Untitled

[devjaye]

Credit to: user

[benbrusque]

Reblog if you respect trans men more than billionaires

[thatonegenderfluidmess]

always and forver

[tastefullyoffensive]

30 Festive Tweets About Decorating For Christmas You Can Leave Up Until Spring

[kimberly-t]

A quote from the future?

A pastiche and homage to Pastor Martin Niemöller. And very possibly a quote from the future:

First they came for the immigrants, and I gave them a thumbs-up, because no one needs foreigners stealing jobs from honest Americans.

Then they came for those trans folks, and I said it was about damn time, because just looking at those freaks makes me uneasy.

Then they came for the Muslims, and I didn't say anything, because this is supposed to be a Christian nation anyway, right?

Then they came for the lesbos and gays, and I didn't say anything because that sort of thing just ain't natural.

Then they came for the Chinese and the other Asians, and I didn't say anything because there weren't any of them in my neighborhood anyway.

Then they came for those "special needs" people, the ones just sucking up all our tax dollars, and I didn't say anything because it was probably for the best somehow.  

Then they came for the blacks and hispanics, and I didn't say anything because there weren't any of those in my neighborhood either.

Then they came for me...

Well, shit.

[rin-love-is-green]

[kimberly-t]

This is SO me!

[violaboss]

I’ve seen a lot of curious people wanting to dive into classical music but don’t know where to start, so I have written out a list of pieces to listen to depending on mood. I’ve only put out a few, but please add more if you want to. hope this helps y’all out. :)

stereotypical delightful classical music:

battalia a 10 in d major (biber)

brandenburg concerto no. 5

brandenburg concerto no. 3

symphony no. 45 - “farewell” (haydn)

if you need to chill:

rondo alla turca

fur elise

anitra’s dance

in the steppes of central asia (borodin) (added by viola-ology)

if you need to sleep:

moonlight sonata

swan lake

corral nocturne

sleep (eric whitacre) (added by thelonecomposer)

if you need to wake up:

morning mood

summer (from the four seasons)

buckaroo holiday (if you’ve played this in orch you might end up screaming instead of waking up joyfully)

if you are feeling very proud:

pomp and circumstance

symphony no. 9 (beethoven; this is where ode to joy came from)

1812 overture

symphony no. 5, finale (tchaikovsky) (added by viola-ology)

american (dvořák)

if you feel really excited:

hoedown (copland)

bacchanale

spring (from the four seasons) (be careful, if you listen to this too much you’ll start hating it)

la gazza ladra

death and the maiden (schubert)

if you are angry and you want to take a baseball bat and start hitting a bush:

dance of the knights (from the romeo and juliet suite by prokofiev)

winter, mvt. 1 (from the four seasons)

symphony no. 10 mvt. 2 (shostakovich)

symphony no. 5 (beethoven)

totentanz (liszt)

quartet no. 8, mvt. 2 (shostakovich) (added by viola-ology)

young person’s guide to the orchestra, fugue (britten) (added by iwillsavemyworld)

symphony no. 5 mvt. 4 (shostakovich) (added by eternal-cadenza)

marche slave (tchaikovsky) (added by eternal-cadenza)

if you want to cry for a really long time:

fantasia based on russian themes (rimsky-korsakov)

adagio for strings (barber)

violin concerto in e minor (mendelssohn)

aase’s death

andante festivo

vocalise (rachmaninoff) (added by tropicalmunchakoopas)

if you want to feel like you’re on an adventure:

an american in paris (gershwin)

if you want chills:

danse macabre

russian easter overture

egmont overture (added by shayshay526)

if you want to study:

eine kleine nachtmusik

bolero (ravel)

serenade for strings (elgar)

scheherazade (rimsky-korsakov) (added by viola-ology)

pines of rome, mvt. 4 (resphigi) (added by viola-ology)

if you really want to dance:

capriccio espagnol (rimsky-korsakov)

blue danube

le cid (massenet) (added by viola-ology)

radetzky march

if you want to start bouncing in your chair:

hopak (mussorgsky)

les toreadors (from carmen suite no.1)

if you’re about to pass out and you need energy:

hungarian dance no. 1

hungarian dance no. 5

if you want to hear suspense within music:

firebird

in the hall of the mountain king

ride of the valkyries

night on bald mountain (mussorgsky) (added by viola-ology)

if you want a jazzy/classical feel:

rhapsody in blue

jazz suite no. 2 (shostakovich) (added by eternal-cadenza)

if you want to feel emotional with no explanation:

introduction and rondo capriccioso

unfinished symphony (schubert)

symphony no. 7, allegretto (beethoven) (added by viola-ology)

canon in d (pachelbel)

if you want to sit back and have a nice cup of tea:

st. paul’s suite

concerto for two violins (vivaldi)

l’arlésienne suite

concierto de aranjuez (added by tropicalmunchakoopas)

pieces that don’t really have a valid explanation:

symphony no. 40 (mozart)

