because i couldn’t really figure out how i wanted to write this. but i’m sharing it anyway.

here is the link to it on ao3 here

His girl would be beautiful.

He couldn’t help but think about her while waiting, his eyes closing.

He thought about her smile, about all the different ways her lips curved up. Then the way she always pursed her lips, while deciding on her lipstick for the day. Her green eyes shining in the light of the sun, the little wrinkles at the edges from always forgetting her sunglasses. The way her hair got lighter after time in the sun, blonde locks filling in with natural summery highlights.  The way her skin soaked up the sun, turning golden and soft. The way her skin flushed pink when she was embarrassed, angry, or turned on.

He thought about all the reasons they shouldn’t be together, but were.

They lived in New York, Manhattan to be precise. In a shoebox apartment, all one room with their bed up a couple stairs on a sort of loft. It was small, and they felt it. But she wanted to live close to downtown nightlife, to her job at the New York Post, to her favorite Chinese restaurant. She loved being able to sit on the fire escape at night time, watching the people and lights.

He liked the day time, walking through the city amongst the tourists. He always found someone or something new to photograph. He made a living this way, taking pictures. He was a small time artist, but his name was growing. He liked the chaos of Times Square, the Socrates sculpture park, and Brooklyn’s Botanical Gardens. He liked to photograph in alleyways, in fountains, on rooftops, in trees. Odd and weird locations, abstract and different poses. He loved taking pictures of her, too. She was beautiful from every angle, clothed or not, fresh face or made up, smiling or angry.

He loved making her angry. He didn’t really do it on purpose (ok, sometimes he did), but she was just so beautiful when her brow was furrowed and her eyes were dark, dangerous, swirling with unbridled emotion. Eventually they would start laughing, because she couldn’t stay mad at him when he brushed his fingers against her neck, apologized for being an ass. He would tickle her sides and feet until she had tears in her eyes instead.

They slept on a queen sized futon which was hardly big enough for they way they each liked to stretch out. He liked to sleep with the windows open, cool, fresh night air coming in, the street lights bathing them in orange red light. She liked to sleep with the air conditioning on full blast, blankets piled on top of her and her ocean sounds in the background.

She liked to go to bed late and sleep in. Jughead liked to wake up early and drink coffee. He liked his jeans, flannel shirts, and suspenders. She wears pencil skirts and fancy jewelry, curls her hair every day. She’s a vegetarian, and his favorite food is cheeseburgers. He likes to eat junk food and she buys vegan chips that taste like air and dirt but he eats them anyway.

He likes to drink locally brewed beers, supporting the small businesses. She drinks water or Shirley Temples. She has tons of friends, co-workers, family. He has two best friends and a sister, and that was including her. He doesn’t like to socialize, but she loves going to dinner parties and events.

She’s always cold, even with the rainbow of sweaters she has. He’s always slinging his flannel shirt and jackets around her shoulders even when the ground not even cold. She’s addicted to watching the cooking channel, even though she can’t cook for shit, though not for lack of trying. He hates cooking, but they have to eat something after all.

He would never forget the conversation he had with her best friend a year into their relationship.  

“I’m just worried that she’s holding herself back,” the black haired girls words shouldn’t have surprised him. He remembers almost choking on the handful of peanut m&m’s he had just shoved into his mouth.

“No. I think the words your looking for are: You’re not good enough for her. Right?” he remembered being bitter at her for so long, seeing the judgement in her eyes as she looked over his dirty combat boots, worn leather jacket and tattoos.

“I just don’t see what she sees in you.” He snorted at her, grabbing another handful of the candy he was snacking on, blue eyes glaring at the girl across from him.

“I could say the same for you.” He practically sneered.

He didn’t try to hide his feelings from the girl in question when she floated back to the table. She had kissed him on the cheek, fitting herself against his side and tucking her head under his, arms looped around one of his. He leaned back into the seat, staring out the window.

They continued on, the black haired girl pretending she hadn’t just insulted him and he pretending she wasn’t there. His girl could tell their was something going in, but kept the mood light and redirected them both.

He wondered what he did to deserve this girl. What made her stay, what made her love him?

He grew up without a family, only his sister by his side when they moved from foster home to foster home. He came from nothing, built himself up from nothing. But like hell if he wasn’t proud of himself.

She had two parents that gave her the world, a sister she was close with. She had gotten a scholarship to a school her parents could have easily paid for. He was in debt up to his eyeballs.

He wasn’t sure what it was that she saw in him. They liked different things, different people. But they fit so well together despite that. They never asked each other to change. But they adapted and they compromised.

They made each other laugh and smile. They both had issues with anxiety and it was so great when someone just understood without having to explain. They both liked red velvet cake and vanilla milkshakes. They liked movies from the 80’s the best, sci-fi even better.

She loved to take long bubble baths in their tiny little bathroom. He would sit on the floor and keep her company, editing photos and fetching her things she needed to work while she soaked. Then they would lay in bed together, pressed tightly while she plays with his hair, lulling him to sleep. It’s the little things.

He loved her with all he had. She was his world, his everything. He wanted her to always be his girl.

The music started then, and he opened his eyes.

He thought his heart might stop beating at the sight of her. Dress made of delicate lace, swirling and draped around her curves like a glove, the color of buttermilk. The curls in her hair spilling over her bare shoulders, brushing the golden skin, freckles peeking out. Her eyes lined in black, long lashes, pink cheeks, dark red lips. He wanted to memorize every part of her face on his day, especially the smile she was wearing.

Jughead took a breath as her hand slipped into his, their eyes hadn’t strayed from each other since she appeared. He didn’t dare look away and miss a moment of gazing at her beauty. She squeezed his hand gently, quirking her head slightly and he realized he was staring, not speaking, when he really should be. He didn’t realize the time was passing, words were being spoken, and he too had to do his part.

“I, Forsythe Pendleton Jones III, take you Elizabeth Cooper, to be my lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part.”

He swallowed his tongue, mouth dry and hot like the desert. He couldn’t believe how lucky he was.

He barely heard anything that was happening, could only hear his heart thumping loudly in his chest, pulse pounding in his ears. He registered Archie nudging him in the back and he accepted the ring he was offered, turning back around. He slipped the delicate rose gold band onto her finger, sliding it up to fit against her engagement ring.

Betty did the same for him, fingers cupping his hand, pushing the ring onto his finger. The black metal band gleaming under the twinkling lights. He looked from it back up to her face. She was still smiling at him, but the corners of her eyes were wet, tears starting to leak out the edges. He swallowed thickly, his own eyes starting to burn.

“–ceiving of rings, I pronounce that they are husband and wife, in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. You may kiss the bride.”

At that he knew what he was supposed to do next and he was never more grateful.

