defense mechanisms
These are my two pets.

oozey mess

Origami Around
DEAR READER
$LAYYYTER
No title available
2025 on Tumblr: Trends That Defined the Year

roma★
tumblr dot com
Monterey Bay Aquarium

#extradirty

JBB: An Artblog!
taylor price

No title available
hello vonnie

ellievsbear

pixel skylines

Discoholic 🪩
h
Misplaced Lens Cap
Keni
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United Kingdom
seen from United States

seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Canada
seen from United States

seen from United States

seen from United States

seen from United States

seen from Germany

seen from Malaysia
seen from Malaysia

seen from Belarus
seen from Belgium
seen from Argentina
seen from Australia
seen from United States
@gakingmusic
defense mechanisms
These are my two pets.
There are libraries in Los Angeles that let kids read to pay off their late fees. Each hour a child spends reading at county-run libraries knocks $5 off their account. Library staff say at least 100 kids each week read away their debt, and 3,500 suspended accounts were cleared during the first 6 months of the program. Source Source 2
Can we let adults do this for student loan debt?
The kingdom has come. Get your tickets to Marvel Studios’ “Black Panther” NOW: www.fandango.com/blackpanther
It can't come soon enough.
a golden goddess
"I'm gonna be a mighty king, so enemies beware..."
https://soundcloud.com/doug-gaking/rise-2-with-intro-no-click
jock is NOT the opposite of goth. prep is the opposite of goth, and nerd is the opposite of jock. like this
switch goth and prep and u got a political compass
My high school life suddenly makes sense
The Wakandan Royal Portrait offers clues to the dangers within the fictional nation
T’CHALLA
“What makes him different from other superheroes first and foremost is he doesn’t see himself as a superhero,” says director and co-writer Ryan Coogler (Fruitvale Station, Creed). “He sees himself as a politician. That’s the first thing on his mind when he wakes up in the morning. ‘How am I going to fulfill my duties as king of this place?’”
That means not just fighting external foes, but keeping the citizens of his nation happy. He’s a king, but not a tyrant. And Wakandans don’t speak with only one voice. There are many political factions, many clashing points of view. Some are ready for revolution. Some are being pushed.
“He has to keep harmony between the tribes within his country, and that means managing expectations and doing things that are unpopular,” Coogler says. “At the same time, he is the protector of that nation.”
RAMONDA
Angela Bassett costars as Ramonda, once the queen, now the mother of the king.
“She is one of the advisors that he would look to,” Boseman says. “He has to look to her for some of the answers of what his father might want or might do. She may not be exactly right all the time, but she definitely has insights. She is the queen mother. And she’s that for not just him, but for everybody.”
Bozeman laughs. “She’s has her hands in everything — even his love life.”
NAKIA
“The one thing I will say about all the female characters in this movie is that they are very strong,” Boseman says. “It’s a very matriarchal society.”
One of them is Wakanda’s undercover operative Nakia, played by 12 Years a SlaveOscar-winner Lupita Nyong’o. She may actually be the closest thing to 007 in this movie, and she’s a former lover of T’Challa’s.
“She is a departure from what she was in the comic book,” Nyong’o says. “Nakia is a war dog. She is basically an undercover spy for Wakanda. Her job is to go out into the world and report back on what’s going on.”
She also boasts some unique weaponry. “We call them her ring blades,” says Moore. “The ones Lupita carries while in the green outfit are based on traditional African weaponry. However, she does get a hi-tech upgrade later in the film, compliments of Shuri.”
SHURI
Letitia Wright plays T’Challa’s kid sister, who is no one you want to face in battle either. “She is also a genius and runs the entire Wakandan design group,” says producer Kevin Feige, whose also president of Marvel Studios and one of the chief architects of its interlocked universe. “She’s responsible for all these amazing technological advances that Vibranium has brought about from Wakanda.”
Here she is pictured with twin, panther-shaped weapons. It’s not clear yet what they do exactly, but it probably hurts.
OKOYE
She’s not technically family, but she’s just as close. This character played by The Walking Dead‘s Danai Gurira is the head of the Dora Milaje, the all-female special soldiers unit that protects the kingdom (and the king) from harm.
“They are a very powerful force,” she says. “They are not utopic, but what Wakanda has down well is it has allowed people to function within their strengths. These women, their strength is to preserve Wakanda. It’s more like the secret service in a sense that it’s not just military. She is head of intel.”
Okoye has guilt over the death of the previous king, and she’s generally a stoic presence. But she’s not unfeeling. “She can be serious, but she also has an unexpected sense of humor,” Gurira says. “She has a heart, but for her country and for her people. She’s not a person who doesn’t connect to human beings as a result of what she does.”
ERIK KILLMONGER
There is an enemy in this portrait.
In the comics, he was once a Wakandan known as N’Jadaka, but he took on this “death-dealing” nom de guerre when he became a dissident, then an exile, from his homeland.
Michael B. Jordan’s character is one of the antagonists of the film, allied with the mercenary Ulysses Klaue (Andy Serkis, reprising his role from Avengers: Age of Ultron), an arms dealer who has plundered Vibranium before and plans to do it again. He’s addicted.
