fangirling since '06

[tsscat]

Absolutely fucking abhorrent that a popular anti-imperialist blogger on here has decided to post Uyghur genocide-denialism supposedly in the name of combatting western propaganda and sinophobia. If it weren’t clear already this wrong.

I’ve lost a mutual over this, but I promise you, blindly supporting the Chinese government no matter what is not the same thing as opposing American state and its sinophobia.

Anyways right off the bat here are some sources that show the persecution of Uyghurs:

Article by The Intercept, a fairly left-leaning, although American, news site discussing the surveillance of Uyghurs

Article by The Print, a left-leaning Indian news site that heavily criticizes the Indian government allied with the US, discussing sexual violence against Uyghur women in internment camps

An article by Al Jazeera, a left leaning Qatari news site, discussing the persecution of Uyghurs as a result of China’s “war on terror”

According to some, all of the evidence for Uyghur internment is from Adrian Zenz, an anticommunist born again Christian and Falun Gong, a cult. This is not actually true. One major piece of evidence is the China Cable Documents, published by the ICIJ, ie the same organization that published the Panama Papers

There are also many first hand accounts by formerly detained Uyghur people, their relatives, and other Central Asian Muslim ethnic groups living in China. You could argue, as some on this site have, that they are all getting paid to lie about a genocide happening. However, the prospect becomes less likely when you have this many direct accounts from different people through different organizations and countries. 

It also has been argued that there isn’t a Uyghur genocide in China because many Muslim-majority countries disagreed that there were human rights abuses in China in a UN conference in 2019, citing this article. I feel like most of us can agree that the actions and views of a state do not necessarily, and often don’t represent the views of the people living in that state. I think it also pretty safe to say that Muslims are an incredibly diverse population that do not all have the same views.

And before someone goes and accuses me of being a CIA psy-op or American nationalist or whatever else: examine why me simply showing that a genocide in China exists indicates that I’m pro-America. You understand that both China and the US are oppressive states, AND that you can understand that the sinophobia perpetuated by the US is bad while knowing those two facts. 

I won’t deny how the American right is using this to deflect criticism of the US and its own internment camps, nor will I deny that a coverage of this can be sinophobic. But this is not some grand cartoon world where one state is good and the other is bad. You’re not anti-imperialist for ignoring any criticism of a country affected by imperialism. You are literally just stereotyping countries of the global south and refusing to see them as complex places where real people live.

[forpalestine-deactivated2024020]

June 3rd 2021 update on Palestine:

Please reblog!

139 Is*aeli settlers lead by Rabbi Yehudah Glick and protected by the IOF stormed into the courtyards of Al Aqsa mosque.

A group of settlers protected by the IOF stormed into an archaeological site in North West Nablus.

The IOF and a group of settlers chased Palestinian villagers after burning their olive trees in West Ramallah.

The IOF is targeting fishers during fishing season which is when fishers focus on compensating the damages done to them.

The IOF detained a Palestinian 14 year-old girl in Sheikh Jarrah upon her return from school because she painted Palestine's flag on her classmates' faces in school.

An 11 year-old Palestinian boy was detained upon his return from school and the IOF won't allow neither his family nor normal citizens to see the boy.

Please spread awareness. I post updated on Palestine and I urge you to reblog so we can amplify Palestinians' voices. We need to keep speaking up. They're detaining innocent people (children included). We need to keep speaking up.

