History Tea

literature, poetry, sudden thoughts

[theapplepielifestyle]

also here are the finance books I found helpful after i went on a wild finance reading spree, from most to least. most of these books cover the basics of: budgeting, getting out of debt, saving, investing, and growing wealth.

my main focus was how to invest safely and long-term. but i was also curious about money mindsets and if i needed to change mine.

'The Barefoot Investor' by Scott Pape (this is kind of the Go-To investment guide for NZ and Aussie, but it's by a middle aged white dude so I was putting it off. but it was actually a genuinely fun and informative and even inspiring time. even if his middle aged white dudeness does shine through a few times.)

'Friends That Invest' by Simran Kaur (originally named 'Girls That Invest', and this was a comprehensive, simple guide on investing that i needed, and the book that got me to invest for the first time. would recommend. I really tried to focus on finance books by women because they Get It more than men do.)

'The Childfree Guide to Life and Money' by Jay Zigmont (i think this book should be more widely read! children are a huge financial investment, of course your finances will be different if you don't have them. i don't need to get life insurance! woohoo!)

'Your Money, Your Future' by Frances Cook (new zealand-focused but applicable anywhere. i love this author! i have 2 of her books on this list! inspirational, compassionate, comprehensive and understanding.)

'Tales from a Financial Hot Mess' by Frances Cook (THIS was the one i enjoyed the most as a book, for the same reasons as her above book. love her writing! read this one if you want to get your finances sorted.)

'Die with Zero: Getting All You Can from Your Money and Your Life' by Bill Perkins (this one made me think maybe I want to do something with my money that isn't just... saving it??? maybe i can have fun with my money??? maybe i should invest in experiences instead of just saving saving saving???)

'Financial Feminist' by Tori Dunlap (also a fun and informative time! a little girlboss-y but not in an insufferable way. she gets that hustle culture is fucked, but she also loves to work, work, work, build wealth, etc.)

'Broke Millennial Takes On Investing' by Erin Lowry (i'm gonna be honest, some of these finance books started to blur together after reading one a day for over a week, BUT i remember i enjoyed this one and i did learn stuff!)

'Money Diaries with She’s on the Money' by Victoria Devine (this one was fine. I mostly read it because I was nosey about stranger's money stories. i probably picked up some useful information along the way.)

'We Should All Be Millionaires: A Woman’s Guide to Earning More, Building Wealth, and Gaining Economic Power' by Rachel Rodgers (mmmm. yikes. this is the kind of book that put me off reading finance books for so long. it wasn't THAT bad, and i can get where she's coming from re: women building wealth is feminist, but the 'you should be RICH RICH RICH' put such a bad taste in my mouth. i don't need to be shitting cash and getting 12 different side hustles and always earning More More More, bro. i just want to live a decent life.)

anyway i started doing fixed term investments this year BUT now i also invest in sensible (as much as any investment can be sensible) index funds for long-term growth, with more money going in every month, and i'm NOT going to look at it more than once every few months or touch that money for at least 5 years, hopefully.

[halos2deac-deactivated20260223]

yep

[theaftersundown]

the holy grail types of fanfic

[papayafromtv]

conversations overhead through the batkid com lines pt. 32 (masterpost here)

Dick: that fucker- i swear to god, he took his belt Hood; he tried to whip me.

Jason: you have to admit Gotham criminals do get creative when you corner them.

Dick, supremely sarcastic: yeah it's so great. shit that stings.

*ping*

*loud, incomprehensible cackles*

Damian, distant: SHUT UP.

Tim, laughing uncontrollably: GUYS- GUYS OH MY GOD-

Dick: ...you two ok?

Damian, still distant: DISCONNECT FROM THEIR FUCKING LINE, DRAKE. IT'S NOT FUNNY-!

Tim, weeping: oh my- oh my god it's so funny- guys you aren't going to fucking believe this-!

Jason, already amused: oh great, the kids brought entertainment for the night.

