reminder to NOT look at the solar eclipse on monday without glasses specifically certified!!! you know how if you hold a magnifying glass up to the sun, the intensity is enough to start a fire??? same concept applies with the lens in your eye except it burns a hole into your retina instead…… I know you’re probably like “it’s for like 20 seconds so what” but even fractions of a second can do irreversible damage so plz protect your eyeballs!!!
“I realise there’s something incredibly honest about trees in winter, how they’re experts at letting things go.”
“In the ancient world, female power was made possible only in times of crisis; catastrophe was seemingly a prerequisite to a woman’s participation in an exclusively male system. Queen Tawosret of the Nineteenth Dynasty claimed the kingship alone for a mere two years after she had no son to continue her lineage; however, the only thing her reign brought about was the beginning of a new ruling family. Boudicca led her Britons against the aggressions of Rome around 60 CE, but only after that relentless imperial force had all but swallowed up her fiercest and most noble kinsmen. A few decades later, Cleopatra used her great wealth, intelligence, and sexuality to tie herself to not one but two of Rome’s greatest warlords, just as Egypt was on the brink of provincial servitude. She bore offspring to Julius Caesar and Marc Antony in the hope that her children would bond Egypt’s dynastic succession to the fortunes of a victorious Roman warlord. Boudicca and Cleopatra gained power only once the Roman Empire threatened their people’s sovereignty and only because there were no remaining male candidates to lead the defense. Both women saw the destruction of their dynasty, their independence, their very way of life, and ultimately their own selves during the crises that defined their rule. Not until the development of the modern nation-state did women like Elizabeth I or Catherine the Great take on long-lasting mantles of power. The post-Roman Empire, Christian reconfiguration of a fragmented Europe depended on a delicate balance of intertwined dynastic bloodlines that always preferred the person, male or female, who had the clearest claim of descent. In other words, in an ethnically and linguistically divided Europe, when no man could be found to continue a ruling house’s bloodline, a female representative of the ruling family was generally preferred over handing the kingdom over to a ‘foreigner.’ Through all of antiquity, however, history records only one female ruler who successfully negotiated a systematic rise to power—without assassinations or coups—during a time of peace, who formally labeled herself with highest position known in government, and who ruled for a significant stretch of time: Hatshepsut. She should have been no exception to the biological rules that stymied ancient women’s ability to hold political power—the vulnerabilities of their wombs, their childbearing abilities, their hormonal changes, their physical weakness. The ancient Egyptians themselves conceived of the Egyptian goddess not only as a womb for the regenerating god but also as an unstable and fickle feminine force—sometimes kind, other times vicious—that could decide on a whim to destroy or to safeguard. Feminine power was a dangerous energy that needed to be contained and placated, not encouraged or expanded. As a rule, women in ancient Egypt were only allowed to rule as a regent on behalf of a man, as Ahmes-Nefertari did for her young son, or as the last living member of a ruling family, as Sobeknefru did on behalf of her dying dynasty. Given more latitude than in most other places in the ancient world, women in Egypt assumed leadership roles in the household and palace and every so often popped up on the political landscape as king of all Egypt: Nitocris of Dynasty 6 (if Herodotus is to be believed), Sobeknefru of Dynasty 12, Hatshepsut of Dynasty 18, Nefertiti of Dynasty 18, Tawosret of Dynasty 19, Cleopatra VII of the Ptolemaic dynasty, all of them, with the exception of Hatshepsut (and Nefertiti), the last gasp of their dynastic lineage.”
— Kara Cooney, The Woman Who Would Be King
English: Either works too hard or not at all. Reads a lot. Daydreams constantly. Piles and piles of books. Loud voice. Always has their nose in a book. Determined to stick through until the end.
Maths: Logical thinking. Too much coffee, too little sleep. Always creating new problems for themselves. Perfect filing system. Too hard on themselves. Tries to be perfect. Knows a lot of people but only has a few friends.
Art: Doodles in the margins of their books. Paint on their clothing. Scattered mind. Always coming up with new ideas. Abandons projects quickly. Flashing smiles. False singing.
Life Orientation: Laid back. Sports clothing. Easy smiles. Friends with everyone. Peacemaker. Motivates everyone to do their best. Big activist. Fights for equality.
History: Staying up all night reading up on something. Double checks all their facts. Tired eyes. Will talk for hours straight if you let them. Complicated past. Talks to themselves a lot. Long debates.
Dance: Messy hair. Quiet voice. Bold moves. Very self-disciplined. Always tapping a rhythm on something. Loves easily. Show rather than tells. Long nights partying.
Computer Science: Procrastinates constantly. Knows things they shouldn’t. Smart in ways that aren’t usually useful. Constantly learning something new. Always tired. Doesn’t speak to strangers.
Biology: Always looking after their friends. Rarely sleeps. Loves animals. Knows tonnes of medical information. Cares too much. Wants to do something great with their life.
Accounting: Scarily good with numbers. Has a big savings account. Very precise. Doesn’t overlook anything. Double checks everything they do. Big perfectionist. Neat clothing.
Science: Always has something new to try. Not afraid to do experiments on their friends. Never stops learning. Messy desks. Bites their nails. Lopsided grins. Talks for hours on end.
“For me, I am driven by two main philosophies: know more today about the world than I knew yesterday and lessen the suffering of others. You’d be surprised how far that gets you.”
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (via fyp-science)
“You can only go to places that you will let yourself go.”
— Charles Yu, How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe
drama - gesticulating, excited eyes, being way too extra, fidgeting, mood swings, overthinking, probably has low self esteem, loads of friends
history - sudden anger, deep conversations, staring at constellations, budding romance, all or nothing, wicked smirks, being overly complicated
science - sense of achievement, curiosity, rushed ponytails, oversized coats, explosions, colourful everything, messy notes, tech obsessed
art - pencils behind ears, passionate explaining, sudden bursts of energy, gourmet food, thinking outside the box, talks way too fast
geography - outdoorsy, obviously, messy hair, crinkled expressions, genuine laughter, more complex than you know, like emotionally, houseplants
maths - unpopular, bad at relationships, awkward, can you tell I hate maths?, frustrated crying, introverted, neat handwriting, systematic
I’m a teacher. Today I was covering for a grade 9 science class. Decent kids, if a bit rowdy, and didn’t want to do their work. Wtv, it was textbook work. Not the point.
1 girl (reminder that these kids are, like, 14/15) was doodling bust portraits (head & shoulders) in an art book. I had a squiz and asked her if they were her characters. She said they were and excitedly told me she had so many characters for this one story of hers. I laughed about how I wished I could draw mine, and moved on.
Later in the class, I hear her enthusiastically telling her friend all about her main OC - a gay kitsune prince with a tragic past. It was so, pure, classic Deviant Art: my first OC. And you know what? I loved it. I was just sitting there half overhearing, smiling to myself and glad that her friend was engaging and interested in her story and characters.
This is a girl who will become a creator. She will draw and write and imagine, get better and better. She’ll probably move past this stage and start making more nuanced characters (she was already lamenting she didn’t have enough girl OCs). But this is where she started. This is where so many of us started. I had a tiger catgirl, goth witch/sorceress OC in high school. I found my original design for her recently. Look what I create now.
Let kids be kids. Let them explore and invent and go wild and be cliche and make overpowered OCs. Let them have their anthropomorphic animal OCs. Let them try everything before they settle into maturity.
For fucks sake; let them have fun.
It’s like in a science experiment where you are the chemical reaction and they are the control. They remind you of what your original state was before you became fascinating.
germanshitposting