He surged forward, cupping the sides of her neck in his hands, thumbs grazing her cheeks. He gazed from her eyes to her lips, cherry red and trembling slightly. Looking back up again, she was waiting. He closed the small distance between them, everything else fading to the background. Her left hand came up to gently brush his jaw, fingertips sliding back into his hair. Her other hand was clutching one of his suspender straps, fisting it and his shirt underneath. Their mouths moving together slowly, softly. He flicked his tongue against the seam of her lips, their tongues touching briefly.

Her mouth was warm, sweet against his. Betty was wearing that God damn maple syrup lipstick and he knew his mouth was going to be cherry red at the end of this kiss. Of course, he would let her cover his whole body with it if she wanted to. He felt a flame of heat surge up his spine at the thoughts of getting her to their honeymoon suite later. With that, and the fact that there was an audience, he pulled back from her lips.

Jughead kept himself close, could feel her parted lips still brushing just against his as he leaned back just enough to look into her eyes. Her lashes were fluttering, long, black and gently curled. He could see the tear marks just under her eyes, giving them a smoky vibe rather that the clean cut lines from before. He didn’t dare move, watching with his breath stuck in his throat as her eyes opened, green staring back at him with wide pupils. She was smiling, with her smudged lipstick and watery eyes. She was vision to behold.

My girl.

He couldn’t help but think it, he was selfish. Years of being told he couldn’t ever have happiness like this being trampled and forgotten, her standing on top in her pale pink heels, smiling like this. He could feel how much Betty loved him. He closed his eyes, letting out that breath he had been holding, tight shoulders relaxing. His thumb on the apple of her cheek, brushing against the skin softly, making sure she’s still there while his eyes are closed.

He opened them again, thanking God that this wasn’t just a teasing dream. His blonde haired goddess of a wife is still here in front of him, still pressed to his chest with her heart beating against his and looking at him, loving him with every fiber of her being. Despite the odds thrown against them, they had made it work. Blue and green eyes drowning in each other, but the end was clear to them both, they could see it just fine. They would be alright.

[ishiireviewer]

RATING: 5 Stars.

REVIEW:

God, what a beautiful book! I absolutely loved it. So so so much. It drove me close to tears at one point.

I want everyone to read this book. It’s not like other LGBT books out there because this one focuses on the person instead of the couple.

It had such a flowy quality. So easy to read through in just one sitting.

And I just loved this book so much and I don’t have any words for it.

ANNOTATIONS:-

1. I really love them. I send a steady, visible stream of it—love—from me to them. From my chest to their chests. From my brain to their brains. It’s a game I play. It’s a good game because I can’t lose

2. But it feels good to love a thing and not expect anything back. It feels good to not get an argument or any pushiness or any rumors or any bullshit. It’s love without strings. It’s ideal

3. Ms. Steck reminds me of the arrow—one of Zeno’s arguments. The idea is that an arrow shot at a target has to move through time, but since time is made of tiny moments, the arrow, in each tiny moment, is at rest and not moving. “That’s like saying that if I take a picture of Clay”—I point to Clay, who is wearing his Kurt Vonnegut asterisk T-shirt today—“while he’s running hurdles and I freeze that moment in time… that he never really moved during the race.” Ms. Steck says, “Yes. That’s a little like what Zeno was trying to say

4. Hippocrates. Father of Western medicine. He said this: “There are in fact two things, science and opinion; the former begets knowledge, the latter ignorance

5. She said, “This will be a time of asking questions and not rushing to answer them. A time of poking holes in your own theories. A time of thinking and not knowing

6. Like—moving. He said it was impossible to move because time stands still inside each little split second

7. She sighs and rolls onto her back. “So what’s the big deal about some philosopher who said motion was impossible? Philosophers said all sorts of crazy shit. Wasn’t that their job?” “Their job was to find truth.” “And did they?” I look at Dee and I think that Zeno was totally right, even though that’s not what he meant: For people, motion is sometimes impossible. For Dee. For my mom and Ellis. For nearly everyone. (I wanna understand this)

8. think if we kept a calendar of who gets called gay in high school, there would be a new person on every single day of the 180-day school year. Gay, dyke, fag, lesbo, homo, whatever. Every single one of us has heard it somewhere along the ride. It’s more common than the flu. More contagious, too. Nobody gossips about whether you have the flu or not

9. (Her mum is hating on ignorant people and she believes that she herself isn’t one. We think we know, but we don’t. Not really. What is knowing, though? It’s all thinking anyway, isn’t it? Idk)

10. She leans in to kiss me good-bye, and when she does, I wish I lived on the right planet where kissing Dee Roberts wasn’t a big freaking deal. Where it didn’t mean I have to affix a label to my forehead so people can take turns trying to figure out what caused it or what’s wrong with me. And I wish I didn’t have to lie so much (Yeesss)

11. When Dee kisses me, the taste of her is enough to make me die right here on the spot. I don’t care if some mountain biker zooms through on the path. I don’t care about anything. Not Zeno or Socrates. Not motion or truth. When Dee kisses me, I am alive. I am moving. I am the truth

12. I’ll go,” I say, seemingly out of control of my own mouth. Why did I just say that? I think I can do Thursday,” Ellis says. “Great,” Mom answers. “We’ll go Thursday.” She doesn’t look at me when she says this. Her hand is still on Ellis’s arm. This was like a private conversation they had. My offer to go along stayed in another dimension (Awwwww. Poor baby I love Astrid)

13. We start our unit on the Allegory of the Cave. It’s a part in Plato’s Republic where he wrote a dialogue between his brother Glaucon and his teacher, Socrates. The short version: People chained in a cave are only able to see a wall. The wall has shadows cast from a fire they can’t see. They guess at what the shadows are. Their entire reality becomes these shadows. Clay has read it before. Of course. Knows all about the Allegory of the Cave. “The only life these prisoners know is the sounds and shadows of the cave. Imagine living like that!” he says. “Or maybe we are living like that, right?” Ms. Steck stops him before he can spoil the rest. Apparently there is more excitement to come for the prisoners in the cave. For now, all we have to worry about is a three-hundred-word essay from the point of view of one of these prisoners exploring the realm of belief versus the realm of knowledge (Man) (I wanna read philosophy!!!)