In The Godfather terms, Killmonger has sided with this outsider against “the family,” his brothers and sisters of Wakanda. “I think Killmonger has his own opinion on how Wakanda has been run and should run, and what I think Michael brings to the table is sort of a charming antagonist, who doesn’t agree with how T’Challa is running things, frankly,” says Moore. “I think that puts T’Challa in a difficult situation. Killmonger is a voice of a different side of Wakanda.”
W’KABI
Get Out star Daniel Kaluuya plays T’Challa’s best friend, who is also a member of one of the most vital groups in the nation. “W’Kabi is the head of security for the Border Tribe,” says Moore. “They live on the borders of Wakanda and serve as the first line of defense for the country.”
In other words, he helps maintain the disguise that Wakanda is just mines, farms, and woods.
“To outsiders they appear to be what people would ‘expect’ of a small provincial African nation – but the truth is they are some of the fiercest warriors in Wakanda, intent on protecting the secrets of their advanced nation at all costs,” Moore says.
Now that T’Challa is king, he asks W’Kabi to join him as a palace advisor.
ZURI
Another vital voice of reason for the young king is Forest Whitaker’s shaman, a longtime advisor to T’Challa’s father and the keeper of the Heart-Shaped Herb, a plant that grows only in Wakanda and absorbs the Vibranium-rich minerals. When consumed, it gives the new leader superhuman strength. (But in the comics, it only works on members of the royal bloodline.)
“He’s somewhat a religious figure or spiritual figure,” Coogler says of Zuri. “Spirituality is something that exists in Wakanda in the comics, and it’s something we wanted to have elements of in the film. Forest’s character, more than anything, is a major tie-back to T’Challa’s father. Zuri is someone he looks to for guidance.”
As wondrous as Wakanda seems, it can also be treacherous. For all the talk of honor in The Godfather, the families were compulsively driven to destroy each other. 007 may venture to the most beautiful places (and people) on Earth, but there’s always a villain determined to wipe those places off the map. If Black Panther owes thematic inspiration to those predecessors, the danger comes hand in hand with the beauty.
But that’s where the similarities will end. When the Marvel Studios movie debuts Feb. 16, the story will remain on Earth, but its creators pledge to take fans to a world they’ve never seen before nonetheless.
“I don’t think people are prepared for what this movie is going to be,” says Feige. “Not just Black Panther, but the Dora Milaje, and Killmonger, and the entire design of Wakanda – both its traditional African-inspired elements, but also the Vibranium inspired techno-elements. I can’t think of a blend that has happened like that before in movies.”
There’s only one Black Panther, after all.
No matter who wants to lay claim to his throne.
TROY, AL—Explaining that the degree of care with which it must be handled has been steadily decreasing over time, local man Peter Shepard confirmed Monday that his laptop had reached the age where it can be lightly tossed sometimes. “It’s six years old now, so it’s okay to gently throw it every now and then, but only if it’s onto a soft surface like a couch or something,” said Shepard, who having officially relaxed his standard of care for the 13-inch MacBook Pro purchased in 2011, now often lobs it underhanded onto his bed without hesitation. “I mean, you can’t slam it on the floor or anything, but if I occasionally drop it onto a table from a few inches above, that’s not the end of the world either.” Shepard went on to say that he also has become steadily more comfortable leaving his laptop unattended in public places while he uses the restroom.
My 2012 Macbook Pro
“Writers—by the very nature of what we do—are forced to slow down, and perhaps in so doing, we form a counterweight to the culture of instantaneous reaction.”
Our 2014 PEN Ten interview with Dani Shapiro, author of Hourglass, a memoir of a marriage over time.
https://soundcloud.com/doug-gaking/spartan-swagger
The Boston Crusaders @ 2017 Concert In the Park highlight.
From BFDTV’s Youtube.
https://soundcloud.com/doug-gaking/rise-3-like-air-i-rise
happy election eve!! make sure u leave milk and cookies out for anderson cooper tonight or he’ll stand outside ur window and squint
The ACLU prepared this Know Your Rights resource for election season in response to heightened concern regarding voter intimidation at polling places. Download a printable version of this info here. Contact the Election Protection Hotline (866-OUR-VOTE), the Department of Justice Voting Rights Hotline (800-253-3931), or an attorney if you believe that your rights have been violated.
konguloarkonan:
Highlights:
CALL 866-OUR-VOTE OR 800-253-3931 TO REPORT VOTER SUPPRESSION OR INTIMIDATION
UNDER FEDERAL LAW, ALL VOTERS WITH LIMITED ENGLISH PROFICIENCY ARE ALLOWED TO OBTAIN ASSISTANCE FROM A PERSON OF THEIR CHOICE AS LONG AS THE PERSON IS NOT AN EMPLOYER, AGENT OF THE EMPLOYER, OR AGENT OF THEIR UNION
POLL MONITORS ARE NOT ALLOWED TO WATCH YOU VOTE UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES
POLL MONITORS MUST BE CERTIFIED AND YOU MAY ASK FOR CERTIFICATION AT ANY TIME
CAMPAIGNING IS NOT ALLOWED NEAR OR WITHIN A POLLING PLACE
POLICE ARE SUBJECT TO THE SAME VOTER INTIMIDATION LAWS AS EVERYONE ELSE
If you are registered, it is your Constitutional right to vote. ANYONE who says otherwise may safely be reported to the Justice Department. English proficiency is NOT a requirement to vote. Voter fraud is so statistically insignificant as to be nonexistent and there’s no point worrying about accidentally committing voter fraud because it is very difficult. If you are registered, YOU CAN VOTE. Do not let anyone tell you otherwise!