#i went to elementary school in British

[jaspertjunk]

Not much to recommend about America but shout out to me being born American for the fact that I was disgusted when I found out that in British they're legally required to drill religion into little kids in schools and the majority of that "religious education" has to be Christian

[t4tozier]

in the hot for teacher verse do you have a desc doc for what you think the rat grinders look all human? :)

i don't have a specific doc for it because the first chapter was truly just vibes and i didn't expect to be writing more about them, but i do have some ideas in mind! the humanoids are pretty generally the same so for fun i'll give you some facts about all of them in the verse as well! putting this under the cut because it got quite long.

oisin: i was originally picturing him as black w locs, skinny teen who beefed up over the previous summer (lowkey wendell from nsbu before wendell existed) but i was mulling it over earlier and i actually really love the idea of samoan oisin?? he comes back from visiting his family over the summer and has gained so much muscle and fat and got some pe'a and everyone thinks he's so cool for it. he's got long hair that is usually up in a bun. probably also shoots up to 6'2, 6'3".

he's into manga. people who don't know him think he's really intimidating but he's the sweetest guy ever. ivy brings out the bitch in him lbr but for the most part he's just a really buff nerd. am i just describing ify nwadiwe. i swear it's not intentional.

ivy: i don't have a specific race for her but described her in got it bad as olive-skinned, brown hair with blonde highlights. i think she gets the chunky bleach highlights that were popular in like 2020-21. oisin is definitely the tallest of all of them, lucy the tallest of the girls, but ivy's probably second/third-tallest at around 5'8, 5'9.

she runs an anonymous aguefort confessions blog and has a viral tiktok account that mainly went viral as a result of the jace (and porter) videos. jace always says she's gotta quit with the gossip but will still ask her about it he's the worst enabler. she does archery and rides horses at aguefort! she transferred in middle school and everyone was very intrigued by her because she's british. they kept asking her if she's met the queen. she just started saying yes eventually.

lucy: since i made porter a white southern guy lucy is also white and southern by default. i think that she doesn't have the accent her uncle has because her dad married a new englander, so instead she's got this southern/new england mix that leaves her pronouncing certain words very oddly. she still has vitiligo--instead of gray hair she's got light brown with patches of white, and maybe a port wine stain on her face. she's about 5'11" - both of her parents are very tall so she inherited her height from them.

she got bullied pretty badly in elementary school and middle school. she is very sensitive and cries with basically every emotion so it can be hard to determine why she's actually crying if it's not obvious. she's not good at standing up for herself but her friends will hunt a bitch down for her. she will cry if you kill a bug instead of letting it outside. grew up knowing porter's best friend jace bc he gets brought to all the family events and was very grateful when he didn't make anyone call him mr stardiamond when they started his class because that would've been a weird switch to make.

mary ann: shortest one of the group at just around 5 feet. black, box braids with little charms on the ends, braces. her favorite outfit is overalls and her pink hoodie that she's been wearing for years on end because it's been washed so many times it's the perfect texture. between her height, her clothes, and being quiet and autistic, she gets infantilized a ton and she hates it so she will sometimes overcompensate by making dirty jokes at inappropriate times.

she's usually of the mindset that if someone isn't speaking directly to her or talking about something she's interested in she probably doesn't really need to join in the conversation. she was one of those toddlers who didn't speak until she could say a full sentence. she's the first girl on the football team--nobody thinks that she's gonna be any good but she's small enough that she just kind of darts between all the players and can hold her own more than people think.

buddy: truly just the same. sorry buddy i have nothing special for you. he's like 5'7". his grandpa runs the town's megachurch and he keeps trying to get everyone to come with him. he sort of latched onto their group but he genuinely is nice he's just also brainwashed so they haven't like actively tried to kick him out. i think that after spending enough time with them all he gets more chill especially because they call him out when he says something outright fucked up and he likes being friends with them so he wants to not offend them--it's just that he genuinely doesn't think he's saying anything wrong.

kipperlilly: also looks relatively the same but slightly taller, probably like 5'3". she and jace bond over having the same clothing organization app. she doesn't wear the prep-school kind of stuff she wears in canon but it's definitely still very clean, she probably irons everything. type a but not as much Like That.

jawbone realizes the conflict of interest when she starts talking about her anger issues and hating the others and actually has a parent teacher conference to recommend external therapy. can often be found with her journal after that. she and riz are in competition to see how many more ap credits they can gain than each other. rarely seen without lucy by her side. they have a homoerotic relationship for years because neither of them realize that they're more than girl best friends (and lucy's uncle porter always has his best friend everywhere, that's how adults are!)

ruben: i'm thinking he's maybe mixed, black and hispanic? he's got frizzy curls because he's much more invested in writing songs on his ukulele than paying attention to the right products for his curl pattern. he also has braces and mourns when his tooth gap closes because he can't whistle as well. 5'4".

he thinks it's the coolest thing to have his uncle work at the school and he and lucy bond over it even though he doesn't actually take his uncle henry's classes. he's part of the school band and plays in the orchestra for the theatre department - in addition to the ukulele he also plays acoustic guitar and piano.

[neoatlantiscodex]

High School / ATLAS

A lot of people think about High School, blame it on Rockefeller, trying to create a pliable labour-class to work in the factories.

To be honest, he 100% did do this, but he based it off of British Grammar schools.

Grammar School, which the British Grammar schools are still considered the best schools in the world. Just like Oxbridge (Oxford + Cambridge) are considered the best universities. Grammar Cchool was designed to create the nobility. Literally. As in, not too long ago, you were literally born into a caste, or to say you were born into a family with inheritable privileges.

The nobility were both a martial class, and a managerial class. This is because that one of the only legitimate jobs of the government is to protect you militarily, and Feudalism is essential a military government writ large. It really wasn't until modernity that we had viable alternatives.

They had inheritable land, that they owned because of pledges of military service to the king. They were allowed to keep all of the money they could get out of their fife. This meant that the survival of their workers, and managerial skills, directly benefited them. Compare this to modern corporations, that gain no benefit to your continued existence.

To create this martial, managerial class, they were sent to Grammar School, where they were taught important things, like accounting, Latin, military strategy, the rough equivalent of an MBA, and unimportant things, like how to speak in the secret Frog language. Rugby doesn't just teach you military strategy, but Games are important to keeping your body active.

If you look at standard High Schools, they teach the same thing, but a pale imitation of this. We've even tried to turn Games into Physical Education, and bent backwards in the attempt to add education into the simple act of keeping your body physically fit, (along with the social and psychological benefits). You learn a second language, but in English-speaking countries, this is not to do anything productive, (non-English countries learn English, because it's so useful). We used to learn banking, and now learn abstract mathematics. Which, as someone who was good at, and studied them much further, you aren't going to use it unless you become an engineer or mathematician. Because of the purposelessness, High School doesn't have any way to evaluate it's success. As such, it's basically become a holding pen.

People are going to High School, nowadays, and coming out less prepared for life than when they went in. Same thing with University. Because the most important thing you can do in High School and University is sit still, and not do anything productive.

For some reason, teenagers are feeling a bit unfulfilled by this, and our solution is to shoot them full of drugs.

Historically, once you had elementary school, Elementary Cchool taught you the three R's. Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic.

Catchy, but inaccurate to call them R's.

Anyways.

After Primary School, if you weren't going to Grammar School or University, you... worked. You got an apprenticeship. By the time you are 21, you are a journeyman, whom is marriageable.

Now, we send everyone to University. Which adds another 8 years of education. They come out of University with $50-60,000 in debt. About 10% of the people who come out of University actually work a single day in the field they studied. They come out, never having done anything productive in their life, other than the most basic of service jobs.