14. “No,” I say, trying to be gutsy, too. “I’m also going to say that if you—if you think you love me, then shouldn’t you treat me like you love me and respect me? And be patient with me?” I realize that I’m saying this not just to Dee but also to my mother. And Kristina. And Ellis. And Jeff. And maybe even myself. (Awwww baby. I wanna hug you)

15. “I don’t know,” I say. “I don’t think so. I mean, I don’t know.” I watch a plane zoom across the sky, and envy the power and control of it. I simultaneously realize that without a pilot, it would crash. “I need to be my own pilot,” I say. “And I don’t understand why my copilot is saying stuff like shit or get off the pot. It just doesn’t seem like a good team

16. I sigh deeply and lie back down to look at the sky. No airplanes. No passengers to ask. So I ask the clouds. Did you guys know there’s a wrong side and a right side? Why didn’t you tell me? The clouds don’t answer. “So when you said shit or get off the pot, you didn’t mean for me to make up my mind,” I say. “You meant for me to just come out, be gay, and be done with it.” “Well, yeah. I don’t see what the holdup is.” “You wouldn’t understand,” I say. “Obviously, this was a piece of cake for you.” “Are you saying you might not be gay? That this is all just some kind of joke or something?” “It’s not a joke.” “So what is it, then?” “It’s a question. And I’m answering it. But I don’t know the answer yet, and I’m sorry

17. Isn’t it enough to be in love with Dee’s amazing eyes and the smell of her hair? Isn’t it enough that she thinks I’m funny? That we have fun when we mess around at work? Why does everything come with a strict definition? Who made all these boxes? (And then the marriage proposal couple. How cool. The boxes being jewish stuff. I love how the questions she asks has a response from up above)

18. “I don’t know. Isn’t that what you learn in humanities?” I think about what Frank S. would say. But I say nothing (Is that because socrates says nothing? Awesome)

19. Maybe it’s okay that people talk you into things. Maybe if they didn’t, you’d never go anywhere (Yus)

20. I feel an intense paranoia that if I use their toilet paper, they will be even more pissed off with me than they already seem to be (I wanna help her. Why is she so insecure? I feel protective towards her)

21. I hear my dad’s voice: You have to let people get to know you before you decide they don’t like you (Yyaaasss)

22. What does the airport look like at four o’clock in the morning? Did they even have coffee brewing? Was there toilet paper in the stalls? And why don’t I feel ashamed right now? Is that a sign? (Because its not your fault. Passenger’s story about her friend and her and two boys who took advantage. She finally feels okay about it. That’s because she finally accepted that what happened wasn’t her fault. Which is the same in case of astrid and cops busting gay bar)

23. All we can see is the wall Mom wants us to see. On it she’s drawn the people we know in shadow. For me, she’s drawn you and Dad and the residents of Unity Valley. For you, she’s drawn me and Dad and the residents of Unity Valley. Based on Mom’s shadows, I see a sister who will always be better than me. A sister who will always win because I am a loser. She has cast this same shadow for Dad. We are the losers in the Jones family illusion, and you and Mom are the winners ME: Now imagine we were set free from this illusion. Our chains removed, our heads able to turn and look at each other. What would I look like to you? And what would you look like to me? And what would Dad look like to us? Would we still rely on the shadows, or would we see the real people? ELLIS: You’re starting to worry me, Astrid. ME: That’s because you’re still chained ME: I guess not, too. ELLIS: But if I change the way I think, Mom will stop loving me. ME: How do you know? ELLIS: I know because that’s what she did to you (Aw)

24. They say: Did you hear? Did you hear? Did you hear? But no one actually talks to us. (Wow. Yes. They hear it from others but never from us. And they believe what others say.)

25. You’re completely wrong, you know. You’re completely full of shit.” “That’s not what we heard.” They say that in unison, like the creepy girls in The Shining. They say: That’s not what we heard. (Because you didn’t. Not really)

26. She asks, “What do you think Plato meant to say when he talked about the freed people returning to the cave? Did he think they couldn’t handle the outside world? Did he feel they needed to be controlled? What does that compare to in our society? Do we have places like the cave?” She glances at me when she asks this, but she doesn’t call on me, and I send love to her for it. Ms. Steck, I know you sat in that faculty room and heard every stupid rumor. I love you because this discussion is exactly what I needed. I will not be like Kristina and go back into the cave

27. I replace the word gays from her sentence with these other words: blacks, Hispanics, immigrants, women, people of mixed race, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Gypsies, Russians, Poles, Yugoslavians, Ukrainians, mentally and physically disabled

28. Frank Socrates, and he says, in my head, Settle for nothing less than the truth. Even if the answer is I don’t know

29. When I see the first plane, I make a deal with its passengers. I say: Look, this is a loan. I don’t know if love is something I will run out of one day. I don’t know if I should be giving it all to you guys or not. Today, I feel like maybe I should have kept some for myself for days when no one else loves me. Not even my best friend (Awww boo)

30. And then I send the love up. It’s as easy as it always is, and it’s hard, too, because I really don’t know the answer to this mystery. Is love something that will always be available? Will it always be confined and untrustworthy like it feels today? Is there enough to go around? Am I wasting mine on strangers? (Awww. No baby. That’s what makes you a wonderful person.)

31. (God this book is so fucking beautiful. Drove me to tears. After the above, a guy in plane feels bad about not feeling loved and then he receives Astrid’s and he feels happy. And astrid thinks it’s a waste which is proved wrong by this dude. How fucking beautiful.)

32. While I’m brushing my teeth, I think about how our sisterhood deteriorated. I blame Mom. Of course. But as I look at myself in the mirror, I see some other stuff. My snubbing her when she decided to be a small-town girl. Me deciding she didn’t need me anymore when she got old enough to stop watching The Wizard of Oz. Me not inviting her when Dad and I would make stuff together. Me deciding that Mom would always like her more… and having it reflect on her instead of just on Mom. So maybe I helped it happen. Maybe we’d be closer. If I told her the truth, she’d probably accept me eventually, and we could just be sisters again

33. As he walks away, I think about what he said about Justin in the locker room, and I think about Ellis and her gross towel thing this morning, and I figure out what confuses people so much about other people being gay. They think it’s all about sex (Yyyeeesss. As if that’s the only element about their personality.)

34. NO wins, twelve votes to ten. Ms. Steck doesn’t say anything. She just leaves the results on the board above the ugly homophobic signs, and all I can think of is what she called us: Unity Valley’s best and brightest. And we’re three votes short of equality. (Best and brightest being a paradox. And 3 votes short which makes her paradox “equality is obvious” ring true)

35. I think about what she said to me last night. How I had nothing to lose and how she had everything to lose. I count eight people at her table. I count zero at mine (Does this mean in a revengey manner?or was she just justifying kris’ statement?)

36. First, to define equality. Then to define obvious. I mean, I can even try to define is if I want, because equality isn’t really working in the present tense, is it? Because equality isn’t really obvious to most people. And I don’t mean to say the world is filled with racists or sexists or homophobes. I mean to say: Everybody’s always looking for the person they’re better than. In fourth grade, it’s the second graders. In ninth grade, it’s the eighth graders. Adults look at teenagers like we’re the stupidest creatures on the planet, when really we’re just lining up to take their jobs in T-minus five years. I am equal to a baby and to a hundred-year-old lady. I am equal to an airline pilot and a car mechanic. I am equal to you. You are equal to me. It’s that universal. Except that it’s not

37. I feel myself getting pissed off, so I take a minute to try to figure out how to say what I want to say. Frank S. lights Dad’s pipe. I have no idea how he knew where to find it, but I guess if I made him up in my head, he must know everything I know. I feel relaxed by association

38. Still, it’s none of your business until I’m ready to tell you. Calling it a lie is wrong. And kinda hurtful. I really know what you’re trying to say, but try to think about it from my side. It just sucks that you’d hold my own confusion—which tortured me for months—against me. Seriously.” (I agree)

