#like deep in depth conversation about mental health and then politics and then sexuality

[katyobsesses]

I somehow stayed awake until 4am last night and woke up at 12:30. I'm in the wrong timezone

[fanhackers]

Tumblrpocalypse Special, Part 13

Our final scholarly reaction to the Tumblrpocalypse comes from Allison McCracken, DePaul University. Allison is a co-editor of A Tumblr Book: Platform and Cultures (forthcoming 2019). I first went on Tumblr in 2010, because I was a Glee fan. As a fan and scholar of musicals--their social and industrial contexts as well as the texts themselves--Tumblr was a dream come true, a wide-open town with every kind of content related to the show available in the same place. And because Glee was its own kind of TV animal –a teen musical with I-Tunes hits and live tours -- and because its immediate popularity coincided with the rise of social media, there was an enormous amount of content immediately available on the platform: entire episodes, every separate musical number (video and audio), every performance from every “Glee Live” show, every tweet by cast members or production staff, all show publicity and promotion, and literally every public sighting of the show’s stars anywhere. Because the cast were young and because they were network TV stars who had to do a lot of promotion, they were more accessible than many film stars (they flew on commercial airlines, for example). They were more covered than the Beatles in their early days just in terms of the volume and depth of material provided by both the press and the social media fans in those first few years (for example, it was quite possible to know where Glee’s top stars were almost every minute of their lives everywhere around the world). Tumblr’s “endless scroll” was ideally suited to accommodate Glee’s 24/7 news cycle, but of course, Tumblr also constantly made available fan creative production as well: art, video, and fan fiction; indeed, many of Glee’s early fan production integrated Tumblr as essential to its character’s lives, just as it had become part of its writer’s lives. Either as a fan or a scholar, I had never seen anything like it before. As someone who has also always been fascinated by the cultural work of popular texts, Tumblr was goldmine of a different sort. In the early 2010s, I began to focus my attention to the way fan tumblrs visibly integrated other kinds of social discourses. Fan media practices have always been rooted in particular social contexts and dynamics, and I have focused most of my work on the fandom of marginalized groups (women, queer people, people of color, working class people). Tumblr made these intersections between fandom and marginalized identities and social justice politics publicly visible in a way, again, I had not seen before; the fluid nature of its interface made them part of the fabric of Tumblr fandom as a whole. Most of these intersections involved discourses of feminism, queer/gender identity affirmation and formation, public education, alternative porn and pleasure, critical media analysis, and social justice. The greater effects of this integration on young people’s lives first crystallized for me at LeakyCon 2012 in Chicago, a smaller con (4-5,000 people) targeted at feminist and queer teens. I attended it (my first time) for a single Glee-related event, and while waiting in line I met two 16-year old best friends who were deep into discussion about Glee’s “heternormativity” and possible “transphobia.” I asked them whether they were learning these terms in school (both of them attended Michelle Obama’s alma mater, the excellent magnet school Whitney Young), and they replied that no, they had learned these terms from Tumblr. That single conversation determined much of my research for several years, which has focused on the cultural work and significance of Tumblr ad its users. Since I was particularly interested in young people’s uses of Tumblr, I subsequently attended and wrote about several similarly targeted cons between 2013 and 2015: LeakyCon, GeekGirlCon, and DashCon. These cons were one of the few “Real Life” spaces where Tumblr’s users were both publicly visible and in which they were able to exercise a great deal of agency in the construction of the space. The producers of these cons developed panels and events in response to fans’ interests and concerns. Therefore, the cons reproduced the integration of fandom, alternative identities and social justice that characterized Tumblr and had become naturalized for its young users. These cons not only hosted standard fan events devoted to “squee-ing” over fan content and fan performances, but “social track” and “community connection” panels and gatherings devoted to learning, for example, about how to live with chronic pain, mental illness, and disability (“spoonie living”); feminism (rape culture, intersectional feminism); body positivity; alternative sexual practices and pleasures; ethical cosplaying; queer community; alternative sexual and gender identities; and social justice discussions (charities) and opportunities for “on the ground” political action. Panels devoted to media criticism integrated these tracks in the most obvious ways, producing cutting edge media analysis that often surpassed that of the scholarly conferences I was attending at the same time. I found these cons enormously educational and inspiring, and I really felt like these young people represented a generational shift in fandom and in the larger culture. Today, I see the legacy of Tumblr everywhere, in the discourses of #metoo, in media criticism (especially regarding representation), in the rise of black women as significant public voices on media platforms such as Twitter and Teen Vogue, in the way the Parkland students speak about social justice, in the attention to mental health and chronic pain, in the calls for more sexual education, in the mainstreaming of alternative sexual and gender identities such as asexual and non-binary, in the greater attention to and activism of transgender publics, and in the rise of intersectional feminism. Tumblr made spaces—however limited, unstable, and sometimes wounding they were—for young people to find community and comfort and pleasure, to self-construct their identities, to create and share their art, to critique the mainstream, to network with each other, to learn from peers and mentors about sex, about history, about activism, about self-care. The outpouring of sorrow and criticism that greeted Tumblr’s announcement, on Dec 3, that the platform was banning adult content made Tumblr’s cultural impact more visible in the mainstream, all at once, than it ever has been before. And I believe we all will feel that impact for years to come.

