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New headcanon that the whole family carries on their own versions of the Brucie Wayne persona in order to keep up appearances, giving the whole family a reputation of a bunch of beautiful idiots. Everyone EXCEPT Damian. He understands the necessary evil of it, but he can't. He can't do it y'all it's beneath him.

So this child, who is known among the other children at his school to talk like he swallowed a dictionary and get into screaming matches with his history teachers, gets the title of The Wayne Family's Single Brain Cell. This is furthered by the fact that every time he's seen in public he has an exhausted expression on his face like

He becomes a localized meme. The Baby Wayne, fighting for his life every day against his family of well meaning morons.

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Nothing you can say can convince me that Data did not later take Spot to the holodeck and programmed the computer to create a field with long grass and plenty of mice.  He watched his kitty have the time of her life hunting holographic mice.  He was perplexed by the evolutionary significance of the pre-pounce butt wiggle and wrote terrible poetry about it.  Upon his next poetry reading, Troi cried trying not to laugh and Data was pleased his poetry had finally elicited an emotional reaction.

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what do i think the main selling point of m!ik is?

oh it’s all about those expressions of absolute depravity for me

a lot of the time when creators want their audience to go “oh, these characters aren’t human (well except for iruma obviously). they dangerous and demonic” they make them do something wildly immoral or evil cause that’s easy, but i don’t think i’ve ever felt that above feeling more strongly than seeing these moments of desire and base instincts

anyway, i really hope the anime captures this, just put the full budget towards these expressions

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Theory: Now Entering the Demon King, Iruma!

By: Peggy Sue Wood | @pswediting​

If you’ve ever studied Japanese you know that some things get dropped based on the context. For example, in English we pretty much always say, “my name is ___” or “I am ___.” However, in Japanese you can basically just respond “___desu” (desu acting like a verb “.”) and be fine. Outside of a context, you would probably state the “I am” part as “watashi wa” or “boku no namae wa” or some variation (BTW, I’m just writing out the phonetics of the sound for that rather than the romaji or hiragana/kanji). 

It’s just the way the language is, and it makes sense because shorthand is–linguistically speaking–normal. It just changes depending on the language, context, and area. The reason I note this is that I’ve been thinking a lot about translations lately after catching up on Mairimashita! Iruma-kun. 

In the middle of reading, I zoned out and found myself staring at the Japanese title for a few minutes when it hit me that there is absolutely no mention of high school in said title (clarification: the Japanese title, not the English one). This matters because the official English title for the series is Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun.

Well, she says it matters, but why does it matter? You may ask. Well, in Japanese, the title is Mairimashita! Iruma-kun, and specifically the characters are written “魔入りました! 入間くん”

If we look at the kanji/hiragana being translated, a more literal translation would be something like, “The demon entered! Iruma-kun” or “Entered the demon! Iruma-kun!” because 魔 is the character for “demon” while 入 is the character for enter. And, more specifically, mairu is the formal word for entering (to go to/to come). (Also, when standing alone, the two characters together mean “magic” or “enchant” – not necessarily important to this discussion, just thought I’d add the note here.)

Now, Iruma is not a demon despite currently living in Hell and attending a demon high school. So, what demon is entering? 

At first I thought it was his adoptive grandfather, Lord Sullivan. However, Sullivan is a supporting character not seen as regularly with Iruma as characters like Alice or Clara. Which brought me to my current theory that Iruma is the demon referred to in the title. 

But, again. He’s currently human, right? How can he be the demon referred to in the title?

I’ve seen some say that the translation should be similar to “the demon [king] is entering” and thereby hints to Iruma becoming the next Demon King but that creates the same issue for me as the high school problem. The title doesn’t say Demon King, it just says demon. 

Now, I can agree that Iruma has already been set up to become the next Demon King via the prophecy. And because I’m lazy I’ll just share the wiki info here to explain how that is: 

The prophecy is as follows: 

“He shall make one and all of his servants. He shall form blood pacts and heal all demonkind. He shall descend from a foreign realm, And wear the golden ring of Solomon on his right hand.”

And in relation to said prophecy: 

But that info isn’t enough for me to write Iruma off as the titled demon. 

Instead, I think the title is hinting at Iruma turning into a demon and thereby he is “entering” demonhood. By extension, this leads to his rise to as a Demon King. 

One of the first things tipping me off to this is that the opening of the story paints humans as “instatable creature[s] with greedy hands,” their “desire is no different from a bottomless pit.” It’s something fitting to a demon, particularly matching with the idea of “returning to origin” discussed in the work. The continued opening points to Iruma’s parents as being such humans, while Iruma is just the kind-hearted sufferer of their misdeeds. He is a fairly virtuous character overall as he always lends a helping hand, is gentle and kind, and so on. Even during his “evil” cycle, he’s not particularly bad–though he does break rules to get things done. The statement, therefore, is not pointing specifically to Iruma yet but does hint at the potential and sinful qualities inherited in human nature. (And if you’ve ever studied religion, you’d probably be thinking of the Christian doctrine of “Original Sin” right about now.)