39. Why? I’m right! All those people who are chained here thinking that their reputations matter and that this little shit matters are so freaking shortsighted. Dude, what matters is if you’re happy. What matters is your future. What matters is that we get out of here in one piece. What matters is finding the truth of our own lives, not caring about what other people think is the truth of us! (Yyyaaasss)

40. I take a second to think about him—Frank Socrates—and I decide he’s my new hero. Not because he shows up in my life and talks to me when I want him to, but because of who he was and what he stood for. I just love how he rejected all the boxes

41. The world is made of so many types of different people, and we have to learn that though they might be scary at first, they are not inherently bad because they are different.” He starts this way and goes on to talk about his days in school as a mixed-race Latino and how hard it was for him growing up. He got beat up a lot. Teased every day. I start to feel resentful. You mean to tell me that it’s 2011 and this guy gets paid to have remedial talks with high school students about how they shouldn’t hate other people? Isn’t this elementary? Shouldn’t it be automatic? What kind of species are we if we have to have people come talk to us about this crap? And how, if we’re that stupid, did we get to the moon and help build a space station? He tells a story about how his mother was from Cuba and how she hated Puerto Ricans. He says, “No matter how many times I tried to explain to her how stupid this was, she never changed. It was just ingrained in her. “Some of you have it ingrained in you. You weren’t born with it. You were taught. No baby has hate for anything.” He produces a baby (a real baby) and bounces the kid on his hip. “We were all babies once, right? This little guy doesn’t care what country you were born in or what religion you might practice or how much you weigh or who you might love

42. I just went to my twenty-fifth class reunion, guys. Let me tell you—people change. The girls who passed around rumors about all the weird kids? Are nice and have their own weird kids. The so-called losers who graduated at the bottom of the class? Are driving luxury cars and running big businesses. The kid who made fun of all the gay kids? Is gay. I’m not saying this will happen to all of you, but what I’m trying to tell you is that high school doesn’t end here. You guys will know each other for a long time, and you will get to see how life changes people. I only hope that for right now, you remember that there is no place for hate in a happy life. I don’t care who you are, where you come from or what God you believe in. I can guarantee you that if you hate, you will never achieve true happiness

43. “I don’t know why this is so important for me to tell you, but I’m a virgin. Seriously weird for me to be telling you that, I know, but this whole thing, it’s not about sex. I just fell in love, and it happened to be with a girl.” “O-kay,” he says. “When I told you I didn’t know if I was gay, I was telling you the truth. I just know I’m in love—with a girl. I had no idea of anything past that. It’s very Socrates, you know? I’m not questioning my sexuality as much as I’m questioning the strict definitions and boxes of all sexualities and why we care so much about other people’s intimate business.

44. And if any of you has a problem with any of it, then it’s your problem. Being gay is hard enough without having to worry about your family being weird about it.”

45. How can we say nobody’s perfect if there is no perfect to compare to? Perfection implies that there really is a right and wrong way to be.(but that keeps changing, no?) And what type of perfection is the best type? Moral perfection? Aesthetic? Physiological? Mental

46. By the end of the day, I’m exhausted. Frank S. must have been one hearty guy to argue on the streets of Athens all day the way he did. Our humanities class enjoys a bunch of snacks and a Socrates Project party in the humanities room, where we all debate one another’s paradoxes and are reminded by Ms. Steck to question everything and continue to challenge others with our open minds long after we remove our togas

47. I listen to the air. I don’t hear a thing. Not one thing. They say: They say:

48. The nice thing about the passengers is they can’t say anything back. I can’t see any faces full of disappointment. I can’t hear them saying bad things about me. I can’t hear them call me the politically correct term for Indian giver… on Thanksgiving Day. Anyway, it’s not like I want my love back. I’m just slowing down business. They can have a little. I can say, “I love you!” when I see a plane. I probably always will. But they can’t have all my love. I have too many uses for it now

49. Okay. I sent them my love because I didn’t need it here,” I say. “Mom never loved me, and Dad was too busy doing other stuff, and you didn’t love me because Mom had turned you against me, and then when Dee came along, I knew I couldn’t love her even though I love her more than anything. But I knew I wouldn’t be allowed. Not by Mom, not by Unity Valley. Not by you. Not by anyone

50. will notice, you know, when you find some cute guy and marry him and have a bunch of kids, that you might not be gay and sleeping with your lesbian sister. If they believe lies, then that’s their problem, not yours (True)

51. And then I look out the window and down at the green-and-brown landscape, and I toss my love to whoever might be there to keep it safe. Maybe if you catch this love, you can keep it safe? I ask them. Maybe someone down there knows what to do with it while I go and get brainwashed by people who hate me? Dee says, “What?” I try to think of what just happened, but I can’t explain it. All I know is that a huge, overwhelming feeling of love has just landed in my heart, and I have to keep it safe for a while. “Nothing,” I say. “Don’t worry about it I’m left with this feeling, though. A lucky feeling. I squeeze Dee’s hand and kiss her on the cheek. I can do that now. I can do whatever I want. I look at the plane, and I send my love. Don’t worry. I’ll keep it safe. Stay strong

52. (I thought the ending would be her sitting on a plane and receiving the love of someone else but this is way better. And so much better)

[theimpossiblescheme]

My Etcetera Headcanons:

She’s Asparagus Jr. and Jellylorum’s daughter and Plato and Socrates’s little sister.

Her very best friends are Jemima and Electra, and she even courted both of them for a while after she came of age.  She’s also really close with Victoria, but sometimes she felt a little left out when Victoria and Plato first became a couple and started spending more time with the adults.

Rum Tum Tugger once saved her and Rumpleteazer from a pack of hostile Pollicle dogs, and she’s been his absolute biggest fan ever since.

She’s also good friends with Bimbo and her fellow circus cats and always looks forward to their visits. (@rumplteazer​)

She always wants to imitate the adults without completely understanding their intentions—she joined in the Sexy Queens’ Dance at the Jellicle Ball because she wanted to feel pretty and grown-up, and the implications hadn’t fully dawned on her.

She doesn’t really understand Bustopher Jones and thinks his taste in food is gross, but she tries to be a good kitten who respects her elders anyway.

She adores Mistoffelees and his magic, and she hopes that when she’s Cassandra’s age she’ll be able to be his “beautiful assistant” as well.  He’s like her third big brother.

She loves playing pranks on the psychic twins, especially Coricopat since he has more of a sense of humor about it.  Whenever she messes with him, he takes it in stride and usually gets back at her in a mostly harmless way later.

She also likes to “borrow” her friends’ little clothing pieces and trinkets and wear them around.

She’s utterly devoted to her Grandpa Gus and is always bringing him little presents and looking for any excuse to spend time with him.  She knows he’s getting old and won’t be around forever, so she wants to be with him as much as she can.  There was one day when he mistook her for her mother, and she cried harder than she’s ever cried in her life.