[armageddon-generation]

Wildehopps AUs

HANNIBAL AU

- Judy is a young, fresh faced Will: she is talented but inexperienced, who has the ability to fully empathise with anyone (including serial killers) and uses this understanding to catch them

- Nick is Hannibal , but he only kills other killers (but isn’t excused)

- Bogo is Jack Crawford and throws Judy in the deep end

- Causes a lot of resentment from more experienced detectives

- Bellwether is Freddy Lounds

- Themes of deep isolation from Judy’s family and workmates

- Nick is brought on as a psychological consultant to monitor Judy’s mental health - She is initially extremely tight-lipped due to Gideon incident, and Nick complains to Bogo that he is aware that Nick is the worst mammal for the job (“Yeah, well I thought she was the worst mammal for her job, but she keeps proving me wrong.”)

- Nick trial runs therapy by helping Judy overcome her phobia of foxes (with a case going on in the background: Nick wants to help but Judy is initially too stubborn)

- Nick is fascinated by Judy as a psychological miracle/oddity (“You toe the line between saviour and psychopath every day, Miss Hopps. Any therapist worth his salt would pay his bottom dollar to get at the soup of psychoses and environmental influences swimming around in your head ”)

- They have some interesting conversations about the differences between pred psychology vs prey (spoiler alert: there really aren’t that many) and, more importantly, how Nick being a predator affects his pred patients differently to the prey (it’s actually not always positive because the preds expect him to be more of a friend than a therapist)

- Nick has lots of prey patients because he enjoys the primal power therapy gives him over them: physical hunting may have been lost to time, but he can still make prey submit. Preds make him antsy and ready for a fight, like he’s afraid they’ll steal his kill

- Judy challenges him though. Her outsider status and genuine uniqueness already makes Nick regard her as an equal, and the way she challenges him and genuinely wants to learn from him is refreshing

- Nick starts subtly training Judy (without her knowing) in the ways of the serial killer

- The idea of them becoming soulmates because they are the only ones who understand each other, but their relationship transcending sex and pure physicality: a romance of the mind

- Nick and Judy have a ‘no touching ’ rule. Judy thinks Nick just hates physical contact, but Nick doesn’t want to be tempted into 'playing’ with her

- Pred/prey prejudice is very strong so everyone has massive respect for Nick, who hides himself in a shroud of high culture

- Manchas’ savage attacks lead to Judy’s first kill (under Nick’s in-the-moment instruction, which saves her life

- Savage Manchas haunts Judy’s dreams from this point on like the Murder Stag does Will’s

- As a result (and for the first time going against his impulse to keep Judy close and under his thumb) Nick recommends she moves back to Bunnyburrow and commutes to work

- Doing so highlights how this life is isolating Judy from her family (she feels like a ghost in her own home, surrounded by people). The others are slightly scared of her, and quickly give up trying to talk to her about her problems because every time they do Judy ends up talking about the atrocities of serial killers in a horrifyingly casual, offhand way

- When the ZPD discovers that the Nighthowlers that infected Manchas can infect prey too, Judy starts having nightmares of becoming a predator

- Judy’s parents wake her after she has a violent nightmare, concerned. When Judy explains what the nightmare was about they are horrified, and Judy feels the need to defend predators (pulling from her conversations with Nick about how pred/prey psychology is the same

-Judy attempts to use this as an opportunity to patch up her strained relationship with her parents, but they only think she’s odd for defending predators, whom they assume are the majority of the killers she catches (does she want to be a predator? They ask themselves)

- After her parents leave Judy has a very sensual dream about turning into a fox

- Judy has never been one to beat around the bush and tells Nick during their next therapy session “I think I’m infatuated with you ”

- Nick has her recount the dream (idk but think really classy phone sex? It’s the first time he’s ever been made interested in something romantically/sexually before that wasn’t killing)

- They have a discussion afterwards (a “how does that make you feel session that goes both ways) and Judy swears she is this close to leaping from her chair and tearing Nick’s clothes off, but she is unsure/inexperienced and Nick is unable to reciprocate (no touching rule)

- Nick uses this as an opportunity to undo his 'mistake’ in recommending Judy stay at the farm, and manipulate her further away from her family so she can stay with him

- Hannibal is famous for it’s inventive bodies, so how about a killer that weaves a tapestry of his career using the fur of his victims? Or a body inspired by the ‘There Was An Old Woman Who Swallowed A Fly’ nursery rhyme; a body within a body, within a body, like a Russian nesting doll, with a mouse as the smallest inner layer and an elephant as the largest outer layer.

