!!!!NWH PICTURE SPOILER!!!!

Misc readings pt. 9

Interpretation of dreams, paromita vohra, mumbai mirror

The original goths: why women write gothic horror, the book habit

My grandfather's cult, nathaniel g. moore, toronto life

Our lives happen in restaurants, new york times

Love’s contradictions: catullus on the agony of infatuation, armand d'angour, psyche

The skeletons at the lake, douglas preston, the new yorker

YouTube's lo-fi music streams are all about the euphoria of less, jason parham, wired

On memorizing poetry, connie pan, bookriot

How the clouds got their names and how goethe popularised them with his science- inspired poems, maria popova, brain pickings

Crush, larissa pham, believer

Century old marathi-hindi kirtans get revived in mumbai, mohua das, the times of india

The crow whisperer, lauren markham, harper's magazine

Mugger much love from a one-armed priest, excerpt from wild and wilful: tales of 15 iconic indian species by neha sinha

stopping the void: ottilie mulzet on how her adoptive heritage lead her to a life of and in translation, the paris review

How facebook got addicted to spreading misinformation, karen hao, technology review

The new gwen stefani is a lot like the old one, anne helen peterson, buzzfeed

How a secret european language ‘made a rabbit’ and survived, martin puchner, psyche

The trouble with charlotte perkins gilman, halle butler, the paris review

The limits of the lunchbox moment, jaya saxena, the eater

How the new yorker fell into the “weird japan” trap, ryu spaeth, the new republic

Camping the canon: matthew lewis, milton & the monk, colin broadmoor, blood knife

Why contemporary women artists are obsessed with the grotesque, tess thackara, artsy (article has graphic images)

Haphephobia, olly nze, the audacity

The anxiety of influencers, barett swanson, harper's magazine

My octopus girlfriend, sophie lewis, n+1 mag

Nigella lawson wants everyone to experience the (thoroughly guilt-free) pleasure of food, nigella lawson, lithub

Dark Academia for Brown People

 Most people, when they think of dark academia is books (that’s the whole point) and ancient languages such as Latin or Ancient Greek. I’m here to tell you that you all are SLEEPING on brown culture. Love that is conveyed in the languages of Persian and Urdu (my native language) crosses borders. Sure, Shakespeare and Sappho wrote great pieces of literature but the stories and poems of Rumi, Manto, Hafez and Iqbal have a special place in my heart. 

Some of my favourites are:- (all are translated)

Sit at my grave with wine and a minstrel in a trance, so your smell will raise me from the dead.

HAFEZ

My lover’s sadness lit a fire in my heart that burned my chest, there was a fire in his house that burned the nest.

HAFEZ

O the day turned night, what a shame, a gazelle of kindness a lion became, my partner and lover grew tired of my words and prayers too.

RUMI

These are my personal favourites. I can always make a longer post if you all want.

Female poets deserve a whole other post.

As someone who goes to an English-Medium school, we are always taught to converse in English, see the language as a part of yourself but deny a place to Urdu. As I grow older, I have come to appreciate my identity and so should all my fellow brown people. Take pride in your mother tongue.

we stan one (1) chaotic boi

ok i'm sure you get this asked a lot but i haven't seen it - just how did you get/develop your art style? i love it so much!! it's so pleasing to look at.

why thank you! honestly “finding my art style” was a huge thing for me back when I was starting out. I went from style to style pretty wildly, and it was really only when I realized that art style is more about technique & how the art is made - rather than just how the faces look or whatever - that I actually fell into the current style I now have. I made a little “art journey” chart under the cut so you can kind of see what I mean! This really only covers about /half/ the different styles I tried out, especially in the early days.

I feel like a puppet whose job is ro make everyone else happy save myself

Top Ten: Coming of Age/Teen Movies

Booksmart (2019) Directed by Olivia Wilde

Empire Records (1995) Directed by Allan Moyle

Love Simon (2018) Directed by Greg Berlanti

Clueless (1995) Directed By Amy Heckerling

10 Things I Hate About You (1999) Directed by Gil Junger

Edge of Seventeen (2018) Directed By Kelly Fremon Craig

The DUFF (2014) Directed by Ari Sandel

To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before (2018) Directed by Susan Johnson

Easy A (2010) Directed by Will Gluck

Flipped (2010) Directed by Rob Reiner

My Favorite Fruits Basket Quotes Part 1—TOHRU

(My first volume has been lent out and not returned, so we don't have the classic plum quote, sorry)