She loves playing on playgrounds, especially going down the slides and running across the seesaws.

Her favorite human foods are doughnuts and waffles.  She also loves Japanese food of all kinds.

She’s prone to daydreaming and will sometimes space out into her own little world when she should be paying attention to something else.

She thinks human cartoons are hilarious and will sometimes sneak along with Mistoffelees to the cinema so she can watch the animated shorts before the movie.

She’s one of the best young dancers in the whole Tribe and incredibly flexible to the point where she can put both her legs behind her head any old time she wants.

She likes to sleep in precarious positions with all her limbs sprawled out beside her.

After her first Jellicle Ball, she was adopted by an American couple whose daughter adored her, but it meant she had to move to a new country with them and leave her family.  After a long time, she decided to go with them, and the Tribe threw her a going-away party where Misto gave her one of his magic collars that allowed to her to hear her family and even return whenever she wanted to. (@storyweaverofgondor​)

She becomes Seraph’s (@bombilurina​) and Admetus’s mate when she’s older and has a son named Jax with Admetus. (@uppastthejelliclemoon​)

[eyesaremosaics]

Howdy :) questions, seeing as you can't sleep: have you had any experiences which majorly helped to shape who you are today? Dinner with anyone, living or dead, who would it be? Where do you feel most safe? How would you describe what love feels like for you? One fundamental element of who you are?

Hi there! Thank you for asking!

I believe all my experiences have shaped me into who I am today. All the characters I’ve played, the people I’ve met, the trauma I’ve survived, the deep connections I have formed. My psychic grandmother had a huge impact on who I grew up to be, as did my impetuous and fiery mother. My father also shaped me with his “rebel without a cause philosophy” and his independence. My significant relationships shaped me for sure. In both good and bad ways. Being forced to move out at 18 and support myself entirely with no financial support whatsoever was a big thing. Moving to Berkeley, and then to SF definitely shaped me.

I also think, that doing hospice care for a friend who was dying of cancer, and raising her two little boys really significantly shaped me. More than anything else I suppose. It was the most meaningful experience of my life.

Dinner with anyone… Living or dead… That is hard. There are so many. Nietzsche, Sylvia Plath, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Zelda, Bowie, Walt Disney, Queen Elizabeth, Clara now, Greta Garbo, Alfred Hitchcock, Winona Ryder and Johnny Depp when they were together, along with Tim Burton, Edward Gorey, Jhonen Vasquez, Alan Rickman, Anais Nin and Henry Miller, J.D Salinger, J.k Rowling, Oscar Wilde (you KNOW he would be hilarious), Edgar Allen Poe, Anne Sexton, Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, Ralph Fiennes, Al Pacino, Kate Winslet, Aleister Crowley (I’d be terrified yet fascinated), man ray, Frida Kahlo, Salvador Dali, Edie Sedgwick, Aldous Huxley, Judy Garland, Dario Argento, Stanley Kubrick, Louise Brooks, Stuart Townsend, Martin Luther King, Louis CK, Rasputin, Aaliyah, Josephine Baker, Nat King Cole, Joanna Newsom, James Earl Jones, Robert smith, Siouxie Siou, grace Slick, HUNTER S. THOMPSON, Obama, Carrie Fischer, Audrey Hepburn, Clark Gable, Hattie McDaniel, Abraham Lincoln, Cate Blanchett, Juliette Binoche, Viola Davis, Edward Albee, Shakespeare, Marilyn Manson and Twiggy Ramirez (back in the old days), Tori Amos, Bjork, Lauren Graham, Simone de bouvoir, Socrates, Jean Paul Sartre, Jack Kerouac, Aristotle, Gene Tierney, Lupe Velez, Rose McGowan, Liz Frasier, Fiona Apple, Diana Ross, Lindsay Kemp, Kate Bush, Bill Hicks, Cillian Murphy, Ibsen, Joan of Arc, Brandon and Bruce Lee, Cleopatra, Nefertiti, Helena Bonham Carter, Prince, Peter Steele, Ray Charles, Billi Holiday, Eva Greene, Martin Scorsese, Marlon Brando, Orson Welles, The entire cast of golden girls, especially Bea Arthur, Robin Williams, Miyazaki, Kevin Aucoin, Nico, Anne Frank, Chris Rock, Mary Pickford, Elfride Jelinek, Anne Rice, Marlene Dietrich, Mary Shelley, Gia, Howard Hughes, Vincent van gough, Dustin Hoffman, Vincent price, Hans Christian Anderson, Gary Oldman, Daniel day Lewis, Michael Caine, Rumi, t.s Eliot… Laurence Olivier And God so many more.

Overall though, I would choose to have tea with Vivien Leigh. My one true hero and inspiration.

Where do I feel most safe? Disneyland, my bedroom, and my grandmother's house.

Love feels like… A drug to me. It feels like the entire world is suddenly made beautiful–even the ugly parts. I feel like my heart has wings, I feel more excitement and desperate passion than I have ever felt, I feel a warm glow, a blue lagoon reflecting the sky. It feels like suddenly everything in the world makes sense, and like I am a little girl again in awe of the world for the first time. When the initial honeymoon phase passes… It feels like… A heartbeat in my head. Like my right arm. Something that is always with me, and very deeply a part of me, everywhere I go. It feels like an omnipresent thing. Like the feeling of suddenly knowing you are alive, it feels like a warm blanket to cuddle up with. Like flowers blooming in the spring, or the sun shining through the clouds. Though in my sad and limited experience… It often ends up feeling sad. Like an echo, a stain on your consciousness. A shadow slinking along the walls… At least romantic love. Live for my friends and family, is something eternal. The power of miracles. That which shines, and it can never be diminished or destroyed. My love once given, is forever.

Fundamental element of who I am? Empathy.

Sorry so long! Thank you for keeping me busy on this long sleepless night. I wish you much love my dear! 💋💋

[democratsunited-blog]

Republicans, Democrats look to use Kavanaugh nomination as weapon in midterm fight

https://uniteddemocrats.net/?p=6491

Republicans, Democrats look to use Kavanaugh nomination as weapon in midterm fight

The campaign is underway.

Not the race for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. No mentions of Sens. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., or former Vice President Joe Biden.

It’s the campaign for the Supreme Court.

Democrats and Republicans will burn tens of millions of dollars in a campaign to confirm Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh or torpedo his nomination. Everyone will try to force the hands of swing votes like Sens. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Joe Donnelly, D-Ind.

The Kavanaugh nomination is about the midterm elections as much as it is about the balance of power on the Supreme Court.

Republicans have used judicial nominations to gin up their base for years. They’ll certainly attempt to excite Republican voters this fall with Kavanaugh. Many observers see the confirmation as Kavanaugh as a possible path to overturning Roe v. Wade or ruling against the labor movement.

Democrats can play at this game, too.