cello suite no. 1 (bach)

polovtsian dances

enigma variations (elgar) (added by viola-ology)

perpetuum mobile

moto perpetuo (paganini)

pieces that just sound really cool:

scherzo tarantelle

dance of the goblins

caprice no. 24 (paganini)

new world symphony, allegro con fuoco (dvorak) (added by viola-ology​)

le tombeau de couperin (added by tropicalmunchakoopas)

carnival of the animals (added by shadowraven45662)

if you feel like listening to concertos all day (I do not recommend doing that):

concerto for two violins (bach)

concerto for two violins (vivaldi)

violin concerto in a minor (vivaldi)

violin concerto (tchaikovsky) (added by iwillsavemyworld)

violin concerto in d minor (sibelius) (added by eternal-cadenza)

cello concerto in c (haydn)

piano concerto, mvt. 1 (pierne) (added by iwillsavemyworld)

harp concerto in E-flat major, mvt. 1 (added by iwillsavemyworld)

and if you really just hate classical music in general:

4′33″ (cage)

a lot of these pieces apply in multiple categories, but I sorted them by which I think they match the most. have fun exploring classical music!

also, thank you to viola-ology, iwillsavemyworld, shayshay526, eternal-cadenza, tropicalmunchakoopas, shadowraven45662, and thelonecomposer for adding on! if you would like to add on your own suggestions, please reblog and add on or message me so I can give you credit for the suggestion!

[goddessofroyalty]

Crack AU where Anakin can all of a sudden hear the background music that we all hear. Those pleasant chats with Palpy become a lot more ominous. Though Anakin admits that the fights have become a lot more epic. Thoughts?

Hahahahaha. Love it!

And okay, my first though was “and the galaxy was saved because even Anakin Skywalker would struggle to keep trusting Palpatine with that music playing in the background”

Anakin think he’s gone COMPLETELY insane (maybe he’s finally been electrocuted too many times and its fried his brain). He doesn’t tell anyone though because he can still fight just fine just… everything is a lot more musical. He doesn’t want to be thought crazy and taken off the front lines.

Once he figures out what the various musical cues mean he actually finds them useful in figuring out how dangerous a situation is. Also battles are so much cooler now and boring landscapes are slightly less boring because at least now they have mood music. Yep, he can live with this.

(Although he is always confused why the ominousness that is The Imperial March starts playing at some of his decisions)

[angelqueen04]

*cracks up*

[forcearama]

Anakin: I’m so worried about something. I should probably keep my feelings to myself and attempt to solve my problems by working with Palpatine. He seems like he has my best interests at heart.

Music: DUN DUN DUN, DUN DA-DUN, DUN DA-DUN!

Anakin: [pauses] [looks around] Uh…OK. I mean, I’ll…go talk to Obi-Wan?

Music: [hopeful woodwind instruments]

Anakin: …and be open and honest about my life and what is bothering me, and try to work out a non-violent resolution to my problems?

Music: [Force Theme plays]

Anakin: [smiles] All right! Huh. This is helpful. 

[angelqueen04]

Positive reinforcement at its finest. ;D

[ialreadyreadthatfanfic]

#lol#i’m just imagining the force throwing its metaphysical hands in the air like ‘subtlety obviously isn’t working with this one so have a whole#symphony of hints young reckless one’ (via @likealeafonthewind)

I’m crying from laughter, this is beautiful.

Anakin: *fucks up*

The Force: Son, please… Guess I’m gonna enable the hints menu.

[forcearama]

THE HINTS MENU. *dies* 

Maybe Obi-Wan hears the music, too, and then the day is saved. 

Obi-Wan: [walking away] Welp, guess it’s off to kill Grievous I’m sure Anakin will be fi – 

Music: [Duel of the Fates] 

Obi-Wan: OMG not this shit again [runs back down the hall towards Anakin]

Anakin: [running back towards Obi-Wan] Obi-Wan I just heard that Ominous Music again and also I secretly married Padme and she’s pregnant and I haven’t slept in 6 days and I keep thinking she’s going to die and I AM FREAKING THE FUCK OUT and if you leave I will 100% end up killing everyone and –

Obi-Wan: – oh my God! OK…it’s OK, I heard my own ominous music a second ago when I was getting ready to leave and so I won’t and we’ll fix th – 

Anakin: – I heard mine when I thought about maybe talking to the Chancellor instead of y–

Palpatine: [sidling up behind them smugly] Everything all right, gentlemen?

Music: [scary ass music from the opera scene] 

Anakin and Obi-Wan: AHHHH

[fireflyfish]

Uhm…. My hands slipped… and fell into a pile of serious…. erm… I’ll see myself out.

Anakin knew he was different when his mother couldn’t hear the music. Warm, beautiful, and soft, it soothed him when she wasn’t there to kiss his injuries or protect him from Watto’s brutish nature. The last notes of his song faded away like dying notes of an old lullabye.

He asks her, once, what her music sounds like and she looks at him funny.

