Some Wisdom From The Renowned Tamora Pierce.

aw, sweetheart. this is adorable.

Bedtime cuddles

One of my favorite things about our history – that is, humanity’s history – is fireworks. Over a thousand years ago, some Chinese alchemists discovered that they could combine charcoal, sulfur, and potassium nitrate to create explosions.

And the first thing they did with that knowledge was use it to create something spectacular and celebratory – fireworks. It wasn’t immediately used as weaponry. That seems very special to me. So much of our history has been about creating new ways to destroy one another. And yet, one of the most arguably innovative and effective of those weapons, the substance that would later come to be known as gunpowder, was not originally used for that destructive purpose at all.

It rather gives me hope, that we as humanity can create things for the purpose of beauty instead of destruction.

@space-australians

“No. You seek glory for yourself. And you would win it off the backs of my people!”

- Princess Jasmine

I love this moment in Aladdin. The way she says ‘my people!’ so intensely and passionately is perfection.

in sixth grade you were either a cucumber melon bitch or a warm vanilla sugar bitch

Captain Marvel Nothing to Prove Moment

So, watching Captain Marvel was awesome and made me feel super happy and strong!

The only bit I felt conflicted over was that part at the end where Yon Rogg was like, “I’m so proud of you! Fight me! Prove to me that you can win without powers!” and Carol just blasted him.

Now don’t get me wrong, I love that. It’s exactly what she should have done, and it’s a very satisfying moment for her character. But...

See, I didn’t feel conflicted about it because it was the wrong thing to do or it was emotionally unfulfilling or any of that nonsense. I felt conflicted about it because of how much I related to it. Because he started talking, and I had that moment of, what the hell do you mean you’re proud?! What kind of gaslighting, two-faced rubbish are you spewing now?!

And then he said “Prove to me,” and I was torn between laughing at his obvious, kind of pathetic attempt to make a more powerful foe deliberately handicap herself, the niggling irritation that comes with a man trying to convince you to prove yourself to him when you owe him nothing, and anger at the fact that some part of me felt like Carol had to. That some part of me felt it necessary for her to try and please him, prove herself to him, even though she owed him nothing and he was clearly trying to manipulate her into making herself less than she was again.

Because I know that feeling of constantly having to prove yourself when you’ve already done it a thousand times. That feeling of trying to get a man’s approval of your competence, that if you do more, prove you know more, do it faster, do it better, maybe you’ll finally feel like you belong, like you’re equal and you’ve finally, finally earned your place. 

And then she blasted him, and I was so proud of her for doing that, for not falling for his manipulative BS and for knowing her own worth and knowing that she had nothing to prove. But at the same time, I mourned the lack of gaining his approval. I didn’t want to, but I did.

We are so conditioned to need male approval in all aspects of our lives. It’s so easy to fall into the trap of falling head over heels to prove ourselves to some random jerk, of wasting our time and energy to show him that we deserve a place and that we deserve to be heard, sabotaging ourselves in a hopeless effort to get him to confer value upon us.

But the thing is, we already have that value. We deserve to have a place. We have nothing to prove.

And that’s why that moment at the end of Captain Marvel was so powerful, so satisfying. She knew her own worth and didn’t let a man talk her out of it.

Our world does not welcome wild things.

As a zoology student, this is a brutal truth I must face. We slaughter keystone predators, leaving ecosystems to rot, then ponder why we are so overrun by the animals they hunt. We destroy forests, jungles, prairies and marshlands, then wonder why these pests dare encroach on our land. 

We hunt rare creatures for their tusks, for their horns, for their skin, for their bones, forcing those that remain onto reserves, culling them when their populations grow beyond our control. Our highest-ranking political figures publicly delight in murdering endangered species for mere thrill of the hunt. If a creature is fierce, or frightening, or mysterious, or beautiful… we kill it. 

This is why How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World is important. Grimmel is a trophy hunter. He kills dragons for the fun of it. Because Night Furies are beautiful and rare and dangerous and the world heralds him as a hero for it. He doesn’t need another reason for it, anymore than any of the trophy hunters of our world need a reason for shooting an elephant and proudly posing with its bloody tail other than it boosts their egos. 

“Our world doesn’t deserve you…”

…because our world destroys all that which is fierce and beautiful and wild. So until the day comes when mankind stops desecrating, polluting, and exploiting the natural world we are meant to protect, I hope the dragons stay hidden, where man cannot reach them. 

Honestly the biggest disappointment I had researching ABC was that medieval authors did not, in fact, see the creatures they were describing and were trying their best to describe them with their limited knowledge while going “what the fuck… what the fuck…”

Want to learn something new in 2022??

Absolute beginner adult ballet series (fabulous beginning teacher)

40 piano lessons for beginners (some of the best explanations for piano I’ve ever seen)

Excellent basic crochet video series

Basic knitting (probably the best how to knit video out there)

Pre-Free Figure Skate Levels A-D guides and practice activities (each video builds up with exercises to the actual moves!)

How to draw character faces video (very funny, surprisingly instructive?)

Another drawing character faces video

Literally my favorite art pose hack

Tutorial of how to make a whole ass Stardew Valley esque farming game in Gamemaker Studios 2??

Introduction to flying small aircrafts

French/Dutch/Fishtail braiding

Playing the guitar for beginners (well paced and excellent instructor)

Playing the violin for beginners (really good practical tips mixed in)

Color theory in digital art (not of the children’s hospital variety)

Retake classes you hated but now there’s zero stakes:

Calculus 1 (full semester class)

Learn basic statistics (free textbook)

Introduction to college physics (free textbook)

Introduction to accounting (free textbook)

Learn a language:

Ancient Greek

Latin

Spanish

German

Japanese (grammar guide) (for dummies)

French

Russian (pretty good cyrillic guide!)

I hope im not just a blog you follow but also the only person with 100% correct opinions about the little mermaid

haha I got it right last time I had to think about this! my great-grandmother’s sister’s grandson is my second cousin once removed! I should bring a copy of this chart to his wedding (it’s later this week.)

Who the Hell Is This Person Talking to Me and How Exactly Are They Related to Me: The Chart, just in time for your Thanksgiving gathering.

(Source: Apparently commenter “Platypus Man” from this Lifehacker post)