(Video of journalist Zaina Al Halawani after she was released)

[suhyla]

i imagine myself, sitting under the shade of palm trees,

my company is the prophets, we eat berries and sip tea

their shining eyes are on mine, as i recount my memories

i tell them of how grateful i am to have grown through their stories

i thank adam first, my father who sinned

but taught me to immediately turn my heart back to Him

i then thank nuh, the man who suffered but persisted

who preached 950 years, though his people resisted

i thank ibraheem, the khaleel, who did not break, did not bend

and through his search for truth, became known as Allah's friend

i thank ismail, the boy who put out his neck, as Allah had asked

and we celebrate his sincerity after every ramadan that we fast

i thank ya'qoob, whose sorrows turned both his eyes white

but through faith, Allah returned both his son and his sight

i thank yusuf, who was beaten and thrown in the well

but found patience even on the floor of his jail cell

i thank musa, who as a baby was put in a basket on the nile

a challenging life, but Allah guided him through each trial

i thank yunus, swallowed by a whale in the middle of a storm,

who had the humility to cry and admit when he was wrong

i thank dawud, the child who went to war, slingshot in hand

and stood up to tyranny better than any grown man

i thank suleiman, who dreamed big and asked for a kingdom like nobody else

and was allowed to hear and command the animals and jinn all by himself

i thank esa, who was born as a surprise to his mom

and while he grew and was plotted against, Allah saved him from harm

i thank muhammad, the final messenger and final prophet

whose legacy prevailed though many have tried to stop it

who suffered plenty of loss, but was never alone throughout his life

for Allah had guided him through every difficulty and every strife

and my heart swells as they ask for my story as well

their voices soothing me with each painful detail i tell

they laugh and cheer as i reach my final chapter

telling me they waited patiently in jannah for the moment i entered

and with tears in my eyes, i ask them how could this be

they say, you asked for Allah's reward, so jannah was His decree

(@dearallah)

[suhyla]

beautiful list of duaas 🌸

[sophielovesbooks]

Sophie’s Dark Academia Rec List

In honour of my favourite genre, have a very personal, very subjective recommendations list!

-        The Secret History (Donna Tartt)

The obvious choice, a classic. In my personal opinion, it’s not perfect and there are better dark academia books out there, but it has massively shaped the genre and therefore deserves recognition. Also, the aesthetic is on point! Read if you want to get a feel for the genre or if you’re simply curious.

-        If We Were Villains (M. L. Rio)

Basically a newer, better The Secret History?? Plenty of similarities, minus certain problematic bits that were present in TSH. Amazing prose, incredible characters, absolutely worth the read. A prime example of dark academia! Read if you love Shakespeare and college settings and compelling characters and drama and just beautiful writing!

-        Black Chalk (Christopher J. Yates)

Also a fairly good example of the genre, but tragically underhyped. Darker than, for example, If We Were Villains. Set at Oxford! Will mess with your head. The characters are not necessarily likeable, but interesting. The writing is fairly complex. Read for a dark academia thriller which takes the unreliable narrator to an impressive new extreme (in a good way!)

-        Truly Devious (Maureen Johnson)

A rare YA dark academia book! Read for murder and mystery and a beautiful boarding school setting as well as a really likeable main character! Due to its nature less dark and somewhat less mature than most of the other books on this list, but if you’re looking for more of a quick and fun dark academia read, this is the one for you!

In a similar vain: The Vanishing Stair (Maureen Johnson)

Cannot actually vouch for this as I haven’t read it yet, but it’s the sequel to Truly Devious and I have heard good things.

-        The Secret Place (Tana French)

MASSIVELY underappreciated dark academia with (gasp) supernatural elements?! The most beautiful prose and funniest dialogue you will ever see. Incredible characters. Again, amazing boarding school setting and close group of female friends! (They will break your heart). Also murder. Also half of the story being told from a detective’s PoV. Read if you value good literature. Just. Read it.

-        The Likeness (Tana French)

Actually, maybe I was kidding before, maybe this book is the most underappreciated dark academia book out there? Either way, it’s my favourite. Within dark academia and within ALL OF THE BOOKS. This is it. The perfect novel. Characters that own my hearts to this day. Writing so beautiful that it had me sobbing uncontrollably on several occasions. The university it is set in is Trinity College Dublin. (Cue me being bitter that I don’t go there every single day for the rest of my life.) Very intriguing mystery, too. Hilarious dialogue. All the emotions. All the heartbreak. Just… I love it so much, okay? <3

-        The Lying Game (Ruth Ware)

Good, very good. Set in a boarding school near the ocean, but unfortunately, only the past tense story line is and we don’t get to see too much of it. Very interesting characters. Much heavier on the dark than the academia. Read if you’re looking for more of a classic murder mystery/thriller and are not too focussed on the academia. Also read for an interesting group of female friends.

