Things aren't ok

I'm a multifandom broke piece of shit who is bad at conversations- TvT I'm also very awkward- This blog thingy is gonna be a mix of things and fandoms, and original stuff too. Also another thing about me; I tend to overthink things a lot and i try to be as good of a person as possible.

[theawesomeadventurer]

[inkskinned]

HOW TO WRITE 20 PAGES (from one girl w/mental illness 2 the rest of u, but please keep in mind all of this is just personal Stuff That Worked for me n u might be different):

first of all, and probably most importantly, make that paper about something you actually give a shit about. if you can write an essay on how long shakespeare’s dick is when you’re talking to your friends, that’s a good topic. don’t choose something u don’t care about, you will Want To Die

“okay but the only topics are ones i don’t care about” talk 2 ur teacher 99% of the time if you’re like “here’s a well-thought-out thesis can i talk about this instead” they’re like “sure lmao i just couldn’t think of other paper topics to suggest”

“they said no” cool find the one u hate the least and try to tie it into something u like. for example i really hated this stupid paper i had to write about a stupid book so i ended up writing about the food inside the book and whether or not it was a historically accurate depiction of food. turns out i fucking love talking about food. i also remade some of the old recipes and brought them in as part of the presentation of my project and people went fuckken nuts bc BREAD. basically i thought about “what motivates me? uh food” and followed that. it was a 45-page book about bread and i looked like a really good student when really i just love bread (somewhere, oprah smiles over me)

the 20-pagers are the ones you Actually Cannot Do the night before. i know we all got real fuckken cocky back in hs when we learned how to do 5 pages in one night w/out trying too hard but 1. as a teacher now i can tell u for sure that teachers do know you rushed it, we just Don’t Care bc We’re Not Paid Enough and 2. twenty pages is not the same thing. you need to actually take the time to do it. this is the actual version of “you’re not in hs anymore” DONT lie to yourself and think “it’s fine i’ll do it in one day” you will !! Regret it!!!! 

“raquel. raquel. listen to me. do you actually believe i’m capable of time management. raquel i have depression i barely manage to exist.” same. but the truth is that when i started like?? actually following the rules of timelines and taking my time etc it actually really helps mental illness. you don’t feel pressured all the time by a deadline, so your anxiety chills a little bit. small progress being acceptable means that on depression days, you don’t have to worry you’re fucking it all up. when it’s 15 minutes every day (even if it’s only 1 word a day) it feels a lot better.

ask the teacher what timeline they’d recommend. they actually Know.

always ask if it’s informal or formal (if you can use “I” statements or not). informal essays can rely on personal feelings and are so much easier and trust me if you find out on the day it’s due that you could have written 12 pages about your feelings instead of 12 pages of research, you will Be Very Upset

i lie to myself all the time and move the deadline up. i write it in my agenda as at least 2 days before it’s due. surprise!!! i tricked u, self!!! you can’t procrastinate!! 

agendas/planners need to be what actually works for you. i liked to prioritize w/colors + keep lists. i really love crossing things off lists. it’s like… a balm. for me, i usually say i have to finish the first 2 things, start the 3rd thing, and “touch” at least half the list. if i finish the whole list i get a prize. also i get to cross off everything which is so satisfying i’m sure it’s someone’s idea of a rush. there’s so many “how to” documents on these that i won’t get into it but frankly?? if you don’t write it down you will not remember it. “yes i will” no you won’t greg. just do it. write it down. write it where u can see it. not there, greg. greg, somewhere good. my friend is smart af and uses a post-it on her laptop. that doesn’t work for me bc i can just? use my hand to cover the anxiety? so choose somewhere good greg.

nervous system, skeleton, meat, skin. nervous system is the thesis. skeleton is quotes/data. meat is the analysis of that data. skin is the fancy transitions + beautification.  meat goes on both sides of bone, and skin goes all around. nervous system has to touch everything. do what your teachers have been begging u to do since 3rd grade and start w/an outline. do this while you read/research. i usually have a starter thesis like “lady macbeth is a feminist ICON” then take the quotes i think fit. but if while you’re reading u realize u wanna talk about the use of feminine language and how shakespeare parallels daintiness w/sharpness, u still have a bunch of quotes you can use or not use. this works also w/research papers. just pull what u think is something u wanna talk about. copy-paste it but leave a link to where u got it. then put a bullet point under that says roughly why u mention it

if you just write the outline like you’re keeping notes to yourself you’d be amazed how quickly you write the essay bc we get stuck in academic language but it’s easier to translate “this is why bees are the #bomb” into a paragraph. i mean you just rewrite your notes to yourself in academic speech. “The above passage illustrates the growing necessity of pollinators such as bees in an agricultural environment.”