Tim, still laughing: so we're- me and Damian are working, right? and- and we're watching this group of kids running around the street and i say 'man, we should get some crossing guards to work the nights, too' and Dami goes, 'what the fuck is a crossing guard?'-

Damian, whining: STOP.

Tim: *wheeze* and- and i'm like, what do you mean what's a crossing guard, you've seen crossing guards before, right? so i google crossing guard on my phone and i show a picture to him, and he fucking- Damian looks me dead in the eyes and he goes 'no, that's a lolipop lady, and it's ai.'

Jason, snickering: sorry, what?

Tim, giggling: and i go, 'what do you mean, ai?' and he- swear to god he looks at me completely serious and he says 'lolipop ladies are mythological, like unicorns. they aren't real, so that's an ai image.' and i- *breaks into a wheeze*

Jason: OH, MY GOD, OH MY GOD I KNOW WHAT HAPPENED,

Dick, laughing: what the hell...?

*ping*

Damian: STOP LAUGHING IT'S NOT MY FAULT.

Jason: *cackles manically* GOD, remind me to send Benji a Christmas card this year, what a fucking legend.

Dick: who's Benji?

Jason, still laughing: he was a- he was one of the guys at the league that worked as Damian's tutor, and he- Day come on we've been over this, anything Benji told you was a lie,

Damian, desperate: BUT LOLIPOP LADY IS SUCH A STUPID NAME?!

Jason, laughing louder: BECAUSE IT'S NOT WHAT THEY'RE CALLED, THAT'S JUST A BRITISH PEOPLE TERM! BENJI WAS FUCKING WITH YOU!

Tim, delirious from laughter: if you don't- please explain, i swear to god i'm about to pass out-

Jason: Benji did not like children, so he would lie to Damian a lot as like, revenge for having to take care of him. it was fucking hysterical to watch. he was also a londoner, so Damian has like. no idea what that part of the world is like. all he knows are lies.

Damian, petulantly: fucking hated that man-

Jason, airily: i loved him, he was great.

Tim: *wheezing* 'they're mythological, like unicorns' and he's talking about a fucking crossing guard-

Damian: SHUT. UP.

Dick: aw, Dami, it's ok! we were all young once!

Damian: you should have fallen with your parents.

*a beat of silence*

Dick: alright, fuck me i guess?

Jason and Tim: *lose it*

[squid4149]

Funny enough that the fact that till's mom prayed to anakt for his son to be loved forever and ivan's name literally means "a gift from god"

[gold0venice]

Oh my god I have so many thoughts, but I am running on four hours of sleep, so here we fucking go *screaming, sobbing, crying*

1. Determination vs Desperation

I know that Ivan made a very big and impactful decision in the previous round, and honestly I can see that through Till’s expressions during the video. Mizi might have been a symbol of salvation to Till, but Ivan (and his death) was his reason to go ahead, fierce and determined and powerful. However, Ivan’s death is also a testament of momentum as well as desperation. Till is determined and desperate to survive and live. But this is made also absolutely obvious by the appearance of Mizi, which I will get into soon. Anyways, also in sense of colour scheme, Till switches from green to yellow/orange. We have also noticed the pattern of red, orange and yellow with Ivan’s and Ivan vs Till rounds. It’s as much as a homage but also a haunting, “the fiery thrill blazes out to the sky”. It’s like Till’s and Ivan’s memories and their lost future haunt him, and have left him “(leave no) regrets”. Perhaps not leaving with Till? These regrets and memories are both his strength and weakness, but Ivan gave him the will and reason to fight back. In this way, Till also seems to be wearing a branded armband of his segyen (sorry if it’s misspelt 😭). In a way he is literally playing the game like Ivan did.

