Hello, citizens of Tumblr! I’m PHILOSOPHIKA, a 32-year-old British/Colombian philosopher (BA/MA) and aspiring novelist. Welcome to my main blog, where I share all the cool things that pop up on my dash. Tag & ask game-friendly.
THE SORCERER’S APPRENTICE
Writeblr | Fantasy Novel in Progress
DIARY OF A PHILOSOPHER
Quotes | Assorted Literature & Philosophy
"Demuestra de que madera estas hecho"
Es una frase que muchas veces ha prevalecido y acomplejado mi mente. Puedo entender que distintas personas estamos hechos de distintas maderas, alguno la astilla, algún otro la cuña del mismo palo, otros incluso aspiran a ser arbol qué da otro fruto.
La madera del bambú, un icono entre muchas otras, flexible y maleable soporta los más duros vientos de cambio porque se permite moverse con ligereza entre ellos. Sin embargo, lo que muchos no suelen mencionar es que el bambú es muy único y se necesitan años para que aquella madera ascienda hasta las nubes.
"¿De qué madera estaré hecho?" me suelo preguntar, una madera extraña suele ser la respuesta usual. Un árbol alto y vivo nacido de profundas y podridas raíces. Madera que al arder en hoguera, en ves de convertirse en ceniza, se endurece. Que parece esbelta y brillante a simple vista pero que al tocarla con suave caricia te llena de astillas. Madera extraña, me pregunto, ¿qué extraño propósito tendra?
This is turning out to be a really rough week. My aunt, who has epilepsy, just had the worst episode she's ever had since she was a child, aka. since before she had brain surgery. She is my favourite aunt, and one of the only people from my mum's side of the family who truly loves us. She's staying overnight at the hospital. I feel completely disorientated.
Today, I woke up and dressed in my most terrifying outfit - a high bun, blazer, white shirt, pearl earrings, golden family heirloom bracelet, reading glasses, business casual trousers and heels. I'm going to go see my aunt at the hospital and take her a teddy bear and some flowers, but I'm likely going to see my mother's abusive family members in the corridor outside her room (my other aunt and uncle), so I need to make sure they remember who I am and who has the power in this family now. Hence, the corporate asshole look. I'm absolutely seething that they didn't inform my mother that her sister was ill - we only found out because my grandmother's maid phoned us last night out of sympathy to let us know what was happening. Anyway, let's see how this goes.
OOF, okay, I’m out. My aunt is doing ok. She’s a bit sleepy because they’ve given her a ton of sedatives and muscle relaxants, but she doesn’t seem to have lost any cognitive abilities, which is excellent. She also hasn’t had a seizure since yesterday, so that’s good news. They’re keeping her in the hospital for a week, but I was relieved to see her looking sort of okay, apart from a bruise on her head and nose where she fell… Well, and the fear. She was telling us about yesterday, and there were tears in her eyes.
I also saw my other aunt and uncle. They were in the room with her, and since the hospital only allows two visitors at a time, I went in to ask if we could swap so my mum could see her sister. When I walked in, they didn’t recognize me, lol. They haven’t seen me in six years, so I guess that’s sort of expected. And the last time they saw me, I was a girl, a child, not a woman. Watching them scramble to wrap their heads around the new person standing before them was very entertaining.
This is turning out to be a really rough week. My aunt, who has epilepsy, just had the worst episode she's ever had since she was a child, aka. since before she had brain surgery. She is my favourite aunt, and one of the only people from my mum's side of the family who truly loves us. She's staying overnight at the hospital. I feel completely disorientated.
Today, I woke up and dressed in my most terrifying outfit - a high bun, blazer, white shirt, pearl earrings, golden family heirloom bracelet, reading glasses, business casual trousers and heels. I’m going to go see my aunt at the hospital and take her a teddy bear and some flowers, but I’m likely going to see my mother’s abusive family members in the corridor outside her room (my other aunt and uncle), so I need to make sure they remember who I am and who has the power in this family now. Hence, the corporate asshole look. I’m absolutely seething that they didn’t inform my mother that her sister was ill - we only found out because my grandmother’s maid phoned us last night out of sympathy to let us know what was happening. Anyway, let’s see how this goes.