keep track of your sources + label them. don’t just write “(SOURCE)” instead if you’re using multiple sources use the lazygirl way which is (SA1) or whatever shorthand u have for each source. then when you need to finish your sources you go to your little source document, find the one labelled SA1 and then “Find+replace” w/the actual source.

integrate quotes so it reads w/clarity which means don’t do this but if you’re running late on it and don’t have time to look up the quote u want to fit this situation, technically you can “use any” word you want (56). so yeah “there is” a moral question about it but you “can” make up quotes (79, 90). don’t “actually” do this unless you’re seriously in a crunch. which u shouldn’t be, bc u managed ur time, right?

running late part 2 (which again would never happen bc you followed my advice and made a little time table for yourself but anyway if it does somehow magically happen) i really recommend using school computers to do your work. ur surrounded by people who will hold u accountable + u will focus

running late pt3 on the day of it being due, around 5 PM, be honest w/yourself and see where you are. if you’re like “it needs 2 more hours” okay. but if you’re like “this is……… not started” email the teacher. they’ll be so much more receptive the earlier you do this in the process. it looks like “i’m genuinely struggling and i hope to finish this on time but i’m worried i won’t” instead of “i started this at 11:58PM and am asking for an extension”. please also just… be honest? 

“my teacher won’t accept late work!” they all say that, he probably will, particularly if you have a note from the school therapist being like “lmao she’s got so many mental illnesses idek how to help her”

“no he really doesn’t, he doesn’t care” you can file for disability if you have mental illness, and, in fact, you should if it’s something that often stops you from completing work on time. i didn’t bc i found that it just let me procrastinate for a longer time, but having that on file means you can go to the dean.

“no!!! raquel you’re not listening i have 2 pages and he doesn’t take late work!!!!!!!!!”  okay. yeah that’s bad. but nerves, skeleton, meat, skin. what is it that you’re struggling with? is it that your can’t find any quotes to back up your thesis? impossible, tbh, you need to be more willing to purposefully misuse quotes (don’t do that). but the better option is to just change the thesis. 

“i don’t even have that!!” did you. do the reading? if you even just watched the movie, you probably have an opinion on something even if it’s “this is bad.” you can use that. use why you didn’t like it to write a hate-fueled examination on how whiny the main character is and why u think the author is trying to point out how miserable cis white boys are to deal with. 

“i don’t have enough sources!!!” go to wikipedia’s page about it and look @ the sources. try to like actually read some if you have time but frankly in a hurry a student (me) might be compelled to just slap the source in there. 

“how the fuck do i analyze this”. u know how ppl agonize over why an actor breathed in a scene. melt into that kind of thinking. you can literally force the words to mean whatever you want. i’ve talked about word choice so specific that i based a 12-page essay on three separate uses of the words “my dear”. i talked about the possessive “my” and how it developed for like 5 of those pages. and always repeat the thesis like a million times. after every analysis you should talk about how it links to the thesis. that is like a free 3 sentences every paragraph.

“i did all that and it’s still 3 pages too short” quick ways to Beef Him Up: definitions are great in research papers + essays bc you can talk about either word choice or like the definition of every process used in getting the data. also make the conclusion hella informative (it should answer “what does this mean moving forwards” most of the time, tie it into modern life or into the past). thicken ur intro with “here’s a quote from this guy about it and what he personally felt about acid-base titrations”, use a paragraph to talk about the history of the data/book, use a paragraph to talk about the modern reception of the data/book. also look for where you can use two words instead of one even tho like grammatically don’t do that.

worst comes to worst, brevity is the soul of wit. most teachers prefer concise over rambling and all over the place. if you choose to scoot under the page limit, tho, your writing etc needs to be exceptionally clean. frankly i’ve only done this once and it was terrifying

make computer read it aloud 2 u before u submit. “raquel….. i can’t look at it anymore”. you’re not looking @ it, you’re discovering you wrote “breath” not “breathe” and u need to change it

tutoring centers exist, i worked in one, and this is how i know they actually Help and have Good Ideas

ask about extra credit and do it tbh

good luck…. breathe. and remember u are astronomically more important than a grade could ever be.

[rivkahstudies]

Absolutely beautiful advice, some of which I follow and some of which I need to. Thank you for all of this!