A lot of these are kinda sad bc I really love the part of the story where we learn about Tohru's inner demons

"I believe it, too. I want to hold every memory in my heart and believe in it. So that I become strong enough to stick it out, and to one day overcome them...until they become precious memories." (ch. 23)

"For me, it's always the people around me who give me the strength to go on." (ch. 30)

"Just like you've listened to all my whining, Kyo-kun, from now on I want you to let me hear your complaints. I want you to tell me when it's hard, when you're scared, when you're weak. I want us to be able to confront your troubles together. Together...just like we've been doing. I want to live, eat, study, and struggle together! I want to be with you!" (ch. 33)

"After all...you have courage in your heart." (ch. 38)

"Maybe the truth is that no one is born with a 'reason.' Maybe that's something each person has to find on their own. A reason for being born, a reason to stick around, a reason to exist. I think everyone has to find it on their own, and decide it on their own." (ch. 45)

"I have a feeling that I can't even find the words to describe." (ch. 48)

"I want to protect them. I want to use all the strength I have to protect the paths they're walking on." (ch. 67)

"I can't give up. Something...there must be something I can do. I want to believe that. I have to believe that." (ch. 67)

"The warmth in our hearts is proof that there is light. It's so small that it seems like even a tiny wind might blow it out...but the light is definitely there." (ch. 72)

"My heart aches. It feels like it's going to be torn apart. Is it because my outrageous wish doesn't stand a chance? Is it because I know that some wishes just don't come true? Even so...I'll keep wishing." (ch. 75)

"Every night greets the dawn. There is no night that goes on forever." (ch. 99)

"One step at a time...I want to unravel these mysteries, these truths. One step at a time." (ch. 99)

"I know I'll have to do something when the time comes...but I think I already know what I'll have to let go of." (ch. 108)

"My heart was breaking on my way home that day. I was crying ugly tears because I could feel it yet again...the feeling of something fading away. Fading away into 'memories.' And even if I don't forget the loneliness and sorrow that tore me apart, the memories themselves are fading, too. No matter how much I try to hold on, no matter how many times I swear it to myself...time moves on, and they begin to fade. It's cruel." (ch. 114)

"And that 'me' is becoming a memory, too." (ch. 114)

"I'm ashamed. I'm dishonest, weak, and dirty." (ch. 114)

"I can't. Stop...don't go anywhere. Don't leave me." (ch. 114)

"I'm sorry...for being such a coward." (ch. 114)

"I can't get the words out. I have to gather up my courage. Courage...it's time to be brave. I'm not going to put the lid back on. This feeling...can't be stopped anymore. It's time to be brave." (ch. 114)

"If change is part of life, then it's such a cruel kindness." (ch. 121)

"I've decided...I can't remain at a standstill anymore." (ch. 121)

"Neither people nor feelings can be bound, frozen in time." (ch. 121)

"Just as all good things, happy things, fun things must come to an end...scary and sad things will also come to an end. Always. Even if you can't believe it when it happens, please...please don't give up. Live. I want you to live. You might make mistakes or lose your way, but please...please live. Don't ever stop moving forward. Please...that's all I ask. Don't give up. Even if I'm no longer at your side." (ch. 122)

"I do want to be with him. Not being able to...breaks my heart. It breaks my heart." (ch. 129)

"I've always been lousy at hiding my feelings." (ch. 129)

"I could hear those words dozens of times, hundreds of times, thousands of times...and I would still think this is like a dream." (ch. 129)

"I really love you...and that love is invincible!" (ch. 129)

"I'm so thankful that you're feeling this pain for me, in my stead. I'm so thankful..." (ch. 133)

Can you recommend some essays about speech or language?

Here are a few essays and articles about language use (off the top of my head). I hope that you enjoy them as much as I do!

How Words Fail by Cathy Park Hong

Politics and the English Language by George Orwell

Of Strangeness That Wakes Us by Ilya Kaminsky

The Meanings of a Word by Gloria Naylor

Mother Tongue by Yoojin Grace Wuertz

Borrowing a Simile by Walt Whitman

Word Order by Lewis H. Lapham

Four Essays by Mikhail Bakhtin

Nature: Chapter IV Language by Ralph Waldo Emerson

The Strange Persistence of First Languages by Julie Sedivy

What Do You Lose When You Lose Your Language? by Joshua Fishman

Guess who binged watched all of BNA in one sitting😌