No, Because, Let’s Talk About This-

You would think that after all that Brie Larson, Jennifer Lawrence, Daisy Ridley, Kelly Marie Tran and, most recently, Halle Bailey endured, we would’ve learned our lesson. First, you said Rachel wasn’t Latina / Latina enough; then you said she was Latina and therefore she can’t be Snow White.

Y’all spent years criticizing the princesses, – namely Snow White – calling them “weak” and “passive”, saying that young girls shouldn’t aspire to be them and shaming those people that did. Disney heard you and decided “Fine, we’ll give her a more modern update,” and tasked Rachel with playing her.

Now y’all wanna do a complete 180 and want to claim that Snow White is “sacrilege” and was always a beautiful role model. You’re calling on Rachel to quit, calling her ungrateful for her role (nevermind that these photos exists), saying she “ruined the movie” for you, and hoping the movie fails based on an out-of-context 5-second Tiktok clip from a year old video. Disney creatives are the ones who made the decision to portray Snow White this way; Rachel is merely her vessel. What is wrong with y’all?!

Not to mention that y’all have the Audacity™️ to compare her handling of this whole thing to Halle Bailey’s handling of the racist campaigns against her. Rachel doesn’t it to owe to you to handle all of this with grace, by staying quiet and putting on a brave face. This constant barrage of hate and over analyzation of everything she says, does, and thinks is clearly taking a toll on her. (Also, Halle has signaled her support for Rachel, so just try pitting these two against each other again.)

Y’all need to realize that you are bullying a 22 year old for sport and have no shame for it. It’s sickening. I am exhausted from watching female actresses get torn apart on social media, at this point for just existing.

We just had “Barbie” come out – a movie that famously talks about the difficulties of being a woman and how no matter what you do, no matter how hard you work or how hard you try, nothing you do will be ever be enough. Everyone missed the message. I’m disappointed, but shit am I not surprised.

I wouldn't normally comment on the met gala outfits openly but. In defence of Elliot Page. I feel like a lot of people are missing that this is his first gala since coming out as transmasc and even without considering the green rose in his lapel (an obvious dual oscar wilde green carnation and prom flower reference), his outfit Yells "teen trans boy's first prom suit, borrowed/bought a size too large because it was the smallest available". The obviously overlong sleeves. The cut of the jacket collar. The overlong suit pants. The massive chunky black sneakers. The massive green rose in his lapel.

There's no way it isn't an intentional exaggeration of the young american transmasc experience. He understood the assignment, you all just aren't understanding him

Did I mention Robert Frost was an absolute babe back in the day?

The poet guy

so you’re trying to tell me some people still believe these are straight men? have you SEEN them try to do math??

look at these bitches

those are some mathematically challenged gays if i’ve ever seen them

neil is the epitome of no thoughts, head empty

and charlie’s just like: this is homophobic. it is homophobic that i have to do this.

(i don’t have pictures of the rest of them doing math but you get my point)

a uni survival guide: tips from a phd

if there's one thing i know about, it's college. i've done it, i've taught it, i've lived and breathed it. these tips are for first years in particular, but honestly for everybody. i think it's so important for people to have balanced lives in these years -- academics are not everything. you know what didn't help me in the real world when i was afraid i wouldn't live through it? my fancy college note-taking format. you know what did help me? the friends i made there who i knew would get on a plane and fly across the country in a matter of hours if i told them i needed them.

academic

- figure out where class is held ahead of time: don't be that kid who's late on day one, i beg of you

- use the writing center: especially for basic grammatical editing, which a lot of professors don't have time to mark on papers

- speak up in class: talking through ideas helps you work through them, and asking questions about something you don't understand can open up great lines of conversation

- find a regular schedule that works for you and stick to it: my college schedule was morning free time, class, lunch, class, practice, homework. that consistency was a life-saver

- keep a planner: it's so important to have a central place to track deadlines, assignments, and engagements

- annotate your reading: when you're stressing about a paper topic, being able to go back to what you've highlighted and written in the margins is a life-saver

- color-code your coursework: i use the same color highlighter, pen, and notebook for any given class. it's super helpful

- if you can't focus while studying with friends, don't: i reserved group studying for days when i didn't have important work because i can't be in a room with other people without talking to them. if your school has one, the quiet floor of the library is your best friend

- treat yourself to a "fun" class: art was always my place to just sit back and chill, a way to end the night all zen in the darkroom instead of conjugating russian verbs in a fluorescent-lit cinderblock prison. for you, it could be gym, it could be pottery, it could be some random course about, like, the history of cooking or something -- explore!