[my-unrealistic-standards]

reblog to save other college students

[weirdotaku1000]

AIGHT TECHNICALLY I'M A COLLEGE STUDENT CAUSE DUAL ENROLLMENT I'M GONNA USE THIS AND PIN IT SO I CAN SEE IT TYYYY

[sneakysnek1123]

Can we be nicer to people who are on the aro/ace spectrum who aren’t aroace please? Aroallos and alloaces and aplatonic folk and cupioromantics and those who want queerplatonic relationships and those who don’t and aros who date and aces who have sex and people who don’t fall on the “sex-favourable to sex-repulsed” line because they feel like it doesn’t describe them well enough and greyromantics and demisexuals and those in polycules and selfshipping communities and those who fight for aro/ace visibility and those who don’t and those who haven’t fully come to terms with their identity yet and this community is such a beautiful place can we see it beyond “uwu innocent aroace doesn’t know what sex is” please god I am begging you

[ihavenoconsistentinterests]

genuinely SO sick of that thing in media where a character doesn't want to have sex and it's treated like some kind of barrier to be overcome or problem to be fixed. Reading a book that treats it somewhat like that right now, and it genuinely made me question myself for a second, what the fuck. This is truly the first time I have ever had a thought along the lines of "what if my asexuality means I'm broken", and that was awful. Horrid. Fuck this.

[mslovelyrita]

Happy Pride Month! 🏳️‍🌈 Be normal about queer Jews or else. 🫵

[clarabosswald]

two jews seriously hurt in a stabbing attack but it's okay because the uk government swears it takes the threats on jews reaaally seriously, gosh how awful was that attack, thoughts and prayers

the president of peru says in a speech that ww2 was "partly the fault of jews because of their absolute control of german banks and commerce" but it's okay because he apologized after being called out on it and surely no harm is done when a leader of a country spreads antisemitic conspiracies

the eu keeps condemning the pa for blatantly antisemitic content in its education program, for years. but also keeps actively funding the same program. but it's okay because they have no shortage of harsh and mournful words when the results of this education manifest as actual harm to human life, again and again

because the prevention of antisemitism isn't required when just sending out real super sincere apologies and sternly worded letters after the fact works juuuuust fine. and it's not like real people get hurt. in real life. right

[dickgreyson]

CRAZY to think abt the overtly Jewish themes in early comics, I mean superman is Moses, diana is a Golem, and Batman just straight up a matrilineal jew. All written by Jewish writers. And people just IGNORE that.

[dickgreyson]

when i was making this post, i was only focusing on dc, since it is in relation to these comics that i have seen and experienced the most antisemitism. but as this reaches a broader audience, yeah! lets talk about it all!

lets talk about how captain america, an irish immigrant who grew up poor and ill, channeled his experiences into empathy and understanding and positive action, was made by jewish men to dunk on hitler.

lets talk about how the first marvel and dc comics were mocked up in "yinglish," a mix of yiddish and english commonly spoken in jewish quarters. lets talk about how the format of the graphic novel as we know it was pioneered by an Auschwitz survivor

lets talk about how the first superman comics were clark picking up hitler and stalin, and dumping them at the united nations to be prosecuted for his treatment of defenceless and downtrodden people the world over

let's talk about why x-men resonated with so many people who fundamentally share an understanding of oppression by discriminatory systems, across time and cultures. written by the sons of jewish immigrants.

lets talk about how comics by their very nature were crafted to imbue empathy and understanding, and challenge the very foundation of unjust institutions. and lets talk about the fact that this is a jewish art form. blending the power of language with the impact of visual elements. made that way by jewish people who had something to say.

[koshercosplay]

not to mention the fact that the reason jews built the comic book industry from the ground up was because american traditional publishing, marketing, and newspaper companies often had antisemitic quota policies and wouldn't hire jews.

so jewish people looked at a new, avante garde, fun, different kind of entertainment that had even been founded by a jew, and saw potential. jewish artists and writers positively flocked to the burgeoning comic book industry because they were quite literally blocked out of everywhere else.

so of course they wrote about fighting oppression, fighting those who willfully discriminate against others, fighting against hate and prejudice and ignorance. all of those things are what spurred on the comic book industry in the first place.

[evilwickedme]

So a fun fact about me is that just this week I lectured on this very topic, and as much as all of the points here are very important, I actually had a much wider claim.

In short, superheroes are prophets.

No, like, legit. Prophets.