- Nick has to visit the Hopps family farm once to pick Judy up (reluctantly forced to by Bogo, who has no-one spare to send) and looks upon the family as a predator. Bonnie and Stu genuinely fear him behind his icy sharp politeness

- But as soon as Judy comes down the stairs he relaxes/switches on the charm, and she is incredibly relieved to see a friendly face (in her family home, that’s how bad things are) she tackle-hugs him and breaks the no-touching rule, and Nick is shocked when he doesn’t feel the need/desire to hurt her

- Judy’s parents try to pull her away and attempt to scent mark her as a way of protection, and now Nick sees red and impulsively marks Judy as his territory in front of her family

- Judy is surprisingly non-reactive and drags Nick out before her family can recover from the shock

- In the car ("I apologise”/“If you don’t mean it don’t bother. The 'safe space’ thing wasn’t working anyway. I won’t be going back there again.” / “They’re your family, Judith.”/“They used to be. In the end I was just weighing them down. So…”(she sniffs mark he’s smeared all down the left side of her face experimentally, “does this mean I have a new safe space?”/“No.”/“Seriously?”/“I’m dangerous Hopps.”/“Maybe I like danger.”/“Those are called suicidal thoughts. I can treat them if you like.”/“Maybe I don’t want to be cured.”/“Then you’re so crazy even I can’t help you.”/“But- Argh, fine, but if you’re going to do this you’re going to stick to it. Promise me. No more temptation, because I will not take it. I will not let you be that cruel for both our sakes.”/“… I promise.”)

- Judy sort of realises who Nick is, but really doesn’t want to admit it to herself because he’s the cornerstone of her life- this relationship touches on co-dependency

- Eventually she goes and confesses to him that she knows, and he makes her promise to let someone else catch him before running

- Jack Savage then plays a game of cat and mouse with Nick across the globe

HITCH AU

- A Hopps family friend is getting married and one of Judy’s sisters is desperate to get married to a buck who’s never noticed her

- On a trip to Zootopia for the hen party she meets and hires Nick, a professional matchmaker

- The sister brings Nick down to Bunnyburrow, where the whole Hopps family (including Judy, on a week off work)

- Nick and Judy pretty much hate each other- Judy thinks he preys on the same stereotypes that plague her at the ZPD and Nick declares Judy the most “Un-romantic person in the world”

- Judy and Nick give the sister conflicting advice on how to pursue the relationship: Judy recommends charging right in because she doesn’t have much regard for emotional nuance. Nick thinks romance is just a bunch of cliches to string together the right way It turns out a measure halfway between the two works best

- Judy has brought work home with her to the wedding rehearsal (a smuggling ring) and effectively bores/scares off every buck who tries to make a move on her

- Nick buts in and uses his people skills to make a break in the case. Then, as payback, Judy agrees to let him teach her how to flirt. He uses her to bait away a buck who is trying to interrupt Judy’s sister moving on the guy she likes, and is caught off guard by how good she is

- Judy begrudgingly admits that there is some depth/use to what Nick does, and corners him into teaching her how to read people and situations like he can so she can be a better cop.

- They test out a lot of these techniques on each other, which gradually start to have a greater and greater effect on them- they start falling for each other

- Nick spends so much time focusing on other people’s emotions he doesn’t pay any attention to his own: it’s only when Judy gets perceptive enough that she realises, and then he denies everything because the whole point of him learning how to manipulate emotions was to ‘never let them see that they get to you"

- Their argument jeopardises Judy’s sister’s emerging relationship, which makes Judy feel terrible and Nick considers cutting and running to save his professional reputation

- During the wedding the sister and her crush go completely off Nick’s recommended script and confess love for each other, which spurs Judy into confessing/announcing/demanding an answer from Nick

- Over the course of the story Nick teaches Judy that it’s OK to relax and be ‘normal’ sometimes, and Judy teaches Nick that honest emotion isn’t for suckers

MOB LAWYER/PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR AU

- Judy gets refused a place at the ZPD so becomes a PI

- Bellwether meets Judy as she’s being released from ZPD interrogation: Judy managed to illegally get through seven layers of security at a five star hotel to take photos of a businessman cheating (“And how did you do that dear?” / “Oh, you’d be amazed how many people will believe a bunny is a private prostitute. After that they tend to stop asking questions.”)

- Bellwether hires Judy under the pretext of finding Mr Otterton (“I think someone more our size would be better dear, but best to keep it hush-hush”) and attempts to slowly convert her to the anti-predator cause: She sees a potential ally in Judy.

- This is Judy’s first real case and she’s already on the verge of being evicted, so she jumps at it. Bellwether gives her some fake leads.