“I don’t have any music, Ani. What are you talking about?” his mother squats down in front of him and feels his forehead for a fever and when she finds none, that seems to worry her more. “When do you hear this music?”

Anakin shrugs, his lower lip jutting out, now worried he had scared his mother. He does that sometimes, when he loses his temper or gets too uspet about one of his friends being sold away from their parents. Once he got so upset he gave himself a bloody nose and his mother had to take him to a doctor.

Watto hadn’t liked that.

“Ani?” His mother’s voice calls him back to the present. “When do you hear this music?”

“You don’t hear it?” Anakin peeks up through his bangs and he knew from the way his mother’s lips were pursed and her brow furrowed that not only did she not hear the music but the fact that he could hear the music was different, strange. Like the light he could feel when he closed his eyes and looked out on the world with his hidden eyes.

Anakin Skywalker decides that day to never ever tell anyone about the music.

Anakin knew Padme was special when he heard new music for the first time in his life. It was beautiful and haunting, rising and falling like the shifting dunes out in the sea. It makes the hair on the back of his neck stand up and gives him goosebumps running down his arms and legs.

He loves the sound of her music, even the scary low parts with strange horns. He clings to the bright strings and the flourish of an instrument he can’t quite place. The dissonance is beautiful, a rich, complex harmony he isn’t quite old enough to understand but he loves all the same.

When she turns to smile at him, to speak to him, all he can hear are the sweet, clear notes of her voice, mixed in with the trill of that same strange stringed instrument. Maybe it was the sounds that the angels of Iego made. She was certainly beautiful enough to be an angel.

Anakin decides there and then that he was going to fall in love with Padme. How could he not? When her music was so wonderful?

“Are you an angel?”

She said she wasn’t, but Anakin knew better.

He could hear the music of her soul and it told him the truth. Padme was an angel, his angel.

Yes, he would definitely fall in love with her.

Keep reading

[kimberly-t]

Because really, if anyone could hear their own Theme Music, doesn't it make sense that it would be a Force-Sensitive like Anakin?

[artistformerlyknownasbutttrumpet]

is there a word for “i was instantly good at a lot of things as a quote-unquote gifted child, and, as a result, i was able to skate by without ever being taught how to actually learn a new skill, and now that i’m an adult trying to learn new things that i can’t be good at instantaneously, i don’t have the patience or knowledge to improve on them, because skills that don’t come naturally to me just make me angry because i lived off instant gratification my whole childhood due to not ever being challenged intellectually or taught basic learning skills?” asking for a friend

[kimberly-t]

I'd like to know too, honestly.

[artistformerlyknownasbutttrumpet]

battle of hogwarts drabble

denial

denial is george still considering himself part a pair, but when he looks to his left, half a sentence on his breath, he finds the one who’d always supply the rest for him is no longer there, and his words hanging in the air, unfinished. denial is andromeda holding teddy in her arms the first time he smiles and seeing tonk’s in his lips and thinking, “wait until she sees how similar they look,” until she remembers that she never will. denial is harry sitting outside looking at the full moon and hoping remus is safe tonight, except he’s not turning tonight; not tonight, not ever.

anger

anger is mr. and mrs. creevey cursing the moment they ever learned magic existed, because if it never became a part of their life they’d have two sons, not one. anger is pavarti throwing out her divination books, because they remind her of lavender, and why is it fair that she is stuck with these memories that do nothing but drill a hole in her chest? anger is what flows in molly’s blood when she sees the missing dinner mat at the table; how she feels when she remembers that she was almost missing more, and although bellatrix’s blood may be on her hands, she’s never once regretted it.

bargaining

bargaining is that moment of weakness when ron feels inadequate under the crushing weight of his family’s grief, and he swears to a god he’s not sure exists that he’d trade places with fred if it meant that they’d be happy again; that, after all, they would miss him less than they miss the twin. bargaining is a young teddy changing his face to mirror remus’ and promising to get nothing but O’s on all his OWLs if he could just hear his father’s voice; just once. bargaining is hermione drowning in guilt in the arms of ron, thinking of lavender, and offering up a little bit of her love for exchange for a bit of relief.

depression 

depression is dennis leafing through pictures taken from his brother’s point of view, and trying to see the world through his eyes, while his own blur with tears. depression is ginny finally breaking after being so strong for so long, and screaming on the top of her lungs about possessions and dead brothers and the unfairness of it all, until collapsing into wailing sobs in harry’s arms. depression is mcgonagall sitting in the headmaster’s chair during the annual sorting and hearing the word, “HUFFLEPUFF” as a tiny teddy is half buried under an old, giant hat, and remembering how his mother’s hair immediately turned yellow when she was sorted into the same house so many years before, and how the color yellow seems too bright right now.