This is turning out to be a really rough week. My aunt, who has epilepsy, just had the worst episode she’s ever had since she was a child, aka. since before she had brain surgery. She is my favourite aunt, and one of the only people from my mum’s side of the family who truly loves us. She’s staying overnight at the hospital. I feel completely disorientated.
Summary: Edwin writes his feelings for Selene into his diary as he struggles to come to terms with them.
Words: 637
Tags: @druidx, @sparrow-orion-writes , @homesteadchronicles, @warriorbookworm, @mariahwritesstuff, @ashirisu , @thesorcerersapprentice , @blind-the-winds , @philosophika , @the-down-upside-finch @flashfictionfridayofficial
Warnings: Sappy romantice feelings and angst? Also some pre-emptive grief stuff.
Notes: Written for the Flash Fiction Friday prompt 'Take My Hand' and set around a week before the events of To Heal A Broken Soul.
I mean, the little bugger's basically invisible until like ten feet away...
I’ve seen coyotes do this in real life. Just like in predator, I was just watching some kind of weird shimmer going through the sagebrush. Even though I knew what it was I couldn’t make myself see the dog.
Fantasy Guide to Building A Culture
Culture is defined by a collection of morals, ethics, traditions, customs and behaviours shared by a group of people.
Within every culture, there is a hierarchy. Hierarchies are an important part of any culture, usually do ingrained that one within the culture wouldn't even question it. Hierarchy can be established either by age, gender or wealth and could even determine roles within their society. Sometimes hierarchy can may be oppressive and rigid whilst other times, ranks can intermingle without trouble. You should consider how these different ranks interact with one another and whether there are any special gestures or acts of deference one must pay to those higher than them. For example, the Khasi people of Meghalaya (Northern India), are strictly matriarchal. Women run the households, inheritance runs through the female line, and the men of the culture typically defer to their mothers and wives. Here are a few questions to consider:
Traditions are a staple in any culture. These can be gestures or living life a certain way or to the way a certain person should look. Traditions are a personal detail to culture, they are what make it important. Tradition can dictate how one should keep their home, run their family, take care of their appearance, act in public and even determine relationship. Tradition can also be a double edged sword. Traditions can also be restrictive and allow a culture to push away a former member if they do not adhere to them, eg Traditional expectations of chastity led to thousands of Irish women being imprisoned at the Magdelene Laundries. Customs could be anything from how one treats another, to how they greet someone.
Values and Opinions are the bread and butter of any culture. This is the way your culture sees the world and how they approach different life hurdles. These may differ with other cultures and be considered odd to outsiders, what one culture may value another may not and what opinion another holds, one may not. There will be historical and traditional reasons to why these values and opinions are held. Cultures usually have a paragon to which they hold their members to, a list of characteristics that they expect one to if not adhere to then aspire to. The Yoruba people value honesty, hard work, courage and integrity. Here are some questions to consider?
For many cultures, the way somebody dresses can be important. History and ethics can effect how one is meant to be dressed such as an expectation of chastity, can impose strict modesty. While other cultures, put more importance on details, the different sorts of clothes worn and when or what colour one might wear. The Palestinian people (من النهر إلى البحر ، قد يكونون أحرارا) denoted different family ties, marriage status and wealth by the embroidery and detailing on their thoub.
Many cultures are known for different styles of dance, their artwork and crafts. Art is a great part of culture, a way for people to express themselves and their culture in art form. Dance can be an integral part of culture, such as céilí dance in Ireland or the Polka in the Czech Republic. Handicrafts could also be important in culture, such as knitting in Scottish culture and Hebron glass in Palestine. Music is also close to culture, from traditional kinds of singing such as the White Voice in Ukraine and the playing of certain instruments such as the mvet.