- When we meet him Nick is a widower with a mid-teenage daughter

- Nick is an independent attorney, fighting his way to and through law school from a disadvantaged, crime dominated background

- He was offered places at two big firms when he left law school, but refused because one wanted to use his species as a publicity stunt while not trusting him with serious work, while the other assumed as a fox he would be on board to do all their under-the-table dirty work

- For a time he really tried to fight the good fight, but he was taking on more pro bono than paying cases, then his wife got sick with cancer

- Finnick (an old friend from school) offers him a way out by working for Mr Big

- He manages to support her this way for a while, then she died and he was left devastated with a daughter to support- he continued working for Big

- Big is interested in the missing mammal case because of the Otterton /Manchas connection- tells Nick to cover it up

- He and Judy clash over their opposing goals …

- But when the ZPD gets involved they work together to outwit them (Nick saves Judy from the interrogation room, but the cop present comments on how she looks so annoyed she might prefer to stay there)

- Judy doesn’t tell Bellwether about Nick because she doesn’t want to look weak

- Judy is initially disgusted with Nick and his mob ties, but is slowly modified as he demonstrates his close and genuinely caring relationship with members of the community

- He is working from inside the mob to renegotiate Big’s protection rackets so their victims get a fairer deal (“Look , it ain’t pretty, but this way I get to keep food on the table and help the people who need it. Fighting crime is like fighting cancer; sometimes it’s all you can do to minimise the pain” / “I refuse to believe that” / “That’s on you, darling”)

- Nick admits he’s impressed by Judy’s ability to be immediately likeable to everyone she meets (which opens a lot of doors) and her determination to keep going when they stay closed, but pokes fun at her relative inexperience with law in practice (“You’re the hammer, I’m the scalpel.” / “Well, you’re definitely a tool”) - A dichotomy emerges between the polar influences of Bellwether and Nick: Initially Judy really admires Bellwether, but as the moral complexities of Nick’s position become clear to her (and Bellwether continues to refuse to empathise with predators as a whole) Judy’s alligences begin to shift.

- Case takes more time, but they stay in contact over the three months, and are gradually forced closer and closer together

- Judy begins to slip into Nick’s casual conversation with his daughter, who acts as Nick’s reality checker/moral compass and is pretty much the parent of the two

- One night during month 1, Judy has a breakthrough and comes to Nick’s apartment (“How the hell did you get here? Are you stalking me?” / “I’m a PI, Nick, I’m a professional stalker”) and is shocked to meet Nick’s daughter for the first time (“You have a daughter?” / “I’m trying not to be offended by your surprise, Carrots.” / “Sorry, I just figured you as more of the one and done type.” / “Tsk tsk, Carrots, buying in to offensive stereotypes. Foxes mate for life.”

- Daughter coerces Nick into offering/Judy into accepting staying for dinner

- Nick is completely oblivious, but Judy is extremely aware she’s only about nine years older than this girl and damn if she isn’t intimidating

- Daughter reveals she’s really grateful to Judy for bringing the noble side of her dad back

- The breakthrough Judy has is the first time they are drawn away from Bellwether’s fake line of enquiry and onto the real thing: Judy doesn’t have the opportunity to tell her because of the secretive nature of their relationship

- Over the next few weeks Judy and the daughter develop a close (texting) relationship: Daughter is grateful Judy is here now because it lets her stop being so responsible and get on with being a normal teenager

- They start to open up to each other about family, and Judy offers some insights into the mind of a teenage girl from her vast experience as an older sister (“You’d be a really good Mom” / “Yeah well, I kinda missed my chance” / “You’re kidding, you’re not even thirty yet!” / “Yeah well, in Bunnyburrow if you don’t pair up by the time you’re twenty, you’re pretty much guaranteed to be a spinster”)

- Now she understands his motivations, Judy is much more open to Nick, though he shoots her down whenever she suggests getting out of the mob (“Giving up working for the Bigs means giving up a lot of other things too. Namely breathing.”)

- During this time Bellwether becomes frustrated that Judy is not being converted/is drifting away, and Judy begins to see her true colours.

- Judy goes to Bellwether with all her evidence and it’s while she’s in her office with her that she puts everything together.

- When they find out it’s Bellwether Big orders Nick not to continue: Big doesn’t want to get mixed up in a political scandal

- During the moment of indecision this causes Judy goes it alone and gets caught trespassing in City Hall. Nick goes to bail her out (the same cop on duty as the first time, who almost doesn’t recognise them their relationship has evolved so much) when Big threatens his daughter - This is what causes Judy to leave for Bunnyburrow: The impossible choice between Nick’s daughter or Bellwether.