acceptance

acceptance is all of them walking the grounds of hogwarts, memories and love in their hearts, watching the students walk the same paths that once were stained with the blood of the people they lost. but acceptance is also them knowing that they’re not really lost. acceptance is seeing tonks in teddy, not just when he changes his face, but when he drops a plate with a shatter and a loud, “oops!” acceptance is james sirius potter getting reprimanded in the headmaster’s office, an old, tattered piece of parchment in his pocket full of secrets from the pranksters of long ago. acceptance is a toy bunny on lavender’s grave, with a note saying, “i bet binky is happy to see you.” acceptance is colin’s photos blown up and dipped in potion, hung up in the halls of his brother’s house, moving with magic in the way that once awed the small, wondrous boy. acceptance is walking through a joke shop with a child with red hair and dark skin being carried piggy back, and explaining, “this prank was your uncle’s idea. you better live up to his legacy, we didn’t name you fred to have you be well-behaved. no prefects in this family!”

 acceptance is missing the dead so deeply it’s hard to live, but living anyway, in their honor. 

acceptance is love.

it’s loving, and loving, and loving, and holding those who are the most important to you tightly, and never, ever letting go.

[nonstopsmile]

The journey of a blue marble

[kimberly-t]

I could watch this for a long time without getting bored, just thinking about all the work that went into setting it up...

[charliebowater]

“Though my soul may set in darkness, it will rise in perfect light; I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night.”

A little doodle for one the most beautiful lines from any poem, The Old Astronomer.

[primalheart]

This is not a little doodle. This. THIS. This is fucking MAGIC. You have captured pure wonder and whimsy and romance and bliss and that almost melancholy wholeness when you look up at the sky and just feel the smallness of your being and the grandness of the universe. All this captured with a lover’s eye. We cannot see her face but I feel the tender passionate ardour for this petite but mighty creature in the world. While at the same time I feel the bittersweet swoon of wanting to be gazed upon myself with such whole and overwhemling admiration and love. It is goddamn masterful.

I am fucking following your tumblr charliebowater you are amazing.

[charliebowater]

THAT’S THE NICEST COMMENT I’VE EVER READ.

[kimberly-t]

They're right, this is far too lovely to be called a doodle.

[myfandomrealitea]

With my recent Harry Potter posts gaining traction, I just want to make an important note:

You are not a bad person for having enjoyed Harry Potter. You are not a bad person for finding it hard to let go of something so ingrained into your life. You are not a bad person for enjoying the overall story of Harry Potter despite the bigotry JK Rowling managed to smatter into it.

Nobody should be telling you that you are. Your past relationship with Harry Potter is not the issue.

The issue is what you and we all do moving forward with the new information and facts that we know.

And the facts are that JK Rowling is a rampant and proud bigot who is hellbent on using the fortune Harry Potter made her to actively pursue the entire trans community with hostile intent.

And she does not care. She is happy that she is doing it. She is happy that people oppose her because it gives her an excuse to play victim and paint trans people who oppose her as violent, aggressive and evil.

This is not about how you engaged with Harry Potter in the past. Or even how you engage with it privately. This is about whether or not you choose to contribute toward her mission and towards the persecution of trans people right now.

Because when you buy that licensed merch in the store, she gets part of the profit. When you go to Harry Potter World, she gets part of the profit. When you buy the Harry Potter game, she gets part of the profit.

And all of those things result in three consequences:

It shows the marketing departments that Harry Potter is still a cashcow.

It shows JK Rowling that she can say and do whatever the hell she wants and nothing is going to stop that money rolling in.

She is given a steady cashflow which she uses to bankroll anti-trans movements and spokespeople and government petitions.

That is the reality of your choice from here on out. That is why people are asking you to set aside what you once had with Harry Potter and to stand with the people she has made it her life's mission to destroy.

You don't even have to let go of it completely. Just let go of the interactions that directly fund JK Rowling. Just cut off the cashflow she's using to ruin the lives of people she's never even met.

Buy fanmade merchandise or learn how to make your own. If you're cosplaying? Buy unofficial cosplays or buy second-hand off resale websites. Same with other merchandise.

If you want to watch Harry Potter, there are hundreds of non-licensed steaming websites showing it which do not contribute royalty income to JK Rowling.

If you're writing Harry Potter fanfiction, use a site like AO3 which will defend you tooth and claw if she gets desperate and starts coming after fan creators.

Harry Potter might be the comforting memories of your childhood, but JK Rowling is an active threat to the literal livelihood of trans people. People who could lose legal rights and protections simply because of one vicious woman with a bigoted agenda and deep pockets.

All we're asking is that you compare your reasons for enjoying Harry Potter with the facts of why you should make a few simple, easy choices to avoid bankrolling her and determine which is more important.

Or rather, which one should be more important.

And make the right choice.

[neil-gaiman]

hello

can you please tell me to continue writing whatever the hell i am writing, because currently it seems like i'm writing nonsense

thank you

You too? Absolutely. You keep going and I'll keep going too.

[raining-stars-somewhere-else-de]

I’m writing right now too and struggling a little, but I’ll keep going along with you two

[weirdly-specific-but-ok]

Every time this post comes up on my dash i feel so fucking called out.