And if they had worked those service jobs for those years, would be financially better off, and have more work experience.

So, we're creating Utopia, so, what do we do with schools?

I mean, we can't have teenagers working. Except we can. And in my experience as someone who has to teach teenagers at work, and who is a former teenager himself, the teenagers with jobs are typically better in almost every way than the teenagers without jobs.

Well, what about Trade Schools?! That's the usual alternative.

Well, Trade Schools don't really exist. Most trades have a 3 semester rotation of 2 work and 1 study, or something similar. Trade schools are often literally just university-colleges, or technical universities, that partner with firms to pair students with appropriate jobs in their field. Engineering literally works the same way, and and both engineering nursing requires a practicum after graduation.

But we're running into the ATLAS principle, which comes from Bioshock. In Bioshock, an Objectivist created an Objectivist paradise. The big problem he didn't account for is that he promised that everyone could become captains of industry. "But, in the end, someone has to scrub the toilets."

Every, single, discussion about High School acts as if every - single - person is going to have a storied career, either in academia, or the trades. The unfortunate answer is that most people have jobs, not careers. Your job is to lift heavy thing, or push buttons. The nature of unskilled jobs, i.e. jobs without skills that are rare enough to command a better wage, is a different issue. And it really doesn't matter HOW we accomplish this, we need account for the people who have to scrub the toilets. They need to have housing, and enough money to support a family. On one wage, or as is most common, one-and-a-half. People who don't go into some form of secondary education should not be shamed as failures. They are instead the backbone of the economy. Or, the muscles of the economy? You have a lot more muscle than you do bones. The basement of the economy is fitting, but people might take that the wrong way.

As Forrest Gump says, stupid is as stupid does. Most people think this is an insult, but stupid people can lead productive lives, and brilliant people have lead disastrous lives. You don't need grade 12 to scrub the toilets. Literally, as many janitorial jobs require grade 12, because it was the line in the sand we choose.

And, by the way, this is literally Utopian, as in, it's in Thomas Moore's Utopia. People with free time, and a culture of interest in reading, will create a culture of reading.

If we get a four-day work week, either 4x8, or 4x10, we can have days off, and people can attend secondary education of their choice. Especially with the advent of the internet, you can have masters in their field teaching courses that you need to pay $20/month to view. If a teenager is still living with their parents, a couple days of work a week would be sufficient to cover their expenses, and give them plenty of time for education.

Well, what about people who want to go into a field that actually requires a university degree.

Then they can go to High School. Or have the local university-college offer the equivalent courses. If we cut out the bullshit, and focus only on those who are academically skilled, we could easily cut the time in half.

[saintmeghanmarkle]

Blast from the past: Meghans bananas. And what on earth was she wearing? by u/Mickleborough

Blast from the past: Meghan’s bananas. And what on earth was she wearing? Another slow Meghan news day…We all know about Meghan‘s (cough) inspirational messages on bananas. She‘d been inspired by Kingston Elementary School, Virginia, cafeteria manager Stacey Truman, who’d done this and made American news in late 2018.This is the story of Meghan’s bananas.BackgroundHarry and Meghan went on a tour of Bristol on 1 February 2019. On a visit to sex worker charity One25, Meghan was inspired to affirm sex workers by writing on bananas destined for their lunch (dafuq?)OMG FashunBut first things first: what was Meghan, always cutting-edge stylish, wearing? She was then about 6 months pregnant with her first child.https://ift.tt/ItBDVOT wore a £1,500 / $1,900 / €1,775 Oscar de la Renta chiffon dress. It was snowing in Bristol that day, with temperatures ranging from around 0 C / 32 F to 1 C / 33.8 F. When outside, Meghan was dressed like this:https://ift.tt/vY4gjUr chiffon dress in snowy weather? Of course, there’s heating indoors, but that just means you remove the coat and keep the knitted jumper - as Harry did in the 1st photo.And it really was snowing.https://ift.tt/OR0AquS she selected correspondingly unseasonal (and equally bizarre) footwear:https://ift.tt/OpJZMzm and chiffon - they simply don’t go. Suede in winter? Good luck getting out water and salt stains. On the plus side, her bespoke Ralph Lauren clutch matched her boots.Note that none of the named labels is British - they’re all American. Nothing wrong with American labels, but Americans weren’t paying to subsidise her.Meghan goes bananas over bananasShe’s obsessed with bananas. From the early days with Harry:https://ift.tt/BRzKy8G, at One25, Meghan saw that they were packing lunches, with bananas, for sex workers. She asked for a Sharpie felt tip pen and declared: ‘I am in charge of the banana messaging.’ (Couldn’t you just do something constructive, like putting stuff in bags, Meghan?)https://ift.tt/TKialWr is the outcome.https://preview.redd.it/lho0qfnj3l7d1.jpg?width=1231&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ea4e7b7be900187d8a81473a30ca275d272cb660I’ve heard of bringing work home - is this like not leaving work behind at lunch?Let them eat cakeDid sex workers get to be inspired by these statements before putting bananas in their mouths?According to the Mirror - No.https://ift.tt/b8xqOyT were baked in a cake instead: something about there not being enough bananas, so they were distributed in cake form. Was that true? which makes the whole lunch-packing thing look like a stunt. Or was it just to avoid the mortification of passing out such embarrassing messages on truly inappropriate media? Meghan might as well have written encouraging notes on condom packs. (‘You are protected!’ ‘You are rubber!’ ‘You are a Trojan!’)Mirror archived / unarchivedMeghan continues her initiativeMeghan writes messages on Harry’s lunch bananas.https://ift.tt/kKX9bIF I don’t know that she does, and I don’t think she wrote the above - just as I don’t think the late Queen wrote the one below.)https://ift.tt/Azjvqr4, I’m pretty sure Harry wrote this:https://ift.tt/0jRzyLN post link: https://ift.tt/nCw5NeJ author: Mickleborough submitted: June 19, 2024 at 10:31PM via SaintMeghanMarkle on Reddit disclaimer: all views + opinions expressed by the author of this post, as well as any comments and reblogs, are solely the author's own; they do not necessarily reflect the views of the administrator of this Tumblr blog. For entertainment only.

[yoonyia]

you know I never really thought of why my name is yoon

like my real name (or full name depending on how you want to spin it)

is Chang Yoonseo (or Jang if you're going off korean pronunciations but legally my name is chang)

Chang being my last name and my name is Yoonseo with no middle name

But I go by Yoon

and when ever people right my name they write it like Yoon Seo Chang

and all my friends call me Yoon

and like I know thats just because I went to an international school and the British conventions are just the base there

but I chose my name as yoon at the age of 6 or 7 because no one in my American elementary school could pronounce my name

I had to cut up my name to the most compherehensible portion to be able to be called upon

no one could say my name otherwise

that's insane if I think about too long

like I physically could not be referred to as my real full name without it being butchered or not even attempting it in fear of me getting mad at them for saying it wrong

and like I won't be unreasonable about it when they do I know that different languages are a thing

but I feel like I should have a stake in how my name is butchered and shortened and changed just so people can talk to or about me

I feel like I should be able to choose what I'm called

because I didn't choose yoon it just came to be and I had to just use it

and I like my name

but what if I didnt

like I don't like when people try and say my full name and they call me Yoon Sey-yo

what if that was the name that sticked

but I was 6 when it happened and could barely speak English that I didn't have the words to tell them I didn't like it

what then

how many people got traditional English names separately because they wanted to not just fit in but not to have their countries name cut up or constantly misspoken

How many times have I missed pronounced book characters name or not said their name because I couldent pronounce it. Dissolved them down to a notable part of their identity and not the word that litterally represents them.