At the same time, these are very bright, memorable and fierce colours that stand out, which made me (sadly) believe he would survive. This is also a contrast to the blues and violets of Luka, which are more mellow, but we soon see it is a growing determined movement. It is mellow because it is unassuming, and this sneaks up on Till twice, when Luka imitates Ivan. In a way this is sadly ironic, as Ivan never thought he would be a traumatic point for Till (lmao babe said what to Sua???), but that pain was exploited anyways by Luka 😭👋🤧

2. Musician’s choice

Till playing the guitar in this video made me blush (please don’t judge me, I love him so much), but more than that I love the implications of the instruments here. Firstly, both Till and Luka play strings instruments. The violin is classical, the guitar here is electric. They are already in juxtaposition with genres (and personalities lol), but they are still strings (singers for the competition), and fit together very well. You could say that the instruments resemble and are metaphors for Luka and Till. What I most like about this scene is that it is more like a battle between music prodigies, which was very exciting, because we have never seen these two interact before.

While both Luka and Till are amazing and well recognised artists, you can see the differences that separate them. Luka is all out confident, in control and powerful vocalist. Till is the same, but there is sense of desperation and a crippling anxiety, even as he plays the guitar. It looks like a fake confidence as much as a hidden fear. Both instruments work well together but the musicians are in different positions. I also have an inkling that Luka picked the violin on purpose. It is a contrast to Till’s already seen powered playing with his guitar in his round, but we have never seen Luka playing the violin, which gives the element of surprise, and a first step to shake up Till.

3. Grief on Stage

Alien Stage is merciless. Luka himself is a result of this system as a merciless manipulator. Luka imitating Ivan is terrible, and also turns on Till’s not fully registered trauma from Ivan’s death. Ivan is haunting Till, even after his death, and it has been clear for quite a while that Till actually cares for Ivan quite a lot. About haunting, figuratively and literally, Ivan’s red pupils resembles the red glare of the camera that follows Till in all his moments, his strength and weaknesses. The same red is reflected in Till’s pupils, which is so funny (I am in tears) because it really emphasises the pressure, stress and panic, but also letting go because it’s overwhelming him. Till’s pain and grief is an open wound that he tried to patch up too fast, and now it’s bleeding out and over the bandage.

The song title and lyrics also play into this idea as “in a blink gone” is quite literate. Till blinks and Ivan is shot. Till blinks and Ivan dies. It’s the shock of his death, and adrenaline that makes his body language so interesting in this round. Here in this scene Till is hunching over in pain and grief and haunting, and Ivan (masqueraded by Luka) acts into this. A well imitated Ivan with no look of love or adoration or even obsession, an empty shell, that Till falls into, relaxing for a second into the touch, just a for a second, “don’t miss the moment” . Till falls into a cobweb that he can’t get out of (maybe he doesn’t want to)

4. Death on Stage

Now to the part that made my heart blow up. In Alien Stage there are only winners, losers and those who manage to get away. The thing about Till’s death that made our hearts stop and my legs to give out is that Till was actually close to be one of those who got away. Till sees Mizi in the audience (also noticed the detail of the red glare becoming pink?) and he immediately jumps back into focus. He was almost there, just for one second. It is tragic and unfair and depressing. Till becomes a loser in the game on stage, one among the countless victims and dead in Alien Stage. Mizi actually had a chance to be his incarnate salvation, his saviour, but time gets away from them, “the clock goes tick tock tick tock blink, gone”. Mizi was there to catch him, she was reaching out to him, ready to get him away. It’s too late, in a blink he is gone in front of her like Sua.

5. Time and Winners in Alien Stage

Now, there are clear winners in the rounds, but in the long term of it, there are no winners. You can’t win. Mizi tries to win the game by saving Till, but Alien Stage wins, because it needs a winner and a loser. His death is like an afterimage of Sua’s death. Mizi getting saved by the rebels is out of luck and element of surprise. Till not getting out was intentional and foreseen by Alien Stage. In our case it as foreshadowed by All-in,covered by Till. The green splatter of paint (or should I say blood?) was a clear indication as well as the red taped name on his neck.

Till does not get freedom until after death. Till, Ivan, and Sua manage to escape the system only in death. None of them had enough time to actually live, they have always been on borrowed time. The “leave no regrets” also heart wrenching. So yeah the title ‘Blink gone’ plays into the idea of death and morals very well. Mizi is left last standing. Mizi’s friends are dead, they are gone in a blink.