I dug up an old WIP yesterday and read through the entire thing, it was some 180 pages of an original story and I actually really fucking liked it??

[Of course, it was still transcendentally weird. On one hand there was a painfully beautifully scene where the trans boy comes out his crush and is worried he'll be rejected. On the other hand I discovered lines that i just. Who let me write them. Said crush, Rian, walked up to Avi who was getting flirted with by a bunch of people while preparing soil. And he just fucking says "I thought we were supposed to be using shovels for gardening, I see Avi's using hoes instead." Ngk????!!!!! 😭]

BUT WHO'S GOING TO WRITE THE REST OF IT? ME???? THIS IS HOMOPHOBIA.

Someone encourage me to write please so that my two idiot gays can have their enemies to lovers happily ever after and I can sit and be stupid with them.

[weirdly-specific-but-ok]

WE CAN DO IT EVERYONE WRITE. IT MAY NOT LOOK GOOD TO YOU. IT DOESN'T MATTER. THE ONLY THING YOU NEED TO DO TO BE A WRITER IS, WELL. WRITE.

[weirdly-specific-but-ok]

Alright you know what? Today's the day I drag that WIP out from its dusty little hole and write. I'll set a timer for an hour and just fucking do it.

[neil-gaiman]

For the record, that thing I was writing last week that I was convinced was the worst thing in the world...? I kept going. I finished it. I revised it. I sent it in. Everybody loves it so much. Even me.

[chrishallbeck]

[mydearthisbe]

The most hilarious thing about the fact Buckbeak had a trial and lost is that later on JKR resolves the issue by having Hagrid take him in again and renaming him Witherwings. That’s literally all it took. What if in POA, Hagrid simply said, “Sorry, Buckbeak flew away.” 

“There’s a hippogriff right there, Hagrid.”

“A different hipprogriff.”

“I’m… pretty sure that’s the same hipprogriff.”

“Prove it.” 

[twelvemonkeyswere]

no dna tests we die like scientifically underdeveloped societies

[thesanityclause]

Prisoner of Azkaban continues to be the most frustrating book

[septimusprime]

Someone should have just adopted Sirius and started calling him Gerald.

[dreadpiratemary-deactivated2018]

Remus: Erm… this is our new order member, my… cousin Gerald. Gerald White.

[zero0000]

“Mr. Lupin that is Sirius Black with glasses!” “Oh come now Minister, Sirius Black doesn’t wear glasses. That wouldn’t make sense.” “Well have Mr. White take off his glasses then!” “He can’t he needs them to see.”

[animatedamerican]

it got better

[thefingerfuckingfemalefury]

It’s honestly a miracle to me that wizarding society doesn’t collapse every other week because like

You’ve got this world full of people who can destroy whole buildings or turn people into beetles or make vehicles fly just by waving a stick at them

And there is literally no common sense

Anywhere to be found

Voldemort would never have had anyone find out he was back if he just went around calling himself Steve 

[kat8porgs]

Okay, see, I thought I saved this post to comment on it but I’d like to bring up

The Minister would NEVER EVER disbelieve in Gerald White. He’d buy it hook line and sinker. The wizarding world would buy it hook line and sinker. The GOBLINS wouldn’t but wizards have been shown to be pretty blindingly clueless. Still, Gringotts would grudgingly give Sirius access to the Black fortune.

But, but, but, you know the one person

the one person

who Gerald White would drive AB-SO-LUTELY FUCKING BATSHIT?

Severus Snape.

Snape would do everything, EVERYTHING, to get people to believe that it’s Sirius. But the Order would ignore it (they accepted Sirius as Sirius before anyway) and Remus would just be so… so affronted.

‘Severus, he is my cousin.’

And Sirius would love it. He’d love the fact that Snape just hated it. He’d be the BEST DAMN GERALD WHITE EVER b/c Snape is doing everything from dropping veritaserum into his firewhisky to capturing a dementor in a box and releasing it on Sirius when he least expects it

That one causes problems for a bare minute because SHIT A DEMENTOR ATTEMPTED TO GIVE GERALD THE KISS MAYBE SNAPE IS RIGHT except Harry comes forward and is like ‘excuse me, I’ve never committed a crime and dementors are ALWAYS attacking me, I think they’re attracted to glasses’

and the magical community is like ‘shit, yeah, you’re right’

and just

Spare. Snape goes spare.

[laurathia]

Picturing Snape as Mr. Crocker from the Fairly Oddparents now.

[mariana-oconnor]

Gerald White eventually becomes a fully registered animagus. When he turns into his animagus form right in front of Snape, Snape’s bursting at the seams, just pointing at him and spluttering:

‘HE’S A BIG BLACK DOG! A DOG - THAT IS BLACK. SIRIUS BLACK. BLACK DOG DOG BLACK.’