Democrats have never deployed the issue of judges in quite the same fashion as Republicans. But Democrats have the chance to do so this year. Kavanaugh’s nomination provides Democrats with a foil – even if the Senate confirms the nominee just weeks before the midterms. Naturally Democrats would prefer to derail Kavanaugh’s nomination. But if Democrats play their cards right, they may be able to invigorate their base – especially suburban women – and capitalize on Kavanaugh’s confirmation.

Why haven’t Democrats exploited the federal judiciary for political gain the way Republicans have?

“We are not as Machiavellian as they are,” said House Democratic Caucus Vice Chair Linda Sanchez, D-Calif.

But Sanchez says Kavanaugh’s nomination presents the party with an opening.

“Giving Democrats the majority despite Kavanaugh gives Democrats the opportunity to fix some (court) overreaches,” said Sanchez.

The Kavanaugh nomination may appear like bad news for Democrats. But if Democrats are crafty enough, they could swivel Kavanaugh’s confirmation into a midterm battle cry.

Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution requires the Senate to confirm Supreme Court nominees, via “Advice and Consent.” But the process leading up to that confirmation vote evolved over the years.

Senators never even met with nominees until 1925. Justice Harlan Fiske Stone was the first nominee to appear in person to field questions from the Senate Judiciary Committee ahead of his confirmation to the High Court. Senators raised concerns about Stone’s ties to Wall Street. The process of a “modern” confirmation hearing began with the nomination of Justice John Harlan Marshall II in 1955. The advent of television ushered in a different model for a Supreme Court confirmation hearing. It culminated in 1991 with dramatic, wall-to-wall, televised hearings for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Anita Hill accused Thomas of sexual harassment when they worked together at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

“The confirmation process has turned into a political campaign for office,” said Ron Bonjean, former communications director for former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss. “You have judges that have brilliant legal minds. But they are literally running for office for the first time. Having a sherpa or a campaign manager help them through the process is extremely useful.”

As a result, the nominee, or candidate, as the case may be, spends weeks touring the Senate for conclaves with nearly all 100 senators. Here’s where the “sherpa” comes in. Capitol Hill may only stand 88 feet above sea level. But trekking to the highest court in the land necessitates a political alpinist, lest the nominee plunge into a Senate crevasse.

“You can call it a guide. Or sensei. Or teacher. Or whatever. But the sherpa is usually the guide. It is somebody you are looking to as you go through a process,” said Bonjean. “When you have a sherpa, it is not for the rest of your life. It is usually because you are on a trip and you need help getting from point A to point B.”

Bonjean worked with former Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., as she served as sherpa to Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch during his confirmation process last year. Bonjean was also once a top aide to former Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz. The Trump Administration tapped Kyl to escort Kavanaugh to his Senate appointments this year.

“I would want (Kyl) in my foxhole any day of the week as a legislative sherpa, walking around Brett Kavanaugh,” said Bonjean.

Some lament alterations to the contemporary confirmation process. Meeting the nominee used to be rare. Now it’s not. Hearings didn’t happen. Now they’re a marquee event. The same with TV. And as part of that evolution, the “campaign” for the Supreme Court is here to stay.

Is that a problem?

There’s been talk in Major League Baseball of late about “shifts.” That’s where the team in the field adjusts to the trends of the batter, repositioning defenders accordingly. For a left-handed pull hitter, the third baseman stands close to second base, the shortstop is where the second baseman usually plays and the second baseman patrols short right field. Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred is considering proposals to police defensive shifts, regulating their use and restricting where players may stand.

The solution for hitters? Adjust. Choke up on the bat. Cue a flair into left field. Drop a bunt down the abandoned third base line. Granted, tweaking the way you hit is easier said than done. But there are always options.

If senators and the public don’t like how Supreme Court nominees now must run a “campaign,” consider ways to overcome the “shift” on Capitol Hill.

Lisa Murkowski is one of the most-watched senators in this campaign. A defection by Murkowski or fellow Republican Susan Collins could upend the nomination. The Senate functions with a narrow 50-49 GOP edge these days. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., remains out, suffering from brain cancer.

“It’s okay to take it slow,” said Murkowski who opposes an expedited track for Kavanaugh. In fact, the Alaska Republican observed that lawmakers on both sides made snap judgments about Kavanaugh, minutes after President Trump unveiled his nominee.

“There is such an immediate reaction, both pro and con,” said Murkowski. “They seem to be so absolute in their opinion. They believe that he should be absolutely confirmed or absolutely not confirmed.”

Every senator is seeking something different in the confirmation process, right down to the nominee’s judicial philosophy.

“I’m looking for a cross between Socrates and Dirty Harry,” opined Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

In 2017, three Democratic senators voted to confirm Gorsuch: Sens. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Joe Donnelly. All three face challenging re-election bids in red states this November. But there’s another factor in the Kavanaugh campaign which didn’t exist last year. That’s the election of Sen. Doug Jones, D-Ala. No other Democratic senator represents a constituency as conservative as the one Jones has in Alabama.

“There’s a good chance we pick up a number of Democrats,” observed Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., about the Kavanaugh nomination. “It would serve Jones well in the state of Alabama to support a conservative judge for the Supreme Court.”

When initially asked about his take on Kavanaugh, Jones replied “I haven’t done that deep a dive yet.”

Democrats hope to slow down Kavanaugh’s nomination to parse his voluminous record. That’s an important tactic. The more time to study, the better the chances Democrats find a tripwire for Kavanaugh.

On Thursday, the Trump Administration yanked the nomination of Ryan Bounds for the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, moments before his confirmation vote. The nominee lacked the votes after senators unearthed controversial writings from Bounds.

Democrats immediately seized on Bounds’ writings as an undergraduate at Stanford as a reason Senate Republicans should grant them ample time to review Kavanaugh’s record.

“This shows when you first ask for writings, maybe they don’t show you everything,” said Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., of Bounds. “The same rule should apply to Kavanaugh.”

But dragging it out could backfire on Democrats. Sure, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., prefers to confirm Kavanaugh when the Supreme Court’s new term starts October 1. But McConnell could call the Democrats’ bluff and schedule the confirmation vote as close to the midterm elections as possible. That would apply maximum pressure on Democrats from battleground states to vote yes.

After all, this nomination isn’t just about the Supreme Court. It’s a campaign for the midterms.

Capitol Attitude is a weekly column written by members of the Fox News Capitol Hill team. Their articles take you inside the halls of Congress, and cover the spectrum of policy issues being introduced, debated and voted on there.

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12 Hidden Athens Gems Spotted by Locals

What is it that makes Athens special to live in and experience on a day-to-day basis?

If you ask our Spotters, that would be the unpretentious Mediterranean-meets-Oriental tsipouro and meze bars/restaurants; the indie cinemas (always playing movies in their original language with Greek subtitles); it’d be the sidestreets in the centre that so delicately strike the balance between decline, neglect, vitality and reappropriation, or the great weather that makes exploring in the city a joy of its own.