The next hint to me is that Iruma has been undergoing triggered physical changes. For example, in Chapter 1, Sullivan covers him in a demon perfume but after that Iruma never needs to do so again. When he paints his nails black, they remain so indefinitely to this day–no reapplication and no removal. (Also, I think in his evil-cycle his nails temporarily lengthen into points and those too are black but I could be wrong…) 

And, though it is through the help of Arikured, Iruma is now semi-regularly experiencing an evil-cycle. I think that the more this cycle continues, the more bonded Iruma and Arikured become. This appears to be supported as the higher in rank Iruma gets, the more he and Arikured become inseparable. For example, when Iruma reaches Rank Hé (5), Arikured tells Iruma they won’t survive without one another.

Derkila, the previous Demon King, may have also been a human at one time. Out of speculation, if the Ring of Gluttony is a sign of the Demon King and if it is synonymous with Solumn’s ring from The Testament of Solomon (a pseudepigraphical work, purportedly written by King Solomon that describes enslaved demons semi-regularly used in manga depicting demon kings), then I don’t think it’s a jump in logic to assume that Derkila may have, at one point, been a fiction representation of Solomon having turned into a demon. And I do firmly believe that the ring at one time belonged to Derkila, since Alikred is Derkila’s name backwards and fits the literary counterpart of Dracula and his half-human son, Alicard. Although, with that said–maybe Iruma will only become a half-demon. Who knows? 

In relation to the ring, I think “Ring of Gluttony” may have another skill we don’t know about yet. The current skills we know about are:

Devil Mode - This is the lowest power output it has, able to make a small fire and allows Iruma to use basic low-level castings.

Demon Mode - Has a stronger output than Devil Mode

Ifrit Mode - The strongest mode available without special requirements able to make a large fire that is several times larger than Devil Mode’s fire

Pandora - The final and most powerful mode of the ring that uses all the magic available in the ring leaving the host vulnerable to all attacks after. For it to be activated, it requires the host to say, “Pandora.” (It’s called “Pandoroola” in the anime.)

It works by consuming another demon’s magic and giving it to the wearer. We assume that the ring stores the power, but as it is a ring of “gluttony” (habitual greed or excess in eating), I don’t think it stores the magic it takes within itself. I think it acts like a second mouth for the wearer–one that consumes magic and helps focus it upon release. One of the reasons I think this is that when the ring is “hungry” Iruma acts differently too.  

If Iruma is becoming a demon, it wouldn’t surprise me at all to think that Sullivan is the mastermind or working in tandem with someone else to do so. We don’t, after all, get to see the specifics of the contract that Iruma or his parents sign with Sullivan, so who really knows? 

Even if I’m entirely wrong in this, that’s my theory and I’m sticking with it until proven otherwise!

Besides, if I’m wrong, we can–at the very least–see that the creator is leading us to see Iruma as the next Demon King. I mean, starting with the Royal One Arc, we see Iruma taking the First Throne (Chapter 60 & 61): 

[a king]. 

We also see a hint of the future in Chapter 198, as Iruma wishes to have a real drinking party with all his classmates in the future:

And, as we enter this new arc, we get the real rise of a king. Starting with Opera inviting Iruma to become his new master when Sullivan eventually dies (perhaps fortelling that Sullivan will die as Iruma consumes all of his power) (Chapter 199):

I mean, look at that evil smirk from Opera. How is this not part of a scheme?

As a final note for Iruma becoming a demon that I forgot to mention above, Iruma eats a LOT. Like, way more than humanly possible. In classical literature, eating food in Hell traps you there and Iruma eats an awfully large amount on a daily basis. In Chapter 203, we see how Iruma’s massive consumption can relate back to several points in the work. The first is the opening lines of the series, in which humans are bottomless pits of greed and desire. The second is recurring themes of gluttony without being harmful that is seen basically every time Iruma eats. And, finally, the image of an adult Iruma eating demon food with a mountain of plates behind him as the Demon Council consider his future prospects as a Demon King Candidate:

If Iruma is going to become the Demon King, it will certainly be exciting. 

Going back to translations for a moment, I don’t mean to make this post seem like there has been a translation error. Last year, I attended the online panel, “Adventures in Translation with Industry Expert” hosted by Funimation Con (notes here). In the panel, it was made clear that translating is hard work because of the differences in linguistics, idiosyncrasies, culture and so on. The translations aren’t inaccurate, per say. They are simply the best that can be made based on the information the translators have and the context provided by either author or publisher. 

I guess as a final note: If the period of the story never leaves high school; if Iruma becomes the Demon King upon graduation, as the story seems to be setting up in the latest chapters, than it is not inaccurate to use “Demon High School” in the title now is it?

–

EDIT: 14 July 2021 - Copy edits made.

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Mairimashita! Iruma-kun 😈💙

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Women of Tortall 2/?

Alanna the Lioness

"I think as a human being. Men don't think any differently from women -- they just make more fuss about being able to."

- The Woman Who Rides Like a Man by Tamora Pierce

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Comic on having long-COVID as a young person. Sending love to others who may be similarly suffering.