- profs are people too: don't be too nervous around them. also, know that if you're struggling -- even b/c of something in your personal life -- you can admit it, and they'll almost always understand why you missed a deadline or bombed a test

- go to office hours: it's the only way to get to know professors in big courses, and it's so helpful for both your grades and learning how to navigate relationships with authority figures

social

- don't let academia keep you from your friends: it's a case-by-case basis, but sometimes it's okay to let the reading slide and spend time with friends. i graduated seven years ago and my college group text still talks every day. that's so much more important to me than the fact that i never finished brideshead revisited

- joining a club is one of the best ways to make friends: i played ultimate frisbee through college and it was the source of so many lasting relationships, as well as the way i met all my local friends when i was abroad

- say yes to things you don't know if you'll like: you'll surprise yourself. me? turns out i love drinking games. and theme parties. and skinny dipping. and rock climbing

- don't be that person who looks down on their peers for partying: honestly? that person kind of sucks. you don't have to party if you don't want to, but actually, a lot of those people are super nice and also good at school -- don't just write them off!

- show up for your friends: go to their games, their concerts, their art shows, their standup nights. show them that what matters to them matters to you, too

- set aside a night to do a group activity with others: whether your vibe is wednesday night trivia, a weekly "terrible movie" showing, or a get-high-and-watch-nature-documentaries-type thing, these are great ways to liven up the week and de-stress

- this is a great time to figure out who from high school really matters to you: you don't have to force relationships that were built mostly on convenience if there are friends at uni with whom you click more. people you became friends with purely based on the coincidence of where your parents lived do not have to be your forever friends. they can be! but they don't have to be

personal

- don't expect too much of yourself: a 4.0 is not the end-all, be-all. if your family or somebody tells you it is, tell them to call me, and i will personally talk some sense into them

- take advantage of university support services: mental health counseling, free yoga classes, multi-cultural societies, etc

- drink water: please, please don't get kidney stones in the middle of the semester, says the girl who got kidney stones in the middle of the semester

- let yourself take breaks: if you need to lie to a professor and say you're sick when really you're just feeling down and you need to sit in bed and watch a movie, that's totally valid

- don't freak about individual assignments: my students come to me freaking over a B+ and i tell them, honey, no job interviewer is ever going to ask you about your second paper from communications 101. i wish i'd known that

- go see speakers if there's someone interesting coming to campus: these talks are always cooler than you expect. i'll never get over the fact that i didn't go see anita hill when she came to my undergrad

- do your laundry on the same night every week: i can't explain why this is so helpful but it really is

- keep up on the news and the memes: read the school paper, the school blog, the memes page -- college politics and inside jokes are fun and convoluted and fascinating

- set the groundwork for long-term self-care: all of the above is really just to say -- university isn't just for learning about the french revolution, it's also about learning how to balance, how to handle failure, how to ask for help, how to make a salad that doesn't totally suck, etc

And if I get a peach tattoo because Jeans pure happiness at having a peach (and him hiding it for later) brought me to tears, then what??

Richard Cameron is Not a Bad Dude

aka. headcanons

He has deep repressed feelings for Charlie Dalton. I will die on this hill. Charlie goes around flirting with the poets and Richard absolutely hates how easy he makes it look, and he hates that Charlie keeps putting himself out there because he’s right here so why would he need to flirt with anyone else?? But he can’t express that because he’s Cameron so he tries to make Charlie stop by acting like a dick.

Cameron’s dad is similar to Neil’s, but his mom is more affectionate (only when he behaves correctly though). He obviously is feeling a lot of pressure from somewhere, but, unlike Neil, whose family is determined to hate him no matter what, Cameron’s family has expressed approval and affection when he brings home all As or talks about how badly he wants to be whatever they want him to be. He feels there’s something in it for him if he lives how they want him to, whereas Neil doesn’t ever see himself being enough.

Neil’s death scared the shit out of him. He was finally beginning to open up and feel like a part of the Dead Poets, but when Neil died, ultimately because of his father, Cameron knew that could be him if he kept acting this way and hanging out with the Poets. That’s why he kept talking about self-preservation, he wanted them to understand how important conformation was. In his mind, he was taking care of his friends. He didn’t want them to die.

Sometimes he tries to come out to Charlie. “Hey, Charlie?” “Yeah Dick?” “I told you not to- never mind.” pause “How do you do it?” “Do what? I do a lot of things.” “You know, flirt with everyone... you make it seem so easy.” “Richard Cameron, are you asking me for advice?” “Eat shit, Dalton. Forget it.”

The whole “I love the clarinet” was an attempt to impress Charlie. It evidently did not work.

After that crazy year, Cameron’s mental health declined hugely. He got a taste of genuine happiness and was basically slapped in the face by life. He didn’t really believe in what his parents wanted anymore, but he was too scared to pursue his own desires.

you can always start over. you can always catch up. you can still be who you dream of being. it’s not too late for you.

Franz Kafka, Diaries, 1910-1923 // Jorge Luis Borges, The Aleph and Other Stories // René Magritte, La reproduction interdite // Andrés Cerpa, The Vault // Penelope Scott, Sweet Hibiscus Tea // Ocean Vuong, On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous // Aron Wiesenfeld, The Pit // Fernando Pessoa, The Book of Disquiet // Clementine von Radics, “Sweet the Sound” from Dream Girl

sometimes being chronically ill is just like googling "how to cope with the inherent violence of my own body"