And Remus calmly says: “That’s absurd, Severus. Sirius Black was never an animagus and besides which, people’s names don’t have any influence over their animagus forms or anything like that. That’s ridiculous.”

And Snape yells: “Shut it WEREWOLF MCWEREWOLF!”

Everyone looks at Remus, who blinks and sighs as Gerald White turns back into his human form.

“Pure coincidence,” Gerald says. “My aunt was into Roman mythology. Has to happen sometimes.” Then he pauses to give Snape an overly concerned look. “Are you alright, Severus? You’re looking a little red.”

[killjoynerd]

^this is my new life

[lakeffectqueer-deactivated20240]

im crying thanks for this

[my-insanity-is-an-artform]

Another point in the direction of Gerald White Not Being Sirius Black is that everyone knows Sirius Black hated Severus Snape. Gerald White bakes the ungrateful dungeon bat cookies and is always polite to him. It so nice that Gerald really wants to be friends.

[notsogracefulgrace]

Why is the fandom better than the books

[themarauderstheoutsidersandpeggy]

Gerald White is my favorite character

[potterandpreferences]

Minerva, as an animagus, can 100% tell it’s Sirius. She could pick his scent out miles away from the amount of times the Marauders caused trouble in their school days. She can’t outwardly say anything so instead, every time she sees Gerald Not-Sirius-Black White, she offers him a biscuit.

[kimberly-t]

Then Gerald White joins the staff at Hogwarts.

No, he doesn't teach DADA, because he knows that position is cursed. But after *cough* some unknown troublemaker sneaks into the castle one night and exorcises Cuthbert Binns, and after a meeting behind closed doors with Minerva McGonagall and Remus Lupin, Gerald White applies to become the new History of Magic professor.

Professor White is an instant success with the students, just because he actually puts a little life into his lectures instead of just droning on and on, and he talks about more than just the goblin rebellions. History of Magic quickly becomes Harry Potter's favorite class (he knows instantly who Gerald White really is, and so does Hermione, but Ron has to have it explained to him.) And twice a day, an hour before breakfast and then shortly after dinner, Professor White walks past the statue of Gregory the Smarmy, looks both ways to ensure no one's watching and then disappears behind it for a few minutes, ducking into the secret passageway to meet Remus Lupin waiting for him there.

The History of Magic lesson plans for all seven years of students are actually prepared by Remus, who achieved an Outstanding on his History OWL and has experience with teaching. Remus has always refused to accept any of the Black fortune as charity from Sirius, but he agreed to accept 97% of Gerald White's salary and a rent-paid cottage in Hogsmeade as his due reimbursement for all the work he's putting in on the lessons plans, as well as marking all the students' essays that Sirius hands to him after dinner, while he hands over the lesson plans that Sirius will be spending his evening reading through, preparing for the next day. At each morning meeting, Remus hands over the marked-up essays while tossing at Sirius a few of the typical questions that a student might ask for each lesson, because both men are heavily invested in Gerald White's success.

When Gerald White teaches at Hogwarts, Remus gets a steady income, Sirius and Harry get to spend time with each other, and the students of Hogwarts get a better education in History of Magic. It's a win-win situation for everybody... everybody except Severus Snape, that is. 😉

[turtlesandfrogs]

I'm taking this free online class from Yale on the Science of Well-Being,

and it's free, so I'm gonna share the extremely short notes about what I'm learning. Why does well-being and happiness matter? Because people have more energy and more capacity to effect change if they are doing well mentally.

And because I think American culture in general is structured in a way that ignores human needs and leads to increased suffering in all sorts of ways.

[turtlesandfrogs]

So the first classes really focused on the idea that what "we" think makes us happy does not actually, and that we have really strong ideas about what makes us happy that is wrong.

She's talking to Yale students, so she's talking about events like getting into the dream college, getting good grades*, getting that internship, that job, getting married, etc.

And the thing is, people think those big events are going to lead to increased happiness in general, but actually our brains get used to it and our happiness returns to baseline pretty quickly. This is called hedonic adaptation, and there's a lot of info about it out there.

Hedonic adaptation also works on the reverse- big negative events don't really have that big of an impact on our day-to-day happiness and well-being about six months later.

Also, people think that making lots of money will make you happier, but the truth is, that past a point, happiness increases level off. It seems that around $75k, getting more income doesn't dramatically increase your happiness. Someone should tell all the folks making 6 or more figures.

The other big idea was that we think in terms of Reference Points, rather than absolutes, which in this setting means we tend to judge how well we're doing by the examples we see, rather than any sort of objective measure. This is apparently why social media, and tv and stuff like that in general, reduces happiness, because we're looking at the polished images of the highlights of peoples lives, or watching shows about people who make way more money than us, are more skilled than us, have nicer homes than us, or whatever. Apparently if you're only consuming media of people who are doing about the same as you, or worse, there's not a hit or boost to your happiness.

*I want to note that focusing on grades is counter-productive to actual learning and happiness, and that everyone should look into growth mindset vs entity theory.