[gold0venice]

Now onto my ideas on what Vivinos might do in the future. Well I got a bit inspired by that one quote: “their cries shall bring on the new age”. Now while that could just mean singing, I personally like to think in a literal sense. Will Mizi’s grief and tears bring a new age? I personally believe that Till’s death (hope my baby is alive #delulu) might actually be the start and catalyst of this new age. Mizi could be spearheading missions and the revolution with Hyuna to get revenge for all of her friends who have died. I want them to burn it all to the ground 😌

[gold0venice]

Our delulu did not pay off

[gold0venice]

Oh my god I have so many thoughts, but I am running on four hours of sleep, so here we fucking go *screaming, sobbing, crying*

1. Determination vs Desperation

I know that Ivan made a very big and impactful decision in the previous round, and honestly I can see that through Till’s expressions during the video. Mizi might have been a symbol of salvation to Till, but Ivan (and his death) was his reason to go ahead, fierce and determined and powerful. However, Ivan’s death is also a testament of momentum as well as desperation. Till is determined and desperate to survive and live. But this is made also absolutely obvious by the appearance of Mizi, which I will get into soon. Anyways, also in sense of colour scheme, Till switches from green to yellow/orange. We have also noticed the pattern of red, orange and yellow with Ivan’s and Ivan vs Till rounds. It’s as much as a homage but also a haunting, “the fiery thrill blazes out to the sky”. It’s like Till’s and Ivan’s memories and their lost future haunt him, and have left him “(leave no) regrets”. Perhaps not leaving with Till? These regrets and memories are both his strength and weakness, but Ivan gave him the will and reason to fight back. In this way, Till also seems to be wearing a branded armband of his segyen (sorry if it’s misspelt 😭). In a way he is literally playing the game like Ivan did.

At the same time, these are very bright, memorable and fierce colours that stand out, which made me (sadly) believe he would survive. This is also a contrast to the blues and violets of Luka, which are more mellow, but we soon see it is a growing determined movement. It is mellow because it is unassuming, and this sneaks up on Till twice, when Luka imitates Ivan. In a way this is sadly ironic, as Ivan never thought he would be a traumatic point for Till (lmao babe said what to Sua???), but that pain was exploited anyways by Luka 😭👋🤧

2. Musician’s choice

Till playing the guitar in this video made me blush (please don’t judge me, I love him so much), but more than that I love the implications of the instruments here. Firstly, both Till and Luka play strings instruments. The violin is classical, the guitar here is electric. They are already in juxtaposition with genres (and personalities lol), but they are still strings (singers for the competition), and fit together very well. You could say that the instruments resemble and are metaphors for Luka and Till. What I most like about this scene is that it is more like a battle between music prodigies, which was very exciting, because we have never seen these two interact before.

While both Luka and Till are amazing and well recognised artists, you can see the differences that separate them. Luka is all out confident, in control and powerful vocalist. Till is the same, but there is sense of desperation and a crippling anxiety, even as he plays the guitar. It looks like a fake confidence as much as a hidden fear. Both instruments work well together but the musicians are in different positions. I also have an inkling that Luka picked the violin on purpose. It is a contrast to Till’s already seen powered playing with his guitar in his round, but we have never seen Luka playing the violin, which gives the element of surprise, and a first step to shake up Till.

3. Grief on Stage

Alien Stage is merciless. Luka himself is a result of this system as a merciless manipulator. Luka imitating Ivan is terrible, and also turns on Till’s not fully registered trauma from Ivan’s death. Ivan is haunting Till, even after his death, and it has been clear for quite a while that Till actually cares for Ivan quite a lot. About haunting, figuratively and literally, Ivan’s red pupils resembles the red glare of the camera that follows Till in all his moments, his strength and weaknesses. The same red is reflected in Till’s pupils, which is so funny (I am in tears) because it really emphasises the pressure, stress and panic, but also letting go because it’s overwhelming him. Till’s pain and grief is an open wound that he tried to patch up too fast, and now it’s bleeding out and over the bandage.