- Nick’s daughter demands a say in this when he reveals Judy is gone (“Mom would be ashamed of what you’ve become.” / “Mom would recognise that you’re more important than anyone else.” / “If I’m so important, why aren’t you listening to me?” / “Because you don’t know what you need.” / “Jee, patronising much? Look, I have friends at school who’ve been assaulted for their species. I’ve seen friends driven to the gangs because they’ve had no other choice, just like you. People I know have died -” / “Who!?” / “It doesn’t matter, and the point is it doesn’t matter because nobody else cares. Don’t you get it? This isn’t just them you’re working for, it’s you. If you break down this stigma, if you make yourself good, it could be your way out.” / “You sound like Hopps.” / “Damn straight I do.” / “Uh, language.” / “Sorry.” / “You could die.” / “The last thing Judy said to me was you won’t land if you don’t jump.” / “I told Hopps I was done. If told her to never come back.” / “And suddenly your word is law? If there’s one thing that rabbit’s good at it’s ignoring you.” / “Hopps-” / “Her name’s Judy, dad, God. Stop living in denial.” / “ Denial of what?” / “Seriously? What are you, six? Do I need to give you the Birds and the Bees Talk too? You’re in love with her.” / “I - foxes mate for life.” / “Yeah, they do. But Mom lived her life. And you can remember her and still move on. She would kick your ass for not letting yourself be happy.”

- He goes to Bunnyburrow and gets Judy. They go to Bogo, get Nick’s daughter protection and then tag along on the Police raid. Bellwether bolts and they go after her/catch her on their own.

- In the end Nick presents both Manchas and Otterton to Big and manages to negotiate a change of job from defence attorney to prosecution of criminal rivals (he reveals he has several copies of all the information he was ever exposed to in the Bigs’ employ- a lot- primed to be sent to the ZPD and ZBI if anything happens to him or his loved ones “including the rabbit”) which persuades Big

- He goes into business managing Judy’s PI business and Gideon Grey’s partnership with the Hopps farm

- Judy is offered a ZPD badge but refuses: She makes a living helping the little guy like Nick

[jansegers]