Here are some of our picks for some of the most unique, locals gems in Athens, in the words of our very own team of Spotters.

Stunning views from atop a neglected secret Aghios Ioannis Park (by Nikos Palavitsinis)

Well, this kind-of park isn’t the best choice for a walk, but it has a breathtaking view! It is located behind the Aghios Ioannis Metro Station (red line) and it’s quite steep, which makes it almost impossible to climb, apart from a small path that was made a long time ago and runs through it. Along the path, you will find pensioners playing backgammon and chess in groups!

It’s quite neglected but it’s charming in its state of decay. It’s really interesting to walk around and see the houses built on the other side of the hill, as most of them look like village houses, although built in the center of Athens. Don’t visit after nightfall, just to be on the safe side.

The view from Aghios Ioannis Park is one of the best in Athens, although the surrounding area and the park could be preserved a bit better! —Nikos Palavitsinis

Athens urban street life distilled, complete with bikes Melanthiou Street (by Andreas Papadopoulos)

There is a small street called Melanthiou in the area of Psiri, in the centre of Athens. In the last few years, this area transformed from a drug area into a cyclists’ joint. One of the pioneers of this movement is Welsh Gareth Jones, who came from London to open a bike store here.

At Melanthiou street you will find everything and everyone who has ties to biking philosophy in the city: the bike store VCA, Handlebar cafe, the Bondex cyclist couriers, along with Silver 925 graffiti store and creative design studio Pi6. You can come and drink your coffee while your bike is being fixed or eat something at very low prices. The best time to visit Melanthiou street is in the evening, when people are gathered at small tables by the road and it all creates a single company.

With a bike or not, take a break at this spot during your city walk in Athens’ center. You will probably meet me here while I’m fixing my bike again. –Andreas Papadopoulos

A century-old house turned bar Syntrimi (by Dimitris Hall)

My very first time at Syntrimmi, I discovered its mini-atrium that could very well be the foyer to my personal heaven. I returned for their literally unbeatable wine & coffee prices. Then I went back for their super-welcoming environment for quiet work in the afternoons. Then I went back for their music choices which fit my taste like a glove (Ibrahim Maalouf, Yes, Django Rheinhardt)…

Syntrimmi has become my favourite spot in the city!—Dimitris Hall

Super-local lunch dead in the centre Biftekares (by Nikos Palavitsinis)

If all my articles for Spotted by Locals were a crown, this would be the crown jewel! I am so proud to introduce this place, as this is something that merely 1% of Greeks know about! Biftekares is a really small spot, with 6-7 tables, mainly outside, overlooking Syntagma Square. The old man that owns it prepares 4-5 dishes, like delicious burgers, small pizzas of his own making, French fries, omelet, Greek salad and sausages. That’s it!

Keep in mind that once you locate the building, you just go in and take the elevator to the 9th floor. No signs there, no nothing. Even the doorman won’t let you know about the canteen.

This is probably the best hidden secret of Syntagma! —Nikos Palavitsinis

Large botanical garden few Athenians know about Diomidous Botanical Garden (by Pantelis Mavrodopoulos)

The Diomidous Botanical Garden is the largest botanical garden of the eastern Mediterranean. It was founded in 1952, and in 1975, after completion of landscaping, it was opened to the general public. In its area of 470 acres you can find trees and bushes can be found from all over the world, as well as plants mentioned in Greek mythology and history, like the myrtle of Aphrodite and Socrates’ hemlock.

If properly prepared, you can have a picnic under the shade of the trees, in one of the outdoor monastery-type tables, where you can meet other groups or families (or even me?) rolling around on the grass. —Andreas Papadopoulos

Festival cinema with bar attached Mikrokosmos (by @miss_psipsina)

Call it a cinema, call it a bar. Personally, I can’t really decide what it is, since I use it as both.

Film festivals of every kind take place here during the year while the normal selection of the films featured in Mikrokosmos is of the best kind and from all over the world. But as I said, there is also the bar!

I’ve spent hours laughing dead to the endless jokes of the owner and his wife. While sitting at the bar staring at the Tom Waits wallpaper in the back, I sometimes even forget I want to go home… —Margarita Kalogeropoulou

Best street food in Athens? Feyrouz

If you are wandering around Athens and are looking for street food, there is a place you should not miss! In the hyped, central neighborhood around Aiolou Street, you can have the most tasty lechmatzoun of the city! Mrs Feyrouz, who comes from Antioch in Turkey, bakes the lechmatzoun, and her sons, Andreas and Savvas, serve them. But most of all they create a gastronomic tour for you! They have a story to tell you about every delicious dish their mother makes and they share this story with you.

Since the very first time I visited Feyrouz I have visited them again and again. Not only because of how gastronomically happy they make me but also because you can feel that this family runs their small business with love for food and also love for the tradition that is related to their food!

Feyrouz was voted as the best place for “street food” in Athens and we are really proud of them! —Marilena Salamanou

Art and drinks at the old train To Traino sto Rouf

To Traino sto Rouf (‘The Train in Rouf’) is a well preserved old train in its natural environment, a train station. Theatrical plays, music performances and art exhibitions take place in the train wagons. The theater wagon is reformed as a theatrical scene, the wagon bar, with its wooden decoration and low lights creates a mysterious, retro atmosphere, while the restaurant wagon is as if taken from those old time movies, where so many things could happen on a train…

The schedule varies from season to season. In the summer you can have a drink of wine on the platform and in winter you can dine in the wagon restaurant, experiencing a unique atmosphere. Feels like you are in a movie… Anna Karenina maybe? —Sofia Skioti

The city’s most exciting overgrown stream Rema Pikrodafnis (by Dimitris Hall)

Among the blocks of flats, the avenues and the urban “growth” lies a different kind of growth. One that seems to be frozen in time together with its surroundings.

Rema Pikrodafnis is one of the few remaining relatively untouched streams in Athens. You can see the areas it runs through by clicking here. Polluted waters, illegal dwellings tacked on the stream itself, an overgrowth of reeds everywhere… It’s a forgotten, completely different world. You’ll find such things as chicken coops, tin shacks, tortoises, frogs and great views over the stream from the winding, labyrinthine roads that run parallel to it. Some might say it’s not an interesting sight and might wonder why anyone would want to visit a place such as it. I for one love this seemingly abandoned part of the city and really think it’s a symbol of the part of Greece a lot of people choose to forget. —Dimitris Hall

Innovative Greek concept store Graffito

Since Graffito opened its doors in 2012, it has been supporting new Greek entrepreneurs while bringing first-class design from all over Europe and the world. If you’d like to explore what Greek creativity and design has to offer, this is your spot. From deli to fashion, this place gathers some of the most up and coming Greek brands.