How many times have people who've ever only known me as yoon see my socials and believe yoonyia was my full name and came up to me and said Hi Yoonyia Chang like they found some secret of mine

how that may matter

how that does matter

how names matter a lot

how identity is shaped by your name

that's why nicknames exist

[emetoniche]

Ok, well guys, I’ve reached 100 followers!! 102, actually. In celebration, I’ve decided to do a little face reveal/background for each of my OCs. Hope this is good and gives some real substance to my people.

Roan (pronounced Rowan) Callahan: Roan is a fitness trainer at a local parkour gym. She never went to college, but it was simply because she never felt the need to. She has always had a knack for athletics, and has taken parkour classes herself since she was very little, so she thought the natural career path for her was to train others. Personality-wise she can tend to be a bit aggressive, but isn’t actually mean, just blunt and a tad sarcastic. However, when it comes to Justin, her boyfriend, she is the exact opposite of her regular self. She would die for that man, and is the sweetest, most caring person towards him. She is very loyal to those she cares for, and isn’t afraid to get in a fight to defend them. Roan grew up in a middle-class neighborhood. Her dad is a chemical engineer and her mom is an elementary school teacher. She is an only child, and she is okay with that. She’s seen how some of her friends’ siblings act and has no regrets about not having a sibling of her own. Roan’s passion for animals led to her having many pets as a child, including a rosy boa named Sherlock and two rats named Fred and George. Now she has a ball python named Reaper and a border collie called Phantom. Roan met Justin through work; he was one of her clients. Originally they were simply trainer and client, but as they got to know each other, Justin eventually got up the courage to ask her out, and now they have been dating for almost two years.

Justin Caruthers: Justin is a Biology major hoping to go into med school soon. He is a senior in undergraduate college, so he is nearing the point where he can get into med school officially. Justin is something of a big teddy bear. He’s sweet, kind, always tries to stay positive, and hates confrontation. His personality is the perfect ice to Roan’s fire, and he can calm her down if she gets too heated. H be this as it may, he never tries to control her, because he knows that she is an independent woman and respects her. Justin was raised in London, England. His mother is American but his father is English, and his mother moved to England to be with his father. Raised in a British schooling system, American college is a completely new experience. He is enjoying all of the American foods as well, though he has found that he doesn’t like hot dogs very much. He has one brother named Ethan who is four years older than him and is working in a local hospital. Despite wanting to go into medicine, Justin has a naturally weak stomach and gets very easily motion sick. His anxiety also has a tendency to make his stomach turn.

Edward (Eddie) Harrows: Eddie is a Marine Biology major whose true passion is surfing. He grew up in California, along the coast, where he started surfing at the age of four. Since then he has won many competitions, including three national competitions. His natural competitiveness lends nicely to his chosen sport. He is virtually fearless, and once narrowly escaped a tiger shark along the Australian coast. Eddie I has a very goofy personality. He loves to have fun and makes fun of his friends, playing pranks and joking around, almost ceaselessly. However, through his playfulness, he can also be extremely tough, and will stand up for his friends and family without a second thought. Standing at 6’5, he’s quite intimidating when he wants to be. Eddie was raised by his dad after his mom died in childbirth. He never really missed his mom per-say, because he never knew her, but he was sad at times that he didn’t get to have the relationship he saw his friends having. He has no siblings, and his father never remarried.

Callum Ulrich: Callum is a Biology major alongside Justin, his best friend. Instead of medicine like Justin, Callum wants to go on to be an environmentalist, protecting the habitats of animals around the world. He loves planes though, and has a pilot’s license, so his main goal is to fly himself around the world helping whatever animals need him. He has his own biplane that he has named Falcon Eye, due to the paint job on the outside, which portrays a falcon in flight. Callum is Irish, raised on, of all things, a wool farm. He used to run around in the fields with the sheepdogs for hours, just weaving between sheep and warding off predators. He has seven brothers and sisters, three older and four younger. In order of age, their names are Killian, Saoirse, Lorcan, Rourke, Róisín, Faolen, and Caoimhe. Callum has a similar personality to Eddie, his boyfriend, in that he always has a joke on the tip of his tongue. However, unlike Eddie, Callum will do almost anything to avoid a fight. He hates getting in the middle of people’s arguments, and hates having arguments himself.

Darius Wolff: Darius is a hard-core rocker. Sort of. He acts all hard and cool on the outside, but he secretly loves cuddles with his girlfriend. He does know how to play guitar like a fucking pro, and he plays lead guitarist and singer for his band, Eternal Hardships. Yeah, he knows the name is beyond dramatic, he didn’t choose it. He was outvoted by the rest of the band. Darius was born and raised in Germany, so English is his second language. Mistakes happen on occasion, and he does have an accent, but he is generally fluent in both languages. His dad is an oil tycoon who cycles endlessly through wives, each wife next in line to run the company since Darius has no interest. His passion is actually canids, so he is earning his Zoology degree so that he can run a Canine sanctuary one day. He has a pet fox named Adler.

Ariadne Sangster: Ariadne grew up in an underprivileged community, often going without one or two meals in a day. She didn’t have very good resources in her school, but she still managed to score a perfect score on her ACT and made it into her college with a full ride. She is now on her senior year of pre-med, going into medical school next year with more money than she ever had growing up due to how she could save any money she earned instead of spend it on college. Ari was raised by just her mother because her father was killed in a car crash when she was five years old. She has three older brothers, one of whom died in the same crash that killed he father. The remaining two work together at their own mechanics shop, which is doing quite well. Their names are Perseus (Percy) and Orpheus (Ori). They were all named after Greek myths because their mother always found those myths inspiring, and she hoped that if her children were named after great heroes they would grow up to do great things. During Ari’s freshman year of college, her mother remarried a very nice man named Richard, who takes very good care of her mother and brought his own daughter, Sasha, into the family. Sasha is twenty five and works as a nurse practitioner. Ari loves animals just as much as her boyfriend, Darius. She owns two cats, who she named after characters in her favorite television show, Supernatural. The white on is named Dean, and the black one is named Sam.

[bloodenjoyer]

it really Is insanefunny that poof is A british homophobic slur When i (american)was in elementary school me and like m y 3 friends or whatever calledour friend group our clan and we had this tree we called home tree and there was this kid who we didnt like and whenever he approached us. we had a SONG we would sing . it was singsongy and repetitive and went . Get that poof out of the house get that poof out of the house. over and over and over. And to nbe serious looking back knowing that its a british homophobic slur is really really funny as hell

[delaneydaywrites]

fiction of a teenaged fan

pairing: y/n x y/n

word count: 947

genre: poetic non-fiction reflection

warnings: poetry, freakish obsession, non-fiction prose

a/n: this is a final draft poem based in my journey of discovering, reading, obsessing, living, and writing fan fiction through my some 22 years.

taglist: any and everyone

~

I look up at the flatscreen sitting on top of the warped grayish wooden dry sink that my mother has had since the dawn of time. Closing my eyes, the ROUS (rodents of unusual size) come onto the wide glass tv screen. I can't help but yell to turn it off! Reaching for the remote to shut off the nightmare inducing creature on the screen before me. My tiny 10 year old finger hovers over the Dish Directv red off button, when Westly dives head first into a wrestling match with the ROUS. The rodent gnaws on this sculpted shoulder. Fake blood soaks into his jet black cotton blouse that is in the process of being ripped to shreds. 

I watch in horror, fearing for the life of the young man. I look at the heroine, Buttercup, and wonder if she is feeling in a similar way as myself. She has a similar look to myself, I think, but I am clearly more upset. I’ve moved to my feet somehow, standing directly in front of the television screen, when Westly death rolls the rodent towards the randomly spitting fire pits and sets the beast on fire. He stumbles towards his love, grabbing his sword and stabs the ROUS until there is nothing but the wails of the large rat dying. I watch in awe for the rest of the hour and something long movie. 