-        The Basic Eight (Daniel Handler)

Very promising, but wasn’t my cup of tea at all. The setting is an American High School on the West Coast. The murder isn’t that much of a mystery. I’m mentioning it here because I know that other people love this book, even though I really didn’t. I would say don’t read, but see for yourself, I suppose.

-        The Lessons (Naomi Alderman)

Yes, okay, an interesting one. Set at Oxford, which was amazing. Interesting characters with interesting dynamics. I read it quickly and was quite entertained. But there were certain problematic bits (regarding LGBTQ+ representation and mental illness), so you’ve been warned. Not my fave, but I mostly enjoyed it while reading it.

There are a few more dark academia books on my shelves, which I unfortunately cannot include on this list, as I haven’t read them yet. One of them is “The Lake of Dead Languages” by Carol Goodman. Another is “Brideshead Revisited” by Evelyn Waugh. Might edit this post later to add these and more. xx

UPDATE!! (With slightly longer descriptions this time, because people are actually reading this? Reblogging even? Wow!) 

-        The Lake of Dead Languages (Carol Goodman)

THE ALL-FEMALE DARK ACADEMIA NOVEL WE ALL NEED AND DESERVE…?? The setting is A++. An all-female boarding school in the Adirondack Mountains in New York! There is a lake that features so heavily in the story, it basically counts as a main character. Told from the PoV of a teacher who used to go to the school. There are two close groups of female friends, one in the present timeline, one in the past. Both have dark, dark secrets and both fit the dark academia genre so well! Also, heavy focus on Latin rather than Ancient Greek, which I have all the love for. This one is a gem, so give it a chance!

-        Brideshead Revisited (Evelyn Waugh)

An actual classic, as in… first published in 1945. And it reads like it. The beginning came with beautiful vibes! Our young boy Charles starting his time at Oxford, meeting a lot of pretentious people, including one Lord Sebastian Flyte, who Charles is suspiciously fascinated by. Sebastian is the biggest dork to ever dork, carries around with him an actual teddy bear named Aloysius, the absolute madmen?? But it’s all downhill from there, with alcoholism and war and depressing times… And Oxford only really features in the first half or less.

-        People Like Us (Dana Mele)

Another rare YA dark academia!! Features a group of Mean Girls who one day, when out at night to go swimming, find one of their classmates floating dead in the lake. Which is an excellent dark academia set-up, let’s be honest. Also, sapphic girls, incredible sapphic girls with really complex relationships! Bi main character! A fun and quick read, much like “Truly Devious”. More descriptions of the beautiful boarding school buildings would have been welcome, but at least we got a few! Anyway, go forth and enjoy this little beauty.

-        Party Girls Die in Pearls (Plum Sykes)

Umm… I barely even comprehend this book’s existence? Has a prime dark academia set-up with a murdered girl in Oxford, but I still somehow DNF’d it after about 20 pages?! The main character’s name is Ursula Flowerbutton, and if you think that’s quirky and funny… good for you, you might actually enjoy this book. But you’ll also have to endure descriptions of clothes, oh, so many descriptions of clothes! And for anything unique to Oxford that might make the book fun because only those who know will know… you’ll get a footnote. So actually, everyone will know, with zero effort. Definitely not for me, but if you want to read a glossy magazine style dark academia, knock yourself out, friend!