[turtlesandfrogs]

So how do you fight Hedonic Adaptation?

Savoring- when good stuff is going on in your life, pause and observe and really appreciate it, on purpose. Tell other people about it, especially if they're there in the moment with you. Think about how lucky you are in that moment. Also reflect on past moments of enjoyment.

Negative Visualization, which is a really old idea that I first came in contact with through the stoics. In this version, you imagine if you never had something that you enjoy. So if you're in a happy relationship, what if you'd never met?* If you have a living space with a roof that doesn't leak and 4 solid walls, what if you didn't? If you like a particular meal, what if you never got to eat it again? And then be life, whew, I am sure glad that's not the case!

Practicing gratitude, and like, really doing it. Write down things you're grateful for, tell people who are sharing the moment with you, express gratitude to directly to the people you're grateful for.

Interrupt consumption. That is, studies show that you enjoy your shows more when you have ad breaks. Or, when they had people listen to their favorite song, and then interrupted them, when they got to return their enjoyment was increase. So if you're doing something pleasant, stop, and then come back, and your enjoyment will increase.

Conversely, if you have to do sometime unpleasant, try to do it all at once instead of little bits because remember, Hedonic Adaptation works both ways

Increase variety, do your favorite things different ways. Like, if you drink coffee, make it a little different each day. This one in particular will be hit on again, in different contexts.

Remember that hedonic adaptation can be a good thing, too. Bad things will, over time, feel less bad than you think they will.

And how to deal with the issues of having reference points of people who are, you know, super polished and only showing the cool parts of their lives?

Stop watch tv, social media, etc. (She recognizes that most people aren't going to do this)

Concretely re-experience- which means switch your reference point to your own past. This is especially useful for people who've had crappy experiences in their past, because look! you're doing so much better now! Isn't that awesome!!! But like, I imagine even people with super happy childhoods are glad they have more independence now?

Concretely observe (and this is where the fact that their assuming they're only talking to the richer half of the populace) by which they mean go look and experience first hand the "experience of the other half". BARF. Or, alternatively, go volunteer on an organic farm** to get the pastoralist fantasies out of your head and build appreciation for the nice parts of your life.

Avoid the social comparison (of social media) by using the 'stop-think' method, by which she means, when you notice that you're being envious of someone, tell yourself aloud "Stop!", and intentionally stop comparing to that thing whatever it is, and set your reference point to something else.

*If the idea of never meeting your current partner gives you a sense of relief or happiness, that's a sign. A sign that you should leave. There are resources out there to help you.

**https://wwoof.net/

[turtlesandfrogs]

Next, apparently people have found out that 50% of your happiness is determined by your genetics, 10% by life events, and 40% by your thoughts and actions. Here's where we really start getting to the heart of the matter.

Super basics that I think we've all heard before, but bare repeating because they are super important:

Get 7 or more hours of sleep a night

Move 30 minutes a day (walks, gym, swimming, dancing in your living room, what ever you can do and ideally enjoy doing)

Meditation.

More, but about jobs and money and stuff:

Having a good job matters, but! A lot of money is not equal to a good job. There's these things called "signature strengths" which are things like curiosity, appreciating beauty, wisdom, zest, etc which are apparently regarded well across cultures. Apparently if you identify your signature strengths (quiz here: https://www.viacharacter.org/character-strengths), there's a sweet spot where if you can use 4 of your own strengths in your job, you'll be happier.

Also, a job that allows you to hit a flow state is awesome. There's a whole book about flow which has been out long enough that it's free in libraries. Basically, you become absorbed in what you're doing, lose track of time, and feel enjoyably challenged. (Basically ADHD hyperfocus, except you can leave to use the bathroom :P [this is a joke])

Also, once you hit that $70-ish thousand, more time is more impactful than more money on your happiness and sense of well-being

Doing kind things (and a variety of them) is really good for your happiness levels. Doing a different type of kind thing each day is great, because it thwarts Hedonic Adaptation

If you have money to spend on making yourself happy, it is much more effective to spend the money on someone else than on yourself.

Charity makes you happier if you can see the effects/it builds social connection. In other words, taping into your mutual aid groups to help people will make you happier. Go help people, it will make you feel better!

So, you know what I'm noticing? I'm noticing that if we as a culture started actually working towards what increases individual happiness, I think a lot of things would get better for everyone.

[turtlesandfrogs]

Ok, the next bit was about social connection, and I think a lot of us have heard about the 'loneliness epidemic', and one of the striking things is I've heard people blaming this on there being fewer romatic relationships, but what I'm hearing here is that it's much more broad than that.

First off, social connection:

Makes you less vulnerable to premature death

More likely to survive cancer, heart disease, etc

Less likely to "fall prey" to stressful life events.

Social connection means time with friends, family, and partners, but it also means... talking to strangers in public, apparently. Which, they did start off this whole thing by saying what our intuition tells us will make us happy is often wrong, and apparently this is a big one. Ugh.