That night I went to bed and dreamt myself in Buttercup’s position. The most beautiful woman in the world as the book starts. Meeting a farm hand who would later become my Dread Pirate Roberts, and we would ride off into the horizon on white horses. That was the first time I wished to be a part of the story. Yearning to have a man fight a disgusting large rat for me during a time of elementary school relationships and crushes became the talk of the 5th grade class. For the next two years I would spend my days and nights, dreaming myself into various movie universes. I was Sandy to John Travolta, Ruth to Mary Stuart Masterson’s Idgie. It wouldn’t be until I actually digested my first book, The Maze Runner by James Dashner, that I would learn about fan-fiction. 

It was Kennedy that introduced Emma and myself to fan-fiction. She told us that it was easier to read yourself in the story than to imagine it. Having since just read, and I mean actually read, my first book in the aforementioned series. I fell in love with the Character named Newt. This character was described as having a limp and a British accent; this would be the introduction of my obsession with accents which my rather British boyfriend should thank profusely. I read a self-insert fan-ficton where y/n is one of only two girls in a maze with around 100 boys of varying ages. She falls in love with Newt and helps to heal him from the loneliness of living in this Maze with no memory of who you are. I read story after story all with this similar or same plot. When I ran out of stories for a character I sought out attempting to write my own. 

As someone who had an immense hatred for reading and writing, I found this a fun challenge for myself. The earliest fan-ficiton that I have a strong memory of writing is one for the book turned tv series The 100. I had no idea how to take a story that already existed and create my own spin on it. So I sat there watching 5 minutes of an episode, and writing that down from y/n’s pov. I was only able to write three chapters like that, before I got bored. It’s still on Wattpad, but I won’t subject you to that mess. As I wrote more over the years, switching from movies and tv shows, to books, to korean pop music. I have grown in both my technical skills, and my confidence. I grew a following of my kpop fan-fictions who loved my writing and the storylines I created with their favorite members. I wrote one while at work one morning and by the time I woke up the next morning, I had 500 likes. I felt like a real writer. 

That was back in 2022, when I changed my major to creative writing from social work, to follow my new dream of becoming an author one day. Now as a 22 year old college graduate, who is going to England for a masters program in publishing and creative writing, I am on my way to completing that silly dream. I often think back to that little girl who yearned to live in the movies she watched all those nights alone. Then to the teenage girl who wrote about being loved when no guy ever looked her way. I picture the three versions of myself in a room and look at them with teary eyes as they smile proudly at who they have become. I still yearn to live in make believe worlds. The real world I am forced to live in scares me more than any post-apocalyptic world or fire swamp in a fantastical one. This one becomes too much for me often. The anxieties of standing on the edge of countless possible futures is all too much. So I run to fight dragons, defeat wizards, and ride off into the sunset with my knight in shining armor. In these worlds I know I will have a happy ending, and no matter how much I might try, I know that won’t always be the reality in the real world. 

[likeabxrdinflight]

get 2 know me meme

tagged by: @crithir said if you see it, you're tagged. And I saw it, so...

tagging: In the spirit of the boops, boop! you're tagged now.

Do you make your bed?

Only if someone's coming over.

What’s your favorite number?

7 because it was usually my assigned number in elementary school. There was a whole system where we all had numbers after our names that we had to put on the top of our assignments, and because it went in alphabetical order, and because my school was small and the class configuration rarely changed, I was writing "Cora - 7"* at the top of my assignments for years. So a fondness for the number 7 kinda stuck.

*Cora is not my real name but wouldn't you like to know.

What is your job?

Technically the things I am currently employed to do and receive financial compensation for are administering neuropsych assessments to children and then a second part time job as a care aid for a disabled woman.

Arguably my dissertation is my real full time job, except no one pays me to do that. Actually, I pay them so that I can do that. So...

If you could go back to school, would you?

Absolutely not, I'm still trying to get out of school! (one more year one more year one more year...).

Can you parallel park?

Technically, yes. Skillfully? Eh...

A job you had that would surprise people?

None of my past jobs have been all that surprising, I think...human services and customer service, haven't we all been there? Maybe the day camp for disabled kids was a little bit unique.

Do you think aliens are real?

I think it's incredibly arrogant to assume we're the only planet in an ever-expanding universe to have developed life, so yes. What that life looks like, however, is up for debate.

Can you drive a manual car?

I cannot, but more than one person has threatened to teach me.

What’s your guilty pleasure?

British period dramas. And recently, Taylor Swift. I got caught up in the cultural moment of the Eras tour and it turns out when you're not just listening to the pop radio hits, she's a helluva writer. "Would've, Could've, Should've" did unfortunately alter my brain chemistry. I refuse to call myself a swiftie though, I will not be associated with...any of that.

Tattoos?

None yet, but I have a couple ideas- I want "she rules her life like a bird in flight" with some little birds next to it, possibly on my shoulder? Then I want a monarch butterfly on one of my forearms, probably the left, and finally a latin phrase that's connected to my family, I'm thinking on the underside of one my upper arms, again probably the left arm. Undecided on that though, because if I do the butterfly on the left arm maybe I should do the lettering on the right? Or vice versa?

...this is why I haven't committed to anything yet on top of them being expensive.

Favorite color?

Historically, yellow, but more recently blues and purples.

Favorite type of music?

Usually I go for a rock/pop punk sound. But also showtunes. And sometimes just regular pop. I'm kinda basic idk.

Do you like puzzles?

...in video games, sure. Actual table top puzzles? Eh.

Any phobias?

Wasps. Heights. The general concept of death.

Favorite childhood sport?

Ballet and tae kwon do (I almost made it to black belt but then college happened).

Do you talk to yourself?

Constantly. Often as if I'm talking to other people. Sometimes to my snake, Sammy.

What movies do you adore?

Kiki's Delivery Service, Mary Poppins, Anastasia, The Little Mermaid, Sleeping Beauty, and I have a soft spot for 2000s teen movies (think Mean Girls, Freaky Friday, Bring It On). Also, unfortunately, the Harry Potter movies are permanently imprinted on my brain and I cannot disentangle them from some of the most special parts of my childhood. Azkaban in particular is strongly linked to my relationship with my best friend/sister in spirit.

Coffee or tea?

Tea but coffee is growing on me.

First thing you wanted to be growing up?

I think it was veterinarian? That's the first thing I remember anyway.

[insanityclause]

I think Tucker is nuts, and no, the US is not going to invade Canada, but I know a lot of ex Canadians, and none are going back. A lot of what that person posted about their country is not true, but look at the population of both countries. Of course there is more crime in the US, but better education? Hardly. I do know they are more lenient about who they let in because my extended Iranian family couldn’t get in the US, so they had to go to Canada.

Hi. Canadian here. @doctortwhohiddles' country IS my country, so I know exactly what of that post is true. Pretty much every single word.

Greater life expectancy? True. (In part due to universal health care and gun control.)

And since Tucker was using last year's hostage taking 'Freedom Convoy' for the basis of his talking points, let's look at this data:

Crime??

Education?

PISA scores for Reading, Math & Science (2018)

Costs for post-secondary are far lower here, too, and funding is pretty good.

University of Toronto - $4700 USD/year (non-Ontario resident)

McGill - $6500 USD/year (non-Quebec resident)

University of British Columbia - $4200 USD/year

Comparable universities in the US:

Johns Hopkins - $60,000/yr

University of Michigan - $52,000/yr ($26,000 if you're a resident)

Northwestern - $60,000/yr

UK universities just for fun:

$11,000 USD/yr

And the public elementary/secondary system is excellent, compared to what you get in publicly funded education in the US or UK. The 'posh public school' argument literally does not exist here. No one cares where you went to high school.