-        The Night Climbers (Ivo Stourton)

Breath-taking! A piece of beauty! Set at Cambridge (and the campus features heavily!), a main character reminiscent of Richard Papen, an intriguing group of new friends that he would do anything to belong with. Including… climbing the buildings of Cambridge at night? Without proper equipment, just with his hands and feet?? Honestly, out of the books on this list, this one is the closest in style and maturity and characterisation to The Secret History! The writing is absolutely gorgeous, the plot fascinating. And it’s dark academia that features a non-violent crime, which works surprisingly well. All in all: A STUNNER THAT FANS OF THE SECRET HISTORY SHOULD CHECK OUT!!

-        As I Descended (Robyn Talley)

A queer, sapphic Macbeth retelling?? Also a rare YA dark academia with strong supernatural elements?! The representation is on point, with two hispanic main characters, wlw, mlm and one of the girls in the main couple being disabled! The boarding school setting is also on point (and uniquely different as the school building is actually a former plantation in Virginia). This book is so different and so spooky! It wasn’t perfect and some say the retelling didn’t work 100% (I, personally, felt that the plot slowed down a bit), but the atmosphere is amazing and the characters are pretty cool, too!

Not to worry, my quest to find and read as many DA books as possible isn’t over. So this list might be updates again some time in the future! :)

[twinsfawn]

he really did that

[upthehillart]

Golden Trio

(old versions: Harry | Ron | Hermione)

See also: Ginny, Neville, Luna | Draco | All HP Portraits

[perhapsarat]

click to make bigger!!! 

THIS IS SO LONG i’ve literally included every animal in the world 

once again this is based totally on science and facts i studied for 24 years at harvard 

[scorpittariusslytherdor]

okay bro but my Heron Patronus totally describes me here thoo

[tibby]

It’s Fabergé Organics. Use the shampoo and the conditioner, and when your hair’s damp – it’s not wet, okay? – when it’s damp, you do four puffs of the Farrah Fawcett spray.

[tabigale]

[lesbophobes-deactivated20220907]

my new years resolution is to flip off myself apparently

[benwooxxi]

Bringing this back

[vikapediathat]

I screenshotted it and it came up with “Believe in memes”

[duchessnibenhu-ofpyromania]

Date myself….

[breaktotheotherside]

flip off god

[stargazing-enby]

…touch…anime

[scorpittariusslytherdor]

Date nobody? Well that’s reassuring 🙄

[mariotheserialkillernerd]

Touch the sun... yay..

[myfriendmike]

It's almost 2020 and you know what that means? I've been thinking about Harry Potter for

6,605 days

158,520 hours

9,511,200 minutes

570,672,000 seconds

and I'm STILL not tired of it

[thebitchyspider]

Professor McGonagall's interesting detention lines

Below we have some of the more interesting lines professor McGonagall has had to assign to students in detention over the course of her career as a teacher.

They are not mine; they belong to this fabulous fic, one of my all-time favourites. I’m a huge fan of Hermione/Minerva ship.

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/4126637/5/Ancient-Magic

1. I am not authorised to sell nude picture of the faculty to students. Giving them out for free is also frowned upon.

2. I will not go to class skyclad.

3. Writing sexy love letters to Professor Dumbledore, signed by ‘Your Kitten’ is not an ethical means of skipping Transfiguration class, no matter how effective it may prove.

4. I will not ask Professor Sinistra to show me Uranus.

5. I am not permitted to ask Professor Flitwick where Snow White is.

6. The length of Professor Dumbledore’s beard is not compensating for anything.

7. ‘Not enough room to swing a cat in here’ is a Muggle saying, not a testable hypothesis.