I love it for gift shopping, cause simply I can find special gifts for everyone here — from my parents to my best friend and even my dog. Moreover, there is a coffee shop inside the store which is ideal for getting a break from shopping with an espresso and some delicious cake. —Angeliki Georgokosta

Fertile breeding ground for upcoming creatives Neon Raum (by Aigli Andritsopoulou)

Upcoming creatives have finally found the right space to showcase their art in the urban core. Neon Raum is more than just another showroom and photography studio promoting Greek designers, it is a fertile breeding ground for artists and hoarders of unique moments of collaborative artistic practice, who have the need to express themselves and unlock their creativity by being part of a community that speaks a global language.

Innovative ideas by colourful individuals make Neon Raum the city’s hub of a limitless world of fashion, art and culture focusing on the beauty in the process.

Extra tip: Before you visit, check Neon Raum’s Facebook page for any popup events. Join their Sunday specials and get the chance to chit-chat with the designers while brunching in Raum’s sunbathed loft. —Aigli Andritsopoulou

Indie-underground apartment Velvet Room (by The Callas)

Velvet Room is an actual room, a very typical central Athens apartment which has been turned into a live music, performance, art, party and seminar venue. When there aren’t any events taking place, Velvet Room is the studio of the band The Callas.

I mostly go there for the music. It hosts some of the best local gems as well as international artists. Some of my favorite acts like Chickn, Kid Flicks, Victory Collapse and Angelos Kyriou have played there.

Don’t miss the opportunity to get a glimpse of the Athens indie – underground scene. —Angeliki Georgokosta

For more hidden gems, check out the Spotted by Locals Athens cityblog.

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Before Their Time: The Adventures of Brisco County Jr.

When my boyfriend brought home The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr., I was skeptical. I enjoy Bruce Campbell as much as the next person who suffered through Spider-Man 3 (it was a youthful indiscretion; I’m not proud, OK?), but couldn’t see myself getting into a long-cancelled network show set in the Old West. But “network TV set in the Old West” really doesn’t do The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. justice. One might try to describe it as Wild Wild West meets Lost, or steampunk Indiana Jones, or even The X-Files set in Westworld, but this irresistible cocktail of derring-do and kitsch resists succinct descriptions. Its plots dabbled in everything from time travel to courtroom drama. It poached cliffhangers from classic movie serials, anachronisms from Renaissance Italy and post-industrial America, and puns from your dad. It was just self-aware enough to embrace corniness without succumbing to it, and the result is something that is hard to explain but surprisingly easy to watch.

Our titular adventurer is a Harvard Law grad turned bounty hunter (Bruce Campbell) pursuing the gang that murdered his father, federal marshal Brisco County, Sr. (R. Lee Ermey). Junior is an erudite swashbuckler, the sort of crack shot who codes telegrams in Latin and usually leaves the table before Texas Hold ‘Em becomes Texas Hang ‘Em. When his father’s killers steal a mysterious object called the Orb, the wealthy denizens of the Westerfield Club engage Jr.’s services to retrieve it. Between the Club members’ questionable claims of ownership and the Orb’s strange powers, the show cheerfully opens with plenty of avenues to ignore the constraints of its chosen genre. Thus a story about an Old West lawman bringing killers to justice flirts by turns with being a police procedural, a sci-fi epic, a heist film, and a zombie flick. None of this sounds like it should work, but it does, buoyed by charismatic performances from a cast who seem to be enjoying themselves immensely.

Brisco’s efforts are alternately aided and hampered by competing bounty hunter Lord Bowler (Julius Carry), Dixie Cousins (Kelly Rutherford), a local chanteuse who wants a gang to call her own, and Socrates Poole (Christian Clemenson), the stodgy Club lawyer who oversees Brisco’s expense account. The gang’s leader, one finger-steepling John Bly (Billy Drago), slips in and out of their orbits while inching ever closer to world domination. With each encounter, Brisco ekes out a little more information about the Orb’s purpose and powers, his relationships with Bowler, Dixie, and Socrates take engaging and occasionally surprising turns, and the characters themselves take shape: Bowler’s slapstick bumbling recedes to reveal a canny tracker and war veteran; Dixie refuses to let her affection for Brisco supplant her own ambitions, and Socrates discovers a penchant for middle management and games of chance. For his part, Bruce Campbell inhabits his character with unironic aplomb, leaning into stunts and puns with infectious abandon.

Although it boasts the rich characterization of all shows near and dear to my heart, The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. keeps clear of the grittiness of peak TV. It’s just suspenseful enough to keep viewers hooked and serialized with a characteristically light 90s touch. If this sounds like fluff, it is, but in keeping with its general defiance of genre constraints, it’s substantial fluff. Its cheesy wholesomeness belies an interest in the competing visions whose collision would define America. Brisco’s travels bring him into contact with the Industrial Revolution’s first encroachments into the undeveloped frontier. His story touches everything from rockets to slot machines to fingerprint analysis to (proto-) Elvis, and even though the series doesn’t lean into the implications of these imminent cultural shifts as heavily as a more contemporary show might have, it is all funny, thoughtful, and just plausible enough.

Inexplicably, old-timey cliffhangers and ahistorical swashbuckling were a hard sell, and the series struggled to get ratings. While its immediate successor and spiritual cousin The X-Files would go on for a few seasons too many, The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. would ride off into the sunset after only 27 episodes. Genre-defying to the end, after its brief happy run concluded, Brisco County, Jr. bequeathed props to Firefly and Back to the Future III, music to the Olympics, and a showrunner to Lost. Twenty-plus years after it aired, the only thing that really dates the show is its aspect ratio. It remains compulsively watchable, a rollicking good story filled with media and historical references the Internet was born to tease out. Come for Bruce Campbell’s devil-may-care charm and stay for the Hindenburg jokes: The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. is fun for the whole family.

HOW TO WATCH: The complete show is available on DVD.

MUST WATCH: “Ned Zed” is a sly tap at the fourth wall, a story about stories about heroism in which our heroes appear as the stars of a series of dime novels about mythical lawman Brisco County, Jr.

FAVORITE LINES: “You’ll have to excuse Comet. He doesn’t know he’s a horse.”

“Well, expectations lead to disappointment, Socrates. That’s why I try not to have any.”

“Where exactly, did she go?” “Back to the future.”

“Don’t you get it? He’s somebody.” “Sorry, Dixie, existential thought doesn’t hold much water out here in the territories.”

“Never look too deep into the mind of a lawyer.”

“I like that man.” “You never were a very good judge of character.”

PAIR WITH: Whiskey and green apples.

WATCH FOR: Outside the main cast, the most notable recurring character is Professor Albert Wickwire, played by John Astin with the same manic glee he brought to TV’s Gomez Addams. Sheena Easton, Tony Jay, and Patrick Fischler make appearances, as do Star Trek alum Robert Picardo and J.G. Hertzler (aka Martok, my favorite Klingon).

AFTERWARDS: Nothing comes quite close, but if you’re in the market for more Bruce Campbell, his Sam Axe in early seasons of Burn Notice has echoes of Brisco. The next best unexpected Old West mashup is Firefly