Ko-Fi

(ID under the cut)

Keep reading

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Idk why but villains with standards will always be the funniest thing to me. like you'll get someone who will take absolute pleasure in doing the most vile things but paying their minions less than minimum wage? how dare you insult their honor. there'll be a guy who just loves terrorizing people but if you say something sexist about his sidekick he'll punch you in the throat and step aside with glee to let her pummel you. villains who are like "murder is fine generally but if you're a homophobe then I'll tie you to a boulder and catapult you into the ocean". Idk there's just something innately hilarious about a villain who is very definitively bad, like extremely morally reprehensible, but like there are just certain things that even they won't stoop to, thereby implying that those who do are worse

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realistic indiana jones movies

indiana jones and tomb that had already been looted by robbers in the 19th century

indiana jones and pottery fragment #1478

indiana jones and the site discovered under somebody’s house so there was no way to actually dig it

indiana jones and the famous treasure that actually turned out to be an ancient chamber pot

indiana jones and the temple of maybe three damaged columns

indiana jones and the intro to archaeology class that didn’t give a shit and just wanted to pass for the gen ed credit

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Would it kill women to not assume that every single male is a sexual predator?

Yes actually. Yes it can literally kill us to not assume that men around us are sexual predators and take precautions accordingly.

Because it only takes one dangerous predatory guy to traumatize or even kill us and there’s a lot of them and none of you wear signs.

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We tried doing that when a wind storm flipped a nest close to our back door. I don't know if the mother bird saw us putting the baby's back or what but she murdered all of them within 30 minutes of us putting them up

Baby bird season is incoming and I’d like to remind everyone that birds do not have a significant sense of smell. Bird parents will not reject birdlets because you have handled them.

If you see smol birbs with few or no feathers on the ground, you can safely put them back into their nest, bird parents will still care for them.

If you see smol birbs with some or most feathers on the ground, please leave them there, as bird parents are probably nearby watching and feeding.

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A Thought

Any analysis of Superman and Captain America should involve two main points. 1) They are every bit the caricature of honest goodness that they are said to be. And  2) BEING a a caricature of honest goodness means not just fighting obvious villainy, but raging against institutional injustice, even when it comes from “Legitimate” sources.  There is a difference, however. The Kent’s raised Clark with a strong moral compass, but also good sense. He’s very aware that, as Superman, anything he does comes with a tinge of Threat. He’s keenly aware that with the power he wields, the only way he can continue to operate is by appearing completely nonthreatening to the status quo. Unless he is preventing immediate, obvious harm, he has to be very careful with his intervention. He’ll see a city councilman skimming funds from schools, a factory illegally disposing of waste, or Cops inflating their quotas with bogus charges, and he’ll be outraged. But, Superman can’t do anything about those things. If he intervenes, people won’t see Superman protecting civilians from police abuse, they’ll see Superman Threatening A Cop. If Superman expresses any opinions besides the most milquetoast “Be Kind To One Another” stuff, it gets spun into “Scary Indestructible Alien Man Wants To Take Over The World”. So, Superman takes all that rage, every injustice and abuse he sees, and those that he cannot solve as Superman, he gives to Clark Kent.  And behind the “Aw Shucks’ Kansas Farmboy affect, Clark Kent is RUTHLESS. He will pick apart your life and nail you sins the sky for all to see.  Like, everybody knows about Lois Lane, and she’s objectively the better journalist, but people always underestimate Clark. Those that remember anything about him usually think of him as harmless, the guy who comes to collect the statements your media people prepared, so you’re caught off-guard when the fangs come out. A Clark Kent interview goes like this: First Question: Hello Police Chief Smith. So, how did you get involved in law enforcement? Second Question:  What are the key values that drive your police department?  Third Question: On September 14th, you called your officers together and told them to, and I quote “ Pull over every [racial slur] you can find out there. If they let you search, say you smell weed and bring them in. If they don’t, bring ‘em in for refusing to cooperate. Just get those [expletive deleted] in cuffs and paying fines, or else start looking for a new job”. Would you say this policy of deliberately targeting racial minorities is in line with the values you described earlier?”  And Clark Kent doesn’t stop after he gets his headline. It might end up on Page 3, but he’ll keep the story going until your career is torn to shreds and staked outside as a warning to others.  And then it’s back to human-interest stories and the feel-good beat until he selects his next target.  Superman is forced to overlook things, but he IS looking, and he won’t forget, and just because he’s not throwing you into the sun, doesn’t mean he intends to spare you.  Steve Rogers on the other hand will interrupt an interview to kick the shit out of a crooked real estate developer for driving people out of their homes. When arrested he’ll say “I’m sorry, how about we just chalk up the next time I save the world as community service”. 

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petition to make all courses on D2L have the same information formatting structure. My poor brain weasels can't handle this massive discrepancy in the delivery of information. Why do I have to learn how to learn from every course I take via this platform? I get different teaching styles, that's fine, but like cohesion in information location pleeeeeease.

We really just need to get rid of D2L altogether. It's such a shitty platform that many instructors choose to use something else, but there's no standard other option.

This semester I am being asked to use D2L, Packback, WordPress, AND Piazza. It gives me a headache.

-Reid