The song title and lyrics also play into this idea as “in a blink gone” is quite literate. Till blinks and Ivan is shot. Till blinks and Ivan dies. It’s the shock of his death, and adrenaline that makes his body language so interesting in this round. Here in this scene Till is hunching over in pain and grief and haunting, and Ivan (masqueraded by Luka) acts into this. A well imitated Ivan with no look of love or adoration or even obsession, an empty shell, that Till falls into, relaxing for a second into the touch, just a for a second, “don’t miss the moment” . Till falls into a cobweb that he can’t get out of (maybe he doesn’t want to)

4. Death on Stage

Now to the part that made my heart blow up. In Alien Stage there are only winners, losers and those who manage to get away. The thing about Till’s death that made our hearts stop and my legs to give out is that Till was actually close to be one of those who got away. Till sees Mizi in the audience (also noticed the detail of the red glare becoming pink?) and he immediately jumps back into focus. He was almost there, just for one second. It is tragic and unfair and depressing. Till becomes a loser in the game on stage, one among the countless victims and dead in Alien Stage. Mizi actually had a chance to be his incarnate salvation, his saviour, but time gets away from them, “the clock goes tick tock tick tock blink, gone”. Mizi was there to catch him, she was reaching out to him, ready to get him away. It’s too late, in a blink he is gone in front of her like Sua.

5. Time and Winners in Alien Stage

Now, there are clear winners in the rounds, but in the long term of it, there are no winners. You can’t win. Mizi tries to win the game by saving Till, but Alien Stage wins, because it needs a winner and a loser. His death is like an afterimage of Sua’s death. Mizi getting saved by the rebels is out of luck and element of surprise. Till not getting out was intentional and foreseen by Alien Stage. In our case it as foreshadowed by All-in,covered by Till. The green splatter of paint (or should I say blood?) was a clear indication as well as the red taped name on his neck.

Till does not get freedom until after death. Till, Ivan, and Sua manage to escape the system only in death. None of them had enough time to actually live, they have always been on borrowed time. The “leave no regrets” also heart wrenching. So yeah the title ‘Blink gone’ plays into the idea of death and morals very well. Mizi is left last standing. Mizi’s friends are dead, they are gone in a blink.

[gold0venice]

Can we talk about how it’s not the white and black or white and white costume design? Colour wise they are not really matching

[gold0venice]

Guys we are getting close I am scared and excited

[gold0venice]

Can we talk about how it’s not the white and black or white and white costume design? Colour wise they are not really matching

[lazyrunawayphilosopher]

Till's thoughts after Ivan died (from the alnst artbook):- "In the middle of the stage, it's impossible to tell whether it was the sound of the shouts or the rain, Till's thoughts stopped as if the time had stopped. The death that happened right before his eyes was an event that he couldn't handle."

(tl credit to @/mini_cini98 on twitter)

[gold0venice]

Why am I broke

[gold0venice]

when the fic is so good you don’t know whether to comment “amazing chapter bro” or “may your life be blessed and may your descendants be blessed too” or “omg the level of detail is insane bro” or “sobbing my eyes out, weeping on the floor” or “lovely way to propose, I accept, we’ll be married by sunrise”

[hehearse]

[gold0venice]

todobaku but in good omens au

[gold0venice]

My brother just looked at the summary of my copy of Good Omens, and he called it a parody of the bible. I can’t even say he’s wrong

[gold0venice]

To that dude who told me vivinos would post the next round in august I hope both sides of your pillow will be so hot, that your bed will be so uncomfortable, that you will have to sleep on the floor, and then a cockroach will crawl towards you

[gold0venice]

The way I haven’t read any updates for the past month for jjk because I am so scared like my BABY

[gold0venice]

NOBARAAAAA ALLL THE DELULU PAID OFF AHHHHH NOBARAAAAAAAAAAAA