Plus, safe schools. We have had 8 school shootings since 1975. Total. Including universities. Last one was 2016. The US had ~500 in the same time frame, and 57 in 2019 alone. Even accounting for the population difference, you're on the losing side in that one.

Not sure why our immigration system is your concern; it's worked really well for us. A mosaic rather than a melting pot.

[mcl38]

Trigger warning for homophobia and hate. For your last ask….I also think there is a huge difference in where and when you grew up with how it comes to how you perceive these types of coded words. I grew up in the 80s and 90s in rural America when children in my elementary school played a playground game called “Smear the Queer” and said you would go to hell for being gay. I remember the death of Mathew Shepard at the hands of hateful people crying gay panic and being told if you were gay you would die from AIDS and that HIV was Gods punishment. I remember hearing the word queer and twink and faggot being said with hate and derision. I remember being told twink was short for “twinkee” because a twink was “young, dumb, and full of cum”. I remember a limp wrist gesture being a deadly insult to the boys in my school. It took me many many many years to even admit to myself I was gay. I still don’t talk about myself or my partner with the people I work with cause even now I just feel like you never know who is hateful. I can’t imagine someone openly yelling out a gay slur in the street anymore, but I can imagine not getting a promotion at work. I feel very disconnected from the current generation and their use of gay coded language which my whole childhood was used with such hurt. It’s like homophobia went from what I experienced in my youth of being open and in you face to being all these coded cutesy terms. It sure feels like all the same insinuations are all still there just coded differently. Or maybe I’m just old and out of touch and letting my experiences color how I see things now. It’s even hard for me today to accept the reclamation of the word queer by the lgbtq+ community so I know my experience color my perception of thing.

no i think ur absolutely right. its not that ur old and out of touch, i think its that the younger generation is naive and overly comfortable. i have not had an experience nearly as intense as you in my childhood but i think growing up in quite a heavily homophobic country like romania and then moving to the uk was still quite a big culture shock to me. i kind of had the idea as a teen that romania as a whole is a homophobic culture and the west just isn't to that level (mostly out of jealousy for the things i was seeing on the internet lmao) and that perception deffo changed since ive been living here. essentially what i realised was that (especially) men were almost as shitty to women and gay people in the uk as they were back home, just way more covertly, because they knew how to say all the right things. so the only consequence of this for me personally was just that in the uk i am more likely to be negatively surprised by someone who i thought was chill, whereas in romania i was more likely to b positively surprised by someone who seemed like theyd have a horrible reaction to me coming out. but as far as i can tell british people themselves dont clock this at all, and a lot of them will just assume that if theres no overt discrimination happening then theres no discrimination at all. which is kinda scary from my pov but again, like u, idk whether to feel like im just reacting to my own circumstances and projecting

so to bring this back to what u said anon, i too am just naturally suspicious of stuff that seems inocuous in current western pop culture, which is why i too am so weirdly bothered by this new 'mctwink' thing and the greater trend that the portmanteau is a part of. even in terms of the reclaiming of 'queer', which is such a hotly debated topic that its become associated with a lot of other lgbt in-fighting, having been on the internet and in academic spaces enough to witness the sanitisation of the word 'queer' has been quite jarring if im being honest. in an academic space to me it feels like a euphemism with the same vibe as 'differently abled' instead of disabled and 'fluffy / huggable' instead of fat, where the word is said by cishet ppl not out of a genuine care for the community its meant to represent but rather out of a fear of accidentally saying smth wrong by calling the thing what it is (in this case, gay). people are still so goddamn afraid of the word gay in super progressive english humanities academia and its actually quite funny like thats the ONE word no one minds u using but bc YOU have ur own biases to unpack u think its a bad word, ykwim? anyways. this is a lot of digressions

i think there is a point where we have to accept that language changes. im very anti prescriptivist in that i think we should embrace linguistic evolutions and neologisms and all that bc like at the end of the day we don't make the rules, the zeitgeist does. and i worry that holding on to certain meanings and connotations of words after the words kind of stop carrying them is dangerously close to ppl who insist on using slurs or derogatory language because 'when i was young it didnt used to be an insult'. like i used to treat the usage of 'queer' exclusively as derogatory because of its history but at some point i had to look within myself and accept that the ppl whose classes im taking and whose books im reading are NOT using the word as a slur so i should not assume that to be their intent. which ik is a hard pill to swallow - especially hard for someone like u, anon, who also has trauma surrounding those words. idk i think the lgbt & academic communities shouldve been a lot kinder in that specific transition but whats done is done now i guess

so yeah. now we reach the silly little fandom squabble that's really only a tiny fraction of this bigger cultural issue. but as discussed before i DO think people are using these new tiktok terms as well as the repopularisation of the word twink in a secretly kind of derogatory way, maybe even subconsciously. and i do think straight but maybe not entirely masculine people like lando and oscar are somehow the target of that homophobia, but they r not the victim of it. there just is a sort of fetishisation and derision that happens in the process of calling them twinks that has subtle but real repercussions in the wider cultural environment. and to real gay ppl. 🥴 fun stuff

and re: this i think again this is a complicated distinction to make. mostly because this website rly does host the lgbt community in the way that a tiktok algorithm thinking ur gay and shoving other random gay ppl in ur face just doesnt. but bc of the fact that this is a curated community AND bc of the relative decay of tumblr, we tend to think that our community is disconnected from the most, when time and time again 2 or 3 years later the discourse on this website ends up rehashed on more popular social media to varying degrees of bastardisation. so yes obviously part of the thin line ur talking abt is stuff like the idea of lando or oscar actually seeing the things ppl call them, but at the same time it's not like we get away scot free with doing whatever. in the way that in 2019 f1 shipping and rpf were an isolated niche thing and now the formula 1 twitter account is tweeting on main about 'lestappen' even using that specific portmanteau. see what i mean? which is y im complaining on here abt the twinklaren situation, even though on twitter it doesn't seem nearly as prevalent, because i know it's gonna catch up at some point

[skinnyscottishbloke]

bi thoughts below the cut

ok so. idk how to put this succinctly or not in a weird way so bear with me. my journey accepting my bisexuality/panness/queerness was a long one. growing up i literally kissed girls in ELEMENTARY AND MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOL but I didn’t think it meant anything. I thought it was just something you did? Like, I was a really good ally?? (like, looking back on that, omfg what a fucking dumbass i was lol). idk I was in such a heteronormative bubble that me not having a problem kissing girls translated into my brain as just being a chill person. I also had about the same number of guy and girl friends growing up, and kinda flirted with everyone?? again, just figured it was the choir/theater/band kid culture and we were just friendly and it didn’t mean more than that. (again, getting older and looking back, jesus I was naaiivveee). it wasn’t until college and post college where I basically fell in love with my best friend and genuinely wondered if I should leave my boyfriend of 3 years for her that I went. OH. this is waaayyyy more than platonic friendship. but even then I was like, am I just demi toward girls? do I have to be friends with them to fall for them? turns out, that’s not the case either. so here i am now, 33, and openly bi/pan/whatever.

now to the reason for this ramble. being a fan of david and dw since it revamped, I always saw him as just a nice open friendly kinda down for anything person. like I was. (us theater kids man). every time he kissed or was vaguely flirty with guys, I was like, oh that’s just david being david. it doesn’t mean anything. british talk shows and actors tend to be a lot more open and whatever about that sort of thing anyway. but like, the more queer and kinda queer characters he portrays, the more open he is about defending the lgbtia+ community, the more he gives no fucks about how people perceive him….idk man it just reminds me more and more of my journey to realizing I was actually part of the community, not just a really strong ally.

at the end of the day it honestly it makes no difference to me how he identifies because he’ll always be the same sweet supportive lovely human. if he is just a really good ally awesome!! we need more of those in the world. and I would never want to ask him about this or force anything or anything like that (which is why I kinda feel weird posting this at all). but these thoughts have just been percolating in my brain so I wanted to get them down on paper.