Simple English Word List

SIMPLE1540 : a simple English wikipedia word list based on the XML export of all articles related to the nine major groups: Everyday life, Geography, History, Knowledge, Language, Literature, People, Religion, and Science and retaining all word forms appearing 7 times or more in this corpus. The total number of words in this corpus is well over the 100.000 words. a A.D. ability able about above absence abstinence abstract academic academy accent accept access accord account across act action active activity actual actually ad add addition adherent adjective adult advance advice affect after again against age agnostic agnosticism ago agree agreement agriculture air alcohol all allow ally almost alone along alphabet also although always amateur amendment among amount an analysis ancient and angel animal annals anonymous another answer anthropomorphism any anyone anything aphasia appear apple apply approach archaeology architecture area argue argument around arrange art article artificial artist ask aspect associate association astronomy at atheism atheist atomic attack attempt attribute audience author authority available average avoid award away B.C. baby back background backpack bad bah balance band baptism base basic basis battle BCE be bear beautiful beauty because become bed bee before begin behavior behind being belief believe believing belong below best better between beyond bias biblical bibliography big billion biological biology birth bit black blind blood blue body book born both bottom boundary box boy brain branch bring brown buffalo build building bull burn business but by c. ca. calendar call can cancer canon capital caption car carbon card carry case cassette cat category cathedral catholic cause cell center central century cerebral certain change chapel chapter character chemical chemistry child china China choice choir choose chronicle church circumcise circumcision cite citizen city civil civilian civilization claim clan class classical cleanup clear clergy click climate close closer clothes clothing coast coauthor code codex cognitive col cold collection college colonization colony color column com come commentary commission common commonly communicate communication communion communist community companion company compare competition complete complex compose composer computer concept conception concern condition confuse confusion congregational connect connection conquer conquest consciousness consider consistent constitution construct construction contain contemporary content context continent continue contrary control convention conversation conversion convert cook cooking copy core correct could council country course court cover covered create creation credit crime critical criticism crop cross crust cultural culture current currently daily damage dark data date day dead death debt decadence decadent decide declaration decline deconstruction deep define definition deity demonstrate denomination department depth describe description design detail determinism developed development device devil diagnosis dialect dictionary die difference different difficult difficulty diphthong dipstick direct directly dirt disagree disambiguation disbelief discipline discover discovery discussion disease disorder distance distinct distinction distinguish distribution divide divine do doctor doctrine document dog don't door down Dr. dream drink drown druid due during dynasty each earlier early earth easier easily easy eat economic economics economy ed edge edit edition editor education effect eight either electric electricity electronic element elevation else emperor empire encyclopedia end energy engine engineering enlightenment enough enter entertainment environment environmental epic episode equal era error especially establish etc. etymology even event eventually ever every everyday everyone everything evidence evil evolution evolve exact exactly example except exchange exist existence expansion experience experiment expert explain explanation express expression external extinct face fact failure fair faith fall false family famous far fast father feature feel feeling female feudal few fiction field fight figure file find finding fire first fish fit five fix flow folk follow food for force foreign foreskin form formal former fortune fought foundation founded four fourth frame framework free freedom frequently friend from front fruit full function functional further future gas general generally generation genre geographer geographic geographical geography geology geometry germ get give glass global go god gold golden good government grammar great greatly green ground group grow growth guide guillotine hair half hall hand handbook handicap handle happen happens happiness happy hard have he head heading health hear heat heaven help hemisphere her here heritage hero high highly him himself his historian historical historiography history hold holy home homo hope hot hour house how however human hundred hunter hypothesis hysteresis I ice icon idea identify identity if illiteracy illiterate illusory image importance important impossible improve in inc. incense include increase indeed independence independent indigenous individual industrial industry influence information inquiry inside instead institute institution instrument instrumentation intellectual intelligence interlinear internal international internet interpretation into introduce introduction invent invention involve iron island issue it IT itself job join journal journalism judge just keep key kill kind king kingdom know knowledge la LA label lack lake lamp land landlocked landscape language large last late later law lead leader leap learn learned least leave legacy legal legend let letter level lexeme library life light lightning like likely limited line linguistic linguistics link liquid list literacy literary literature little liturgy live local location logic logical long longer look lord lore lose lot love low lower mac machine magazine magic magnetic magnum mail main mainly major make male mammal man mankind manuscript many map march March mark market mass material mathematical mathematics matter may May me mean meaning meant measure measurement meat median medical medicine medieval mediterranean medium meet member memory men mental mention mercury message metal method mid middle might migrate migration military millennium million mind minister minute misconception miss model modern modernism modernist moment money monologue monophthong month monument moon moral morality more morning most mostly mother mount mountain mouth move movement much museum music musical musicians must my myth mythology name narrative nation national nationality native natural naturalism naturally nature near nearly necessarily necessary need negative neither neologism network neurogenesis neuron neuroscience never new news newspaper next night nine no non none nor normal normally not note nothing noun novel now nuclear number object objective objectivity observation observe occupation occur ocean octane of off offer office official officially often oil old older on once one online only open opera opposite or oral orbit order org organization organize origin original originally orthography orthology other others our out outer outside over own oxygen p. pack pagan page paint palace paper paradigm parent parish park part participant particular particularly party pas pass past pasta pattern pay peace peer penguin penis people per percent percentage perception performance perhaps period peroxide persecution person personal personality perspective persuasion pet phenomenon philosopher philosophical philosophy phoneme phonetic phonetics photo phrase physic physical picture piece pilgrimage place plan planet plant plat plate play please poem poems poet poetry point pole police policy political politics polytheism polytheistic popular population position positive possession possible possibly post power powerful pp. practical practice praise pray prayer precise predict prediction prehistory present preserve press prevent priest primary principle print printing private probably problem process produce product production professional program project pronounce pronunciation proof property prophet propose prose proselytism protection protein provide province psychological psychology public publication publish publisher publishing punishment pure purpose put pyramid quantum question quickly quite quote race racial rack radiation radio rain range rate rather read reader real realism reality really reason receive recent recently reclamation recognize record recreation red ref refer reference referred reform reformation regard region reign rejection relate relation relationship relatively relativity reliable relic religion religious remain remember remove renaissance replace report republic request require research researcher resource respect response result resurrection retrieve return revelation revert review revision revival revolution rhetoric rich right rise ritual river rock role room royal rule ruled ruler run rural sacred sacrifice safe saga sage saint salad same sample satellite saw say schizophrenia scholar school science scientific scientist scope sea search second secondary section secular see seek seem selection self sense sent sentence separate sequence series service set seven several sexual shall shaman shape share she short should show shrine side sign significant silence similar simple simply since single situation six size skill skin slavery sleep slightly slow small smell smith snake so social society sociology soft soil solar soldier solid soliloquy some someone something sometimes song soon sortable sound source space speak speaker special specie specific speech speed spell spirit spiritual spirituality split sport spread square st. stage stain standard star start state statement station statistic statistical statue status stick still stone stop story strange strap strong structure struggle stub student study stutter style subject successful such sugar suggest sun sung sunlight superior superiority supernatural support suppose supreme sure surface survey surveyor sushi sustainability sustainable sweat symbol symbolic system table take talk tam tan task teach teacher teaching technique technology tectonics teeth tell temperature template temple ten term terminology territory tertiary test testament text textual than thank that the their theism them themselves then theology theoretical theory therapy there therefore thesaurus these they thick thing think third this those though thought thousand three through throughout thumb thus ticket tight time title to today together toilet tolerance toleration tongue too tool top topic total towards tower trade tradition traditional train translation transport travel treat treatment tree trench trial tribe tried trig true truth try turn twentieth twenty two type typical typically ultimate ultraviolet under understand understood union unit united universal universe university unknown unsortable until up upon upper urban urbanization usage use useful usually valley value van vandalism various vassal vegetable verb verbal verse version very video view violence virgin visit vitamin vocabulary voice vol. volume vowel vs. wale wall want war warm warmer wash waste water wave way we weak wealth wear weather web website weight well what when where whether which while white who whole whom whose why wide widely wild wilderness will window wisdom wise witch witchcraft with within without witness woman word work worker world worship would write writer writing wrong yam year yellow you young your