The rambam talks about the principles of prophecy in Guide to the Perplexed, and there are several orders of prophecy. The first order is shared by all of them, and it is, in short, the fact that a prophet must be someone who sees evil and feels the need to stop it. God is on their side, that's vital, but they don't need to talk directly to God, they don't need to have visions, all they need to do is save someone. Prophecy is not a talent, according to the rambam. It is an action.

The first of the degrees of prophecy consists in the fact that an individual receives a divine help that moves and activates him to a great, righteous, and important action - such as the deliverance of a community of virtuous people from a community of wicked people, or the deliverance of a virtuous and great man, or the inspiring of greatness.

(this is a somewhat edited paragraph, as I'm contrasting the english translation with the Hebrew translation with my dad's knowledge of the original Arabic text and finding it lacking.)

My lecture went into great detail showing parallels between different comic book characters and people from Jewish history (specifically moses and superman, david and captain america, and my personal favorite, "Other One"/Elisha Ben Abuya and magneto). But beyond that is my claim that we learn something very important from the first Hebrew - Abraham himself. Because his task is not only to create a people and teach them what is righteous and to deal justice (again, an action), but also that all people may learn from his example - see above, "inspiring of greatness". The prophet must not only serve his own people, but also the whole world.

This is why superman's motto includes not only the "american way", but also "truth" and "justice". This is why captain america becomes nomad when he is disillusioned post watergate/rebels against his own government in the winter soldier. Because there is a universalism inherent to the Jewish hero that requires that we not only help ourselves but also everyone we could possibly help (this is in the mishnah as well).

And with magneto, I claimed that what makes him a villain (an anti-villain, but a villain nonetheless) is the very fact of his interest in his own people alone. He cares for mutants and mutants alone, and even though his interests at times align with those of all of humanity/the marvel universe, if they don't he does not hesitate to turn on those he might have teamed up with previously.

I didn't say this in the lecture because I didn't have enough time to research it properly, but I don't think it's possible to imagine a world in which we have comic book heroes that in any way resemble our own in an alternate history where Jews weren't the people behind the concept of the superhero. Whereas christians value speech, self-sacrifice, and forgiveness, Jews value action and change.

It's not just that our superheroes are Jewish.

It's that they can't not be Jewish.

And this is why any time somebody turns superman into a christ figure I look at them crooked. You think that superman is in any way the type to sacrifice himself? He is the savior not because of his powers of speech or getting people to follow him. It is because he inspires greatness in others, and above all else, because he gets shit done.

[writerpyre]

https://jewishnews.timesofisrael.com/boldly-celebrating-50-years-of-star-trek/ also somewhat relevant.

Boldly celebrating 50 years of Star Trek

As the much-loved sci-fi saga Star Trek marks its 50th birthday, we set our laser to stun to reveal what makes the enduring space soap opera

[queer-scots-geordie-dyke]

“It’s Israel’s fault that antisemitism happens and people attack synagogues.”

Shut. The. Entire. Fuck. Up.

I’ll tell you who is responsible for antisemitism. Antisemites. Violent, hateful racists who have chosen, of their own free will, to abuse and attack a minority and their institutions and their places of worship because they can and because they want to. Bigots who decided to get into their car and ram it through the gates of a sacred space or set it on fire or shoot at it because they hate the people inside.

Stop making fucking excuses for them.

[kineticpenguin]

I think that one of the most frustrating things about algospeak, after the "compliance in advance" self-censorship, is that there is no actual evidence-based justification for it. Everyone who uses it does so because they heard from a guy who heard from a guy that The Algorithm will bury their content if they don't use cutesy euphemisms.

[balaclava-trismegistus]

it's weird how its a literal superstition about algorithms, and it's significantly changing English as it's used

[kineticpenguin]

And the thing is, it goes beyond like. "Hey content is moderated by TikTok based on anti-LGBTQ local governments," it's literally censoring anything on any platform they think might trip the obscurity alarm.

[perksofbeingahalfie]

since yall (me) love the man so much

[momoboyds]

white europeans love to pretend like the united states and europe aren’t two cheeks of the same ass

[weirdotaku1000]

Haven’t watched invincible past season 2 but just to let you guys know Eve’s arc w / her pregnancy isn’t shown much in the comics to my knowledge AND she also aborted it first by choice, so the fact that she kept the pregnancy in the show instead is icky to me

[rhytmrocket]

shoutout ppl w tooth gaps btw. or overbites. or underbites. or crossbites. or uneven teeth. or other dental conditions. and also ppl who don’t want to/can’t afford to get that stuff changed/"fixed". ily

additive edit from rbs n replies: also ppl with discolored teeth, and broken/damaged/decaying teeth, and missing/no teeth

and i'll probably keep adding stuff as i think of it. just know i love ur teeth and/or lack thereof. ur cool n ily

[quasi-normalcy]

It's incredible how all of the censorship on the modern internet doesn't actually seem to be making society kinder or more wholesome hmm maybe there's a lesson in this

[weirdotaku1000]

Hey tumblr stop recommending me eating disorder blogs that glorify being skinny and being underweight and starving yourself

I am underweight sure but I hate seeing my bones and I’d like to have more weight, can you not?? Recommend that shit to me???