[hugheses]

Ontarian here! Yeah we have publicly funded Catholic schools and publicly funded secular schools. It goes back to our confederation and the related negotiations that made that happen.

TLDR; yeah we do have Catholic schools in Ontario, but students of many faiths (or atheist students) can and do attend them. I personally wouldn't read too much into the Hughes' attending one.

...

Generally, you can attend publicly funded Ontario Catholic schools if you arent Catholic, parents just need to register as a Catholic school supporter on their property tax forms. At the elementary (K-8) level, you sometimes need approval from the school/district to attend Catholic schools if students aren't Catholic. As far as I know, you don't need to be Catholic to attend a publicly funded Catholic high school.

At Ontario Catholic schools, you have to attend school mass and take religion class every year. You don't participate/receive Catholic sacraments. Other than health class (which for me lacked information about condoms/birth control), and prayers during announcements, my other classes weren't about religion.

... Canada was colonized by the French (who were largely Catholic) and the British (who were protestant). Before confederation, compromises were made in both the majority-French Lower Canada (now Quebec) to allow there to be Protestant schools, and in majority-English Upper Canada (now Ontario) to allow there to be Catholic schools. Then this was enshrined in the 1867 Constitution Act.

Eventually, the protestant schools became secular, and elsewhere, other provinces amended their constitutions to eliminate publicly-funded Catholic schools.

There are many people nowadays who are opposed to public Catholic schools for a variety of reasons (there are many redundancies to having two English school boards serve the same neighbourhoods, it is wrong to prioritize one religion when Ontario is way more diverse now, the harm caused by the Catholic church with respect to residential schools, SA, etc., the intersection of LGBTQIA+ students' rights and the Catholic faith (although some Catholic school boards are more progressive than others), etc.

Teachers unions in Ontario are generally quite strong, and given the need (afaik) to amend the constitution to get rid of the system, I am not sure if/when they will be eliminated. Also, sometimes there is a perception that Catholic schools are "better" than public (secular) schools because they have more funding (from the Catholic church I presume - but I am not sure if that is even true).

yes i do know about this! tho it feels very foreign to me from the US where this would be like, very illegal. i am ethically/culturally jewish on my moms side but my parents/grandparents are all atheists, and i chose to apply and go to a catholic school for HS bc i wanted to! and my experience was very similar in that it wasn’t super religious, aside from like monthly mass and the crosses in every classroom and mandatory theology class which i actually personally liked. the school itself was only 30% catholic students. so i agree i don’t think it necessarily means something that they went to catholic school but in this particular case i do think their dad’s side of the family being catholic is important to them and if i had to guess they probably did identify as catholic on whatever forms and stuff.

[chilakillme]

I just need to vent lots of things regarding the Harry Potter reboot so bear with me

First of all WITH ALL OF THE POTENTIAL STORIES IN THE WIZARDING WORLD THEY DECIDED TO REBOOT THE OG THE WORLDWIDE LOVED ONE???? No marauders? No Hogwarts founders? No Tom Riddle origin story??? Like....how can they expect a random british boy to create the IMPACT Dan Radcliffe's face had on the world....like no. And also the only person of that cast that'll return will be Felton, I just know it.

And also, the movies are RECENT, yeah the first one is 20 years old but 20 years is not long enough to reboot a series that had the IMPACT Harry Potter had, like they still sell LEGOs and cutlery sets with the original actors face at my Walmart and they don't seem like antiques. Think about Indiana Jones or any other iconic character that has only been played by one actor, that's what Harry Potter should be (with exception for the play that most of us ignore) BUT NO THEY WANT A WHOLE NEW CAST

Now, the fact that JKR is going to be super involved and they're going to try to be as loyal to the books as they can is a blessing and a curse because of course having the author in a project like this is something fans love but we're talking about JKR and, she, you know, got herself into some messes recently and...yeah. But also, as much as I would love to see more of things that the og movies skipped and more depth to characters I still love, I can't help but think that it's going to turn into some political agenda (and I know everything is political but I'm talking about blatantly obvious political) or some kind of statement idk. Also, if it's going to be an almost book to screen copy they're going to run into a wall called plot holes and wonky worldbuilding.

As someone who read the books 11 times in a year because they had no friends in elementary school and revisited them constantly until a couple years ago, I can say that the series is full of plot holes and yeah they're going to need to fix that, but also some of the world building is just not done right, many things don't make sense or contradict themselves, and I'm not saying I don't appreciate the world we were given, I loved ot and still do, and I really appreciate the mythology, research and work that went into it but there's a point where some things just get ridiculous. (Examples: the secrecy things with wizards has some big questions to be solved, why are dentists unknown to wizards, do wizards know math or what do they do before hogwarts, the sirius black trial, why are the weasleys poor in the wizarding society, like there's really no sense in that (or at least I think so))

Also JKR should not go anywhere near the script, she wrote the scripts for the first Fantastic Beasts movies and then the third that was a little bit less of a mess had another screenwriter but by that time it was already too late and we all know how that went.

Also, this thing is going to need a gigantic budget but it's going to be a series and we know warner had some troubles or something recently (I don't remember all the details but yk, the discovery situation and them cancelling movies and originals from max). But the thing is that we could be looking at an amazon's lord of the rings situation where the firsts episodes were a success but only 40%-50% of viewers who started the series watched until the finale. And they want to make this a decade long project and I don't know if they're going to make it past season 4 even, but who knows I'm no expert in economics

Overall this shouldn't be happening but...

[garfields-nutz]

RAHHHH IM THE BIGGEST BIRD

I’m just gonna do random headcannons for random shit RAHHHHHHH

CODMW2-

Soap

Has ADHD (obviously)

Would write like a 5 year old when rushed

You can’t read his texts because they’re damn near what an illiterate person would type

Does not get straight to the point ever, like you ask him a question and he’ll tell you a random fact or a secret he’s kept since elementary school, but never your answer.

You can trust him with your drink at a party, but you sure as shit can’t trust that he won’t drink it.

His favorite drink is Apple Juice.

Ghost

Gets mad at Soap whenever he texts him because he can’t read it

Wears glasses

Speaks Spanish with the thickest British accent ever and his voice gets deeper

You can for real hear him shitting from California. I swear he has them dad shits.

Would not be a good dad 💔

Price

Calls all the 141 his little ducklings

Hears everyone, doesn’t always listen to them.

Has never held a womans hand. Ever.

Idk anything else for Price

R6S

Lion

I SWEAR ON MY LIFE THIS MAN IS SCARED OF DOC I SWEAR ITS CANNON. STRAIGHT UP THAT ONE IMAGE ONG. DO YK WHAT IM TALKING ABT?

Has ADHD

He prefers women with melanin istg. There is no way he would not have a kid mixed w something other than white but he would also go for an Asian woman. HE WOULD GO FOR A BLACK, MEXICAN, ARAB, ABORIGINAL, AFRICAN, JAPANESE, KOREAN, INDIAN, SOMETHINGGG THAT IS NOT EUROPEAN.

His favorite drink is also Apple Juice

Prefers winter over everything else

Got into a debate about wether some unknown crime that no one knew, was a not a crime.

Doc

Will never understand why Oliver is so scared of him. Just doesn’t get it.