China, March and May made this list because china, march and may are on it and I didn't want to decide in favor of the common noun or the proper noun; all other proper nouns have been omitted (even the ten other months that met the criterium of appearing more then 6 times). #SimpleWikipedia #SimpleEnglish #wordlist #English #words #level1540 #Inli #nimi #selo1540

[ankitasadarjoshi-blog]

A Piece About Morocco And Healing Through Theatre

Admittedly, this is one of the more generic quotes of the last three weeks, but I’m going to go ahead and plug it in anyway - Carrie Fisher said, “Take your broken heart and make it into art.” Romanticizations of deep personal - and communal - pain aside, there is enormous value embedded in the attempt to process trauma by creating artistic work through, about, and in spite of it. Theater in particular is riddled with the potential to engage citizens of a historically traumatized nation in conversations about recognition and healing.  I have personally been struggling to retain a focused interest in theater lately, but meeting the passionate artists we did in Morocco and witnessing their stunningly intelligent, driven work renewed in me a long-lost faith in the ability of theater to acknowledge and mend broken hearts, bodies, and minds, while also recognizing that there exist different traumas to address and equally varied means to do so.

In order for a community to heal, its members first have to see one another and engage in the mutual recognition of a wound to be mended, a remedy or relief to be attained. More often than not, relief is effectively sought through humour and communal enjoyment. The model that most exemplified this communal need was the one followed by the storytellers in the Halqa traditions of Jemaa al-Fnaa, whose primary urgency was to assemble a crowd of people and constantly perform a desire to engage them in the story being told or the performance happening within the so-formed circle of spectators. Locals of all classes mix with tourists to create a halo of spec’actors’ who willingly (and also, perhaps, helplessly) submit to the vulnerability associated with watching a performance in the round. We watch each other wait for something to happen, we watch each other be picked on and mocked and laughed at - sometimes, in languages we don’t even understand - and yet, we actively choose to participate in this loud, dizzying attempt to experience ourselves through the performative choices of other people. There was a certain fear and reservation I experienced while watching the storyteller/crowd-herder of the first circle at the Square pester Bernice for more money than she could offer. However, these momentary paralyses of free will and individuation are reimbursed through a process of recognizing and applauding those brave spectators who voluntarily and involuntarily sacrifice themselves to the altar of unpredictable public art practice. In this way, public art becomes social art by asserting its ability to create communities of audiences who interact to arguably a higher degree with each other than they do with the actual performance. Jemaa al-Fnaa in particular acts a medium of communication and recognition amongst Moroccans themselves, who are reminded of their own ideas of culture.

Jemaa al-Fnaa represented to me the role of enshrined yet accessible art in facilitating conversations among people of varying classes, races, and genders. Hunter being pulled into the belly-dancing circle to dance with a performer was a moment of joy in which socio-cultural differences between two very different people were transcended to produce a phenomenon of communally enjoyed behaviour. Afterwards, when the belly dancer asked for pictures with some of the people in our NYUAD group, I was struck by how willing audiences are to engage in performative phenomena when such phenomena is made spatially available to an unprescribed public. While perhaps a smidgen more endearing and legible to Moroccan locals, the power of such theater lies in its claim to invite all to witness and be part of it. This is not to say that the cheeky storytellers in Hangman’s Square didn’t know to gravitate towards visibly better off people for more money, but rather, that the prices of loose change and fleeting embarrassment associated with being part of a public audience are easy to pay in exchange for the healing effects of togetherness and humour that arise from such experiences. It is also worth mentioning that so much of the excitement that came from those circles of vulnerability was incited by the storytellers’ and jokers’ abilities to think on their feet, address each new audience differently, and mend faults in their own communication and storytelling. The magic of Halqa thereby lies in its goal of creating and mending disruptions, while also critiquing the efficacy of itself in doing so – a stronghold of inspiration to those seeking to effect social change. By actively engaging with forms of theater that erase the delineation between subjective performers and objective spectators, we as audiences are enriched with a new understanding of what it means to experience spectrums of human emotion through and from one another.