8. It is a bad idea to tell Professor McGonagall that she takes herself too seriously.

9. Mad Eye Moody is not related to One Eyed Willy.

10. Under no circumstance will I greet Professor McGonagall by inquiring, ‘What’s new, pussycat?’

11. Neither is ‘What ho, Lawn Ornament!’ a proper greeting for Professor Flitwick.

12. I will not start every Potions class by asking if today’s project is suitable for use as a sexual lubricant.

13. I will not refer to Professor McGonagall as Catwoman, no matter how good I think she might look in black leather.

14. Argus Filch does not have a sister named Magenta.

15. Despite the fact that it takes place in a dungeon, I may not safeword my way out of Potions class.

16. Albus Dumbledore is not my personal Jesus.

17. The average landspeed of an unladen swallow is not relevent to my Arithmancy assignment.

18. When being interrogated by a member of staff, I am not to wave my hand and announce ‘These are not the droids you are looking for.’

19. I cannot attempt to recreate the Key to Time in Transfiguration class. Or transform a pepperpot into a Dalek.

20. Sending rings to the nine senior faculty at Yuletide, with the salutation, ‘Love, Voldemort’ is not funny.

21. If Remus Lupin requests something of me, it is very rude to refuse by replying, ‘Not by the hair of my chinny-chin-chin!’

22. Severus Snape’s proper given name is not Princess Silvermoon Fairywing GlimmerMcSparkles.

23. I will not convince three of the school ghosts to visit Severus Snape on Christmas Eve. And even if Severus Snape had flying monkeys, he would not let me touch them.

24. The proper way to report to Professor McGonagall is ‘You wanted to see me, Professor?’ It is not, ‘I have it on good authority that you have no evidence.’

25. My name is not Inigo Montoya. Professor Snape did not kill my father, nor must he prepare to die.

26. I will not trick Professor Trelawney into calling The Psychic Hotline; not even if I tape the conversation for Professor McGonagall; not even if Professor McGonagall laughs.

27. I must never again substitute weapons grade plutonium for any ingredient in potions class.

[halnh]

The Harry Potter books according to McGonagall

1. Minerva McGonagall and the time I was a boss ass witch 2. Minerva McGonagall and the time I was a boss ass witch 3. Minerva McGonagall and the time I was a boss ass witch 4. Minerva McGonagall and the time I was a boss ass witch 5. Minerva McGonagall and the time I was a mother fucking boss ass witch 6. Minerva McGonagall and the time I was a boss ass witch 7. Minerva McGonagall and the time I was a mother fucking boss ass witch

[auntymurda]

u ever catch yourself overthinking then you’re like bitch what the fuck who cares

[why-is-it-always-autumn]

You know what I don’t get?  When fanfic authors apologize for long chapters.  It’s like?  You gave me bonus content, for free, and you’re sorry about it?  Bruh.  I have already named my firstborn after you.  Dude.

[why-is-it-always-autumn]

You know what else I don’t get?  When they apologize for short updates.  It’s like: look at these new words I gave you!  Sorry I didn’t give you even more free words.  Bro, that’s at least two words that I did not have yesterday.  For free.  Dude.  Thank you.

[why-is-it-always-autumn]

And another thing: when people drop out of nowhere with a surprise update and then apologize for it taking a while.  Like, dude, I wasn’t expecting anything, and you gave me words.  I thought this fic was abandoned, but wait: there’s more.  You just popped in and reminded me that this is a Good Fic that I should probably reread.  You made my goshdarn day.

[why-is-it-always-autumn]

Basically fanfic writers are under no obligation to publish anything so when they do update it’s always a net positive because the story is longer now, and I have something to read, so thank you so much to everyone who writes fic at whatever pace or quantity they want.

[whatwashernameagain]

This is wholesome and I need to hear this all the time. You’re sweet and kind, op, and i am happy you tell us such nice things!

[twitterlols]

[hatepotion]

Happy 38th, buddy

(Top rows, left to right: Arthur, Molly, Charlie, Hermione, Victoire, Teddy, Ron, Dominique, George, Percy, Angelina, Bill, Audrey. Bottom rows, left to right: Fleur, Louis, Rose, Hugo, James, Ginny, Harry, Lily, Albus, Fred, Roxanne, Molly, Lucy)

Process video here