RBF to the max

Looks like my dad (not a headcannon deadass he does)

Has them dad sneezes

Would be a 10/10 father

DEFINITELY WOULD LET YOU COME INTO HIS OFFICE AND STIM OR INFODUMP ISTG HE WOULD

Tried to learn how to skate but Montange or Oliver or Rook (or all of them) tied a string to one of the wheels and attached it to a door so poor Doc went flying and never tried to skate again.

thats all if you want to request someone I have my lil thingy pinned ❤️❤️ BAIII :3

[whimsicaldragonette]

ARC Review: More Kids' Nonfiction read March 2023 - Little People Big Dreams

*Summaries, Ratings, and Reviews for all six books below the cut.

David Hockney

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Publication Date: April 4, 2023

Synopsis:

In this book from the critically acclaimed, multimillion-copy bestselling Little People, BIG DREAMS series, discover the incredible life of David Hockney, the inspirational British artist.     Little David loved to draw and looked at the world in his own unique way. He always knew what his path in life would be… he would be an artist! He went to art school and worked day and night to hone his drawing skills. He sold his first painting as a student, and in just five years he had a sell-out solo show of his work. When he moved from the UK to sunny California, he became known for creating bright, bold paintings. From the Grand Canyon to the Yorkshire hills of home, David painted fantastic landscapes, including one made of 50 canvases all stitched together. An artist who delights in constantly reinventing himself, to this day David is eager to share his colourful work, and himself, with the whole world.   This inspiring book features stylish and quirky illustrations and extra facts at the back, including a biographical timeline with historical photos and a detailed profile of the incredible young poet and activist’s life so far.    Little People, BIG DREAMS is a bestselling series of books and educational games that explore the lives of outstanding people, from designers and artists to scientists and activists. All of them achieved incredible things, yet each began life as a child with a dream.    This empowering series offers inspiring messages to children of all ages, in a range of formats. The board books are told in simple sentences, perfect for reading aloud to babies and toddlers. The hardback versions present expanded stories for beginning readers. Boxed gift sets allow you to collect a selection of the books by theme. Paper dolls, learning cards, matching games and other fun learning tools provide even more ways to make the lives of these role models accessible to children.    Inspire the next generation of outstanding people who will change the world with Little People, BIG DREAMS! 

My Rating: ★★★★★

My Review:

I really like seeing inspirational stories like this about artists. I feel like we get a lot of inspirational stories about scientists (as we should), but the arts are sometimes looked over. This book presents David Hockney's passion for art and determination to go to school for it as a valid career choice (a refreshing change from the usual). It also treats his being gay very matter-of-factly (again, a refreshing change from the usual.) The illustration style used isn't my favorite, but it is colorful and bold and appropriate for an artist working in this time period. I found it particularly inspiring that even in his 80s he is innovating and learning, creating art on apps and other modern means. The impression I get from this book is that he is completely unapologetic about how he wants to live his life, and always has been. That is perhaps the most inspiring thing of all. I would recommend this to elementary school children, especially those who show an interest in art, because it presents art as a valid career path and not just a frivolous pursuit. *Thanks to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing - Frances Lincoln Children's Books for providing an early copy for review.

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King Charles

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Publication Date: April 4, 2023

Synopsis:

From the critically acclaimed, multimillion-copy best-selling Little People, BIG DREAMS series, discover the life of King Charles.   Little Charles always knew that, one day, he would have a big job to do. As the son of Queen Elizabeth II, he was a prince, and in the future, he was to inherit the throne of the United Kingdom. As a young man, he developed a passion for one cause: the environment. Charles recognized that plastics and pollutants were causing harm to Earth, and as the Prince of Wales, he spent all his efforts championing climate justice and sustainability. As a member of the Royal Family, Charles used his power to build important organizations such as The Prince’s Trust, a charity that works to improve the lives of young people across the UK. And in 2022, when he became King, he pledged that he would spend the rest of his life serving his people with loyalty, respect, and love.   This inspiring book features stylish and quirky illustrations and extra facts at the back, including a biographical timeline with historical photos and a detailed profile of the royal’s life, from little prince to grown-up king. Little People, BIG DREAMS is a best-selling biography series for kids that explores the lives of outstanding people, from designers and artists to scientists and activists. All of them achieved incredible things, yet each began life as a child with a dream. This empowering series of books offers inspiring messages to children of all ages, in a range of formats. The board books are told in simple sentences, perfect for reading aloud to babies and toddlers. The hardcover and paperback versions present expanded stories for beginning readers. With rewritten text for older children, the treasuries each bring together a multitude of dreamers in a single volume. You can also collect a selection of the books by theme in boxed gift sets. Activity books and a journal provide even more ways to make the lives of these role models accessible to children​​.   Inspire the next generation of outstanding people who will change the world with Little People, BIG DREAMS!

My Rating: ★★★

My Review:

I didn't know a lot about King Charles and so there were several things in this little book that surprised me. I had no idea he was such a long-standing supporter of the environment. That makes me think better of him. I think the thing that surprised me the most was the tiny mention of Princess Diana. I suppose she was only a small part of his life, even though I (and I feel many people) know a lot more about her. I haven't got the highest opinion of the monarchy, and I think this book definitely sugarcoats some things, but overall it was interesting. The text is easy to understand for children and the illustrations are simple but lovely and convey a lot of personality. *Thanks to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing - Frances Lincoln Children's Books for providing an early copy for review.

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Vanessa Nakate

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Publication Date: April 11, 2023

Synopsis:

In this book from the critically acclaimed, multimillion-copy best-selling Little People, BIG DREAMS series, discover the incredible life of Vanessa Nakate, the Ugandan climate-justice activist.     As a kid, when little Vanessa heard about climate change, she thought it was something that happened on the other side of the world. As an adult, she saw how droughts in her own country led to crop failure that left families hungry. Inspired by other activists, Vanessa took a stand and began campaigning to save the Congolian rainforests. Soon, she was invited to take her campaign around the world.   In 2020, Vanessa participated in an important summit about climate change. But when she was cropped out of a photograph featuring other climate-change activists, it felt like not just her contribution to the movement had been erased, but that the needs of a whole continent had been disregarded. It was a moment that shocked the world, but it spurred Vanessa on to raise her voice louder and to fight harder for climate justice for Africans. Today, she continues to be a leader in the climate-change movement and a voice of her generation.   This inspiring book features stylish and quirky illustrations and extra facts at the back, including a biographical timeline with historical photos and a detailed profile of the incredible young activist’s life so far.     Little People, BIG DREAMS is a best-selling series of books that explores the lives of outstanding people, from designers and artists to scientists and activists. All of them achieved incredible things, yet each began life as a child with a dream.    This empowering series offersinspiring messages to children of all ages, in a range of formats. The board books are told in simple sentences, perfect for reading aloud to babies and toddlers. The hardcover versions present expanded stories for beginning readers. Boxed gift sets allow you to collect a selection of the books by theme.   Inspire the next generation of outstanding people who will change the world with Little People, BIG DREAMS!

My Rating: ★★★★★

My Review:

This short book has a powerful message about how Africa had been left out of the discussion around climate change when it is greatly affected by it. The feelings of frustration at being unfairly ignored practically leap off the page, making Vanessa Nakate as presented here very sympathetic. The text is simple but conveys a lot of emotion and inspiration. The illustrations are also simple but brightly colored and the people's faces express a lot of emotion. I would recommend this to classroom libraries as it is important for everyone to feel like they have a voice and it will inspire children to speak up for what they believe in, even if they are at first ignored. *Thanks to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing - Frances Lincoln Children's Books for providing an early copy for review.