While the performances at Jemaa al-Fnaa constituted efforts to bring people together and make them laugh, worry, pay money, and watch others do the same, we were privy to equally significant ways in which theater is used to unite people through perhaps slightly more serious attempts to soothe trauma. Haouasse Abdelmajid, the director and designer of Theatre Aphrodite, frightened me in the best way possible with his humility, passion and intelligence in creating theatrical works of extremely well-researched art, in which the liminal spaces between Morocco’s historicized trauma and contemporary representations of the same could be delved into. The YouTube videos he unassumingly pulled up on his laptop screen contained beautifully executed scenography that I will probably retain in my vocabulary of theatre imagery for the rest of my life. Among the videos he shared with us, the ones that stood out most to me were undoubtedly _Violenscene _and Schizophrenya - pertaining to sexual violence against women and cyclical abuse perpetuated through the internalized misogyny of mothers who sell off their daughters, respectively. Both pieces were infused with formal experimentation, challenging the limits of how exactly to stage testimonial trauma documented from and experienced by real people.

In Violenscene, we watched a man play a woman like a violin, with the final stroke of his bow slicing the female body down to its raped end. While this image presented itself on one end of the stage, we watched a woman narrate her rape on the other. By literally distancing a victim of rape from the representation of her experience, the piece puts forth the argument that victims of trauma resulting from sexual assault possess the capability to regain subjecthood through narrations of their experience - a method often encouraged by mental health professionals as well. It is pivotal to note that the groundwork for Violenscene was generated from interviews with single mothers who were victims of sexual violence during Morocco’s Years of Lead, thus historicizing the systematic use of rape as an instrument of political warfare and using it as evidence of inexplicable suffering in contemporary testimonial theatre. In this way, theatre quite literally offers a voice to the previously silenced and visualizes for its audiences – sometimes containing victims of the staged violence – the ways in which trauma can be poeticized to some extent as long as the truth of it is not lost, and that some amount of relief and agency is gained through such poeticization.

To me, Abdelmajid exemplified the importance of working in firm collaboration with the victims of the trauma one is attempting to portray on stage. In Schizophrenya, we watch the theatrical manifestation of a woman systematically abused by the household she was sold into as a girl, and the trauma she experiences as a severely mistreated prostitute. We watch an actor playing an abused woman cower and tell her story in one corner of the stage, we see a large screen projecting an actor suffer the torture inflicted on her by an invisible abuser in the middle of the stage, while a third corner presents another element of her torture. In this classic case of form mimicking and speaking to subject matter, an audience is asked to consider the conditions due to which the singular story of one person’s experience would have to be fragmented into separate stage installations, each depicting a different visual and visceral aesthetic idea attached to trauma. The liminal spaces bubble up in moments of multi-formal theatre, where an audience is fed an idea of what torture and abuse feel like, rather than didactic images of torture and abuse themselves.

Such choices to implicate audiences in a character’s experience of trauma further speaks to the fact that stories of sexual violence, trauma, and abuse, though experienced first-hand by real life victims, belong not only to individual narratives of suffering, but to the history of an entire nation and its people. The idea of national belonging is thus complicated to encompass questions of what it means to witness representations of suffering you did not experience, but that are embedded in the socio-political memory of a nation you belong to. Through his in-depth investment in representations of female trauma, Abdelmajid proposes methods in which a history of gendered torture is confronted in an attempt to deliver some semblance of hope, justice, and recognition to victims continually struggling to reconcile their fractured psyches.

A community of recognition is inherently political and charged with a conscience to enact change – but to what degree does an audience retain this conscience once they leave a theater? It is here that the question of audience participation becomes crucial, as the primary danger of traditional proscenium theatre is its risk of paralyzing its audiences with cathartic empathy. In rebellion to notions of paralysis in the face of desired change, the incredibly inspiring Théatre De L’Opprimé Casablanca (The Casablanca Theatre of the Oppressed) valorizes attempts to interrupt and disrupt that which claims to be the norm of society. The enthusiastic students of the company thrust us into an immediate example of theatrical image-making that asks its audience to solve the reality being represented in a picture without providing magical solutions. We sat down – once again in the round – and watched the female members of a house cater to the arrogance, laziness and misogyny of the male characters of the same household, and were called to attention by the joker figure who acted as an intermediary host between actor and spectator, a narrator of events, and a questioner of the audience’s desire for change.

By voicing my opinion on the image, intervening to change it, and watching my classmates do the same, I realized something of extreme importance – there are ways to streamline outrage so that it leads to productive solutions. Most of all, it was so heartening to watch our contributive solutions build up on, and due to, one another, elegantly landing us in the lap of Shaima’s conclusion – a proposal that the education of Morocco’s male population be considered an integral solution to internalized misogyny. A community of passive conscience is thereby transformed into one of active resistance to the paralysis of empathy, and an audience of social change is born. The energy of the different forms of theatre we experienced in Morocco reminded me that it is exhausting to have to confront the trauma of oneself, others, and an entire nation, but it is a thousand times more defeating to remain complacent in the face of a war cry. By activating and puzzling the liminal spaces of delineation, accessibility, and participatory behaviour, Moroccan theatre claims stake in creating dialogues about social change that arise when passive spectators are made to realize their agency in demanding a recognition of a communal behaviour that seeks to heal history.