The way a culture prepares or intakes or treats certain foods are important to a culture. In some cultures, there is a diet yo adhere to, certain foods are completely banned. With Jewish culture, pork is prohibited along with fish such as sturgeon, along with shellfish and certain fowl. Meat must also be prepared in a certain way and animal byproducts such as dairy, must never be created or even eaten around this meat. This is known as kosher. The way one consumes food is also important to culture. In some cultures, only certain people may eat together. Some cultures place important on how food is eaten. In Nigerian culture, the oldest guests are served first usually the men before the women. In Japanese culture, one must say 'itadakimasu' (I recieve) before eating. Culture may also include fasting, periods of time one doesn't intake food for a specific reason.
Anatomical theater, Amsterdam, Royal Library of Belgium, 1649
I wanna be there
In the same vein:
"The simultaneous borrowing of French and Latin words led to a highly distinctive feature of modern English vocabulary: sets of three items, all expressing the same fundamental notion but differing slightly in meaning or style, e.g., kingly, royal, regal; rise, mount, ascend; ask, question, interrogate; fast, firm, secure; holy, sacred, consecrated. The Old English word (the first in each triplet) is the most colloquial, the French (the second) is more literary, and the Latin word (the last) more learned." (Howard Jackson and Etienne Zé Amvela, "Words, Meaning and Vocabulary: An Introduction to Modern English Lexicology." Continuum, 2000)
via ThoughtCo
Though I like how John McWhorter phrases it better:
But language tends not to do what we want it to. The die was cast: English had thousands of new words competing with native English words for the same things. One result was triplets allowing us to express ideas with varying degrees of formality. Help is English, aid is French, assist is Latin. Or, kingly is English, royal is French, regal is Latin – note how one imagines posture improving with each level: kingly sounds almost mocking, regal is straight-backed like a throne, royal is somewhere in the middle, a worthy but fallible monarch.
**taps mic** This thing on?
Right...cool...great! Uh...
So hi! I'm that-cyber-writer, but you can call me Foyle (or Chibi if you follow my main). I've been around on tumblr for a long time, since before writeblr was actually a thing- and I have never technically done any kind of intro...so here we are.
If I've been on tumblr for a long time, I've been around the writing community longer, and you'd think that would mean I've developed a fine-tuned sense of flavour and style.
Alas, I am a bit of a stylistic wildcard. Among my completed and in- progress works I've written: a high fantasy epic adventure, several YA Urban fantasy style novels.
However, more recently I've stepped into a space where sci-fi, hacking, technology, and crime/psychological-thriller all intersect.
Where can you find me:
For my personal blog - please follow my main blog @that-chibi-writer
Shoot me a note if you want to be on my tag list 🫡
TangledWires (for snippets)
foyle fumbels (for my commentary and more)
WIPS UNDER THE CUT....
Tagged by @saltysupercomputer whose fabulous binary background brings me abundant joy (us sci-fi/thriller writers gotta stick together). @that-chibi-writer - but I am responding from my writing dedicated side-blog.
Soft-Tagging: @scribbling-salmon, @violet-prism-creatively, @hippiewrites - and anybody else who wishes to be tagged.
Rules: Pick a bunch of your WIPs and summarize them as badly as possible, then ask your followers to vote on which one they'd be most likely to read. Multiple/all/none options are completely optional.
Pick your Fighter
Angry Ginger with Issues(TM) is abducted by a hot Greek god.
Traumatized Hacker Tormented by Russian Mob is probably a government experiment.
Shy girl meets Cheerleader from another dimension, oh, and there's a rip in Time
Please give me all of them Foyle you unholy shit-poster
See ResultsIf you'd like to be on my tag lists for snippets, shoot me an ask for a +/-.
Love yall.