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Louis Pasteur

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Publication Date: March 7, 2023

Synopsis:

From the critically acclaimed, multimillion-copy bestselling Little People, BIG DREAMS series, discover the life of Louis Pasteur, the French chemist and the father of modern medicine.   Little Louis was born in France during a time when doctors were still trying to figure out what made people sick. During his teen years, he discovered a love for science and became famous for figuring out how to kill off damaging microbes. Through his curiosity and creativity (and lots of trial and error), his research led to the development of vaccinations, a vital tool in today's world.    This inspiring book features stylish and quirky illustrations and extra facts at the back, including a biographical timeline with historical photos and a detailed profile of the iconic chemist's life. ​Little People, BIG DREAMS is a bestselling series of books and educational games that explore the lives of outstanding people, from designers and artists to scientists and activists. All of them achieved incredible things, yet each began life as a child with a dream.

My Rating: ★★★★★

My Review:

This is a great intro to Louis Pasteur for young kids. The pictures are colorful and the characters all have very expressive faces that really get across the emotion of the text. The text is straightforward and simple enough for young kids to understand while also getting across a lot of information. I feel like I even learned something from reading it. Content warning: There is a brief mention of three of his kids dying of typhoid accompanied by an image of a funeral so, that's something to be aware of if you have a very sensitive kid. I think this would be great for kids 6-9 who still enjoy being read to. It opens the door for an interest in science and history and will likely prompt questions. *Thanks to NetGalley and Frances Lincoln Children's Books for providing an early copy for review.

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Shakira

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Publication Date: February 7, 2023

Synopsis:

From the critically acclaimed, multimillion-copy bestselling Little People, BIG DREAMS series, discover the life of Shakira, the world’s most popular Latin American singer.   As a child, little Shakira knew she was born to be performer. Even as a little girl, she was full of natural rhythm and she was obsessed with singing, writing songs and dancing whenever she got the opportunity. At 14 years old she recorded her first album, and although it wasn't a success, she knew she had found her calling. She persevered, and within four years she had finally got her first hit! She soon became a Latin American icon, winning many awards and creating global hits across the world, becoming widely known as the Queen of Latin Music. With her fame, Shakira started a foundation to help children in her native country, Colombia and other developing countries across the world, providing them with education and the chance of a better future.   This inspiring book features stylish and quirky illustrations and extra facts at the back, including a biographical timeline with historical photos and a detailed profile of the iconic singer's life. ​Little People, BIG DREAMS is a bestselling series of books and educational games that explore the lives of outstanding people, from designers and artists to scientists and activists. All of them achieved incredible things, yet each began life as a child with a dream.

My Rating: ★★★★

My Review:

This was an interesting look into Shakira's life. I think kids will enjoy learning how she began performing and writing at a very young age and mixing different music cultures and traditions from around the world, and perhaps be inspired to make some music of their own. I did find the illustrations rather off-putting. I'm not sure exactly why, but something about how the people's bodies were drawn made them seem oddly contorted. I did like the colors used. *Thanks to NetGalley, Quarto, and Frances Lincoln Children's Books for providing an early copy for review.

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Lewis Hamilton

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Publication Date: January 24, 2023

Synopsis:

In this book from the critically acclaimed, multimillion-copy bestselling Little People, BIG DREAMS series, discover the incredible life of Lewis Hamilton, Formula One champion.  Little Lewis's childhood was filled with cars, motorcycles and watching Formula One with his dad. On his fifth birthday, he received a remote-controlled racing car and joined a local club. It was hard being the only black child there, but he listened to his dad's words: 'Let your results speak for you.' His hobby led him to go-kart racing, and at the age of 10 he became the youngest ever winner of the British cadet go-karting competition. Shortly after, he began training as a racing driving with McLaren, rising through the ranks to compete at Formula One's Grand Prix.  Despite his amazing successes, from breaking the record for the most triumphs in Formula One to his knighthood, Lewis has never forgotten where he came from. Today he is a campaigner for racial justice and racial diversity in sport, as well as an advocate for positive mental health as well as environmental issues.  This inspiring book features stylish and quirky illustrations and extra facts at the back, including a biographical timeline with historical photos and a detailed profile of the incredible young poet and activist’s life so far. Little People, BIG DREAMS is a bestselling series of books and educational games that explore the lives of outstanding people, from designers and artists to scientists and activists. All of them achieved incredible things, yet each began life as a child with a dream. This empowering series offers inspiring messages to children of all ages, in a range of formats. The board books are told in simple sentences, perfect for reading aloud to babies and toddlers. The hardback versions present expanded stories for beginning readers. Boxed gift sets allow you to collect a selection of the books by theme. Paper dolls, learning cards, matching games and other fun learning tools provide even more ways to make the lives of these role models accessible to children. Inspire the next generation of outstanding people who will change the world with Little People, BIG DREAMS!

My Rating: ★★★★★

My Review:

This is a very inspiring story about overcoming prejudice and racism and bullying and rising to the top through hard work and dedication. I find it particularly inspiring that Lewis Hamilton has used his fame to speak out about many issues, including racism, LGBTQ+ rights, children's welfare, and animal and environmental concerns. The people who make it to the top don't always turn to raise up the ones who don't necessarily have a platform to speak for themselves, so it makes me like someone more when I find they are vocal about these issues. It is well-written, and the story flows easily and clearly. The illustrations are bright and colorful and cheerful and add to the story. I would recommend it to young children and early elementary students. *Thanks to NetGalley, Quarto, and Frances Lincoln Children's Books for providing an early copy for review.

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Freddie Mercury

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Publication Date: February 7, 2023

Synopsis:

In this book from the critically acclaimed, multimillion-copy best-selling Little People, BIG DREAMS series, discover the life of Freddie Mercury, the trailblazing musician who rocked the world! Born on the tiny island on Zanzibar off the coast of modern-day Tanzania, young Farrokh dreamt of having a fabulous life. When his parents sent him to boarding school in India, he discovered his true talent for singing, as well as a love of playing rock ’n’ roll songs on the piano. By the time he finished school, Farrokh knew he wanted to be a musician. After moving to London, he became the singer of a rock band called Queen ... and the rest is history! Freddie became the biggest glam-rock star ever, touring the world and charming the world with his exuberant zest for life.  This moving book features stylish and quirky illustrations and extra facts at the back, including a biographical timeline with historical photos and a detailed profile of the musician’s life. Little People, BIG DREAMS is a best-selling series of books that explores the lives of outstanding people, from designers and artists to scientists and activists. All of them achieved incredible things, yet each began life as a child with a dream.    This empowering series offers inspiring messages to children of all ages, in a range of formats. The board books are told in simple sentences, perfect for reading aloud to babies and toddlers. The hardcover versions present expanded stories for beginning readers. Boxed gift sets allow you to collect a selection of the books by theme.   Inspire the next generation of outstanding people who will change the world with Little People, BIG DREAMS!

My Rating: ★★★★

My Review:

Freddie Mercury is an excellent addition to this series, although I feel that this book glossed over a lot of things. More than I noticed in previous books. Freddie's sexuality, for instance. "Then, one day, he met Jim, and they were together forever after." To me that's glossing over things more than necessary, even for a kids book. Kids can handle mention of sexuality. I know he did not choose to label his sexuality publicly, but it seems fairly well-known that he dated both men and women, whichever label he would have chosen. And yes, you can read that into the wording used here, but it feels like it's also easy to miss it. That aside, this did provide a good overview of his life and the way Queen was formed. I also like that it does not shy away from including that he died of AIDS. I did find it interesting and enjoyable overall, and learned a few things I didn't know. I would recommend this to elementary-school kids. *Thanks to NetGalley, Quarto Books, and Francis Lincoln Children's Books for providing an early copy for review.