So they've done this study in trains, buses, and lobbies. Where they grab people and tell them to either a) talk to people and try to make a connection, b) enjoy their solitude, or c) do whatever they normally would do. And, talking to people and trying to build a connection makes both the person doing the talking happier, and also makes the person talked to happier.

Which, you know, as one of the biggest introverts I know, this just does not sound right. But I think that might be because in my experience, if someone I don't know is talking to me in public it's either because they're trying to sell me something, they're proselytizing, or they are (rarely) trying to hit on me. Now, if someone came up to me and started talking about plants, well, that might just be a more enjoyable experience.

Also, sharing an experience with others makes you subjectively think that it was a better experience. Chocolate was rated as tasting better when you were eating chocolate with another person. That one is easy to believe.

Also, being lonely had 7 times the impact on happiness than a four fold increase in income. In the other direction, presumably.

I am really curious if there have been any studies on whether social connections through stuff like co-op games, discord, forums, etc counts.

[turtlesandfrogs]

People who value time over money are happier, though 69% percent of those surveyed value money over time. Also, people who were primed to think about time were happier and spent more time socializing.

They called this next part mind control- which means here basically the ability to prevent mind-wandering. So the ability to focus. About 46.9 precent of the time, people aren't thinking about what they're doing.

We have a default network in our brains which is active when we're not engaged in a task, which is more efficient than other parts of your brain. Features:

comes online very fast (as soon as you're not doing a task)

thinks about the past, future, and others

Less happy when this network is engaged

What can we do to not mind wander?

Meditation (at least the way where you choose to focus on a single thing. Be like the Vulcans and focus on the flame) (and the effects go beyond the single session, leading to people living in the moment more)

Also an 8-week mindfulness-based stress reduction meditation course increased gray matter. Also meditation lead to high scores on the GRE.

Also Loving Kindness Meditation increased social closeness- and not just towards your target

More Healthy Practices:

Exercise, again.

In people with major depression, 30 minutes three times a week was as effective as Zoloft. Which is just incredible. Like, literally unbelievable. Because I've known people who were clinically depressed and were getting that much exercise. (But on reflection, those people also had things going on in their lives like parental deaths or addiction or other terrible things so maybe that's a confounding factor. I don't know, I'm really struggling with this one.)

Exercise also boost cognitive function, especially as we get older.

Sleep again boosts happiness and cognitive function.

5 hours of sleep really made people's mood to deteriorate, and also your perception of your life is much more negative.

Getting enough sleep also helps increase insight/thinking outside the box.

One night of disrupted sleep: hungrier, emotionally disregulated, memory problems, more likely to have an accident on the job, immune system is impaired.

Chronic sleep times of 5 or fewer hours of sleep increases risk of death, increases risk of heart disease, obesity, diabetes, some cancers, and stroke.

[turtlesandfrogs]

One of the things I do like is she's really emphasizing that knowing isn't enough to change the behavior. Even if we wish it were.

This one touches on that, and she says there's two tings you can do:

Pay attention to the situation- that is, find situations that support you. One suggestion is changing the visibility & convince of the things you don't want to be doing. They use a food example*, but I've done this by putting my phone in a different room.** Given what I know of psychology, I think it may be more helpful to think of ways to make the thing you want to do more of easier. Like maybe making a really cozy little nook to practice meditation in, or finding a physical movement that you actually enjoy, or having vegetables and fruits that you enjoy easily accessible, or giving yourself something nice to get out of bed for in the morning.

Change your social context- want to start meditating? Start a meditation group with your friends. Want more movement? Go dancing, go hiking with friends, etc.

Goals:

Be specific (how, when, where, with who, how will you know you've succeeded)

Visualize your goal, both what achieving it will do for you, but also obstacles that might get in your way and how you'll deal with them.

Goal planning: Creating an If-then plan. Basically visualize yourself dealing with the obstacles. One example is if you often forget your keys, imagine grabbing the door knob and thinking "where are my keys?" Seems to help with automatic actions***. The if-then strategy can increase your percentage of succeeding about a threefold for harder goals.

WOOP = Wish, Outcome, Obstacles, and Plan. "What's your wish for your goal? What's your best outcome? What are the obstacles? What's your if-then plan?" Really helps with actually accomplishing your goals.

*there is weight lost talk in Week 6, in the first video for anyone who would like to avoid that.

**note that I did not say that I was particularly effective at this strategy

***I, a person with ADHD, have actually used this strategy and no longer get locked out of truck regularly.

[per-asperaa-ad-astra]

When a physicist falls in love :)

Richard Feynman's love letter to his deceased wife, 1946.

[kimberly-t]

I'm not crying you're crying

[4gifs]

[catdad-deactivated20151020]

If at first you don’t succeed, redefine success.

[thelizardqueenxo]

I reblogged this at like 4am and I’ve spent the whole day thinking about it and randomly laughing

[kimberly-t]

Words of wisdom, here!