Is this because I’m in another state now?????

This didn’t happen back in Florida.

Same w / the annoying ass amount of “girlblogging!! Teehee!! I’m so docile so coquette so Lana del Rey!!!!! Hell is a teenaged girl!!! Girl blog!!!!!!” Tumblr I am in your walls please listen to my “I’m not interested in this” button I’ve blocked so many new people

[sophieinwonderland]

My frustration with Tumblr morality is that Tumblr will call a show with positive queer representation, showing young queer people the importance of loving themselves, an anti-gay "hate crime" (literally a comment I saw) because their particular ship didn't end up being endgame on the same week a lesbian woman is gunned down by ICE, and right-wing Twitter and Fox News celebrates it because she was a lesbian.

Not that some people haven't called out Ice for murdering Renee Good too.

But it would be nice if Tumblr responded to the fascist government that murders queer people with the same fervor it attacks and beats down queer allies because their representation isn't perfect.

Anyway, reminder that characters like Will and Robin in the most popular show in the world right now both provide incredible representation for young queer people to see.

Even if the representation wasn't exactly what some shippers want, nothing will erase that the Duffer Brothers have done more for queer representation than any of the Conformitygate conspiracy theorists will do in their entire lifetimes.

[sophieinwonderland]

Stranger Things 5 Spoilers:

Tumblr reactions to Will's coming out scene honestly annoy me, even if I do think the scene was imperfect.

I'm just tired of people demanding representation be perfect to be acceptable.

Yeah, Will was pushed to come out because he knew the bad guy would use it against him if he didn't. He needed to come out to everyone to prove he could, so that there was nothing left for Vecna to hold over him.

It wasn't an ideal circumstance. It probably wasn't the way Will would have wanted to come out. But it was the way he had to.

And you know what?

That's fine!

Will isn't a real person!

He's a fictional character in a TV show!

Maybe his coming out in front of everyone and making a spectacle of it isn't "realistic" for a normal coming out. But it seems pretty reasonable of a fictional character who realizes his fear of coming out and what will happen if he does is holding him back in his fight against an evil telepath who will use his fears against him. That he needs to fully embrace himself before the final battle, purging himself of any weaknesses.

Was Robin's coming out more realistic? Sure! But we already had a coming out scene like that, and Will's should be treading new ground. It shouldn't be like hers because hers already happened!

The situation Will is in isn't a realistic one!

If you want to see Robin's coming out again, go rewatch season 3!

But in a way, there also IS a sense of realism to the scene, in that sometimes queer people are going to be threatened or blackmailed by those who would use their identity to cause them harm, and they don't get their "ideal" coming out. Circumstances force them to come out when it's inconvenient for them!

But make no mistake... Will did make a choice, even if there was outside pressure.

Even if the situation wasn't ideal.

It's not like Vecna just outed him to his friends. Will chose to do it to prove to himself that he was strong enough.

Also, while people say that Will just saying he "doesn't like girls" is a cop out... I don't see what the big deal is here either. EVERYONE got the subtext. Nobody needs him to explicitly say "I'm gay" to know. This isn't a Korrasami moment where there's still ambiguity by the end and you need word of God and future comics to confirm the queerness. There is nobody who watches that scene and needs it spelled out to them that Will is gay.

All the audience gets the subtext. All the characters in the room get it.

I just wish that we could all acknowledge that, while the scene has flaws and isn't perfect... it's ALSO incredibly important for the biggest show in the world to have such important queer stories, and that perfection shouldn't be required to appreciate what the writers were trying to do.

It should actually be okay to accept when a queer story falls short of our expectations without demonizing and personally attacking the writers!

We should be encouraging writers to write more queer stories, even the ones that fall short!

[weirdotaku1000]

People keep talking about the ships on Stranger Things so much that I forget one of it’s genres is horror, so then I actually get jump scared by certain clips and images that go around the internet.